Friday, November 14, 2008

I'm Driving Too Much

I've been thinking about it. Since I moved out to this hamlet, I've put more kilometres on my car and driven more than ever before. Used to walk everywhere in the city -- or, at least, to the LRT. Hmm. Filling up my wee car more often too -- and it gets great mileage -- er, kilometrage. Once I realized that I will soon need another oil change (the last one was on September 23, with the fall check-up, in Calgary, just before I moved), I decided to see just how much I was driving. I filled up a very empty tank on November 8th, and noted the kilometres on my odometre. Yesterday (November 13), on the way back from seeing Christmas on the Air in Rosebud, I filled up at about 1/4 tank (the wind was blowing something fierce and I wanted to be sure I was prepared for anything). Again, I noted the kilometers.

The difference? 528!! So I toted up the distances I'd travelled since the fill-up on November 8th. According to the distances calculated by Google Maps, here's the break-down of my journeys this week:

    Nov. 8th: Lacombe (filled up) to Mirror: 41. km
    Nov. 10th: Mirror to Stettler, return: 84.2 km
    Nov. 11th: Mirror to Erskine, return: 56.8 km
    Nov. 12th: Mirror to Lacombe, return: 83.6 km
    Nov. 13th: Mirror to Rosebud, return: 326.2 km
    Total: 592.6 km

Aaaargh!! I moved here to be quiet, to spend my days walking, reading, writing, knitting and creating fibre art pieces. Maybe I'd better stop moving around so much and sit still for awhile!

But first...I have lunch with a new friend in Lacombe today...

2 comments:

Gina said...

Joys of small town living: you can walk to anywhere WITHIN the town. Downside--most friends don't live IN town, and there is no bus system. Definitely an adjustment!

Bess said...

Yup. life in the country means you'll put many many miles on your car. Not as much start and stopping, so the cars don't wear out as fast, they're called "country miles" down here. But the gas bill. Whew!

Of course, staying home is also a sweet option, but there are just so many things you're going to miss because they're so far away. Now is when you need a dog to go walking with.