Gas Experiment, Pre-Part 5 notes

Since I started this little gasoline experiment back on May 3, gasoline prices have dropped 15¢, and I have earned a 30¢ discount on the grocery store gasoline.  This discount has to be used before May 31.

Recalculating my original calculations:  If the Shell gas is $3.82 per gallon and I get 35 miles per gallon, that comes to 10.91¢ per mile.  The generic gas is $3.76 per gallon and I get 32 miles per gallon, that comes to 11.75¢ per mile.  I would save 0.84¢ per mile by buying the more expensive gas.  I drive about 330 miles per week to work, so I would save $2.77 per week on gas.

Now, calculating the 30¢ discount, my generic gas would be $3.49 per gallon or 10.9¢ per mile.  Is this worth polluting my gas tank for?

If at first you don't succeed . . .

Well, today I tried my first polyphasic sleep schedule, what I am calling the Collegiate:  A chunk of 4-1/2 hours of sleep with a 90-minute nap later.  Unfortunately, this test is already on course to be derailed.  One of my bosses called me and woke me up 1 hour early today, and I could not fall back to sleep.  Instead, I wrote this blog.  My other boss wants me to work during my scheduled sleep times next week.  Therefore, it may actually be a couple weeks before I can put a schedule in place and try again.  Too bad. I was looking forward to having those extra 2 hours to catch up on my procrastination.

Figuring out polyphasic sleep times

The hardest thing about polyphasic sleep seems to be figuring out what times to sleep.  The original chart doesn't include exact times, only approximations.  Other pie charts I've found also have the same problem.  In fact, the pieces of the pie charts indicate equidistant sleep times, whereas this only exists on the original chart for the most extreme polyphasic sleep schedules (those with 5 or 6 sleep sessions per day).  This confused me, so I developed this spreadsheet to help me calculate when I should go to sleep.

The top portion is based on the original chart.  Simply change the first time (remember to use the time format of 12:30 pm) in the time column, and all the other times will change to show what time one should go to sleep using that polyphasic sleep schedule.  I have not included the 6-nap option because that is simply a 4-hour schedule; i.e., sleep at 1 am, 5 am, 9 am, 1 pm, 5 pm, and 9 pm.

The lower portion of the spreadsheet follows the pie chart equidistant formula of scheduling polyphasic sleep.  Simply enter the new time (again, remember to use the time format of 1:17 am) in the column for how often you wish to sleep.  The spreadsheet will tell you when to go to bed.

Some folks may notice I have added a classification to the spreadsheet that does not exist in the polyphasic literature:  Collegiate.  One, and only one, website noted this is the sleep pattern of most students, and it is actually the one I wish to try to begin my transition to polyphasic sleep.

My problem with adopting to this type of sleep schedule is I am a pussy when it comes to making decision.  I wuss out more often than not.  We shall see how I can bring about this type of change in my life when I have no real will-power; my brain is more of a dream factory.

Anyhow, that is the latest on my polyphasic sleep project.

Robin R. Meyers quote

“Condemnation feels good and it is now a staple of religion, politics, and the media (both left and right), but it changes nothing. Compassion, on the other hand, changes everything.” 
― Robin R. Meyers, Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus

Willy Wonka quote

"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple."
--Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Gas Experiment, Part 4

The last 2 tanks of Shell continue to vary but show improvement over the generic gas.  One was 34.77 MPG, and the other was 36.27 MPG.  The odd thing is the 36.27 was because of 3 more miles but 0.12 gallons less.  That little bit of shift created an increase of 1.5 MPG.

Will I or Won't I?

Well, the first part of my polyphasic sleep schedule is now in place.  I have moved my normal sleep time to noon-7:30 p.m.  I fell asleep well and woke up before my alarm.  Now I just have to figure out what the next step.

Gasoline Experiment, Part 3

That's more like it.  For my latest tank of gas, I got 36.96 miles per gallon using Shell gas instead of the generic grocery store brand.  Just to make sure this is not a fluke, I checked all of my MPGs for as far back as I could go.  This revealed some striking numbers.  I did, indeed, have some previous tanks of gas as high as 35.99 MPG.  However, my records do not indicate where I purchased the gas.  My monthly average MPG, though, indicate 30 MPG during the cold months and 32-33 MPG during the warm months.  Therefore, a monthly average over 33.66 MPG should prove the Shell gas is a causal factor.  I guess this means my next gasoline post will be at the beginning of next month.

Gasoline Experiment, Part 2

Okay.  Just filled my tank again.  The news is not encouraging.  The MPG this time around was only 33.56.  A bit disappointing compared to what Shell gas did for my car last time.  Well, we shall see how this second tank comes out before making any decisions.  After all, when I had 2 tanks of Shell followed by 1 of generic, I got 39 MPG.

Seeing the $23 spent for a tank of gas, however, made me think.  At what price is the Shell gas really a frugal purchase?  To figure this out, I came up with this formula.  Generic bill calculation:  165 miles ÷ 32 MPG = 5.156 gallons of gas; 5.156 gallons x $3.869 per gallon = $19.95 total bill.  Shell price per gallon calculation:  165 miles ÷ 35 MPG = 4.714 gallons of gas; 4.714 gallons x ? per gallon = $19.95 total bill or ? per gallon = $19.95 total ÷ 4.714 gallons = $4.232 per gallon.

Is that mathematically correct?  Let's see, 4.714 gallons x $3.949 = $18.62.  Therefore, at 35 MPG I would pay $18.62 total at shell, but at 32 MPG I would pay $19.95 at the grocery store.  As long as I am getting 35 MPG, I there can be a price difference per gallon of 36.3¢ per gallon.

Using the same formulas, can I figure out how much MPG I need using Shell gas?  $19.95 total ÷ $3.949 per gallon = 5.052 gallons; 165 miles ÷ ? MPG = 5.052 gallons or ? MPG = 165 ÷ 5.052 = 32.66 MPG.  As long as I get 0.66 more MPG using the Shell gas, I should be saving money.

So why did the $23.01 today seem so high?  Had I bought the gas at the generic price, it would have cost me 5.826 gallons x $3.869 per gallon = $22.54.  However, using the generic gas would have been 32 MPG, and I would have needed to buy more gallons (195.5 ÷ 32 = 6.109 gallons x $3.869 per gallon = $23.64).

If all of these numbers are correct, I need to get at least 0.66 MPG more at an 8¢ price difference to make the Shell gas a frugal buy.  If I do, indeed, get 35 MPG using Shell, the price difference can be as high as 36.3¢.  In 3 days, I will buy another tank, and we shall see if these numbers hold up.

Polyphasic Sleep?

Another thing in the book The 4-Hour Body is discussion of polyphasic sleep.  This is the kind of sleep pattern supposedly used by Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein, where one sleeps in a bunch of naps rather than all at once.  I am trying to figure out the time schedules, but the graphic in the book is not very well done.  I then tried one of the links in the book, but that is to a restricted blog site.  I will try some of the other links later tonight in the hopes of figuring out the gaps between sleep times.

Gasoline Experiment, Part 1

It figures.  Last night I bought the Shell gasoline.  When I get back home, the grocery store generic price came down 2¢ per gallon.  Recalculating from the last time, that means generic gas is $3.86 per gallon and I get 32 miles per gallon, that comes to 12.09¢ per mile.  I would save 0.72¢ per mile by buying the more expensive gas.  With an 11¢ price difference between gas types, I am still saving money if my gas milage remains at 35 with the Shell gas.

The last tank of gas I bought got me 33.49 miles per gallon.  This is with a couple tanks of grocery generic gas after a few tanks of Shell.  Last night, I bought the Shell gas again.  I should have my first new figures on Tuesday morning.  I can say my car seems to like the Shell.  There is less warm-up time after ignition.  Also, the gas gauge seems to be moving slower than usual, so that is a good sign that this will work.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  If I can save another $10 a month by buying a more efficient gas, I am closer to my goal and maybe won't have to move or become homeless.  We shall see.

MPG observation

While entering my gasoline purchases into my budget, I noticed something strange.  At one point last month, the Shell gas station was less expensive than my usual grocery store generic gas, so I bought two consecutive tanks of the Shell gas.  Then the prices changed, and I went back to grocery store generic.  However, during those tanks of Shell gas, my miles per gallon went up.  One tank even had 39 miles per gallon.  That makes me wonder if I can save money by buying the more expensive Shell gas because I get better gas milage.  So, how to figure that out.  If the Shell gas is $3.97 per gallon and I get 35 miles per gallon, that comes to 11.37¢ per mile.  The generic gas is $3.88 per gallon and I get 32 miles per gallon, that comes to 12.15¢ per mile.  I would save 0.78¢ per mile by buying the more expensive gas.  I drive about 330 miles per week to work, so I would save $2.57 per week on gas.  This is, of course, as long as the 35 miles per gallon using Shell was truly cause-and-effect.  I may give this another try to verify the hypothesis.  I will also need to find a way to calculate the greatest price variance that would still save me money.

Add protein to diet with cottage cheese

As part of my attempt to improve my diet and body appearance, I got the book The 4-Hour Body from the library.  It has some interesting stuff in it.  One thing this guy pushes is eating at least 20 grams of protein at each meal and eating 5-6 meals a day of about 200 calories each.  Well, I have always had a problem with portions.  I will eat until I feel like I am bursting.  I really need to find some way to restart my "I am full" hormone.  Until then, there was a suggestion I saw somewhere to premake everything I eat and eat the same thing week after week so the calories only have to be counted once.  I am actually kind of in the process of doing that, so I can kind of do both at the same time.  The book suggests eating 4 eggs at breakfast, but I want to save my eggs for a snack at work.  The 4-Hour Body suggested replacing the eggs with cottage cheese.  When I saw the price and sodium content of cottage cheese at the grocery store, I started searching the internet for instructions to make cottage cheese at home.  There are actually two different processes.  One of them uses a buttermilk starter to make cultured cottage cheese; I wonder if yogurt could serve this purpose.  The other is just curdling milk using vinegar; this could create some interestingly flavored cottage cheese.

Jillian Michael's book, Master Your Metabolism, actually suggests carbs for breakfast rather than protein.  Now I am wondering who is correct.

Wow.  This is different.  Not like the other Blogger posts I've created.  Oh, well.  We will try again.