I can't even give it away. I'm pretty sure no one would pay for it.

meow85 said:

eh, not always true. i don't need a car where i am at the moment, so i don't use one, but my parents absolutely need cars to get to their jobs. public transit isn't an option. i think there's a lot of people in that situation.

Beware if siphoners, time to put locks on your car's gas tank.

Ocean said:

I was hoping it was you

Red said:

Yep...I remember my dad had to get a locking gas cap last time this shit happened back in the 70's. People would try to take gas out of your car if you went to the store

evenstar3 said:

Everyone has an option as to where to live or work. If there isn't public transit where they are, it's time to either ask their local government that a transit system be made available, or to get the hell out of there. Barring those options, they could perhaps find a way to carpool or ride-share.

50,60,70 years ago when not everyone had cars, what would they have done for transportation?

I'm not trying to come off as a self-righteous bitch, but like I said, humanity survived thousands and thousands of years without vehicles, and did just fine. If cars were a genuine necessity, we'd have died out by now. But that not being the case, I think we owe it to ourselves and to the planet to find ways to curb our addiction.

I admit, I'd love to drive or own a car. I could go wherever I wanted, when I wanted. I could take jobs that are beyond the bus routes and perhaps pay more money. I would't have to carefully plan out my activities so I could get where I need to be on time. But all things considered, it's just not worth it.

You see, you guys in the US, this is the way to go!:


http://www.themoscowtimes...367697.htm
Gasoline Protests Hit 50 Cities
26 May 2008
Combined Reports

Motorists in about 50 cities across the country protested rising gasoline prices Saturday and called on the government to take measures to punish producers of substandard fuel.

Media reports said the protests had anywhere from a few dozen participants, including in Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, to as many as 200 in Moscow. The demonstrations, organized by the Freedom of Choice driver's movement, involved lines of cars driving through city centers with their emergency lights on and empty fuel canisters taped to their roofs.

The protests came amid heightened concerns over spiraling inflation, which threatens to exceed a yearly 15 percent this month, and world oil prices. U.S. oil hit a record of just over $135 a barrel last week.

"The state should do more to hold people responsible for the production and sale of substandard gasoline, including prison terms for the heads of companies producing and selling it," the driver's movement wrote on its web site. The group also calls for cutting the tax on car fuel to 40 percent, from the current 70 percent, and bringing down the retail price for gasoline to 15 rubles (63 cents) per liter, from 22 rubles now.

Vyacheslav Lysakov, head of the driver's movement, called for the protests to be peaceful and to avoid conflicts with law enforcement officers, RIA-Novosti reported.

Protesters banging empty fuel cans and waving placards turned out on Bolotnaya Ploshchad, Gazeta.ru reported, despite the rainy weather. The protest was approved by city authorities, and police nearly outnumbered protesters, Interfax reported.

Some of the other protests were hampered by local authorities, however. In St. Petersburg, traffic police were already waiting at the agreed meeting place, participants told RIA-Novosti.

"They blocked some of the cars, started writing down our license plate numbers and threatened drivers with a trip to the local precinct," one protester told the news agency, adding that the demonstration had not been cleared with City Hall.

Some 30 cars took part in a protest in Nizhny Novgorod, but their intended route through the city center was blocked after the local authorities said the cars could disrupt citywide events celebrating the last day of school, RIA-Novosti said. The drivers parked their cars in a "picket" along the Volga River with signs attached to the roofs.

In Krasnodar, a protest was canceled after local Interior Ministry officials told the organizers that it could disrupt the public order, including the movement of ambulances and fire trucks.

"The police suggested that Krasnodar residents not participate in the demonstration, and today it didn't happen," Ilya Shakalov, spokesman for the local Interior Ministry, told RIA-Novosti.

MT, Reuters

This time I've got the figures! May they bring some consolation to American drivers...

from The Moscow Times:
http://www.themoscowtimes...367741.htm

"Why is gasoline more expensive here than in America? Yes, we have lots of oil, but we also have lots of billionaires," said Viktor, 50, who also makes his living driving a cab.

Gasoline in Russia averages 23 rubles (97 cents) a liter. The average price in the United States, meanwhile, hovers around $3.60 a gallon, or 80 cents a liter."

I'm real close to giving gas money for some sausage



I actually don't own a car. It sucks sometimes but times like this I just smile.
[Edited 5/26/08 18:05pm]

matthewgrant said:

Flo6 said:

That's pretty sloppy journalism - no wonder all their reporters get whacked. They're calculating the US price off the UK gallon and the US average is too low - it's really just over a dollar per litre in the US, so bugger all difference and slightly dearer than Russia.

In Ireland it's around 1.30 euro per litre, so that's about 2.05 dollars. Which is $7.75 a US gallon. What are you all complaining about?
[Edited 5/27/08 3:40am]

^ ..unless you're Dutch or Norwegian. About 1.65 euro for those two. That make it US$9.80 a gallon

ArielB said:

So ure planning on farting into the tank and then hope for the best?

I just filled up at $1.28.7 today.

PopeLeo said:

yeah, like in 2004

ToraToraDreams said:

In a lot of places it's already hit $4.50+ gal. here, diesel's already hit $5. And what's funny, I think this is the SUV/Big azz truck/Hummer driving capitol of the world, they e'erywhere around here.

Yeah, this is making the mind consider some crazy things, I don't think I've reach that point yet, but it ain't off the table. Okay, yes, I joke, but still. Turning my backyard into a major garden and opening up my own fruit and veggie stand is looking better and better everyday, with my I can't stand insects hate gardening behind.

I must have got my metric systems mixed up - a gallon in the UK is not the same as a gallon in the US??.. [you can tell I don't drive!]

Anyway, the Russians are out there protesting in the streets, and I think it's the way to go!

PopeLeo said:

meow85 said:

I'm not much for all or nothing. Sure, humans have survived for thousands of years without cars. As a species, we also survived thousands (or millions depending on your belief system) of years without things like modern medicine, but I would never say that no one needs, say, insulin just because our species survived many generations without it.

It seems shortsighted to me to think that it's as simple as everyone moving to an area in which there is adequate public transportation which, by the way, would not be so adequate if millions more people started flocking to these areas and using those resources. It's also not as simple as asking for better public transportation in the boonies.

If one thinks everyone should just pull up out of the boonies and move to town, I'd wonder if they were willing to live right next door to a pig farm, dairy or chicken farm in an urban setting? People who farm in rural areas may need to drive many miles to get to the nearest town to shop or see a doctor and it's not really practical to pile the whole family onto the John Deere and head down the highway. Since farms and many rural communities can be spaced so far apart, it's often not worth it to try to find someone to share a ride with since it would take just as long and use as much as or more fuel to arrange a meet-up than it would for a single family to just make the trip to town.

I can certainly agree that many people could do without cars and could do much more to conserve resources. I'm just not able to say that no one needs a car just because our species has survived thousands of years without them. As our species has evolved, so have our needs. I'm generally on your side and would love to see fewer vehicles on the roads and more conservation efforts. While I doubt our species would die for lack of cars, I'm not able to believe that no one ever has a need for one.

Flo6 said:

A UK gallon is just over 1.2 US gallons. The metric system is much easier.

I commute on a maxiscooter and drive a hybrid when I need a car, so I don't use lots of fuel.

I do have a theory that G.W. Bush will go down as the world's greatest environmentalist - a man who used his knowledge of and connections in the oil industry to single-handedly drive up the price of fuel to record levels, making eco-friendly options economically viable.

Thanks for the clarification! And the metric system is not only easier but more consistent too: a liter is a liter, whether you are in France, Spain or Germany.

"G.W. Bush will go down as the world's greatest environmentalist - a man who used his knowledge of and connections in the oil industry to single-handedly drive up the price of fuel to record levels, making eco-friendly options economically viable."

Clever:)

PopeLeo said:

Went through this last month. It ws killing me in gas. 8 Cy with a 6.1 liter engine. Very fast but when unemployed, vehicle destroyed. The gas was way over my head. Don't have the picture on my actual Beast of a Jeep but here's the model...

The "Beast" I called it...has been sold.



Get rid of the 8 Cy!

meow85 said:

You've obviously never been to Long Island...or Florida for that matter.

I'd have to find a new job in order to forgo my car.