This is how I roll

In certain respects I kind of like that fuel has become so expensive. It gives me permission to do things I always wanted to do.

Here is what I mean:

Part of my morning routine is to wait at the bus stop with the my two younger daughters and then to drive to work right after the bus comes. The stop is about 4 or 5 hundred yards from our house, so I just drive there rather than walking down and then having to walk back to get my car. I used to let my car idle while waiting for the bus on the theory that it isn't good for the engine to be starting it too often.

First, what I changed was that I turned the car off when I got to the bus stop. Later I realized that it is down hill the whole way from home to bus stop, so why even turn the car on? I just have to remember to leave my car in such a position that it will start to roll once I release the hand brake and turn the steering wheel. So now what I do is turn the key just enough to unlock the steering column and then coast to the bus stop. There are a couple of 90 degree turns and it is a bit of a work-out to do with no power steering. Also, no power brakes; so I have to break early and hard to get the thing to stop.

Maybe by next Winter fuel will be cheap again--it was pretty sweet getting into my car after the bus comes and finding it toasty warm.