A good explanation of the long emergency

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency

A link and two tips for the day

Just saw this on cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/30/finding.alternatives.ireport/index.html

Two more tips for the day:

• Park in the shade if you are going to park for extended periods. "Why" you might ask? Because the heat from the sun will heat up your gas tank and make your gas evaporate. You may not lose much, but every little bit helps when you are a Petropincher.
• Don't fill your tank until you are under a quarter of a tank. Riding around on a full tank all of the time means you are carrying a lot of extra weight around and therefore burning more gas. Makes sense huh?
  

Corrections

I need to review my posts better....One more word on cruise control, and I purchased a tire gauge. Thanks

I had a low tire!!

I purchases a tire gauge today. It was only 98 cents at Lowe's, and lowe and behold - my back right tire was about 15 pounds under pressure. I quickly went to the nearest Fastrac gas station, went to a free air pump, and put in the extra air. That 98 cent investment should easily pay for itself many times over in better gas milage. I suggest everyone go get one and let the Petropinching begin in earnest.

Also, by the way, one of the oldest breweries in America burned down today in Utica, NY and I got to watch the whole thing go down live on the scene. The Saranac Brewery is still burning as I type. R.I.P.

One more work on cruise control

There seems to be a little confusion on cruise control, and austin, I can appreciate the comfort that cruise control brings. When using cruise control keep the following in mind: it should not be used in hilly terrain (which would cause a lot of revving of your engine going uphill), and if you do use it, make sure it is around the speed limit, which will help you burn less gas.

Tip of the day

Park in the absolute first parking lot you find - usually this will be far away from the entrance so it will a) keep you from driving around the parking lot b) keep you from driving any further than absolutely necessary and c) require you to walk a little further, burning off those calories from earlier in the day

Not a good day

Hello Petropinchers - didn't have a good day today; I tried to drive slower as I did my travels, but had an emergency that I had to respond to and found myself driving faster than I would've liked and accelerating more than I should have; can't win them all.

I did read an interesting article today that explained that cruise control can actually be Petropinching positive on flat surfaces (vs. Petropinching negative on hilly roads). Life is all about education - here are a couple of interesting articles if anyone is interested. Thanks for the response today austin.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/27/lifestyle.change.irpt/index.html

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1737002_1737005,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1809900,00.html