Brotherly Love

About four this afternoon I stopped at my usual c-store for a cup of java (hey it was only in the upper 90's). While I fixed my coffee a young boy (about 12 or 13) and younger sister (about 8 or 9) came in , each holding a dollar.

The girl was looking at an orange soda but her brother talked her into a Dr. Pepper as that was what he was buying for himself. The can drinks were priced at 79 cent each and after making her selection, her brother offered to pay for it and took her dollar and the Dr. Pepper to the cashier while the girl waited by the door.

He paid for the two Dr. Peppers and walked over to her and gave her a quarter and her Dr. Pepper. She was surprised at getting a quarter back and he said something to her and patted her on her back and opened the door and they were gone.

She was getting a dose of "brotherly love", what he saw but she did not was the sign,
Dr. Pepper, 2/$1.00.

Taking Action

Trading for a more fuel efficient vehicle may say gas but it probably will not save you any money. If you need to replace your ride then by all means replace it with a smarter choice but if gas savings are needed now, then the best way is "drive slower".












I guess these people got tired of everyone honking their horns because they were not driving like a BOH on the freeway. They were actually driving 55mph in a 60mph zone thru town. They had been in the slow lane and moved over so I could get on the interstate.

I grabbed on camera and took this picture thru my windshield. As I passed I did toot my horn (the electric one, not the loud air-horn) and gave then a "thumbs up".

$4 gas a good thing?

Just a few stations in the pricier part of town has $4 a gallon gas (so far). Gas prices are on every ones mind and that is about all that is being discussed at work.

Everyone is talking about driving less and starting to question ALL of their buying decisions. It is amazing that gas prices have gotten people to do what they should be doing in the first place.

Driving less not only saves gas but saves money that are often not included when we think of the cost of a trip. Maintenance cost, replacement costs, accelerated depreciation and of course the biggie, convenient store snacks.

I have seen several older model high gas mileage cars on the interstate in the past month or so. Two were Ford Fiestas like the one in the picture and one looked like it had been sitting under a tree for years and just put back on the road. New tires, fresh tags, but not even a quick wash job. I'm sure it was pressed into being used as a work car because of the price of gas.

The price of crude oil is down $6 a barrel in the past 2 days but over all I think gas prices will be higher next year and even higher the next. We all need to find ways to save on gas and not give our retirement to the gas companies.

An enjoyable day

I took a little ride last Thursday on my motorcycle to run an errand and stopped by to see my friend Jimmy.

I have written about Jimmy before but I decided that after 30+ years I should have a picture of us.











He is the good looking one on the right. He goes days, weeks and sometimes months without ever leaving his place.

Lonely? Hardly, I cannot ever remember visiting without someone else stopping by to do the same. Six days a week you will always find him out at his garage. On Sunday you can find him on his porch after church.

Besides his garage, his other passion is raising a garden and I was sent home with some ripe "maters".

Sidewalks

Sidewalks being installed seems like an everyday occurrence, but hopefully it shows a shift in governmental policy.

Our town is a "bedroom community" for the Little Rock, Arkansas area. The road you see is Arkansas State Highway 5. As our town developed along this highway there were no sidewalks installed. The town has just started to develop on this side of the interstate in the last few years.













This is the only sidewalk along the highway. There is an elementary school where the sidewalk ends at the top of picture. To the left and also behind where I am standing is all now housing developments with young families.

There is no safe way for children to walk to school and the parents drive them. In the five years I have lived here I can count on one hand the number of children I have seen walking to school.

With gas prices at $4 and only going up in the future, maybe our city government has finally wised up to the fact that some people just can no longer afford to drive their children to school and maybe we can get back to "walking to school".

The sidewalks and cross walks will provide children (and their parents if they so choose) a safe path to school. A city police car is there mornings and afternoons. Hopefully there will be sidewalks added to the other side of the road as that is the side with the most homes.

It will not be a quick and easy transition but all it takes is a few parents and kids using it to start a trend. Our country is facing challenges and we all must step up to the plate.