Maximizing mileage (aka PLEASE SLOW DOWN!)

I have noticed a growing trend since gas prices topped $4/gallon - some people are driving slower! I know, it's shocking, but it's true. I drive a Toyota Yaris and currently average 33-38 mpg. On a really good day I can top 40 mpg. But it's hard. The reason it's hard is because I have a lifetime of aggressive driving habits to unlearn. Highway driving is ok, I keep it at 65 mph or a little under. That's a big improvement over my routine speed of 80+ (gosh, I hope my mom isn't reading this...). That alone gave an enormous boost to my mileage. The next hurdle is to ease into the stops and starts. I would like to learn the joy of coasting. How much sense does it make to hit the gas, only to brake at a curve 100 feet later? None at all, my friends. I would like to train myself not to punch it when the light turns green, to come up to speed slowly. All this will make a difference.

For those of you who may not have read one of the umpteen jillion articles on the subject, here are some facts and figures:

* Speeding, jumping on the brakes and flooring the pedal after a stop can reduce your mileage by 33%. One-third of your gas is being wasted if you drive this way. Wow.
* MPG can be reduced by 5 for every 10 mph you drive over 55. For example, say you normally get 30 mpg at 55 mph. Traveling at a rate of 65 mpg reduces your mileage to 25 miles per gallon. Increasing your speed to 75 mph (and you know you do drive that fast) will reduce your avereage to 20 mpg.
*For every 10 mph you increase your speed, you’re saving a whopping 10 seconds per mile.

So, armed with these items, I hearby solemnly pledge the following:
1. I WILL SLOW DOWN.
2. I will not treat a traffic light like a shotgun start at Indy.
3. I will leave earlier so I don't feel pressured to hurry.

And to all of those idiots out there, riding my bumper and thinking you can intimidate me to go faster, forget it. It won't work, so you may as well SLOW DOWN also. Just think, not only will you save gas, carbon emissions and possibly a life, but your blood pressure will be lower, too.

Just something to think about.

Fun with Fllickr

Came across this photo meme at Skrilla Knits (who has an awesome tribute to her father on her blog, by the way) and shamelessly ripped it off to use on my own page. But since she borrowed it from Katywhumpus, maybe neither of them will mind.

Here's my collage (click on it to see it larger):

And here are the rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

It's how I spent a rainy evening.

I miss our old house

I know why we had to move. It was too big, too expensive and just wasn't working for us anymore. But I miss it. I miss 1400 square feet of hardwood floors, even though they weren't in such good shape. I miss 15 windows and a skylight. I miss my 20'x20' bedroom, and my living room of the same size. I miss five closets, and two spare rooms to keep our stuff. I MISS BEING QUEEN OF MY OWN KITCHEN! And I miss being surrounded by my books and crafts.




These are some pics I took in April of the huge tree outside our door. Our apartment was on the second floor, and the deck seemed to sit right in the lower branches. I loved this tree.










So we're here, cramped into a little tiny space in someone else's place, trying to do the right thing. Granted, it's not so bad. We are with family who love us. Our space is totally ours and relatively private. We have our very own yard and a shared garden that's growing like gangbusters. We're saving lots of money so we can buy our very own home in a year or two.

But I miss our old place.

Let the Berry-ing Begin!

Well, woohoo. Strawberry season has arrived in the Northeastern USA and I am ready to meet it head-on. Unlike other years, when I'm only dimly aware of these jewels when they're almost gone, I was one of the first in the fields this year. Friday saw me wading thru the slop (after a torrential downpour that morning) in my slinky black pants and sleeveless white sweater - I was on my way home from work when a Pick-Ur-Own sign caught my eye. Came home with four quarts, all I could handle for an unplanned stop. These are for eating fresh - about half of them are juicing in the fridge with raw cane sugar for shortcake tonight. Next week will be a minimum of 16 more quarts for freezing. We'll see how freezer space looks after that. We still have cherries, raspberries, wild black caps and blueberries to come. But strawberries are my favorite so they may get a little more than their share of room.

In other garden news...look at our lettuce!

We also have broccoli, tomatoes (Dr. Wyches Yellow, Reinhard's Goldkirsche and something The Father-in-law selected), cukes (English seedless, Lemon and Boston Pickling), beans (green string, McCaslin and Purple Poles), peppers (yellow banana, habanero, Corno di Toro Giallo and Sweet Chocolate), Walla Walla sweet onions and a ton of other stuff. The FIL has the greenest thumb of anyone I've ever known except for my mom. So it looks like a bountiful season ahead!

Here are some dumb clucks who share our yard space.



And the hummingbird feeder in our back cedar trees. It gets a lot of action, but I'm way too slow to get a shot of an actual hummingbird. Picture one here:

These were all taken last week, as you can see by the dates. Other than the lettuce, which has taken off like a house afire, it all pretty much looks the same :)

Wilting in the heat and wishing you all a Happy Saturday!