With gas prices reaching unheard of levels, it seems that almost every other day someone else comes out with a "top ten ways to save on gas" article. We were guilty of the same thing a little while ago, but upon further reflection, the whole "gas savings tips" thing can be boiled down to a few essentials.
Actually, assuming that your car is in relatively good shape and well maintained, you really only need to concentrate on three things to get the bulk of the gas savings that are possible. In fact, if you're a "typical" driver, it would not be unusual to add 30% or more to your mileage simply by following the advice below.
The worst offender is aggressive driving.
The most significant factor in saving gas is how you drive. If you have a habit of stepping on the gas aggressively every time you get going, and waiting until the last minute to step on the brake, it's costing you plenty more than it has to at the pump.
Always think ahead when you're behind the wheel. Whenever starting and stopping, try to make your acceleration and deceleration as smooth as possible. Instead of getting to the posted speed limit as fast as possible, aim for a smooth and gradual acceleration. Same thing with stopping. If you can see a red light up ahead, take your foot off the gas and coast until you have to apply the brake, instead of keeping your foot on the gas pedal and braking at the last minute.
By working with momentum and gravity, you can make driving a bit of a game and have some fun while saving gas. As you approach an incline, you could try to build up a bit of speed so that the momentum reduces the need for stepping on the gas as much while going up the hill, and conversely, let gravity help you when going downhill.
If you're not going anywhere, turn off the engine.
This applies as much to warming up the car in cold climates, as it does when idling and waiting in line for something or other while in your car.
Dress a bit warmer and let your car warm up as you drive if you live in a cold climate. Your car needs no more than 30 - 45 seconds of idling time in cold weather, to reach a reasonable operating temperature.
If you can see that you're likely to be stopped for more than a minute, it probably makes sense to turn off the engine for a while. In terms of fuel savings, it definitely does.
3) Drive at or slightly below the speed limit (drive slower)
It's just a fact that driving slower under normal conditions uses less gas (much less actually). By driving slower, you actually accomplish several things like: increased safety margins, avoided speeding tickets, and of course, it's one of the best ways to really save on gas.
Just move over to the slow lane, and save yourself the aggravation of having someone behind you getting all irritated because you're driving at the speed limit. The time savings of going fast just don't equal the long term benefits of driving at the speed limit. Another benefit of which could be lower car insurance rates because of a better driving record.
There you have it. You can forget all of those top ten lists, or that article about 37 ways to save on gasoline.
The truth is that if you follow the advice outlined above, you'll be saving most of what is possible, without wasting your time on things that simply don't matter that much in terms of real gas savings.
If you are a movie buff, you may have heard of the one called 'Johnny Mnemonic', a 1995 feature involving a data courier. Keanu Reeves is the star of the film. He carries a large data package, 320 gigabytes in size, in his mind. If he doesn't deliver it from Beijing to Newark, it will kill him. I suppose you could call this forced memory. It wasn't his brain that developed this computer chip, this memory tool. It contains a cure for a nerve syndrome of the future and puts his life in danger.
Some mnemonics would seem to be horrible techniques for the person who would prefer not to remember. However, this may be their only solution to overcoming a tragedy, in order to heal them. So, once more, forced memory is put into effect. The person must relive the mentally or emotionally damaging event to be able to move on with their lives and put the worst of the trauma behind them.
A coach, psychiatrist, hypnotist, counselor, pastor, trusted family member, teacher, or close friend may be needed to help give you moral support for the courage to use mnemonic tools.
Hypnosis has long been used as a mnemonic tool. Memory is a process of reconstruction rather than retrieval. Often the mind must be forced through hypnosis to reconstruct events that caused the person to suffer and attempt to protect themselves by choosing subconsciously to forget. Therefore, hypnosis may at times be a dangerous, however necessary, mnemonic tool.
Hypnosis is also a lucrative field. It is often used to help people stop an unhealthy habit, such as chronic nail-biting, smoking, overeating. It can also be used as a form of pain control. No matter how it is used, it involves the subconscious memory.
Mnemonic tools can be a positive way to overcome small annoyances. Suppose your short-term memory loss is disrupting your life in such a way that you are in a constant state of frustration. Small annoyances can add up to one big problem.
You may have subconsciously used mnemonic tools to learn to avoid certain disturbing memories. Like associating an object with someone who used that object to cause you pain. You decide to avoid use of that object to force yourself to leave the memory in the past. Maybe a dreaded uncle always wore purple, so to avoid having to constantly be reminded of the uncle, you decide to never buy an object the color purple. It may become a habit that you do without really thinking about it.
People have used flash cards, music, games, and repetition as mnemonics. Remember the old saying about tying a string around your finger to recall something important? Or placing a rubber band on your wrist, to pop whenever you are faced with a temptation you are trying to overcome?
Whatever the case may be, mnemonics can be very productive in memory improvement.
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