I finally paid over $4 a gallon for gas.

[krispos42]

$4.07.


Shit.


I dodged it by the skin on my teeth back in the summer of '08... living in Minnesota, the price peaked at $3.99 before dropping like a rock.

Now I'm in Connecticut and watching the claws of the oil-congressional complex digging deeper into my wallet. I lucked out on Sunday; I was up in New Britain at a Civil War re-enactment an the nearby gas stations were at $3.99 a gallon while around in my house the prices had cracked the $4 barrier a couple of days prior.


But, finally, today, I joined the ranks of tens of millions of my fellow citizens.


:-(

[ClarkUSA]

1. I've been paying well over $4 for diesel for the past month.

I keep reminding myself that I'm getting great mileage from my TDI to avoid getting too bummed out. It's nice to hear that the Obama administration is going to investigate oil trading speculation for price gouging/fixing. I don't recall a president ever doing that before.

[krispos42]

2. I can't wait for my boss to move near by.

I have to commute now... almost 60 miles round trip. And I'm working for deferred wages, so I'm coasting until payday.

But she's looking to move nearby again. She used to live up the street; her and my mom are best friends. Thank god... maybe I'll be able to walk to her house!

[global1]

11. Do You Have A JSW TDI?......

I'm contemplating getting one - but I'd like to hear from a person that currently owns one as to what the positives and negatives are. I never had a diesel car. I talked to some of my European friends and they own a Jaguar diesel in the UK. They love it.

I'm concerned about getting a diesel here in the U.S. because I'm not sure if diesel gas is available at all stations. Also I live in the Chicago area and I heard that diesel cars might be a problem in the winter in terms of heating the inside of the car. Anything that you can share with me would be appreciated.

[abelenkpe]

3. In LA we've been paying 4.45 for some time

Welcome to dollar four. Hope it goes back down soon.

:)

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. paid $4.29 in the valley, yesterday

[onehandle]

4. $1.46 a gallon when President Clinton left office. nt

[krispos42]

5. Yeah...

I was able to fill up the tank on the Thunderbird for $25. And that car had a big tank, too. From "E" to "pegged past 'F'" was about 16 gallons, but from "E" to "absolutely out of gas" was about 6 gallons.


Let me put it this way... the most I ever put in the car was 22 gallons... and the car didn't run out of gas.

Damn, nowadays that would be a $90 fill-up :scared:

[Township75]

15. And under $2/gal when Bush left office and Obama took over.

.

[onehandle]

18. The average during Bush was $2.89, during Clinton $1.24.

The oil companies artificially drove gas prices from a high of $4.40 to $1.60 in a few months just before the 2008 election so that Democrats could not use gas prices as an issue.

As soon as the election was over they started climbing back up, for profit and to hurt President Obama.

[bermudat]

6. In Cali, its been over $4

[AndyTiedye]

7. They are Shooting for $7 by Election Day 2012

[krispos42]

10. It should be that low in 18 months...

:cry:

[Xithras]

8. I paid $4.26 for the cheap stuff earlier.

Yep, it sucked.

[Omnibus]

9. Still $3.67 here in central IA.

I commute 70 miles a day, though, so even that "low" price is grinding my budget. Methinks it's time to move closer to work, now that I have a fairly stable job.

[TlalocW]

12. 88 cents a gallon

My van for my side business runs on CNG.

Unfortunately, that hasn't been paying off as much since I've had to make a lot of out-of-area trips to non-CNG states in my normal gas car.

TlalocW

[8 track mind]

13. Same here

I'm riding the Motorcycle as much as possible. Gets great mileage and I'm going to try to re tune it to squeeze a little more out of it. Just too damn expensive to run the chevy

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. Me too. Yesterday. $4.09

That sucks.

[Township75]

16. What is "the oil-congressional complex"?

?

[krispos42]

22. Oh, the people that work together to make sure...

... that prices stay high, profits stay high, subsidies stay high, corporate taxes stay low, and alternatives to oil are crushed.


You know them. They opened up trading oil futures to anybody with a couple of extra bucks in their pockets, instead of just people that refine oil. They continue to destroy pensions, so that people's retirements are invested in 401(k) mutual funds instead, which are of course partially invested in oil. They let oil companies merge into giant conglomerates, destroying competition.


Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats.

[Township75]

23. ?

Did you forget to mention Obama along with Repubs and BDD's, or is it magically OK when he does it?

[krispos42]

25. I didn't mention any names at all, actually.

The stimulus package contained a comparatively plentiful amount of money for more research and development of things like better automotive batteries, so I suppose that's something.

[Township75]

27. Hmmm

Bush and repubs actually give shit loads of money for alternatives to fossil fuels; I was working in that area at the time. DOes that count for something, or is just an Obama thing?

[krispos42]

28. Shitloads compared to oil subsidies? Or shitload compared to school subsidies? n/t

[Township75]

30. ?

"The stimulus package contained a comparatively plentiful amount of money for more research and development of things like better automotive batteries, so I suppose that's something."

How did it compare to oil subsidies and school subsidies?

[ThomWV]

17. It cost me $149 to fill up my pickup last week.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Oh, '99 Ford, F-250

[krispos42]

21. I hope for you wallet's sake you fill up annually

:scared:


So then if you total your truck tomorrow, your insurance check will be in part based on how full the tank was! :rofl:

[Javaman]

19. Huff the fumes as you fill up, it makes the pain go away. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

20. I paid $4.19 last week

in the Central San Joaquin Valley. My tank was almost completely empty. I put in $80.00 worth and it didn't fill up the tank.

[formernaderite]

24. I watch the currency exchanges

Unless the dollar goes up, we are essentially screwed. Yes the speculators play a role, but the weakness of our currency has a huge effect.

[krispos42]

26. Yeah, that's another part of it.

The price of a barrel of oil in terms of how much gold you need.

Gold is currently $1,508 per troy ounce. A troy ounce contains 480 grains, so gold costs $3.14 per grain.

A barrel of oil today is $112.29, or 35.75 grains of gold.



In 2000 gold averaged $279.06 per troy ounce, or $0.581 per grain.


The average price of oil was $27.39 per barrel, or 47.11 grains of gold.



So in terms of gold, oil actually got a bit cheaper over the years. But the vast increases in price of both commodities shows how weak the dollar is.

[Initech]

31. Been well over $4.00 in LA for quite a while now.