Gas prices!!!

[Ramesh]

Holy crap! 3.83 by my house!!! Check this out:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Stupid California.

[psylichon]

It's just gonna get worse. America has had it easy.

[Hondamaker]

Holy crap! 3.83 by my house!!! Check this out:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Stupid California.
Cali seems to get it all first---the good and the bad! I remember when I was in the Marine Corps in Cali, and I saw gas prices at 1.00! I had to call home in Ohio and tell 'em how high the gas was in Cali.

[x999x]

I'm in Los Angeles, and gas sucks... The lady drives an 8 cylinder which is just murdering our budget. Its like financially supporting a kid, lol!

I've gotten rid of my own car and bought a little Honda Metro to drive to work now, I only live 3 miles away from my office thankfully :) Yeah its not the fastest, or most masculine thing on two wheels, but at only 3 dollars a month for gas I could care less! I just keep telling myself "I'd actually be cool if I was in NY or Europe!"

OMFG don't even get me started on the gas prices in Europe... ...and they pay by the liter!!!!

[psylichon]

OMFG don't even get me started on the gas prices in Europe... ...and they pay by the liter!!!!

Seriously. We have no room to complain. Welcome to the real world... fossil fuels SUCK. Let's see how long it takes over $4 a gallon before the petro and auto markets come to grips with reality and move on to something that actually works. It's just ridiculous we've held on to gas for this long... sad.

Aren't Metros Chevy... formerly Geo?

[x999x]

Seriously. We have no room to complain. Welcome to the real world... fossil fuels SUCK. Let's see how long it takes over $4 a gallon before the petro and auto markets come to grips with reality and move on to something that actually works. It's just ridiculous we've held on to gas for this long... sad.

Aren't Metros Chevy... formerly Geo?

Honda Metropolitan, sorry Metro is what us scoot folk call it for short. Think of a Vespa without the high maintenance and you've got a Honda Metropolitan.

Gas sucked in Europe, we were paying 80 dollars to fill up our 10 gallon rental tank the last time we were in Greece. :( Really put a damper on things, its not that we didn't have the money, it just sucked to be spending more on 1 liter of gas than a gallon back in the states.

[Hondamaker]

I've gotten rid of my own car and bought a little Honda Metro to drive to work now
Honda doesn't make a Metro. I know of a Geo Metro, but Honda doesn't make one! What are you smokin? lol

****, just noticed the reply to that post.

[x999x]

Honda doesn't make a Metro. I know of a Geo Metro, but Honda doesn't make one! What are you smokin? lol

****, just noticed the reply to that post.

And you call yourself a Hondamaker?

Good day sir.

I BELIEVE I SAID GOOD DAY!

heh jk

[Hondamaker]

And you call yourself a Hondamaker?

Good day sir.

I BELIEVE I SAID GOOD DAY!

heh jkI do, and I'm going to bed now. LMAO!

[psylichon]

And you call yourself a Hondamaker?

Good day sir.

I BELIEVE I SAID GOOD DAY!

heh jk

Lol... check yer tone when addressing the mighty hondamaker!

I googled a metropolitan, and all I get is this:

http://boldt.us/5193-2/2002-honda-metropolitan-scooter


I know you're only going three miles, but surely you're sportin' something more robust than this?

[Hondamaker]

I googled Honda Metropolitan and came up with the same thing. I know nothing of the Honda scooters, I must admit, since I build V-6's. Strange, Vespa-looking 'bike'. :o

[x999x]

Yep, thats what I'm riding, thats even the same color! I don't have the windshield however.

My other car is a Mercedes ML500, so the testosterone kinda spills over onto the Metro in the garage, lol!

I'm just trying to save money right now for either a Mini or 350z, kinda hard when the Corrado got 12 mph from all the damned mods I did to it, and the Merc only gets around 18 on a good day. The Merc has since been passed on to the Lady for the time being. Her Buick was on its last legs and I couldn't have my lady taking the bus to work :P

[psylichon]

Honda Metropolitan, sorry Metro is what us scoot folk call it for short.

Scoot folk! It's fun to put two and two together.

Honda's a big company.

for the record i figured it out before the previous post ^^^

[Colin]

Unleaded regular is averaging $3.73 in these parts. Premium (what our cars take) is almost $4! On the neighbor islands, regular is already over $4!

[Eragon]

The really sad thing about the high gas prices is that it has no effect on policymakers. Simple supply and demand suggests that the higher the price of gas, the more people will look for alternatives. Most of us need our cars to get from point A to point B. For us, demand is rather inflexible and we tend to eat the cost.

Another alternative is for politicians to impose fuel standards on automakers or encourage the development of alternative technologies. I recall being shocked to find out the degree of lobbying by foreign oil interests putting pressure on the government to not start cutting demand.

What we need is a correction. Something to give the world a swift kick in the pants. Demand is not only up in the US, but China and India have extremely booming economies.

[Colin]

The really sad thing about the high gas prices is that it has no effect on policymakers. Simple supply and demand suggests that the higher the price of gas, the more people will look for alternatives.

Hawaii was the only state (I'm aware of) to pass a mandated gas price cap. This failed miserably. The gas stations just pushed up the price to the max under the cap and we had the highest prices in the nation.

This stupid lesson in "supply and demand' should have been obvious BEFORE it was implemented. Last years fixing of the prices, showed the gas companies that Hawaii drivers would pay $3.75 a gallon and not modify our driving or buying habits. Guess what? We now have gas at 3.75 a gallon! Big surprise huh?

[Eragon]

I was listening to a podcast about the trucker situation. I didn't realize that many truckers can't pass the added cost to the customers. They end up eating the cost or going out of business. It clearly is a cat and mouse game. And we, the public, smell like cheese.

[Colin]

The government has no business getting involved, but if they really wanted to effect a change, they could tax the crap out of gas, and use the revenues to fund alternative fuels (and not ethanol).

Of course, I don't trust them to make the best use of the tax money so I'd rather see the private sector working on this.

[Eragon]

Actually, the government (federal, state and local) already tax the hell out of gas. I completely agree with you that the marketplace should find a way of working this out. Consuming crops as a fuel source makes absolutely no sense. Encouraging industry to do so makes no sense as well. Where government could help, if it took things seriously, is to encourage the nation in the same spirit of the 60s space race, to use our collective resources to encourage the market place to develop the technologies needed to curb our voracious fuel diet.

As an analog, consider this insanity. Natural gas has become a popular and convenient energy source for power plants. It has to be burned, converted to electricity and transmitted to its destination. Factor in the loss rates and you can see the stupidity of relying on this energy source for other than home heating. Many people can't afford the rising energy costs. Robbing Peter to pay for Paul makes no sense.

[dcom]

...I've gotten rid of my own car and bought a little Honda Metro to drive to work now, I only live 3 miles away from my office thankfully :) Yeah its not the fastest, or most masculine thing on two wheels, but at only 3 dollars a month for gas I could care less! I just keep telling myself "I'd actually be cool if I was in NY or Europe!"...

Yay! More scooters on the road. You're cool, don't worry about it. I just wish more people around here were on scooters or bikes. My main mode of transportation is a motorcycle and everytime I see someone on a scooter, it makes me smile. We need more scooters!

[aggieman]

The really sad thing about the high gas prices is that it has no effect on policymakers. Simple supply and demand suggests that the higher the price of gas, the more people will look for alternatives. Most of us need our cars to get from point A to point B. For us, demand is rather inflexible and we tend to eat the cost.

Another alternative is for politicians to impose fuel standards on automakers or encourage the development of alternative technologies. I recall being shocked to find out the degree of lobbying by foreign oil interests putting pressure on the government to not start cutting demand.

What we need is a correction. Something to give the world a swift kick in the pants. Demand is not only up in the US, but China and India have extremely booming economies.

It's crazy, demand has fallen from this time last year and prices are still at record levels. It is a combination of many things, speculators and investors are driving the market right now. Refinery production is down. To me it all adds up to the big wigs at the refineries and OPEC are heavily invested in the commodities markets and they know with demand falling and there being alternatives (E85, hybrid vehicles) that they are going to have to manipulate production to make it look like supplies are short. It really is killing me, I drive a truck as I am in construction and there is no way that I can downsize to a 30 mpg car. The greed being exhibited is hurting the working class while the rich get richer.

[Eragon]

What really gets me is how several area gas stations located within a few miles of each other can charge significantly different prices (.10-.15/gal). Same brand of gas. Same octane.

[ColsTiger]

Holy crap! 3.83 by my house!!! Check this out:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Stupid California.

It's $3.23 in Columbus, but $3.49 here in Inlet Beach.

[Eragon]

Gas prices in Maryland (between Frederick and Germantown) are ranging between $3.30 and $3.50 per gallon.

[Buffy]

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r99/BevPutnam/gas.jpg

[Ramesh]

So wait. Because Europe is paying higher gas prices I should feel better? That's crap. It sucks for them too, just worse. The whole "there's always someone worse off" idea is good, but it bothers me. Does that make my problem less significant? No.

Look at Bone - his flooding sucks. But there are families that are homeless, so he should be happy? No, I would feel that he has a right to be upset, bothered, whatever.

I personnly drive a Prius and the price of gas never really impacted my life (even with my Camaro). Does a $0.30 increase stop you from eating, going to a movie, getting to work? Most likely not. Does that extra $3 - $7 per tank kill your budget? Probably not.

My point is that while I'm not greatly impacted by the increasing price if fuel, it still sucks having to pay nearly $4 a gallon. That's all.

Sorry for the rant. :)

[Eragon]

So wait. Because Europe is paying higher gas prices I should feel better? That's crap. It sucks for them too, just worse. The whole "there's always someone worse off" idea is good, but it bothers me. Does that make my problem less significant? No.

Look at Bone - his flooding sucks. But there are families that are homeless, so he should be happy? No, I would feel that he has a right to be upset, bothered, whatever.

I personnly drive a Prius and the price of gas never really impacted my life (even with my Camaro). Does a $0.30 increase stop you from eating, going to a movie, getting to work? Most likely not. Does that extra $3 - $7 per tank kill your budget? Probably not.

My point is that while I'm not greatly impacted by the increasing price if fuel, it still sucks having to pay nearly $4 a gallon. That's all.

Sorry for the rant. :)

Good rant, Ramesh. :smile:

The impact may be tolerable (though still hurts) for you and I, but the impact is no different than a straight income tax which, proportionately, hurts the consumers with less income to burn. People are having to make touph spending choices - often times giving up food to pay for heat. Where the impact will really have repercussions is at the grocery store. Double, tripple whammies. Higher costs passed along to the consumers.

With your Prius, you have taken responsible steps to help. In the Md area, hybrid vehicles are not uncommon. But, the majority of vehicles I see sitting on the interstate are not. Their pocketbook, not mine. But, demand is not going down. It is going up and supply can not possibly keep up.

[Hawk]

What really sucks is that you will never again see a gallon of gas at $2.00 again.
A big part of the reason that we are heading into a recession ( according to Alan Greenspan) is that Fuel and Housing costs are through the roof. In Atlanta Metro area, a home that would cost $120K outside the Perimeter is $350k to $375k MINIMUM just 2 miles away inside the perimeter An we are talking about a little over 900 sq ft.. There are even little sections where they think that a decent sized house with almost 0 yard next to train tracks can fetch 900+k. The days of making $30k- 60K selling your home are over.
The oil companies keep raising the price of gas, Why? Because they can, and no one can really stop them. We all need gas for our vehicles- both personal and public, and the amount of vehicles increases every year with new drivers, so Companies like Shell and BP can charge what they want for gas and we can do nothing but suck it up and pay it.
I know that there are many of us here over 35, but can any of you actually remember when gas was a buck? I can. It was when I first started driving. That was 22 years ago. Cigarettes were also under a dollar, and 120K bought you a HUGE frigging house.
I can tell you that the moment a solid alternative to the gasoline engine appears, gas prices will peak...and then over the following 5-10 years, plummet

[Eragon]

What really sucks is that you will never again see a gallon of gas at $2.00 again.
A big part of the reason that we are heading into a recession ( according to Alan Greenspan) is that Fuel and Housing costs are through the roof. In Atlanta Metro area, a home that would cost $120K outside the Perimeter is $350k to $375k MINIMUM just 2 miles away inside the perimeter An we are talking about a little over 900 sq ft.. There are even little sections where they think that a decent sized house with almost 0 yard next to train tracks can fetch 900+k. The days of making $30k- 60K selling your home are over.
The oil companies keep raising the price of gas, Why? Because they can, and no one can really stop them. We all need gas for our vehicles- both personal and public, and the amount of vehicles increases every year with new drivers, so Companies like Shell and BP can charge what they want for gas and we can do nothing but suck it up and pay it.
I know that there are many of us here over 35, but can any of you actually remember when gas was a buck? I can. It was when I first started driving. That was 22 years ago. Cigarettes were also under a dollar, and 120K bought you a HUGE frigging house.
I can tell you that the moment a solid alternative to the gasoline engine appears, gas prices will peak...and then over the following 5-10 years, plummet

I'm only 39 (:frown:), but I can remember my Dad filling his tank for less than 50 cents/gallon. In the late 90s (1998?), there was a tremendous glut of oil on the market. I remember filling up my tank in Knoxville, TN for less than a dollar.

I've pursued this many times over, and there are good explanations over at the Energy Information Administration website. The price of gasoline is solidly tied (~50%) to the price of oil. Oil is now trading for well over $100/barrel. The remaining price of gas consists of taxes and the profit that the gas station/oil company make on the sale of gas.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/eia1_2005primerM.html

[Youngbinks]

I paid about $3.82 yesterday for premium in Gainesville. The sad thing is that I can go 1 more exit down the interstate and it's only $3.50 or so. Quite the college-town markup.

[psylichon]

So wait. Because Europe is paying higher gas prices I should feel better? That's crap. It sucks for them too, just worse. The whole "there's always someone worse off" idea is good, but it bothers me. Does that make my problem less significant? No.

Look at Bone - his flooding sucks. But there are families that are homeless, so he should be happy? No, I would feel that he has a right to be upset, bothered, whatever.

I personnly drive a Prius and the price of gas never really impacted my life (even with my Camaro). Does a $0.30 increase stop you from eating, going to a movie, getting to work? Most likely not. Does that extra $3 - $7 per tank kill your budget? Probably not.

My point is that while I'm not greatly impacted by the increasing price if fuel, it still sucks having to pay nearly $4 a gallon. That's all.

Sorry for the rant. :)

No, it was a good rant, but it's just I'm always amused a bit by these types of threads. The sense of entitlement.... Do you guys realize all that has to happen to produce a gallon of gasoline? Do you guys realize how rare this stuff is going to become in the next 50 years? Why on earth should we expect its price to be either cheap or stable?

It's not an ideal fuel for the long run. Duh. It's just sad that we have to feel it in our wallets before we even try to change things.

[Eragon]

No, it was a good rant, but it's just I'm always amused a bit by these types of threads. The sense of entitlement.... Do you guys realize all that has to happen to produce a gallon of gasoline? Do you guys realize how rare this stuff is going to become in the next 50 years? Why on earth should we expect its price to be either cheap or stable?

It's not an ideal fuel for the long run. Duh. It's just sad that we have to feel it in our wallets before we even try to change things.

The writing's been on the wall for many years. The world will have to eventually shift off of fossil fuels. Getting that to happen before the energy situation becomes a crisis is the challenge. We're talking about a whole new infrastructure that will need to be developed in parallel with current energy sources. This is why the "hyrdogen initiative" ran out of gas - why should oil companies have to share limited pipeline space to allow hydrogen gas to be shipped?

People don't realize that natural gas, which we all take for granted, is even more limited than oil. To feed the nation's insatiable appetite, we are setting ourselves up for even greater risks via the construction of liquified natural gas terminals. LNG tankers pose immense risks to cities such as Baltimore and others.

Nothing changes. We call it a horse by a different name.

[LAPTOP GAMER]

Gas prices will stay high as the dollar continues to be devalued.

[Colin]

This is why the "hyrdogen initiative" ran out of gas - why should oil companies have to share limited pipeline space to allow hydrogen gas to be shipped?

People don't realize that natural gas, which we all take for granted, is even more limited than oil. To feed the nation's insatiable appetite, we are setting ourselves up for even greater risks via the construction of liquified natural gas terminals. LNG tankers pose immense risks to cities such as Baltimore and others.


Honda believes that home owners should produce their own hydrogen from natural gas. I did a little write up on my page. FCX Clarity (http://satoauto.com/cblog/index.php?/archives/154-FCX-Clarity-Hondas-Vision-of-a-Hydrogen-Future.html)

The idea is that the refueling station would also power your home thus reducing the demands on the power grid.

[Eragon]

Honda believes that home owners should produce their own hydrogen from natural gas. I did a little write up on my page. FCX Clarity (http://satoauto.com/cblog/index.php?/archives/154-FCX-Clarity-Hondas-Vision-of-a-Hydrogen-Future.html)

The idea is that the refueling station would also power your home thus reducing the demands on the power grid.

Can you put my name in? I want one. :smile:

[Ramesh]

No, it was a good rant, but it's just I'm always amused a bit by these types of threads. The sense of entitlement.... Do you guys realize all that has to happen to produce a gallon of gasoline? Do you guys realize how rare this stuff is going to become in the next 50 years? Why on earth should we expect its price to be either cheap or stable?

It's not an ideal fuel for the long run. Duh. It's just sad that we have to feel it in our wallets before we even try to change things.

I dunno if you're pointing at me or not, but I don't feel entitled to anything. Why should it be cheap? We've already gone over why it's the price that it is. If it was $40 a barrel and we were paying $4, that would piss me of quite a bit. But at $110 a barrel, of course you'll pay close to $4.

Again, my original point was that it sucks having to pay $4/gal. Just like it suck giong to work... but we do it.

[Colin]

Again, my original point was that it sucks having to pay $4/gal. Just like it suck giong to work... but we do it.

Thanks for reminding me, I need to fill up on my way to work............:frown:

[Hawk]

No, it was a good rant, but it's just I'm always amused a bit by these types of threads. The sense of entitlement.... Do you guys realize all that has to happen to produce a gallon of gasoline? Do you guys realize how rare this stuff is going to become in the next 50 years? Why on earth should we expect its price to be either cheap or stable?

It's not an ideal fuel for the long run. Duh. It's just sad that we have to feel it in our wallets before we even try to change things.
There is enough oil under Alaska to take us well past the next century. Whether or not we can drill for it, that's another story.
Technically, there is enough oil on the planet for another 600 years. Again. It's about getting it and refining it.

[x999x]

What really sucks is that you will never again see a gallon of gas at $2.00 again.
A big part of the reason that we are heading into a recession ( according to Alan Greenspan) is that Fuel and Housing costs are through the roof. In Atlanta Metro area, a home that would cost $120K outside the Perimeter is $350k to $375k MINIMUM just 2 miles away inside the perimeter An we are talking about a little over 900 sq ft.. There are even little sections where they think that a decent sized house with almost 0 yard next to train tracks can fetch 900+k. The days of making $30k- 60K selling your home are over.
The oil companies keep raising the price of gas, Why? Because they can, and no one can really stop them. We all need gas for our vehicles- both personal and public, and the amount of vehicles increases every year with new drivers, so Companies like Shell and BP can charge what they want for gas and we can do nothing but suck it up and pay it.
I know that there are many of us here over 35, but can any of you actually remember when gas was a buck? I can. It was when I first started driving. That was 22 years ago. Cigarettes were also under a dollar, and 120K bought you a HUGE frigging house.
I can tell you that the moment a solid alternative to the gasoline engine appears, gas prices will peak...and then over the following 5-10 years, plummet

I would pee in my pants on public television to find a house for 375k in Southern California. The market has been falling here, my house has gone down from 650k to 550k. If it goes lower than 500k I'm borked, because I'll own more on my house than its worth T.T

[Eragon]

There is enough oil under Alaska to take us well past the next century. Whether or not we can drill for it, that's another story.
Technically, there is enough oil on the planet for another 600 years. Again. It's about getting it and refining it.

Hawk, great point, and if I may build upon your thought, if it is economically sensible to get at. That is the big argument against renewable energy such as solar. What is the price point where companies will find it a money-making venture? Time will tell.

[Colin]

Hoooray! We're #1 in something!

From the Honolulu Advertiser:

Gas prices hit record high

Costlier than during 2005 shortage — and still spiraling upward


Hawai'i's average gasoline price jumped to a record high this week, surpassing a mark set 31 months ago and increasing the possibility the statewide price will break through the $4 level soon.....

Wailuku has the highest price of the three markets tracked by the AAA, with a gallon costing $4.004 Thursday. It was the first city or county in the nation to hit $4 a gallon, according to the AAA.
On Lana'i, it's $4.71

But that's not the costliest gasoline in the state. Oil Price Information Service, the data provider used by AAA, doesn't track prices on Kaua'i, Moloka'i or Lana'i.
Yesterday, Lanai City Service reported selling regular for $4.71 a gallon, while Rawlins Chevron Service in Kaunakakai, Moloka'i, said its regular was going for $4.36.
The Kukui Grove Self Service station outside of Lihu'e reported regular at $3.799 a gallon.


In Honolulu, the average price for regular was nearing its record, having risen to just 0.002 cents beneath it. The AAA reported the average price was $3.592 for O'ahu drivers.