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07 Oct 05 - 09:26 PM (#1578456) Subject: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Bobert Well, yeah, I've heard all the reasons fir the recent hikes in gasoline prices but given that we have two oilmen runnin' the country, hey, wonder why it took them so long to gouge the working class and working poor people of the country??? But, lets just shove them politics to the side... I just return from vacation to Rehobeth Beach where me and the P-Vine drove our 15 year old, 35 miles per gallon Toyota... We drove at approximately the speed limit... Sometimes 5 miles per hour over but never more than, oh, 68 miles per hour... Problem is that we were passed by everyone... Little old ladies in their Buicks... Young girls in their sprort red cars... But mostly by big SWUV's with "Support the Troops" ribbons plastered accross the back??? Now, I was thinkin' that if we really wanted to "support" the troops we would somehow make a little sacrifice on our own and drive as if we all understood there is a direct linkage top how fast we drive and how much oil the US has to corral fir itself... So, given that thinkin', I call out every SUV driver with a "Support the Troops" ribbon to slow it down, pal... It ain't all about you... Yer SUV will get much better gas mileage at the speed limit than it will get at 30 plus miles an hour over the speed limit!!! Think about it!!! Yeah, I realize that bringin' this up on a folk music forum is like preachin' to the choir but, hey... Sho it down, pal, 'er remove the "Support the Troops" ribbon off yer gas guzzler... You can't have it both ways... Bobert |
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07 Oct 05 - 09:36 PM (#1578465) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Rapparee Yup, Bobert. But until the US actually declares war, we ain't at war. It's something else, but it ain't war. Since it ain't war, there ain't no reason to sacrifice or remember the troops. |
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07 Oct 05 - 10:00 PM (#1578484) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Q (Frank Staplin) Just beginning to rock and roll, but the Alberta oil sands are North America's biggest and most available reserves. Now Bobert, all you fellers down in the States buy Hummers and help make us Albertans rich |
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07 Oct 05 - 10:02 PM (#1578487) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Bobert Yeah, Rapster, technically yer right as rain.... But.. ... 6 more Marines killed in the last 24 hours... Like I said, slow that Mustang down... Bobert |
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07 Oct 05 - 10:15 PM (#1578496) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Bobert My neighbors, Q, are doin' their best to make ya' al rich... Problem is that it ain't even Hummers in these parts... It's big trucks with bigass tires... Bobert |
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07 Oct 05 - 10:25 PM (#1578504) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Stilly River Sage My Chevy Silverado was purchased as the best all around vehicle for the uses I would put it to. Extended cab for passengers (I drive the morning leg of the car pool every day, dropping off five kids at school. Someone else brings my son home in the afternoon). I moved all of the contents of my apartment with it, saving a couple thousand right there. I use it for all sorts of lumber and gardening and other big messy moving projects. And because it doesn't get great mileage, I'm pretty scarce at work these days. I work at a university the next town over, but I am the one employee in the library whose job description says I can telecommute. And I've been doing as much of that as possible. I don't start the truck unless I have at least three places in a general area to visit on one trip. It would be a further waste of resources and money to purchase another car to save gas while the truck sits parked. For all of the money to buy a car I can put a helluva lot of gas in the truck. So I drive the vehicle I have as economically as possible. And I've cut out a few of the little treats, like keeping the pantry filled with cokes. I need to put the gas in the truck, not the softdrinks in the kids. (Just cutting out the soft drinks does make the gas crunch more affordable--it's embarrassing to realize how much of that stuff we were drinking!) Iced tea is the beverage of choice here now. SRS |
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07 Oct 05 - 11:48 PM (#1578552) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Bill D anyone remember the National Speed Limit of not-so-many years ago? I got this bumper sticker the one day it was available at the EPA...before someone said "We can't release THAT!" I may have the only 3 left in existence. Maybe it's time to try slowing down again? It really does save gas to cut speed 10-20%. |
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07 Oct 05 - 11:53 PM (#1578553) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Ron Davies A lot of the oil in those sands is destined for China. So it may not even make it to the SUV's. It's emphatically a seller's market these days. |
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08 Oct 05 - 12:04 AM (#1578561) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Rapparee China, especially, is a competitor with the US in petroleum purchases. India is coming up fast. Both of these countries are set to not only challenge the US, but overtake it -- technologically, educationally, in space, and just about any way you can think of. When will China and India "rear end" the US? Best bets are by 2010 -- five years out. By 2020, the futurists (and I've been associating with some of the best recently) think that the US and the developed world will be on the back slope of a post-petroleum culture. In fact, they're predicting that the US will be in decline and China and India in ascendancy. Heck, China owns something like 40% of the US debt anyway.... |
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08 Oct 05 - 12:42 AM (#1578578) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: number 6 Hey Martin .... why aren't you drivin a good 'ol American car ..... Camry's?!?!?! ... all they're good for is a sushi delivery car. :) sIx |
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08 Oct 05 - 12:46 AM (#1578582) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: GUEST,Martin Gibson I also have a Corolla! My car name is Camry Corolla. American guitars rule. American cars suck. Even when you put high qaulity strings on them. It's just so easy being smart and Jewish in America. |
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08 Oct 05 - 12:50 AM (#1578586) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: number 6 Good one MG ! sIx |
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08 Oct 05 - 08:28 AM (#1578735) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: The Fooles Troupe Sigh - it was so quiet around here for a while - Leavenworth let you out again? |
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08 Oct 05 - 08:43 AM (#1578744) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Auggie I always thought "smart and Jewish" was redundant. |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:03 AM (#1578753) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: The Fooles Troupe In his case it is an oxymoron - or maybe just a moron... |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:42 AM (#1578767) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Bobert Yeah, I gotta a Camry, too... No I don't, I have two... One's mine and one's the P-Vine's... Both 91's... Both high mileage... Both good on gas... ... but I also have a '98 Chevy 3/4 4wd truck fir snow but that's about it otheer than an occasional trip to the dump... But it never gets driven over the speed limit... I'd still like to see zero tolerance on speeders... They not only use up more than their fair share of fuel but are obnoxious, to boot... And dangerous... Bobert |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:54 AM (#1578772) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: GUEST Peugeot Diesel, last gig 400mile round trip, average miles per gallon 52.7. That pleases me, but it makes me mad as heck to think of the selfish Americans undoing all my efforts in their waste of a finite resource. It's our planet too you know!! |
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08 Oct 05 - 10:07 AM (#1578777) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Rapparee Honda Civic, 30 - 35 mpg on the highway and 25 - 30 in town. Also a Honda Element, 25 - 30 mpg on the highway (this is my wife's car). My next car (probably around 2008) will most likely be a hybrid. The Element is 4wd. We need that out here in The West. It's the first vehicle we've owned that got less than 30 mpg on the highway. I object to 4wd vehicles where they're not needed -- the spotless Hummers in Chicago, the shiny Expeditions and Ford 350 dual-wheel, extended-cab pickups in the Loop, the clean Explorers in LA. I really can't object to a 350 pickup on a ranch outside of, say, Jerome, Idaho or a Yukon driven by Idaho Power. As for Camrys -- I think that they're made by Toyota in Kentucky. There might be some discussion about Kentucky actually being part of the US, but it still was the last time I looked. Hondas are made in Marysville, Ohio. Isuzu has a plant outside of Bloomington, Illinois (I think; I know they have a plant in the Midwest). |
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08 Oct 05 - 10:22 AM (#1578785) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Stilly River Sage Selfishness isn't the exclusive domain of Americans, Guest, so cool your jets. There are a lot of us working to make a difference. I live near the bridge out of town on the north side of a small village, so many of my neighbors go past my yard. I'm tempted to put one of those WWII signs: Is this trip necessary? SRS |
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08 Oct 05 - 11:14 AM (#1578832) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: GUEST Riversage, when 3% of the world's population insist it is their right to use 25% of the world's resources, what other word should I use? |
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08 Oct 05 - 11:59 AM (#1578863) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: pdq Actually GUEST, the United States is 4.6% of the world's population yet we generate 42% of the world's wealth. Oil and natural gas are the key to success. That money is sent to every country on planet earth, some in the form of food, some in monetary aid, but most goes to purchase goods made in other countries. China, with its 1.4 billion people, owes almost all of its recent prosperity to the US. We buy much of the goods they produce. Most of the goods they sell are copies of US products. In the last 100 years, the Third World has received over 3 trillion dollars in money for their oil. That is the largest transfer of wealth in history, far more than Karl Marx or the leaders of the French Revolution could have dreamed of. The US is the largest producer of food in the world. Without that food, 2 billion people around the world would starve. Have a nice day. |
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08 Oct 05 - 01:05 PM (#1578899) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: kendall Although I drive a Hyundai Sonata, I could afford a Hummer if I wanted to drive one of those abominations. Imagine driving a vehicle named after a blow job? |
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08 Oct 05 - 03:09 PM (#1578994) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Stilly River Sage Martin, go crawl back into whatever hole you've emerged from. Ask someone to up your meds while you're at it. |
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08 Oct 05 - 08:23 PM (#1579056) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: GUEST,Bobert No, pdq, we control 42% of the wealth... Big difference... Creatin' gives the impression that we are makin' lots of stuff... We ain't... Might of fact we're makin' very little compared to the emergin' countries of China, India, Pakistan, etc... So, if yer gonna play stat man, get the stats right... Bobert |
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08 Oct 05 - 08:32 PM (#1579058) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: pdq Bobert, I used the word "generate" and not "create" for precisely the reason you suggest. "Control" does not tell the whole story either, but your point is well taken. |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:00 PM (#1579076) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Rapparee I could afford a Hummer. I could afford 'most anything I might want, automotive-wise. But I choose to drive something that is economical, yet gets me from place to place in relative comfort and safety. Face it: any vehicle is just a means to move you (or other freight) from one place to another. I'd rather put my money into my home, or my interests, or traveling, than into a car or truck. Now, if I needed a pickup truck, I'd buy a pickup truck -- gas prices wouldn't disturb me, because I'd have to take them in stride. But we don't need bigger vehicles than we have -- heck, even if I drove across the country again I'm going to sleep in motels, not my car (if I can help it!). My neighbors, many of them, have a "recreational vehicle" that quite literally cost more than their home, two or three "dirt bike" motorcycles, two or three snow machines, a golf cart (!), and a fast boat in addition to their one or two pickups/SUVs. And then there's their kids.... I can't help but wonder how they're making the payments.... |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:05 PM (#1579081) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Peace Presently, we are paying $1.05/liter for 87 octane gas. |
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08 Oct 05 - 09:17 PM (#1579087) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Rapparee Which I figure to be about USD 3.26 per US gallon. (3.79 liter to the US gallon, CAD 1.00 exchange to USD 0.851354 as of October 7, and forget about the nickel, which I really shouldn't.) Down the street gas is USD 2.83 per US gallon, elsewhere it's as high as USD 3.35 -- for 85 to 87 octane. |
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09 Oct 05 - 09:37 AM (#1579326) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Ron Davies China "owes almost all of its recent prosperity to the US". This assumes it could not find other markets. What are you smoking? Furthermore it's a 2-way street. Without foreign, including Chinese, willingness to take on US debt, do you think our interest rates would be as low as they now are, especially considering our deficits? And now we're coming to the crunch, with US and Chinese foreign policy diverging drastically. |
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09 Oct 05 - 09:47 AM (#1579337) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: GUEST I have gas but I dont charge |
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09 Oct 05 - 10:46 AM (#1579372) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: number 6 "Presently, we are paying $1.05/liter for 87 octane gas." That's a lot better than what we're paying out here Peace ... just filled my Suby up this morning at $1.16 for 87 octane gas. Subaru's the only car I'd drive these days ... Taylor is the only guitar I'd play these days. Camry's gotta be the most inconsistant model of car .. certainly not worth their cost. Bobert ... a Chevy 3/4 ... come on now ... Dodge Ram is the only pickup worth driving! Kendall ..... priceless LOL ! sIx :) |
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09 Oct 05 - 11:25 AM (#1579407) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Stilly River Sage I received mail from the Chevy dealer last month reminding me that my pickup is five years old now and I must be about ready to trade it in for something new. Ha! My pickup has 58,000 miles, is running great and is paid off. Why on earth would I want to enrich them by buying another? Yet many people easily succumb to that faulty commercial reasoning. It's not just a matter of the oil turned into gas that goes into your tank. It is all of the oil that goes into plastics and tires and materials in the new vehicle. The energy used to prepare the metal and glass. If I sell my truck then someone else is going to get the great value left in this pickup (and if I went through the dealer, they would reap a huge profit between what they give me and what they charge the buyer), and I'd get debt and only encourage the producers to make more. Duh. Seems like a no-brainer. Drive conservatively and don't succumb to the temptation to buy new when you don't need to. SRS |
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10 Oct 05 - 07:33 AM (#1579992) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Wolfgang We pay more than double of what you pay. I shed some crocodile tears for you. Wolfgang |
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10 Oct 05 - 10:20 AM (#1580079) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Mooh Have just travelled across Bruce, Huron, and Perth counties in southern Ontario, and the best price was about 96.5 per litre, though we bought at 98.9 per litre at a Shell station in Bruce County. Mooh. |
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10 Oct 05 - 10:44 AM (#1580104) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Stilly River Sage It's all about choices. Not only individual choices, but corporate and national choices. The article below describes the "typical" type of American supermarket with all of it's capital tied up in obscure flavors and brands. They participate in big advertising, but there are other stores out there that have a more globally responsible world-view. I buy 90% of my groceries in a little chain that doesn't advertise and never puts stuff on sale because they keep their prices low all of the time. They aren't playing these games of spending billions on tv and newspaper advertising and stocking products that few use and will need to be remaindered in some way. My little store carries good quality staples at low prices. (Save-A-Lot is the chain, if you've seen them in your area. Word of mouth works for them.) High gas cost is just one indicator of problems. Trouble is, the newspapers are so dependent on the big bucks from advertisers like grocery stores that many of them would go under without it. SRS Americans paralyzed by overabundance By Pat Burson, Newsday link We live in an age that affords us more choices than ever before. So much so, says Swarthmore College psychology professor Barry Schwartz, that we're in danger of choice overload. To help make his point, Schwartz went to his local supermarket. Traversing the store aisles, he counted 285 varieties of cookies, 230 soup offerings, 40 options of toothpaste, 360 types of shampoos, conditioners, gels and mousse, 90 different cold remedies and anti-congestants, 275 varieties of cereals, 64 kinds of barbecue sauce, 175 types of tea bags, and at least 15 assorted flavors of bottled water. Research into the choices we have and why we make the choices we do has led Schwartz and other academics to question whether having so many choices is really a good thing after all. "It's just been accepted that since choice is good, more choice is better, but ... this perfectly reasonable assumption turns out to be false," said Schwartz, who examines in his book "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less" ($13.95) how having so many choices can create stress, disappointment and depression. "You can reach a point where you've got so many choices that it produces paralysis rather than liberation," he said. So how do we make a choice, from the mundane to the monumental, and then stick with it? Whether shopping for a DVD player, deciding on your career path or making major life decisions, some say doing research is a good place to start. Look at it from all possible angles. Examine the risks and benefits. But it's also important to weigh research against your value system, said Bob Clemen, an associate professor of decision sciences at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. "If you want to see clearly through all this morass of choices that you've got, you have to stop and say, 'What do I care about? What really matters to me?'" "That gets back to things that are fundamental," he said. Your intuition can pick up where research and analysis leave off, said Lynn Robinson, author of "Divine Intuition: Your Guide to Creating a Life You Love" ($14). Say a company makes you a job offer. You research the company's history, track record and earnings, but then what? "It might be taking a step back and saying, 'I've done all my analysis, I've got all the facts on this, and what choice feels right to me?'" Robinson said. "I really do think that intuition is our inner compass, and when we pay attention to it, it points us to success." When faced with a choice, Robinson suggests jotting down ideas and images. If you want another opinion, seek help from a few trusted advisers, such as parents, close friends, lovers or clergy members. But you may need to be choosy with this, too, some caution. "Avoid pressure from anyone that tells you what you ought to do. They're not the ones who have to live with the consequences," said Norman Klein, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Westport, Conn. "Some people are more interested in announcing their philosophy of life than with the task you're approaching them for, which is to get advice." Sometimes we put undue pressure on ourselves to make choices, said Maya Talisman Frost, publisher of the e-zine Friday Mind Massage on her company's Web site, Real-WorldMindfulness.com. "You don't have to view your car as the car you're going to have the next few years. What's good for you for the next year?" said Frost, who recently took her own advice and made the choice to move with her husband and children from Oregon to Mexico. Instead, she said, make a habit of making choices every day - and have fun with it. For instance, stray off your usual path to work and go a different way. Wear your hair or scarf a different way. Fear of failure can immobilize some from making a choice to tackle something they want to accomplish. When that happens, lessen the anxiety by starting small, said Al Secunda, author of "The 15-Second Principle: Short, Simple Steps to Achieving Long-Term Goals" ($13.99). "Think big, but act small," Secunda said. Want to build more muscle? Start with one push-up, he said. Want to write a novel? Sit down and write the first three words. "Going from zero to one is the most important yet difficult part of any task," said Secunda, who is a Los Angeles-based personal and business consultant. Sometimes it may be better to hold off making a choice or decide not to choose at all. "If you can't choose, it means you're not ready," said Lisa Earle McLeod, an Atlanta-based syndicated columnist and author of "Forget Perfect: Finding Joy, Meaning and Satisfaction in the Life You've Already Got and the You You Already Are" ($13.95). In that case, she said, your choices are to decide not to choose, abdicate your responsibility and ask someone else to choose for you or revisit it later. And if you cannot make a choice, McLeod said, "it might also mean it's not something worth wasting time over." But when you finally do decide, give over to your decision fully, McLeod said. "Focus every bit of your energy on loving it and cease re-evaluating your options. The challenge for this century is learning to live in the moment and the whole ability to say, 'I've made a choice and now I'm going to relish it.'" |
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11 Oct 05 - 05:25 AM (#1580795) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Arnie Well, here on the UK South Coast I pay 94.9p for a litre of petrol (gas!) I have no idea how that translates into dollars per gallon but I have the impression that gas is a lot cheaper in the States than it is here. When I last visited California I recall simply filling the tank without bothering to notice the price. In the UK I limit myself to £20-25 per fill (about half a tank). We used to buy petrol by the gallon until we joined the EU and suddenly became metric. This has the immediate advantage of disguising the true cost of the hike in petrol prices as a litre is only about a quarter of the old gallon. Bring back the gallon I say, petrol was a lot cheaper then..... |
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11 Oct 05 - 07:31 AM (#1580844) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Paul Burke About $6.25 per US gallon. I could take the bus, except it's £1.53 EACH WAY to the nearest town (3 miles). |
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11 Oct 05 - 08:25 AM (#1580885) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: number 6 Arnie .... I think it's too late to bring back the 'gallon' ... I say bring back the mule and wagon. Anyone know where one can buy a mule in Eastern Canada? Anyone know a good wagon maker in Eastern Canada? If ya do ... let me know. sIx |
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11 Oct 05 - 09:03 AM (#1580906) Subject: RE: BS: Gas Prices???.... From: Mooh Gonna get a harness and rig for Rosie The Wonder Dog, though it'll get in the way when she licks herself. Mooh. |
