$3 and Climbing

[HKphooey]

funny little article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002955908_milbankgas27.html

That's classic politician! Thanks for sharing.

 

[bydand]

No, classic politician would be to complain about the prices while filling up their gas-hogs and putting it on their expense account for their constituants to pay for. That, by the way, wouldn't suprise me in the least.

 

[beau_safken]

Yep Sounds about right. Our mayor here in San Fran is rolling around in a fleet of Escalades...Who said San Fran cared about the environment?

 

[Blindside]

Personally, I thought it was cool that someone was driving a VW "Thing." I always wanted one of those....

 

[CTKempo Todd]

Or drive what I do back and forth to the job sites.......A real man's man of a vehicle, a 1993 Geo Merto Convertable. LOL!! Yeah I know it is a "girl" car but I have the advantage of being a 6'2" 225# construction worker who practices MA's. Seems everybody thinks it is a viable alternative to the pick-up truck they drive. It averages 43 MPG driving around, haven't worked up the nerve to get the little POS out on the freeway (plus the freeway is 50 miles away). The way I look at it is this: I'm 42, little overweight, happily married, & comfortable in my own skin; what am I trying to do impress some 18 or 20 year old? Nope just going to work!

Gas is now at $3.11 for regular here in Northern Maine. My bet is they suck $4.00 out of our pocket per gallon before too long. That teal bomber looks real good sitting in the driveway!

Scott..I'm with you..
Depending on the season and weather..you'll either find me on my Honda ST1300 (motorcycle) 0 - 60mph in a little over 3 seconds..or my 1997 Toyota Corolla..0 - 60 in 3 minutes

A couple of years ago I got rid of my big V8 truck for a 4 cyl Camry (great car) when I thought gas prices were getting crazy (1.60/gallon!)..

Folks this is about the market...We drive these big friggin vehicles for the simple task of getting us back and forth to work..(most of us anyway)..and we do it sucking up 12-16 mpg..Is this really necessary?? Me think not. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Yes I get pissed at the oil companies but then I look at it objectively and my fingers usually begins to point in a different direction.

 

[bydand]

Folks this is about the market...We drive these big friggin vehicles for the simple task of getting us back and forth to work..(most of us anyway)..and we do it sucking up 12-16 mpg..Is this really necessary?? Me think not. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Yes I get pissed at the oil companies but then I look at it objectively and my fingers usually begins to point in a different direction.

I agree totally. For going back and forth to the job sites I drive the little Metro, to get the required equipment, tools, and supplies to the sites in the first place I have to take the big 1 ton dually box truck. After it is all there though, there is NO way I am going to keep driving something that on a GOOD day gets 10 MPG. No purpose in it at all. If I could drive the Metro all the time I would, but it is a bit hard to fit 100,000 feet of wire, ladders, wire racks, fittings, etc... in something that has just enough room for me and a can of Pepsi. Even if you could manage it somehow, that would look so "Jethro Bodine" there wouldn't ever be a return customer. So while I try to do my best 95% of the time, the other 5% I am forced to drive a big gas-guzzeling hog. Everything has its intended purpose.

 

[Kacey]

People who drive large vehicles because they need to transport large, bulky, and/or heavy objects do not bother me - it's the people who drive large vehicles because they see them as a status symbol.

My mother, for example, who never carries anything bigger than bags of groceries, bought a Pathfinder solely because my aunt has one... the differences being that a) my aunt does a lot of charity work and actually needs a large vehicle to pick up donations in, b) she lives in a place where the weather makes an SUV a reasonable choice because of snow (Detroit) and my mother doesn't (Dallas), and c) my mother bought a Pathfinder to keep up with my aunt, not because she really has any use for an SUV.

Myself, I drive a 1994 Nissan Sentra, which still regularly gets 30+ mpg, and averages at least 28 (hey, it's 12 years old, after all).

 

[hardheadjarhead]

"Ah, but gas is still cheaper than milk!"

Yes...but we don't buy ten to twenty gallons of milk in one shot.

"Well, the increase must be due to increased demand!"

Makes sense...until we see Exxon giving their CEO a $400 million retirement package this month (equal to $144,000 for each day he worked there), or the oil industry's record profits.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1841989

They're charging us this because they know we'll pay it. They've seen us driving SUV's. They knew we'd pay extra to fuel these beasts.

This is going to impact everything. The truckers that haul your beer to the grocery are going to start charging more to cover their costs...and you'll help pay the difference. Wal-Mart is allready reporting a drop in revenues due to increased oil prices.

The price of a plane ticket to your brother's wedding is going to skyrocket. Your tax dollars pay for the gas in the police cruiser and that bus your kid takes to school...and those dollars pay for the gas in the M1 Abrams tank rolling through Ramadi and the Harrier jet flying support above him.

Screw it all...I'm getting a bike. It'll be good cardio, at least.


Regards,


Steve

 

[Makalakumu]

Wal-Mart is allready reporting a drop in revenues due to increased oil prices.

High energy costs will eventually put all big box chains out of business. These large, centralized, distribution centers depend on transportation in two ways. They need to get people to the store and they need to import all of their cheap goods from 10,000 miles away. Wal-mart destroys every local businesses within 20 to 30 miles in some places. Those will be the first places that small ma and pa stores that deal in local goods will begin to outcompete Wal-mart.

 

[TigerWoman]

People who drive large vehicles because they need to transport large, bulky, and/or heavy objects do not bother me - it's the people who drive large vehicles because they see them as a status symbol.

My mother, for example, who never carries anything bigger than bags of groceries, bought a Pathfinder solely because my aunt has one... the differences being that a) my aunt does a lot of charity work and actually needs a large vehicle to pick up donations in, b) she lives in a place where the weather makes an SUV a reasonable choice because of snow (Detroit) and my mother doesn't (Dallas), and c) my mother bought a Pathfinder to keep up with my aunt, not because she really has any use for an SUV.

Myself, I drive a 1994 Nissan Sentra, which still regularly gets 30+ mpg, and averages at least 28 (hey, it's 12 years old, after all).

Well, a Pathfinder isn't exactly a big SUV, nor is it a status symbol. Least not around here. I have one because it is great to transport all kinds of stuff as the seats go down in the back. It also has 4 wheel drive for all the icy days we have. And it beats my son's Honda for safety when he has an hour drive on a two way highway in the winter. No mileage is not that great but dependability is. I LOVE my Pathfinder and it is nine years old. TW

 

[Kacey]

Well, a Pathfinder isn't exactly a big SUV, nor is it a status symbol. Least not around here. I have one because it is great to transport all kinds of stuff as the seats go down in the back. It also has 4 wheel drive for all the icy days we have. And it beats my son's Honda for safety when he has an hour drive on a two way highway in the winter. No mileage is not that great but dependability is. I LOVE my Pathfinder and it is nine years old. TW

I understand all that - but I'm 40, and I'm my mother's youngest child... and as I said, she lives in Dallas, so weather's not really a problem often enough to need an SUV. I know she bought it because my aunt has one because she said so.