Drivin’ and sighin’ over gas prices
By: Gerry Yandel

Every day, it seems, there is some new and bad news about our weak, and worsening economic situation, whether it is massive layoffs at a large national company, record numbers of home foreclosures, falling property values, stalled home sales, rising unemployment rates, devaluation of the dollar abroad, or something else.

And, as if we needed a constant reminder of how tough things are financially – and how they will continue to worsen for the immediate future – we get to watch the price of gas creeping up to $4 per gallon. Gas prices will probably hit that level some time this year… and, there’s no apparent indication that it will stop anywhere close to that figure.

It costs me well over $50 to fill up my 15-gallon gas tank, and the rising gas prices are creeping throughout the rest of the economy. Rising fuel costs are causing price increases for groceries, which have become more expensive to ship around the country. Small businesses, particularly those that rely on driving to function, such as the service industry folks, like plumbers and electricians, who have to travel to job sites, are being forced into a corner.

(All is not apparently bad news. The Big Oil companies announced record profits last week due to the rising oil and fuel prices, so at least somebody is having a good time during this bleak period.)

In the meantime, our government is apparently impotent to do anything about any of the economic mess we are in. Instead, we have the president blaming the Democrat-run Congress for not sending him any good bills to deal with the growing crisis. The Democrats turn around and blame the president and the Republicans for blocking their proposals and offering impractical solutions.

Instead, we are expected to take our economic “stimulus” money this summer and shut up and go away, happy to get our $300, $600 or $1,200 pay-offs… a plan that financial experts say will have very little impact on the economy as far as stimulation goes.

Naturally, this being a presidential election year, the economy is weighing heavily into the campaigning and politics. But, even there, it seems our front-runners aren’t sure what to do. Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain favor a temporary halt for federal gas taxes this summer to help consumers out; Democrat Barack Obama opposes a halt on federal gas taxes as a gimmick that would only save people an average of $25-$35.

So, us little guys, the voters and taxpayers, find ourselves once again at the brink of an issue without any clear guidance as to what to do to get out of the morass of our failing economy.

And, once again, it looks like it falls on our shoulders to make changes in our lives to try and fix what our bloated government apparently cannot fix... or at least to be able to survive.

Discussing the situation around the office at the Ledger-News revealed two wasteful situations that are easily corrected with a minimum of lifestyle-altering necessities.

The first one is pretty self-explanatory: Don’t use drive-through windows; park the car and go inside. Idling consumes gas, so if it isn’t necessary, why do it? If you are at a fast-food joint at lunchtime, and the drive-through is particularly long, it is in your best interest to park and go inside and wait in that line instead. If you make a habit of doing this, before long it should have a beneficial impact on your pocketbook (not to mention the environment).

The second issue is a little more problematic, primarily because so many people refuse to do it: Stop idling your SUVs in long lines to pick up your kids from school and let them ride the school bus.

Not only are the people who insist on picking up their kids from school creating unnecessary traffic jams, they are wasting great quantities of gas and dumping excess pollution into the air. Also, cars with bigger engines waste more gas while idling and create more pollution.

In the meantime, all of us taxpayers are shouldering the costs of running the school buses, filling them with gas, paying for the drivers and paying to keep them maintained. Those of you too selfish to let little Jane or Johnny ride the school bus are actually costing the rest of us money, particularly during this time of stellar gas prices.

There are plenty of other suggestions for conserving gas and saving money. Here are a few of them:

• Carpool and use public transportation whenever possible.

• Combine errands into one trip and plan routes to drive fewer miles.

• Curtail aggressive driving. Speeding, rapid acceleration and rapid braking all waste gas and cut mileage by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• Ignore gas brands and shop for the best prices.

• Look into shifting working hours to avoid bumper-to-bumper traffic.

• Air conditioning reduces fuel economy by about 5 percent and more for older models.

I don’t believe that taking these actions can solve the gas price issue, but it can help us survive it.

And, who knows, maybe the Big Oil companies will take a message if we consumers can cut back on how much gas we use. Lord knows, they can certainly afford a little profit loss.

I’m trying to stay Braves this season
By: Fauve Holihan

If anyone were to write the story of the Atlanta Braves in April and early May of 2008, that book would likely be classified as a work of fiction.

Seriously. Who would believe how beaten up this team is at the beginning of the season?

Chuck James – placed on the DL with a slightly torn rotator cuff. Yes, he’s been reactivated, but his torn rotator cuff didn’t exactly heal itself, so how long into the season will he be good for?

Mike Hampton – placed on the DL with a strained pectoral muscle and God-knows-what-other-mystery-ailments that will surely derail his comeback (again). Having not thrown a major league pitch since Aug. 19, 2005, he is quickly becoming a latter-day Nick Esasky for the Braves.

Rafael Soriano – placed on the DL with tendonitis in the right elbow. Soriano was touted as a Closer Extraordinaire and the Savior of the Braves Bullpen, following a season that saw Bob Wickman give up save opportunity after save opportunity in the first half of the 2007 season. Sigh….

Peter Moylan – placed on the DL. I have no idea why, and frankly, I don't care. It was about the time his disappearance from the active roster was announced that I tried to stop listening to what seemed like a daily list of baseball casualties.

Unfortunately, the hits just kept on coming. And I don’t mean the good kind of hits.

Glavine – DL and (who would’ve thought you’d be grateful to hear this next part?) back, and – at press time – looking good (for a 41-year-old).

The entire left side of the field -- including hot hitters Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar – are playing through their respective pains, occasionally becoming a last-minute scratch from the lineup. Second baseman Kelly Johnson was scratched on April 30 with stiffness in his lower back, too.

And now, Smoltz.

Not only is he on the DL due to severe inflammation in his right biceps muscle and a swollen rotator cuff, he’s injured enough to give up his spot as a starter in order to pitch fewer innings in relief. That doesn’t exactly fill the average fan with optimism.

What on earth is going on? How can a team be at such a disadvantage this early in the season?

Of course, there have been bright spots in the first five weeks of this season. Unfortunately, none of them spring to mind.

Last Wednesday, following the 14th consecutive one-run loss dating back to last year, the rest of the team must’ve felt cursed. Speaking to reporters after that loss, new Brave Mark Kotsay tried his best to be optimistically philosophical.

"This team has what it takes to win one-run baseball games. It's just a matter of executing and having some luck on our side," he said.

Yeah, luck… as in, “won’t we be lucky if nobody else goes on the DL for the rest of the season?” Like that'll ever happen.

Hopefully, I’m wrong, but I’ve got a baaaaad feeling about the dismal summer that awaits Atlanta fans.

Maybe the front office will bring back those ostrich races. At least they were entertaining to watch when the Braves weren’t.

- Fauve Holihan is a writer and public relations professional.