Let's hope the price of gas doesn't drop too much

Americans try to see the bright side of high gas prices

"I found that a permanent one-dollar rise in gas prices is associated with a seven percent drop in overweight and a nine percent drop in obesity," he said.

In poundage terms, a one-dollar rise in gas prices was associated with about four to five pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kilograms) in lost weight across the population, his research showed. More...

Wow! There's more...

High gas prices have also raised a call for car-makers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, and that would create tens of thousands of jobs, enhance US energy security, and boost local economies, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said.

"Achieving just the minimum 35 miles-per-gallon fleet-wide average by 2020 ... would cut oil use by 1.1 million barrels a day," UCS senior engineer Jim Kliesch said in a statement.

Using less oil would translate into "cutting the cost of gasoline at today's prices by more than a dollar per gallon," he said.

And that would mean that, rather than pumping their disposable income into the oil industry when they fill up their cars, Americans would probably spend the money saved locally, thus boosting local economies, he said.

"Further... achieving a 35-mpg fleet-wide average would create 149,000 new jobs nationwide in 2020," added Kliesch.

And say! Isn't it great not to have your gas-sipping compact surrounded by skyscrapers on wheels that completely block your view of the road?

Of course, I am still recovering from my bicycle accident. If my collarbone would just finish putting itself back together, I could get back on my bike.