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When the gas in my tank...

SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
edited July 2006 in A Moving Train
OK, so I just returned from a driving trip to Montana from Chicagoland. 4,300 miles or so, including driving while out there. Big Sky Country is plenty beautiful, to be certain, and it spawned Jeff and Barry Ament, which is a good thing. There's a reason why Johnny Depp, Howie Long, John Lithgow, Phil Jackson and dozens of other celebrities have homes there.

But 4,300 miles with gas prices always around $3.00 a gallon is pretty crazy.

The point of this post is, it's even crazier when I noticed just a few minutes ago with the classic movie "Die Hard" on as background noise that the Los Angeles gas prices shown in the film for a split second were $0.74 and $0.77 a gallon! Granted, this was back in 1987 or '88. But it still makes one a little nauseated.

It's a shame that these prices will probably never be lower than this again.
"Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • *Boy*Boy Posts: 112
    SeveredMatt wrote:
    OK, so I just returned from a driving trip to Montana from Chicagoland. 4,300 miles or so, including driving while out there. Big Sky Country is plenty beautiful, to be certain, and it spawned Jeff and Barry Ament, which is a good thing. There's a reason why Johnny Depp, Howie Long, John Lithgow, Phil Jackson and dozens of other celebrities have homes there.

    But 4,300 miles with gas prices always around $3.00 a gallon is pretty crazy.

    The point of this post is, it's even crazier when I noticed just a few minutes ago with the classic movie "Die Hard" on as background noise that the Los Angeles gas prices shown in the film for a split second were $0.74 and $0.77 a gallon! Granted, this was back in 1987 or '88. But it still makes one a little nauseated.

    It's a shame that these prices will probably never be lower than this again.

    so?...................



















    how much?
    ~It is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not ~

    ~You laugh because I am different, I laugh because you are all the fucking same ~

    ~Education is the most powerfull weapon you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela~

    ~chaka boom chak -Tom Waits~
  • SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
    *Boy wrote:
    so?...................
    how much?

    If you mean how much was gas out there, it's actually cheaper than most parts of the country. Especially Wyoming.

    To wit:

    * The cheapest I was able to get it for was $2.73 a gallon in Wyoming. Now, that was for 85 octane, which is lower than the fairly standard 87 I'd get in the Chicago area.
    * The most expensive full tank in my Honda Pilot SUV (yes, it's my fault I own an SUV, but at the time I purchased it, it was the least gas-guzzling of the full-size SUV class) was $50 on the nose. Ironically, it was also at the $2.73/gallon purchase above. But I had to put in about 18.3 gallons into my 19.3-gallon tank.
    * The most expensive I paid was $2.99 on the way home in Iowa.
    * When I returned to the Chicago area, I was oh so happy to see that prices were in the $3.12-$3.25 range.
    * And then I remembered my trip to Maui in May, when I routinely paid $3.50 and higher to fill up our rental convertible, and I didn't feel so bad. But I still felt pretty damn shitty.

    Further:

    * In 1987-88 or so, L.A. gas prices, if you go off of the "Die Hard" example, were well under $1.
    * 10 years later, in 1997, I remember still paying under $1 at stations in Indiana, just over the Illinois state line.
    * In the last 10 years, is there ANYTHING else you can think of that has tripled in price? Can you imagine paying $2 for a gallon of milk in 1997 and paying $6 a gallon now? How about $20,000 for a new car, but $60,000 for the same car now? How about $12 for "No Code" in 1996, but $36 for "Pearl Jam" in 2006?

    My only real point is, damn does this suck!
    "Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
  • CenterCityCenterCity Posts: 193
    oh okay....you literally meant talking about the gas issue.
    I need to finish writing.
  • *Boy*Boy Posts: 112
    SeveredMatt wrote:
    If you mean how much was gas out there, it's actually cheaper than most parts of the country. Especially Wyoming.

    To wit:

    * The cheapest I was able to get it for was $2.73 a gallon in Wyoming. Now, that was for 85 octane, which is lower than the fairly standard 87 I'd get in the Chicago area.
    * The most expensive full tank in my Honda Pilot SUV (yes, it's my fault I own an SUV, but at the time I purchased it, it was the least gas-guzzling of the full-size SUV class) was $50 on the nose. Ironically, it was also at the $2.73/gallon purchase above. But I had to put in about 18.3 gallons into my 19.3-gallon tank.
    * The most expensive I paid was $2.99 on the way home in Iowa.
    * When I returned to the Chicago area, I was oh so happy to see that prices were in the $3.12-$3.25 range.
    * And then I remembered my trip to Maui in May, when I routinely paid $3.50 and higher to fill up our rental convertible, and I didn't feel so bad. But I still felt pretty damn shitty.

    Further:

    * In 1987-88 or so, L.A. gas prices, if you go off of the "Die Hard" example, were well under $1.
    * 10 years later, in 1997, I remember still paying under $1 at stations in Indiana, just over the Illinois state line.
    * In the last 10 years, is there ANYTHING else you can think of that has tripled in price? Can you imagine paying $2 for a gallon of milk in 1997 and paying $6 a gallon now? How about $20,000 for a new car, but $60,000 for the same car now? How about $12 for "No Code" in 1996, but $36 for "Pearl Jam" in 2006?

    My only real point is, damn does this suck!


    +

    =
    ~It is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not ~

    ~You laugh because I am different, I laugh because you are all the fucking same ~

    ~Education is the most powerfull weapon you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela~

    ~chaka boom chak -Tom Waits~
  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,977
    yes, i remember gas prices under a dollar when i first started to drive. i also remember the oil crisis in the 70s, my parents going to the gas station on even or odd days, to ration it out...the long lines, etc. amazing what happens. however, as many who do NOT live in the US are always quick to point out, most of the world has ALWAYS endured high gas prices while we did not. man, i hope this is our 'wake up' call...and we finally do something about our dependence and consumption...and look towards alternatives.

    i just filled up yesterday; $3.25 a gallon.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
    *Boy wrote:
    +

    =

    Am I missing something, or am I supposed to understand what that means?
    "Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
  • *Boy*Boy Posts: 112
    SeveredMatt wrote:
    Am I missing something, or am I supposed to understand what that means?


    whats the total you spend driving 4300 miles? :)
    ~It is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not ~

    ~You laugh because I am different, I laugh because you are all the fucking same ~

    ~Education is the most powerfull weapon you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela~

    ~chaka boom chak -Tom Waits~
  • NevermindNevermind Posts: 1,006
    Its sad that the government is stealing Iraqs oil and still raise the price. The oil companies are making hundreds of billions of dollars a day. Theyre raping our economy for their own personal profit. George W owns a lot of the oil companies.
  • SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
    *Boy wrote:
    whats the total you spend driving 4300 miles? :)

    I don't have an EXACT total because I took the trip with my wife and brother, so he filled up every other tank and I filled up every other tank. But if I'm guessing, it was between $700-800.

    Keep in mind, there was a lot of mountain and hilly driving once we hit South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, and that takes a lot more gas than normal highway driving.
    "Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
  • *Boy*Boy Posts: 112
    SeveredMatt wrote:
    I don't have an EXACT total because I took the trip with my wife and brother, so he filled up every other tank and I filled up every other tank. But if I'm guessing, it was between $700-800.

    Keep in mind, there was a lot of mountain and hilly driving once we hit South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, and that takes a lot more gas than normal highway driving.

    if you were alone you could better fly
    ~It is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not ~

    ~You laugh because I am different, I laugh because you are all the fucking same ~

    ~Education is the most powerfull weapon you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela~

    ~chaka boom chak -Tom Waits~
  • SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
    *Boy wrote:
    if you were alone you could better fly

    Oh, if I was alone, or even if it was just my wife and I, we'd DEFINITELY have flown.

    But when you factor in three people, our options were as such:

    * Fly to Missoula for $550 each (this was when we checked prices about four months ago), then you still have rent a car and drive an hour to where we were staying.
    * Fly to Helena for $350 each (again, four months ago), then rent a car and drive 3 1/2 hours to where we were staying.
    * Take the train for $170 on the way out, $210 on the way back (this went up SIGNIFICANTLY as we got closer to the trip). And again, still rent a car and drive to where we needed to get to.

    So all things considered, driving was really the cheapest option. Now, I had both my wife and brother BEGGING for music other than Pearl Jam on the trip home. On the way out, I made them listen to "Ten" through "Pearl Jam" sequentially, plus "Benaroyal Hall," plus the Summerfest 1 boot!
    "Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
  • CenterCityCenterCity Posts: 193
    that's funny.....music....is so vital on road trips....yikes only pearl jam.....i could say the same. my boyfriend would not appreciate just listening to "pearl jam".
    we're actually going up to montreal.
    .....and speaking of matts, i think i'm finally going to listen to soundgarden all the way thru.....so late on the soundgarden and matt cameron bandwagon. lol
    I need to finish writing.
  • mpg82mpg82 Posts: 83
    Gas was under $1.00 when Clinton was in office.
    6/26/98, 6/27/98, 06/13/99, 10/08/00, 6/18/03, 6/21/03, 6/29/06, 6/30/06, 5/7/10
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    What was it when Clinton left office?
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • bryn_cmbsbryn_cmbs Posts: 407
    In 2001 I could fill up my Beetle for around $16, now it's about $35.
    http://alltimetopfive-boofcombs.blogspot.com/
  • SeveredMattSeveredMatt Posts: 56
    know1 wrote:
    What was it when Clinton left office?

    For Clinton's term, according to fueleconomy.gov, gas was really steady from 1992 until 1997 or so, when it had a nice decline for a year. Then in 1998 it started going up and in 2000, when he left office, it was at its highest rate -- about $1.50 on average -- since 1985.
    "Tried to walk, found a severed ... Matt???"
  • callencallen Posts: 6,388
    Always look at everything as half full....if this gas crunch continues... bigger vehicles may be off the road...it's all good for me. Drive Mini Cooper and get a little tired of incompetent drivers driving all over me cause they can't see me.......also I've been to Europe few times and it's nice seeing small economical cars on the road....and with $6-8 a gallon it makes sense.....I hope it goes to $4.00 a gallon for two years...then backs back down....got to suck being Ford and GM right now....sorry rant..but couldn't help it.

    Oh drove from Houston to Denver to see PJ..in my old BMW that gets 22-25 MPG and it did hurt. (-: should have taken the Cooper.
    10-18-2000 Houston, 04-06-2003 Houston, 6-25-2003 Toronto, 10-8-2004 Kissimmee, 9-4-2005 Calgary, 12-3-05 Sao Paulo, 7-2-2006 Denver, 7-22-06 Gorge, 7-23-2006 Gorge, 9-13-2006 Bern, 6-22-2008 DC, 6-24-2008 MSG, 6-25-2008 MSG
  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,977
    callen wrote:
    Always look at everything as half full....if this gas crunch continues... bigger vehicles may be off the road...it's all good for me. Drive Mini Cooper and get a little tired of incompetent drivers driving all over me cause they can't see me.......also I've been to Europe few times and it's nice seeing small economical cars on the road....and with $6-8 a gallon it makes sense.....I hope it goes to $4.00 a gallon for two years...then backs back down....got to suck being Ford and GM right now....sorry rant..but couldn't help it.

    Oh drove from Houston to Denver to see PJ..in my old BMW that gets 22-25 MPG and it did hurt. (-: should have taken the Cooper.


    yes, agreed. i think i said something similar earlier. perhaps this will finally be our 'wake-up' call? one can only hope.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • rightonduderightondude Posts: 745
    If we could only see how much annually we are pumping into our gas tanks, I think we would all faint, then storm our local government offices en masse.

    I drove my friends Acura MDX around for a day (3-4 hours) and it cost me $35 to bring the tank back to where I left it. I would sell that car the same day I bought it, or just bring it back.

    I also think more people should learn to drive cars with standard transmissions, as you can control the engine revs a LOT more and save gas.

    Automatic cars are like driving for dummies, louder in general, and more wasteful imo.

    I drive a compact turbo'd car, and I puppy it 90% of the time.
  • denverfandenverfan Posts: 218
    Do we need to go into how gas is relativley in-expensive compared to a gallon of something else...take for instace...milk etc...Gas isn't that bad comparitavley speakng..
    "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity but they've always worked for me." Gonzo

    'If my fuckin' ex-wife told me to take care of her dog while her and her new boyfriend went to Honolulu, I'd tell her to go fuck herself." -The Dude

    Whisky Drinker, Non-Hunter from Denver.
  • rightonduderightondude Posts: 745
    denverfan wrote:
    Do we need to go into how gas is relativley in-expensive compared to a gallon of something else...take for instace...milk etc...Gas isn't that bad comparitavley speakng..

    how much milk does it take you to get to work and earn a living every day?

    c'mere....hit your face on my hand :rolleyes:
  • El_KabongEl_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    18cents a gallon in Venezuela...why don't we have any alternatives again? oh yeah, bush got rid of clinton's initiative that automakers have prototypes by a certain date...who'd a thunk and adminstration w/ the prez, vp and sec of state being oil execs would do such a thing

    :rolleyes:
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
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