How Does it Feel to Buy Fuel?

piper1 · Apr 19, 2008

My rant....here goes,

We are all to blame because we always want cheaper and more profit, so companies started building things "off shore" in the 3rd world. Those billions of people who were just existing now have jobs and make a bit of money. They now want cars and roads and other "western" things in their homeland which now creates an economy that consumes things like....oh....oil, steel, food.

Every time you buy something made in China or India or some other "developing nation" you further the problem by increasing their economic demand for commodities.

There are lots of reasons already mentioned but when the west decided to awaken China's economy what did you think would happen. The shareholders got rich, we saved a few pennies and thousands of American manufacturers (whom we rely on for loads) went under.

Did anyone notice how many more Chinese companies were at MATS this year? Those parts used to be made in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario. When was the last time you had a load to Beijing?

OK, rant over.

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

Nightcreature,

These issues are all relative. We are not saying that there is a shortage we are relating issues with the economy to what is going on now. The problem is that these problems get swept under the rug when the people see an improvement. This improvement is short lived because the problem is never dealt with just forgotten for the short term until they creep up again.

Hope I explained this a little better for you.

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease

dabluzman1 · Apr 19, 2008

Hi Greg,
As an impressionable 18 year old, my reference point at the time was freshman econ. By all means we can go back to the days farmers lit the poisonous black swamps afire in hopes of eradicating them from his land and destroying crops and cattle.
New technologies are indeed needed, new trains of thought are needed in Washington, the oil lobbyists need to be silenced and our gluttony for more more more needs to be curbed.

Nightcreature wonders about there being an oil shortage.
Even if supplies are still abundant today, shouldnt we find alternative sources of energy
before exhausting oil? There is only a finite amount of it within the earth. Sooner or later
the pumps will run dry.

My first car was a '66 Chevelle convertible with a L79. I loved that car to death.
My buddies and me would scrape our dimes together to be able to put $3 or $4 in the tank on Friday Nites and cruise the Gate( in Maple Hts Oh, that would be Southgate ). At .32/gal
for hi-test and the 10mpg I was getting we'd cruise into the wee hours, then usually go home having struck out looking for girls.
Anyway, we would drag race, pop wheelies, rev the motor to let the Thrush mufflers
roar, we didnt care about conserving, at least not until next weekend and we'd need to
buy more gas for the Chevelle.
It was my rite of passage from child to MANchild. I worked hard and saved for three years
to buy that car. Conserve, nahhh vroom vroom was what I wanted and got.
I'd do it again today.
I stated the problem of it being the ones in the mirror who created this monster.
Let someone else fix it!!!!! Right?

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

I have found these forums to be dominated by a select few. If you are within this select few then you will get a reply to what you put out here.

Keep your forums! If you are not interested in listening to new members then I guess your window of reference will remain very small.

Open your minds and your arms to all people who write what I feel should be common sense.

It is just like sitting with a bunch of white glove units. They only talk to you if you are one of them. Geez, what a sad pitiful group of cheerleaders!

cheri1122 · Apr 19, 2008

Ratwell, the forums are dominated by those few, because they are the ones who speak up. Add your voice, please - I, for one, appreciate it. And welcome to EO!

nightcreacher · Apr 19, 2008

Ratwel71,

you didnt finish reading my post,read the last part too,I said it was the speculators,oil overseas,and the deminished dollar,thats whats with the oil prices

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

Cheri,

Thanks. I too appreciate the differences of opinions. I also like to go against the grain. If we blind ourselves to the possibilities of learning something new then we stagnate in our own ignorance.

Thanks for welcoming me.

nightcreacher · Apr 19, 2008

New technologies are indeed needed, new trains of thought are needed in Washington, the oil lobbyists need to be silenced and our gluttony for more more more needs to be curbed.

Nightcreature wonders about there being an oil shortage.
Even if supplies are still abundant today, shouldnt we find alternative sources of energy
before exhausting oil? There is only a finite amount of it within the earth. Sooner or later
the pumps will run dry.

My first car was a '66 Chevelle convertible with a L79. I loved that car to death.
My buddies and me would scrape our dimes together to be able to put $3 or $4 in the tank on Friday Nites and cruise the Gate( in Maple Hts Oh, that would be Southgate ). At .32/gal
for hi-test and the 10mpg I was getting we'd cruise into the wee hours, then usually go home having struck out looking for girls.
Anyway, we would drag race, pop wheelies, rev the motor to let the Thrush mufflers
roar, we didnt care about conserving, at least not until next weekend and we'd need to
buy more gas for the Chevelle.
It was my rite of passage from child to MANchild. I worked hard and saved for three years
to buy that car. Conserve, nahhh vroom vroom was what I wanted and got.
I'd do it again today.
I stated the problem of it being the ones in the mirror who created this monster.
Let someone else fix it!!!!! Right?[/quote]

I use to have a 66 ss 396 chevelle,4 speed no air,power steering,or bucket seats.325 hp,14.20's in 1'4 mile.At that time ran amateur B stock.Black car in signature runs 13.60's at almost 106 mph.it also has 325 hp,and both cars were running on regular street tires.

now I dont wander about an oil shortage,there isnt one,and if the EPA will stay out of it,we could use are own oil, but they say its to hard to refine,as it has to much sulfur,so we are dependent on foreign oil.it's time to take our country back,and Ron Paul isnt the answer,of course, there isnt anyone running that is either.

greg334 · Apr 19, 2008

Yes I agree about the new energy sources, but here is something to think about.

I worked at an unmentioned pharma company at one of their many R&D centers. One day I was handed a project, to locate and evaluate divisional assets at four of the seven sites for the corporate merger integration teams. This led me to a meeting with one of the upper management's staff where I received a breakdown of what actaully the corporation has to go through to put a drug through the pipeline in the way of taxes. They don't get breaks for research and this is the problem with our tax system. All the assets I reported back to the teams were not all write offs as many would think, there was a complicated formula used and it still hurts my head to think about it.

The way it should work is that innovation should be allowed to flourish, which is does not because of the tax system. You can depreciate only so much, you can write off so much but when it comes down to it, innovation suffers by the 10,000 pages of tax laws. This company didn't make decisions about the drugs they could sell base solely on the profit of the drug when it was marketed but how much it cost them to bring it to the point for the FDA to decide if it should be on the market.

So when you talk about not seeing innovations like electric rail or new forms of energy, you also need to examine why. IN Europe the governments work with industry to reach the levels needed. Do you actually think that the taxes on fuel is to pay for things? Not all it is, much of it is there to control behavior and growth. We have the highest tax in the world for corporations. Our tax system was setup to punish the rich in the early part of the 1900's but has outlived it's usefulness, just like social security.

dabluzman1 · Apr 19, 2008

nightcreature,
vroooom vrooom, '66 Chevelle, Midnight Blue, white top, black interior. 327, 350 hp. No air,
no power window or locks, just plenty of balls under the hood. I bought it used in the summer
of "69. My pre-graduation gift. Class of '70 Chanel HS, Bedford OH.
I miss that car.

Tuckster · Apr 19, 2008

To get the cash price, do you need actual cash or will they (truck stop) accept a debit card as cash ?? I hate carrying alot of cash.

layoutshooter · Apr 19, 2008

Hey Ratwell, welcome to the crowd!!! We welcome new faces. And by the way, my wife and I are White Glove and we will talk to anyone. Not everyone are snobs. As to the oil problem, cut taxes, let industry work and we will be fine. We are only about 20 years away from what should be the end of the internal cumbustion engine. We have more than enough oil/coal etc to make that. We have to do away with stupid. Like laws in subdivisions thatdo not allow clothes lines. My sister-in-law lives in one like that. Or the ones that do not allow solar panels. Quit tearing up farmland for housing. Quit covering zillions of acres of habitat for windmill farms. Use the highway median strips for that. Put house size windmills on every house. Solar collectors on the the roofs of those land wasting malls. How about turning off the lights at casinos at night. Make amusement parks generate thier own power without producing polution Don't only punsish the Big 3 or truckers. I got an idea, why not require everyone to have a 95% furnace at the house. That would go a long way to reducing polution and cut our usasge of forgian fuels. Lots of easy fixes. It just takes the will. We need to quit looking for the one silver bullet. It does not exsist. Layoutshooter

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

Layoutshooter,

Thanks. Last time I was at Fed Ex I was snubbed by four white gloves. Could not believe it! I am thinking do you really think you are better than me? LOL. I figured it had to be low self-esteem on their part because the truck does not make the person.

I will step out of my truck and talk to the bum on the corner. Who cares! We are all one step from being there ourselves. Heck, some of us even look like bums after months of being on the road. Well, those that do not bathe on a regular basis. LOL. We are not any better than the next person, right? You believe this if you believe in God. I would rather be humble and have my needs met than be a rich person never fulfilled. Notice I said needs and not wants.

Anyway, not to digress from the subject as it makes some upset.

So the cure to all of this is a simple economic major's answer: Stop toying around with interest rates and back our money with something of value (GOLD). This playing around with interest rates is what got alot of us in trouble when we chose to buy or refinance a house that we could not afford in the first place. When you cannot afford it, don't buy it people. This is what is the underlying factor that caused a melt down in the real estate market. Crooked mortgage brokers also have a hand in it. As well as those stated income loans, but if I keep going it won't be as simple as I first stated. Alot of factors and too many hands in the cookie jar.

I agree with you about new construction homes going up on our precious farm lands. What a shame! This is why I bought an older home. They are built better for one, and I am not contributing to the destruction of our precious lands. Who needs a Target or a WalMart on every corner? I sure don't.

Also, we need to give corporations a tax break for staying in the USA especially if they produce something we can export. We import far too much and export very little. We cannot survive on BEEF alone. This is one of our biggest exports. Geez. By giving them a tax break we keep jobs here in the USA. We can produce goods that other countries want and this will increase our exports. The USA use to be the biggest creditor in the world but now we are the biggest debtor. This wipeing away of debts owed to us by other countries needs to end. We cannot afford to cancel debts not at this point.

Oops, I digressed. Sorry.

nightcreacher · Apr 19, 2008

excellent shooter,you did that well.You will find you were probably not snubbed,the drivers ive run into run in cliques,if your not one of them your out to lunch,oh well ,their loss.I get that a lot in an E unit,not many straight truck drivers will talk to tractor people

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

I will talk to anyone that will listen. I am an open minded individual that listens as well, and I try not to judge unless I just have to. LOL

Intelligence is only gained by listening and observing. Thanks for being so kind.

nightcreacher · Apr 19, 2008

dabluzman1 said:
nightcreature,
vroooom vrooom, '66 Chevelle, Midnight Blue, white top, black interior. 327, 350 hp. No air,
no power window or locks, just plenty of balls under the hood. I bought it used in the summer
of "69. My pre-graduation gift. Class of '70 Chanel HS, Bedford OH.
I miss that car.

bought my chevelle new in 66,was i think they call it royal blue,its a lighter shade than midnight blue, with white interior,also had 1966 427 corvette,12 second car,sold the 66 chevele in 68,traded the vette for a 69 chevelle ss 396 375 hp in 69,traded that for a silver 454 monte carlo in 70,ive been thru more cars than a used car lot..
my trans am is 5 years old has 10000 miles,has never seen snow or rain.it's a ram air by the way,drove it 4 times last year,1 time year before last,seems like when i get home weather sux

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

"We learn something every day, and lots of times it's that what we learned the day before was wrong."

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."

"A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election."

Bill Vaughan

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

"The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

Charles Bukowski

ratwell71 · Apr 19, 2008

"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide."

John Adams (1735 - 1826), Letter, April 15, 1814