The Price of Petrol

We may still pay less for fuel here than they do in other parts of the world such as Europe, but we have a lot more ground to cover here than they do in Europe. I had an interesting debate with a coworker last week regarding this issue. I live in Massachusetts and I just bought a house that is approximately 40 miles from where I work. I did this because I cannot afford to buy a house for $100k more to be closer to work. If we could all live close to work, it would be easier but my mother works about 60 miles from where she lives and she doesn't have much of a choice since she is planning to retire in a few years anyway. At the time, the job she currently holds was the only one she could feasibly get.

In many parts of Europe a person can drive 200 miles and be in another country but in the US many people can drive 200 miles and still be in their own state. We also do not have the public transportation that they have in Europe. In major cities we do have a good deal of public busses and trains but what about the people who don't want to pay $2500/month for an appartment in downtown Boston, or the family that would like their children to have a nice back yard in which to play? For these people it is important to live in the suburbs and it is not economically viable to add public transportation for ALL of these communities.

There is something to be said for our quality of life here in the USA. We have become accustomed to having a very good standard of living compared to much of the world, but I do not believe that we should apologize for this or that we should somehow lower our own standards to level out the playing field. Sure we need to be more environmentally concious, but it gets a little annoying when I go to get gas on Tuesday for $3.89 a gallon and I go by the same station on Wednesday or Thursday and see it for $3.99 a gallon or $4.03! I understand that it is just the result of where the supply and demand functions cross, and that there are economists somewhere working for these companies who tell them when to increase and by how much, but it still gets on my nerves.

Whoo, I really didn't mean to write that much.

...............over here in Oz, they call it the discount cycle..............up and down like a whores britches................all the servos do it.............BUT.............we are told by the government that there is, absolutely, positively.............no collusion between the oil companies.................it just happens that they go up and down by the same amount at exactly the same time..................BUT............after several enquiries into petrol pricing.....................defiitely no collusion.

WHAT A LOAD OF KRUDD (PM of Australia Kevin Rudd)

Today I paid 1.33 euros for a litre of diesel! That's not the end of it! The general transport drivers are on strike and there is no fuel or supplies of any nature moving through the system! Spain is at a stand still. The people are very nervous! The shelves in the shops are empty of food, the bakeries have a few days left of flour, and tempers are fraying! And this is only after 2 days of strike! Tomorrow, everybody is going on strike, me included but only because I have only about 15 litres in my car! I will be fixing the push bike tonight so I can still cycle to help those people close enough who have an electrical problem, but if they need a new RCD or part then they will have to wait!

What a complete crock of......... and not in the best of moods!

Yep, Gas (petro) hit $4.00 across the US yesterday, diesel is almost $5 and the value of the dollar has fallen like a rock. I think our citizens are mostly dazed and don't know what to think. Small motorcycles and scooters are sold out everywhere. Things will be happening here in the US - changes that will effect the way we live. It's always cool to see history change before your eyes. I remember when petro was $0.22 per gallon. WOW!! What a ride were are on now. These changes will create opportunities and also make problems. Try looking for the opportunities of this situation.

Remember nothing stays the same for very long.

It's always cool to see history change before your eyes. I remember when petro was $0.22 per gallon. WOW!! What a ride were are on now. These changes will create opportunities and also make problems. Try looking for the opportunities of this situation.

A very enlightened view, I'd say.

Good point Ken. When the winds of change are blowing it is time to reset the sails.

Sails, now there's an idea whose time may have come around again.

Another possibility is real estate close to employment.

It is time to put the thinking cap on and see how to take advantage of, or at least not be too disadvantaged by this paradigm shift.

BAB.

Just remember to stay out of the way of those that don't plan but just react. It could get messy out there before things level out.

Russ, it's the man from Spain! I'm not too worried, but when people start killing each other (Granada yesterday), setting fire to lorries (5 in Madrid today), rioting in the streets (Almeria today), setting tyres on fire in the road ( 200 meters from my front door in a very small village ), smashing the windows of a bread van while the van was moving ( in my nearest village, BTW, My girlfriend is a bread delivery girl also!), Perspectives start to change! I am a very positive person about most things that happen in my life, I like to make a good situation out of a bad one, but when it could directly endanger the life of people I love or even know (not forgetting to mention people I don't know) then I think you understand my position!

But, life must go on, regardless of the price of gas! We just need to find the alternatives, and start to implement them in our everyday lives! When the next generation comes along, these new changes for us will be the norm for them and so on!

Very well stated Truman. I am sorry about your situation there. I hope your girlfriend and yourself will be ok. It will be hard at times to make the changes we will have to make but the really important things in life will still be there. Change will have some bad issues but they will also create some good issues. For example - when I always drove my car to work it was easy and fast. Later on when I rode my bike to work to save gas I realized that there were many bueatiful trees, homes and floweres I had never noticed. Here in Minnesota we get a severe blizzard every once in a while and they have killed people caught in them. No one can go out for days and you stay home. 9 months later the hospitals are full of new babies.

You have now approximately the price for petrol we had 8-10 years ago if I remember correctly.....

If you look on this web page, you will see the price of Petrol around the world. Uraguay is in position #1, UK in position #2, Germany is in position #19 and the USA at position #102!!!!!!

What the hell are you Guys complaining about?????????? We should be so lucky....

When the USA had cheap petrol, what did you do over there, built huge heavy vehicles with big gas guzzling engines, anyone who bought one/has one now has suddenly got the reckoning for it......today is the day.....it was clearly going to come, but everyone did not want to even think about it. At least all the old V8s over 10 years old will soon be for the scrap heap. So some good has come out of it.....

When petrol was in short supply in around '73 -74, cars with big engines suddenly lost their value here and many were scrapped. This should have been an eye opener to the whole world, well it looks like a lot of people have short memories....

You have a big SUV, how often are you in it alone?

What would you Guys do if were at the top of the petrol price list instead of at position #102? You still have a LONG way to go before you are parallel with us Europeans in terms of price.....it could go that way if your economy collapses as it is threatening to do right now.....be warned petrol will never be cheaper......

Look at it this way, when you sell your car for scrap, weighing so much, you will get a good price!!!

I have to be honest, I have little sympathy for you Guys as I have been paying through the nose (and will continue to do so!) for so long now, that driving with a light right foot is a way of life.....

I know many US citizens, none that I know run really big gas guzzlers......(Except one big Ford Diesel with a big trailer and F150 or something, but at least it is diesel not gas!)....so not everyone has been caught out, many saw this coming 8 or 9 years ago.......or longer!

I am not happy that you are all in such trouble, no way......but it had to come.....

Ken should do well with his electric car......

Andy,

No I have never owned a SUV. My dad taught me to be conservative. I now own two Buick's that get over 30 MPG on trips. My reference to big SUV's is a common place here and I feel somewhat sorry for them dummies. I never got caught up in the "keeping up with the Jones" thing. Before my Buick's I owned a Ford Escort that got 37 MPG and I wish that I still had it.

Yes I remember the 70's and that was when I drove a Dodge Dart with a slant 6 cylinder three speed trany. When the price of gas rose from 33 cents per gallon to 70 cent I thiught the world will come to an end. I even owned two VW Beetles later on - what a pile of **** they were. The only car I had worse luck with was a Ford built in the late 70's.

Your comment on the scrap metal - you seem to enjoy sticking it in don't you. For most people that were making good money with cheap gas - who cared. They big V8 rode nice and were fun to drive - especially compared to a VW Bug. Why not enjoy life if you can. Remember "Lifes is a bitch and then you die."

Good post, you are another of those with a weather eye on the future.......well done.

I wonder what percentage of your countrymen think in the same fashion....?

Andy,

"I wonder what percentage of your countrymen think in the same fashion....?"

Not enough. Often, it was the neighbor that got a new fancy car. Your wife or yourself got green with envy and wanted one better so YOU would have bragging rights and show off your cool car or SUV.

The price of petrol was low and it didn't affect your budget very much, so bigger was better. Once you got in one of those monsters they were like a bit of heaven. You could sit all day in one, relax and enjoy the scenery. Drive all day for $20.00 of petro - who cared?

Those days are limited now unless you are very well off financially. Yes, we were wasteful but it was fun. I think some are envious of our pleasures and some are disgusted with us for our wastefulness. Personally, I wonder what will be left for the next generation. They will shake their fingers at us and say why didn't you save some for us?

Very, very true.....

I have never been keen on abbrieviations when using the internet as terms can be understood differently in other countries. I appologise for any confussion this may cause.

BAB