Inflation (there, I said it) and the mortgage meltdown, worry about global warming and the overall glum economy (we’re not supposed to call it a recession until it’s over or a new person is in the White House or until inflation is clearly the greater worry, whichever comes first) are having profound effects on how Americans live.

You know best. You are driving less, driving slower, and being more careful at the grocery store. In the East where public transportation is not a dirty word, buses and subways are stuffed and Amtrak ridership is at an all-time high.

And no surprise, you are tightening your belts. A Bloomberg/L.A. Times survey this week finds seven in 10 “say higher gas prices have caused them ‘financial hardship.’ More than 1 in 3 respondents say they have cut back on their spending over the last six months as oil and food prices surged and unemployment rose.”

If you are a Baby Boomer, you’re whining like crazy. But you always have been.

Meanwhile, as your stocks plunged today and oil surged above $140 a barrel, here are a dozen less obvious signs of the times:

1. Government officials in a Minnesota county worrying how they’ll plow the snow next winter. They are struggling with budgets that were planned before fuel prices skyrocketed. “We’re looking at fuel efficiency, but it can only go so far,” said Don Theisen, who runs Washington County’s public works department. “The big equipment, like snowplows, have improved over time, but nothing that will make up for the rise in fuel costs.”

2. With diesel prices even higher than gas, thieves are siphoning big-rig fuel. “There’s quite a bit of theft going on,” said Dave Williams, vice president of equipment and maintenance for Phoenix-based Knight Transportation. “We’ve had to figure out how to track it and keep it from happening.”

3. The Caribbean tourism industry is sinking, and on many islands it’s pretty much all they have. That means, of course, that you and many others are planning staycations this summer.

4. An official in Madison, Wisconsin is advocating a ban on fast-food drive-thrus. “Given the concern about all the carbon going into the atmosphere, I’m not sure we should be building more places for people to sit idling in their cars,” says Eric Sundquist, appointed to a citizen panel by the mayor.

5. Suburban commuters, especially out West where the public transport options are as rare as hybrid cars on a showroom floor, know too well the disproportionate hit to the pocketbook they’re suffering now. And so, of course, there’s talk about the death of the suburbs and the exurbs.

6. Carpooling is nothing new, but now rodeo cowboys are saddling up together. They have to drive to the many stops on the rodeo circuit, often in diesel pickup trucks towing trailers weighted down by the animals. “It’s ridiculous, I mean it’s doubled my cost to go places,” said Monty Lewis, the 2004 world champion tie-down roper.

7. Cocoa Beach Florida is scrubbing its fireworks simply because the city can’t afford it this year.

8. Job productivity is declining as workers stress about pump prices, claims Wayne Hochwarter of Florida State University’s College of Business. There’s no firm data on this (in fact, I suspect a lot of people are working harder for fear they’ll be laid off). But Hochwarter did a survey earlier this year to see what’s on workers’ minds. “People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense,” he concludes. “These people also reported more ‘blues’ on the job.” Sad.

9. Now we turn positive, Vint Cerf (the real Al Gore of the Internet) and now a Google mucky-muck, said “Although I’m not happy with increased oil prices, the Internet (industry) may actually benefit from that as people turn to it as an aid to improve their efficiency.” Indeed: Lisa Honan of U.K.-based Eyenetwork, which brokers videoconference facilities in 3,500 locations, says studio bookings have more than doubled in the past year. The No. 1 use: interviewing job candidates. Take note, ye who are blue an slacking (No. 6).

And, to reprise, there are these offbeat upsides:

10. Deaths are likely down. Fewer miles driven means safer roads. One study predicts nearly 2,000 fewer people will die because of the recent price hikes.

11. Less gas is being consumed (fewer SUVs, less driving, etc.). One economist estimates that each $1 rise in gas leads to 14 percent less fuel consumption over the long haul. Of course, as consumption falls, some analysts say prices at the pump could dip, stimulating demand.

12. Pollution is reduced. If we use less gas, logic dictates that smog will decrease (you’ll breath cleaner air) and we’ll pump lower amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Little if any research has quantified this potential outcome, but the traffic-death study also predicts 600 fewer pollution-related deaths. So maybe, just maybe, we’re on the, ahem, road to recovery.