Smile-breaks
And the Winner at the Gas Pump is…
Four and a half miles. Yep! That’s what I gained by driving smooth ’n slow. But that’s not the end of the story…
I totally changed my way of driving, my lifestyle and my personality because I heard that a BMW owner got ten miles more to the gallon by changing his driving from an aggressive “jump up ’n go” style to an easygoing “smooth ’n slow” style.
For almost three hundred miles I crept out of stop signs, slowed down twenty miles before every intersection and kept the rpm’s steady at 2,000. It was tough! But with gas prices rising by the minute, I wondered if I, too, could get ten miles more to the gallon.
Not quite. But four and a half miles isn’t bad. That’s sixty-three more miles for every tankful of gas.
Darn! I was hoping it wouldn’t make a difference and I could get back to my old driving habits and my ol’ Type A self.
Actually, four and a half was probably a little on the low side. I used eighteen miles to the gallon as the mileage I get normally, but it might have been fifteen. I hadn’t checked it in a long time and couldn’t remember which it was.
Whatever. I didn’t get ten miles to the gallon, that’s for sure. But if I could get four and a half miles, I was going to have to seriously consider changing my lifestyle and driving habits. Permanently.
And then I had an evil thought. Maybe, maybe…
All that time I was squeezing more miles out of each gallon, prices at the pump were rising. By the time I filled up, gas had gone up to $3.22 a gallon. If I’d driven in my usual “jump up ’n go” style, I would’ve had to fill up earlier – when the price was closer to $3.18 a gallon. Would I have saved money by filling up before the prices went up again?
No way! Fewer miles to the gallon save money? But then, you never know. And this laid-back lifestyle was confusing me, making me feel stodgy, so I pulled out my handy dandy calculator.
Reverting to my normal “jump up ’n go” driving, I only get 238 miles per tank, so even though I’d fill up sooner, at a lower price, I’d have to fill up a third time and by then gas would be really really really high.
This isn’t gonna work. Looks like I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life as a Type B, smooth ’n slow personality, resisting the urge to rev it up at every green light. I’ll probably have to change careers, too. You know of any good jobs where they pay you to stand around relaxing from eight to five?
Well, it’s at least worth a try. With hope not very high in my heart, I finished the calculations. If you’re wondering, I used $3.29 a gallon for the third fill-up.
When I got my answer I couldn’t believe it. I double-checked my figures twice.
Now you’re not gonna believe this. Turns out, I would’ve saved three dollars and fourteen cents by “jumping up ’n going” and filling up earlier - before the prices went up again.
This is all so confusing. If you see me on the freeway, you might notice I’m driving rather erratically. I can’t seem to drop those smooth ’n slow habits, plus I still have this feeling that it’s good to save gas – even if it costs more. And maybe I should just fill up every time I come close to a gas station… How much would that save?
Forget it. Last week gas prices fell. Expected to keep falling for the next two months.
Sometimes the only way to keep up in life is to just jump up ’n go.