Today’s low cost comes via a gas station I wrote about in the last post. The second photo in that post was a Hess Station. It’s now a Speedway. For the record it looks like all the Hess stations in Orlando are Speedways. As far as prices is concerned, nobody else that I can see is anywhere as low as these guys. Even though ownership has changed, this station is still aiming to be the lowest, the soonest, in Orlando. It’s going to be interesting to see which way these prices are going to head; back up or down further.

How do these price drops make me feel? Damned angry. Certainly not grateful. Understand that the high cost of gas cost me and my family dearly back in the years when it was $3 and $4 per gallon. In a society so dependent upon personal automobiles and no mass transit infrastructure to speak of, paying dearly just to commute to work or perform basic transportation chores has left lasting impressions and economic scars. When your combined family gas bill is going past $700/month like mine did back in 2008, you don’t forget. I, at least, had a decent job that at least allowed me to pay for it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t stop buying something else. Trust me, I shifted the family budget around to make sure all the necessities were properly paid for; all “impulse” buying came to a screeching halt, such as eating out at the local Olive Garden type restaurants, trips to movies, non-necessary purchases at local department stores, etc. If we didn’t need it we didn’t get it. Dropping prices like this just rubs salt into old wounds.

Right now, if I could get an electric vehicle from Toyota with decent range (between 200 and 300 miles between charges) and a way to charge it where I parked, I’d trade in my Prius for that vehicle in a cold New York minute. Even if it cost more to buy that vehicle. Anything I can do to remove all my dependency away from petroleum I will do. That also includes home solar to remove my dependency on Duke Energy. Every bill I get includes a fuel surcharge, which about doubles my overall home electric bill. During that period where my family gas bill was around $700/month, my home electric bill, during the summer, ranged in the mid $500/month, about four times higher than it was in 2000, five times higher than what it was in the 1990s. Yes, I’m all into doing and spending whatever is necessary to become fossil fuel independent, where I don’t use any fossil fuels at all.

I’m not just ready, I’m well past ready.