:)

time to... BURN THE MOTHERS DOWN!!!!!..

or,um, more staying at home:(

Noo, we dont need to overthrow the government, just the big oil companies...

Find the Mobil/Exxon, Shell, etc. head departments and burn them down!!!

It will put the crunch on police vehicles too though. Imagine that the only person in the neighborhood who can afford gas to drive around is the neighborhood crack dealer.

Grrr, I hate it when people talk about the USA vs. Europe thing, its nothing alike. That is like comparing apples to oranges. Ok, yes, Europe gets raped on fuel and its mostly taxes but they have options. They can take a bus, they can get a taxi, bicycle, trolly, subway, walk, etc etc. What option do I have? There is no bus, no taxis, no trolly or subway. The nearest establishment is 6 miles away so biking and walking are out of the question. Europe is more tightly packed than America, the commutes are much smaller and public transportation is more abundant.

I dunno about you city folk, Im in the hills:rolleyes:

And dont even get me started on Japan, thats like, the pears in the whole equation...

And my dad drives a hummer:eek:

Sad, but true!

It's been over 30 years since I've been to Europe, and I was a kid at the time, but I still remember just how good the public transportation was (it blows away the public transportation available in the USA). Europe has reasonably priced passenger trains (between countries), buses, electric trolleys in some (many?) cities, etc. Now, I would love decent public transportation in the USA, but its going to be years in coming (even assuming that the current gas prices actually help fuel a general demand for better public transportation)...

BTW:
I'm willing to Hypermile, but both me and the wife are currently stuck with some serious commuting (in our own cars). While the city (where I work) itself has buses (although not necessarily bus schedules/routes that fit in well with getting to/from work), our house is sufficiently "out of town" that taking the bus in town is a little silly (as we still have to use our own cars to get to/from town, even if we could "in theory" take the bus once we get to town).

NOTE:
Doesn't Europe get a lot of their tax revenue from gas taxes (thereby having lower taxes in other areas)? I actually like that model if/when it's combined with decent public transportation (because it helps encourage FE, as well as lowering other taxes needed for government services). However, in the USA, where we often have to drive many miles AND there is often no viable public transportation, it really sucks (essentially being a regressive tax on working people)...

Well, it will make it easier to spot the crack dealers, I guess... :-)

Bingo, right on the head Draco..

"WHAT! Why are you pulling me over?!!"

"Sir, you are driving when prices are over 5bucks a gallon. You obviously sell crack...now bite the curb!!!"

To answer the original question, the price increase is probably due to a supposed refinery or two that has been taken off-line due to profit mongering - I mean flooding. :P

No, Europe is heavily taxed anyway. In Germany they are taxed by the number of rooms in their houses, including closets, which is why they have large lockers and no closets in their houses. They are taxed by the amount of rain the roof of the house catches (sewer system). Their fuel taxes do help pay for their public transportation though.

Why do the cops drive full size cars? They have a lot of equipment to carry, they sometimes have to carry suspects with no warning on when, and they sometimes have to use their cars as battering rams. Some of them do drive econoboxes though, the ones in my own town drive Impalas, which are large enough to carry their gear and a couple of perps, and still get 25-30MPG. And you don't have to outrun the radio, you just have to beat it over the next hill.

yup they use impalas were i am 2 i didnt know they got that good of fe

Ya, not a good time of year for a refiniery to go down.
https://www.ogj.com/display_article/2...ille-refinery/
They will be out of business for a few months, at best.

lol no ya think? the bush family is in oil big time and all his littl ebuddies have a huge role in the oil companies...:mad: just another greedy politician wanting to line his own pockets at the cost of the american people:mad:

I'll go for that. There are few idiots out here that have to race from stop sign to stop. sheeeeeesh

What about Canada if I convert litres to gallons I'm paying $3.94 a gallon not considering your dollar is worth a little more. If I factor that in we are paying $4.26 US a gallon.

If you have to worry about the price of gas for your own personal consumption, you are doing something wrong in life. I'm interested in fuel economy as a technical exercise. If I wanted to save money, I wouldn't have 3 cars.

I was coming in to work just before sunrise yesterday morning at the edge of town, 45MPH limit and I was doing about 40. There was slowing-to-turn-right traffic ahead, so I was in the leftmost of the two lanes. Up behind me rolls another driver, and I don't want to give the wrong impression: He wasn't speeding massively (if at all), he didn't tailgate, he didn't seem overly anxious to get past me, nothing wrong with his style in the least.

When the traffic allowed I moved right. He accelerated smoothly and fairly gently (i.e., "just driving," no road rage) and went on past me...

...as I continued to slow on the coast I'd started before I moved right because A) the speed limit had just dropped to 35, and B) there was a red light not 30 feet ahead of us! :confused:

I used to lean on the go pedal pretty good once upon a time, but I don't think I've ever actively accelerated when there was a red light just a few car lengths ahead.

Of course I'm sure my (new) driving style doesn't make sense to him, either. ;)

Rick

I'm not entirely sure that I agree with that statement. For instance: I commute ~35 miles (one way) to work, my wife commutes 10-15 miles in the opposite direction. Due to schedule differences, we cannot carpool.

Yes, I drive a Jeep Cherokee. I know that it's not the best for FE. However, it *is* big enough to carry tools/ladders/equipment when needed, something a Geo cannot handle. (Renting a truck is virtually impossible around here if you're under 25) My wife drives a Blazer...doesn't get the best FE, but she's over EPA ratings at least....most importantly, she's safe.

Both my wife and myself are just out of college. It's been roughly 1 year now, so our students loans are coming due. We continue to drive these vehicles because they are cost-effective.....no car payments, and minimal maintenance (plus cheap insurance).

I guess the point here is that I'm concerned about fuel prices. I'm driving for FE mainly as a challenge to myself, as I know there's not too much I can cost-effectively do to these vehicles. However, I don't feel that there's anything wrong with my life choices....all told, I think we're doing OK, without going extremely far into debt.




Sorry, a little pissed from watching fuel prices jump $.30 today (and still climbing)
*steps down from soapbox*

I'm glad to hear you have enough $ to not be troubled by it. Don't presume that everyone else does because you do, it is not so.

theclencher: She feels safe, and that makes her happy (that's what counts). Plus, with how she drives?? If she slides off into a ditch someday, I know that I can fix the Blazer enough to get it back on the road....

small car - accident avoidance

I stand by my previous statement. If you are worried about the price of gas now, you are doing something wrong in life. You need to change the car you drive, where you live, where you work, the hours you work... etc before its too late. The cost of transportation is only going to get more expensive from here on out. This isn't just a money issue. Its a quality of life issue. We have become accustomed to planning the way we live and work on the implicit assumption that transportation is cheap and it will continue to be cheap. Thats simply not true anymore.
The Chevy Blazer is the most dangerous vehicle for its occupants.
https://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/19/i...ikely-to-kill/

You can read the study for yourself.
https://www.autoblog.com/photos/iihs-...driver-deaths/

lol
but reliable unliek its ford counterpart(lol good ole exploders..)

lol i hate to say it but if shes worried about sliding into ditches and her safety maybe she should drive better...its not like they magically appear in front of you...

"she feels safe", yah but now everyone else needs a tank to feel safe.

skewbe -

Same thing happened to a friend of mine. His wife got T-Boned while she was driving her Lexus SUV. The SUV was totaled, but she swears that it saved her life, so it was off to the Lexus dealer to get another.

Perception can be 9/10ths of the law in some states of mind,

CarloSW2

LOL!! I was expecting some feedback from my comments earlier...but not the part about the Blazer!!

Honestly, the only thing that concerns me about the Blazer is that my wife has to sit so close to the steering wheel (she's pretty short). I had some scrap steel laying around once, and her father and I basically rebuilt the bumpers, inside door panels, and major suspension components. That thing truly is a tank now.....:p



tjts1: Your link specifically mentioned 2 door, 2WD Blazers. My wife drives a 4 door, 4WD Blazer....crash test ratings here https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testin...ecific+vehicle

I wish it were cute or funny, but wastefulness in america is a disease.

People buying SUVs for their own "safety" are not thinking about the safety of the people they will hit. In fact, they essentially terrorize the other drivers on the road by wielding so much mass, and at a large environmental cost. Ride with me in the Metro when mrs suv is on my tail and see if you don't feel a little terror (I'm used to it) ;)

Throw in the rampant inattention (i.e. cell phones) and you have a strong case for "dang, we must all be idiots, how did it get so wasteful and stupid?!?"

I agree skewbe. Not to say that people can/want to realize their flawed rationale. I had read somewhere that women who drive daily have a 1% chance of dying in an accident. Too bad there isn't clean, affordable public transportation.
I've actually been quite amazed how well my ranger has held us since I've owned it. I just hate driving it because I know how inefficient it is to drive. I love small cars.

Exactly the same situation here with a co-worker who refuses to drive anything but a Chevy Suburban now.

Rick

oh yes rangers will last, exploders will well explode...

maybe you should build some custom pedals so your wife can sit back further. lol cuz the way it makes it sound like she is within a foot of the airbag, which could kill her if it deploys at the usuall rate of 300 miles an hour right into her chest/stomach. they say there should be about a food distance between your body and the steering wheel, and you hands should be at 9 and 3. if thier at 10 and 2 like it used to be the airbag deploys so fast with so much energy it could break your arms or thumbs depending how you hold the wheel...but at 9 and 3 its off to the side and not so much over the airbag(so when your body jerks forward the airbag doest push your arms behind your head... its off to the sides.

but nowadays we have side curtan head restaring bags.. lol why dont we all just wear a marshmallow suit to drive so were safe all the time! instead of spending a few extra cents a year per person to teach them how to safely drive...

When we started believing that with enough worry, one could live forever.

I hate to see fuel prices on the way back up. It really puts a stress on some folks. The wife and I can deal with it,,, no problem. Its kinda hard on our kids. Our youngest and her husband just bought a 04 Camry I4, 5MT and also have a old Tercel, AT. So they are set. The middle daughter has a Malibu I4, AT. I hope she picks up a Yaris or Fit sometime soon. Oldest daughter is back at home with the wife and I with two young children. She has lost everything. So she is driving around in our Rangerlaturd right now.

I don't feel bad for those that think they can only be seen in or drive a truck or suv. And have problems filling them up. They always seem to blame everybody but themselves for the mess they have found themselves in.

The recent increase in fuel cost around here has been due to the flooding in KS, OK and TX. No doubt about it. I was shocked that refinery, depot and other infrastructure was built in a flood plain. And I dont feel sorry for folks that choose to live in flood plains. Never live in a valley or near a river when there is the side of a grade or the top of a hill near by. :) I will take the rain any day over the drought we have had the last two years. Its been storming this am. Very nice for the middle of July.... :) ( Ive come to hate summer )

It will be interesting to see what prices are this morning on my way into work. I still think $4.00 to $5.00 gas is possible this summer and early fall.

psy

I think part of the problem is that society wants to "idiot proof" the world which is reaking havoc on natural selection. Trying to make sure every last man woman child, and animal (in some cases) lives to be old and grey is just insanity, we're screwing with mother nature. And as far as gas prices go, i don't like it, i think we're getting screwed by both big oil and our govt. more can be done to increase mileage of the average vehicle. Most people won't trade the added driving time for a couple of bucks worth of gas, but we're not like those people that's why we're here. :o)

Hmm, if my calculation is correct that my equivalent MPG on the bike is about 700, my monthly commute of just over 100 miles will go from roughly $0.43 to $0.73 when prices go from $3 to $5 per gallon. I'll have to scale back to just a double shot in my morning latte I suppose.

I think I can handle that.

Ok, gloating over. My point is that I 100% agree with psy on this one. It will hurt people of lower income levels the most, but so many people have made poor vehicle purchase decisions that leave them a virtual slave to the oil companies. Aside from the cost of feeding myself, it's nice knowing just how much I have insulated myself from this trap as far as getting to work is concerned.

Improving fuel economy is about more than just getting more miles out of every gallon. It's about getting more use out of the miles driven. Carpool with just one person and you have effectively doubled your miles per gallon. Take a bus and it's a huge factor higher than that.

I know I'm being a bit of a jerk by saying this, but I DON'T care to hear people who commute 50-100 miles or more complain about the cost of fuel. So few people really need to do that if they were just willing to make an employment and or residence change. I live 2.5 miles from work because I planned it that way.

I know it's not always an easy thing to do, but it's something that most people really should be considering strongly before moving or changing employers. What if gas spikes to $10/gallon in the next year or two? How about $15? Rationing? Oh the humanity!

My children currently attend a public charter language immersion school which causes us to drive a few more miles, but if push comes to shove on gas prices, they'll be riding the county bus, or pedalling or walking their little butts to the regular elementary down the street. It's about compromise. Most people simply aren't willing when it comes to driving until forced into it.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Dont forget Snax that its not always that easy. I have an SUV (97 4Runner) that was getting close to 20mpg and then got hit with a long commute that starting to kil me when gas went up. I had only bought the SUV because I had gotten a really good deal on a really good reliable car. It has served me well for a while and its size came in handy MANY MANY times. But I had to buy my 98 Camry when I started getting shelled on gas. No SUV is an effiecient commuter car. But not everyone can afford to simply switch cars. Some of us have to simply deal with what we can get. If not for a sweet deal on the Camry (family member) I might still be crying about gas in the '97 4Runner. Cutting down commute is not easy either. Sometimes rents closer to work are a lot more money or you simply cant afford to move from your current 'not-very-expensive' deal that you have now.
I might be able to get a job elsewhere but the gas savings from a job location change might not be as high as the paycut I might suffer from changing jobs.
Its cool if you can be in control of all that we do but the truth is that its is rarely the case for many of us. Im glad that I was able to buy a Camry for FE- too bad that many others I know would have had to bite the bullet. I even considered public transportation until I discovered that it costs MORE than driving and adds well over an hour to my commute.
Im not happy with the price of gas but Im not crying. Im simply saying that many of us have little control. If it was up to me Id have the 4Runner for trips to stores, moving ect and a Prius for daily everyday driving. Too bad I cant afford a Prius right now. Ive been fuel conscious even before gas prices went up. Ive wanted Prius since last model years ago when I had short commute and gas was only $1.50/gal.
...With that said, some people are total idiots and dont think when they make decisions. They are too concerned with a cars towing capability when they dont even know what a tow-hitch is or they want a car with 500hp when they live in NYC with speed limits of 30mph. And others buy cars based on looks ect ect ect. I could go on and on. But many others simply dont have options like you and some of us. My two cents. Please excuse my rambling

I wish the wife and I could get out of the long daily grinds we both do. Hers is 80 to 125 miles a day depending on what has to be done. And mine is much the same.

There are no jobs in the town we live in. The city fathers have seen to completely ruining the town money wise. So that leaves Tulsa. Great place to work. But living in the place or one of it's local burbs is out of the question.

So the daily drive will be the norm. Car pooling for the most part is out. I wont drive where the wife works off Lewis ave. I can see hwy 169 from my office window. And I wont live ultra urban or inner city.

psy

That's offly easy for someone that lives so close to work to say. Yall's close-minded mindset is ridiculas sometimes.

I'm one of those people commuting 60 miles each way - but I'm not complaining.

Instead, I'm doing what I can to keep the commuting costs down. I hope to get this car up to about 35 mpg highway (summer), doing mods for what I like to call "lunch money" costs. And I still have the safety and reliability of the old Volvo. For us so far, it's the best route because this is the car I have. Wife has a nearly identical one without the mods and without hypermiling.