Save Money On Gas/ Dealing With The High Cost Of Gasoline
I talked to my friend Eddie Askowe about ways to save money on gas since it now is officially over four dollars per gallon around here. Eddie and I go back a long ways although at some point we decided on different turns in the road as Robert Frost might say.
Eddie is a practical guy and this is what he told me he is doing to save money on gas.
“First of all I took the back seat out of my car. I hardly ever use it and it costs money to lug that thing around. When the kids ride with us they bring pillows and sit on the floor.”
What about seat belts Eddie?
“I didn’t take out the seat belts. They don’t weigh very much.”
I think I get the picture. What else do you do?
“Well I also took out the spare tire and the jack. And since there isn’t anything in there I unbolted the trunk hood and stored it in the garage. Water just runs right through there. It gets a little rusty but rust doesn’t weigh much.”
Really? Your vehicle must be pretty light and I can see how that would save you money on gas. You really have thought this out.
“Just wait a second. I’m not done saving money by lightening the load. I don’t take my wife with me anymore. She gets embarrassed anyway riding with me now so we just leave her at home. So that lightens the load considerably. And then I cut the engine off every chance I get.”
What do you mean Eddie? How many chances do you get between here and there?
“Plenty! Steep hills are easy. But not everyone realizes you can coast a very long ways once you hit one hundred miles per hour.”
OMG Eddie!
“Drafting works wonders too. Get behind an eighteen wheeler and head on down the road! I like to spend time at the area truck stops and get to know some of these guys. You know they will give you a tow if they like you! That’s the ultimate gas saver right there. I always carry a rope because you never know when one of your good buddies is going to want some company. It’s lonely out there.”
Eddie you always come up with unique ways of doing things. That’s amazing.
“Yeh. Be prepared to jump on the brakes. And wear a helmet!”
“Oh I almost forgot. I took out the AC unit of course. That was the first thing to go but it gets pretty hot in there during the summer months. So I sometimes like to drive around in my underwear. My wife got me these some nice purple ones and they are kind of a fashion statement. Did you know that you don’t have to wear shoes when you’re driving? That’s just one of them rumors probably started by a shoe salesman or somebody who likes shoes. My wife likes shoes and she refuses to come along without them. She won’t dress down to her underwear either.”
“In fact I think she may be getting ready to have me served with divorce papers so that will mean the kids won’t be coming along much anymore. That will save some more on fuel right there.”
Eddie I am sorry to hear about that.
“Thank you but I think it will be alright. I’m going home right now and talk with her. I’m going to propose we just buy a few bicycles and forget about the car. Maybe we can just leave it in the driveway from now on. Turn it into a giant planter and grow vegetables in it. Roll it under the shade tree during the hottest time of the day.”
That’s right Ed. Be a trend setter. I bet you could grow quite a few squash in that open trunk and the vines will be up your antenna in no time. Take care big guy!
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Lifehacker weighs in on saving money on gas
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Why Did I Come Here?
One of the blogs in the blogroll here is Pumping Your Muse Prompts and it is a collection of photos and simple writing assignments. I recommend it to those of you who are interested in writing more and exercising your imagination while you do it.
For example this morning I chose to do an exercise about a parked car and was asked to focus on emotion, smell and sound. In keeping with my present dark mood I set the scene before dawn in a rundown city area. And here is what happened!
He sank down in the seat of his Chevrolet and waited for the morning light. He had spent most of the night in the bar up the street and only left because he felt uncomfortably close to an altercation with the stranger in the corner booth. Why had the man approached him as he was leaving? What did he want?
His car was strewn with empty Budweiser bottles and the smell of spilled beer and cigarettes mixed with the sharp odor of gasoline. The car wouldn’t start. He had flooded the feeble carburetor.
And suddenly his mind was flooded with fear as he saw the door of the bar swing open and the man burst through it and head down the sidewalk in his direction. The street was silent except for the sound of his purposeful walk.
“I need some help” he thought. But there was no one near and the hulking shadow under the street light continued in his direction.
“I am lost” he whispered to himself and he once again checked all the locks on the doors. But the sudden loud report of glass cracking into hundreds of tiny islands desperately hanging together came a second later.
“I should get out of the car” he said and suddenly rage filled him like a spark that threatened to turn the interior of the fume filled vehicle into a ball of flame.
He reached across his body with his violently shaking hand and released the lock. And with his left hand he pulled up on the handle. His feet hit the pavement and his weary frame suddenly weary no more stood up to meet his assailant.
He picked up the rock embedded in his windshield and thought about heaving it in the direction from which it had arrived. But a rock is a feeble weapon when pitted against a rather large handgun.
And this he could see as it was raised in his direction.
“What have I done?” he thought as light began to color the lonely street of this old and often violent city. “Why did I come here ?” and the answer came not in words but in the flash of the gun and a loud sound that somehow was all mixed up with a brief moment of pain as the street, his car and the shadowy figure now just a few feet away all exploded.
And suddenly he was looking down on a man lying in the street next to a green 1975 Chevrolet while another man turned and ran down the sidewalk.
He turned and looked in a window across the street because he heard a baby crying. And he suddenly knew that the small child was hungry and afraid and wanted his mother. Because he dreamed of ghosts in the night.
The child’s dream was disturbed as the light crept through the tattered shade of his bedroom window and he wanted to be held by his mother who was just coming out of the bar across the street.
She screamed as she saw the body of her friend lying on the pavement over a dark stream moving towards the gutter and the parked Chevrolet.
And slowly lights began to come on up and down the street as residents held their heads and turned their weary bodies towards a familiar sound and the beginning of another day.
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You can start something like this and really not know where it is going for awhile. Just put yourself in the scene as an invisible bystander or one of the characters. Imagine somehow you dropped out of the sky and there is this unfortunate man sitting in his car. What is he thinking? What is going to happen?
I probably took this exercise somewhat far afield but no one is going to grade this thing. We are not in school anymore. Please let us not bring our teachers home with us!
The Roller Coaster Ride
I hate to complain but I do not feel well this morning. And isn’t that the way it goes? We are having a great time and things just continue to get better and then we hit the crest of our particular experience and head down. We can’t go up forever.
It’s just the way it is and it pays to accept the fact and try to enjoy the ride. So I have this scratchy irritation in my throat and my body feels about fifty pounds heavier. My stomach is rumbling and the computer is not working well. The hard drive sounds very loud. And then the metal chain in the toilet broke and now I have this black stuff under my fingernails from trying to fix it. What is that stuff anyway? It accumulates on the rubber parts inside the tank. So the temperature outside has probably reached one hundred degrees already like it did yesterday. And I have to go to the hardware store for parts.
Also Big Brown did not win the Kentucky Derby because he apparently was feeling yesterday the way I feel today. What’s wrong with him? Nobody knows. Maybe his roller coaster ride hit the crest on Friday and was on the way down yesterday. Too bad he didn’t mention it to anybody. A lot of folks are on the way down today as they think about how much money they lost on Mr. Brown.
What do you do when you feel events turning in this direction? Please tell me. I would really like to know. But until someone gives me another idea that sounds better here’s the one I use.
I try to find something to do that I always enjoy doing. But it has to be a simple task. And it cannot involve anyone else because they may not want to participate.
Well I am feeling better now and the fact that I am writing this post is evidence of that.
I had a discussion yesterday about blogging and fumbled around trying to come up with something worthwhile to say. But what I really wanted to say was this. Find something you truly enjoy about this activity. Something that doesn’t require a lot of skill or sometimes lead to frustration. Something that doesn’t depend on another living soul. And do it when you can’t figure out what to do! Or you are just feeling bad.
At times like this don’t try to plan too much. Try to enjoy the day. Enjoy the ride.
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Naked In Eden Blog/ Robin Easton
My good friend Robin at Naked In Eden : Ancient Memories in the Australian Rainforest wrote this about Virginia Breeze and its disorganized captain:
VIRGINIA BREEZE: http://davidnotes.com David’s blog has some of the most beautiful and cherished poetry I’ve read in a long time. It has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. If you enjoy heartfelt honest sentiments that speak of the core issues of our lives then grab a cup of tea, slow down and read some of David’s poems. They are written by someone who feels deeply and has an open heart. You will go away feeling like you know him. They are easy to understand and are mated with beautiful photos. My post this month was inspired by David’s poetry. His writing sets me free and encourages me to be authentic. He also writes about a variety of topics I find interesting, warm, real (and sometimes funny).
You can’t ask for anything better than this in the way of endorsements or morale building moments can you?
Robin is a treasure. Every once in a long while you meet somebody who you feel close to immediately and Robin is one of those people. There is a long list of readers who have fallen under her spell and I am one of them. Her writing is irresistible and she is funny, entertaining and brave.
That last quality I find very admirable. This fine lady lived in a rain forest and wrote a book about her life. Doing those kind of things requires courage.
If we are all unique then Robin is not afraid to share that uniqueness with the world. Why write a personal blog if you are not going to share something that your reader will not be able to read anywhere else? That’s my opinion about blogging and I find that Robin is the perfect example of somebody who does this extremely well.
I hope and pray she will always have time to stop by here for a few moments because I have grown very attached to her in a very short time. She motivates me to continue trying to become a better writer.
I hope you will take time to get to know her too. You won’t be sorry. I promise.
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Have you met someone while blogging you made you feel this way?
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Jordin Sparks/ BET Awards
Everyone who has read this blog for awhile knows that I am a huge Jordin Sparks fan. I started blogging because of Jordin and have found some other interesting things to blog about but she was the first one. Some of you just shake your heads and wander off when I start writing about her. I’m sorry. But I have to do it !
I feel compelled to do it. We all have our dreams. One of mine is to have Jordin and her family over for dinner sometime when she is in the Virginia Beach area. Beth just shakes her head at that one.
Some people dream about being millionaires. Some dream about being major league baseball players. And some just dream. Well this is my dream and I have seen enough of them come true to realize that anything is possible.
And seen enough to also have an unconventional dream or two. My wife dreams about swimming with dolphins. It always pays to know what your wife dreams about and share her dreams. Then when you see the opportunity make them happen.
But right now we are focused on seeing that Jordin wins an award at the upcoming BET Awards Ceremony later this month.
You can vote for her as many times as you like and you can vote here
I hope you like. . . . . .
I had a post in April about Jordin and her concert tour. Her grandmother wrote me a nice comment at the bottom of that one.
Earlier this week I had a nice comment from Jordin’s mother on my MySpace page.
I think that one of these days I am going to hear from Jordin herself! Don’t you think? Maybe if enough of you go to the MySpace page and vote/comment she will respond to ALL of US. Her mother keeps track of what I am doing on MySpace (and I can’t say I blame her).
