Fuel prices are out of control.

I'm a very lucky person. I don't have to actually pay for gas that often. I mean I'm not the person that in the long run pays the bill. When I'm traveling for work, I fill up all the time, but it goes on a company card, and I'm not the one who actually has to pay for it. When I'm home, 90% of what I need to do can be easily accomplished with mass transportation or by walking. I'm definitely not opposed to either of those options. I'd say about another 5% of my travel is under 5 miles, mainly because I don't want to/can't carry whatever it is that I'm buying. The remaining 5% are longer trips that happen a few times a year. Did I mention that I drive my own car less than 3,000 miles annually?

I've known that gas prices have been on the rise. But again, when on the road, I don't really pay attention to what I'm paying for gas. So long as I get a receipt, I'm happy. A few weeks back, I had to play the role of the good son and visit my parents who live about 150 miles away. There were some chores that needed to be done, and some things that I couldn't in good conscience allow them to do themselves. I filled up my gas tank on Monday and paid 3.09/gallon. I live in New Jersey. that was sky high. I don't think I've ever seen gas over 3.00 in my home state before in my life. It cost me over 60.00 to fill up my 22 gallon tank. (Yes, I was nearly on Empty....) When I first got my car (August 4th, 1998) I could easily fill up my tank for 20.00. Every once in a while, I'd splurge and put the good stuff in and it might cost 25.00 to fill up.

So I drove down to my parents that Friday morning. I notice that gas has gone up to 3.17 in most places, including on the Turnpike. I found it amazing that it would go up 8 cents in 4 days. When I'm down the shore, I notice the prices are even HIGHER. On friday night, the Wa-Wa's went from 3.17 to 3.21. On Saturday they went 3.21 to 3.29. I filled up my tank on Saturday as it was nearly empty -- more on this later. On Sunday they went from 3.29 to 331. Fourteen cents in 3 days. Are they out of their mind?

I knew NJ has some screwy gas laws. For example, we can't be trusted to pump our own gas. We have to full service. It comes in handy in the rain or the bitter cold, but most of the time it's an annoyance. Secondly, gas stations can only raise their prices once a day. There is one exception to this law that I found out that weekend -- The Gas stations on the Turnpike and Parkway can only raise their prices once per week, on Fridays. So while everyone else is selling gas at 3.31, the Parkway and Turnpike stations are selling for 3.17 still. That's good to know. The following Friday, when they raised prices, they went to 3.39. Most others were at 3.37 then. As I'm writing this, the NJ average price is 3.43. NJ also has some of the lowest prices in the nation.....

To get to my point in all of this, I now finally understand WHY this is such a big deal. I don't live like most Americans. I live in an urban area where I don't rely on a car. Staying down at my parents for the weekend, I had to drive 25 miles round trip to get to a Home Depot. I had to drive 89 miles round trip to go to a Best Buy. THAT is where the price of gas, I think, really affects us as Americans. When it starts costing more money to do everyday shopping trips, it hurts. For the record, I spent over $180.00 in fuel that weekend, and yes, I did fill up on the Parkway where the price was still 3.17. I'm not stupid.

That week I went to Alabama for work, and ironically enough on Earth Day received a Suburban as a rental car. It makes sense because we're able to take one car instead of multiple cars. It was a 68 mile drive, one way into work every day, plus any additional errand runnings. In that week, I spent $266.21 for fuel for my rental car for work. Something needs to be done about this. If oil companies are making the record profits, no one has to question why that is....