I remember when gas hit $2 for the first time, America went off the handle, screaming for change.

When we peaked $3, the masses cried and we demanded better technology.

Now we are getting to $4, for some we have even passed it, and I hear nothing. Silence from the people.

Have we just given up?

Can nothing be done?

We really need to get all the smartest people in the world together in a big convention center, give them food and supplies for two weeks, and tell them if they dont figure out a way to fix the economy... we are going to kill them.

It may get results.

I was thinking the exact same thing this evening on the way home...not the second part, but that sounds like damn good idea to me.

I was thinking about how assface...I mean Bush responded when someone asked him if the Tax Rebate Checks would help us out in the face of $4.00 a gallon gas and his answer was..."$4.00 a gallon? I hadn't heard that."

If I were to say how I really feel about him, I think that some lawyer somewhere might be able to get me into jail...so I won't.

Plausible deniability.

O_O

*Note to self: Never anger MM.*


Gas is ridiculously priced, needless to say. I say we all get Millennium Falcons, and go PYOO PYOO PYOO!

People are starting to actually change driving habits. Many dealerships won't accept SUVs and trucks as trade, new SUVs and trucks are seriously price reduced, hybrids are harder and harder to find, scooters and motorcycles are selling a lot faster. Heck, even pedal bikes are selling faster.

But yeah, it sucks. But tell me this--all the crying and whining didn't accomplish a damn thing, what good did it do?

Hubbin filled his truck today. He was at about 1/4 tank. It cost $103 dollars for about 22 gallons of diesel.

Yeah, we don't drive it very often.

this is one of the major reasons i'm looking into a scooter. yeah ... yeah, commuting on a bicycle would be even better, but i don't have the health for cycling 50 miles a week.

People are changing driving habits; a friend of mine is a Queen's Cowboy and was saying they're catching less and less speeders because it's too expensive to drive fast now.

I don't think anything should be done about high gas prices. It's encouraging people to use less, and our world needs it. Like it or not, we're killing our planet, and we'll kill us in the process.

As for your economy - things are getting expensive, so deal with it. You guys have been spoiled with low, low prices for a few decades, and now the rest of the planet wants a piece of that pie. I really can't blame them. Us.

Yes gas is expensive. Walking 55km every week to the office is great, especially when I get there and hear people whine about paying $1.329/litre [that's a little over $5/gallon CDN]. That's what I do, and when I'm in the field it's closer to 100km/wk. Several people with whom I work bike 8km to work every day, which works out to 50 miles each week. They're happy and fit, and they bike every day unless it's -40 [so nobody bikes from november to march ;)].

we have scooters and motorcycles and live close to work. Our office installed webcams instead of having people meet at the various campuses. Our whole organization is being restructured to allow people to work from the closest office to their home.

I can see a sort of mass 'job swap' where people start trying to work within walking/biking distance - or telecommuting. Which I am really curious what effect that would have on the neighborhoods. I think it would be good. Maybe we'll get to know each other again.

Here in Denver, they completed the light rail a few years back. It's standing room only during rush hour and on the weekends too. :)

If it weren't for the snow, we wouldn't need the jeep, which gets a fill up every 3rd month or so.

Muppetmaker, what makes you think the smartest people in the world will want to fix YOUR economy? I'm just pointing that out.


I think it's great that gas prices are high. Obesity is at epidemic proportions in both our nations, and it wouldn't hurt people to walk!!

The best part about high gas prices? People aren't driving as much. We can slow the melting of the polar ice caps!! Sea levels won't rise so fast! Trust me, high gas prices will seem trivial in a few decades when the billions of people living within a few metres of sea level are displaced.

There is a bigger problem with high gas prices in the US compared to other countries...

In America, we have spent decades building the most comprehensive highway system in the world, and our economy is based in large part on vehicular commerce.

In Europe and many other countries, there has been a much greater emphasis on mass transportation (trains, subways, busses) so with gas prices being high, you tend to have more options for getting where you need to go (over there).

I traveled all over Europe while in the Navy and I rarely had to get in a taxi or a bus. I got around quite easily on trains, subways, and good old fashioned "foot power".

So personally, I'm not as bothered by the price of gas as I am with the utter lack of (practical) alternatives in America.

I live in the suburbs of a city that has little mass transit to speak of. When I vacation I rarely rent a car because I am able to take the train/subway/walk/whatever, but here cars are the only thing that really make any sense. We are too spread out to walk, and not big enough to warrant a decent bus/train/whatever system. That's part of why I am moving to the other side of town where my new job will be within walking distance.

Unfortunately where we live, we can't change our driving habits and ride bikes or walk to work. Even if we could, it would be downright dangerous. I wouldn't care to share the interstate riding a bicycle with an 18 wheeler. I don't have a death wish.

Luckily Mobase and I commute to work together which saves us some money.

If I have to run errands, I try to do them all at once.

I still think the price of gas is ridiculous. Especially when I hear the the oil companies are having quarterly profits that total 14 billion dollars.

Gas prices, I can at least cope with. Driving isn't a life-or-death necessity. If s**t really hit the fan, my husband could stay with family in the town he works in and he wouldn't have to commute. As it is, we're currently looking for a new house to rent that is closer to hubbin's job. So with any luck, we'll be moving again within 3 months.


However, the thing I can't really financially cope with is heating fuel. The only rentals I've found with heat included are efficiency rentals (meaning, one room, kitchenette, and bathroom), which just don't work well with two adults, a toddler, and a big dog. We spent $400 a month from Nov-March last season to heat, and we can't afford that again, let alone the price increase that will come this year, especially not with the pay cut Josh took at his new job. We're at the mercy of whatever we are renting at the time, and it is pretty rare to find something in our state that isn't oil or K-1 heating fuel. I'm getting pretty freaked out about what this winter will be like for us.

Anyway, yeah, I guess I've given up whining about gas. I would honestly be happy as a clam if gas went to $5/gal. but heating fuel could be capped at $2-3/gal.

I agree. The price of gasoline is high, I have no way of getting to work (40 miles away) except by car. I bought a more fuel efficient car last year and keep up with maintenance on it. But heating cost me $5000 this past winter. (That doesn't include electric, hot water or cooking, that was at least another $2000 all told). $5000.

The other morning the oil man called and said I was due and did I want a delivery (it's still chilly here). I said yes but not a fill-up, just 100 gallons. Then I asked the price. He said "are you sitting down" "It's $4.31/gallon" I said, "don't come".

I've heard some predictions of $98/barrel by year-end which would drop the price significantly but I've heard predictions of $200/barrel by year end. Which would kill my budget entirely.

There is no alternative transit. We're remote, no buses, no trains, no carpooling (this is farm country). I could find a job closer to home (maybe) it would no doubt pay less. I still have to deal with heating this place though.

$5000. My head is still trying to wrap around that number.

Yeah it sucks, and there is little we can do but avoid driving whenever possible. It isn't easy to do that when it is 110' outside and the nearest store is about 3miles away, and the mall is about 20miles away. If it were cooler I don't think it would be problem, but cycling 10miles in triple digit weather is... unpleasant.