[ale] OT: gas going up this weekend

[Lightner, Jeff]

The thing about gas going up is it is immediately noticeable when you
fuel up.  It's effect on the cost of everything else is also quickly
noticeable.

Pretending the cost to people is only 60 cents is specious.   It is
based on a one time fill up of a 15 gallon tank and also assumes one
uses only the lowest grade of gas.   It used to be there was 10 cent
addition per gallon on mid grade and another 10 cent on premium.   Now
they are charging more like 15 cents on each grade change and some are
even charging 20 cents.

Once you factor in how often you have to fill up and the fact that
everything that isn't delivered electronically requires fuel to get to
you or the place where you buy it (and then more for you to take it from
there to your home) you'll see why extremely high gas prices are such a
drag on the economy.   This says nothing about the impact on our trade
imbalance which is also affected by higher oil prices.

An inch of rain doesn't sound like much.  However if you get one inch
per hour for 40 days you might consider building an ark...

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Tom
Freeman
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 8:30 AM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: gas going up this weekend

I find this amusing, in a rather sour sort of way. Has anybody else 
noticed how the cost of fuel really controls the perception of the cost
of 
driving, yet is _actually_ a relatively minor cost? That is, the cost of

gas goes up and everybody panics about their expenses, but they don't 
blink much at the insurance, regular maintanence, capital costs, parking

costs (which are usually hidden somewhere), and so forth?

At 30mpg my cost per mile is approaching (if I did it right, need more 
coffee) $0.10/mile. Or very similar to the capital cost of just
purchasing 
the vehicle (I got 260,000miles from the last one). Insurance costs were

pretty close last time I checked my own statements, but YMWV by a 
significant amount. If you work/shop in a center city environment, you 
might get to pay for the parking. Otherwise, somebody else gets to pick
up 
the tab to maintain the lot and the access ways.

Add to these "hidden" costs the tax burden on the country for a portion
of 
the miltary adventurism needed to protect the fuel sources for the
world, 
the lack of maintanence that many locals have invensted in their
roadways 
which becomes a direct cost to you for fixing wear on the vehicle and an

eventual tax cost if the repairs are ever to be done, and it becomes a 
tidy wad of money.

On Wed, 27 Apr 2011, Michael Potter wrote:

>>> On Wednesday, April 27, 2011 09:53:21 am Tim Watts wrote:
>>>
>>>> 3-5 cents/gallon I can deal with. And at least I know it's coming.
It's
>>>
>>>> the random/inexplicable 25-45 cent/gallon hikes that grab me by the
>>>
>>>> shorts.
>
>
> $0.04/gal * 15 gal = $0.60.
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