Gasoline

It is no secret that gas prices are at record highs. Today I paid over $4.70 p/gallon, which was $52.17 for my 12 gallon tank. The last date I filled up at the pump was March 26, 2008. Between then and now I have been out of town a total of 4 weeks for business and pleasure, which means I have been in LA for 48 days on 1 tank of gas. This is definitely the longest I have ever gone without filling up. It doesn’t hurt that I am not working and don’t have to drive to thru classic LA traffic to the office everyday. Trips outside of Venice have been mostly for special events or to the local hardware shop. Somehow I managed to do almost all of our grocery shopping by foot or on my bicycle. Donny and I even rode our bikes to the 3^rd Street Promenade for a double feature: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 3 bags full of groceries from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. We brought our bags of food with us into the theater.

In the eight years I have lived in LA I have never taken public transportation and still haven’t – and I don’t think I am very different from most Angelenos. I recently heard on public radio that in the past few months the park & ride for the LA metro had increased by over 40%, however there is still a caste system about taking the bus. I start work on a movie next Monday and plan to try out the Big Blue Bus for my transportation needs. I might sit in just as much traffic if not more, but it will cost half as much. Plus, “43 percent of the BBB fleet is fueled by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) which is 77% cleaner burning than diesel-fueled buses”. If I can go into Ralph’s by myself with reusable bags and not be too embarrassed, then I can ride the bus. I just might wear really dark glasses at first.