Cheaper gas is killing me

Have you noticed the price of gas lately? The national average for regular gas is $3.39 per gallon. It's $3.10 in my neighborhood.

Guess the financial crisis and Hurricane Ike failed to do us in. We should be happy, but for some reason the cheaper the price per gallon of gas, the more I suffer.

Time is money according to Benjamin Franklin. I guess if you're a head doctor it is. Or if you are a food server who has to deal with bums hanging out in your section drinking coffee and not tipping.

But the cheaper the gas, the more pain I suffer.

See, I get my gas at one particular neighborhood convenient mart. I like the people there. It's a clean joint. I purchase my wares and can be gone on a matter of seconds. But now that gas is cheaper(not cheap, but cheaper), I find myself spending more time at the pump.

It takes longer to pump $40.00 at today's prices than it does at $4.00 per gallon. At $4.00 p/gallon, I am at the pump just time enough to say to my fellow pumper, " Hi, how are you?"

Now, as gas cost less per gallon, I have time to not only say, "Hi, how are you," but I have to listen to," Hey, did you know another alien space ship landed just outside of Moscow, Idaho. No kidding. I read about it in the National Stargazer." Or, What about those Cubs. This is their year." "Did you know that REO Speedwagon is coming to town?"

Folks, REO Speedwagon is not coming to my little farming community south of Chicago. Not even for cheap gas. And the Cubs were eliminated, losing in the first round in typical Cubs fashion, 3 games to none.

Spending $40.00, for 10.7 gallons and two minutes at the pump is not too long. Now, it's $40.00 for 12.9 gallons and another 45 seconds to listen to some nut job.

What a trade off. Less dollars per gallon of gas, more nutty conversation.

Ask yourself. Do we really want to see $1.00 per gallon of gas again?