Holy Heck!

We've not got prices that high...yet.

Amen! My husband is commuting from Long Beach to Santa Monica . . . a 30 mile commute should not be such a headache!

I have a quick question for ya, Laurie. Remember when you posted how much you liked Cascadian Farms frozen green beans with toasted almonds? I like them too, and I'm having a heck of a time finding them for sale anywhere. I wondered if you were experiencing the same problem?

Maybe all the bean growers are growing corn for biofuels.

thats freaking ridiculous. its almost as high here in oklahoma. unfortunately, where i live its rural and all the farm trucks are diesel -- no one can afford to buy gas on the farms! they advertise "hybrid" trusck but they only get one or two mpg more than the regular trucks.

we midwesterners feel your pain in LA! if only you could plow fields with vespas haha

Mary, I can't find them anywhere either and I am well and very upset about it. I complained to Whole Foods but no luck. I thought it was just me!

Oh no!!!!! I was hoping it was just a shortage in my area. Sigh. Back to the Birds Eye then.

he could be avoiding LA for another reason.

just saying.

Those gas prices suck, but it sure looks warm and sunny!

$4/gallon makes Baby Jesus cry.

The pope is here and DC and gas prices aren't that much cheaper. I haven't spotted the popemobile yet even though I am pretty close to the WH. On TV it looked like it was just a glass booth mounted in the bed of a pickup so it probably doesn't get that great of gas mileage.

Geeze! I'm happy I don't drive.

Getting creamed by a semi when you run across those five lanes would certainly reduce your carbon footprint. But I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work.

Yeah, I was just in San Diego and I totally had sticker shock! It was awful.

Actually a friend just sent me pictures of the Popemobile in DC. it looks like about the size of a Chevy tracker. Only taller in the back. But yeah, I'll bet being stuck in traffic would really po the pontiff.

Our gas prices aren't as high as yours, but we do have the most idiotic drivers of. all. time. I was shocked to learn what a bunch of assholes Utahns are on the road, especially for such a "Christian" state. On occasion, they've made me long for LA rush hour. (Seriously.)

Our diesel is that high, but not the gas -- yet. But don't worry; I don't think there's any possibility of breakin' the papal bank. It's sittin' pretty; better than most governments....

Crazy-making stuff. I drive across a tee-tiny town compared to LA and it takes fooorever. I do see more and more people waiting for the bus though and our buses are incredibly inefficient, so then I feel very bad for the people and want to stop to pick them up...but that wouldn't work either. I'm going to take the motorcycle riding class our city provides and see if I've got the courage to drive a vehicle that uses a teaspoon of gas every few miles. Or, get a horse...not really.

I feel the same way about NYC every day during my commute. At least I no longer work for a manager who lives within walking distance of the office and had didn't understand the whole "subway delay" thing.

The Washington Metro wishes he would take public transportation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Ux_96iTq8

Perhaps the Pope (aka Das Rottweiler: that's what the other priests called him when he worked for Pope John Paul II and I'm not kidding) can perform a miracle and lower the gas prices. It's worth asking, no?

I have been having trouble finding gas that is THAT CHEAP. Holy hell, this is bad. I've taken to just not leaving the house, and we all know how good THAT is.

Oddly enough - Pico and Roxbury - in Bev Hills - is only (?!) $3.73 a gallon.

Shocking, no?

"...nevermind a bigass Popemobile."

Best sentence I'll read all day! thanks for the chuckle!

BTW, I'm moving into Mr. W's condo this week. I've downsized and downsized, but his condo is small and there are boxes of my stuff *everywhere*. We're making more room in the attic. The good thing about this is that I don't want to buy anything for the next decade. well, we'll see how long that lasts, but I know this will help to save money!

He ain't coming to Orange County either: $3.87 a gallon.

I hereby give you permission to smack me if I complain about gas prices here, at least for now. They're bad, but not as bad as that! And eliminating parking for mass-transit users--bad. Bad bad bad.

DAMMIT FAITH - don't be givin all our secrets away!!! But just FYI, that's where *I* got jumped by a couple of 20-something girls. I'm just sayin.

But we have a subway! Granted, it's reach is limited when compared to other cities, but still...

I'm sure we could have tricked out one of the trains in a popely manner. Can't you just see him emerging from the Hollywood-Highland station to join the other costumed characters who trawl that stretch? He would have made a fortune posing for tourist snapshots.

Congrats on a mention on the L.A. Metblogs site!
http://la.metblogs.com/2008/04/16/mid-week-round-up-4/

I can just picture the Popemobile pulling into the local Mobil...

Ummmmm.....your stoplights have FIVE lights on them! Can't say I've ever seen that before. That's what living out here in the "sticks" gets ya :)

(and, oh yeah, our prices here are in the $3.35 range...so I guess I can't complain too loudly)

So that's it... nothing to do with all the nekkid chocolate-wrestling going on.

That price is a vegetable!

Im just saying

Jill in Florida

Wow!!! That's pretty bad! It's not that bad here in Miami yet, but it's getting there. BTW, what's with that stop light with a gazillion lights in all different sizes? I've never seen one of those around here.

I saw $3.99 on Sherman Way yesterday, and in Oxnard it is $3.69 (is it worth driving all that way to Rose Ave)?

Forget it, I will go to Faith's station...

check it out.
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Wanna-Be-Startin'-Somethin'-lyrics-Michael-Jackson/1A919E7C98A0AD424825688E0026E5A1

"It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable
Still they hate you, you're a vegetable
You're just a buffet, you're a vegetable
They eat off of you, you're a vegetable"

I was going to make a really nasty statement about how the Pope can afford all the gas in California just based on the Papal Treasury but won't get political on your blog. Maybe he should put his little holy german ass in a volkswagen rabbit...

In Sydney, unleaded petrol has just gone over $AU1.50 a litre, that's about $us6.10 a gallon.
No reduction in traffic jams around here, despite this.

If there are 3.785 litres in a gallon, that's AU$5.67, which is USD$5.32. Still more than what we spend now, but I'm curious how much you drive in Sydney vs. how much we drive in LA?

I always wonder this because every time I post a picture of our gas prices there are always people telling me how much more it is in Europe (and I've driven all over Europe and even small towns in Poland seem to have better bus schedules than Los Angeles. Try getting from Warner Center to Santa Monica on mass transit...) but I do have a sense that Australia -- which is giant compared to Europe -- must have some of the same issues we have. The US just doesn't seem to be set up for alternatives to gas consumption. Just trying to find mass transit in this city to take is one problem, but finding parking there is a whole 'nother ballgame. Los Angeles is the worst example, I know, but not unusual.

I think it's frustrating for us here because there aren't a lot of great alternatives. Ride your bike through the hood at night? In your little business suit and heels? Drive 40 minutes out of the way to take the Metrolink? Move to a more expensive place that's closer to work but scares you at night?

I guess what I'm asking is if Australians -- especially in Sydney -- have the same mass transit woes we do here. And if ya'll drive as much as we do (no matter what they say in these comments, statistically speaking Europeans do not drive as much, or as far, or have such poor transit options in comparatively large metro areas as LA). But I am curious about Australia.

Also, in case it wasn't obvious, I am a traffic NERD.

I just planned a trip to L.A. for May, all by myself without my lovely toddler & husband. I got a cheap flight, cheap rental car, a cheap place to stay, and was congratulating myself for thrifty traveling ... ACK, forgot about the gas! I'll have to plan my outings more carefully in advance instead of driving all around the city in a sundazed-tourist blur. (I'm lucky that I drive very little in my own city, working from home in a walkable neighborhood.)

Of course I forgot US gallons aren't the same as UK/Aus gallons! Just to add to the confusion.

I live about 25 km from the city. My husband used to cycle every day, until he was left on the side of the road by a hit and run driver (!) so a year on, he only cycles 2 or 3 times a week. Cycle paths are being extended, but they are more scenic than commuting.
We have a good rail link within a few kilometres, but it can take 35 minutes to drive to the station, because of congestion on the main roads that are between here and there. (and about 40 minutes to walk to it)

Local bus services are ok where we live, but further west or north of the city, public transport is laughable (unless you want to use it, then you're definitely not laughing).

Sydney is spread out, like LA, but freeway construction is very limited in comparison.
The car still rules Sydney.

(And European concept of distance is understandably constrained. When my daughter's Dutch friend was visiting, he was amused that in the time it took us to drive from here to the city, he could have crossed most of the Netherlands - or so he said).

And now I remember one of the few reasons I don't miss living in CA.

It's actually a dollar more than that on Catalina. But just for fun, I think I'll take a pic next time I'm getting gas.

I just paid $3.89 a gallon for regular in Berkeley today. And that was at one of the less expensive stations. *sigh*

frozen veggies check here
http://www.cascadianfarm.com/products/product_detail.aspx?cat=12&upc=0-21908-50503-9

then put do a store search. it shows every safeway in the bay area has them
hope this helps :-)

The Pope is probably used to that. Gas in Italy was Approx $1.25 per litre 15 years ago when I was there. That works out to around $5-ish per gallon. I imagine it's higher now. (I hate math. Can you tell?)

Maybe you could forfeit your next raise in exchange for working from home.... :)

In Camarillo our Regular gas hit $3.92 and our Premium unleaded hit $4.12 yesterday.

I'm thinking about buying a scooter to get around town.

Can someone - ANYONE - PLEASE explain to me why Nashville cannot manage decent public transportation? As much as i'm sure it sometimes sucks, Laurie . . . i'm still jealous of your bus ride. *sigh*
i am NOT jealous of the gas prices . . . although ours are climbing too.

There's a park-n-ride north of me here in Indy. I can drive up there and take the bus south to downtown, but I'd drive as far to get to the park-n-ride as I drive to downtown, so no net gain. Sigh. As for the Pope coming, Laurie, I lived in LA in the 80's when the (other) Pope came, and traffic? OMG, just about shut the entire metro area down! Reagan's presidential convoy to airport wasn't that bad!

Miz Crazy Aunt Purl Thang,

I paid $3.99 this week. plain ol' regular unleaded, 'cause you know I don't need none of that gas with expresso in it.

Gotta love the bay area.

Meanwhile the ads for American cars make them sound like the most expensive Mp3 players you'll ever love.

!!

actually, the Popemobile is, I think, a mercedes sedan that has the bullet-proof bubble on the back. i'm sure the extra weight dampens the gas milage, but it's really not as big as you might think. i caught it roll by my office in DC this week!