OT: gas

so how many of you are changing your drving habits now that gas is so expensive, and only will get worse. i wont drive 65 anymore, only 55, it's not worth the extra 5 mins i get there early.

Mon. Apr 24, 6:42pm

my hsuband and I only have one car which is nice cause we only have to fill up one car, but at the same time we fill up more often cause that one car has to get us everywhere. I live in a city with bad bad bad public transportation, but I might have to start looking into it if the prices reaches $3.50 in my area.

Monday, April 24, 2006, 7:10 PM

Definitely making me think twice about the weekend excursions in the car. On a positive note, the market does work over the long run. Demand will lead to supply in terms of more fuel efficient vehicles (hybrid technology for SUV's is a great thing) new sources of fuel. Nuclear power is making a comeback (the founder of Greenpeace recent admitted we need to revisit nuclear power), solar technology is starting to thrive in the market place (look up the stock ticker ESLR)

So, yeah, in an ironic sense i'm optimistic. We just need to start ignoring the nut in Iran who seems to be talking crazy talk to get the price of oil up. Because the crazier he talks, the higher gas goes.

Monday, April 24, 2006, 7:19 PM

Of course....the crazier the nut in the white house talks, the higher the price of gas gets.........perhaps we should get consider fixing the problem at home first........

Monday, April 24, 2006, 10:31 PM

My gas mileage improves so much driving on the highway... those weekend excursions actually help me out!

Monday, April 24, 2006, 10:54 PM

yep - it's the driving around town that we're cutting out. Combining trips, walking to the coffee shop or the bookstore and running errands on the way home instead of making a second trip in the evening. That's what really sucks the gas. Driving to our fave trailhead? Definitely worth it!

I'm so glad we live in an older neighbor that was zoned for mixed commercial and residential use. We don't HAVE to drive our car in order to get to the store or a restaurant. Although we often do in order to cut down on the number of trips (hard to carry a week's worth of groceries home on foot). I feel for those who have no practical alternative to a car in order to purchase the basic necessities of life.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 2:03 AM

Silly me! I thought: gas / PT - must be a thread about farting!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 2:04 AM

I started making changes last summer. Actually, the final motivation for me came on the day that an NPR voice said that Europe had taken steps toward donating oil to the US in the aftermath of Katrina. As he said this, I pulled up in front of my kids' school driving my minivan (large family necessitates large car) to see that of the 25 cars in the parking lot, 5 were Hummers. I remember thinking, Europe will send us her oil and we'll suck it into our embarrassingly huge inefficient status-mobiles.

I went home, took apart my old kiddie trailer, re-rigged it as a cargo hauler, and did my grocery shopping and errands by bike until it got too cold. Some days you could see me out there on my bike, trailing Anna on her Trail-a-bike (one rear tire, seat and handlebars, own pedals and chain, hooks to my seat post), and behind Anna was the cargo hauler. She called it the Pentalator.

It's warm enough here this week to pull the cargo hauler back out! Yeah! Now I want a bumper sticker (to go on the back of the cargo hauler) that says, "Honk if you're a wuss in an SUV!" (You can see those at www.xtracycle.com).

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 10:11 AM

In my neighborhood (downtown Chicago), we always walk to go get groceries, etc. To the poster who said they couldn't walk home with a week's worth of groceries, in my neighborhood, it's quite common for people to purchase their own carts (we jokingly call them Granny carts, but are thinking of getting one too!) They sell them at Walgreen's, the hardware store, and even some of the grocery stores! They cost around $30, but since that's now less than a tank of gas, and you could use it all summer, maybe it'd be a good investment?

We don't drive enough to really feel the increase in gas price. That makes me really happy!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 10:22 AM

My daughter fell asleep in the car today on the way home from lunch out with a friend. If she falls asleep in the car, even if it's only for a couple minutes, she won't take her nap when we get home. So usually I'll drive around for a while, trying to extend her impromptu nap. Not today! Gas is just too expensive to waste like that! So she was extra-tired for bed tonight! (And that's not a bad thing, either!)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 7:30 PM

I drive a hybrid. The cost of a tank went from about $20 to $34 this last fill-up. I get about 500 miles to the tank. I do a 29 mile each way commute. I rue the day I decided to live 'in the country.' however, the city I work in has very poor public transportation and essentially no mixed use neighborhoods and heaven forbid a bike lane! Altho since it gets over 100 degrees for months at a time, I think that wouldn't be an option for me. I have been trying to get my work to let me telecommute on some days - that should help a little. I firmly believe that the world has passed the 'oil peak' and this is just the beginning. However, it makes me wonder if the oil companies are making record profits. If something is that scarce, it should cost them more to get it. So what is really going on? (please no politics....but economical explanation would be welcome).

Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 10:44 PM

How silly we all are bitching about the price of gas. We have it so easy here in the US. Other countries are well over double what we pay here. I know for a fact that Israel was running close to $7 a gallon and that was 3 years ago. Europe is double us as well. If the people here would stop buying these huge gas guzzling SUV's and trucks that get 10 miles to the gallon it wouldn't be so bad. Time to trade in people. I for one drive a RX 330 and don't mind that it's so high, I am not going to stop my normal habits, my hubby drive an E320 diesel and gets about 600 miles to the tank, basiclly fills up once every 3 -4 weeks. We have it pretty easy here, stop complaining.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 1:24 AM

I'll complain if I want, thanks!

Just because someone has it worse somewhere else, that doesn't mean we can't commiserate about it here.
Didn't you hate it when you were little and you didn't want to eat a certain thing your mother had made for dinner and you were told there were people starving in other countries? Trust me - if I could have given my pea soup to those starving children, I would have! But I couldn't, so I sat there and ate it - - and complained the whole time. Somehow it made me feel a little better! : )

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 7:27 AM

The reason that oil companies are making record profits while it seems, here, that there must be a shortage really is all politics. There is not a shortage of oil in the earth; the oil companies create the shortage by not pumping as much as they could, or refining as much as they could, etc. And when countries have political issues with other countries who produce oil, then there goes one more source that we could be getting oil from.

We could get all of the oil that we (Americans) need from Alaska, Texas, etc., but, environmentalists don't want to risk the nature, they'd rather people in the desert in the middle east pull up the oil and sell it to us, for huge profits. Meanwhile, Bush and the gov't stockpile tons of oil, in case the Middle East decides to stop selling us oil b/c they don't like us. Though, the gov't did just stop stockpiling oil in order to stop or slow the increase in gas prices.

In short, oil is somewhat like diamonds. Diamonds are NOT rare, but, the people who produce them (mostly DeBeer's) want to make profits, so they only mine a limited quantity, so the market keeps the price up because there is only a limited quantity available. Oil is a little bit different because politics are also involved in the "mining" of the oil because mining oil has a much bigger chance of destroying the environment around the oil wells.

Of course, there isn't an unlimited amount of oil in the earth, and although it is renewable, we are using it faster than it is being created within the earth. But, the day when it runs out is far enough away that it really has nothing to do with the price rising now.

I have tried very hard to give an unbiased opinion here. I'm not particularly an environmentalist, but I also don't drive much, so the price of gas hasn't affected me all that significantly - maybe $20 a month. I was an Economics major in college, and now work in the insurance field. I don't claim to be an expert, and I haven't done research to support what I just wrote. I do believe, however, that it is all true. If you know otherwise, please let me (and everyone) know.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 10:22 AM

maybe Europe can send us bike racks?

Well, I _am_ an environmentalist.... And hey, I'm trying to lose weight. So I'm making fewer excuses to not ride my bicycle to work! I'd love to ride it to the grocery store, which is only about a mile from my house, but the problem is nowhere to chain it. And I'm talking about the hippy-dippy all-organic grocery store! How can they not have a bike rack??

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 11:03 AM

Ask them to get one. I'm sure they will... you can always chain your bike to a sign or something if you won't be grocery shopping all the time.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 11:15 AM

I am self-employed and drive to visit clients - it's nothing for me to fill up at least once, sometimes twice in 10 days. At $45 a fill, it gets expensive. I do get to write off mileage at the end of the year, so there's a small glimmer at the end of the tunnel. We have a large family, so we can't downsize the vehicle too much or we won't be able to go places all together and driving two cars to the same destination is the very definition of impractical. It is a crappy deal no matter what way you slice it. I agree - we should be able to commiserate together, even though there's not much we can do about it in the short term.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 11:49 PM

I'm saving up for a battery-electric vehicle now. I know that this is not less than the cost, but I console myself with the fact that I will pollute the soil less. Again, this is self-deception.

Saturday, June 06, 2020, 1:57 PM

I can understand your concern. My car usually takes away my money and I don't even notice it. Only at the end of the month, I realize that having a car is very expensive. So, I read this site bestfordriver.com about the best portable jump starter and it gave me many answers.

Sunday, June 07, 2020, 9:33 AM

Related Content: How To Lose Weight- The Basics Weight Watchers Points System The Fat Smash Diet The Eat To Live Diet The Beck Diet Solution How To Get The Motivation To Lose Weight		How To Be Successful Using PEERtrainer How To Burn Fat Online Weight Loss Support- How It Works Does Green Tea Help You Lose Weight? Tips On Using PEERtrainer Visit The PEERtrainer Community Diet and Fitness Resources
Fitness Weight Watchers Meetings Learning To Inspire Others: You Already Are Writing Down Your Daily Workouts Spending Money On A Personal Trainer? How I Became A Marathon Runner		Preventive Health How To Prevent Injuries During Your Workout Flu Season: Should You Take The Flu Shot? Are You Really Ready To Start PEERtrainer? Super Foods That Can Boost Your Energy Reversing Disease Through Nutrition
New Diet and Fitness Articles: Weight Watchers Points Plus How To Adjust Your Body To Exercise New: Weight Watchers Momentum Program New: PEERtrainer Blog Archive Review Of The New Weight Watchers Momentum Program		Weight Loss Motivation by Joshua Wayne: Why Simple Goal Setting Is Not Enough How To Delay Short Term Gratification How To Stay Motivated How To Exercise With A Busy Schedule
Real World Nutrition and Fitness Questions Can Weight Lifting Help You Lose Weight? Are Protein Drinks Safe? Nutrition As Medicine?		Everyday Weight Loss Tips How To Eat Healthy At A Party How To Eat Out And Still Lose Weight The Three Bite Rule Tips On How To Stop A Binge