The question asked in the topic was what would you do if you were me, which I answered.
I also addressed some of your points.
Without more information, we are all simply providing a range of possibilities.
Originally Posted By: ejes
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I agree with the big items part.
Sick child or whatever, someone at work could likely run him home on the such an infrequent occurrence.
I think the point isn't to shame anyone into doing something, but rather to encourage them to consider other ways to address the issue.
If it's possible to walk or ride a bike, then it should be considered as it may improve his health and fitness.
I imagine in Nebraska, there is only 6-8 months at most you would want to do this. Winters are likely out for a bicycle and summer gets pretty hot. So even if it's just a spring/fall thing, it may be feasible.
Originally Posted By: ejes
Sometimes folks can't walk or bike to work if they have a lot of items to carry with them, or want to be prepared to leave from work quickly, say to pick up a sick child from school who can't wait for the bus at the end of the day. All sorts of reasons to drive a car short distances to work; not everyone's situation is the same as your own.
Biggest problem I see is your not getting up to operating temps on short hops. Creates a lot of condensation in the oil system and the water can't burn off and it means more cold starts as well. Frequent oc's probably, won't do much to help that from happening, but I'd probably go with every 6 months myself to flush any water in the oil out. I would go with a good detergent full syn for the condensation and the cold starts and good filter because your oil flow will have less opportunity to catch contaminants. If you have to stick with a Valvoline product, Maxlife full syn, if not, PP would be my choice. Filters, well, look around here and pick your poison. I'm not saying this is the best choice because everyone has their own opinion, but myself, I have a 2004 Ram 1500 with only 75k, so obviously I drive on short hops a lot just like you, and I use a Fram Ultra with PP.
I also have a 97 Buick LeSabre with 110k on it that is the car my kids drive back and forth to school every day, and have, for the last 3 years. They share it, and it is 2 miles each way, 4-5 miles a day. It was a cheap car, and a perfect safe "beater" for them to learn to drive and which I'm not out much money for the harsh treatment it gets by high school drivers in a high school parking lot. I do the same with it.
Oh for goodnes sake. I merely meant you can't know the OP's situation entirely. How about we just help the best we can with the question instead of trying to change his "lifestyle choices". I'm sure he has thought of other options already and ruled them out. He just wanted some solutions for oil with specific perameters. Nuff said.