Had to drive to the airport this morning to pick up an arriving passenger whose flight from Boston got in at 7:40 am. I hit 1-94 east at Hwy. T in Waukesha with plenty of time, so I decided to see about making the trip at a steady 60 mph. I set the cruise control and moved from center lane (My commute-to-Milwaukee mantra has always been: get in the center lane and stay there) to the right hand lane, expecting to need to be out of the path of the typical 72 mph drivers on this stretch of road I've driven most days since 1973.
Over a five mile stretch, west of Moorland Rd, only three cars whizzed past. Virtually everyone else was going just about 60 mph. An F250 covered with racing decals (heading for Naptown and the 500, no doubt) was in the lane next to me, nursing every bit of mileage out of its gas tank, creeping along at 5mph UNDER the speed limit.
It seems that the price of gasoline has--at long-last--pushed MOST drivers to back off the throttle. Four bucks a gallon: that's the behavior changing number.
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About Me
- Jim Bouman
- Of the biblical allotment of three score and ten I have lived only three of them more than a bicycle ride from one of the Great Lakes. I grew up ten blocks from Lake Erie in the (once Irish/Italian ghetto, now newly-hip) "Near West Side" of Cleveland. I can still cycle to the Milwaukee lakefront in an hour and a half; but, a round-trip has always been more than I would (noror ever did) attempt. -0- I'm a "...somewhat combative pacifist and fairly cooperative anarchist," after the example of Grace Paley (1922-2007). -0- I'm always cheerful when I pay my taxes (having refused--when necessary--to pay that portion of them dedicated to war). -0- And I always, always vote.
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