fuel prices!

[grassfarmer]

Cakadu, China and oil consumption is already happening - i believe their consumption doubled in 2004. My brother visited China last year after being there about 8 years previously and he said there were modern western style SUV's everywhere in the major cities whereas on his earlier trip it was bicycles and old jeeps.

[greybeard]

The one I can't believe is the price difference between "regular" and so called "premium". If my memory is correct, when we were paying 45 cents for 88 octane the 98 octane was 2 cents more. Now its 10 cents more ($4.50 a gallon) and only 92 (?) octane. Who pays that and why?

[cakadu]

Emrald, some of the insurance on a vehicle is definitely for replacement cost. Take a look at the BMW SUV. One of those puppies can set you back $80,000 plus. You aren't going to get low insurance rates on that, no matter how good your driving record is. I would hazard a guess that the people driving those are definitely not taking them out into the bush to go four-wheeling.

You're quite right - we shouldn't judge what other people are driving. If they want to pay for all of that, it doesn't bother me. What I objected to was the young lass telling me that it was for my benefit.

People have different thresholds for what they will and won't pay for. I do believe that those that can afford to keep buying no matter what the price end up making it a little harder for the rest of us who are trying to lessen our fuel consumption etc.

[cakadu]

Linda, the agent that told you exploration was for your benefit was an idiot. The exploration being done is not only for domestic comsumption so others benefit a great deal as well.

[cakadu]

Well, I don't have red hair emrald, but I think she understood exactly where I was coming from.

[cakadu]

Linda, I think that whomever we deal with has got to know that we won't tolerate condescending comments regardless of who we are or what walk of life we are involved in. All too many farmers have been buffaloed by oil companies because they did not understand their rights and didn't know who to turn to. I will say that things have changed a lot and oil companies are required to be upfront with a lot more information now than years ago.

[cowman]

Actually the land girl was right! Exploration is a benifit to everyone in Canada...it is one of the few products we have where we can compete and actually make some money with!
Obviously we aren't all sharing very equally in the benifits, but then what can you say...this is Kanada, the land of the corrupt!
I guess a person could go back to the horse and buggy and fire up the old cookstove? Sorry, not going to happen!
I also believe it is important to let the market decide who wants to drive what? Pretty sad day when we are all legislated into driving little rice burners!
Quite frankly a toyota truck just doesn't cut it for hauling a big stock trailer or for hauling equipment.

[cowman]

Cowman, over the last fifteen years I have driven several smaller type vehicles and choose to bite the bullet and pay the cost of driving a heavier vehicle that has enough power to get me past logging trucks, service rigs etc., when need be. I have a friend that turns her thermostat down so low in her house that she nearly turns blue permanently all winter just to save money on heating costs, drives a tiny little car, and socks all her spare cash away to leave to the kids !!!!!!

Will the planet be any better off ? Personally, I doubt it, likely the kids will spend the inheritance on a big fancy RV !!!!

[grassfarmer]

"I guess a person could go back to the horse and buggy and fire up the old cookstove? Sorry, not going to happen!" - It might if we continue with our current ignorant approach :
"driving little rice burners!"
"Quite frankly a toyota truck just doesn't cut it for hauling a big stock trailer or for hauling equipment."
Yeah, yeah because we are all big heroic cowboys taming the west - what a load of crap! Look at the traffic in our towns and on highway two - the majority are single people travelling from place to place with minimal personal items and could do it just as well in a fuel efficient 1500cc car as a 6 litre truck.
When we run out of oil I hope you are happy telling your descendants that we spent their inheritance because we were ignorant.

[SW1-32-5-4]

When the oil and coal are gone we will burn water....that will really get the tree huggers mad.

[cowman]

grassfarmer: We aren't going to run out of oil and gas...at least not in my or your lifetime! The age of oil is rapidly coming to an end and advanced technolgy will replace that. Powerful oil lobby groups have helped to keep a lot of that technology from moving forward, but in the end it will triumph.
I am not against you on this conservation thing. I find it amusing how people see a gas guzzler as a status symbol! But the fact is you need a big truck to haul equipment and livestock around and unfortunately they use a fair amount of gas?
Believe me I try to keep my fuel costs down whenever possible. I own a Japanese tractor as well as a German one because they are fuel efficient...as well as being more reliable...in my own opinion!
I actually have been considering building a outdoor type wood heating system. The price of Natural gas is getting out of control...again only my own opinion!

[cowman]

grassfarmer, I don't think your comment about us all being big cowboys wanting to tame the west was entirely fair.

I drove 836 kms since yesterday morning, up into the Peace Country. Saw every vehicle known to man on Highway's 22;43;49;2 and 2A. The majority of them were tractor trailer units, with the next group being RV's and you bet there were a goodly number of stock trailers pulled by fairly big pickups, but in all that distance I doubt if I saw one drug store cowboy trying to tame the west. I saw folks that work for a living driving trucks or folks hauling their cattle to pasture or auctions and of course folks heading out on a vacation. I would venture a guess that less than 10% of the vehicles I saw over the past two days were smaller type fuel efficient cars and trucks but does that make the owners of the rest of the vehicles a bunch of selfish energy wasting louts ? Or are they people that work for a living and those that enjoy leisure time enjoying the fruits of their labour ?????

[cowman]

Now emerald, don't be too hard on grassfarmer! It just bothers him to see people spending money on things he deems non essentual and wasteful! He can't help it...it is just his Scottish heritage!
I was talking to a hired hand on a ranch last week. He was out fixing some fence and we had a little chat. The owner was a Scotchman and was fairly notorius for squeezing a nickel until it squeaked. I asked the young guy how he liked working for the Scottish guy?
He said "Well he tells me all the time he's not cheap...just thrrrifty!" Cracked me up!
Grassfarmer: Don't get all bent out of shape...I'm just having some fun with you! LOL

[cowman]

cowman, I am half scotch, the other half irish, so I do know a bit about being thrifty ! I think that if it is such a sin to drive a larger vehicle then it should be a sin to build the damn things, then we all could drive the little micro cars or whatever they call them, or ride bikes like Senator Tommy Banks thinks we should be doing !
I sure do my share to conserve energy in the winter by using wood heat in part of ther house to keep the natural gas costs down, but then I am likely polluting the environment with wood smoke aren't I ???

[grassfarmer]

Damn straight Cowman, It just drives me crazy to see ranchers, hutterites or oil guys leaving their huge trucks running while they spend an hour visiting with neighbours in the summer! Why would you do that? regardless of the environment - it's wasting money.
emrald1 - you must get your wasteful half from the Irish side, that's par for the course for them (in the south anyway). Northern Ireland had a large enough infusion of Scottish blood to keep the work ethic!