I'm Feeling Kinda Gassy

Six years ago we bought a basic, black, "bean can" of a pickup truck. We bought it because we were moving into an new house and we knew we would be doing the move ourselves, as well as any big interior and landscaping projects. The plan was to get the truck, do all the big work, and then trade it in for something nicer in about 2 years. Yeah, that plan certainly worked out well.

Since this was to be a vehicle of necessity, we got NOTHING extra. No 4-wheel drive, or cassette/cd player, or A/C, or electric locks, or bed liner,... nothing. As long as it ran well, I really didn't care how the truck looked either. My philosphy has always been, "It's a truck, and I will use it like a truck." The windshield has an elegant network of cracks thanks to driving behind gravel trucks up and down "the canyon" to Black Hawk when I was a blackjack dealer a few years back. The bed of the black truck actually looks gray from all the scratches caused by hauling countless loads of dirt, patio pavers, folding poker tables and chairs, etc.

There are two emblems on the tailgate of the truck. The Ford logo, and another I always assumed was the logo for the dealership. Recently I learned that this was not the case. The second emblem is Ford's logo for "flex-fuel" vehicles. This means I can put "e85" (85% ethanol) fuel in the tank and it will run fine.

For six years I have been killing the planet by filling up with regular gas, when I could have been saving lives, reversing decades of environmental abuse ,and ending America's "addiction to oil" by using this alternate fuel. I hereby vow, from this day forward, to do my part and use e85 in my piece-of-junk Ford Ranger. Did I mention that I checked and e85 is going for $1.99 a gallon right now? That's $.50 cheaper! Woohoo!

Of course I will be making a sacrifice, considering it isn't all that convenient to get this fuel. You see, there is only one station in Denver that sells e85. Granted, it is located very close to the Blue Bonnet, my favorite greasy, "shlock" Mexican food restaurant. That way I suppose, I can double load up on gas... if you know whut i'm sayin'.

Wow, that was bad. I apologize for the poor quality of this post. I guess I figured I have been away too long and that anything was better than nothing. Hmm. Shows what I know.

G