There will be carpools

With all the fears lately of gas rising to $4 a gallon, I'm finally starting to see various brands breaking the $4 threshold.

On my into work the other day, I noticed that two gas stations on Bradlee Blvd. in Bethesda had both premium and plus at just over $4. The price for regular unleaded at both stations held steady at $3.85, but when the plus grade starts to break $4, that's when I start to worry, because that means regular won't be too far off.

I don't know about you, but I flat-out refuse to pay $4 a gallon for gas. Having said that, I'm already taking various steps to save on gas. To wit, when I do groceries now, I walk the mile and a half from Riverhouse to the Giant on Glebe Road, or I walk across the street to Harris Teeter (I'd shop there all the time, actually, except that it's naturally far more expensive than Giant). With all that walking, not only am I saving gas, but I'm also getting some much-needed exercise.

Working from that plan, the only times I'll be getting behind the wheel of my car will be to go to work . . . though I'm wrestling with the dilemma that that presents, because I live right next to the Pentagon City Metro station, and I work five or six blocks south of the Bethesda Metro station. Believe it or not, it takes far less time to drive to work, and the drive up and down GW Parkway each day is quite manageable. If I took Metro, though, I'd have to contend with overcrowded trains, a circus of commuters at the Gallery Place transfer stop, then have to brave the commuting disaster known as the Red Line up to Bethesda (and I say "brave" because you have to have balls of steel to commute on the notoriously disastrous Red Line each day; God only knows how I did it for a year).

So with gas prices ever on the increase, I find myself in a Catch-22 with respect to commuting to work: I either drive and use up overpriced gas; or I take Metro, save the gas, but endure commuting headaches. A tough decision to make, in any case.