[uphill]

I told myself that I didn't care, that I'd drive the FJ just as much at $5 per gallon as I did at $2.5 per gallon. It's a darned lie. I caught myself lying to myself.

I received a gift card for $25 for Shell Gasoline for Father's Day. I cashed it in. 1/8 of a tank of fuel -- (I'm running 41 gallons of capacity with the aux tank). It will fill one measly Jerry can. It was only then that I was struck by the absurdity of fuel prices. The gas card bought 6 gallons or so. It didn't take very long at all to put the fuel in the tank. I went to the car and turned the key. The fuel needle had BARELY moved. So I filled it the rest of the way.

It sux!

 

[Hanselhoff]

I hear you. If I didnt have a bunch of hills between me and work, i would ride my bike. I m seriously considering getting a small motorcycle to commute to work on. I told myself i would never do this but i think i may have to. On my last offroad trip, i drove most of it in 2wd to save on the gas. Oh well, it can'y stay like this for ever, can it? I may have to sell my porn collection and cell phone like Dom did for gass money.

 

[Frogeye]

There's no need for us to be paying so much. Why do we export our crude when WE need it here in the US? Why don't we drill offshore? Until there is some alternative fuels for competition against big oil, and the greenies continue to bitch and whine about offshore drilling and drilling onshore etc, we are fugged!

Call your Governor's office and demand that they support offshore drilling. China is going to suck the Gulf of Mexico dry and we aren't doing chit about it because of our stupid anti-offshore drilling laws. We have Billions of barrels of crude off CA, Oregon, Washington state, Alaska, not to mention all of our terrestrial deposits. We have more oil then any other continent I believe.

The greenies and big oil have us bent over and are fisting the hell out of us. It's got to stop.

Will I sell the FJ? HELL NO I have an old 1.3 liter british car to run errands or commute to work in if gas spikes over 5bucks. Their greedy ass oil bubble is gonna burst and this will all be better someday. This happend back in the 70s or the 80s but it was bad. Oil got super cheap afterwards. This is not a supply problem, it's complete manipulation of the oil markets by controling the supply and the price of crude.

 

[DominicG]

You know what really sucks?

When you have to make a choice like this:


Food or 4 gallons of gas.

 

[Sanderhawk]

Yeah I just drive to work and back and thats it. I will buy a motorcycle as soon as the FJ is paid off. I can`t afford another payment right now. On the positive side my FJ is 2 years old and only has 20,000 miles on it. Very low for So. Cal driving.

 

[FJVP]

My fuel bill for the 10 Semi Trucks we run was a little under 20 grand last month. Our total fuel expense company wide for May was over 39,000.00. Double what it was at this time last year. The costs are killing my bottom line.....

 

[mrsmainster]

Well yesterday a customer of mine, whos husband works in the oil industry, told me that he said the gas prices may reach $8 a gallon by christmas! I really can't believe that it will get that bad cause if it does I will be riding my bike to work it's only 7 miles each way. I can't imagine anyone being ok paying that much, something has got to happen its getting ridiculous. She also mentioned something about the people in the middle east or where ever are only being charged less than a dollar a gallon for gas there. WTF!
If your ever driving through Rancho and see me riding my bike please stop and give me a ride! :-[

 

[GTKrockeTT]

it's Zuma time!

 

[Hanselhoff]

i'm thinking ruckus

 

[RicoVerde]

I hate the price of gas, but, and this is going to be an unpopular comment, I think it needs to go higher. I respectfully disagree that the solution is allowing further drilling at all costs. It is not an issue of being a "greenie" although you might be able to tag me a little bit with that, but an issue of "enabling". We are woefully under invested in real alternatives because we continue to enable big oil to run the show. Until it really starts to hurt, and we are getting there fast, there will not be a real demand for change. The car companies fight every bill that passes in court so that they don't have to meet standards that are approved by the voters and the oil comanies keep getting rich while the federal government makes token gestures towards research for alternatives.

OK, off my soapbox and back to diggin in the sofa cushions for gas money

 

[FJ-Piper]

I hate the price of gas, but, and this is going to be an unpopular comment, I think it needs to go higher. I respectfully disagree that the solution is allowing further drilling at all costs. It is not an issue of being a "greenie" although you might be able to tag me a little bit with that, but an issue of "enabling". We are woefully under invested in real alternatives because we continue to enable big oil to run the show. Until it really starts to hurt, and we are getting there fast, there will not be a real demand for change. The car companies fight every bill that passes in court so that they don't have to meet standards that are approved by the voters and the oil comanies keep getting rich while the federal government makes token gestures towards research for alternatives.

OK, off my soapbox and back to diggin in the sofa cushions for gas money

x 2

I have been telling my wife just that for about 5 years now. I am happy with the high prices as it is forcing the industry to do what we should have done 20 years ago. I am a technology buff and gasoline has got to be the most boring thing ever for me to read about.

By the end of this year I will have a wind turbine and 6 solar panels running at my house. This is a true example of how the above works. I had a 300/mo electric bill BEFORE we had central air conditioning unit put in at the beginning of the month. I am looking forward to my first electrical bill in hopes that the absurd price will force me to go purchase my alternative energy products and install them rather than cruising the internet looking at all the different brands and sizes of solar panels, inverters and turbines.

 

[SoCalOcFj]

I just feel that the end user aka us........are being raped by the oil companies. And even if it is not correct, I feel that we are having financial Jihad being done to us by a select few countries.

It is starting to effect everything else also. I don't know what the fix is. But I hope something will happen soon.

 

[RicoVerde]

I just feel that the end user aka us........are being raped by the oil companies. And even if it is not correct, I feel that we are having financial Jihad being done to us by a select few countries.

It is starting to effect everything else also. I don't know what the fix is. But I hope something will happen soon.

I couldn't agree more.

I am not by any means expert in these matters and don't want to open a whole new can of worms, but think how different our middle east policy would be if you took oil out of the mix...

Our dependence on oil has painted us into a corner and given the select few that you reference far too much power. Whether it is the oil companies or the oil producing nations. And lets not forget our crazy friend in south America.

 

[Frogeye]

I respectfully disagree with the comments supporting high gas prices. There are no other alternatives and there is plenty of supply. I do agree there needs to be competition but we should not be punished for being consumers and trying to live our everyday lives. With high gas prices, Nothing will change except the poor will get poorer and the middle class will continue to get squeezed and our economy will tank while the upper class elites continue to push their green agendas while they fly around in their jets and have their huge homes and opulent life styles. Since the last oil crisis, oil was as low as $20 barrel. There was no shortage then and isn't now. This is just price fixing bs. People in Dubai are paying less then a dollar while we are paying close to 5!

I feel sorry for the poor families out there that are barely getting by now. They have no other options. Most people live in areas where a car is a must. We should be pissed at our govt. for allowing oil prices to sky rocket. We should demand a change or a cap on the cost of fuel. We should demand that all of the BS state and federal taxes on fuels be removed at once. Thank god we aren't in a global winter caused by a mega volcano or something. People would be dieing left and right cause they won't be able to afford to heat their homes or buy food. This hole topic, our two party system not working together, and the state of our society in general really sickens me.

I've installed synthetic lawn, I recycle, our other car is very fuel efficient, I participate in our local electricity company's summer saving program. My family is doing our part to help the planet. But this gas thing is just fricking ridiculous.

Gas prices might go higher but the bubble is going to burst. Until then we will suffer and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

 

[DominicG]

If Kennedy got us to the moon, then why the hell can't Bush (no hate George) or the next one get gas prices down?

Seriously?


This country has more money the world has Ant's.

 

[RicoVerde]

Froggy,

We actually agree on alot. You make excellent points.

I must make it clear that I do not "support" higher prices, I just feel that until the pain is felt widely enough, there will be no action from the rank and file. The poor will suffer, the middle class will find ways to get by and the rich will continue to be unaffected. So, while I don't wish suffering on anyone, the continued rise in prices may be the only route to a solution.

I do have to disagree with your painting "greenies" with such a broad brush. Based on the efforts that you he taken to conserve, many would include you in the Green effort, and rightly so, these are all responsible and laudable efforts.

To me, the bottom line is that we need to, as a society, repourpose how we use our wealth as individuals and as a nation. We continue, and I am first in line, to spend our money on activities and products that have a huge impact on the planet.

We may not have an alternative fuel solution on the immediate horizon, but that does not mean we cannot find alternatives to high fuel consumption. I drive my Fj 60 miles round trip to work every day. Starting next week, I will begin taking the train to work. This will save me nearly $5k per year and actually have a positive impact on my quality of life. Not to mention the impact on the enviroment. This happens to work for me, but not everyone has the same opportuity, but there is probobly something that everyone can do.

Other developed countries have been paying high fuel prices for years but have infrastructure for public trans etc. Ours is mostly poor, because there is little demand. To me, this is the key, supply and demand is a very powerful tool. More drilling etc. without reduction in demand from consumers will only make the oil companies stronger, prices will not come down, there is too much price fixing as you pointed out. We need to show a strong DEMAND for alternatives, alternative fuels, alternative transportation, alternatives to the politcal cycle that we are trapped in.

Sorry for the long post, this is a very scary time for everyone. Fuel prices have impacted costs of food and everything else. I just cannot see continuing on the path we have been on to be the answer, I want an alternative.

 

[Guest]

We need alternatives, and we have gotten lazy about developing those alternatives. I have sent an email to my state and federal senators and US congreasswoman. I've told them that price fixing (more specifically, collusion) is illegal, and the offending industry price-fixers should be prosecuted, jailed and fined. That won't fix the issue for the time being, neither will alternatives down the road.

the only thing we can do right now is cut back. The fuel industry is "fueling" (pun intended) a world-wide inflation period. Everything is costing more. But here at home, housing (real estate = the most stable investment) is taking a major dump. If the most stable investment is tanking, we are in trouble. It's gone past the "price adjustment" area and gone into the "stoopidly cheap" area. The prices have declined in my area to a point they were at almost 6 years ago.

So, rising costs, investment (real estate) not worth a crap (less equity income), fuel going thru the roof, we are in trouble, folks. SOMETHING has to happen.

BUT!

The rich or elite (elected officials) have no worries....their housing is comped in one way or another. Their fuel is paid for by the taxpayers. They vote raises for themselves regularly in order to keep up with those "rising costs" that they never personally see. Their airfare is taken care of by the gov't. Meals paid for by lobbyists and others seeking attention for their causes (or caucuses). They drive cars that the gov't bought. They have drivers for those cars so they can "work" while on the road.

The tax base is you and me. We are footing the bill for them AND ourselves. But we see the brick wall we are headed for, and we can see that the speedo is maxed out. We know that when we hit that wall, it's gonna HURT a lot. They can't see it. They are in the back of their subsidized limos with their heads in the sand.

So, what do we do now? What CAN we do? It just seems like "Government of the People, by the People and for the People" just doesn't ring true much anymore.

By the way, I just found out that an LASD Deputy brings home about $3500 a paycheck without OT. I'm a sergeant, and I get paid $1975 for the same 15 day period.

Uphill, you need an apprentice?

 

[Frogeye]

I think that we are all cutting back and the oil bubble is going to burst soon. I hope. Great discussion guys. Thanks for listening to my passionate blabber.

 

[CADavebert]

I think that we are all cutting back and the oil bubble is going to burst soon. I hope. Great discussion guys. Thanks for listening to my passionate blabber.

I think you are right. I'm seeing a lot more bicycles on the commute, people sitting at bus stations, and fewer cars (as in less traffic jams).

 

[DominicG]

By the way, I just found out that an LASD Deputy brings home about $3500 a paycheck without OT. I'm a sergeant, and I get paid $1975 for the same 15 day period.

Uphill, you need an apprentice?

So Dave..

How long do i have to work the jail before i can get on streets??? $3500 a paycheck sound's pretty damn good!