Mittwoch.

Work. Wahoo. Actually, it wasn’t too bad today. Letters processing for the first half of the day; flats for the second. Mail was very sporadic in flats – I was able to brush up on HTML tables for the last two (2) hours of my shift. This is a twofold “good thing” because the table layout that I came up with will most likely be the basis for the frame/table layout of the next version of my site.

Today, I rediscovered the joys of listening to National Public Radio (NPR) at work. It was pleasant, on the whole. I did get a little wound up when one of the news/talk programs did a segment that talked about U.S. oil reserves and how popular (though inefficient with respect to gas mileage) certain types of vehicles are. There was a note of how one-seventh (1/7) of global oil production is consumed by…. you guessed it, Americans. Specifically: North Americans. More specifically: The U.S. I will be the first to admit that we are a consumer (read: “ME! ME! ME!” or “I must have…”) culture. My IKEA and Best Buy obsessions are prime indicators of this phenomenon/trend.

So what was it that got under my collar?

A reporter, talking to people at an auto show, asked what drew them to certain vehicles. One man said, and I’m paraphrasing this as best I remember it: “I’m here with my son, looking at the new SUVs…. I’m a big guy and I’m looking for something that I can fit in comfortably; if I can’t get the headroom or shoulder space I want, I don’t even bother. I’m also looking for something that I can get my kids into.”

At this point, the reporter asked the gentleman if he was concerned that the class of vehicles that he was choosing had poor overall gas mileage. The man’s response, and this is what floored me: “I don’t care about gas mileage. Gas is cheap.”

While this person may be affluent enough not to have to worry about the minor pittance that he pays for gas, let’s look at it in the long term:

  • As he mentioned, he has children. Plural. More than one. This means that he has expenses to cover for each child. I don’t have kids, but I have friends who do and I have parents. I have heard their accounts of who expensive one child can be. More than one? Do the math.
  • While it’s true that gas is currently relatively inexpensive, it is hardly realistic to think that it will be so forever. Or even for the next few months. Does anyone remember when gas prices pushed, and in some cases broke, the $2.00 USD mark last year? What is there to keep it from happening again this year?
  • SUVs typically have large gas tanks, approaching 15 – 20 gallons (56 – 75 lit res), if not larger. I am willing to bet that having to fill something this size two or three times a week will start to wear thin.

Bill Maher, of Politically Incorrect, often comments about his hybrid (gas/electric) vehicle and how much mileage he gets from a tank of gas; for some reason 60 – 65 mpg (25 – 27 km/l) seems to stick in my mind. The Chevrolet (formerly Geo) Metro has long been noted – and praised – for getting high mileage, 35 mpg (14 km/l) city / 45 – 50 mpg (19 – 21 km/l) highway.

I know that some people like large vehicles. Some people even need large vehicles. To tell the truth, I have even thought that it might be nice to have a truck or SUV. *shrug* But, it seems to me that somewhere along the line, we (consumers and manufacturers) should be able to find a happy medium. Why? Because I find it hard to believe that, in the same world where we are able send people into orbit to give a telescope the hardware equivalent of Lasik surgery, we can’t come up with ways to improve the efficiency of truck/SUV gas mileage.

And, that’s my 2¢ worth for tonight.

Peace.