"I don't need all that extra gas mileage"

Justin here. When I was in high school I had a 1977 International Harvester Scout II, it was the ultimate guys truck: removable top, loud speakers, big wheels, three horns . . . the works. As anyone who wanted to could, I'm able to track my life stages in cars (and miles per gallon). It goes something like this:

• Impending College Travel - Sell Scout (~12mpg) and buy 1999 Chevy Tahoe (~15mpg)
• Married My Lovely Wife - Inherit and drive her 1992 Honda Accord (~24mpg)
• My Wife Starts Commuting 100 miles per day - Sell '92 Accord (~24mpg) for '00 model (~23mpg)
• Baby On The Way - Sell 2 door Tahoe (~15mpg) for 4 door Toyota 4Runner (~19mpg)
• My Quarter-Life Crisis - Sell Honda Accord (~23mpg) and buy 1991 Toyota Landcruiser (~14mpg)

So my rationale on that last one went something like this: "Due to our low key social lives and my 1.2 mile commute to work, I only drive 4,000 miles/year in this Accord. I change my oil once a year for goodness sakes! It would only cost me $20/dollars per month to drive a car that I love. I really don't need all that extra gas mileage." That last sentence was an actual quote. Al Gore would be ashamed.

I read this article in the NYTimes about 'gas tourism' in Mexico. Folks travel to the border, wait in line, go to the nearest gas station, wait in line, go back to the border, wait in line, and go home. One guy does that trip all day long to fill up a fleet of trucks. One guy even visited an orthodontist and got cheaper braces while south of the border. One guy has been mugged at gunpoint, yet still goes back!

I don't really have that option where I live, so I'm walking home for lunch, taking the more fuel efficient car when able, even borrowing my Mom's volvo station wagon (with embarrassingly feminine 'pet named' vanity license plate) for long trips.

Come to think of it, I might rather be held up at gun point than have one more trucker ask me at the gas pump how her vanity plate acquired the name 'Bunn1e.'