Gas prices are affecting everybody, no doubt, and over the last few weeks I’ve appreciated being able to talk with many different people about how they’re dealing with it; a few of those discussions have even ended up as articles in The J-E, and we intend for more of those stories to appear in future editions as time goes on. (Actually, what I would prefer the most is that we didn’t have stories like that to tell, that the gas prices would go down and that everything would get back on track economically, but that’s just not realistic, unfortunately.)

At home, my wife and I have made some very drastic changes of our own. Last year, when gas prices were still high but not outrageous, I made a very careful decision to buy a car that gets better gas mileage. I would love to own a hybrid, but I am frugral about big purchases like that, so I passed on the idea when I saw the dollar value on the window. I ended up with a very good deal for a “certified used” 2007 Toyota Corolla that listed a rating of 37 miles per gallon. It was a smart purchase then, since I live about 20 miles from the office. With the gas price increase, it’s even smarter.

Since the price jump, I’ve started paying attention to any and every piece of information out there about ways to improve gas mileage, and one of the things I came across that I thought was crazy but worth testing was the recommendation to turn your vehicle off anytime it idles for more than five minutes. Apparently, auto makers have improved the technology in ignition systems so that it no longer burns more gas than you would spend idling.

Never does my car idle more than when I am setting at one of the stoplights in Madisonville, particularly at the intersection of U.S. Hwys 41 and 41-A. I have timed wait periods at that light of as much as seven minutes. The average wait time is about three to five minutes. Since it’s a half-hour drive into Providence, multiply that by 10 (driving both ways) and that is at least a half-hour of gas each week.

So, last week I tried something new. When I approached the stoplights in Madisonville that I knew to stay red for longer periods, I turned my car off. I didn’t do it every time, just when I saw the light start to turn red as I approached it.

Now, I am very meticulous about my gas mileage rating. I have been getting between 34 and 36 miles per gallon most weeks. I don’t run the air conditioner unless absolutely necessary, and I keep my speed at 55 (or whatever the posted limit is) on the highway. I watch the “trip” meter, and the gas light usually comes on at close to 400 miles, at which point I have about three gallons left in the tank. I have never put more than 11.5 gallons in the car.

Anyway, last Thursday my gas light came on, and I flipped the odometer to the trip meter. I blinked in shock. It read 419.3! Well, that can’t be right, I thought, but the only time I reset it is when I fill up the car, so it must be. I filled up that afternoon, with the trip meter beautifully reading 441.4. It took just over 10.5 gallons, and a quick math check told me I got better than 40 miles to the gallon last week!

We’ve had a bit of a friendly rivalry at the office about mileage rates, and so I immediately called Kristie to brag about my successful venture. (She’d been teasing me that I would “ruin my starter” if I kept turning the car off at the lights, which I guess I could, but in the long run of all the gas I saved, it’s still a better deal.)

Personally, my solution to the gas price around here would be to replace all stoplights at every intersection except for the most major with a 4-way stop sign. It saves electricity, and people don’t waste gas sitting at a light that only changes every other couple of minutes at a minimum. I call it my “Stoplight Reduction Initiative,” or SRI for short. I have a list of stoplights that need to be replaced with stop signs; I just don’t have a good place to send it.

Reducing the idle time of my car isn’t the only thing we’ve done at home to cut costs. My wife took a transfer to a job closer to home when it came open; she had been working in Madisonville. We did the math and her transfer will save us more than $300 each month in fuel costs alone. If gas gets much more expensive, I may prop a tent up behind the office and roll out a sleeping bag. Well, probably not, but I am more likely right now to follow Joyce Akridge’s lead and go buy a motor scooter. (Not necessarily a pink motor scooter, though, just a standard color.)