For the first time in my extensive driving history, I surpassed the $40 mark filling up my vehicle. In fact, I ended up closer to $50 than to $40, topping out at $45.06 on Sunday.

No, I don't drive a 4x4 pickup or an SUV. I drive a mid-sized, economy-class 2006 Mitsubishi Galant -- a Japanese car that traditionally has gotten terrific gas mileage.

At $3.36 per gallon, gas has never been higher here in Oklahoma. In fact, Oklahoma fuel prices are significantly higher here than they are in Texas, one of many cost-of-living myths I've discovered here in the Sooner State over the past two years.

The so-called fuel experts say it's because we've had refinery problems. About three weeks ago, a lightning bolt hit the plant in Wynnewood, which I think merely gave oil executives an opportunity to hike prices, and area gas stations are more than willing to collude.

However, conspiracy theories aside, the experts are right about one thing: Rising fuel costs are absolutely, 100 percent the result of supply and demand doin' its economic thing.

Even if there really was collusion going on among gas stations and convenience stores and even the oil companies, the fact that we're not reducing the amount we drive indicates that those aforementioned entities can get away with raising prices.

And, you know what? They can.

I fill up once per week just to get to work and back. That comes out to $200 per month now just to go to work. While one can live anywhere one wants, this amount is still essentially an off-the-top tax for every worker in America, well, unless you're lucky enough to be able to telecommute.

Two points: Companies would be very well served to increase the amount of telecommuting they allow because it could very much be a giant sell to qualified prospects. Also, suburban living might be a thing of the past for those of us who are obligated to drive.

In my case, because I work in news, it really is hard to play an integral newsroom role and be anywhere else than the newsroom for a majority of my time. Sure, when breaking news happens late at night or on the weekends, I technically can be anywhere and succeed at a high level; however, I am one of many workers who really has no choice but to drive.

However, my days of living in Norman very well could be ending.

It's 28 miles to work each way, and if I lived in Edmond, not only would I save time, I'd save a ton of cash.

Then again, one has to figure the cost of moving. There's the physical expense as well as the time required to pack up, load, unpack, resettle and then deal with all those moving chores. Might be worth roughly $2,000 to $5,000 right there for even a basic move.

On top of that, for me, is the fact that I love Norman, by far the best city in Oklahoma. Just no comparison to any other city. The only other city in the state that I have seen that I'd call prettier than Norman is Jenks, which is this anomaly of a town that looks like it was uprooted from New England and replanted in the boonies.

However, in Norman, I have a house. No crime. I can literally leave my doors unlocked if I wanted, and really the only thing I have to worry about are a couple of college kids tossing beer bottles into the yard. I can literally pound my piano as loudly as I'd like with no repercussion, which bodes well for recording.

If you'll follow me here, the point I am making is thus: While rising gas prices are a pain, while it is directly affecting my pocketbook starting now, I am pretty much not going to alter my life completely, uproot myself, just to save some money on gasoline.

And, I don't think I'm alone.

In my case, if I were to do one of those pros/cons sheets, denoting why I should live closer to work and why I'm OK here, even with the high cost of gas, gas would really have to get expensive for me to conclude that I should move to Edmond or far northwest Oklahoma City.

How high? That's the question for everybody. What will the market bear?

I suspect people's actual habits will not change until we get above $4.25. I think $4 will be a shock, but if that price per gallon were to keep rocketing toward $5, I think people would have to alter things a bit. However, to conclude automatically that people's driving habits would change is a bit premature.

See, I think we'll stop buying extra stuff at Wal-Mart. The retailer reported its worst fiscal year in almost three decades, and I think it has everything to do with fuel costs. People aren't looking for an alternative to the world's largest department store; they're just buying less.

In my case, I'll look at other ways to save money or even earn more. My thought for everyone is to not purchase goods at convenience stores or gas stations. No coffee. No soda. No cigarettes. Any place that sells gasoline at a price out of whack with the national average or even just-too-high shouldn't get the benefit of a dollar spent on any good from which they can actually make a profit.

Stations have always maintained that they sell fuel at cost. Close to it, at least. It's a way to get you into the store to buy other goods, such as fountain drinks, from which convenience stores can make like 1,000 percent profit.

Truth is, those of us who aren't millionaires and who are of a progressive mindset really should flock to Wal-Mart instead of constantly disparaging them. Frankly, I couldn't care less how they treat their in-store workers given that I don't take an active interest in how McDonald's employees are treated or how any other low-skilled worker is treated. It's hypocritical to take up the cross of the Wal-Mart worker and not other low-wage workers particularly considering that the difference in profit between Wal-Mart and other mega-corporations, at the end of the day, still makes thousands of old white guys rich.

What Wal-Mart does do, on the other hand, is make retail shopping affordable for middle-to-lower-class Americans. My suggestion in light of rising fuel prices, honestly, is to buy anything and everything you possibly can at Wal-Mart and go as far as to try to buy nothing elsewhere. In this way, Wal-Mart is able to sell their goods even cheaper, and the retailers hurt by your exclusion might have to reduce costs in order to up demand.

So, what I'm suggesting here is that we're not likely going to change our driving habits. We are married to our cars. It's inherently American, and it will not change in this generation for sure. Hybrids won't solve the problem. Other forms of energy won't be ready for the masses, at a price we can afford, anytime soon either.

Given that we won't drive less, meaning the oil companies will have no reason to reduce prices, we're going to either have to start working second jobs, or we'll have to cut costs ourselves. For most of us, it won't mean packing up and moving closer to work because, at least I think, most Americans place a high value on where they live.

However, we'll have to cut costs in other places, and my thought is that we reward the guys who sell goods at market value or less and not spend our dollars anywhere else, forcing an unnatural and probably temporary deflation. I mean, Wal-Mart is not going to start jacking up prices anytime soon. To be the cheapest is basically the organization's brand promise, to borrow from corporate marketingspeak.

That's one man's strategy, and I'm not sure I'll be able to perfect it. To be honest, I wish there were a little family-owned market here in Norman that sold organic meats and super-fresh fruits and veggies with a cheap coffee bar and some ocean-fresh fish, all unstained by corporate fingerprints and still at market cost or below.

However, that is just as unrealistic as to think any of our driving habits will significantly change anytime soon.