$5 a gallon

retmil46 · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 1:14 pm

onthehunt wrote:

$5 diesel... oh the horror. You all need a tissue.

Tell that to my parents and older relatives that are trying to get by on a fixed income jacka$$. :evil:

onthehunt · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 2:59 pm

Fixed income paid by me and all the other tax payers out there. Two tissues for you.

Goglio704 · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 4:29 pm

You should change your handle to omniscient if you know the source of their retirement money. Inflation affects all forms of savings in a negative way - including the federally mandated ones. Besides, nobody retired today had the option of not participating in Social Security any more than I have the option of not contributing.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

Diesel hit $4.89 here, ouch!

On the other hand, whenever I read a thread like this, I am stricken by the irony of Americans who chose to buy gas guzzling vehicles whining about the cost of gas. Our CRD's are relatively fuel efficient compared to their gasser bretheren, but their fuel economy still sucks booty compared any decent passenger car. In fact, our mileage isn't all that better than a Model T Ford. And it isn't like any of us sent letters to Chrysler saying "please give us more fuel efficient Jeeps."

We American's love to make choices, but we never like to live with the consequences. As a nation, we made the choice to buy into the hype and marketing that we needed 20 mpg rigs designed for serious towing and offroading to get little Tommy to soccer practice. We voted for politicians who refused to deal with miles per gallon standards or investing in alternatives. We refused to listen to the economists who predicted that increasing demand in the developing world would eventually squeeze oil markets and raise prices. And when anyone said those might be stupid choices, we attacked them as commie socialist eggheads trying to take away our freedom of choice.

Now we are floundering around like a junky who just found out that he can't afford his next fix. Drill in Yellowstone, I need my cheap fuel, darn it!!!!

If we really want to do something about this problem, we as a nation need to stop behaving like gullible babys, buying in to whatever cynical marketing campaign the oil companies, the talk show hosts they sponsor, and their politicians feed us. You want cheap fuel? Sorry, globalization has a down side, and cheap fuel ain't coming back. If we really care about the old people and folks on fixed incomes, we ought to be voting for politicians who are serious about investing in alternatives, and willing to buck the big $$ and force changes like increased fuel economy regs and transportation infrastructure.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 7:05 pm

Trust me guys, as soon as the ground is dry enough, we'll be drilling more. Right now, it's just too muddy/snow-covered to get big rigs to the areas where we need to drill the oil. This year's extremely wet spring has slowed almost all drilling to a near stand-still. That will change as soon as the rains let up... it better anyway (it's affecting my pay and wheeling time!).

RabidRdKill · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 9:09 pm

I must admit this was not where I expected this thread to go when I started it. I probably should have though. Just a little huffing about the price not all the politics was my intent...

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 9:41 pm

...and bought into Diesel. Many of us own or have owned other diesels, I made the move in 1979 when I saw the writing on the wall. When I bough the CRD I was replacing two diesel vehicles a '91 Jetta Turbo Diesel and a '73 Chevy C-30 that I converted to a Perkins Turbo Diesel. Others in my age bracket on this forum have had a strong diesel history as well. Like solders, we have done and still are doing our duty with pride.

For the Gassers out there who hate diesels and have rigs with the BIG BLOCK V8, 1/2 ton, full time 4X4, 4.56 to 1 axle ratio, a Depleted Uranium right foot, drive like they are playing Grand Theft Auto, and are getting 5 MPG, what did you expect, you can't defy the laws of Physics.

As far as drilling in on both sides of the US/Canadian border goes. Keep at it and consider anyone (Especially Wacko Lawyers filing junk law suits) who tries to stop responsible drilling a Terrorist and respond accordingly :!:

flash7210 · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 9:51 pm

Pablo wrote:

so every one of them has an AC to DC inverter which wastes power by turning it into heat-- while converting only a percentage of it to DC so the computer/fax/tv/whatever can run.

Sorry man, hate to nit pick, but I gotta make a correction.

AC to DC is done by a rectifier.
DC to AC is done by an inverter.

Rectifiers run very cool and are very efficient. In fact, DC is very efficient in
most circuits. AC is used in households because it is more efficient to
generate and send over powerlines across great distances. But, when put
to use in an electric motor (or other high load device) AC current can
create a lot of heat.
Inverting DC to AC is not very efficient and creates heat. However, most
applications that require an inverter are mobile or off-grid and efficiency is
not a huge factor.

Where all your DC appliances (TV, cable box, computer) create a lot of
heat is not through the conversion of AC to DC but through amplifying the
DC current to support the load.
Remember, all your household items are built very cheaply. Efficiency for
the end user is of no concern. They could be made to produce less heat
but lets face it, no one wants to pay for it.
Think AMD vs. Intel.
An Intel CPU absolutly needs a big cooling fan to keep it cool whether
under heavy load or not. An AMD CPU can take the heat and only needs
the fan when under heavy loading, and you will find that AMD processors
are typically more expensive than Intel. My AMD has the ability to vary
the fan speed as needed.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I will stop here before I hijack this thread.

Pablo · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:06 pm **Posts:** 1201

flash7210 wrote:

Pablo wrote:

so every one of them has an AC to DC inverter which wastes power by turning it into heat-- while converting only a percentage of it to DC so the computer/fax/tv/whatever can run.

Sorry man, hate to nit pick, but I gotta make a correction.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I will stop here before I hijack this thread.

Yeah someone already PM'ed me about that, I got it backwards and it was late.. but the result is the same-- a bunch of dumb cheap little devices littering your house putting out heat doing what one device outside of the house at the power box should do (supply dc power to your home). And why not hijack the thread? It is not like you would be the first, or second, or third. I mean it is about fuel prices, and how are any of us going to change those overnight?

Posted from AMD x64 processor notebook... which was the replacement for Transmeta equipped Panasonic Toughbook-- which also did not use much juice but was slow and work wanted it back. I miss the touch screen and its small size. Great car pc.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

warp2diesel wrote:

As far as drilling in on both sides of the US/Canadian border goes. Keep at it and consider anyone (Especially Wacko Lawyers filing junk law suits) who tries to stop responsible drilling a Terrorist and respond accordingly :!:

Cause elk hunters and trout fishermen are obviously all in league with Al Queda:

http://www.trcp.org/pr_082007.aspx

The only policy changes are going to affect these prices in the short term would be government intervention in the commodities markets to restrict trading of oil and refined fuels. I doubt any politician has the cajones to take on Warren Buffet, and if they did, they'd be crucified as socialists (by the very people whining about oil prices). I can see the ads now "What does Politician XXXXX want to screw with your retirement funds, when they could be doing environmentally sensitive drilling in a national park instead?"

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 5:18 pm

[The only policy changes are going to affect these prices in the short term would be government intervention in the commodities markets to restrict trading of oil and refined fuels. I doubt any politician has the cajones to take on Warren Buffet, and if they did, they'd be crucified as socialists (by the very people whining about oil prices). I can see the ads now "What does Politician XXXXX want to screw with your retirement funds, when they could be doing environmentally sensitive drilling in a national park instead?"[/quote]

More of the failed '70s wisdom instigated by those who had no concept of economics or how it worked. I really miss those monthly COL wage increases and being able to get ahead by borrowing money at a lower interest rate than the rate of inflation. I don't miss having to race to the store after cashing my pay check so I don't loose out by waiting until I really need the food. I don't miss the long lines at the gas stations. I don't miss the polyester shirts and pants either. Thank God for Allan Greenspan.

BTW: How in the world can the US Government effect the price of oil on the world market, threaten OPEC with B2s or Cruse Missiles :?:

I can hear a parity of a Beach Boys song playing in the back ground of the propaganda commercials supporting the bombing of OPEC countries, WOW

Responsible Drilling makes more sense to me :idea:

retmil46 · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 12:13 pm

The PRC (Peoples Republic of CARB) thinks they have the answer - they came out with a mandate stipulating the sale of plug-in hybrids by 2012.

Wonder if that will work as well as their little mandate of 15 years ago stipulating the sale of electric vehicles.

Recently, their little mandate trying to force ships within 200 miles of their coast to burn ULSD was shot down big time in federal court - in the face of long-established international maritime law, their proposal was so ludicrous they were nearly laughed out of court.

20 grand to modify a hybrid to plug-in mode so it can drive 20 miles on batteries alone. For less than 10 grand, I can take a pickup truck with a blown engine, install a DC motor and a set of golfcart batteries that I can get at Costco, and get at least 40 miles out of it on batteries alone.

The reason neither idea is practical? The cost of the eventual battery replacement totally wipes out any savings from fuel costs. Been there, done that.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

warp2diesel wrote:

I can hear a parity of a Beach Boys song playing in the back ground of the propaganda commercials supporting the bombing of OPEC countries, WOW

Responsible Drilling makes more sense to me :idea:

In case you hadn't noticed, we've been bombing an OPEC country for the last 5 years. You know, the one we were told would use its oil to pay for our military exercise. WOW

Crank up that Beach Boy's music, Cheney's gotta dance!

During WWII, the US government instituted market controls on key resources to prevent war profiteering. It turns out that in a free market, people tend to maximize personal benefit (usually, a very good thing and what drives a capitalist economy). Over time the system will work itself out, but during a crunch (like, say, a war or a fuel crisis) the short-term damage of a few individuals seeking to maximize profit threatens the long-term efficiency of the market. FDR's very limited intervention in the market during WWII was vital to our success in the war (if he'd listened to the tin foil hat crowd predicting apocalypse if he instituted price controls on rubber, aluminum, and oil, we'd all be speaking German).

The government should be considering a similar measure now on fuel. A news segment on CNN business last night plotted out where we would be this time next year if oil continued to rise at the same rate... $7.00 a gallon regular unleaded, diesel pushing $8.50. Now, I'd love to see the US get greener with greater use of rail transit, and automakers giving us more options that don't guzzle fuel. On the other hand, this kind of brutal price increase, this fast, is going to cause major economic disruption. We need a national strategy for minimizing that disruption.

Or we could crank up Toby Keith and complain about the lack of new drilling while the economy goes to hell in a handbasket. Hey, it's worked so well for the last 7 years.

DZL_LOU · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 2:42 pm

$4.95 this morning in town. Went 4 miles down the road to truckstop and it was $4.59.

Still has not hit home yet. Since January, I have been travelling with the CRD on business and being reimbursed 50.5cents per mile. So my employer is covering my operating fuel costs.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 3:07 pm

If you (as the libs do) demonize the producers, there is nothing to stop the producers from saying "screw you, you do it then". Exxon alone paid 30 BILLION in taxes in 2007. To give you an idea, that's more than the lower half of individual tax payer paid into the system.
Asking the government to intervene and control profits is a slippery slope (not as slippery as universal healthcare). So the plan is to protect the salaried worker as much as possible and make an enemy of those who pay the salaries. It's pretty stupid and straight out of the communist manifesto.
We still pay less for fuel than most of the Western World.

If you ask any communist what they like most about the US, they will give you one answer: "it can change".

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 4:05 pm

My last two tanks have been B5 at $4.12 a gallon :lol:

Meijer has opened a new store and the road in front of them is torn up for widning. Maybe they'll take their time finishing the road :wink:

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 9:24 pm

[The government should be considering a similar measure now on fuel. A news segment on CNN business last night plotted out where we would be this time next year if oil continued to rise at the same rate... $7.00 a gallon regular unleaded, diesel pushing $8.50. Now, I'd love to see the US get greener with greater use of rail transit, and automakers giving us more options that don't guzzle fuel. On the other hand, this kind of brutal price increase, this fast, is going to cause major economic disruption. We need a national strategy for minimizing that disruption.

Or we could crank up Toby Keith and complain about the lack of new drilling while the economy goes to hell in a handbasket. Hey, it's worked so well for the last 7 years.[/quote]

CNN? I haven't priced Kool Aid lately, does CNN have there own flavor yet? I really don't miss having to drive 55 all the time, Polyester pants & shirts, Disco, and failed Government price controls on gas that did not work back in the '70s. When the supply met the demand and the price stabilized.
When FDR imposed rationing almost all of the commodities were domestically produced and easy to regulate, also the price of gold was fixed at $35 an once and other than jewelry and some coins the Government held it all.
The idea that Government intervention will solve the problem with out the oil supply in todays economy is nuts, the economy does not work that way now days. One item that will also help correct the oil is the public has demanded the market offer us options for more fuel efficient cars and trucks and automakers who won't respond will fail. Stopping the production of the guzzlers is the first step taken with the public voting with their money as the US Government watches, stick their finger in the wind and looks to the modern fortune tellers called pollsters.

The US government owns 25% of the US land mass and pays no taxes to the local, county, or state governments yet use the services. Also the US Government controls over 85% of the coastal oil that has been put off limits, but China can drill in the Caribbean to it's hearts content and haul the oil away, but since that is a GOVERNMENT and not Exxon-Mobil, it must be OK. In fact, most of the world oil supply is controlled by hostile GOVERNMENTS that make Exxon-Mobil and other oil companies look like a mico-companies who has to buy from the hostile GOVERNMENTS who control the price and supply of oil. But for the sake of the sacred red donkey, drilling at home on private land in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba is an unforgivable option. After all some Elk may use the fence around the oil derrick to scratch the tick off his/her back. Just like the Alaska Caribou who increased their survival rate by birthing their young along the Alaska Pipeline and increase their population from 6000 to 28,000, talk about unintended consequences.
Since GOVERNMENT can do no wrong, how can our Federal Government who some want to punish those who price gouge when they are other Governments, not Buffet, Exxon-Mobil, B-P, or other oil companies?

Now back to the thread topic: Today the price on Long Island, NY is ranging from $4.89 to $5.19

Have a Nice Day!

ed. · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 11:59 pm

I don't know what you guys are bitching about.
We're paying close to $7.50AUD/gallon down here. :shock:

Maybe you should cut the military budget down and use that surplus to offset the oil price you pay. :lol:

You lucky sensored word have low interest rates too!

bbertram · **Joined:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:17 pm **Posts:** 144

In the past the difference in the fuel prices between Canada and the States was fairly large, now not so much. I just did some quick numbers and right now we are paying $1.359 per liter if fuel which is $6.18 per imperial gallon. Then I converted your gallon to our liters and your price per liter to CDN dollars and its $1.25 per liter and $5.68 per imperial gallon, in CDN dollars. So when everything is made equal the differences are not that much between the two countries when it comes to fuel prices.

I can remember when I bought my Liberty the price of fuel was in the high 70 cent range, $.78 I believe. Now its almost double, 3 years later. Thats a serious drag but she still works well, gets me to where I want to go, has nice power, fun to drive in the summer, gets superior mileage to similar vehicles, so far so good in my books but soon the price will rise to where I will be trading my girl in on a jetta or another echo or something similar. Maybe I just shouldn't drive!

bbertram · **Joined:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:17 pm **Posts:** 144

ed. wrote:

I don't know what you guys are bitching about.
We're paying close to $7.50AUD/gallon down here. :shock:

Maybe you should cut the military budget down and use that surplus to offset the oil price you pay. :lol:

You lucky jerks have low interest rates too!

Yep, your paying a bit more. 7.50 AUD = 7.06519 CAD

I'm pretty sure your using imperial gallons down there.

$5 a gallon

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