AP Photo by Paul Sakuma

Call it clever marketing or just a good sense of humor. A Shell gas station in Menlo Park has posted a "tell-all" sign for the price of gasoline these days: Plus will cost you "an arm" and Premium "your leg."

A prosthetic hand and leg lay on the checkout counter to reinforce the point that gas prices are sky high. Hardly inspiring, especially with summer's prices heading toward $3.00 per gallon at this Northern California station and around the nation.

The sign is not new. The owner of this station put up the same sign last year when prices climbed.

A Mobil station in Georgia picked up on the unique advertising opportunity by adding their own twist to the painful price of gas. Their Regular gas will cost you an arm and their "Special" will cost you a leg. The price of their Premium? Your First Born.

Prices are required to be posted. Sometimes, the truth hurts. You could call this a case in point.

If only they would offer a free Mercedes with every fill up, or Dom Perignon in the bathrooms...

The challenge: With everyone giving an arm and a leg to buy gas, it's going to be awfully tough to drive. Our second mortgage maybe, but there's no way I'm giving up my first born, so perhaps we should boycott OPEC and go back to riding horses instead of cars.

Or perhaps I'll try to understand the dilemma a bit better by reading Stephen and Donna Leeb's s road map for investors, economists and parents (Feb 2004) called, "The Oil Factor: How Oil Controls the Economy and Your Financial Future" or Caltech physicist David Goodstein's sobering new book (Feb 2004) "Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil."

All kidding aside, we should be grateful we have gas to pump.

Goodstein talks about the prospective of considering going back to coal-based fuel or moving toward a methane-based fuel economy when we run out of oil.

Another resource that provides in-depth coverage on environmental issues from animals, the atmosphere, biodiversity, climate change, conservation, environmental activism, forests, genetics, nuclear issues, oceans, pollution, renewable energy, rivers and soils, is the Internet portal OneWorld.net

The Ford Escape Hybrid

A short-term practical move is to consider purchasing a gas-electric hybrid. One example is the new Ford Escape SUV, which gets 35-40 miles per gallon. The hybrid version of the Escape will begin shipping in the fall and is now available for pre-order. No price has yet been announced.

We commend our friend George for buying a hybrid Toyota Prius, another hybrid car. Although, from our eyes, the styling leaves something to be desired, George says that the car still attracts many admirers.

In fact, Cameron Diaz liked the eco-friendly car so much that she purchased a 2002 model for herself.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful and wise living!

~Jennifer King