Dum Pendebat Filius

Time to put on my tinfoil hat, readers…

Using a spreadsheet program on my computer, I have kept track of every tank of gas I’ve ever put in my 2004 Chevy Cavalier. I’ve been keeping records since 17 February 2005. Therefore, I’m able to keep track of trends in gasoline prices.

Gas is currently selling for $3 a gallon (technically, $2.999, with that ridiculous “nine-tenths of a cent” folderol) at GetGo stations here in Pittsburgh. The last time I saw sub-three-dollar gas was on 30 December 2007, and that was in Egg Harbor Township, NJ (about 15 miles from Atlantic City), where gas is always about ten cents cheaper than in the Pittsburgh or Washington DC areas (the other places where I frequently fill my tank).

The last time I saw gas this cheap in the Steel City was on 21 December 2007, when it was $2.999/gallon, the same as today. That was exactly 300 days ago. The last time I bought gas in Pittsburgh, just a couple weeks ago (1 October 2008), it cost me $3.53 a gallon. The price of gas has gone down almost fifty cents in the past two weeks.

Is it just a coincidence that gas is getting so much cheaper a couple weeks before Election Day? Something to ponder, readers.

(For those who are interested: Since I started keeping records in February 2005, the cheapest gas I’ve bought was $1.92, in Atlantic City, NJ, on 22 November 2005. The most expensive gas I’ve bought was $4.10, here in Pittsburgh, on 11 July 2008. I’ve filled my tank 152 times in the past three years and eight months, to the tune of $3806.61, and the average price of gas has been $2.77/gallon in that time period.)