Look at the Photo

This photo demonstrates 2 things:

1. I am finally playing with the digital camera I got for Christmas.

2. I have not paid over $2.00 for a gallon of gas for awhile.

Well I need need a bit of clairification for #1. It's not really my camera, it's my mom's. My mom has a habit of buying electronic gadgets and then never using them. At least I use my iPod and my Palm Pilot. I think she gets them because it's A) on sale and B) cool but never uses them because her inner luddite forbids her from getting any more technologically proficient than being able to watch DVDs and using the home theater system for surrond sound. She has a cell phone but never uses it. It's a real pain in the ass on the rare occaisions when I really need to get in touch with her when she's not at home or work. I really shouldn't bitch about my mom so I should stop right now. But I have a new camera to play with.

Well on to the gas. As you may or may not know, the San Francisco Bay Area is the home to one of the highest gas prices in the nation. I can understand why California gasoline is more expensive because we use different gasoline than the rest of the nation because of state environmental regs. But I don't know why when we have to pay through our noses when the rest of the state pays less, nearly half of the state's oil refineries are in the area so the transportation costs should be lower.

I remember my senior year of high school (1999), gas was about $1.05 a gallon, every once in a while a gas station somewhere would have a one day "sale" at $0.99 a gallon. I could have filled my tank with a twenty and get change back. Then all of a sudden gas shot up to $1.40 a gallon. Me and all of my friends were bitching about the gas prices and I think to myself today that I would give almost anything for gas to be at $1.40 again.

The good thing about the high gas prices is that now I'm really conscious of of driving and gas usage. I usually try to schedule my days with as little driving as possible. For example, during my freshman year of college (2000, damn, I've been in school too long) if I had a long break between classes, I'd go home and nap or watch TV. Now I just hang out at school or just near school doing homework, I don't drive the extra 20 miles round trip and I burn one less gallon. Sometimes I can't help it, like a Sunday where I have a church gig here, then go to a rehearsal there, then hang out with some friends somewhere else, it could be an 80-120 mile day. It kinda sucks living back at my parents' because I'm now about 10-15 miles away from most of my friends. But family is what's important right now and I don't have to pay rent at home so...

...whatever, I'll just deal with it.