Tank 227 - 23 March 2K10

The last three tanks I have refilled at the 7-11 near my office. I have
been at two different pumps, and neither has provided me with a receipt.
It's not that big of a deal, but I suspect this 7-11 is just lazy and
saves money by not replacing the receipt paper.

So I put in 12.013 gallons after going 461.8 miles, which, on paper,
makes for mileage of 38.44 mpg. Normally I find this reason to cheer,
as I paid particular attention to coasting down hills, accelerating
within reason, and overall trying hard to drive in a consistent manner
with little braking. However, on this new tank, I have gone 136 miles
and the fuel gauge is already a little down past the 3/4 full mark.
Normally when I am getting good mileage, I have gone about 150 miles
when the needle hits the 3/4 mark.

So I believe that the 7-11 pump just shut off earlier than the other
one.

But I had to try a new pump at the 7-11 because the one I had used twice
before had not issued a receipt. Thus, my fuel economy this tank may be
misrepresented because I went to a different pump.

Still, with all this variation due to different pumps, my average fuel
economy so far for 2K10 is 36.34 miles per gallon, which is 1.11 mpg
lower than 2009. But the year is still young.

Tank 226 - 15 March 2K10 - No Good News.

So I refueled yesterday in the chilly drizzle at the local 7-11 that's
right on my way home. I put in 12.252 gallons of gas @$2.759/gallon
(!), which ended up being $33.80, the most money I ever spent on a tank
of gas since October 2008 (yes, 2008!). Fuel economy was a miserable
35.15 mpg.

Plus, the pump wouldn't print out a receipt for me!

I posit that part of the reason for this pitiful performance in fuel
economy was that I had the little red (and not recalled!) Corolla and
used it all weekend to troll two kids around town as the remaining two
in my family were in North Carolina visiting family. So lots of short
trips on a cold engine. Yeah, that's what it was.

Tank 225 - 5 March 2K10

I drove 58.4 miles after the low fuel light came on this tank, for a
total of 428.5 miles. I ended up refilling at a 7-11 near my office on
my way home Friday, and that 7-11 pumped 11.837 gallons of gas into the
tank of the mighty and still unrecalled Corolla, making for a fuel
economy of 36.20 miles per gallon.

This was my seventh tank of gas for the year, and I have spent a total
of $203.24 on gasoline so far. Last year after seven tanks I had spent
just $125.48 on gasoline.

This makes me happy.

I hope gas gets even more expensive so people start complaining about it
again. When that happens, traffic in general flows more smoothly
because more people drive slower (like closer to the speed limit) and
they choose to drive their smaller cars instead of their big-assed SUVs.

I could probably make a chart to compare the time it took me to drive
home vs. the cost of gasoline. I have years worth of data. But I don't
want to do that right now. But I know I'd be proven right, so why
bother?