Though it seems like the sun is here to stay for the next couple of months, I don't trust weather people anymore.

For one thing, it seems like they're all pretty blonde women now.

What happened to the grizzled Rich Marriot, the properly pasty Larry Schick and good old Harry and Andy Wappler?

Those guys told it like it was; 'Well, it looks like more clouds, rain, sleet, with a chance of hail and thunderstorms, a good day to get out and feed the ducks.'

Now that's a forecast.

With "Junuary" now behind us and that strange yellowish orb is back in the sky, drying things out and making the plants grow, many of us will begin to think about getting out of town.

Not so fast.

If you drive an automobile, particularly one that needs a petroleum product to make it go, chances are you have found yourself becoming slightly ill each time you have to feed it. You may find it difficult to retain your composure as you watch the pump meter clicking away at nearly twice the cost you paid just 18 months ago. Newsflash: It ain't going away anytime soon, friends.

It is not a good trend we are experiencing. If we follow the pattern that our neighbors in Europe are going through, with the cost of gasoline going from six, to eight and ten dollars a gallon, your car will be better used to store old tax returns or as an unusual fish tank or raised bed garden.

If you are a hardy, resourceful sort of person, you may already have taken the bull by the horns, parked your car and you are riding your bike to work. Good for you, Lance. But for the great bulk of us this is not a viable option.

You could cash in your 401K and buy a teency-tiny car and keep it parked as much a possible, but there are signs that the cost of gasoline could go beyond ten dollars a gallon in the next couple of years.

Is your face red yet?

The upshot of this is that more and more, people are finally opting to drive a bit less, and with the strange lack of rain and windy days, thoughts begin to turn to a bit of time off from work.

Forthwith, a new word has been added to our vocabulary: Staycation.

I didn't make the word up, but I wish I had. So I'll just have to come up with some suggestions for making the most of a gas-free holiday.

You can start by sending yourself a postcard or letter. Be sure to snap some pics of yourself on the patio in your best Hawaiian shirt, holding up a drink with an umbrella in it.

For even more fun, put on a strange hat, shorts and sandals and go to the corner of Highway 99 and 320th and ask people for directions to the mall.

You might be surprised at how many people don't know where it is, and if you go there and really take your time, you'll see things in way that you never did when you were focused on just buying shoes and getting back home.

If you get nothing else done while you're lazing around the house, use the time to plan a real vacation.

Gas prices may never go down again, but after a week in stuck in your own house and your own town, you've earned the right to splurge.