gas

I know this picture will not shock anyone who has not been living in a cave the past week. I wanted to record it for posterity, though.

My tank was nearly on E this morning as I got in the car and noticed this price at the station across the street. Historically, gas prices in the next town over have always been three or four cents lower than Port City, and since I was headed across the river anyway I decided to try my luck with the reserve fuel and see if I could do better than $3.14. So off I went, over the river and through the woods, to the El Cheapo station.

$3.41!!!

I proceeded to my destination and decided to take another route home past additional gas stations to see if I could at least get better than $3.41. I passed $3.26, another $3.19, and yet another $3.41 before doubling back to $3.19 — amazingly, at a self-serve station where the attendant also gave me a treat for the dog. This kindness did not go unnoticed by Aitch, who repeated, “Treat? Treat?” wondering why he had been overlooked.

I basked in the satisfaction of getting gas an entire $0.27 a gallon cheaper than the gouging price, thus saving an entire $4.86 —from which you should subtract, I suppose, the gas spent driving around to find a price $.05 more than I could have gotten on my own block.

My hope is that, some day, with an aggressive program of conservation, exploration of alternative energy sources, and reduction of dependence on foreign oil, the price will recede to the point where I will be astonished to look back at this blog and say, “Wow, remember when the price of gas went all the way up to $3.41?”

I hope the floodwaters recede more quickly than the gas prices.