No Pain Gasoline Savings – Part 1

Gasoline prices are up again and there are some real easy things you can do to save some money.  Let me share them with you:

1.                   Empty the car.  The more weight an engine must move the more gasoline it must consume.  Do you still have that luggage rack on the roof from vacation last year?  Do you need all those tools all the time?

2.                   Check your air pressure.  Over and under inflated tires will cost you money.  Don’t know how much air pressure is needed, look at the drivers door jam, it is probably right there.  Check it once a month, it isn’t difficult to do and will probably add life to the tires themselves.

3.                   Plan your trips.  If you have to go to the grocery store and the post office, do both on the same trip.  And figure out your rout before you leave so you can use the shortest rout without double backs.

4.                   Change your oil and filter per the owners manual.  Probably every 3,000 miles if you do city driving or 6,000 miles for country driving.  You may need a new filter at every change or every other change.  Check your other fluids also, this will not only save you money on gasoline but on repairs and maintenance as well as resale.

5.         Check your mileage once a month to see how you are doing.  This can also act as a means of early detection so problems can be addressed before they become major.  When you fill the tank take the receipt and note the miles on your odometer.  Next time you fill up not the miles again as well as the number of gallons.  Subtract the beginning miles from the ending miles and divide that figure by the number of gallons.  124,500 miles at the first fill-up and 124,700 at the last one equals 200 miles traveled.  Divide this by the 10 gallons you purchased and you have 20 MPG (miles per gallon).  Of course you can’t be putting small amounts into the tank between fill-ups.

Quotes to remember

While we may need spiritual “fruits” we don’t’ need Religious “nuts”. 

Don’t read this as an assault on Muslims because it isn’t.  People who claim the U. S. to be a “Christian” nation, Jews who are friendly at arms length with people of other religions, and those who interpret the meaning of God only through their own eyes are all at fault.  If you are religious don’t give up your beliefs, just don’t force them down the throats of others.  While I haven’t done a complete enough study of the subject I doubt there is a religion on earth that preaches getting to heaven is a competitive sport.  We don’t get a better seat by dragging others with us through the Pearly Gates.  We may though, if others follow us on their own.

I’m also fine with it if you don’t believe in God.  Just don’t hold it against me that I do.  That would kind of make you a Religious Nut.

Think Things Out

Did you catch the story about the UK immigration officer who put his wife on the list of terrorist suspects after she flew to Pakistan to visit her family?  He came up with the ingenious idea but failed to think it out to its’ logical conclusion.  Three years later (yes, she was stuck there for three years) he came up for a promotion which requires a background check.  When Immigration found that his wife was a suspected terrorist they began to worry about him and increased their investigation.  Of course this uncovered what had happened and they freed the woman and fired the man.  Wouldn’t you like to be her divorce attorney?

You can read the CNBC story by John Carney at http://www.cnbc.com/id/41372870?par=aol

 Or http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351937/Immigration-officer-fired-putting-wife-list-terrorists-stop-flying-home.html#ixzz1CjWaQUMr