Roadguy has a smallish car and a short commute, so his daily budget is not much affected by the higher gas prices. But most gasoline consumers are not like Roadguy.

Take Roadguy’s relatives — Roadguy’s mom can tell you which gas stations within five miles of her home tend to have prices a few cents cheaper than the others, while Roadguy’s dad knows where to buy E-85 for the family Taurus and how much it costs. Roadguy’s sister, meanwhile, exemplifies the complex role that gas prices can play in a modern family’s budget.

Roadguy’s sister and her husband once lived only a few miles from their jobs. After her employer went belly-up, she enrolled in a nearby college; then her husband got laid off and, after much searching, found a job – in a small town 50 miles away. He commuted while they waited for their house to sell, and finally, right around the time her schooling ended, they relocated to a spot about 15 miles from where he worked. Now she’s got a lead on a good job – 20 miles in the other direction. In other words, fill ‘er up.

Today’s Strib has this story about people who take a positive view of the current gas prices. In the interest of family harmony, Roadguy will not be e-mailing the article to his relatives, but, with an eye toward blog harmony, please share your thoughts about gas prices below – how you’ve been affected, whether you’ve made any changes, and what (if anything) might be done.

And bonus points to anyone who knows where the photo at the top of this post was shot; Roadguy took it yesterday afternoon.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 6:10 am and is filed under Transportation conversations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.