Talk of the Town: Before you share a ride, share some info

Carpooling. Sharing a ride. Carpooling has plenty of pluses, but it’s definitely not for every commuter.

Harriet Baskas, a popular weekly columnist with “Well-Mannered Traveler” at MSNBC, advises folks not to completely change their commuting habits right away because of the gas crisis.

In 2006, the Census Bureau found about 10 percent of Americans carpooled to work. No official counts have been done since, but Marge Gasnick, who heads the RideShare program at the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) in Kansas City, Mo., says interest is rising as fast as the price of gas.

Gasnick says carpooling has loads of upsides, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

“We tell people to meet in person at a public place before they start sharing the ride together. And we advise people not to completely change their commuting habits right away — try it out a couple of times first to see if it works for you.”

MARC also warns potential carpoolers about some of the things that can be irritating about sharing rides, such as waiting for other people to show up at a meeting place.

The agency also encourages newly formed carpools to use a cost-of-driving calculator to determine how much each rider should pay. And don’t hesitate to re-calculate the fees as gas prices rise.

Carpool members should agree on some ground rules:

Whether or not food and drinks are allowed in the car

How long drivers will wait for slowpokes to show up

The acceptable levels of perfume, cologne and cell-phone use.

There’s also a handy list of advice short enough to clip, copy and distribute to all riders and long enough to cover many crucial “let’s keep it civil” topics.

For example, while the tips don’t specifically address critiquing hairdos of other drivers, it does advise carpoolers not to bring up “controversial topics like religion or politics unless you know your fellow carpoolers well.”

Larisa Minerva, 17, granddaughter of Janet and Donald Stukaloff of Green Valley, was awarded her Girl Scouts Gold Award in San Diego, Calif., on June 22 in a special ceremony hosted by the Girl Scouts San Diego-Imperial Council at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in Poway, Calif.

Her grandparents were there to see her receive the award, as well as her parents, Steve and Nancy Minerva, and brother Todd.

A member of the Penasquitos, California-based Girl Scout Troop 8477, Larisa began scouting in the first grade.

The Gold Award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts—the same status as the Eagle Award for the Boy Scouts. The Gold Award is earned by completing a community service project that must demonstrate organizational, leadership and networking skills. Just four percent of the Girl Scouts nationwide earn this prestigious honor.

Larisa’s project was teaching art classes to elementary students participating in the Extended Student Services program during the summer of 2007 at two elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District. Her goal was to inspire children to be artistically involved throughout their lives.

Her grandmother says that after years of camping, backpacking, traveling, recycling, helping, and growing, her troop will be traveling to Europe this summer.

“Larisa’s troop leader, Sandy Sultz, deserves much recognition to lead girls who have become such fine young women,” her grandmother adds.

Green Valley’s Dave “Cazzy” Caswell has something to say about the price of gas:

“When we married some 50 years ago in Wisconsin gas was 25 cents per gallon, our first home cost $16,000 and a new car was less than $3,000. We raised four boys on a yearly salary of $8,750 and we fed them corn fed beef at less than $1.50 a pound.

“We have been a two car family since Nixon was a boy. Since moving to Green Valley in 1997, my wife and I have been able to go our separate ways as we have wanted. She enjoys cultural stuff at the University of Arizona. She volunteers at University Medical Center, enjoys horseback riding just south of Tubac and goes hiking with “the girls” in Madera Canyon. I enjoy the quiet simple life right here in Green Valley. We are definitely not a couple joined at the hip.

“With the price of gas at nearly $4 a gallon, along with auto registration, licensing and insurance, the light bulb finally came on—sell my Toyota and get something that gets 75-100 miles-per-gallon. The only thing more expensive than owning a second car is buying popcorn and soda pop at the movies.

“In mid-June I sold my car and ran an ad in our local paper: “Wanted to buy a reliable, like-new motor scooter.” The next day I was the proud owner of a good-sized 150 cc scooter. This 55 mph machine was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my 75 years—as all four boys and one wife reminded me several times.

I called this new form of transportation my “Hardly Davidson” Death Machine. It took me only 12 days to come to the conclusion that this was a very good way to commit suicide right here in Green Valley. I was a 6 foot 4 inch, 235 pound accident just waiting to happen. I sold the scooter and I could hear the applause from the family from Portland to Boston.

“A second truism came to me real quick. This one-car family reality was not working out at all. If you’re looking for a quick and final divorce, having just one car is a sure solution. Another ad was run and my prayers were answered on the first day.

“Yes, I bought a 2005 like-spanking-brand-new Club Car Golf Cart that had a gas engine and was road ready. The six-gallon gas tank will last me about two months. That means I can fill ‘er up on July 1 and again in September. Oh, how sweet it is. I feel real safe at 25 mph in the far right lane. I love the friendly waves, the horn honks, the smiles from other golf cart folks.

“I called each of the grandchildren and told them that Big Pa Pa wanted them to suggest names that I could put on my new toy. Let me tell you that this family contest was a blast. I can’t repeat some of the suggested names but my dear sweet wife and I finally chose the two winning entries. She likeds ‘Traffic Jammer” and I chose “Cazzy’s Cruiser.” See ya around town. Honk if you like to save thousands of dollars per year.” — Dave ”Cazzy” Caswell.

One more suggestion when deciding to car pool or not (and this comes from me): Check to see if carpoolers enjoy the same music tastes?—or any noise at all in the car at all, for that matter. If you listen to hard rock and they prefer classical, there could be internal road rage an the end of the rainbow.

rford@gvnews.com | 547-9740