Gas And Memories At $1.81

This was an exciting day.

Today I stopped at the gas station to refuel my noble steed, Senior Truck. Now, I admit that refueling a vehicle by nature, isn't all that exciting. I don't encounter pulse-pounding situations or frisky women in tight clothes during my gas station stops any more than you do. In fact, much like you, the highlight of the whole thing is slipping in the credit card and pulling it out with great speed before the machine starts bitching.

Today was no different. I hit all the requisite buttons, washed the windshields like normal, and internalized the sense of throwing money at people who don't deserve it, just so I can get to work on time. However, it was after the whole ritual was done, that my day took a turn for the better.

For you see, when the gas nozzle clicked off after filling the tank, the numbers on the machine read: $19.81. That's right, Boogie filled up his vehicle for less than 20 bucks.

And you may be saying, "Yeah big whoop. Gas is cheap everywhere dumbass." I admit, lowered prices on the petrol is nothing new. Still, this is not something we've seen for a good long while. I remember on my escapes in Santa Fe, that I was getting excited for finding the stuff at $3.63 a gallon. And now here I am, topping off for less than a Jackson. Quite the change if you ask me.

And admittedly, it made me a little nostalgic.

I did what many of you probably did: I looked up to the sky and said to myself, "I can't even remember the last time gas was this low." And then, I kept thinking about it for the rest of my drive home. And I'll be damned if I didn't actually pull up some memories.

I remember the fella I used to be, back when gasoline costing $1.80 was considered high. A naive young man, not too far out of college who had a proper big boy job, and figured the world was going good. I paid precious little attention to politics, didn't know much about anything, and my only real presence on the interweb was hosted by Geocities. The dream was pretty much still a dream, and Fuzzy was a body of work that only existed in the imaginations of many, and my hard drive. I remember assuming in those days, that by the time I was near my third decade, that all the woes of my life would be long since gone. Bills would be paid, I would own my own home, and all the successses I had wished upon myself would come to pass.

I miss that guy, he was a lot of fun. Straight-faced and dedicated to the art of musicmanship on all levels. This is a man who truly believed that bludgeoning Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears with a heavy instrument would have solved all the world's woes. A man who never had to see the dark looming shadow of Hanna Montana. Who could never anticipate that there would one day be dog food with Rachael Ray's face on it.

Admittedly, there are things I don't miss about those days. For example, the hair. Believe it or not, losing the pony tail has been more liberating than anything. I certainly enjoy some of the new endeavors I've pursued lately. I definitely know more shit. I can talk entomology, literature, and culinary stuffs with folks now. Something that young buck a few years ago could've never done. And surprisingly, I piss less people off. That's kind of pleasant.

But I certainly have lost some of the daydreaming through these gas price fluxuations. I don't really see the world as my oyster anymore. These days, it feels like this planet and the people in it, are something I have to overcome more than inspire. I definitely worry a lot more and sleep a lot less than I used to.

Seeing these gas prices fall back to old levels has revealed the older, wiser Boogie to the young punk. A prococious little scamp filled with piss and adrenaline grew to an equally cynical bastard with a broader vocabulary and more acceptable social skills. Sure I still bitch and moan, but I'm more sophisticated when I do it......at least compared to those days. It's been a hell of a ride to get to the point where twenty bucks was enough to fill a truck with gas, but I can definitely say that it hasn't been boring.

It's amazing what gas can inspire isn't it?