Does the price of fuel affect street behavior?

Maybe I'm the only one to notice this lately, maybe not.

Normally the price of gasoline and aggressive street behavior are inversely related. Lately, this theory is upside-down.

87-octane fuel here is about $2.15/gallon. I've noticed that giant pickup truck and SUV pilots as of late have been stoplight drag-racing around in unbelievable numbers. I'm talking 70+ mph in 35 zones, 90+ on freeways through suburban areas, and at least 20+ mph over the limit around town, regardless of location. I'm talking tire-smoking launches by everyone, it seems; even minivan-jockying 'burb women with 6 kids strapped in.

And I alone rack up 37 mpg. in The Beater. The cheese stands alone.

Not only am I in the minority with respect to sane driving behavior, but it seems that the sales of huge trucks and SUV's continue to escalate, regardless of fuel prices. And everyone wants V-8's and V-10's in those monster 4X4 trucks as well. What the hell, hitch on a boat, camper shell and bungee down a swing-set on the roof for the kids while you're at it. The Winnebago just doesn't have enough BALLS for street use anymore - everyone wants tire-ripping power to race from stoplight to stoplight nowadays, and the bigger the ride, the better. Shit, 8-year (???!?) financing is now a reality, which comes in handy so that we can continue making those minimum's on all 12 VISA card bills, along with payments on a $670,000 mortgage.

Is this some sort of a joke that I'm not getting? What happened to plain old financial common sense? Am I the only one who:

  1. Is debt-free?

  1. Refuses to purchase a huge, overpriced fuel-swilling PIG of a vehicle just for the sake of vanity?

  2. Actually saves for retirement and 'rainy days' instead of blowing every last penny I've ever earned on huge, frivolous automobile purchases?

  1. Gives a shit about the massive transfer of wealth to US and export energy companies who enjoy exploiting a monopoly?

  2. Commutes in a crappy looking vehicle without regard to what others think?

I don't get it. Normally, when fuel hits $2-big ones a jug, people start cutting back, but not this time around. It seems as though everyone figures it's just another spike, and no one pays any attention. I'm not rich, and having to fork over more than $25 bucks to fill the tank is distressing. I know people paying over $100 a week to juice the Sport Ute, and yet, their driving habits and car buying habits are unchanged. In fact, their driving habits are WORSE and far more aggressive than I've ever seen.

Posturing? Stupidity? Gluttony without end? I don't get it.

-JD

-------------------------------- Enlightenment for The Masses: http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams--------------------------------

Reply to
JD Adams
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Afraid that like most Americans, I'm in debt, but most of it came from my wife getting sick and going on diability. I'm slowly digging out of the hole.

My 2002 GT Convertible gets 20 mpg; my Subaru Baja gets--- 20 mpg

10% on my salary goes into my 401k.

I agree, and I think that I must be the only Republican other than Pat Buchanan that thinks that outsourcing our jobs to India and China is an act of treason.

I could care less about looks, but I need something reliable that I won't be afraid to drive 200-500 mile trips without fear of breaking down in buttfuck Kansas...

I drive my 20 mpg cars, do proper maintance and refuse to get in races with ricers.

IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY!

Ralph '20 mpg' Snart

Reply to
Ralph Snart

Why people want to mod SUVs and Pickups for more Speed is beyond my comprehension!! Who the hell cares if your SUV is faster than mine ??

Well, my beater is a 93 Olds Bravada AWD that gets around 20MPG. Not "too" bad.

Mmm.....YUP!! You're the ONLY one! LOL! :>)

Yea, I've been following the Car Ads to and noticed the 84 months of Payments!! I was like "Holy Sh1t !!" You get a "nice" $30,000 car for $425+Month for 8 friggin years!! YIKES !!!!!

Gotta out do the Joneses man!

Mmm.......YUP!! Once again JD, you're the ONLY one! LOL!

I agree JD, it is friggin mind boggeling !!

My wife and I ask each other all the time where folks are getting funds to support all their toys!

Around here, $200,000+ homes are snatched up as soon as they are built ! This is in an area that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the Country at 5.9%! Most of the jobs around here are Wally World and Restaraunt types.

-ERIC

-----------------------------

Reply to
Katmandu

I worked at my Uncle's ARCO station back that time. MAN!! Was THAT FUN! (NOT!)

Pennsylvania used the Even/Odd system based on Inspection Stickers on the windshield. Folks could ONLY get 5 Gallons of gas per DAY!!

We literally had lines a mile long in BOTH directions waiting to get to our pumps.

Yea, it was a REAL treat when we ran out of Gas!!!

Hey, remind me sometime to tell you'all about the time I "almost" blew up my Uncle's Gas Station!! LOL!

-ERIC

Reply to
Katmandu

Outside the mortgage I am.

I'll never buy such a wallowing vehicle.

At my former employer they liked to threaten people's jobs occasionally as motivation. Myself and another complusive saver I worked with laughed at them. Their tatics designed for people who see themselves homeless if they lose a paycheck just don't work on a people who can tighten the belt and go for a couple years without a job.

Remember, people don't think. They buy crap made in china in mass then wonder why the factory down the road has closed.

I rotate which car I take to work. But in the crappy weather its the torqueless wonder most of the time.

I've noticed no difference. Yesterday's driving adventure started out like this:

I pull into the gas station, many of the pumps are out of service. The one that is in service is part blocked by a couple in some giant SUV barn thing filling up from the neighboring pump. I pull up fairly swiftly about four inches from their bumper. (I am driving the mustang, the torqueless wonder, I would have got closer) They give me dirty looks. So I say, you're the one blocking two pumps. the woman insists she's not blocking two pumps. I point out the seam in the concrete marking the half way point. The entire front clip of their barn on wheels past that mark. She then says I should have gone through the inconveince of backing into another pump. They were obviously annoyed that they were now forced to back out.

Then, back on the road, another SUV driver cuts me off. I am talking three inches here. I go around him and he high beams me, then flips me off.

It just goes on from there. Outside of a couple LLB morons, every one of them driving SUVs. I damn near posted in r.a.d 'this is why SUV drivers get a bad rep'

Reply to
Brent P

Hmm.... maybe that could happen again. I'll ride the bicycle and resell most of my alotment at 10x what I paid for it.

Reply to
Brent P

LOL, JD you must be getting old.. like me. I just laugh at the rampant stupidity.

1). You and a few others are debt free. Just about everyone else is in debt up to their eyeballs.. THAT is the American way. Besides, it's where the money is made in America these days.. financial institutions. And you know who the biggest contributors to the greedy politicians are..

2) Don't you know? Its show business! Its not who you are.. it's what you look like and what you have (I didn't say own because the banks are the owners).

3) Retirement?? Savings?? What's that?? This is the funniest of them all! I can't wait to see the masses of idiots reach retirement age still deep in debt. Who do they think is going to support them.. their greedy kids?? ROFLMAO

4) No one gives a shit about anything except how they look and what they have (see 2 above).

5) Of course NOT! It's ALL about what others think (see 2 above). Not caring want others think would require INDIVIDUALISM and CHARACTER and there's precious little of either.

Just relax and enjoy the humor. I guarantee you'll get the last laugh.

LJH

95GT

Reply to
Larry Hepinstall

I think I was born old in this respect :)

Perception over reality.

They are going to vote themselves money from the treasury as people having been doing for decades now. As ben franklin predicted, that is the end of the republic. I expect a tax rate so high as boomers retire that I will stop working because it won't be worth it.

With so few people with those values, dating becomes difficult. I need a digital camera to capture some of the looks I've gotten driving the torqueless wonder car.

When is it coming?

Reply to
Brent P

Awww hell JD, you're just a tight ass! $2.15 for 87 octane!!????

Do they offer you a jar of vaseline to go with that fill up? Out here we are at a miserable $1.83 for 93 (yup 93) octane

Though Shug has only been driven about 4 times since we moved in. Still working on the top half of a tank of gas. Dick has a fixation with his big old diesel guzzling 4x4 F250 Turbo... go figure... it's only a buck fitty seven a gallon.

I have noticed one thing though, in the truck, no one tailgates. I took Shug out yesterday and sure as life, there was some moron trying to hump the back of my car again. I just cannot figure it out!

Kate

Reply to
SVTKate

You can make that three of us Ralphie m'boy!

Kate

Reply to
SVTKate

"Katmandu" wrote

Who the hell cares if your SUV is faster than mine ??

Wellll *I* do!!!! geeze, where's your sense of competition? Your sense of malace? Your sense of domination? I swear, kids these days....

*WEG*

Kate

| | > And I alone rack up 37 mpg. in The Beater. The cheese stands alone. | | Well, my beater is a 93 Olds Bravada AWD that gets around 20MPG. Not "too" | bad. | | > Not only am I in the minority with respect to sane driving behavior, | | Mmm.....YUP!! You're the ONLY one! LOL! :>) | | > Shit, 8-year (???!?) financing is now a reality, which comes in | > handy so that we can continue making those minimum's on all 12 VISA card | > bills, | | Yea, I've been following the Car Ads to and noticed the 84 months of | Payments!! I was like "Holy Sh1t !!" You get a "nice" $30,000 car for | $425+Month for 8 friggin years!! YIKES !!!!! | | > Is this some sort of a joke that I'm not getting? What happened to plain | old | > financial common sense? | | Gotta out do the Joneses man! | | > Am I the only one who: | >

| > 1. Is debt-free? | >

| > 2. Refuses to purchase a huge, overpriced fuel-swilling PIG of a vehicle | just | > for the sake of vanity? | >

| > 3. Actually saves for retirement and 'rainy days' instead of blowing every | > last penny I've ever earned on huge, frivolous automobile purchases? | >

| > 4. Gives a shit about the massive transfer of wealth to US and export | energy | > companies who enjoy exploiting a monopoly? | >

| > 5. Commutes in a crappy looking vehicle without regard to what others | think? | | Mmm.......YUP!! Once again JD, you're the ONLY one! LOL! | | > I don't get it. Normally, when fuel hits $2-big ones a jug, people start | > cutting back, but not this time around. It seems as though everyone | figures | > it's just another spike, and no one pays any attention. I'm not rich, and | > having to fork over more than $25 bucks to fill the tank is distressing. | I | > know people paying over $100 a week to juice the Sport Ute, and yet, their | > driving habits and car buying habits are unchanged. In fact, their | driving | > habits are WORSE and far more aggressive than I've ever seen. | >

| > Posturing? Stupidity? Gluttony without end? I don't get it. | | I agree JD, it is friggin mind boggeling !! | | My wife and I ask each other all the time where folks are getting funds to | support all their toys! | | Around here, $200,000+ homes are snatched up as soon as they are built ! | This is in an area that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the | Country at 5.9%! Most of the jobs around here are Wally World and | Restaraunt types. | | | -ERIC | | | | | | ----------------------------- | > Enlightenment for The Masses: | > http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams| > --------------------------------| |

Reply to
SVTKate

I am also one of the few that can say they are debt free, outside of the mortgage anyway. No car loans, no credit card balances.

Bought an Exploder new in '97 with the 5.0 and AWD, won't go that route again. Next family vehicle will probably be a minivan (ack).

I try to put a sizeable amout every year added into my IRA accounts. Also, since my business is seasonal, I have learned quickly how to keep enough onhand reserves to get through the 4 months I don't work every year.

Sucks, but I don't think there is much an individual could do about it. Will take some major high level involvement and restructuring to make any progress there.

While I don't consider my daily drivers 'crappy looking', I also don't care what anyone else would think of them.

I haven't really noticed people that much worse behing the wheel. Everyone around here is still their normal 'get out of my way I'm in a hurry to get nowhere' mode.

Jason S.

Reply to
Jason S

JD Adams wrote

I've noticed that giant pickup

The more that Joe (and Josephine) Schmoe enjoy performance, the better. I wish they did not burn up so much gas doing it, though.

Shit, 8-year (???!?) financing is now a reality, which comes in

Better to have a consumer-driven, expanding economy than the frugality-driven stagnation and deflation of Japan.

Yes

No.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, there's always the grave. But other than that, yes.

180 Out TS 28
Reply to
180 Out

Money that is saved buys more with deflation, money borrowed can be paid back with money that buys less with inflation.

Reply to
Brent P

Havn't seen anyone doing that with kids, yet; but the other stuff. I was going to say "No" but here Premium is $1.82 a gallon, about $1.60 for regular and that's at Chevron and Gulf, not the discount places.

Debt free except for my house

Ehh, the Murano is not the most efficient, but it's certainly no guzzler..

I have a really good state retirement and some personal stuff.

I also dislike the idea of my taxes being spent to give abortions to poor women in Africa. Among other things of course.

Ok, you win that one, the Murano is a REALLY slick looking vehicle :-D

Reply to
WindsorFox[SS]

Hmmm, never been there. What's it like ??

Reply to
WindsorFox[SS]

No, as I sit here having taken a 50% cut in pay last month I agree. My job was given to someone who know zip about what I used to do in the guise of appeasing and inappeasable and retarded public.

Reply to
WindsorFox[SS]

Mile and miles of nothing, not even cell phone coverage. You can drive miles on I-70 in Kansas and not see a sign, a curve - nothing; just fields of wheat on both sides of the road. Not even a damned tree. At least the deserts have an occasional cactus for decoration.

That, my friend, is being in the middle of nowhere.

Reply to
Ralph Snart

At least my job is pretty well outsource-proof, but I still work for idiots, and I have a big, loud mouth and have trouble keeping it shut.

I'm in the boss's office at least once every 2 months, and in front of HR at least once a year, and it's always about petty bullshit.

BTW, sorry about the job - if it works for you, get into healthcare. With the aging population, there is need for Nurses, Physical Therapist, X-Ray Techs, Nutriconist, etc. At least those jobs can't be sent to Raj in India.....

Reply to
Ralph Snart

well now, on the UP side... there may not be many Troopers out there and you could let your Pony RUN !! Kate

| > > I could care less about looks, but I need something reliable that I | won't be | > > afraid to drive 200-500 mile trips without fear of breaking down in | buttfuck | > > Kansas... | > >

| > >

| >

| > Hmmm, never been there. What's it like ?? | >

| > -- | | Mile and miles of nothing, not even cell phone coverage. You can drive | miles on I-70 in Kansas and not see a sign, a curve - nothing; just fields | of wheat on both sides of the road. Not even a damned tree. At least the | deserts have an occasional cactus for decoration. | | That, my friend, is being in the middle of nowhere. | |

Reply to
SVTKate

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