Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on March 2, 2012 at 10:22am

You're kidding, right?  Here I thought the answer was intuitively obvious:

Permalink Reply by Mrs.RB on March 2, 2012 at 11:00am

I am trying to get a scooter, or a bicycle for riding around town, and took a job closer to home so I can afford this stuff.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on March 2, 2012 at 11:15am

yeah -- prices are going up -- way up!

Permalink Reply by Patricia on March 2, 2012 at 1:18pm

I'm glad we don't drive! My husband has an electric bike & I have a mobilty scooter. But other than that we walk or take transit. Prices in Canada are high & have been for years.

 

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on March 2, 2012 at 1:21pm

Fact is, they were up over $4.00 a gallon something over a year ago, so it's not as though we're back at those levels YET.  I guess the question at this point is: how stupid is Ahmadinejad willing to be in fooling around with the US Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and how aggressive are the Israelis willing to be in attempting to thwart Iran's attempts to develop a nuclear device?

Don't go looking to me for answers, either!  I'm an engineer, not a political scientist!

Permalink Reply by Mrs.RB on March 2, 2012 at 2:26pm

I wish mass transit was better in the middle of the US, but it is very limited around here.  It is like pepolle are scared of it.  I have never understood that.

Although I don't understand all of the alternative fuel sources, I think we really need them.  There has to be a better way to do things that what we are currently doing.  We fall further behind all the time by not working to find solutions.

Permalink Reply by Mac Rex on March 2, 2012 at 8:25pm

Currently, gas prices are around $1.09 per litre, in my area of Alberta.  That's over $4 per imperial gallon, and about $4 per US gallon.  Some places are cheaper, some higher.  Out of the cities, there is no effective mass transit of any sort, and even Greyhound has cut all passenger service to my area.  Cars and trucks are the only way to get anywhere, so we are captive consumers.

On the other hand, because the demand for fuel is so high, everyone involved in the oil patch is working full out!  This doesn't mean just the drilling rigs, rig haulers (like me), and the like, but also all areas of manufacturing.

So, here in the Canadian oil patch country, high gas prices mean lots of work, low prices mean lots of unemployment, and no matter what the price is, we have to pay it!

Permalink Reply by Mrs.RB on March 3, 2012 at 4:03pm

I guess that kind of puts a different perspective on it.  It would mean more work for someone. Glad there is at least that!

Permalink Reply by Gwaithmir on March 3, 2012 at 5:34am

I recall paying just over a dollar per gallon for gasoline in W. Massachusetts twenty years ago, but I was also paying about $1.29 for a jar of mustard or mayonnaise. Those same jars of condiments now sell for about $4 each. It seems to me that we're really paying about the same or slightly more for gasoline nowadays than we did back then. We're not really witnessing higher gasoline prices, so much as the erosion of the U.S. dollar through excessive government spending.

 

I'm presently retired and only go out once a week, so gas prices don't have much of an effect on me. If I want to go to the local variety store, however, which is about half a mile away, I take a walk.

Permalink Reply by Mrs.RB on March 3, 2012 at 4:05pm

When I worked at a gas station back in 1998, gas was at 79 cents a gallon.  And, yeah everything else cost less too.  I think minimum wage was around $4.35 at the time in this area.