Gas

Gas prices are coming down!!! I saw a station selling gas at $3.95 the other day! It's time to go out and buy another Yukon to replace the one I sold last week, back when gas was $4.10 a gallon!

My dad drives a gas guzzling work van for, well, work, so I feel bad saying this but... I kind of wish that gas would stay around $4...

Even with gas being $4, I still only spend about $90 a month a gas, which is what I was spending back when gas was around $3 a couple of months ago. Since I live just 6 miles from work, a lot of my driving was just joy riding. I love driving, I really do, it relaxes me. It wasn't unusual for me to go to a Target 20 miles away instead of the one 2 miles down the road, just so I'll have an excuse to drive. It gives me a chance to listen to awesome music and just be alone and unwind and think. Of course, I do live in NoVa so I would have to avoid rush hour- there's absolutely no joy in crawling along in traffic.

So yeah... no more joy riding, significantly less trips to Trader Joe, Borders in Sterling over Barnes and Nobel in Reston... I still take the long way home some times though 'cause, after being around people people people for 8 hours straight, I need to unwind a bit. But, even the long way home only adds like maybe 5 miles to my commute. I guess I don't really miss joy riding- there are other, cheaper, ways to be along for awhile.

Jalopnik lists five very good reasons why high gas prices are awesome. I like the high gas prices 'cause it makes me feel superior to all the idiots driving their SUVs and commuting 1.5 hours, each way, to work every day. Like, when I can't park properly 'cause there're are SUVs the sizes of small houses on both side of me... instead of anger, now I just feel pitty... and that makes me feel better. Or, when I'm stuck in heavy traffic at 9 freaking am in the morning 'cause all the flex time commuters from Winchester and West Virginia decided to hit the road for their commute to DC... again, now I just feel pitty.

Still, for the sake of my dad, those on very tight budgets, and the price of all consumable goods, I hope the gas price comes down a lot more. If it does, I can probably save $30 a month and, with winter coming up soon, that can be my chestnut money.

During winter, Trader Joe sells these microwaveable frozen roasted chestnuts that are amazing. A bit pricey at like $5 a bag but OMG, so worth it. Back when I first got addicted, I would spend like $100 a month on chestnuts alone. And when Reston ran out... I would drive as far as an hour away just to get some more. I don't regret it... those chestnuts were beast.