WHAT STINKING GAS CRISIS?

[oldnslo]

With all the discussion about gas prices here, I am offering up a report on my observations from my area, on the southwest Washington coast. There is no fishing season this year, due to poor salmon runs, but this weekend was open to clam-digging, in which anyone with a clam license could dig and keep 15 clams. People typically come here from Portland, Seattle, and everywhere in between. This entire area has been packed since Friday with Greyhound bus-size motorhomes, 30-foot plus fifth-wheel trailers, 1-ton pickups and large SUV's. Plus smaller ones, but the big ones are most noticeable.
Fuel prices are not cheap here. Yesterday, regular was running $3.10, Diesel higher still, and it's probably up a few cents today.
It does pizz me off a bit to see this arrogant display of selfishness, while I am combining and planning trips, running the air pressure in my car's tires at 42psi, and generally doing everything I can think of to curb fuel usage.
If we collectively keep buying and using the huge quantities of fuel we have been using, without regard to conservation, no oil producer in the world is going to be interested in lowering costs. Then again, there are the wild cards, China and India, competing with us on the world market for oil. I think we may have a problem.........

[Loonette]

Our one and only car gets fair gas mileage (and burns it cleaner than most thanks to some sort of specialized system in our car. Don't ask me what it is - I just remember I was impressed when I read about it once), and we don't drive it too much. We live, work, and go to school no more than five blocks from our home. Shopping is a different story, but we do that weekly. When it comes to motorcycling though, there is no reason for the miles we put on our bikes other than leisure. I consider it a luxury, and I sometimes get the guilts that we don't put our motorcycles to better use.

I'm thinking about investing in a trailer for my bike to do the grocery shopping in the summer. That way I can run an errand with the bike and still get in a good ride on some nice roads. As for paying attention to gas prices... I don't. All of our road machines take premium, so knowing what it costs is too painful to take. We just try to drive as little as possible.

I think most people (including me) put the blinders on and hope they can keep supplying their cars with fuel. Someone on another thread (Wizzard maybe?) suggested getting locks for our fuel caps. Hmmm... that's a sad state.

I saw a guy in our area who, for about $600, turned his diesel burning car into a vegetable oil burning car. Any vegetable oil. Even used oil from restaurants. He said the cost of cheapo vegetable oil off the shelf would equal the current cost of gas at times, but usually he is able to get it used. Viable answer? Who knows.

People in this country suffer from some sort of social gluttony. Just recently Scan and I talked about buying a Prius. The interior is about the same size as what we now have, but we would loose hauling space (we have a wagon now). And then there's the issue of power. Here comes the gluttony. I don't want to loose all the zip that I have in my car right now. So I'm part of the greater problem. Not as bad driving a vehicle that is too big for its main purpose (come on, you know who you are out there), but because I have a love for driving a spirited vehicle. Great... now I need an aspirin...

Cheers,
Loonette

[NorthernPete]

mmmmm.....clams......