price of gas

[truckeelocal]

back on the vehicle size question - went to germany last summer; i thought it was pretty cool how i did not see one SUV or large pick-up truck around. any truck i did see was owned by some business, they seemed to be much more smarter about it than us.....gas at about $4.50 a gallon might have had something to do with it too though.

Your $4.50 is low. Very, very low. Two years ago it was $5.50 a gallon. Don't know what it is today, although last I looked it was at $6.71 on 4/16/2007.

[Platinum Pete]

Make sure your tires have adequate pressure and turn off your engine if the car will be idling for more than 12 seconds. This will save you dozens of gallons of gas every year.

[greg]

We are trying to stabilize the middle east for one reason and one reason only; cheap oil. But I don't have a problem with that. Our entire way of life is dependent on cheap oil. If you get all of your food from an orchard in an oasis and somebody starts chopping down the trees, your very existence is threatened and you would act in your self interest, some would even say that you were acting in self defense, to protect your source of sustenance. That's exactly what we are doing as a nation.

i like the deeply christian ethics that stand behind your logic. i also like the picture you draw of yourself starving, craving for food and acting in mere self-defence in your struggle to survive against an omnipotent oppressor.

it's nice, it's cute, and as you know the human sense of justice (or was it christian) always favors the weakest. so overall, you seem to be quite likeable as a person..

[truckeelocal]

Make sure your tires have adequate pressure and turn off your engine if the car will be idling for more than 12 seconds. This will save you dozens of gallons of gas every year.

It's actually a law in Germany that when waiting for a train you 'vill' switch off your engine. Meanwhile, back in the USofA, our environmentally concious SUV drivers sit for minute upon minute idling waiting for the huge freight trains to go though as products are (more) efficiently delivered to points east.

[IridePow]

The only thing people understand is $$$$.
The energy is way to cheap in the US so we use more than others. (Sure there are other arguments like long distances in the US etc. but that just adds a small piece to the pie)

2 examples that just make me sad:

1. Spent a while in Chicago on campus in the winter.
The rooms were way to hot. Called campus officials and asked how you can regulate the temperature. The guy said: "Open the window."

I was shocked!!!
I mean Chicago is not really know for warm winters. So you would think they figured out how to heat somewhat efficiently.

2. The other day I went to the airport. Had to wait in the waiting area for a while. Next to me a guy was sleeping in his car, engine running. For god's sake it was 75F outside and maybe not the 70F the guy wanted in his car??!


P.S. I am not an angle either. I drive a 4x4 Audi, but try to use it somewhat responsibly.

[grrrr]

i like the deeply christian ethics that stand behind your logic. i also like the picture you draw of yourself starving, craving for food and acting in mere self-defence in your struggle to survive against an omnipotent oppressor.

it's nice, it's cute, and as you know the human sense of justice (or was it christian) always favors the weakest. so overall, you seem to be quite likeable as a person..

POTD!! ...

[Brock Landers]

Yep... It actually takes more energy to produce ethanol than you get out of the ethanol. Another thing to keep in mind is that ethanol typically has lower octane (or something like that) so you get less miles per gallon. Ethanol isn't the cure-all that it is marketed as.

Same with the hydrogen fuel dream. It takes too much to transport hydrogen and separate enough of it from water to be feasible.

[cinnepa]

Your $4.50 is low. Very, very low. Two years ago it was $5.50 a gallon. Don't know what it is today, although last I looked it was at $6.71 on 4/16/2007.

i suck at conversions........was priced per liter, did some bad math.

[truckeelocal]

i suck at conversions........was priced per liter, did some bad math.

Hey, at least you were in the ballpark of a fair market price which is more that can be said of the American market where we're paying half the sensible rate. And that 'sensible' rate doesn't take into account all the externality costs like environmental impacts and war funding to ensure ongoing supply.

[The AD]

i like the deeply christian ethics that stand behind your logic.

Manifest Destiny ain't dead yet!

[cinnepa]

The only thing people understand is $$$$.
The energy is way to cheap in the US so we use more than others. (Sure there are other arguments like long distances in the US etc. but that just adds a small piece to the pie)

.

for the 3 different hotels we stayed at within germany, not one air conditioner. same with many of the restaurants - if it's hot you open the windows, if it's still to hot you deal with it - don't think that would go over too well here in the states.

[truckeelocal]

if it's hot you open the windows, if it's still to hot you deal with it - don't think that would go over too well here in the states.

Dealing with it tended to be easy when I lived there - the beer gardens open But you're right, that wouldn't go over too well here because driving to and from the beer gardens would not be good and getting folks there via mass transit is alien to our sensibilities, especially for a drink or five.

[grrrr]

Air conditioning is for pussies.

(except when you're working night shift on a fire and it's 106 degrees in your tent...)

[StaggerLee]

Got to call BS here. Show me one production automobile that gets over 70 mpg (us) and I'll start to take you seriously.

These cars do the best, and these are Imperial Gallons
Honda Insight 2 seater (petrol) 80.0 mpg
Citroen C1 1398 M5 (diesel) 68.9 mpg
Toyota Aygo 1.4 D-4D 3 & 5 door (diesel) 68.9 mpg
Citroen C2 1398 M5 (diesel) 65.7 mpg
Citroen C3 1398 A5 (diesel) 65.7 mpg
FIAT Panda 1248 M5 (diesel) 65.7 mpg
Toyota Prius 1.5 VVT-i Hybrid (petrol) 65.7 mpg

That Honda Insight 2 seater gets 67 mpg (us) and can't carry your skis.

I have seen these golf carts before...but what about vehicles you can take on the road?

[grrrr]

I have seen these golf carts before...but what about vehicles you can take on the road?

Welcome to being part of the problem.

[cj001f]

Welcome to being part of the problem.

In SoCal? Who'd a thunk it - you need a big SUV so you can go 15mph on the freeway in rush hour.

[MeatPuppet]

i like the deeply christian ethics that stand behind your logic. i also like the picture you draw of yourself starving, craving for food and acting in mere self-defence in your struggle to survive against an omnipotent oppressor.

It's no mere self defense, any more than a lion eating a gazelle is mere self defense. They have something we need for our nation to survive in it's current condition. When that is threatened, we act in our own self interest. It's as simple as that.

It's easy and oh, so trendy these days, to bash America for looking after our interests in the world. But spend some time with a history book and you will find that America has done a better job of not destroying countries and enslaving people than just about any other dominant nation in the past. I would attribute that to our Judaeo-Christian ethics.

it's nice, it's cute, and as you know the human sense of justice (or was it christian) always favors the weakest.

I'm think of something a little more, um, biological than that. We may have smeared a nice veneer over our biology, but it, and the forces of nature, still play a significant role in our decision making.

so overall, you seem to be quite likeable as a person..

Thanks ...................you don't.

[MeatPuppet]

POTD!! ...

It just made your toes tingle, didn't it?!

[cj001f]

It just made your toes tingle, didn't it?!

that's what jackboots are for, right?

[MeatPuppet]

that's what jackboots are for, right?

I wouldn't know, I've never worn jackboots.........
















I've always talked somebody else into wearing them for me, I'll ask.

[Brock Landers]

It's no mere self defense, any more than a lion eating a gazelle is mere self defense. They have something we need for our nation to survive in it's current condition. When that is threatened, we act in our own self interest. It's as simple as that.

It's easy and oh, so trendy these days, to bash America for looking after our interests in the world. But spend some time with a history book and you will find that America has done a better job of not destroying countries and enslaving people than just about any other dominant nation in the past. I would attribute that to our Judaeo-Christian ethics.



I'm think of something a little more, um, biological than that. We may have smeared a nice veneer over our biology, but it, and the forces of nature, still play a significant role in our decision making.




Thanks ...................you don't.

Im with MeatPuppet on this. Sure it would be nice to live in a fantasyland where everyone gets along and there isnt a need for gas or fuel or anything, but the truth is...I dont want to live circa 800AD. I like air conditioning when I need it. I like fucking 4WD when it gets icy and snowy. I like my Jeep to haul shit around in. Maybe its just me.
greg- It doesnt make me more or less Christian or whatever because I want to drive my Jeep to the mountain rather than ride my fucking bicycle cause its saving the environment. If the U.S. is over in Iraq to set up a govt and establish some sort of quid pro quo for cheaper oil to let us live our lives as we have become accustomed to, then thats ok. Sure beats allowing warlords and dictators take control and slaughter millions while at the same time contribute to holding the rest of the world hostage with oil prices.

[danimal's dead]

Those of you who like taxes so much, will you pay mine?

[komo]

Welcome to being part of the problem.

well fucking said. one who considers a prius a 'golf cart' is insecure indeed

[4matic]

Crude down-Gas up .08. The divergence continues today.

[Tippster]

well fucking said. one who considers a prius a 'golf cart' is insecure indeed

Not a golf cart by any means. The others, however..... let's just say I'd hate to be in an accident in one.