Increased tolerance for pain
By Brad on Jun 12, 2008 in Trivial Matters | comments(0)
It’s really a sad state of affairs when you get excited about a $3.61-per-gallon gas price. Yesterday morning I filled up my Honda Odyssey at the 7-Eleven at 15th and Boulevard in Edmond. I knew that they would be cheaper than the closer Conoco station at 15th and Broadway, but I was pleasantly surprised that they were 20 cents cheaper! It pretty much made my day yesterday — at least it made for a more pleasant drive to work!
It amazes me and certainly doesn’t seem like good business that the Conoco — a mere one block away from the 7-Eleven — was so much higher. Oh well, their loss!
I typically don’t go out of my way to price shop for the lowest gas prices because I figure that if it’s not on the way or nearby, then any potential savings of a few cents per gallon will likely be offset by the amount of gas it takes to get there. If I find something 5 cents per gallon cheaper, I will only save about 80 cents filling up there, but may spend twice that much or more in gas getting there.
However, finding a gas station with 20 cents per gallon cheaper within one block essentially meant I got nearly a gallon of gas free!
Oh how far we’ve come in the last couple of years. I remember getting upset that gas prices were approaching $2 per gallon. Now, we keep flirting with $4 per gallon in our area (while others around the country have long since blown by that milestone). That’s a big adjustment in such a short period of time, especially when you have a larger vehicle like my minivan. I’ve looked at the feasibility of trading it in, but with a family of four plus three canines to haul around on family trips, smaller wouldn’t work quite as well.
Indeed, our tolerance for pain at the pumps has increased. When Hurricane Katrina resulted in the jump in gas prices to $3.25 per gallon, I was trying to figure out how we would afford it and looking at ways to cut back on travel. Now look at us. $3.25 per gallon would seem like we hit the lottery!
After paying $3.89 per gallon last week (for a total near $68 to fill up), $3.61 seemed like I had hit a small lottery. The downside is that $3.61 will likely be near the bottom end of what we pay for gas going forward. The upside is that maybe all this pain at the pump will finally force the government and automakers to actually come up with real solutions. But I won’t hold my breath.
