The Effects of $5 a Gallon Gas?

[poorhunter78]

has i see it , it will be a it safer on road less teeens out there riding your bumper in a 25 mph zone,

That is an easy fix! Just double foot the brake pedal..

 

[nsdq]

has i see it , it will be a it safer on road less teeens out there riding your bumper in a 25 mph zone,

That is an easy fix! Just double foot the brake pedal..

i want to stay uprite , it is possible for me to lose the use of my legs if i get rear ended again

 

[jibb]

Well I'm not going to say that I like it but i'm not going to let it greatly affect my daily life. I don't overly use gas. I don't drive around just burning it to be burning it. Over the last couple years I have already made huge strides at reducing energy usage in my personal life and it has really helped me financially. But if you take a look at it the average person uses about 300 gallons of gas per year. Of course many factors make this vary but thats the national average. So say you would like to pay 3$ per gallon but its 5$ per gallon. Thats 600$ more then you would like to pay a year but if you divide that 600$ say weekly over the year thats only 11.53 a week! I know no one wants to pay that but I'm not wasting gas now so i'm not cutting anything about my driving habits. If I want to drive 30 miles away to metal detect I'm not going to say no thats too much and stay home. I don't like paying it but to me its still worth it.

 

[whiskeyjack]

I'm new here. So, please pardon my rambling. The attention span I once had has drowned in the gas tank of my Toyota.

I'm hoping to get into the hobby of metal detecting. It seems affordable to me since I have a motorcycle that gets 45 mpg. Maybe I'll manage to find enough coinage to justify it even. . . after some upcoming eye surgery.
_______________

I remember a time when gas was 24 cents per gallon. I think it was 1959-61 or so. There wasn't a lot of money then in lower class America. My people drove seven-year-old cars with high miles that didn't steer well. But, the brakes worked sometimes. The heater even worked sometimes too.

We didn't travel then unless it was absolutely necessary. Take it back another few decades and we're talking horse-drawn vehicles (my grandparents): they didn't travel then either unless it was absolutely necessary. People counted the cost of living a LOT more religiously in those years. Today, a lot of Americans have been lulled into oblivion with the softness of life. Four generations, for the most part, are removed from the agricultural base. Last I read, it's 2% of our population growing the food for the other 98% of us. So, very few of us know what it is to really be poor anymore. And, fewer know what it is to feed ourselves from the land. And, fewer still know how to live completely off-grid.
_______________

Fast-forward to 2012: expensive fuel will have the same effect on people as it did when money was tight, needs were more modest, time was consciously more valuable and physical effort was considered a lot more seriously before embarking on a journey. I've seen myself becoming a LOT more conservative in virtually EVERY facet of life since gas broke the two-dollar mark some years ago. As it nears $5/gallon I'll be quite a bit more prepared than some. It's the peripheral effect of expensive petro that'll be tough. I can cut back on travel ok. But, I'll have to work harder to cut back on supplies that are more expensive because of transportation costs to get them into stores.
_______________

(ramble - it's 'probly a waste of your time to read further )

So, what's different today with regard to actually buying gas besides the price? Credit cards (I love 'em and pay 'em off on time). Plastic is the luxury that can help us manage and track cash flow. . .or not. Not many of us carry the huge amounts of the cash it takes to fill a tank with fuel today In the old days, you fed and watered a horse before and during a trip. In the 1930's and 40's there was fuel rationing (tokens). In the 50's you might've been fortunate enough to have some change and maybe a few dollar bills to put a couple gallons in. (Rarely do I recall anybody actually filling a tank.) Today plastic makes us more mobile . . . . and it does it quicker. Nice. But, I also believe the convenience of plastic has softened and blinded us to the impact of how stupid the mechanics of fuel pricing has become, i.e. how many of us are still paying for the fuel it took to go on holidays two or more years ago in a vehicle?

'Point is, fuel has already gotten so expensive so as to replace inflation as a national economic recovery threat. But, I hear NONE of this country's 'leaders' recognizing or addressing that simple fact. When gas hits the $5 mark people WILL compensate 'somehow' for their transportation needs. But, like everyone else, I'll be having to learn to be poorer due to peripheral effects of high petro prices.

So far, these are some of the things I've done for myself in northern Minnesota against the days of rising fuel prices, (some are cyclical or unpredictable):

*learned to bake bread from scratch and from starter, (one 5-lb bag of flour = about 6 loaves of $3-bread),
*the list of food items I've learned to grow and preserve is becoming longer, (do a search for 'container gardening'),
*harvest wild game, preserve it and eat it,
*harvest wild fruit, preserve it and eat it,
*using wood as a primary heat source in 3 seasons,
*buy bulk grains and store them (quinoa & rice mainly),
*(will soon buy a propane generator because it uses stable fuel that is not petro-based (for winter emergencies),

There's a long way to go, but these simple things will help off-set the lack of affordable energy, associated transportation/delivery costs of food in stores and short-sighted politicians who refuse to see the writing on the walls of sub-urban and rural American families. Shame on me for not paying more attention to my parents/grandparent's poverty and life-style when I was younger.
____________________

Sorry to have wandered off topic here. Nice thread. Thanks.

 

[spartacus53]

whiskeyjack, first and foremost.. Welcome to T-net..

Loved your comments too. But.......

Please note that do to bandwidth shortage a post should not exceed 150 words









Just kidding, but I bet you did wonder about that

 

[fistfulladirt]

I own a couple of big-cube V-8's, I love to race, don't do it much anymore, only because I just don't have the time. Too busy raising with work, life, and raising kids. I'm considering putting the cars on the auction block.

 

[whiskeyjack]

whiskeyjack, first and foremost.. Welcome to T-net..

Loved your comments too. But.......

Please note that do to bandwidth shortage a post should not exceed 150 words









Just kidding, but I bet you did wonder about that

. . . .ya got me.

Geeze. . . . . I couldn't sleep last night and I'd been lurking on this forum for a few months so figured I'd register. But, this morning as I re-read this, I have NO idea what the heck got into me

Sorry folks. That's just silly of me for a first post. They'll be shorter from now on.

 

[spartacus53]

whiskeyjack, good grief man, that was only a joke... Relax

Honestly, it was interesting reading .. Unfortunately I don't have the time to write as you do, so I primarily use one liners and if I'm feeling a bit frisky, I'll just string several of them together

 

[whiskeyjack]

whiskeyjack, good grief man, that was only a joke... Relax

Honestly, it was interesting reading .. Unfortunately I don't have the time to write as you do, so I primarily use one liners and if I'm feeling a bit frisky, I'll just string several of them together

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the shock this morning. Now. . . .for that coffee.

 

[thrillathahunt]

There are some who think that driving 80 miles to metal detect is a waste of gas. Then again there are those who are actually hoping for higher gas prices, and think it is a good thing.

 

[packerbacker]

whiskey, don't listen to him anyway. Half of the used space here has his name on it.

 

[Dave44]

oh yeah I know, but we don't want to go there on this thread.

Why did Canada not go into recession during the last meltdown though? That has me a bit confused.

You know,, I was wondering how they had enough oil to ship it out! If they can't ship it to us they said they will ship it to China. They also scolded us,, saying you can treat your country as a wilderness sanctuary if you want, But we will do what we need to. Yep, weird!

 

[davest]

no, they have to ship it to refineries on the gulf coast in order for it to be exported for international sale.

Imagine how hard it would be to build a pipeline over the Canadian Rockies and deal with the wilderness hippies
in that locale. Sheesh, by the time they got to Oregon, they'd be broke.

None of that tar sand goop is going to go for domestic consumption, either in Canada or the United States.

The barrel price went down 3.00 American though, did you notice the difference at the pump today?

 

[Dave44]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wh...re-nearing-a-record-2012-03-01?dist=countdown

 

[spartacus53]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

Where have you been You already have that in the Dept of Energy

The 'Department of Energy' was instituted on 8-04-1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil

By the way great job D.O.E. Next year in honor of Homer we'll call it D'OH

Like bigscoop said, enough politics and stick to the topic

 

[Dave44]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

Where have you been You already have that in the Dept of Energy

The 'Department of Energy' was instituted on 8-04-1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil

By the way great job D.O.E. Next year in honor of Homer we'll call it D'OH

Like bigscoop said, enough politics and stick to the topic

OOOPS Darn it you are right,, about the time somebody said "put on more sweaters", "we need to conserve more". Okay that is a 35 year running political joke right there.

 

[poorhunter78]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

Where have you been You already have that in the Dept of Energy

The 'Department of Energy' was instituted on 8-04-1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil

By the way great job D.O.E. Next year in honor of Homer we'll call it D'OH

Like bigscoop said, enough politics and stick to the topic

Might have to resort to driving the 'Ol Gravely to the pool hall..

 

[bigscoop]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

Where have you been You already have that in the Dept of Energy

The 'Department of Energy' was instituted on 8-04-1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil

By the way great job D.O.E. Next year in honor of Homer we'll call it D'OH

Like bigscoop said, enough politics and stick to the topic

OOOPS Darn it you are right,, about the time somebody said "put on more sweaters", "we need to conserve more". Okay that is a 35 year running political joke right there.

Uh...but! (and this all in just good, unbias, fun) Has the joke been getting tossed around all these years by "sweaters", or has it been slowly passed around by "conservatives?" (I have no idea what I just asked, and really don't care, but the play on words was a blast! )

 

[Dave44]

Well the price of crude is over 100$ a barrel, anything is possible. Would be nice to see some proactive domestic energy policy though.

Where have you been You already have that in the Dept of Energy

The 'Department of Energy' was instituted on 8-04-1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil

By the way great job D.O.E. Next year in honor of Homer we'll call it D'OH

Like bigscoop said, enough politics and stick to the topic

OOOPS Darn it you are right,, about the time somebody said "put on more sweaters", "we need to conserve more". Okay that is a 35 year running political joke right there.

Uh...but! (and this all in just good, unbias, fun) Has the joke been getting tossed around all these years by "sweaters", or has it been slowly passed around by "conservatives?" (I have no idea what I just asked, and really don't care, but the play on words was a blast! )

Well I have no idea what you said, but I got a kick out of it too

 

[cw0909]

ive made it a 2 for one deal,like shop at the grocery,walk across to plaza pick my choice stuff,
its getting warmer bike time,job is at home,stores i need all the time 1.5mi,but to get the kid to
and from school,20mi a day,her other activites,4xwk,another 60,looking into car pooling the kids
activies,kids wknds,25-40,yep im feeling it,need to knock off the car payment
yep davest,when i read about the shut downs of refiners,i flashed back to the 70s

shut downs of refiners
http://www.eia.gov/analysis/petroleum/nerefining/update/