What a coincidence! The price of gas is pumping up again just when heavy summer driving begins. However, there are ways you can beat the high cost of hitting the road by taking just a few simple steps:
1. Get a camel. Those greedy Middle East oil barons now all drive Mercedes and Lamberghinis and will gladly sell you their beasts.
2. Control that fuel-guzzling road hog. Keep your joyriding teenaged descendants at home.

It’s belt-tightening time for seniors who’ve been trying to live on the same retirement income for the past five or ten inflationary years. When I retired in 1991, I had a nice company pension, adequate Social Security and some investment savings, all together making for what I thought was a comfortable annual income to last me through my sunset years. Boy, was I wrong!

Since then, although my moderate lifestyle hasn’t changed, the purchase power of my retirement income has fallen by at least 50 percent, and still dropping. I’m sure that’s the same situation for most retirees on fixed incomes. Here are plans to cut way back on spending, and maybe suggestions on how you can make your retirement buck stretch a bit more.

I haven’t had the unique pleasure of flying with babies for more than a generation. My kids are all grown up and fighting their air combat missions with their own little flight companions. However, as a frequent flyer through the years, first about once a month for business, and now as a retiree about once every other month, I’m still quite familiar with the problem.

In fact, recently I had the great displeasure of being in the middle seat of a five-across row of sardine-sized tourist seats on an overseas flight. The ordeal is bad enough when the squeezed traveler can snooze peacefully or watch movies in the discomfort of the narrow seat. However, it was my luck to share my row with a distraught mother and three busy little gremlins.

Naturally, with my grey hair and smiling (or was it grimacing?) face, two of the kids, aged three and four, decided I should be their pretend-grandfather for the nine hours from New York to London. The other child, aged about 18 months, was content to stay in his mother’s arms, except for several times when he decided to throw up in my direction.

Have I any tips on air travel with kids? Of course, I do. The first is: keep them the hell away from me. All right, flying mothers of America, I withdraw that nasty old man’s gripe. I love kids, but like annoying adults, they can make flights miserable. If you at least try to be considerate of other flyers, maybe my tips will help.

Before your school, church or social club climbs aboard that tour bus or airplane for Miami, Las Vegas, Rome or Paris, get together to decide the duties of each person. Here are some suggestions that could take some of the bickering and confusion out of what should be a happy time.

1. Decide who will be the chief planner. That person is the primary leader for dealing with the travel agency, airline, bus company, hotel and others. The big chief plans the entire trip, then presents it to the group for approval. This fearless leader takes suggestions and is open for changes.