I know, it's awful isn't it? Public transportation doesn't even run to my office...I wish!

That's just sick.

Yikes!! It's $3.25 here in Virginia. I put $30 in my minivan last week and it gave me a 1/4 of a tank. It's so ridiculous.

ouch indeed. its getting too stupid

Ouch indeed.
Maybe you could get Napoleon Dynamite to "pull you into town." ;)

Sorry....Anonymous was me!

About $3.17 in the DFW area or at least where I get my gas. I wanted to take a little road trip this month down to the Hill Country in central Texas to see the bluebonnets and other wildflowers but I'm starting to rethink it!

My friend is moving this weekend. She's rented a U-Haul type truck to drive from central NC to Wisconsin, and she's estimating the cost of gas to be at least $400 for the trip.

It's $3.39/regular in Pittsburgh. Ugh. I recently bought a smaller car (went from a Honda Accord to a Mini Cooper) and while it's got the same size tank it takes premium fuel. So I'm paying about $3.49 - 3.52/gallon. I wish I could take public transit but I spend my mornings in "the city" and my afternoons in one of the outer suburbs where the buses don't run as often. Gah!!!

Seriously ouch. But maybe people will stop buying large trucks that require two parking spaces now?

Ouch! I paid $3.77 a gallon this morning to fill up my tank and that was at the "cheap" station in the area. Don't even get me started about the increased toll road fees I pay to get to and from work each day so I don't spend 2 hours on the freeway...wasting gas. ARGGH! Can't win.

yowza. It's not reached that high here in Detroit, but thanks for the glimpse into our future.

I'm scared for summer prices... It's so sad when I get excited that I can buy 91 for $3.85!!

Never have I been so glad that my car caught fire and burned up.
.

I guess the bright side is all of the extra people riding the bus might reduce congestion on the roads. I'm dealing with the same problem as KJ. I spend a fortune using the toll roads to avoid spending my whole life wasting gas in bumper to bumper traffic.

I win! (?) We paid over $4.00 a gallon two weeks ago in San Francisco. I took pictures for proof...

http://knitting.creativewares.com/2008/04/04/315

Holy Hannah Montana!

WOW! I thought the $3.25 here in Minneapolis was bad! Reason #42 why I take the bus to work.

Just don't try to buy a cauliflower. Or a dozen eggs. They both cost more than a gallon of gas at Ralphs this week. :-( The way the prices at the pumps are rising, they might achieve parity sooner rather than later.

We Americans have been structuring our lives for 2 generations around artificially cheap gas prices. If our leaders were responsible, gas would have been more expensive and the extra money would have gone into funding research into alternative fuels, etc. Instead, we're in an environmental mess (not to mention the foreign policy one). I just keep telling my kids, "Remember - live close to your work. And keep up those bike-riding skills..."

In the Chicago area, not only are gas prices high (not as high as yours, but high) but EVERY.SINGLE.EXPRESSWAY.is.UNDER.CONSTRUCTION. Even some of the alternate local routes are closed for renovation. I am lucky enough to live VERY close to a train station that goes near enough to my workplace that they have a shuttle to pick up us commuters for FREE! Love the free thing. So, I see a LOT more train riding for me which is great for the knitting!

To help you cheer up: go to http://yetanotherbloomingblog.blogspot.com/

Takes culinary skills to a whole new level.

She is hilarious....the only 2 blogs I've read from front to back are crazy aunt purl and yet another blooming blog. There is the teensiest bit of knitting content in there.

I am seriously considering changing my
1) job
2) days I work
3) mode of transport

because I need to conserve. Unfortunately, there is no accessible public transport to my work... Bummer.

I was so excited yesterday when I paid 3.49 at Costco in N.Cal. So. Sad.

You know, your two subjects might just be related: gas prices are sky-rocketing, and so more folks are taking mass transportation to work, which might be why the park and ride was full.

Public transit is definitely one thing I miss about living in the city. In my town there are not even buses to take me to work. Oh, wait, that's right--I got laid off last week since our company was doing so poorly, so I don't have a job! (Sure, the economy is doing just fine.) Whew, that makes my commute pretty short then, and still gives me plenty of time to knit.

Zoinks! ...and I thought that ~$3.40 for regular was bad. Thanks for the glimpse into my near future. Plug-in hybrids cannot come soon enough!

The price of gas is a matter of perspective. Most Europeans would think they were in heaven at the current USA gas prices. Our family in England is currently paying about $15 gallon and thus I don't even *think* of whining when the price of gas here in the US tops $3. I think we'll manage.

The bottom line is gasoline is a commodity and the price is going to up and down based on supply and demand.

http://hoorayvegan.blogspot.com/2008/04/for-sale.html

Do ya need another knitting t-shirt? I saw this and thought of you.

Jeepers! (Ok, so my initial thought was more colorful, shall we say)

North Carolina usually has low gas prices... Until you realize that its $3.38 for 87 as of Monday.

It's a conspiracy against us little people, I swear it is.

Holy cow! And here I was complaining about the $3.11 a gallon we're paying in Massachusetts. I don't think I will anymore!

wow, there is an awful lot of people advertising their own websites or other websites in these comments. weird.

Just filled my tank up last night. $50.00. When the weather gets nicer I'm getting my bike fixed and a can of mace for when I drive thru the "undesireable areas", which aren't so bad, but still. I figure I will save on gas and get into shape, saving me gym fees. I live in hilly Oregon...so I'll have to walk part of the time.

Does anyone know how to bike to work without being a sweaty mess when you get there? And not have bike helmet head?

The parking lot for the T-stop down the street from me has been full every day for over a year -- today the cops were towing 6 cars parked on the street outside the lot. My husband says in the eastern part of the state it's worse. So many more people are finally willing to use mass transit but, like you, there's no place to park the car.

I can't take the T to work - nearest stop is 1 mile from work, down a busy street with no sidewalks and LOTS of truck traffic.

Holy cr@p! I was just complaining about $3.25 here in Fort Dodge, Iowa. I'll stop now. Too bad we have NO public transportation system whatsoever. New walking shoes, here I come.

I am so glad I do not own a car. Seriously, I don't feel bad now.
I might pick up the bike and can of mace idea, the bus is going to get crowded.

What's really impressive is that even with that scary price, you STILL haven't reached the price for gas here in France.

If I calculated right, you're at about $1/liter right now, and our gas prices are between that and 1.19/liter at their lowest.

Of course, here it's because of the taxes on gas, so what causes it there?

Thank you Suburbancorrespondent for the insight. The "powers that be" have known for a long time that this was coming and still in my city public transportation is something to be thought about for the "future". I live in a metro area of around 300,000 people that spreads 30 miles. The buses run in the largest city and no further than it's borders. The burbs contain most of the commuters, they have no incentive, buses or trains to bring them in to the city. Every day thousands of cars drive in and out. The air is horrible and no one can decide on a solution except to widen the Freeway. geeeez!

Your garden looks sunny enough that you could make moonshine there. All you do is germinate some feed corn, then ferment it and then separate it in a solar still. You could make 7 gallons a week for 25 cents a gallon and run it in your car. This is a lot better than feeding the profits of the oil companies.

Over here in Belgium petrol's about 1.50 Euro per litre and about 1.10ish for Diesel, which makes filling my (Diesel) people carrier about 120 Euro. That's $140.

Come to Europe for a while, everything will seem so much cheaper when you get back!

Yeesh! And I thought $3.63 was bad.

Though I have to address the people commenting that prices are higher in Europe--yes, they are, but European cities, by and large, are much more friendly to non-car methods of transportation. America is, with very few exceptions, a city that is designed to be navigated by car. Most cities don't have reliable and affordable public transit and pedestrian-friendly layouts.

Yeah, I'm in San Diego this week for business, and I have to fill up my rental car. I'm still in sticker shock.

Why I'm SOOOO thankful I don't live in California anymore...although Colorado isn't much better!

Well, it's not quite so high here in Kentucky, but it jumped from $3.19 last night to $3.45 this morning. Won't be long and I won't be able to afford to drive.

I live in Dallas too and we're going up quick. Last I saw it was #3.21 a gallon and that was a couple of days ago. I'm a full-time caretaker for my parents so there is no commute for me. When I get up, I am at work! But I'm about to take a trip in a wheel-chair accessible van (read, oh my gosh, it only gets how many miles per gallon!) and it's scares me. I mean, I used to make that trip in my big gas-guzzling LTD and it only cost me about $30 for there and back. Now I may be spending more than a hundred just to drive for three hours in one direction. It's just crazy!

In December, I started a new job and was finally able to start taking the bus to work instead of driving 60 miles roundtrip everyday. It has saved me so much money! Well, in theory. I'm still broke.

Hi. This has nothing to do with today's post, but I'm shopping online for yarn and I saw Paton's Up Country on sale at smileysyarns.com. Just thought I'd share since I know you're an Up Country fan.

I would just like to point out that even just north of the border, in Vancouver, BC, gas is 4.67/gallon. (And I feel compelled to point it out largely because I just went to all the trouble of converting litres to gallons, and Canadian dollars to US.) It's all relative... and you're a long way from being royally ripped off just yet.

Personally, I think it's terrific if people in LA (or anywhere else) actually start driving less because they start feeling that gas is expensive. Gas *should* be expensive... there's an environmental price to pay for our lifestyles.

Still cheaper than a gallon of coffee from Starbucks. Im just saying!

I paid $3.92 a gallon today and felt quite pissy about it.

I drove a thousand miles this week and just about cried every time I stopped to get gas. Reason #372 why I prefer public transportation.

I thought 3.29 was alot until I read these posts.

It still makes me sick, but its rather relative.

Thank you for posting the photo of the gas sign, Laurie -- you've actually made me feel better. Gas here in Crescent City, CA (northwest corner of California) jumped up to $4.07 for supreme, and usually it is much cheaper in Southern California.

Bummer about the parking.

You know what...you're still getting petrol cheaply in the US. Have a look to the comparisons here for Europe http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/eupetrolprices/ and an example of the *cheapest prices* in a capital city here in australia http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/ (multiply that one by 3.8 folks, as that is per litre, and then remember these are Aussie dollars.... There's definitely been a lack of forward planning in all our countries I think, surprising given the fuel crunch in the 70's. I will now return you to your usual knitting programming...

How weird, my comment on european and aust petrol prices seems to have been channeled by Judith B!! Must be psychic :-)

As someone commented earlier, it's not like people didn't know this was coming. We tend to get panic-stricken, then when the crunch is over, return to our normally-scheduled programming. I remember the first mention I came across of gasoline-ethanol fuel mixtures for cars was about, oh, I don't know, 35 FREAKING YEARS AGO!!!! And now it's news???? Maybe we can drive with all this corn we grow here instead of putting it in our food.

I live in Germany- yesterday I bought gas for € 1,38 per liter- that's 8,64 per gallon. Any questions?

holy $hit!

in my neck o the woods, it's $3.25, $3.35, $3.45; diesel is $3.99.

and memorial day is just around the corner.....time for "let's jack up the prices for the summer vacation season!"

thank dog I can go for 2 weeks on a 14 gallon fill up (hyundai elantra), whilst my boss has to fill his honkin' huge cadillac SUV every other day (idiot)!

Our petrol here just outside Glasgow works out at $7.67 for a US Gallon, and although I agree with Stephs(?) comment about USA not being set out for public transport and that most cities in Europe have great public systems, Scotland is definitely NOT one of them. The only reason I'm still paying $120 to fill my car is because it's still cheaper than taking the bus.

@ Elaine: It's not only Glasgow. The Ruhr Area has a working public transportation system only in the bigger cities, eg. Essen, or Duesseldorf. In my hometown- well, you better buy a bike. As soon as it stops being f...ing cold.
Lily

I was going to comment about our gas here in Nova Scotia being about 1.18 per litre, which works out to more than $4/gallon (and by default, yours is less than $1 per litre...Cheap!) But then I saw some of the comments about gas prices in Europe and decided to skulk quietly to my corner. But at least in Europe they have all those cool trains. Here we HAVE to drive everywhere. And Canada is a REALLY REALLY BIG place.

I drive 30 minutes to and from work everday. This morning in sunny Sedgewick, Alberta I filled my car up for $47.96 ($1.07/liter- cheapest price around here). On the way to work I met 6 vehicles on the highway. Believe me I'm thankful everyday. I really feel for our European friends.

Our town, very small, has NO public transporation at all. I drive 26 miles each way to work. I would LOVE to be able to take the bus.

Petrol in the UK works out as $9.89 per gallon. Good job I don't drive eh? :)

In Colorado it's running about $3.19/gal for regular. Luckily my truck can run on E-85 (currently $2.29/gal) since there is no after sports bus for my daughter (9mi each way to her school-that's more than a gallon as I get 14-15mpg with E-85!) and about the same distance to the city bus stop for my son. Not to mention driving to sporting events, the grocery store, meetings, etc..... Would someone please invent a large sail that will propel a Suburban? It's certainly been windy enough here on the Front Range lately.

Come to Canada... it only gets more expensive the further north you go. We're over $1.20 per liter right now in Manitoba, more expensive elsewhere. US and Canadian dollars are fairly close now, and what... 4 liters per gallon?

We own a car, but we pretty much don't use it (only really use it when it is very cold out). I thank my lucky stars that I am both healthy enough, live in an area conducive to, and am inclined to both take public transit and to walk everywhere.

Yeah it's about $1.50/l where I live in Australia and my car costs about $75 to fill.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as there's traffic congestion on the road fuel is too cheap...

The challenge where I live is improving the public transport system so that people don't need their cars. Instead billions of dollars are still being built on roads? Go figure.

DAYUM look at the price of gas.

it's $3.45 here in indy. i chose, 11 years ago, to build 7 miles from my downtown job rather than move to a burb in another county like good friends did. their commutes are 25 and 35 miles each way.

there's some bus transportation near me, but it won't work for me because i have to be able to pick my granddaughter up if she gets sick at school or her mom has car trouble.

i'd love to be able to buy a small, economical car, but am stuck for now with the '99 mom-mobile bought when i hauled kids to concerts and boarding school and college. but since taking a "low carb(on) diet" workshop on lessening my energy footprint, i now avoid driving at least one day a week and consolidate my errands as much as possible.

this is "the auto racing capital of the world," so public transit is a despised orphan. people won't use it, the city fathers say. yet when a shuttle was instituted to cut congestion while a major road was widened, guess what? but the minute the roadwork was done, the buses went away -- despite the public's wish that they continue, even at a higher fare.

i'd love to be able to buy a downtown condo and be car-less when i retire in 2 or 3 years. but those condos all cost twice what i can afford (even if i were carless), there's one grocery store downtown and my doctors are miles away. we're in for some gut-wrenching adjustments here in the states, and as other posters have noted, anyone around in the '70s could have predicted this -- and many did.

About $3.77-$3.80 in Campbell, south bay area. Still too cheap. Thank heavens we have not afforded a car here. We chose a place where we can get around either on bike or by PT (light rail! Yay!). I've got a dump the car for summer challenge on my blog. Back 'ome we chose a place near the train line.
As other aussies indicate we are in for some interesting times, not just in the US but Oz too.

I'm for SURE getting out my bike this year (fortunately Madison is VERY bike-friendly); I'll benefit from it too, I guess. Hmmmmm. At least my LYS is on one of the major bike trails - all I need is a basket for my yarn. Where ARE we headed? Oh - and keep the zucchini; the DH puts thin sliced baby ones in the spaghett' sauce. Mmmm. We're sure it'll thaw here eventually. We're sure. It will. Thaw. Eventually. Right???

i saw $3.89 in yuba city yesterday. horrifying!

I'm so glad I don't drive now - petrol in the UK is about $10 per gallon now, I think...if my translation is right (around $2.50 per litre?)

Laurie,
I finally had a bunch of stuff to order from Amazon, and I splurged and added your book to the order. I am having a hard time putting it down - It's like a whole bunch of your great posts here on the site.

So glad I finally got it. :)