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"The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling..."

Started by Gunny, August 18, 2005, 09:11:08 AM

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Gunny

I'd imagine that's what the "wigs" of the global big-bucks societies think of the common-folk each time they create one economic threat after another.  But it seems to come down to the desires of those who wish the opportunity to do as they please and have always done which concerns us as a stable nation.

Case in point:  Our nearest neighbors to the East have a household of three adults.  In their driveway sit 3 four-wheel drive SUVs.  Never have I seen more than a single soul in any of those vehicles as they flit about here and there and everywhere.  Our immediate neighbors to the north commute each day to their worksites in Rockford, MI, a distance of some 90-plus miles round-trip.  Each of those three drives an 8-banger 4WD pickup. None carpool.  Their next-door neighbor also drives himself to his workplace in the village (Lakeview) in his big V8 4WD pickup (a distance of about 6 miles, one way).  (BTW: Were a one-vehicle family of 6, operating the mini-van we bought back in '98, just after having sold the farm.  We put about 50 miles/week on our vehicle during a busy week.  Far less quite often.)

So, as long as we as a travelling public maintain these remarkable habituations--rarely do we ever "need" to lock into 4WD in these parts, or even require the HP provided by a V8--to fuel consumption, how can we even begin to concern ourselves with the global supply?  Instead of worrying about having to import that 10%, hasn't it occurred to anyone to conserve 11%? 

That pump price is cut in half once we realign our personal desires to allow for just ONE passenger who splits that cost with us as we travel each day to the same place.  And all the SUVs and pickups mentioned above allow for from 3-6 passengers each.  It would be absurd to wait for Big Bro to tells us all that we HAD to do it. 

My kids and grandkids sure would like to see some options left for them in the not-too-distant future but this gluttony sure seems to be taking its toll.




DanG

Good post, Gunny.  Kinda makes ya wonder just how loud the alarm has to be before we wake up, don't it?  ???
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

crtreedude

Gunny,

Perhaps the issue is that people somehow think they are not a "man" (or woman - must be PC here) unless they are driving some expensive monster. Now, if you really need it - no problem at all. But, to drive a huge monster with no one with you just seems silly.

Part of the pressure though is that if YOU have a monster, I want one out of self-protection in case you hit my car.

It will be interesting to see how people react to having their life disrupted.

I have a Montero - 6 cyclinder gas - here ('92) and it isn't exactly good on gas.  Hector told me I don't have to bother putting it away at night, no one would steal it because it is so expensive to run!

So, how did I end up here anyway?

beenthere

I don't look at gas being so expensive - yet.

Reason, in the '50's gas was just about 25% of a reasonably good hourly wage ($0.30 per gal for a wage around $1.25 per hour).

Relate that to the price now, even pushing it up to $3 per gal, against a reasonably good hourly wage which could be the same 25%.  Relative to the 50's, gas is either just as cheap or just as expensive, IMO.

I agree that I think it is insanely high, and was stuck in traffic the other day watching others alone in their cars just like me in my SUV. I drive a bit less now, but I'm just like others - the hurt isn't there yet, but I'm not happy about it  :( .

It won't happen all of a sudden, but the higher gas prices will bring about slow changes in habits, in cars we buy, and in improved alternatives.   IMO, the higher fuel prices have to take place first.

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Texas Ranger

Gunny, along those lines are the Hummers I see on the road driven by a sweet little lady barely able to see over the wheel.  And the kids at the high school with the new pickup or car, usually better than what mom drives.  I am amazed at our consumerism, but not surprised.  I wanted my kids to have it easier than we did.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Bro. Noble

I've had to change my method of transportation --------wasn't just gas prices,  but that was a factor.  For the last several years my wheels have been an old 84 Bronco II.  Three or four years ago,  reverse went out on it,  but that wasn't much of a problem cause we have plenty of hills.  Well a couple of weeks ago it started missing pretty bad on one cylinder and the transmission started acting strange (in forward).  Then the water pump started leaking so I figured it was probably time to start looking for more reliable means of locomotion.   Traded $50 worth of pine lumber for an old three wheeler.  I figure I can use my 'Oklahoma credit card' to siphon enough gas out of the old Bronco to last me a year.  An added benefit is that it has rained about ever day since I'm on that tricycle and the drouth is broken and I havn't had to wash my old work clothes :D :D
milking and logging and sawing and milking

slowzuki

Back before gas prices went so high our family bought a 3 cylinder, 4wd subaru Justy.  That darned car would go through almost any snow here out in the sticks and got 45 mpg when in 2wd.  The gas savings made the payments.

It lived to be 320,000 kms old without serious maintenance.  My sister had inherited it and neglected to check the oil.  It developed a valve cover leak that slowly led to its demise.

I tried to find something similar and you really can't get 4wd, std tranny and good gas mileage these days.  Closest we found was a Suzuki Sidekick but it only gets 30 mpg or so.

Neighbour recently bought a Toyota ECHO hatchback (don't think it is sold in the US) and the first tank he got 57 UKmpg which is like 48 USmpg or something like that.  We will be looking that way and staying off snowy roads in the future me thinks, or keeping the sidekick for winter driving.

crtreedude

Now, my prefered method of travel eats grass and doesn't use any oil. He is a bit ornery at times and there is no way that FDH will ride with me.  :D

He is a lot slower than the car, but the gas mileage is great. As long as he doesn't get too much grain, he really doesn't have much of a gas problem...  ;D

He does get a bit distracted by the mares though...
So, how did I end up here anyway?

Rockn H

Everytime I read or hear about a hybrid car that gets 40 to 50 miles per gallon.  I miss my old '84 isuzu p/k with a 4 cyl diesel.  That thing got 52 miles per gallon, and it was 10 years old when I got it. ;D  You just didn't want to try and pass anybody in it. :D

Fla._Deadheader

All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

crtreedude

So, that setup is so that Hector can steer and I can be behind you to hold you onto the seat?  :D
So, how did I end up here anyway?

Buzz-sawyer

CR
He does get a bit distracted by the mares though...

Dont we all.............
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

crtreedude

Well, there is that, but I haven't found the same problem with the Montero...

His fascination seems to be with the fuel pump.  :-\

Buzz, I been meaning to tell you, I don't think the hairdo is going to help with the mares....  ;)

So, how did I end up here anyway?

CHARLIE

I'm pretty conservative in my thoughts and it has always amused me about the number of people that own 4WD vehicles that have chrome or mag wheels, the paint is waxed and shined and no spec of dirt or mud anywhere. There is no way they would take them off the paved highway. What a waste of money.  Not only are 4WD vehicles more expensive to buy but there is more gearing and joints to eventually go bad.

It is my belief that pickup trucks are working vehicles and there just isn't any reason to own one unless you need to haul material of one sort or another.

It is my belief that SUV's are for pulling heavy loaded trailers. They are also a work vehicle but can carry more people.

It is my belief that people that drive on paved highways or improved dirt roads don't need 4WD.  I've lived in Minnesota and now Wisconsin since 1972 and have always driven 2WD vehicles and have done just fine.  And by the way.....we put lots of miles on our vehicles.  4WD are for people that have to go offroad (ie. Farmers, Ranchers, Hunters, Loggers, Foresters, etc) or who need it to pull something heavy.

     
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

IndyIan

I'm in the same boat as slowzuki, we NEED 4wd for our driveway but also drive quite a few miles, we ended up with a chevy tracker/suzuki vitara. 
I really wanted a 4wd pickup but the 4wd drive ones are all gas guzzlers these days.  Hopefully GM or Ford will start to bring some of their smaller 4wd diesel pickups to the north american market.  They have some neat midsize pickups in Australia with 2.5L turbo diesels that would suit me just fine! 

old3dogg

I always get a laugh when I see someone driving a $35,000 pick up and draging a trailer full of fire wood behind it. ??? Never could figure that one out.
I love my 1989, $400, 2wd, 31mpg, 28 per month for insurance, Nissan pick up. All I have to do is keep the body together and I figure I can get at least 2 more years out of it. Neat little truck and it runs like a scared ape!

Brad_S.

Each August I help park cars for my old home town's Corn Festival, a rather large ta-do for a small town. (And the reason I missed the pig roast)

Anyhow, parking is done in a mowed hayfield, a little bumpy but nothing serious. The loudest complainers about the 'parking conditions' and how rough the field is on their vehicle are, of course, the SUV owners. I shoot back that I saw it climbing a mountain side on the t.v. commercials but they never seem to be amused.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

Furby

If you could see the places I took my Ford Probe into! :o
Haven't even come close to those places with the Explorer.  :-[

maple flats

Guilty as charged. I have a v8 4X4 pu and love it. Half ton. BUT, I use the 4X4 often. I haul my portable mill into many sorts of iffy situations on a trailer towed by the truck. I also need to get into my sugarhouse during some of the worst times, mainly thru late wet snows and when the frost is comming out of the ground. Do I like the gas cost? NO WAY! But I will most likely not have less of a truck while I do the things I do. Also, I hunt and it is much easier to go to the deer than drag it all of the way, I have no ATV YET. Last Monday I hauled my mill on the trailer 47 miles to saw out a camp for someone. Filled up my truck (only to half because of a gas tank leak on the '92 1500) about 7:00 am on the way up at $153.9 and stopped at 7:30 pm on the way back and the price was at $162.9 (is that inflation or what?) I buy old vehicles and drive them into the ground. This one is new to me @ 126,000 mi and looks and drives like new. Will have a new tank next week that the dealer is putting in. Then I can fit about $50 a time in and not need to stop so often. I did have to adjust my sawing prices to account for the added cost and thus goes the inflation spiral ever upward. When I resume school bus driving on Sept 8 I will ride my bike to work often during better weather if returning home after the run, this saves some gas where I can't bill the School for my added costs. 8)
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

Sprucegum

Charlie:

You can go on the internet and buy "spray-on mud" to give your 4x4 that manly look 8) 8)

Jodi

 :D :D :D Spray on mud, that's a pretty neat idea.

Furby

Yup, just like the stick on bullet holes. ::)

Part_Timer

Well I wasn't going to respond to this one but I think I will.  I could explain about the sawmill,dragging deerout,  off road excersions,  THe trips to the farm with a truck load of camping gear and all, but it boils down this this.

I earn my paycheck and I'll spend it how I want to. ;)

Not wanting to start a fight just my .02
Peterson 8" ATS.
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Haytrader

While we were on vacation, my son kept our trucks running hauling hay.
:)  That part is good.

Laying on my desk were two credit card receipts for deisel.
Two trucks= $652.24
                      865.78
                    ____________
                      $1518.02        :o

Good news is I had the hay sold at a good price so the deposit slips had bigger numbers than the fuel tickets.   ;)

It is a vicious circle.




                                     
                   
Haytrader

dail_h

   Oh never mind,it ain't worth two cents >:(
World Champion Wildcat Sorter,1999 2002 2004 2005
      Volume Discount At ER
Singing The Song Of Circle Again

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