G asoline prices took a big leap recently? I hadn’t noticed.

The New York Times reported that oil prices have risen to an all-time high. People were howling this week after a gallon of gasoline reached prices of $2.49 and $2.59 in places.

And I’m supposed to care? Why? The price of gasoline goes up and down. Isn’t that what it’s supposed to do? It’s like the weather. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn’t. What can you do about it? I’m not a millionaire. I wish gasoline were free. I wish beer were free, too. But these are just the facts of life.

I understand why gasoline prices are such a big topic of conversation. It’s money flying out of the wallet for some people. It can throw the whole household budget out of whack for some people. Especially if you drive one of those cars that looks like a space station and you live a galaxy away from where you work.

I know a guy who plans his whole workweek around locating and visiting gasoline stations with the cheapest gasoline. He will arrange lunch meetings near his favorite (price-friendly) pumps. He’ll also rotate the family cars to get them all to these bargain fill-up places.

I’ve been to lunch with this guy. All the way to the gasoline station he’ll rave like a crazy person about the oil cartels, the Bush and Saudi dynasties and how they have tried to put the stranglehold on the throat of all driving Americans.

This is the same guy who thinks nothing of dropping $50 on a bottle of Bordeaux. And he’s not angry with the French. Some people who complain about gasoline prices think nothing about splurging on $3 or $4 boutique cups of coffee. I’d be embarrassed to tell you what I spent on U2 concert tickets for my wife’s birthday. I’m really glad she doesn’t see U2 every week.

Economist and professor A.F. Alhajji from Ohio Northern University recently recommended that people upset over gasoline prices would do better if they drove rather than drank. He compiled a list of what beverages cost by the gallon. Gasoline is cheap in comparison. Water, for example, is more expensive than gasoline. A gallon of Evian is $6.76. A gallon of Aquafina is more than $8. Red Bull goes for $30 a gallon, and that’s without vodka. When’s the last time you heard a gripe about the price of milk? At $2.99 a gallon you think you would.

I know other gasoline-price obsessed people who visit Web sites such as Gasbuddy ( www.gasbuddy.com) and the Fuel Gauge Report ( www.fuelgaugereport.com). Gasbuddy is a site for like-minded gasophiles who want to share information on who has the lowest and the highest prices. Volunteers nationwide enter the name, location and time they purchased their last tank.

The Fuel Gauge Report calls itself “the AAA’s media site for retail gasoline prices.” It’s easy to read and extremely comprehensive. The site provides the national averages for gasoline by the gallon, state by state and city by city. It can even tell you the current fuel costs for a particular trip. You can compare gasoline prices from one day before, one month before and even the previous year. And there are prices for regular gasoline, midgrade, premium and diesel.

I always have made it a personal priority not to leave myself vulnerable to the whims of international oil wrangling. I drive a secondhand, 1988 Toyota Celica that is just great on gasoline mileage. It takes me 15 minutes to drive to work on a bad day. At home, the local grocery, drug, beverage and video stores are less than a mile away. I can ride my bicycle to any one of them in less than five minutes.

Are the current gasoline prices problematic for you and your Hummer? Your Expedition? Cry me a river.

Personally, I’m a little more concerned about olive oil prices. Have you seen that stuff lately? The tomato crop’s raging, the basil is begging to be whipped into pesto sauce and I’m going through the olive oil like crazy.

You know what 25 ounces of Academia Barilla extra-virgin olive oil is going for at a nearby shop? $21.99!

Sure, I could get it cheaper at Costco.

But I’d have to get in my car and drive to do it.