Well, I guess the future is not what it used to be.

If you're still waiting for your flying car you'll just have to keep holding your breath. If necessity really is the mother of invention, one would expect those creative minds who toil in the vacuum of imposed crises like our current gasoline woes to come up with some real solutions.

But the fixes always seem like the carrot and donkey scenario; always just a tad out of reach.

And though some would balk at the idea, there can be little doubt that big oil companies are far more inclined to ignore and suppress any technologies that might usurp the need for their product.

The Big Three auto manufacturers, GM, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler have mostly lost their cache when it comes to foreign competition, especially in the fuel economy segment.

They currently employ only about fifteen percent fewer workers they had ten years ago and half the workers they employed forty years ago. Toyota, Honda and Nissan have surged ahead by establishing new factories in this country and employing many of those workers.

And within the last couple of years, there are some hopeful developments that are the result of all this pain at the pump.

With a government decree in December of 2007 for a new energy bill that mandates 35 mpg for all cars, SUVs, and small trucks sold in the U.S., the Japanese Big Three, along with Korea's Kia and Germany's Volkswagen have ponied up.

They are offering a goodly number of automobiles with fuel economy ratings that meet that directive, as well as providing hybrid technology that combines electrically driven motors with small cubic inch gasoline backups known as 'Plug-in Hybrids'.

Ethanol and Biodiesel as alternative fuels have finally become a reality, and you are now much more likely to see cars like Chevy Tahoes with the "Flexfuel" badging and Volkswagons with "TDI" insignias on their tailgates and trunks.

For better or worse, we live in the age of the sound-bite-what's crackin'- hook-me-up generation and US citizens want the hottest tip and we want it now.

So how does this truly relate to Joe and Jane Sixpack? (that's you).

A good number of drivers buy their gas at Costco.

The price for unleaded there was $4.19 at press time, which is about 18 cents less then most local competitors, and the line of cars there being three deep much of the day indicates that this is one of the more popular ways to cut costs.

I'm not a member of Costco (I feel funny enough walking out of a store with 12 rolls of toilet paper, I couldn't handle the extra embarrassment of a 54 pack), so I buy my gas at the Circle K on 320th.

It's currently running at $4.35 a pop, which is lower than most Shell stations, and while I was there, I pumped some more air into my tires until they were all up to 40 lbs each. Check with your mechanic, but this is generally safe to do and can help you gain a mile or two per gallon.

Also, though my own mechanic does not recommend it, I still occasionally add three ounces of pure acetone to my full tank when I get home.

I believe it bumps up the octane level enough to help my Ford Exploder run a tad more efficiently, sort of like the way those red bottles of injector cleaner (which is made with acetone) help with your fuel mileage.

I avoid using AM/PM gas, because it has ethanol in it and it says right on the pumps that your mileage may suffer.

Keeping the oil changes on schedule really does help too, as does a tune up.

And if you're stuck at a notoriously long traffic light, you can shut your car off if you think it might be more than three minutes.

All of these little things will actually help with your fuel bill, but outside of just keeping the car in the driveway, I believe the days of cheap full will never return.