I’m ready for the price of oil.....

[Four Suns]

I don't coast when there is someone behind me, and as someone who normally drives very aggressively, I understand and hate slow drivers... I know how to stay in the right lane when going (still above) the speed limit, but not 80 or 85...

I stay out of people's way. Besides, I didn't say it was that bad, I just wanted to see what I could accomplish in one week of changing habits. Sheesh

You stay in the left lane... and wear a hat while you drive... You are part of that group of drivers that just drive around all day to piss off people that have to get somewhere. Admit it. You'll feel better.

 

[Presentation]

You stay in the left lane... and wear a hat while you drive... You are part of that group of drivers that just drive around all day to piss off people that have to get somewhere. Admit it. You'll feel better.

Plus those slow drivers are always scratching a itch on their head. Does slow driving cause lice?

 

[Still LauCo]

You stay in the left lane... and wear a hat while you drive... You are part of that group of drivers that just drive around all day to piss off people that have to get somewhere. Admit it. You'll feel better.

I only wear a hat to disguise my male pattern baldness. (thanks for the reminder :smt089) And the suction cup compass and dash-board Mary are only there to remind me to a: close the gas cap lid and b: turn off my blinker.

I drove like a bat out of hell, redlining each of the 6 gears and smoked my clutch on the way home. Happy now???:smt043

 

[fc3]

There was another person on CNBC this morning predicting that diesel will hit $8/gallon by the end of the summer and $10 to $11 per gallon by end of the year.

There are already people here not going to work. I was talking to a small business owner the other day and for the first time he is getting calls from people saying they have no gas... When a married couple starts having to pay over $1000/month for gas, it will have a devastating impact on the economy as they simply will not be able to afford it.

At $8-$10/gallon, the entire boating industry will be destroyed in the US..

Long before that, the economy will be in the crapper and it's 1929 all over again. Actually, might be worse, because it'll reverberate globally very quickly.

This time, I think the politicians will pay. Teddy is lucky that he'll be checking out early. The rest will be up against the wall. There's a strong propensity for rioting over little things, like globalization meetings. This will be a big one. Rioting just wasn't something that was done in the 1920s.

Nothing is going to change unless the Fed changes it's frightening monetary policy, coupled with a reduction in deficit spending. Deficit spending in and of itself is not necessarily bad if used properly for limited periods of time.

We are going to have to have a contraction of money supply of the same level as occured in the late '70s and early '80s. Think 20% Prime Rate. Paul Volker, the greatest Fed chairman ever, saw what needed to be done to stop the runaway inflation (which we have now regardless of what the govt. reports. How the hell can inflation be at 3% when the basic necessities have risen over 20% in price this year alone), and revalue the dollar (after it's horrific plunge against all the major world currencies in mid-70s) and did it despite Carter's protests. Volker accomplished 3 things: Reestablished the dollar as a leading currency; Crushed inflation; Made Carter a one termer:smt038.

Actually, your history is off as are your causes and effects. One data point, Volker didn't take over until well near the end of Jimmahs term. He was president of the NY Federal Reserve bank from the early 70s (I think) until he was appointed chairman of the fed in 1979, about a year before the election. Carter's goose was cooked long before then. Previous to Volker, the money supply was being horsed around to manage interest rates. Voiker stopped that around 1980. Inflation peaked a year or two later and by 1983 it was way down.

BTW, I hear he endorses Osama for president.

Best regards,
Frank C.

 

[comsnark]

Nothing is going to change unless the Fed changes it's frightening monetary policy, coupled with a reduction in deficit spending. Deficit spending in and of itself is not necessarily bad if used properly for limited periods of time.

We are going to have to have a contraction of money supply of the same level as occured in the late '70s and early '80s. Think 20% Prime Rate. Paul Volker, the greatest Fed chairman ever, saw what needed to be done to stop the runaway inflation (which we have now regardless of what the govt. reports. How the hell can inflation be at 3% when the basic necessities have risen over 20% in price this year alone), and revalue the dollar (after it's horrific plunge against all the major world currencies in mid-70s) and did it despite Carter's protests. Volker accomplished 3 things: Reestablished the dollar as a leading currency; Crushed inflation; Made Carter a one termer:smt038.

Obviously that is the oversimplified version. But ultimately, it is going to have to happen again or we are in deep shat. These are scary times and there doesn't apear to be any one in Washington with the nads to step up. My opinion fwiw.

Gotta agree with much of that.

Deficit spending for a short term - for a war or for a recession - is one thing. It is another thing to build it in to the budget as a structural feature. I guess our "leaders" remain unconvinced of the economic implicatons of spending being larger than revenue.

 

[rondds]

i can see gary now, barrelling down the left lane doing 90, flashing his brights at anyone all that block his passage in one of theses babies...

and then he comes upon one of us regular po'folks in one of these...

imagine the look on his face!!! :smt013:smt013

how's that cactus joke go again?

 

[Hampton]

On that note, has anyone tried HyperMiling? Google it if you don't know what it means.

I averaged 20.8MPG in my Caddy with a 6 speed manual, and have ATTEMPTED hypermiling for one week. I'm up to 27.4 mpg.

Basically, I do two things. I drive slower. (I live in Michigan, the avg highway speed is between 75 and 80) I'm trying to stay around 60 to 65MPH. It's actually hard to do, but most of my time in the car is on the way to work, or on the way home from work, and I'm in no real hurry...

The other thing is coasting to red lights, and paying attention to green lights that are probably going to turn red. The coasting part is fun, and I turned it into a bit of a game. It helps to have an instant MPG readout in your car to see what the value of each action is. You have to be consistent, it's not necessarily easy, but it's a fun challenge.
Sorry for going off track

I've been doing this for years. As a kid (3rd grade), I asked my dad to help me build a flywheel that would be actuated by the bicycle's brake to slow the bike down, then use the stored energy to get going again. Only problem was (as my Dad pointed out), you couldn't turn the thing when the flywheel was spinning - never built - Hybrids use the same concept, only in electrical/battery terms.

I drive a 5,000# Truck with a 380 HP V-8. I get over 16 mpg in the city. It's simple to me. I've taught my kids the same. When you apply the brakes, that energy is lost forever (except in a hybrid). Plan ahead to drive with minimal brake applications. On another note, my Dad says that accelerating moderately as opposed to delicately costs gas. I disagree.

As a pilot, every jet I've ever flown has the same profile for maximizing range in the event of low fuel - Accelerate in full power (without afterburner) to a given speed which is pretty fast (90% of the speed of sound for high performance jets, 75 - 80% for airliners). Climb at that speed to a given altitude, then pull the power back and coast (too much in the real details for this discussion). If you use less than full power, you are increasing your time spent down in the thick air where efficiency is decreased.

For my truck, the gas mileage is best at about 50 miles per hour. It has plenty of power. My mileage is maximized by accelerating moderately to around 50 (or speed limit), and then maintaining that... If I accelerate slowly, I waste gas. If I slam the hammer down and get on it, I waste gas (afterburner equivalent). The analogy is that when spending time in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gears, it's like delaying the climb to altitude. It's a less efficient regime in which to operate. The engine was designed to put out some horses, not creep along. Its most efficient regime is the heart of the envelope, not the bottom or the top.

 

[Alex F]

I burn more fuel in a single weekend on the boat than I do in my car all year so there is no way I'm going to drive around like a old man dork on the road.

I guess this as simple as Gary says. For non-boaters I understand how one would make changes like this, but for boater with cruisers over 26'-28' is very different. Of course people try to safe if they can, but there must be more logical approach. Going at idle or under 1500RPM on your boat to save fuel and expand the range is one think, but going 50MPH on a highways will only cause problems for other people and at times even cause an accidents. Starting your acceleration as a slow poke on local roads will cause problems.
Have your car tuned, tires with proper pressure (usually 32-35), use appropriate rated fuel for your car and drive like a normal person. If you review your budget and spending habits you’ll be able to find the area where you could cut cost to compensate some of your gas money without making such drastic changes, of course if the gas price doesn’t get to $10 p/g.

If things go really bad with fuel coast my last reserve is moving to a sailboat. When I was chartering a 37’ sailboat at BVI I was surprised that we’ve burned only ¼ of fuel cruising all week. Even though we were under sails most of the time, the engine was used quite often anyway.

Alex.

 

[Fetch ND]

I will enjoy mine - even if I just sit in it at the dock & fish or start it up & go out a ways & anchor - I had a Seadoo Jet boat before & it was not easy on gas 240 hp & everyone tended to go full blast with it - I almost bought a new seadoo with the new twin mtrs & 440 hp :smt101

 

[Woody]

I'm suprised speed limits haven't been reduced like years ago.

 

[Four Suns]

I will enjoy mine - even if I just sit in it at the dock & fish or start it up & go out a ways & anchor - I had a Seadoo Jet boat before & it was not easy on gas 240 hp & everyone tended to go full blast with it - I almost bought a new seadoo with the new twin mtrs & 440 hp :smt101

I had that exact same boat and just sold it. That thing hauled ass but really could suck 40 gallons of fuel down faster than anything else I know.

 

[Four Suns]

i can see gary now, barrelling down the left lane doing 90, flashing his brights at anyone all that block his passage in one of theses babies...


how's that cactus joke go again?

I have a Mercedes Benz S class I go "barrelling down the left lane doing 90" in. I would not own a BMW 7 series... piece of crap.

My wife does have a little BMW 3 series convertible that is now 9 years old with less than 30k miles and it is a piece of crap as well... holds up the BMW reputation.

My primary car though (and my favorite) is my 2000 dodge truck with a big gas guzzeling V8 in it. It's all scratched up like a good truck should be.

 

[Presentation]

I have a Mercedes Benz S class .....

Hey Gary,


What is your local Benz dealer charging for an A service (oil change)?

For my wife’s benz the dealer is charging $395.

 

[comsnark]

This time, I think the politicians will pay. Teddy is lucky that he'll be checking out early. The rest will be up against the wall. There's a strong propensity for rioting over little things, like globalization meetings. This will be a big one. Rioting just wasn't something that was done in the 1920s.

Just not seeing the rioting happening.

Too many tree huggers want to see a $5/gallon surcharge. . . .
Too many Well Huggers want to see "the market in action", and think $5/gallon is ok compared to the inflation adjusted price of gas was about the same (slight exaggeration here)

The only people who are "hurting" are the poor saps in the middle. . .and nobody is rabble rousing.

 

[Woody]

This is complicated stuff. All I know is my near 50' sportfish is shrinking. It is now a near 40'. If some positive things don't happen in the next 3 years the new boat may never be.

 

[JV II]

Okay, for all the fear mongers who have boats and might be upside down in the loans or just want to quit this expensive hobby and put your money elsewhere, here's your exit strategy:

Sell the boat.
Take everything you have, savings, home equity, stocks, mutual funds, EVERYTHING and invest it in oil futures and oil companies NOW. You say that diesel will be at $9/gallon by the end of the year, oil will be over $200 a barrel, even one analyst predicted we'd be paying $15 per gallon for gas a in a few years. With that information, do the math and look at what a great investment opportunity you have.

So, who's going to step forward first. It is a golden opportunity if what you are correct in your predictions. If it materializes, you will be very rich. You can pay off the loans, retire, and buy a rag boat. Go for it. The time is right, isn't it?

For those without a sense for sarcasm, don't do this. I am making a point. Wouldn't that be just as stupid as investing in the stocks when the NASDAQ was at 5000?

 

[Four Suns]

Hey Gary,


What is your local Benz dealer charging for an A service (oil change)?

For my wife’s benz the dealer is charging $395.

That sounds about right... It's around $500 if I recall. I had the stinking nav/radio/gps thingy go bad this year and the part alone was around 5K... absurd.

The do give me a new Mercedes when they take the car for service.. and it's "free"... :smt043

 

[Fetch ND]

I hear ya ND has one of the biggest Oil reserves (recently updated) & coal to last hundreds of years

companies like http://www.mdu.com/

http://www.marathon.com/

& even the shale sands oil in Alberta are about to really kick in http://www.transcanada.com/index.html & http://www.transcanada.com/keystone/index.html this is going to be built - starting this month

Do a search on the Bakken Formation in ND http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Bakken+Formation+North+Dakota&btnG=Google+Search

But I still find it hard to believe in totally - I think I should dive in or be safe (what ever that is) ??? :huh:

Family has several things going on out in the Bakken - But sure isn't like the Beverly Hillbillies

 

[Four Suns]

I saw some of the highlights today of some congressional hearings where congressmen were beating up on some of the oil company's executive pay. Some guy from FL said that "Moms are paying $3.75 for a gallon of gas in Orlando and your CEO got XYZ millions of dollars in compensation last year and that is not acceptable. People in Florida are hurting."

Great... now we want the government telling companies what they can pay people... because that is the cause of problems for sure...

I hear that the ex-Bear Stearns CEO is getting a $10M/year package from JP Morgan to stay on... maybe the government should block that as well... because, for some reason, that's not fair either.

 

[kilroy]

I'm a little surprised as well. During the energy crisis of the early 80s, it wasn't the price of gas that was an issue, it was the availability of it. Now, 25 years later, supply is talked about as being the issue, but we 'seem' to be able to get as much as we want, but we have to pay for it.