I have been a news junkie most of my life. I think I have mentioned that once or twice before.

I got trained to be one by my mother, who had to read a daily newspaper every day (the San Diego Union and then the Denver Post) and watch the nightly news on TV.

I, too, like to read a daily newspaper every day. I know, you think that is not so strange, considering my occupation. Actually, I don’t really have to read a daily paper as part of my job, it is just something I have done pretty much my whole life. Right now it is the Mankato Free Press and the Fairmont Sentinel.

Usually, I try and catch the news every morning on TV, both national news and local news. The same goes for evenings, although I fail at catching the evening news quite often, because, well, I am busy doing other things, especially during the summer.

I have to admit, though, it is getting a lot tougher to watch the national TV news because it is just so depressing. You probably know what I mean. There is the war in Ukraine, mass shootings in the U.S., Monkeypox, inflation, fighting over abortion rights, political faction fighting and now dinosaurs taking over the world.

Wait, that last one was a commercial for the new Jurassic World movie. I guess that was not part of the news. I must have dozed off for a minute.

Anyway, the hottest topic now might be the ever-rising price of gas. That is something that is hitting everyone, it seems. You can cut down on some other purchases a bit, or start buying the generic brands, but high-priced gasoline hits everyone, and some of us harder than others. Many folks have to drive a lot as part of their daily life.

When I talked to my son, Nate, in California last night, he had just filled his gas tank with some “cheap” gas at $6.74 a gallon. “Cheap” because most gas station places out there were at $6.99.

It’s like they don’t want to crack that $7 price ceiling, but Nate figures most Californians are smart enough to figure out the $6.99 gas is actually $7 a gallon.

And, actually, there are places in California where it is already way above that $7 ceiling.

Here in Blue Earth I filled up with $4.74 a gallon for gas. Compared to my son in California, it seemed like a bargain. The woman at the next pump kept saying “sheesh” the whole time her pump was pumping. When the tally hit $75 and kept going, she expressed a few other choice words.

Same goes for another older guy filling up. Only he wasn’t filling up. He was going to put just $50 worth of gas in, and said that was what he could spend on gas at this particular time.

Perhaps he was on a fixed income. Or maybe was just being thrifty.

I know some families with kids are struggling as well as seniors on fixed incomes. For them, all the rising prices of items, especially food, gas and other essentials, hit the family budget pretty hard.

Wish I had some answers for them, and for all of us, but I sure don’t. But while I was filling up the old Ford Explorer last night, I kept wondering if the gas companies were just jacking up the price because they can, and blaming it on a war in Ukraine or something else when they actually just are enjoying the chance to make some seriously huge profits. Are their profits soaring while people try and keep up with paying higher prices?

I don’t know for sure.

Our poll in last week’s Faribault County Register seems to indicate that some people are, or are going to be, starting to drive less because of the cost of gas. About 56 percent of respondees to the poll said they will be driving a little or a lot less because of the price of gas.

Others, 40 percent of those who answered, said it won’t make a difference.

Of course, our weekly poll is not a scientific one, so the percentages are not a true indication of how folks feel in the Faribault County area.

I predict we will see more and more of folks driving less and less and finding other ways to get from here to there.

I’m going to try and be one of those.

Because of some commitments made a while ago, we have been driving a lot the past month or so, but it might be time to settle down and stay home a bit more. Or do some walking or carpooling.

And, maybe I will give the TV news watching a rest for a while, as well. There must be something more uplifting on the ol’ television, isn’t there? There sure are a lot of channels on my TV.

I guess I could also go see a movie, maybe the one about dinosaurs taking over the world.

Or better yet, I think I will read a book. And maybe I will read that book while camping and being totally unplugged from TV, phones and computers.

Just going to take a little break…we all need to do that once in a while.