I don’t want this to come across as an “I’m just putting something on my blog because ohmygod I haven’t posted in ages!” kind of effort (even if at some level it may be), so here are a couple quick updates. In particular I’ll try to highlight some of the things I’ve posted about “recently.”

• My parents are doing quite well after their house fire last year. I just received word from them today that their construction loan has finally gone through. They are rebuilding on the same piece of land their old house was on, but starting literally from the ground up. They hope to start digging footers for the new construction next week (mid-May) and to be in the house by fall.

• The new Honda Insight has launched, to pretty good reviews I might add, but I’m still not convinced. It is about 4/5 of a Prius at a lower price, both size and mileage-wise. While the $20k price is attractive, I still have significant reservations about the overall environmental impact of all those hybrids’ batteries, even if they do use less fuel.
• I survived my first time through all the major seasons of the church (especially Christmas and Easter) and have emerged unscathed as I prepare to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of being a pastor on June 15th. It’s incredibly hard to believe it’s been almost 11 months, though I guess if you judge by the continually decreasing frequency of my blog posts, it’s not all that surprising.
• Part of the blame for my lack of blogging should also go straight to Facebook and Twitter. The more I seem to get sucked into these social-media oriented sites, the less I create original content for my blog. I do intend to remedy that though …

Rather than inundate you with more semi-interesting updates, I’ll leave you with news about this blog:

No, I am not abandoning it. Yes, I am actively planning new content!

• A review of my recent “road test” of a 2009 Nissan Versa. I’ve had my eye on the Versa as a possible next car for a while now, so you might be interested in my impressions after spending 350 miles with one.
• Some tech updates on “recent” purchases – Lenovo S10 netbook, Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera, and several others.
• Some insight into bicycle commuting – continuing the irony that this gearhead car-blogger often doesn’t even drive a car unless I can’t avoid it!
• A revew of Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence – a wonderful, insightful (and relatively short) book about “how Christianity is changing and why.”
• A semi-regular feature for posting recipes, particularly for the soups and breads I make every Monday night as part of the dinner and conversation group I host.

So, there you go … proof that <montypythonvoice> I’m not dead yet! I’m getting better! </montypythonvoice> Stay tuned for new content coming soon, and feel free to leave your suggestions for interesting posts in the comments section!

According to the May ’08 sales figures reported by Autoblog and The Torque Report, the F-150 was outsold by the Honda Civic (#1), Toyota Corolla (#2), Toyota Camry (#3), and Honda Accord (#4)! Both the Civic and the Corolla sold over 10,000 units more than the F-150. If other automakers weren’t serious about selling more small cars in the U.S. already, you can bet they’re getting more interested now!

Some of the other numbers reported are just as amazing, such as the fact that the HUMMER division of General Motors sold less than 2,000 vehicles total (all models) last month, a decline of 61% over last year’s figures. Meanwhile, MINI sales are up 47%.

It seems to me that folks in the U.S. are finally changing their buying habits because of increased fuel costs. As much as I’d like to think that environmental concerns might also play a role in this shift, I have a feeling that this change is mostly due to the fact that gas is still hovering around $4 a gallon and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.

Cnet.com’s most recent Car Tech podcast (episode 69) also shares some interesting buying trends with regards to used cars. Not surprisingly, large SUVs and pickups are depreciating at an alarmingly quick rate, along with large luxury cars. However, there has been a surge in interest among used car buyers for old fuel-sippers such as the Geo Metro, Honda CRX, and just about any older VW model with a diesel engine. It seems my chance at finding a low-mileage diesel VW Golf for a reasonable price is growing slimmer and slimmer.

In the end I feel that the church is going to be a wonderful place for me to be the pastor, and will provide me with great opportunities to continue to learn and grow as a ministering person. Don’t expect any revealing posts about the congregation or my work there as a pastor, as I intend this to remain a site informed by my own interests and not those of the church. Likewise it should go without saying that anything that I may post here is not in any way meant to represent an endorsement by the church.

I begin my new position June 16th, and while there may be a higher than usual number of posts between now and then don’t be surprised if during the first couple weeks after I start there is a bit of a drop-off.

While I don’t often watch news on the television, last night I happened to catch a story about how prices had skyrocketed across the area. People seem to be taking it pretty hard, and the question of “what are we gonna do” was getting asked quite a bit. Of course, I think the answer to this will be different for everybody.

I know that for many people one way of dealing with high fuel prices is by driving less this holiday weekend. In fact a common theme among the many news stories about this topic was the fact that people were planning on not traveling as much. Wow … big surprise there.

But that’s just one weekend. High gas prices aren’t going to be getting lower any time soon. Gas will most likely stay at or above $4/gallon for a while, and the longer it stays there the more likely it is people will find ways of dealing with it.

My theory is that most people will come to terms with high gas prices in one of three ways:

1. No change in driving habits – These are the people that you’ll see quoted in the news saying things like “gas prices are so high I can’t afford to xyz …” This is not to say that everyone in this category will whine about it. Some will simply be financially able to spend more on fuel without too much personal suffering. The increase in fuel expenditures for people in this category will come out of other areas of their budget, either intentionally or not. They’ll keep on driving their big, inefficient cars/trucks/SUVs the same way and the same amount they did before, they’ll just pay a lot more to do so.
2. Minor changes - These are the folks who will be skipping out on major holiday travels this coming weekend because of gas prices. They recognize that at some point continuing to live as if gas is as cheap as it was 5 years ago is no longer possible. They may start to carpool (or do so more often) and may even go so far as to really think about how often they need to drive to the other side of town and plan their in-town trips with efficiency in mind.
3. Major changes – And finally there are those who will see the $4 mark as the sign to start taking drastic measures. These people will consider (and in some cases enact) major life changes to cope. Things like buying a more fuel efficient vehicle, walking or biking to work, or even changing jobs or housing to cut down on driving. Of course, some of these changes will be more effective than others in the grand scheme of things, but effectiveness is not what will land people in this category. What will is the willingness to make such big changes.

Part of the reality of our current fuel prices is that they are still much lower than most other developed nations. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy all had average gas prices of $5.50/gallon or greater as of March 2005, when the U.S. was still paying less than $3/gallon on average. The rest of the world has been dealing with this for a lot longer than we have, so maybe we should start looking at how they have dealt with it:

• Smaller cars – While U.S. automakers shrunk many cars during the last gas crisis, and many have continued to make compact and subcompacts, large cars, trucks, and SUVs are still commonplace on our streets and in our driveways. Anyone who has travelled outside of the U.S. can tell you that cars aren’t so large everywhere else. I am reminded of my recent trip to Brazil, where cars such as my own Volkswagen Passat seemed like land yachts compared to most other vehicles on the street. In fact, most automakers build and sell many smaller, more efficient models that they do not make available in the U.S. due to a perceived lack of demand. This does seem to be changing some, as Ford prepares to bring back the Fiesta (which never went away overseas) and other automakers start to introduce their pint-sized models to the U.S. market.
• Less cars - Another common trait of cities elsewhere in the world is streets full of bikes. When gas is so expensive that people cannot drive cars they rely on alternate means of transportation. For some this means bicycles. For others this may mean motorcycles or scooters. When I was in Italy 10 years ago I was amazed at all the little scooters people were riding around. I had never seen such things growing up in the States. However, similar scooters are now commonplace even in Richmond, IN. These times, they are ‘a changing.

So where do you find yourself fitting into all of this? What is your answer to “what are we gonna do?” I find myself falling somewhere between minor and major changes. If I’m honest with myself (and with you all) then it’s probably more towards the minor side. I do ride my bike around town and put a lot of thought into when I’m going to drive my car across town and what I’m going to do once I’m there. I’m planning on getting a newer, more efficient car, but that’s more because my old one is falling apart than because I want something more efficient. I will admit that fuel prices played a part in how far away I was willing to consider driving for work post-graduation. Thankfully it now seems I won’t have to drive very far at all. But that’s another post.

So let’s hear it … what are you gonna do???