How are gas prices affecting you???

There was just a story on the local news about a computer repair business that has converted all of it's diesel trucks to run on used cooking oil. They made a deal with some restaurant chain to swap computer repairs of all the old cooking oil the restaurant no longer needs.

I see lots of posts everywhere from people who are starting to think of converting cars to propane and other alternative fuels. I asked the guy at UPS yesterday how this was affecting their costs, and he said they have increased prices by 30 percent and are going to go even higher.

Glad I bought my little moped. :eek: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Don

been eating more steak-um sandwiches or hotdogs for dinner. And that is just for the gas to keep the lawn cut. Get fined here in town if grass over 3".

Don, when di you get up here and take a picture of me on my way to work???

Chris

Actually that picture reminds me of a guy I used to work with years ago. He had a little 100cc Honda he rode about 20 miles to work most days. He was about that size, too. :D I had a full dressed Gold Wing that I used follow him with, and he always told me to not follow too closely because people would see his bike, then mine and laugh at his. Said it was embarassing.:LOL: :LOL:

I might have to put $99 down on one of those new Smartfortwo mini cars. Good safety rating, same mpg as a Gold Wing (40 mpg), better roll cage protection, and half the price @ $11,600 fully loaded. :D :D :D Either that or find me a nice little used Honda Insight (2 seater 68 mpg hwy).

Of courrse, what I really need to do is win the lottery, retire, move to Ft. Myers, and borrow Don's "hog" when I need to pick things up from the store.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

There was just a story on the local news about a computer repair business that has converted all of it's diesel trucks to run on used cooking oil. They made a deal with some restaurant chain to swap computer repairs of all the old cooking oil the restaurant no longer needs.

I see lots of posts everywhere from people who are starting to think of converting cars to propane and other alternative fuels. I asked the guy at UPS yesterday how this was affecting their costs, and he said they have increased prices by 30 percent and are going to go even higher.

Glad I bought my little moped. :eek: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Don

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Don,
I hate to have to tell you this but be careful, I’m no math kid but the size of the moped vs.the rider could mean the moped could get lost if you hit a bump!! Be careful.:)

Richard

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Originally Posted by mopar34

Ford2custom wrote:


Not walking to church. Church is 20 miles away. Might have to find new religion.:eek: Got a Luthern church about a half mile away, maybe I'll convert.:D Always good to stay in His good graces.:D Think I will give up the beer and split the pizza with the cats.:LOL: :LOL:

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You could stay home watch the T.V. Minister's just send some money and all's well that ends well least that's what they say "Just Go to the phone call this number.":toocool:

Richard

Well here diesel is $4.70 a gal. costs me about $130 a week for fuel and I don't go anywhere else. Decided to skip all the car shows it would cost to much to haul the camper and pull the trailer ,plus miss work. I don't think its worth all the money. I'm thinking about selling my 32 just so I don't have to spend more for fuel. :(

Rocky

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her out to some place expensive..................

So I took her to a gas station :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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Originally Posted by ceh383

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her out to some place expensive..................

So I took her to a gas station :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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Now thats funny ..............:LOL: :CRY: :rolleyes:

Well it cost me $50 to fill up the tank of my little Sunfire. I am restricting travel somewhat but I will need to commute every day in June, July and August for a round trip of about 26 miles so that is slightly over 1 gallon per day. Why is the Bush Administration getting blamed for this? As I recall Bill Clinton vetoed the bill for drilling in ANWR and the obstructionist D-party has continued to block drilling and other energy policies but today had the nerve to grill oil company execs and blame them! Experts keep saying there is oil on U.S. soil as well as a lot of coal and natural gas but environmental issues keep blocking exploration. I admit coal mining is dangerous and coal is dirty but there is natural gas and petroleum untapped in the U.S. but environmental issues keep blocking development. There has to be a compromise, cleaner production sure, but keep exploring; paint future ANWR oil equipment white so it won't offend the caribou!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Oil just went to $ 135 a barrel today, so hang on to your wallets. :CRY: :CRY:

Gas here jumped 10 cents a gallon from yesterday. $ 5 a gallon is right around the corner.

Don

You know what they say.....they always try to get as much as possible right before its over......I will put my tinfoil hat back on and goto my corner now.:rolleyes:
On a good note you can but 1000 dollars worth of amero coins for 1300 dollars.

:eek:

Well I had to go get gas for my lawnmower yesterday and I have 2 cans that hold 2 1/2 gallons. I only put 2 gallons in each as it is easier to not spill any when I first start using them. That 4 gallons cost me almost $19 dollars. Then I saw a picture of a sign in Hollywood where Diesel was $4.99 a gallon and gas was $4.99, $4,89, and $4.79. And people were rushing to fill up before it went over $5 a gallon. Everything here is really bad and food is getting so expensive it is almost as cheap to eat out as go to the store.

Ron :(

I bought an electric motor scooter (Schwinn S-500) to get around the neighborhood... I'm seriously considering building an electric 3-wheel car for work commute and grocery-getting (3-wheelers are legally considered motorcycles which are cheaper to insure and license). I have been playing with electric race cars for a few years and learned a lot. I'm about ready to apply what I've learned to everyday life...:cool:

soon, all the rent-a-cops will be working as armed guards at gas stations instead of banks

Just think,the ONLY reason it is even changing in price is 100 percent FEAR.
YouTube - Dana Perino: I'm FIRED IF I TALK ABOUT THE FAILING DOLLAR!

YouTube - Death of the U.S. Dollar

YouTube - FALL of the Dollar, Rise of OIL and GOLD beginning of AMERO

I just have to post this again ..sorry ,its not meant to offend ,only inform and make you THINK!
YouTube - AMERICA IS TYRANNY - George Carlin

ZEITGEIST--THIS VERSION IS NOW OLD! -SEE THE FINAL, "REMASTERED VERSION"

Like almost anything I do not agree 100 percent with this ,but it raises some very valid points.......

Here is another.......
This a lecture version that is a no frills version..
The Pharmacratic Inquisition

This is the same thing ..hollywood style......
The Pharmacratic Inquisition DVD - Official Online Edition

Here is our leaders lieing like school kids caught with candy...

YouTube - George Bush, Cheney, Rice, & Rumsfeld caught in Lies
Just follow the links to the right of the video for thousands of other vids on the same thing.

Here is more ...
YouTube - Lies From The Illuminati New World Order Puppets

This is a exact reason I will be blastin when the round up starts ,i already have weapons in stash tubes buried in the woods just for this reason and when they fall back it better be really far because a .50 armor piercing bmg round dont play.


YouTube - WATCH FEMA & Local COPS VIOLATE OUR 2nd AMENDMENT RIGHTS!

YouTube - Barrett M82a1 .50 caliber 10 shots into a burned car

YouTube - 50 caliber hole in tree

Duplicate post... please delete.

I stand corrected, we no longer have to worry about offending the caribou in ANWR since the Polar Bear has been declared "endangered". Optimistic estimates are that while the State of Alaska is suing the U.S. Govt. to reverse this, it will take at least five years and so we can forget about the oil in ANWR for a long time! Still what is needed is a new refinery to process the heavy crude that is available. I have been reading/studying Electric Vehicles but It looks to me that it would be at least $10,000 to convert a vehicle to electric power, BUT (!) even if you make the conversion, most EVs are limited to a range of 100 miles or less per charge unless you have a hybrid like a Prius. The electric '29 roadster "Lightening II" featured a few years ago in Rod Action is very interesting but again it's range is limited without an onboard charging system. Almost ten years ago Mother Earth News had a set of plans to convert a VW Beetle to electric drive but with a lawn mower engine under the front hood (bonnet) that would run a generator while the car was parked to charge the batteries and they claimed 90 mpg but with a caution regarding the heavy weight of the lead acid batteries and the small drum brakes on the VW.

J. Robinson, what is your take on the Optima Yellow Top deep cycle batteries? They are cheaper than the red top version at only about $170 each AND they only weigh 26 lb. each. That means 13 such yellow top Optima batteries would only weigh about 340 pounds and cost only about $2200. With a 9" 100 HP DC motor (about $1500 and about 150 pounds), a rebuilt T5 for anywhere from $200 used to $700 rebuilt, a 1200 amp controller (another $1500 ??) and thirteen 12 volt batteries ($2200) and another $500 or so for cables and minimal instruments I could convert my '29 'glass roadster to a 156 volt EV but then it would probably have a range of 100 miles at best. Sooooo, it looks like the Prius model is pretty good, except for the weight and expense of the batteries. Then there is the three-wheeled model with both a small diesel engine and electric power but that is a whole new car, not a conversion of my present '29. My present conclusion is to keep studying the EV situation, but go ahead and finish my ICE roadster under the assumption that it is only a car for special occasions and that there still will be some gas even if the price goes up to $10/gallon. There is hope that if a new refinery could be built to process oil sands tar and heavy crude that there still will be some gas available in the next ten years or so. There is always the SASOL process developed in South Africa to make gas out of coal. Evidently it is a practical reality that a common sense solution is unlikely to emerge from Congress unless or until there is another attack on U.S. soil.

Oh yes, here is another question. A recent conversation with a professional EV builder/converter here in Virginia offered an interesting idea of using a fully synchromeshed T5 transmission WITHOUT A CLUTCH. Occording to that gentleman all you have to do is "back off " the amperage for each shift and there is no need for a clutch, just shift during the rpm lag as racers have done for a long time??? However, I would really like to know if the synchromesh can really do this for long? Does this seem reasonable to folks on this Forum? (It sure solves the clutch linkage problem!)

Finally, another question is whether this Forum will readily accept EVs, so I commend J. Robinson and look forward to other EV builds.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

By the time the general public nimrods demand action and Congress acts we will all be in electric scooters...not electric cars.

Saving our oil is confusing....IF we save it for the "future" then why are we developing technology to "replace our dependence on oil"...why not just wait for the future and use the oil we saved? The entire mess is about political power.... and we haven't any.

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

! Experts keep saying there is oil on U.S. soil as well as a lot of coal and natural gas but environmental issues keep blocking exploration. I admit coal mining is dangerous and coal is dirty but there is natural gas and petroleum untapped in the U.S. but environmental issues keep blocking development. There has to be a compromise, cleaner production sure, but keep exploring; paint future ANWR oil equipment white so it won't offend the caribou!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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Strange you should say this , because up here they take the coal out even if it results in the loss or pollution of ground water. In this area of Pa. coal mining has takin hundereds of peoples water or polluted it , and there's nothing you can do about it. As for natural gas , they have come in on private property cut in roads and set up gas wells and don't have to pay the owners one red cent . From what I see the Bush Administration can do just about anything it wants , but thats just my opinion .

Rocky

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Originally Posted by Rocky72

From what I see the Bush Administration can do just about anything it wants , but thats just my opinion .

Rocky

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Yep, that's it.....It's all Bush's fault.
Can you explain exactly how this administration has anything what so ever to do with what you are claiming here?

In the other post there is claim that Clinton stopped all the exploration , but if you lived here you would see thats a bunch of bull . They look for coal and gas just about anywhere they please .

You could live in Sweden or the neighboring countries and pay $11+ per gallon...

...but if you really want a deal, emigrate to Saudi Arabia. Their gas is 45 cents per gallon. You could get a job ironing white robes, or polishing their Ferraris! :-)

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Originally Posted by Rocky72

In the other post there is claim that Clinton stopped all the exploration

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This is not true, here is the quote.....

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

As I recall Bill Clinton vetoed the bill for drilling in ANWR and the obstructionist D-party has continued to block drilling and other energy policies but today had the nerve to grill oil company execs and blame them!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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This in fact true, in 1995 Bill Clinton vetoed the entire U.S. budget because it included opening up ANWR for drilling.

So again, Can you explain exactly how this administration has anything what so ever to do with what you are claiming here?

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Originally Posted by ceh383

This is not true, here is the quote.....



This in fact true, in 1995 Bill Clinton vetoed the entire U.S. budget because it included opening up ANWR for drilling.

So again, Can you explain exactly how this administration has anything what so ever to do with what you are claiming here?

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It never ceases to amaze me that people think that ANY President can wave a magic wand and get whatever he wants or do whatever he wants. The Congress HOLDS the purse strings and the President can either sign bills into law or veto them.
Let's see, in the '70's the towel heads cut production and the price of oil went up, simple supply and demand. Today oil futures are being traded as if they were gold and the speculators are driving up prices. Granted the refineries are not producing at anywhere near max and that should be addressed, but the Congress has forbid drilling in Alaska and put so many roadblocks for new refineries that building new ones is not feasible.
Remember, industry creates jobs, not government.

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Originally Posted by NTFDAY

It never ceases to amaze me that people think that ANY President can wave a magic wand and get whatever he wants or do whatever he wants. The Congress HOLDS the purse strings and the President can either sign bills into law or veto them.
Let's see, in the '70's the towel heads cut production and the price of oil went up, simple supply and demand. Today oil futures are being traded as if they were gold and the speculators are driving up prices. Granted the refineries are not producing at anywhere near max and that should be addressed, but the Congress has forbid drilling in Alaska and put so many roadblocks for new refineries that building new ones is not feasible.
Remember, industry creates jobs, not government.

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There ya go!!!! Don't blame the oil companies, like any other business they're just trying to make a profit for their stockholders.... No administration can be held liable for the situation we have allowed ourselves to be placed in, nor can any party or faction....

One new refinery is in the planning stages, right here in South Dakota... figure that one out!!!! and guess what? There's people that don't want one built here because of all the construction people who would move here, potential of pollution, upsetting the tax base, and a whole host of other ridiculous reasons........

Blaming the government is just a copout anyway.... They only have as much power as the voters give them..........

Have any of you heard of the huge oil fields supposedly in South Dakota or Colorado under some lake? If the rumours I've heard are true, were talking billions of barrels of oil. I heard it has problems due to it's orientation to the land and water?:eek:

I guess it could be worse..........gas in England is around $ 11 a gallon right now.:eek: Lets see, 20 gallon tank X $ 11 = $ 220.00. WOW !! :eek: :eek:

I bet some of those Mid East oil Barons are living high on the hog about now. :mad:

Don

Rocky, it's been a long time since I wallowed around in the coal dust washed down the Schuykill from rinsing out coal cars in Schuykill Haven so I don't know the local details anymore. I have also seen stuff I can't understand here in Virginia when coal slurry pipelines from West Virginia to the port in Hampton were blocked politically so it is always a struggle between powerful forces and we often don't know the full details. However, somebody ought to figure out the current problem with crude at over $135/bbl. No doubt strip mining is very ugly and tunnel mining is very dangerous, but maybe what you have seen will only get worse as the need for fuel increases. My wife says "we" should take care of the polar bears, but if you balance a loss of polar bears and caribou against strip mining somebody ought to have the common sense to invoke benefits to humans. For every impressionable youngster who wants to save the polar bears someone ought to remind them that those same bears would kill and eat them in a minute! It just looks to me that the Bush Administration was/is oriented toward Big Oil, but at just about every chance the Dems blocked them and now we have the present situation. Probably what you have seen may get worse as commercial trucking, personal travel by air and car as well as winter heating in the North East all feel the pinch of much higher fuel costs. I would guess that the new refinery Dave mentioned is linked to the "oil under a lake" in Col. and S. Dakota. So again it will be important to do it right and not make it too ugly for the environmentalists AND GET THE OIL!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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Originally Posted by stovens

Have any of you heard of the huge oil fields supposedly in South Dakota or Colorado under some lake? If the rumours I've heard are true, were talking billions of barrels of oil. I heard it has problems due to it's orientation to the land and water?:eek:

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Think it's to be connected to some big oil pipeline that runs through the state from Canada or something... Who cares??? Lots of jobs that pay decent!!! Of course here in the poverty belt most all the retailers, manufacturers, and production plants are against it because they sure wouldn't want some company coming in here that pays it's employees a decent wage!!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

There's people that don't want one built here because of all the construction people who would move here, potential of pollution, upsetting the tax base, and a whole host of other ridiculous reasons........

Sounds like the way a city/town/America was founded ....men seeking jobs ,who spent money and purchased homes and settled down........holy mackeral .....dont let that happen ,more oil and more jobs........somebody better protest or hug a tree fast....:CRY:
{EDIT}
This is the point I have been making ,...its completely confused and backwards , people have been soo mislead and truely believe a prosperous oppertunity is bad for the town ... .. ... .. ... .. ...

basically i have to borrow money just to get to work.

Well in reality,we do have an excellent source for combustable fuel,and its source nobody wants near them either. Funny thing is,everybody has to have at least one,and millions of tax dollars are spent to build the sites and then not take advantage of the fuel they produce. The fuel is called methane,and every single landfill produces it. Most places I know of just burn it off,instead of putting it to work. Hank

The comments by Dave are encouraging. It makes economic sense to build a new refinery in the N/S-Dakota region and of course boom town mentality is a dynamic process. You can find references to Marathon Oil drilling near Bismark ND and if/when the oil sands in Canada are piped out it will be from a region roughly north of Bismark. Some of the drilling sites are on Indian land and some on Federal land. From what I can understand the oil is really deep and requires horizontal drilling under a lake. In the case of the Canadian oil sands in Saskatchewan and perhaps also near Bismark, the oil may require piping steam down the well hole to liquify the petroleum or treating crushed shale with steam in the case of the Canadian oil sands. That is why the sources were previously too expensive but with oil now at over $135/bbl it is possible to get the oil and make money after all the expense. As Itoldyouso and others have mentioned U.S. gas is still much cheaper than in other parts of the world but the recent sudden jump in price is making tough growing pains in the U.S. economy. Thanks for the local info Dave, it looks to me that the price of gas will remain high but it is there for maybe the next century from new sources in North America. For me to answer the question of this thread, it is ranging from depressive worry over "why should I build a SBC 350 which will at best get maybe 24 mpg using an AOD" to "Hey, never mind being on a fixed income in an inflationary situation, there will still be some gas for quite a while". Overall the main problem is the inflation that the increase in oil prices brings to folks on fixed incomes, but considering the roadster will probably only be used on summer weekends all I have to do now is get one of the 34-36 mpg little Chevys for everyday use. Thanks for the chance to discuss this and thrash it out!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

We lift 2 or 3 miles from a landfill that has contaminated all the wells around here and we have had to bring in Lake Michigan water and seal our wells-


The landfill sells off near a MILLION dollars per month of methane gas to ComEd which burns it for electric generation

Landfill is Mallard Lake Landfill in DuPage county Illinois if anyone wants to research the mess

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

J. Robinson, what is your take on the Optima Yellow Top deep cycle batteries? They are cheaper than the red top version at only about $170 each AND they only weigh 26 lb. each.

...a professional EV builder/converter here in Virginia offered an interesting idea of using a fully synchromeshed T5 transmission WITHOUT A CLUTCH. Occording to that gentleman all you have to do is "back off " the amperage for each shift and there is no need for a clutch, just shift during the rpm lag as racers have done for a long time...

...so I commend J. Robinson and look forward to other EV builds.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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Thanks for the commendation, Don, but I am certainly no hero.:o I sort of fell into playing with electric race cars because of my students (long story).

Optima red tops sell for $149 here. I believe the yellow tops are slightly more. I have not researched /used the yellow tops because they are not on the approved list for competition in Electrathon. Electrathon America Electric Vehicle Competition index

Anyway, dealing with electric power has forced me to re-learn some things about horsepower and transmitting power to the driveline. Also, I still have a lot to learn... First, there is little if any need for a multi-speed transmission on these lightweight cars we build and race. The orange car pictured in my previous post has a six-speed derailleur in it, but we never use it. In fact, it has proven to be more problematic than useful. A DC electric motor generates power as soon as you put electricity in the windings. The motor in that car (Briggs Etek) is rated at 3.5 continuous hp at 1725 rpm on 24 volts. However, under load it is capable of 8.5 hp at 24 volts over a wide rpm range. The more load it's under, the more amps it pulls, but hp is there and produced under demand. This is all contrary to internal combustion engines which get their power from combustion /leverage; rpm's = hp up to volumetric efficiency limits.:HMMM:

Maybe a heavier car would require a multi-speed trans to keep the motor operating in its peak efficiency rpm range... As I said, I still have a lot to learn. I will not be converting my coupe or roadster to electric power; I might convert them to run on ethanol when it becomes available in this area. Tenatively, the electric vehicle I envision building for work /grocery getting will be similar to that orange car, but considerably larger. I need it to carry two people and a weeks worth of groceries. If I use a Briggs Etek motor and six batteries, I can wire it for 36 volts. It shold be capable of 40 + mph and have about 40 mile range. The orange car only uses two batteries, according to Electrathon America rules. It will easily top 40 mph, but only for a short time. In a race, which is a 1-hour timed event, it will run a steady 24 to 28 mph for the full hour, depending on the course surface, turns, etc.:)

I don't know if this forum wil be overly receptive to electric vehicles, but I'm sure there are forums just for that. The way things are going, there might be a lot more very soon...

Duplicated again! Please delete.

I quit driving my 99 Silverado (~20 mpg/ $70 week) a couple months ago . I've been taking the 04 Saturn Vue (~27mpg/$58 week) to work since the wife lost her job again in March. I need my pickup and its been paid for for years, but I've been kicking around the idea of buying a micro car for commuting. Something like a Focus, Toyota Yaris or corolla sized vehicle. I also looked at Honda Shadow Spirit 750 cc motorcycles last weekend, but mentally can't accept the risk to 2 wheels just yet because of the way your wives drive and talk on cell phones. . .

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

There ya go!!!! Don't blame the oil companies, ..........

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Thats right Dave. I heard recently that Exxon Mobil, who have been castigated recently in Congressional hearings by that socialist bastard Dick Durbin and that broad from San Francisco for profiteering at the expense of the American taxpayer. Can you believe that? I don't recall the exact numbers so don't quote me here, but Exxon Mobil grossed like 14 billion last quarter, but paid 9 billion in Federal taxes! What did the Federal government do to earn that? Sounds like a shakedown to me....

Getting ugly here in my area. Got gas yesterday for my daily driver (regular) and it was $3.75/gal. Rode by same station today.... it's now $3.85:eek: :eek: And I know they got their last load on Wednesday, so what's up with that.:confused:

Diesel is getting real close to $5.00 at the truck stop. It's a wonder that there are any independent rigs running the road.