My pal Kailani at An Island Life hosts this great meme, Aloha Friday, based upon a very popular term used in Hawaii when island residents take it easy and look forward to the upcoming weekend - kind of like T.G.I.F. The meme involves no long posts, no deep soul searching revelations . . . just a little fun.

Each Friday, Kailani posts a simple question or topic of conversation. Visitors leave a comment on Kailani’s site and then post a question or short discussion topic on their own site. Participants visit each other’s sites and respond with a comment! Even if you do not post a question or topic on your site, you can still play by simply leaving a comment!

Here’s my question for this edition:

Has the price of gas impacted you/your family? If so, how? If not, what’s your secret?

My answer:

Earlier in the week, I pulled into the gas station . I have become very adept at not looking at the price because, after all, what’s the difference? Whatever it is, I have to pay it. But I couldn’t avoid seeing the numbers: $4.03.

Yes, I paid more than $4.00 per gallon.

I drive a Camry that consistently gets an average of more than 30 miles per gallon (combined city and highway driving). Last week I test-drove a Toyota Prius hybrid. Although it was a cute little car, I really did not enjoy driving it. Moreover, the estimated mileage is 48 mpg city, 55 highway, but, as the salesman acknowledged, “actual mileage” not only varies, but is generally less than the official estimates.

The cost of the Prius, before sales tax and license, was more than $30,000. California no longer issues a commuter lane pass with the vehicle and the tax rebate has been eliminated. So I concluded that the amount of money saved by obtaining marginally better gas mileage would not justify the expenditure, especially on a car I don’t particularly want to drive. I could buy a new hybrid Camry, but, again, the gas mileage is not appreciably better than what I am already getting and my 2004 Camry is in near-perfect condition so I don’t need a new car and, frankly, don’t particularly want one.

So at least for the foreseeable future, I will just be sucking it up and paying whatever price is on the pump, held hostage by the oil companies along with the rest of America.


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