So it turns out that maybe I'm not quite ready for the impending war in Iraq. Not that I'm worried about being sent over to fight -- I'm not in the reserves, I'm 24, and I have had surgery on my knee twice -- I simply can't afford the gas prices that it has already brought about.

I went to San Jose this weekend (about 200 miles) and used a little more than a tank of gas for the round trip. Assuming that I get 18 miles to the gallon and went 400 miles, that is a little more than 22 gallons of gas. Well, combine that with our average price of $2.15 per gallon in California, that's nearly $47 to visit the brother! Holy crap! That's nearly a fifth of my monthly payment on the truck!

Okay, well fair is fair and I can't always drive for free. Gone are the days when I could ask my parents for $20 for a tank of gas (besides, they live 2000 miles away). So, if we assume that I would normally have paid $1.30 each gallon, there is a difference of $19.00. Now this is a number that we can really work with. The additional $19.00 I had to pay to drive this weekend could have been spent on...

• a new movie
• carwash and a couple of smelly air fresheners
• a date to the movie theatre (not likely)
• a big box of condoms (that would only go to waste...see above)
• my phone bill
• 3775 Q-tips
• 76 gumballs
• 21.35 pounds of red globe grapes

Anyway you look at it, gas costs too much right now. I know that driving is a privelege and all, but still. Maybe it's time to start walking to work instead of driving the 6 blocks every day. Yeah, I'm really that lazy.