My tank is ******!!!!

[Elixer]

I don't know if any of you live a crazy lifestyle like I do, but my lifestyle and hypermileing can be at odds with each other.

First story: a few weekends ago I was at a party and I was at my two drink limit for driving (If I'm driving I have a maximum of two drinks the entire night, no matter how long it is). But I had a hankering for a bit more, so I talked to my friend Elise, who doesn't drink, and she agreed to drive me home in my car. So at something like 4am we get into my car and she's driving. Me being in the state that I'm in, begin to explain hypermiling in a drunk way, which has the opposite effect that it's supposed to. She starts doing things like revving the engine and accelerating quickly, laughing at me. Admittedly, it was pretty funny, but I was still pissed about my tank. Fortunately, it was only 5 miles or so home, so the 20mgh that she probably got didn't hurt me to bad until:

I drove to Juarez, Mexico two weekends ago, for two days. I don't know if any of you have driven in Mexico, but at least in the city, hypermileing of almost any sort is impossible. Combine that with following a French girl driving a Mustang who doesn't know exactly where she's going and doesn't understand the concept that a following car needs additional time and space to follow and you have a bad mix. I also got to see that higher tire pressures really do result in longer breaking distances, and for someone driving in the craze of Mexico, it may not be worth it. Fortunately my car is a bit of a piece of crap, so it's not a big deal if I add a few more dings to it. Driving in Mexico is so different. You focus on what is very near your car, and don't worry too much about what is ahead, because that guy on your left or right is likely to do a sudden lane change, and cut you off. There's no chance to look far ahead and do the predictive driving that really makes a hypermiler.

I'm at 200 miles and about a half tank of gas. So if I do well over the next half I'll be over 30mpg, still not as high as I want....

Anyone else have similar conflicts or stories to share?