March 31, 2012

Break Even Analysis

With the price of gas about to move through the $4 mark, a simple drive to take the kids to a meeting needs to be evaluated. So today, there was the 15 mile drive to take one of the boys to a school event.  It would last 2 hours and I had a few options:  I could stay and enjoy the historical presentation of the Oregon Trail, I could drive home and come back in 2 hours, or I could spent my time wisely in a nearby location.


I have no desire to ever hike the Oregon Trail, nor do I particularly care to learn more about it than I did thirty-some years ago in high school. So should I stay or should I go?  The drive home and back would burn an extra 2 gallons of gas in traffic, providing me with my baseline for the $8 break even analysis.  And my target of opportunity was right there, across the street, with a beautiful window adorned with the name Connolly's. I have been here before, it is a fine local establishment that shared the culture and history of my ancestors and had nice old pictures on the walls.  Pints of Guinness were $3.75.....  So historical enrichment wins out - Connolly's it is.


Now that got me to pondering..... If I owned a Prius or other "green" vehicle, it would have been a no-brainer to drive home and come back in a couple of hours.  Probably would have no even needed to use gas the whole ride and I could have silently rolled along the surface roads.  So that lead me to the conclusion that once again these types of vehicles are bad for the economy as the $8 would not go to a gas station, or to the pub but would have just ended up being put towards my tax bill......


Cheers!

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