Slave to the Consumption

Since purchasing our hybrid car I have become a slave to the Consumption meter. In the Toyota Prius, there is a screen that shows your miles per gallon (MPG) every second on the right and then bars that show you 5 minute averages that pile up for 30 minutes to show your fuel consumption.

Now, I am ecstatic that I can ignore how heavy my foot is and still get 44.5 MPG. But, there is just something inside of me that has to watch that meter on the right to make sure that I can squeeze every possible inch per gallon out of it. I am sure that I am infuriating those behind me with slower than average starts and longer than average coasting stops, but I don't care. I am an addict to getting high MPG. I fully expect to walk into my house and see Mr. VanVonderen with a room full of people that"love the heck out of me."