Trading places, trading spaces, trading faces?

Okay, face/off has come to life. Here's a fascinating article from the BBC (warning: don't try to eat something while you read it, particularly if you have a strong imagination and a weak stomach): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4259538.stm.

Talk about putting a good face on things. Or rising up to face a new challenge.

- AJS

Andrew's 400-mile challenge

With gas prices climbing and fuel efficiency on everyone's mind these days, I thought I'd try a little experiment. I thought I'd see how far I'm able to drive on one tank of gas in our 1999 Saturn SL. I learned much more than I expected.

I set a goal to drive 400 miles on one 12-gallon tank of gas. I filled up at the gas station at Manning and Highway 99 on my way home from school last Thursday night. I was a little nervous about the goal because I've never been able to go farther than 390 miles without filling up. I knew I'd have to be careful about my driving. And I was. That's when I started learning.

Driving in town wasn't much different from my regular routine. I made sure to accelerate slowly, drive smoothly, and shift at relatively low RPMs. I got a little reaction from other drivers wanting me to move faster or passing me with miffed looks on their faces because I was going so slow. But I didn't care. I was on a mission. I also didn't get angry at these folks because I knew I'd probably have similar feelings in their position.

I learned the most when I made the long trip to Fresno several times this week. I expected to get even more angry looks because other drivers would want me to move faster than the 55 miles per hour I was determined to maintain. After all, most freeway speed limits are 65 mph. I was wrong. It turns out that EVERYONE drives so much faster than 55 miles per hour that no one even had time to be miffed by me. I never became much more than a blip on their radar screens. I made sure to drive courteously and stay in the far-right lane. I found that even truckers, who are supposed to limit their speed to 55 mph on California highways, passed me quickly.

But I also learned something else: driving slow never made me late. It may be that I anticipated a delay and gave myself a little extra time to get where I was going, but I think the real reason I wasn't late is that driving fast doesn't gain as much time as I previously thought.

My stress level also went down. I really began to enjoy the trips, knowing I couldn't speed them up any. I'd rock out to 'Jack and Diane', 'Heads Carolina, Tails California', 'Paradise City', 'Blessed Be Your Name', or any number of other songs while I sat back and enjoyed the ride. Driving slow really helped me to live in the moment instead of focusing on being somewhere else.

Last night, a week after filling the tank at 99 and Manning, I pulled into my garage with 403.7 miles on the tripmeter of my odometer. The low fuel light hadn't even come on, which means I probably could have driven 30 or 40 miles farther if needed.

I still enjoy driving fast, and it may be too soon to call this a life-change, but I've sure enjoyed driving this week. So how about you? How many miles can you squeeze out of a full tank?

- AJS

Published

Following the example of my illustrious brother and (more recently) co-blogger, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Lodi News Sentinel. Though my writing can't even pretend to compete with his and my topic's slightly less important, the News-Sentinel still saw fit to throw in my contribution. You can read it here. Enjoy!
- AJS

New Blog

Welcome to Contributions: the new Blog of Jon and Andrew Shinn. Bear with us as we set the site up and make it ready to be the web's hippest new forum for Stuff That Jon and Andrew Think. No one knows where we'll go, but I guarantee it'll be one heckuva' ride!

Cheers,
AJS