Heard on TV that gas is going to $5.00 per gallon everywhere..

[Maxwedge]

Hi

I believe I heard this morning that Valero oil co. had 400% increase in profits last year or this year. These companies aren't stepping up production techniques to get more oil to us, but are sure making the money. I used to work on drilling rigs and when prices went up, drilling companies and new rigs were popping up everywhere there was oil that used to be too expensive to get out of the ground. I think the general public is getting a bad deal. Probably way too many politicians in oil investments.
Mark

 

[Uncle Willy]

I think they're all in oil or on the pad to oil companies. Bush and all his cabinet are oil people as is the entire Bush family going way back. So expect no help from Dubya and gang.

Bill

 

[Maxwedge]

You're right Bill. When I first started driving in 71, gas was .25 a gallon and they would have gas wars across town between stations and get it down to .19 a gallon. Now they don't compete.
Mark

 

[NM5K]

Next thing ya know, Exxon will try to corner the
market on cooking oil...
Sounds like a pretty good idea though. Myself,
I'm not overly fond of diesels, but if you can
run one of filtered cooking oil, might be worth a
look. Some get pretty good MPG too..
Myself, I have two ford trucks. One is a 68 F-250,
and the other is a 74 F-100. Both seem to get about
16-18 mpg at the best...Course, they are kinda heavy,
and both have camper shells. The one on the 74 is
pretty big and heavy. I've been giving serious though
to selling the 74, and getting some kind of 35-40 mph
car. Preferably a small wagon. The 68 is my work truck,
and I don't really care much about it. If I have to pay
more for gas, I just charge it off to the customers..
But on long trips, 16 mpg is going to get more and more
painful. I almost bought a 87 corvette this past week,
but I came to my senses.. It did have the 4-3 OD
tranny and got about 25-28 mpg on the highway.. But then I
read reports about some problems with that tranny, and
decided to bypass, even though that particular one was ok.
But anyway, I see a high MPG vehicle in my near future..
And it really should do better than the average corvette if
I want to really save some money... I like vettes
though...It's an illness... I drive the old trucks cuz
they are paid for, cheap insurance, no emission testing, etc..
Saves me a bundle every year. They both run real well.
The 68, I installed a new engine in 2001, totally rebuilt the
front end, etc, etc..Drives like a new truck. The 68 has a
300 six, the 74, a 240 six... So it could be worse if I had
big V8's...
MK

 

[Steve In Michigan]

MK, you just hit the nail on the head...." The 68 is my work truck,
and I don't really care much about it. If I have to pay
more for gas, I just charge it off to the customers".....Thats exactly what all the stores and merchants are going to do as well. I dont blame you for doing so (we all have to make a living and we do it by living off the other guy...so to speak) it seems to be "The way of Life" It's been going on for years, not just with gas but with anything we use in our everyday lives. Just think of what it will be like in 100 yrs when everyone is buzzing round in there George Jetson mobile

Take Care

HH

Steve

 

[NM5K]

It's really killing the airlines... I think
some have paid lower prices for a while due
to past contracts that hold the price at a certain
level, but I bet many of those are drying up,
and they are probably seeing a major jump lately.
They were lucky to stay afloat with the old prices..
It might even hurt Southwest, who are usually
pretty bulletproof compared to many companies.
Bush and his cronies are getting fat on the oil,
while Cheney and his halliburton cronies are getting
fat off the war/oil/hurricanes and anything else they
can get themselves into.. We are getting double dipped
by the head office.
And in the meantime, Bin Laden still prowls about.
They don't finish the war that really mattered
and was justified, but instead go after a piker
thug in Iraq who turns out to be basically a dud.
And we would have never had that problem if daddy Bush
hadn't let him off the hook the first round in the gulf war.
One of our next presidents will probably have to tangle
again with Bin Laden cuz Bush jr. let him off the hook.
See the sick cycle? I won't even mention that the U.S. pretty
much funded and propelled them both in their formative years.
We helped grow these monsters through the CIA, etc years
back..
It won't be long until the total dead in Iraq equals
what we lost in 9-11. And I see no good reason for it,
and never did. Meanwhile, Bin Laden still prowls about
thinking up his next attack. His head should be on a stick
in Times Square I think.
Whatta mess.. I'll be glad when Bush is out of office.
And I once considered myself semi republican leaning I
suppose. Not no more...
I'm convinced there is something in the water in
D.C. that causes brain damage to all who work there
for a while. No matter what party... Seems to effect
them all.
MK

 

[bruce1036]

I agree with you fully. Dinner, date, the works and have change left over.

Had the opportunity to go and work for General Electric years ago at just over $3.00 an hour and left a job that was paying $1.25 minimum wage at the time. My wife and I thought we became millionairs..

Thanks for the memories..

 

[NM5K]

Yep, it trickles down at all angles.. Anything that
is trucked, flown, or motorboated will increase. Food
is gonna go up, "already has actually", medicine,
you name it. They had to raise the price of the ace 250
$12.50. I bet 95% cuz of fuel increases to all involved
from the makers of little parts, to the shipping of the
finished machines. Actually, so far we really haven't
increased our prices yet, and at this point, I'm still
eating the increase. But I don't know how long that is
gonna last. But it varies..Many of our jobs are pretty
close, and gas isn't a big issue. Some are pretty far
on occasion though.. I remember one system I installed
last summer where I spent about 85 bucks on gas before
the job was done. That was just running back and forth
from the house to the job, and also running down parts.
I do A/C and refrigeration work in case you are wondering
why I have to run around town a lot. :/
MK

 

[BigCatDaddy]

n/t

 

[Alabama Jim]

The government will give you a $25,000 tax credit if you buy a hummer.Governments idea of conservation!

 

[OnEbayIm"chileheadplumber"]

What I heard is that we have all the oil we need RIGHT HERE IN THE U.S., but the eco tree hugging environmentalists finatics wont let us dig in Alaska. Thats just what I heard somewhere last summer. Cant verify its truth, but I certainly dont doubt it. Anyone know if this is true?

Just for the record. When I grocery shop... Organic dont mean anything to me. Is it good? Is it safe? Is it cheap?

 

[OnEbayIm"chileheadplumber"]

I put my first post at the wrong place, so here it is.

What I heard is that we have all the oil we need RIGHT HERE IN THE U.S., but the eco tree hugging environmentalists finatics wont let us dig in Alaska. Thats just what I heard somewhere last summer. Cant verify its truth, but I certainly dont doubt it. Anyone know if this is true?

Just for the record. When I grocery shop... Organic dont mean anything to me. Is it good? Is it safe? Is it cheap?

 

[berniekk]

Would have taken Ben Laden when he was offered to him, head on a platter!
But Monica L had Bill doing more importance things in the oval office.
Just look at the times America has been attack and nothing done about it, our President Bush is the only one that had balls enough to kick some butts and least do something.
The leftist liberal news media has hurt this country and our Troops more than any enemy we have, it's all ways Blame America!
Thank GOD for America!!

I remember paying 19 cents a gallon for a gallon of gas in 1958 when there was a gas war on.
I agree gas has gone up quite a bit, but it has all ways gone up and will continue to go up in price.
All this talk America going down the tube B S, America is # 1 and will always be # 1. H H, Bernie

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah I made some moves like that and thought I was in hog heaven. When I hit Phoenix in the fifties the standard wage anywhere was a buck an hour and they said it with a smile. My friends there said they could get me a job in union construction paying $3.34 an hour. I asked them who I had to kill. That's how I got into that gig that lasted for 36 years. At that time I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

I grew up in this country when it was a third world country. It's on the way to becoming one again. History has a nasty habit of repeating itself.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

We have scads of oil in this country ready to be pumped but it's so much easier to get it cheap from the Arabs, make them the goat, and play the blame game so they can jack the prices. It's all a gigantic rip off like everything else in this country. The new oil field in Canada has enough oil to supply us for the next 100 years.

Ever wonder where all the oil in Iraq went to? It was supposed to pay for the war and rebuilding Iraq but you never hear about it or where it's all going. That alone would drop the price of gas down to rock bottom. You never hear any of the news media asking that question.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Or any big gas hog. Know some business folk who got $35,000 back for buying a gas hog Expedition or something similar.

Bill

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

CONSERVE...

HOW COME NO ONE HAS THOUGHT OF THIS??????????

Remember when the spped limit was lowered to 55 across the USA??

TIPS TO LOWER GAS PRICES:

Dont drive as fast.

Slow your acceleration at red lights

Think twice about driving to 7-11 cause you're in the mood for a
twinkie.

Take a train or a bus

Ride with a friend to work

Don't visit Aunt Edna at the Shore, Stay home & have a BBQ.

Sell your SUV

Ride a Scooter...

Can you think of more????

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah all the trucks I had were V-8's and got about 10-12 MPG. Glad I don't have them now, course my Voyager ain't much better. It gets about 16. Back in the seventies I had a 70 Ford F-150 V-8 with four speed that got 10 MPG empty or loaded.

I'm not into new cars anyway. I haven't financed a car in 30 years or so. I buy one and pay cash for it and drive it till it's about worn out then buy another. I usually buy them when they are a year or so old. That way the original owner eats all the depreciation and recalls. I'm a shopper and take all the time it takes to find a bargain. My last rig I bought from the guy who bought it new and who was in a bind. I bought it for over $4000 under book and $5000 less than dealers were charging.

Some of the rigs I have owned I drove for a year or so and then sold them for more than I paid for them.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah there's lots more but getting folks to do them is another thing. Americans are spoiled rotten. What we need is a big fat depression to straighten this country out - and I think we are headed that way. If we don't take our country back from Corporations they will own us lock stock and barrel very soon.

Bill