white avenger
white avenger
How has the rising cost of gasoline in particular and energy in general changed the way that you do things?
Fill 'Er Up!
- Thread starter white avenger
- Start date
We haven't really changed our habits much, though the price rises won't have the same effect here in the UK as in the US, as we don't tend to have anywhere near the same distances to drive as you guys. StuckinTraffic put it in perspective for me when she talked about driving from one end of Texas to another in ten hours...that many hours driving would pretty much get me from the north of Scotland to the south of England.
Having said that, our petrol prices are way above those in the US...we're currently paying about £1.09 per litre which, according to my calculations, works out at $8.03 per US gallon...more than twice the pump prices I was seeing during our recent break in the States (around $3.50 per gallon). So, I reckon things could be a lot worse for you guys in America...
Having said that, our petrol prices are way above those in the US...we're currently paying about £1.09 per litre which, according to my calculations, works out at $8.03 per US gallon...more than twice the pump prices I was seeing during our recent break in the States (around $3.50 per gallon). So, I reckon things could be a lot worse for you guys in America...
Ugh its crap! Im currently looking for another job and I've been thinking that the rate the petrol prices are going, it is going to cost me more to get to and from work then what I make! (there is no/very little public transport where I am)
Also I dont go out to ride my horse as much, nor do I see as many of my friends, food prices have gone up too which isnt fun, I've turned into a bit of a vego til the meat prices come down lol! My car isnt as fuel efficient as my last one but it doesnt eat up the fuel like some either. Spose it is just something new to get used 🙁
Also I dont go out to ride my horse as much, nor do I see as many of my friends, food prices have gone up too which isnt fun, I've turned into a bit of a vego til the meat prices come down lol! My car isnt as fuel efficient as my last one but it doesnt eat up the fuel like some either. Spose it is just something new to get used 🙁
Tueuse de Vampires
Love will tear us apart..
Ours are even higher. Last time I checked (last week) it was at 1.48€ (that's £1.18). Well they always put loads of taxes on petrol here, so that's what's making it so pricey.
And what do I personally do since prizes seem to go up? I don't turn my heater up anymore unless it's really freezing. And I switch my laptop off when I'm doing something completely different.
Well right now I am looking into other options to travel to Kansas this summer as the rising fuel costs has just made it too expensive to consider driving to Kansas and back to Chicago. What would have cost me $200-250 in fuel for the entire trip is likely to cost twice that this year. My boyfriend and I have resorted to driving his car more over my Jeep. It costs too much to fill my Jeep up all the time.
white avenger
white avenger
The thing about the whole "Energy Crisis" is how the oil companies always get the biggest share of the prices. When I was a boy, the different oil companies were in competition for our business, which meant that we would have what we used to call "gas wars." Competing companies would lower their prices to get the consumers' business. Now, "gas wars" has a completely different meaning, and American servicemen are dying because of it.
I work for Georgia Power Company, and the price that we can charge for electricity is set by government regulation. If we want to raise our rates, we have to get approval from an agency called the Public Service Commission, and we have to PROVE to them that our expenses have gone up enough to warrant the raise. Our main expense is the coal that is used to run our generators, and the coal prices fluctuate just like the price of oil does, but we can't just arbitrarily raise our rates because of it. Our C E O got a bonus above his salary last year of $5,000,000, so even with the high cost of coal, we MUST be making substantial prophets.
I'm the last man you'll ever see to advocate government interference with private business, but if we're making billions with government regulation, the oil companies HAVE to be making many times that much. Without getting inti the argument of who should be holding the seat in the Oval Office, if something isn'oe soon, and I mean something on a world wide scale, we're all going to be riding bicycles to work while the fat cats sit comfortably in their stretch limos.
(I guess that's all my speech-a-fying for the day)
I work for Georgia Power Company, and the price that we can charge for electricity is set by government regulation. If we want to raise our rates, we have to get approval from an agency called the Public Service Commission, and we have to PROVE to them that our expenses have gone up enough to warrant the raise. Our main expense is the coal that is used to run our generators, and the coal prices fluctuate just like the price of oil does, but we can't just arbitrarily raise our rates because of it. Our C E O got a bonus above his salary last year of $5,000,000, so even with the high cost of coal, we MUST be making substantial prophets.
I'm the last man you'll ever see to advocate government interference with private business, but if we're making billions with government regulation, the oil companies HAVE to be making many times that much. Without getting inti the argument of who should be holding the seat in the Oval Office, if something isn'oe soon, and I mean something on a world wide scale, we're all going to be riding bicycles to work while the fat cats sit comfortably in their stretch limos.
(I guess that's all my speech-a-fying for the day)
Washburne
Protector of the key.
Here it is $2.2, £1.13 (13,25 skr)/ litre or (mostly) more. Calculating with the numbers Mr. Pointy used it goes to $ 8,55/ US gallon.
Since I don´t drive it doesn´t affect me that much. But I now a lot of people who leaves the car behind for shorter trips, then they easily can walk or take the bike. And I guess that´s a good thing. But for some of my friends and family it affects their moneysiutation and they do have to plan their trips a lot more. And even though I understand it´s not the funniest thing in the world ,I don´t think that it´s such a big problem that it could be. But we (swedish people) are spoiled so of course we complain. We always do, and of course it goes for me to. I always have a shortage of money, but it´s only because I buy a lot of stuff that is fun to have, but that I don´t need.
Blondie Bear
Zydrate Addict
My hubby and I have had to limit our job searching to things in a 70 mile radius, which in this area is NOT MUCH. The nearest really big jobapalooza of a city is about 150 miles away. We also don't go to the nearer cities (20 or so miles) unless we have a big list of things we need to pick up there, and it's pretty much revolving around getting our Buffy and Conan comics.
We're both pretty frustrated with the government regulations, as well, mostly because they've got this big thing for ethanol, which is NOT as cost-efficient as they seem to think it is. I know people have worked out much better alternative fuels, but they're not given a chance to make them work on a large scale because OPEC is greedy, the oil companies are greedy, and the politicians are greedy. If nothing else, we could be drilling HERE instead of importing, but noooooooo.
We're both pretty frustrated with the government regulations, as well, mostly because they've got this big thing for ethanol, which is NOT as cost-efficient as they seem to think it is. I know people have worked out much better alternative fuels, but they're not given a chance to make them work on a large scale because OPEC is greedy, the oil companies are greedy, and the politicians are greedy. If nothing else, we could be drilling HERE instead of importing, but noooooooo.
Tueuse de Vampires
[No message]
R
randiann
Ethanol is the suckiest solution they could come up with, agreed!
palabravampiress
Bidet of Evil
I don't drive and I live in a warm climate so, on a day-to-day basis, gas prices sort of whiz by unnoticed by me.
But I'm married... to a man who has to drive for work. His office is close to public transportation and so is our apartment, but he does I.T. work for six hotels all over the city and is on call 24-7, so he *must* drive. That takes a big hunk out of our budget.
Furthermore, it does severely limit my job searching options. It's a frustrating chicken-or-the-egg sort of scenario. On the one hand, part of the reason I lost my last job was because I couldn't be on call 24-7 or drive places (even though I TOLD her that in the interview - gah!). Being able to drive would definitely increase my marketability and the area in which I could search for a job. On the other hand, a second car and the insurance and gas to feed that car is not at all in the budget right now, let alone the cost of actually learning to drive the thing (in gas money and in possibly hiring an instructor). Basically, I'd be spending a good portion of whatever income I managed to earn just on getting to and from work. It's crappy. To get a good job, I need a car. To get a car, I need a good job.
Honestly, I miss New York City. That was great. I used public transportation, which was a perfectly respectable alternative in that city. I could get to and from work and social functions without any difficulty and I didn't have this crappy chicken-or-the-egg problem. I think alternative fuel sources are important, but I'd also like to see trends toward affordable mixed use housing developments and increased public transportation.
But I'm married... to a man who has to drive for work. His office is close to public transportation and so is our apartment, but he does I.T. work for six hotels all over the city and is on call 24-7, so he *must* drive. That takes a big hunk out of our budget.
Furthermore, it does severely limit my job searching options. It's a frustrating chicken-or-the-egg sort of scenario. On the one hand, part of the reason I lost my last job was because I couldn't be on call 24-7 or drive places (even though I TOLD her that in the interview - gah!). Being able to drive would definitely increase my marketability and the area in which I could search for a job. On the other hand, a second car and the insurance and gas to feed that car is not at all in the budget right now, let alone the cost of actually learning to drive the thing (in gas money and in possibly hiring an instructor). Basically, I'd be spending a good portion of whatever income I managed to earn just on getting to and from work. It's crappy. To get a good job, I need a car. To get a car, I need a good job.
Honestly, I miss New York City. That was great. I used public transportation, which was a perfectly respectable alternative in that city. I could get to and from work and social functions without any difficulty and I didn't have this crappy chicken-or-the-egg problem. I think alternative fuel sources are important, but I'd also like to see trends toward affordable mixed use housing developments and increased public transportation.
T
T.I.P
Guest
Well i dont have a car so i find it really hard to care. The amount of people i know that use their car to drive 100metres to the shop or something like that is ridiculous. No wonder we are running out of petrol and if people keep paying high petrol prices then they are gonna get charged high prices: )
Angelic Slayer
Daydream Believer
Well so far I only have my beginner's liscence (have yet to get around to learning how to drive), so in that respect all it has really done for me is further discouraged me from bothering to get my full liscence. Although I know I'll need it later on in life, I really don't have the time to learn right now. And even if I did, I know that there's no way I could afford gas at these prices-- never mind a car!
Although it has affected my family in general quite a bit. My dad is a sales rep who spends his entire day driving from house call to call, and he's spending at least $100 a week on gas (not including the gas my unemployed brother uses *groan*). So he's really just had to work that much harder to make ends meet, and living in a rural community where driving is a must (unless you live in the same town as your employment, which where I live is rare) we've had to really coordinate any driving a lot better, make fewer trips into town. Means a lot of coordinating trips around when someone is working, etc.
This summer I think I'll really see the impact though. My older brother, my girlfriend, my dad, my younger brother and I are all working full-time from June-August, and with the exception of Tara and I all those shifts are going to be at wierd times. So I expect there will be a lot of long early morning bike rides to work 😉
Although it has affected my family in general quite a bit. My dad is a sales rep who spends his entire day driving from house call to call, and he's spending at least $100 a week on gas (not including the gas my unemployed brother uses *groan*). So he's really just had to work that much harder to make ends meet, and living in a rural community where driving is a must (unless you live in the same town as your employment, which where I live is rare) we've had to really coordinate any driving a lot better, make fewer trips into town. Means a lot of coordinating trips around when someone is working, etc.
This summer I think I'll really see the impact though. My older brother, my girlfriend, my dad, my younger brother and I are all working full-time from June-August, and with the exception of Tara and I all those shifts are going to be at wierd times. So I expect there will be a lot of long early morning bike rides to work 😉
white avenger
white avenger
It affects me quite a bit, since I have a 25 mile drive to work each way, and there's no one nearby to car pool with, plus Rome's public transit system doesn't come anywhere near where I have to go. But a lot of people don't realize there is almost NOTHING we have in our civilization that doesn't depend, either directly or indirectly, with petroleum. Everything from the grease that lubricates the machinery to the plastic, polyurethane, polypropylene, and nylon that we use every day. The food that we eat, the medicines that we use, even the computers that we use to share our thoughts here, all depend on oil, either directly, or indirectly.
And here's the final, killing blow: If we found a substitute for oil tomorrow, setting up the industry necessary to produce, refine, transport, and distribute it would cost billions of dollars, billions of dollars that no one has or is willing to spend. Even it they did, the cost of changing over to this miracle substance, just to make it run our automobiles, would be more money than a lot of people can afford. We've painted ourselves into a corner with our total dependency on oil, and we just might never get out of it.
(I guess I wasn't through speech-a-fying after all.)
And here's the final, killing blow: If we found a substitute for oil tomorrow, setting up the industry necessary to produce, refine, transport, and distribute it would cost billions of dollars, billions of dollars that no one has or is willing to spend. Even it they did, the cost of changing over to this miracle substance, just to make it run our automobiles, would be more money than a lot of people can afford. We've painted ourselves into a corner with our total dependency on oil, and we just might never get out of it.
(I guess I wasn't through speech-a-fying after all.)
I heard a prediction on the radio the other day that gas here in the US is going to be $8.00+/gallon by the end of the summer. Not sure if I believe that, but all I can say is, either way, I'm relieved I'm not going to be able to have a car next year! As of now, I don't use much gas, just to get to school and work and occasionally to get downtown, though if it's nice out I'll walk. Mostly my friends do the driving.
Blondie Bear
Zydrate Addict
Well, hopefully next year we'll be moving anyway so I can pursue my doctorate, so it's just for a year. But we have to start paying off our student loans in about 6 months, so we have to find semi-decent jobs! Stupid gas prices.
R
randiann
Guest
It's hurting me real bad here. I spend probably a quarter of my (very low) income on gas going to and from work/school/daycare. They are all 10-20 miles away from my house and pretty much all in opposite directions. That's what sucks about this city. Even though I live in an urban area, it is so spread out that it is impossible not to drive, and our public transportation sucks majorly.
StuckinTraffic
Miss Treager
That'd be about a 18 hour drive, depending on route....I-10 to I-30 (El Paso to Texarkana) would be the longest.....you could make Oklahoma to the Gulf in less than 10 hours, tho. Gas has gone up since you were here, too...currently around $3.65/gal.
UGH!
We're feeling the pinch, that's for sure. I've cut out a lot of nonessential purchases, because I'm putting so much in the gas tank (I drive a Suburban). I've also tried to group my errands in to shorter trips, so I'm not doing as much driving around, trying to save gas.
What pisses me off is the oil companies regularly posting record profits every quarter, all the while gouging us to death.
SpikedBuffy
Love Isn't Brains
I'm a commuter, so filling up has definitely become depressing. I drive a total of 102 miles each day to get from home to work and back again. Our gas near Chicago is currently $4.05 (but I get it on the tollway at the oasis where it's only $3.85 or lower!, so that helps)
Sometimes I stay with my parents who live close to my job, but I miss my husband, so I don't do that too often. It's nice to be a teacher though, because come June 10, I'm not driving for three months!
I tend to think positively on the situation though. I could gripe and moan about gas prices, or I could enjoy that fact that I have a job when so many people do not. I am thankful for my job.
Sometimes I stay with my parents who live close to my job, but I miss my husband, so I don't do that too often. It's nice to be a teacher though, because come June 10, I'm not driving for three months!
I tend to think positively on the situation though. I could gripe and moan about gas prices, or I could enjoy that fact that I have a job when so many people do not. I am thankful for my job.
S
StuckinTraffic
Let's hear it for job security!
T
T.I.P
Guest
Blondie Bear
Zydrate Addict
It is relatively cheap for us, but remember that we're much more spread out than the British Isles or Europe, and we don't have your amazing system of trains. So we HAVE to drive everywhere (unless we're lucky enough to live somewhere with a good bus or metro system, which most of us aren't; only really big cities tend to have those) and we have to drive FARTHER. So in the long run I think we're paying more than you guys do and every little bump in fuel prices hurts us exponentially worse.