Lead feet and short memories

Wow, what a difference two months makes. While some pundits predicted the price of gasoline would hit $4 or $5 a gallon, before it ever fell to $2.50, some stations have dropped the price as low as $2.15 in my area. It's gotten so low I've had to pull some of the bumper stickers from my poorly stocked online store, since they just didn't make sense anymore.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that along with this drop in gas prices, I've noticed the driving habits of my fellow commuters start to trend back into Ludicrous Speed territory. The number of cars flying by at 80 mph, 85 mph or even higher has increased quite a bit in the past month. So has the number of impatient jerks who change lanes three times in a minute just to get around everyone else (which BTW is enough to get you pulled over in Massachusetts based on regulations put in place to fight road rage).

Also, due to the vagaries of the petroleum industry, the price of diesel has remained comparatively outrageous ($2.60 to $2.90 around here).

I'll play pundit myself, and predict that a year from now, if the price of gas remains below $2.50, we'll be talking about car makers saddled with enormous inventories of small, efficient cars that nobody wants.

Coming up next, the Hummer H-Zero(tm), twice as large as the original Hummer, because the H3 is for wusses.