I just took my first spin on mowing the back yard, which is just under an acre. I used the riding lawn mower (the first time I've used such equipment), and after a few learning hiccups everything fell in to place.
With the pretty sunset and pleasant breeze (and noise canceling headphones) it was actually quite a pleasant activity.
It was kinda like doing one of those Zen sand garden thingies. But louder. And with gasoline.
And with little bits of grass going up your nose and in your eyes.
Can't wait to do it again.
--Rational Mama
Showing posts with label gasoline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gasoline. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friday, December 3, 2010
Review: Rationing is a Gas! Gas! Gas!
One of the first posts about the rationing year project concerned gasoline and mileage rationing. In it, we described how gasoline was rationed during WWII and the issues we were wrestling with in trying to come to some sort of modern equivalent. In the end, we came up with a self-imposed mileage ration of 193 miles per week combined for our two vehicles.So...how's it been? Well, once we project out an average weekly mileage for the last few weeks of rationing (plus the mileage for a holiday round trip visit to Wichita) and add it to our already documented mileage we will have traveled (in our personal vehicles) roughly 10,007 miles during the rationing year, which is just slightly under the total miles of 10,036 allotted to us during rationing (193 miles per week x 52 weeks).
We're all pretty happy that we stayed within our limit and didn't fall into the trap of going farther (literally) even though we knew there wouldn't be any real consequences for us if we did go over our rationed amount.
In order to stay within our ration we definitely had to be mindful about how and when we were driving. We became pros at combining/consolidating trips and had to be extra careful with miles when the girls had out-of-town swim meets every other week during the summer. Our "vacations" consisted of two short getaways to Kansas City and one trip to Wichita to see family. Our mileage allowance did not permit a more grand vacation even if we incorporated some carpooling and I occasionally walked to work.And to be honest, we were all feeling the lack of big getaway by the time autumn arrived.
As a family we have to decide how we will handle mileage after rationing is over. All of us agreed that we didn't want to remove mileage off the radar completely, especially once we reviewed the math.
During the rationing year our 10,000 miles were considerably below the national average; the average adult American drives 12,000 miles per year, which means the average for a two-driver household like ours is 24,000 miles per year. By following our rationing limits we drove 14,000 miles less than a comparable family.
Fourteen thousand less miles means fewer gallons of gasoline (and more money in our pocket). Using a very modest estimate of 20 miles per gallon, 14,000 miles equates to 700 less gallons of gasoline. Each gallon of gasoline creates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, so by travelling 14,000 miles (or 700 gallons of gasoline) less than the average two-driver household we avoided dumping 14,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.
That's seven tons, or the equivalent of 1,400 10lb bags of potatoes, or roughly four mini-vans! After that kind of a realization, we can't just abandon mileage/gasoline rationing completely.
That's seven tons, or the equivalent of 1,400 10lb bags of potatoes, or roughly four mini-vans! After that kind of a realization, we can't just abandon mileage/gasoline rationing completely.
So we've decided to keep tracking our mileage but give our family a slightly higher allowance so that more frequent weekend trips and a decent vacation (likely to involve driving) can be incorporated. We are also aware that we will likely be using more miles next year for basic errands (more on that development in a later post). Taking all these things into consideration we have decided that our new, post-rationing family limit for mileage will be 15,000 miles combined for the year. This gives use a weekly allowance of 288 miles - nearly 100 miles more per week than during rationing! The trick will be to not squander those miles but to save them up for the fun stuff.
Pondering all those extra miles and the possibilities seems like a luxury. Where will we go first?
--Rational Mama
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Not So Victorious Gardens
*A garden summary, by TMOTH
Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow?
As of last week we are officially done with this year's gardens so it is time to assess how we did. I wish I could say better. Should I start with the excuses now or save those for later?
Sorry, it’s not like me to be so negative but I judge myself more harshly than others and the gardens were one area of the rationing project where more responsibility rested with me. I can’t think of any reason not to say that the amount of produce was disappointing. We knew going in that even with the additional garden space shared by friends (thanks again everyone) we were far short on space recommendations for successful Victory Gardens.
Even considering our space limitations we had high hopes. Especially for tomatoes, which took up the largest share of space. While I have to admit that I could/should have been more diligent with weeding and watering, I take some solace in the number of other gardeners I heard lamenting this year's tomatoes. I’m no master gardener to explain all of the variables but I also heard some say their tomatoes were great. In fact, one of our borrowed plots had plants that just wouldn’t give up. After suffering with the rest through brutal heat and a long dry spell what thick skinned fruit was on the vine split when the rains finally came. With the help of the late summer rain those plants started growing like crazy and loaded up with fruit all over again. Most of it never got to ripen on the vine. Last week I took what I thought were mature enough to finish on the shelf and pulled out the plants. Even when I finally uprooted the plants last week they were green bushy and still producing flowers and fruit in all stages of maturity.
It was a tough decision to take down those enthusiastic die-hards but I was afraid that we were just robbing nutrients from the soil for tomatoes that would never have a chance to ripen with the shorter days and cooler nights. (Can I really be thinking of frost already?).
Sorry that I don’t have an accurate tally of what we DID get but in general the gardens gave the occasional fresh produce for meals including a variety of greens and broccoli in the spring, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and a small variety of squashes later with basil on demand throughout (still growing). Unfortunately we didn’t get the amount needed to save massive amounts for later.
I won’t go too deep into the excuses I promised earlier but I will leave you with this one insight. Trying to keep up with in four different small gardens in four different locations does not mix well with trying to limit your mileage.
--TMOTH
Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow?As of last week we are officially done with this year's gardens so it is time to assess how we did. I wish I could say better. Should I start with the excuses now or save those for later?
Sorry, it’s not like me to be so negative but I judge myself more harshly than others and the gardens were one area of the rationing project where more responsibility rested with me. I can’t think of any reason not to say that the amount of produce was disappointing. We knew going in that even with the additional garden space shared by friends (thanks again everyone) we were far short on space recommendations for successful Victory Gardens.
Even considering our space limitations we had high hopes. Especially for tomatoes, which took up the largest share of space. While I have to admit that I could/should have been more diligent with weeding and watering, I take some solace in the number of other gardeners I heard lamenting this year's tomatoes. I’m no master gardener to explain all of the variables but I also heard some say their tomatoes were great. In fact, one of our borrowed plots had plants that just wouldn’t give up. After suffering with the rest through brutal heat and a long dry spell what thick skinned fruit was on the vine split when the rains finally came. With the help of the late summer rain those plants started growing like crazy and loaded up with fruit all over again. Most of it never got to ripen on the vine. Last week I took what I thought were mature enough to finish on the shelf and pulled out the plants. Even when I finally uprooted the plants last week they were green bushy and still producing flowers and fruit in all stages of maturity.
It was a tough decision to take down those enthusiastic die-hards but I was afraid that we were just robbing nutrients from the soil for tomatoes that would never have a chance to ripen with the shorter days and cooler nights. (Can I really be thinking of frost already?).
Sorry that I don’t have an accurate tally of what we DID get but in general the gardens gave the occasional fresh produce for meals including a variety of greens and broccoli in the spring, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and a small variety of squashes later with basil on demand throughout (still growing). Unfortunately we didn’t get the amount needed to save massive amounts for later.
I won’t go too deep into the excuses I promised earlier but I will leave you with this one insight. Trying to keep up with in four different small gardens in four different locations does not mix well with trying to limit your mileage.
--TMOTH
Friday, October 1, 2010
U.K. Ration Day!
Hello to all! Today is the day we start living on 1945 U.K. rations for the next two weeks!A previous post outlined some of the rations and restrictions which were, unfortunately, a little squishy. Since I didn't have access to many first-hand sources I was making a sort of U.K. ration hodge-podge - a little 1943, a little 1945, etc.
Luckily, the ever so kind Mr. Graham (from On the Ration) set me straight. So, here's a rundown of our rations for the first week.
Standard Weekly U.K. Rations for Family of Four (1945)
8 oz preserves/syrup/treacle (Hagrid's favorite) (We have blueberry preserves)
32 oz sweets (We've gone with 27 oz sugar and 5 oz hard candy)
One pound bacon or ham (bacon this week)
32 oz butter/margarine/lard (We have 16 oz butter, 8 oz margarine and 8 oz lard...shudder)
8 oz cheese (Cheddar)
4 eggs (Drats! I can't find egg powder in this town!)
1.80 gallons fresh milk
milk powder - enough to make .6 gallons of milk
8 oz loose tea (no coffee or soda allowed)
Ribena concentrate for the girls (Our local grocery store had Ribena, Mr. Graham!)
2 cans concentrated orange juice
$8.32 for meat ration (Our antibiotic-free whole chicken was $8.30)
The monetary ration for meat was historically for red meat only, but to stay in line with our rationing year we will also include pork and poultry as part of this ration due to their current widespread availability (as compared with WWII).
There is also a standard ration of cod liver oil that I will not be subjecting the family to (I'm afraid Sissy would never speak to me again).
Then we have 24 points per week to use on tinned and dried foods. This is how we spent ours for the first week:
2 pounds oatmeal (8 pts)
1 pound dried beans - garbanzos (4 pts)
1 pound pasta (4 pts)
1/2 pound rice (1 pt)
1 pint condensed milk (2 pts)
1 fl oz olive oil (1 pt)
4 oz mayonaisse (4 pts)
Of course, local fresh produce and whole-grain breads are ration-free.
Soap rations are outlined in a previous post.
And then there's the gasoline rations...Under U.S. rations (and with a little 2010 math) our family is allowed 193 miles per week combined for both of our vehicles. Mr. Graham shared that gasoline rations varied during the war, with civilian rations of gasoline not being an option for a good portion of the war. He did related that if TMOTH's employment correlated with a wartime industry (which it would) then in early 1945 he would be allowed 9 gallons of gasoline per week which, using our 2010 math, would equate to 157 gallons per week.
Our weekly average has been closer to 180 miles per week, so we will definitely have to rethink our trips.
Of course, no appliance or clothing purchases are allowed and eating outside the home (restaurants, etc.) will only be permitted at two different (previously scheduled) family occasions during the two week period.
So there's the basics! Last night we went through the cupboards and refrigerator, storing away tempting items that are not allowed on U.K. rations. It was like removing all the hametz out of a house for Passover. Good bye crackers, gratuitous amounts of packaged cereal and cheese. Today we have nice, sparse shelves and a simple vegetable and dumpling soup.
We'll see how this goes.
--Rational Mama
Sunday, August 8, 2010
On the Road (and Maybe Not Again)
Last weekend the girls and I headed down south a ways to visit family. This would be the first time we saw these particular family members since January and this trip was planned nearly two months in advance (scheduling around the new job and kids' activities gets a little tricky).Not because of time conflicts or mechanical problems (knock on wood), but because we almost didn't haven enough surplus miles in our ration to make the trip.
The trip down to see family would, according to online map sources, require 300 miles round-trip.
Now, for most of the rationing year we've kept the mileage surplus right around (or above) the 300 mile mark (the benefit of not having a real summer vacation, sigh). But a busy summer of swim lessons, out-of-town swim meets and plenty of errands had chipped away at that surplus - even when we were being careful about combining errands and such.
Now, for most of the rationing year we've kept the mileage surplus right around (or above) the 300 mile mark (the benefit of not having a real summer vacation, sigh). But a busy summer of swim lessons, out-of-town swim meets and plenty of errands had chipped away at that surplus - even when we were being careful about combining errands and such.
Five weeks before the trip our mileage surplus was at 256 miles - not enough to make it there and back but not so low as to make us nervous since we still had plenty of time to save up miles. The following week our surplus bumped up to 273 miles and, after another week of miserly driving we had a surplus of 357 miles three weeks prior to the scheduled jaunt. Things were looking good.
But then two very busy weeks of shopping and running errands and chasing down home repair parts took the surplus down to a total of 291 miles just one week before the trip.
So for the next week we did very little driving. Unless it was desperately needed, all shopping was limited to one trip to the grocery store just a few miles away. When we went out to dinner one night we chose the mediocre neighborhood option over one of our house favorites that would have consumed an extra 10 or so miles. Swimming practice was over, so that would help, too.
So off we went to visit family (and even managed to sneak in an extra few miles to drop supplies off which saved some friends their own 300 mile business trip).
A week after the trip our surplus is now only 104 miles, which doesn't get us too far. But, it's still a cushion which (hopefully) we can get back up to its maximum before the holiday season rolls around.
--Rational Mama
Friday, July 16, 2010
Six Month Mileage Update (by TMOTH)
I have missed my half way update and was hoping to do some major catching up but to finish all the ideas I have jostling for position in my brain would probably make me more than just a little bit past deadline. So how about we just stick with a single topic for now?We haven’t talked much about how the gasoline ration has affected our lifestyle and how we are doing with our goals. We don’t have long commutes and are centrally located so we get done what we need to within our established limits fairly easily. I began carpooling about a month before the project started - once the idea was in my head there was no reason to wait until rationing began. Initially, a co-worker who lives a little over a mile further from work than me picked me up and dropped me off on his way to and fro. This saved us about 42 miles a week and helped to fill up our reserves quickly. It also allowed for a few modest out of town trips without running out of fuel.
Then sometime around February this co-worker's car broke down and I started doing the driving. Since then we haven’t been saving the 42 miles but have actually been traveling an additional 15 miles each week to go get him in the morning and drop him off at the end of the day. I really am not bothered by the extra travel because in the grand scheme of things (ya know, reality), we are still keeping one vehicle off of the road so what does it really matter if our miles go up “on paper?"
Actually, for the past three weeks another friend/coworker nearby had a temporary schedule change and was on the same shift as myself and the above coworker and we actually did three cars worth of driving in one car. This past week the temporary car pool buddy drove. This turned out to be a great relief because…we are running short on miles!
The summer schedule of kids activities involves a lot more driving than just to school and back (which is only about 20 miles a week when we didn’t walk). The big hit to the mileage reserve has been swimming practice. This is the girls' first year on a summer swim team and they have practice four times a week. Tuesday and Thursday practices are actually pretty close - it’s the Monday and Wednesday morning practices at the Shawnee County North Aquatic Center that have been adding up. At 13 miles round trip, or 26 miles each week they account for over 10% of our weekly allotment of 193 miles.
Then there are the weekly swim meets, which alternate between home and away pools. The first two away meets were roughly 80 and 130 mile round-trips and required us to use a sizable portion of our mileage reserve. This past week the away meet was schedule in a town 176 miles round-trip from our house (thank you web-based map information). We checked our mileage reserve...enough but not by much. Then we checked the weather the afternoon of the meet - storms were expected an hour before the meet started with a lull just long enough to do some swimming and then followed by another wave of storms - that is IF the forecast was right on. I don’t know about where you live, but around here the storms don’t carry wristwatches.So we had finally reached another point where the Rational Living project had affected our daily decision making. So far during the project year the meager mileage surplus has caused us to delay travel to visit Rational Mama’s family (a 300 mile round-trip), but we're determined to visit them at the end of July and therefore are relying on those surplus miles being available. As a result we decided not to go to the meet.
If not for the rationing project we would have joined many others on the team who went the distance only to find… the storms came like clockwork allowing just enough time for a dandy swim meet. Oh well.
Did we make the right choice? Maybe 176 miles round trip is too far for little swimmers at our level of competition anyway.
How far would you go? How much environmental impact is justified for simply daily activities?
--TMOTH
Sunday, March 21, 2010
This Week's Scenarios and Menu (and Premature Spring)
I declared this weekend a "sit on my rear and do nothing weekend," so I'm pulling myself away from the crafting and my self-orchestrated Colin Firth movie marathon to bring you this update.
A few notes about last week...Remember that maximum surplus of roll-over miles TMOTH previously described? Well, with our little mini-vacation last week we finally had to delve into that reserve. In all, we used 264 miles last week, which is 71 miles over the weekly allowance. Thus, our roll-over miles have now been reduced from the maximum of 530 miles to 459 miles. That's still a ridiculously large amount of miles, in my opinion.
Also, last week's menu got a little improvised, between my temper tantrum and other situations. A few meals were cooked on different days and two meals got rolled-over into this week's menu:
Saturday: sandwiches and chips (who wants to leave a Colin Firth marathon to cook?)
Sunday: vegetable burgers, crunch vegetable salad and maple nut pudding (historic recipes that didn't get prepared last week)
Monday: freezer soup (whatever is in the freezer and unaccounted for is going in a soup)
Tuesday: spaghetti marinara and canned green beans
Wednesday: French toast casserole and canned fruit
Thursday: chole saag and rice and Spaghettios (the latter is for the girls)
Friday: beefless stronganoff and baked cabbage
Amazingly, we had no scenarios this week. Sissy was rolling the die for the week and casually said, "We could really use a six," knowing a six means no scenarios for the week. And then she rolled a six. I'm taking that girl to Vegas!
Also, I just realized that I didn't spend all of our ration points last week - we had five spa
re red points and two spare blue/green points. Beginning in 1944 the OPA started issuing red and blue tokens so that retailers could give change back for food bought with ration stamps. It allowed folks to be more precise with their purchases and created a mechanism by which one could save up a few extra ration points at a time. In the spirit of this, I'm going to consider the left-over points from last week as OPA tokens and roll them over into a future week's allotment.
Otherwise, last week was a lovely early spring week. Lots of sunshine lasting later into the evening, warm weather and the sprouting of many green things. On Thursday evening I took the following pictures...
The girls making mud pies (and muddy knees and foreheads and...):
TMOTH digging out a lilac bush to relocate to a different area so the blueberry bushes(!) can be planted:
And Fat Cat basking in the sun on the encolsed porch, listening for birdies:
Really, it was a lovely weather week. And then on Saturday morning we woke up to around four inches of snow.
Sigh.
At least I know that with tomorrow's highs in the 50's most of the snow will be gone shortly and we can return to our spring happiness.
In the meantime, I'm gonna make some hot tea, curl up on the sofa with a blanket and watch some more Colin.
--Rational Mama
A few notes about last week...Remember that maximum surplus of roll-over miles TMOTH previously described? Well, with our little mini-vacation last week we finally had to delve into that reserve. In all, we used 264 miles last week, which is 71 miles over the weekly allowance. Thus, our roll-over miles have now been reduced from the maximum of 530 miles to 459 miles. That's still a ridiculously large amount of miles, in my opinion.
Also, last week's menu got a little improvised, between my temper tantrum and other situations. A few meals were cooked on different days and two meals got rolled-over into this week's menu:
Saturday: sandwiches and chips (who wants to leave a Colin Firth marathon to cook?)
Sunday: vegetable burgers, crunch vegetable salad and maple nut pudding (historic recipes that didn't get prepared last week)
Monday: freezer soup (whatever is in the freezer and unaccounted for is going in a soup)
Tuesday: spaghetti marinara and canned green beans
Wednesday: French toast casserole and canned fruit
Thursday: chole saag and rice and Spaghettios (the latter is for the girls)
Friday: beefless stronganoff and baked cabbage
Amazingly, we had no scenarios this week. Sissy was rolling the die for the week and casually said, "We could really use a six," knowing a six means no scenarios for the week. And then she rolled a six. I'm taking that girl to Vegas!
Also, I just realized that I didn't spend all of our ration points last week - we had five spa
re red points and two spare blue/green points. Beginning in 1944 the OPA started issuing red and blue tokens so that retailers could give change back for food bought with ration stamps. It allowed folks to be more precise with their purchases and created a mechanism by which one could save up a few extra ration points at a time. In the spirit of this, I'm going to consider the left-over points from last week as OPA tokens and roll them over into a future week's allotment.Otherwise, last week was a lovely early spring week. Lots of sunshine lasting later into the evening, warm weather and the sprouting of many green things. On Thursday evening I took the following pictures...
There were the pretty crocuses:
The girls making mud pies (and muddy knees and foreheads and...):
TMOTH digging out a lilac bush to relocate to a different area so the blueberry bushes(!) can be planted:
And Fat Cat basking in the sun on the encolsed porch, listening for birdies:
Really, it was a lovely weather week. And then on Saturday morning we woke up to around four inches of snow.Sigh.
At least I know that with tomorrow's highs in the 50's most of the snow will be gone shortly and we can return to our spring happiness.
In the meantime, I'm gonna make some hot tea, curl up on the sofa with a blanket and watch some more Colin.
--Rational Mama
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Just Ask! A Matter of Finances
This week's question is from Rational Living reader Rebecca, who asked:
"Do you keep close track of your household finances and, if so, are you seeing substantial savings from all these homemade meals and not eating out?"
Great question!
I consulted the great Quicken oracle for some fast stats on the same period (Dec. 26 through Feb. 21) this year and last year and here's what I discovered:
Dec. 26, 2008 through Feb. 21, 2009
Gasoline: $197.86 (avg. price per gallon $1.87)
Eating Out: $241.72
Groceries: $1019.60
Total: $1459.18
Dec. 26, 2009 through Feb. 21, 2010
Gasoline: $147.60 (avg. price per gallon $2.50)
Eating Out: $106.50
Groceries: $735.01
Total: $989.11
Total savings while rationing (so far): over $470.00
Not too shabby, huh?
I know we had extra miles last February when Eowyn was hospitalized for a few days at a children's hospital around 60 miles away from home, but in general we've been able to reduce our consumption just by being more efficient with our trips. If you divide last year's figure by the average cost per gallon, that equates to 106 gallons, whereas the more recent figure equates to only 59 gallons. Even if you subtract last year's extra trips to/from the children's hospital our current rate of consumption for gasoline is down 39%.
Our eating out tab has reduced to less than half of last year's expenses. We are all surprised at how manageable the transition to reduced restaurant visitation has been.
Finally, our grocery tab is down 33%, even though more meals at home theoretically means more groceries. I imagine it is because we are spending less on commercially prepared items. Our cost per person has dropped from $4.39 per person/per day last year to $3.16 per person/per day during rationing. That figure includes several different occasions of having company over for dinner, so that actual figure is less than that. Now, some bloggers out there will say that it is still too high, but since I work outside of the home 40 hours a week and don't have the availability to prepare certain foods (breads and pastas) from scratch (although I would really love to), I'm pretty happy with that figure.
What are we doing with this savings? Well, our charitable giving is significantly higher than last year. Very significantly. Otherwise, we're trying to set aside the extra for a fabulous family vacation post-rationing.
What would you do with the extra savings?
--Rational Mama
"Do you keep close track of your household finances and, if so, are you seeing substantial savings from all these homemade meals and not eating out?"
Great question!
I consulted the great Quicken oracle for some fast stats on the same period (Dec. 26 through Feb. 21) this year and last year and here's what I discovered:
Dec. 26, 2008 through Feb. 21, 2009
Gasoline: $197.86 (avg. price per gallon $1.87)
Eating Out: $241.72
Groceries: $1019.60
Total: $1459.18
Dec. 26, 2009 through Feb. 21, 2010
Gasoline: $147.60 (avg. price per gallon $2.50)
Eating Out: $106.50
Groceries: $735.01
Total: $989.11
Total savings while rationing (so far): over $470.00
Not too shabby, huh?
I know we had extra miles last February when Eowyn was hospitalized for a few days at a children's hospital around 60 miles away from home, but in general we've been able to reduce our consumption just by being more efficient with our trips. If you divide last year's figure by the average cost per gallon, that equates to 106 gallons, whereas the more recent figure equates to only 59 gallons. Even if you subtract last year's extra trips to/from the children's hospital our current rate of consumption for gasoline is down 39%.
Our eating out tab has reduced to less than half of last year's expenses. We are all surprised at how manageable the transition to reduced restaurant visitation has been.
Finally, our grocery tab is down 33%, even though more meals at home theoretically means more groceries. I imagine it is because we are spending less on commercially prepared items. Our cost per person has dropped from $4.39 per person/per day last year to $3.16 per person/per day during rationing. That figure includes several different occasions of having company over for dinner, so that actual figure is less than that. Now, some bloggers out there will say that it is still too high, but since I work outside of the home 40 hours a week and don't have the availability to prepare certain foods (breads and pastas) from scratch (although I would really love to), I'm pretty happy with that figure.
What are we doing with this savings? Well, our charitable giving is significantly higher than last year. Very significantly. Otherwise, we're trying to set aside the extra for a fabulous family vacation post-rationing.
What would you do with the extra savings?
--Rational Mama
Thursday, February 11, 2010
True Confessions of a Gas Hoarder
Finally! At long last - the long awaited, much anticipated “TMOTH’s Post on Gas Rationing.” Or, as Rational Mama has implied, my impulse to “hoard.” Of course, I don’t think I have in mind anything as extreme as to be improper or “hoarding.” What I have been thinking of is simply saving some unused gasoline ration for later. I see this no more different than saving up sugar and butter rations for a few weeks to make a cake on a special occasion.
If I started rationing with no fuel in the vehicle tanks, put in my 11 gallons and drive less than eleven gallons worth before the next refueling then next week I will still put in 11 new gallons. In this fashion I would soon have a full 10 gallon gas tank in the car (more than that in the minivan). That would allow me to drive more than eleven gallons worth in one particular week if I had gone less on previous weeks. Now we get to the part where, if there were a real rationing authority, I would probably bend the rules just a little bit. Not a lot mind you, but just a little. I would keep one 5 gallon gas can for emergency (or leisure) trips.
Since we are rationing our mileage instead of actual gasoline I will not have to have a gas can in the garage. Instead, I will put unused miles in an imaginary mileage tank in the garage. Or, for convenience, I suppose we could just keep track of it on a piece of paper. This is, in fact, what we have done. By “we” of course I mean Rational Mama, as she is the great organizer of all things good.
So far we have used a total of 684 out of the 1158 miles that our gas rations could have taken us. That is 59% of our potential driving, leaving us with 474 unused miles so far. Using the storage capacity of the two vehicles plus one 5 gallon back up tank we can save a maximum of 530 unused miles. We call these rollover miles. After that point the miles will be “use it or lose it.” I hope we can resist the urge to drive extra just because we can. After all, one of the points of this exercise is to be mindful of our resource usage. Any unused miles can be happily reported as savings on both the pocketbook and our carbon footprint.
Speaking of mindfulness, I must confess that we haven’t yet had to think much about our driving habits. This is just how much we drive on a regular basis. Some things could be changing, though. My carpool arrangement is in jeopardy as the friend I have been riding with is considering a second job that would take him in the opposite direction at the end of the day. Having to drive myself to work would not put us over the limit by its self. I drove myself last week while he was on vacation and we still had miles to spare. My concern is that when the weather is nicer out I have the habit of heading out of town to “go walkabout” as Crocodile Dundee would say. With the nearest significant “wilderness area” being at least a 30 mile round trip (I’m not exactly sure since I never used to think that much about it), my trips will have to be less frequent and may dip into the rollover miles occasionally. We also will have to plan to save our reserve for visiting out of town family. There is a tradition of making it to a certain nephew’s birthday party that I feel strongly about not sacrificing.
Perhaps I should wrap up as Rational Mama often does by asking questions for reflection. How many miles per week does your household use? How much unnecessary driving do you do? Could you consolidate trips? What travel would you be unwilling to do without?
--The Man of the House
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
1 Month Check-In
Today we mark one calendar month into our year of living on WWII U.S. civilian rations.How are we doing?
We used 248 of our 251 red ration points. Assigning these every week is quite a math game - there are definitely never too many red ration points!
We used 538 of what should have been only 192 allotted blue/green points (refer to the "And Then Things Became REALLY Interesting" post from a few weeks ago). The good news is that while I was doing some research I learned that all families were allowed to claim, without penalty, five cans per person at the start of rationing. Assuming that an average can was worth 14 points, that would be an additional 280 points worth of canned goods that I could have credited the family for at the beginning of ration. If we subtract those points from our total, that brings us down to 258 points. That's still about 18 can's worth of points, or 18 cans too many. But there's not much I can do about that now. I have a modest amount of canned goods in the cabinet right now (beets, spinach, corn and carrots), so I was not hoarding during those few weeks of excess point usage. I'm not happy with the situation, but I'm at peace with it.
We've purchased all our sugar and coffee allowances.
I didn't track gasoline/mile usage for that first partial week, but for the following three weeks we used 300 of our 576 miles. I'm really happy about that number. Even if we didn't get the extra gasoline/miles for The Man of the House's job equating to a wartime industry, we would be well within the reduced allotment for families without the added gallons/miles. Of course, TMOTH (as he likes to be called) would like to hoard all those extra miles. There will be a post on that compulsion soon!
And how are we doing mentally?
Eowyn and Sissy miss fresh fruit (Eowyn = bananas, Sissy = apples) and both are no longer amused by the increased appearance of soups on the menu.
TMOTH is frustrated with the fact that few people he talks to "gets it" and understand why we undertook this project.
As you are all aware, I greatly miss fresh vegetables - and lettuce most of all. Rational Living reader Kari had a great idea about this which I will be posting about soon. Otherwise, I'm also feeling the time drain of the project: time looking up points, extra time spent making menus and grocery lists, extra time spent cooking more meals from scratch, time spent tracking usage and time spent posting on the blog. But all of these except that last point help make the experiment that much more authentic, so I can't complain too loudly.And I have to admit that I look forward to Mr. Bowles' Marketplace Scenario Randomizer with giddy expectancy.
And let me add a note of thanks for all those who read the blog and use the comments section to ask questions, suggest recipes (I'm still loving the baked cabbage!) and give us emotional support. This project wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it wasn't for the ongoing dialogue. Thank you!
And what do we think the next month will hold for us? I imagine the reduced blue/green points will become painfully real in the next month, and we will plan our garden. And I'm sure we'll try at lease five other ways to cook cabbage.
In fact, sometimes I think the official title for the project should be: "Rational Living...or...50 Ways to Cook a Cabbage."
--Rational Mama
Friday, January 15, 2010
Preparing for the Big Day AND Another Week of Scenarios
Things are in full chaos mode at the Rational Living household. Sissy's birthday party (with 15 attendees!) is on Saturday afternoon, so we're in a frenzy of cooking, cleaning and crepe paper. But I squeezed out a few minutes to let you know how we did last week and what scenarios we are facing this week.Last week we used 62 of our 64 red points and 125 of our 192 blue/green points.
We used 125 of our 193 miles.
We had a special treat on Tuesday when the Rational Living household was taken out to eat in honor of Rational Mama's thirty-f(*cough*cough*) birthday. We had a lovely dinner at the local Indian restaurant and the night was rather ration-friendly, since most ate vegetarian meals and we had plenty of blue/green points left to "pay" for the frozen vegetables that were used.
However, the dinner out got use thinking...during the weeks that we go out to dinner it doesn't seem fair to give ourselves the full amount of ration points, since we don't count our meal's points when dining out. So, since this Tuesday is our regularly-scheduled, no special event, only once a month, Rational Living household night out for dinner we are only allotted 13/14ths of our ration points: 59 red and 178 blue/green points.
With that in mind, here's our four scenarios for the week (that's the most scenarios per week so far!):
- Beef - limited availability, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
- Coffee - limited availability, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
- Canned fruit - scarce, available but at 1 1/2 the normal ration points
- Dried fruit - scarce, available but at 1 1/2 the normal ration points
As if the fruit issue wasn't challenging enough. Sigh.
Two recipes on the menu this week call for one pound of ground beef per recipe, so that will now be 1/2 pound each, to be extended by adding black beans. Tortillas also make another appearance this week. Since our town has had a thriving Hispanic population since the late 1800s we are allowing ourselves this treat, as they would have been available in local markets during the 1940's.
This week's menu:
Saturday: Sissy's Birthday Party! Homemade macaroni and cheese (historic recipe), coleslaw, broccoli casserole, relish tray and banana cake (historic recipe)
Sunday: Tacos and (canned) corn - special request for Sissy's real birthday
Monday: SPAM burgers and oven-fried cabbage (thanks to reader Carla for the great cabbage idea!)
Tuesday: Out!
Wednesday: Spaghetti marinara
Thursday: Cheese enchiladas and black beans
Friday: Hot dogs, saffron rice and carrots
Did you see that on Monday?!?! It's our first SPAM recipe! I have vague memories of having SPAM a few times as a child and being mesmerized by the thought of meat in a can. I'm interested to see how the girls react. I'll report all the gory details and let you know how the party fare is received.
Have a great weekend!
--Rational Mama
Saturday, December 26, 2009
A Rational Review
Now that we've survived the first day of rationing, I thought I'd review all of the rations/restrictions that we are following during this rationing year.
These allotments follow traditional U.S. civilian rationing during WWII:
Gasoline: maximum of 193 miles per week combined for our two vehicles (equivalent to the 11
gallons per week we would have been allowed during the War).
Sugar: maximum 2 pounds per week for our family of four.
Meat/Cheese/Oils: maximum 64 red points per week, following point values on this handy dandy chart (we are including poultry, which was not part of the original WWII U.S. civilian rationing program).
Canned, Frozen and Processed Fruits, Vegetables and Soups: up to 192 blue/green ration points per week following the handy dandy chart. [Editorial Note: during the 4th week of the rationing year it was discovered that we are only allowed 48 blue/green points. Big change!]
Coffee: Up to 1 pound per adult every 5 weeks.
All of the above restrictions, as well as some additional food items, are subject to change as a result of Mr. Bowles' Amazing Marketplace Scenario Randomizer.
In addition to the above we have also incorporated a host of additional restrictions during the rationing year:
Eating Out: we will eat out at a restaurant as a family only once a month, and I will have one weekend lunch out with the girls just once a month as well.
Limited Processed Foods: minimally processed and/or minimally-packaged foods will be preferred over other options (i.e. "real" carrots vs. bags of mini peeled carrots, no prepackaged snack cakes).
Seasonal Produce: only seasonal fresh produce may be purchased, following this list (if off-season, produce must be dried, canned or frozen and thus cost more rationing points).
Soda: permitted at a maximum of three 12 oz servings per week, per adult.
Limited New Purchases: all purchases must be evaluated for needs vs. wants and when possible second-hand options should be considered (Craig's List, Ebay, Goodwill and Freecycle).
We're also in the process of re-evaluating our energy usage in the Rational Living household, so additional energy ration guidelines may be added. We're notoriously bad about leaving lights on in unoccupied rooms and don't use power strips to power-down idle electronics. But that will be fodder for a future post!
In the meantime...pretty much the entire gang at the Rational Living household suspects that the eating out restrictions are where we will feel the most pain.
How often does your family eat out? Do you have a family plan about eating out, or is it more loosey-goosey?
Thanks for stopping by!
--Rational Mama
These allotments follow traditional U.S. civilian rationing during WWII:
Gasoline: maximum of 193 miles per week combined for our two vehicles (equivalent to the 11
gallons per week we would have been allowed during the War).Sugar: maximum 2 pounds per week for our family of four.
Meat/Cheese/Oils: maximum 64 red points per week, following point values on this handy dandy chart (we are including poultry, which was not part of the original WWII U.S. civilian rationing program).
Canned, Frozen and Processed Fruits, Vegetables and Soups: up to 192 blue/green ration points per week following the handy dandy chart. [Editorial Note: during the 4th week of the rationing year it was discovered that we are only allowed 48 blue/green points. Big change!]
Coffee: Up to 1 pound per adult every 5 weeks.
All of the above restrictions, as well as some additional food items, are subject to change as a result of Mr. Bowles' Amazing Marketplace Scenario Randomizer.
In addition to the above we have also incorporated a host of additional restrictions during the rationing year:
Eating Out: we will eat out at a restaurant as a family only once a month, and I will have one weekend lunch out with the girls just once a month as well.Limited Processed Foods: minimally processed and/or minimally-packaged foods will be preferred over other options (i.e. "real" carrots vs. bags of mini peeled carrots, no prepackaged snack cakes).
Seasonal Produce: only seasonal fresh produce may be purchased, following this list (if off-season, produce must be dried, canned or frozen and thus cost more rationing points).
Soda: permitted at a maximum of three 12 oz servings per week, per adult.
Limited New Purchases: all purchases must be evaluated for needs vs. wants and when possible second-hand options should be considered (Craig's List, Ebay, Goodwill and Freecycle).
We're also in the process of re-evaluating our energy usage in the Rational Living household, so additional energy ration guidelines may be added. We're notoriously bad about leaving lights on in unoccupied rooms and don't use power strips to power-down idle electronics. But that will be fodder for a future post!
In the meantime...pretty much the entire gang at the Rational Living household suspects that the eating out restrictions are where we will feel the most pain.
How often does your family eat out? Do you have a family plan about eating out, or is it more loosey-goosey?
Thanks for stopping by!
--Rational Mama
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Rationing is a Gas! Gas! Gas!
...okay, maybe that should just read "Rationing is a gas!" since the whole idea is about using less, not more.
As I type there's around 75 days left until R-Day, the day my family begins living a lifestyle based on WWII rationing, or at least the modern equivalent. And one of the first components of our liv
es to be limited will be gasoline.
By mid-1942, most family automobiles had an "A" sticker in their window, indicating that their gasoline ration was at the low end of the scale - typically three to four gallons per week during the war. Vehicles driven by personnel considered essential to the war effort were graced with a "B" sticker, earning eight gallons of gasoline per week. Industrial war workers fell within the "B" category. "C" stickers were for physicians, ministers, mail carriers and such whose jobs were considered critical to society. "T" stickers were reserved for trucks and other over-the-road transport while rare "X" stickers were for members of Congress and other elite VIPs. I haven't found specific gasoline allowance figures for the "C" and "T" stickers, but I know that they were higher than the "B" allotment, and "X" stickers earned the owner a basically un-rationed amount of gasoline.
Originally, the aim of gas rationing was to reduce the wear on tire rubber, since this natural resource (which was made from rubber trees now largely under Japanese control) was essential to the war effort. "Victory Speed" campaigns cropped up, touting lower traveling speeds (typically a max of 35 mph) to reduce tire wear and tear. However, most drivers ignored these limits (sounds stereotypically American, huh?).
So gas rationing was originally one prong of a two-pronged effort to redirect rubber away from citizen consumers so that more was available for military vehicles and supplies. How badly the rationing of gasoline effected Americans varied greatly based upon many factors including access to public transportation and proximity to essential locations such as employment and food markets. And while most cars in the 1940s averaged only 15-20 mpg (what we would call a "clunker" today), most individuals were not too far removed from their community centers to feel a dramatic crunch in their lifestyle (remember, this is before the days of urban sprawl and the death of rural towns). In fact, in late 1942 a whopping 95% of workers polled in Wichita, KS still drove their cars to work!
But this sure ain't the 1940s, and urban sprawl is definitely a reality in our modest-sized city (population of approximately 120,000). So, what does gasoline rationing mean for us? Well, first we had to consider some differences between the WWII scenario and today's lifestyle.
The range for miles per gallon in the 1940s was between 15 to 20, or roughly 17.5 mpg on average. Today, in the world of fuel-efficient economy models and hybrids the average is often 30+ mpg, which means our contemporary cars go farther than 1940s cars on the same gallon of gas (okay, not quite the same gallon of gas...ours is unleaded and contains ethanol). That comparison seems to suggest that following the exact same ticket allowances mentioned above might be too generous for our contemporary experiment.
But, you point out (really, I can hear you starting this line of thinking already), modern communities are so much more widespread in their distribution of resources that the sheer sprawl of a city requires one to drive farther for essential functions. For example, an individual in the 1940s typically drove (or walked) less than one or two miles to the grocery store; in today's communities a similar task may require four or five miles worth of travel one way.
So keeping the same amount of rationed gasoline with our more fuel-efficient cars makes sense, no?
Well, this back and for, tit for tat comparison could go on endlessly - or at least until everyone involved has lost interest and chosen to drive 12 miles round trip for a mocha-brownie double scoop to get their minds off of such debate. So I'll spare you much of the conversation (the ice cream is up to you) and let you know the formula we settle upon for our year of rationing. Yup, it's a formula. I'm no math wiz, so hopefully I can explain it to you in a way that actually makes sense.
In our family my car would earn an "A" sticker, which unfortunately does not make me part of the A Team (I pity the fool!) but does mean that my car "earns" three gallons per week.
My husband's vehicle would earn a "B" sticker since his 1940s employment equivalent would have made him part of the war supply chain. Maybe. He works in one of those cavernous retail distribution warehouses that ships consumer goods out to over 60 stores in seven states. While not exactly a war related occupation, in a 1940s scenario his distribution center would most likely be flipped to distribute war goods instead of clothing and home furnishing chotchkes. Thus, another eight gallons of gas per week.
This brings our family total up to 11 gallons per week by WWII standards.
Now, here's a bit of honesty: the idea of going to the gas station each week and filling up each vehicle with its appropriated number of gallons sounds really tedious. I admit it. You're not committed to the experiment, you say. That's not sticking to the 1940s example, I hear. Somewhat true. But if we were in the 1940s there would be at least two gas stations within spitting distance of my house and I'd never have to leave the car to get gasoline because it'd be full service with a cute teenage boy cleaning my windshield to boot. So, yes. We've changed the fine details, but I think we're still within the spirit of the rationing program. As such, here's the first modern deviation from the 1940s model: we're not rationing our number of gallons per week, per se, but instead rationing our number of miles.
Here's how it works: in the 1940s our 11 gallons would have allowed our family approximately 193 miles of travel per week, based on that average of 17.5mpg. Thus, our rationing experiment will allow our family a total of 193 miles per week for the year. Each Sunday we'll reset the trip meters in our vehicles and on Saturday nights we'll record the number of miles traveled that week. We'll have to monitor usage and compare notes during the week to make sure we don't go over. I really hope we don't go over.
On paper, at least, this doesn't look like much of a challenge, since our essential mileage each week (both of us to/from work, girls to/from school, piano lessons, church and routine shopping) totals around 95 miles per week. That leaves us around 100 miles per week for entertainment, socializing and other out-and-about tasks. Sounds pretty easy, right? Right? That's why we're not allowing ourselves any extra miles to accomodate sprawl. But our Quicken records for the past year suggest that our actual usage is closer to 14 or so gallons per week, which is over 300 miles per week. Ugh.
How does this compare to everyone else's gasoline usage? How many gallons per week do you use? How many miles per week do you travel? I have a suspicion that our usage is already a bit lower than many families because we live in a central location in our community - trips for shopping and general errands are relatively short. And, in general, we're pretty decent about trying to make our errand runs as efficient as possible.
But still...Quicken suggest that we'll have to cut a chunk of miles out of our usage to fall within the 193 mile limit. We've already made some changes like walking to work (me - weather permitting) and carpooling (husband) to reduce our usage even further. This is one of those things where our environmental consciousness nicely coincides with the rationing project. I like it when that happens.
On the other hand, out-of-town trips to see family and friends will be challenging, or nearly impossible. Can we save up unused miles from week to week? Maybe so, but I think there would be some sort of limit (after all, during WWII a citizen could only save up as much as their fuel tank would hold). According to Mapquest it is 300 miles round trip to see my mother. The only way that could happen is if we save up gas during the week and head her way on a Saturday, then reset the trip meter the next day (Sunday) for the return trip. Of course, that would leave us with just 43 miles of travel for the remainder of the week if we have exhausted our savings. Hmm...this requires a bit more thought.
So there's your first lesson in WWII rationing and an explanation of how we're working with one of the key rationed resources. We've got to figure out how the "storing" of any extra miles may work and what limitations would be required. Luckily, we still have seventy-some days to figure it out! Let me know if you have any suggestions.
--Rational Mama
P.S. Two really wonderful websites with good information are from the Ames Historical Society and the Plains Humanities Alliance. The latter has links to 1940s newspaper articles highlighting the challenges of rationing in the central plains region.
As I type there's around 75 days left until R-Day, the day my family begins living a lifestyle based on WWII rationing, or at least the modern equivalent. And one of the first components of our liv
es to be limited will be gasoline.By mid-1942, most family automobiles had an "A" sticker in their window, indicating that their gasoline ration was at the low end of the scale - typically three to four gallons per week during the war. Vehicles driven by personnel considered essential to the war effort were graced with a "B" sticker, earning eight gallons of gasoline per week. Industrial war workers fell within the "B" category. "C" stickers were for physicians, ministers, mail carriers and such whose jobs were considered critical to society. "T" stickers were reserved for trucks and other over-the-road transport while rare "X" stickers were for members of Congress and other elite VIPs. I haven't found specific gasoline allowance figures for the "C" and "T" stickers, but I know that they were higher than the "B" allotment, and "X" stickers earned the owner a basically un-rationed amount of gasoline.
Originally, the aim of gas rationing was to reduce the wear on tire rubber, since this natural resource (which was made from rubber trees now largely under Japanese control) was essential to the war effort. "Victory Speed" campaigns cropped up, touting lower traveling speeds (typically a max of 35 mph) to reduce tire wear and tear. However, most drivers ignored these limits (sounds stereotypically American, huh?).
So gas rationing was originally one prong of a two-pronged effort to redirect rubber away from citizen consumers so that more was available for military vehicles and supplies. How badly the rationing of gasoline effected Americans varied greatly based upon many factors including access to public transportation and proximity to essential locations such as employment and food markets. And while most cars in the 1940s averaged only 15-20 mpg (what we would call a "clunker" today), most individuals were not too far removed from their community centers to feel a dramatic crunch in their lifestyle (remember, this is before the days of urban sprawl and the death of rural towns). In fact, in late 1942 a whopping 95% of workers polled in Wichita, KS still drove their cars to work!
But this sure ain't the 1940s, and urban sprawl is definitely a reality in our modest-sized city (population of approximately 120,000). So, what does gasoline rationing mean for us? Well, first we had to consider some differences between the WWII scenario and today's lifestyle.
The range for miles per gallon in the 1940s was between 15 to 20, or roughly 17.5 mpg on average. Today, in the world of fuel-efficient economy models and hybrids the average is often 30+ mpg, which means our contemporary cars go farther than 1940s cars on the same gallon of gas (okay, not quite the same gallon of gas...ours is unleaded and contains ethanol). That comparison seems to suggest that following the exact same ticket allowances mentioned above might be too generous for our contemporary experiment.
But, you point out (really, I can hear you starting this line of thinking already), modern communities are so much more widespread in their distribution of resources that the sheer sprawl of a city requires one to drive farther for essential functions. For example, an individual in the 1940s typically drove (or walked) less than one or two miles to the grocery store; in today's communities a similar task may require four or five miles worth of travel one way.
So keeping the same amount of rationed gasoline with our more fuel-efficient cars makes sense, no?
Well, this back and for, tit for tat comparison could go on endlessly - or at least until everyone involved has lost interest and chosen to drive 12 miles round trip for a mocha-brownie double scoop to get their minds off of such debate. So I'll spare you much of the conversation (the ice cream is up to you) and let you know the formula we settle upon for our year of rationing. Yup, it's a formula. I'm no math wiz, so hopefully I can explain it to you in a way that actually makes sense.
In our family my car would earn an "A" sticker, which unfortunately does not make me part of the A Team (I pity the fool!) but does mean that my car "earns" three gallons per week.
My husband's vehicle would earn a "B" sticker since his 1940s employment equivalent would have made him part of the war supply chain. Maybe. He works in one of those cavernous retail distribution warehouses that ships consumer goods out to over 60 stores in seven states. While not exactly a war related occupation, in a 1940s scenario his distribution center would most likely be flipped to distribute war goods instead of clothing and home furnishing chotchkes. Thus, another eight gallons of gas per week.
This brings our family total up to 11 gallons per week by WWII standards.
Now, here's a bit of honesty: the idea of going to the gas station each week and filling up each vehicle with its appropriated number of gallons sounds really tedious. I admit it. You're not committed to the experiment, you say. That's not sticking to the 1940s example, I hear. Somewhat true. But if we were in the 1940s there would be at least two gas stations within spitting distance of my house and I'd never have to leave the car to get gasoline because it'd be full service with a cute teenage boy cleaning my windshield to boot. So, yes. We've changed the fine details, but I think we're still within the spirit of the rationing program. As such, here's the first modern deviation from the 1940s model: we're not rationing our number of gallons per week, per se, but instead rationing our number of miles.
Here's how it works: in the 1940s our 11 gallons would have allowed our family approximately 193 miles of travel per week, based on that average of 17.5mpg. Thus, our rationing experiment will allow our family a total of 193 miles per week for the year. Each Sunday we'll reset the trip meters in our vehicles and on Saturday nights we'll record the number of miles traveled that week. We'll have to monitor usage and compare notes during the week to make sure we don't go over. I really hope we don't go over.
On paper, at least, this doesn't look like much of a challenge, since our essential mileage each week (both of us to/from work, girls to/from school, piano lessons, church and routine shopping) totals around 95 miles per week. That leaves us around 100 miles per week for entertainment, socializing and other out-and-about tasks. Sounds pretty easy, right? Right? That's why we're not allowing ourselves any extra miles to accomodate sprawl. But our Quicken records for the past year suggest that our actual usage is closer to 14 or so gallons per week, which is over 300 miles per week. Ugh.
How does this compare to everyone else's gasoline usage? How many gallons per week do you use? How many miles per week do you travel? I have a suspicion that our usage is already a bit lower than many families because we live in a central location in our community - trips for shopping and general errands are relatively short. And, in general, we're pretty decent about trying to make our errand runs as efficient as possible.
But still...Quicken suggest that we'll have to cut a chunk of miles out of our usage to fall within the 193 mile limit. We've already made some changes like walking to work (me - weather permitting) and carpooling (husband) to reduce our usage even further. This is one of those things where our environmental consciousness nicely coincides with the rationing project. I like it when that happens.On the other hand, out-of-town trips to see family and friends will be challenging, or nearly impossible. Can we save up unused miles from week to week? Maybe so, but I think there would be some sort of limit (after all, during WWII a citizen could only save up as much as their fuel tank would hold). According to Mapquest it is 300 miles round trip to see my mother. The only way that could happen is if we save up gas during the week and head her way on a Saturday, then reset the trip meter the next day (Sunday) for the return trip. Of course, that would leave us with just 43 miles of travel for the remainder of the week if we have exhausted our savings. Hmm...this requires a bit more thought.
So there's your first lesson in WWII rationing and an explanation of how we're working with one of the key rationed resources. We've got to figure out how the "storing" of any extra miles may work and what limitations would be required. Luckily, we still have seventy-some days to figure it out! Let me know if you have any suggestions.
--Rational Mama
P.S. Two really wonderful websites with good information are from the Ames Historical Society and the Plains Humanities Alliance. The latter has links to 1940s newspaper articles highlighting the challenges of rationing in the central plains region.
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