<This is a bit corny - but following Yankee, what can I say? The Oil Drum Oh All Right (or Friday Open Thread 2) (from a conference no less...)>

256 comments on Friday Open Thread

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fleam on April 21, 2006 - 10:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hmm, Erf day, let's see...... I'm considering going to the Make Magazine "Makers Faire" this weekend, and have already decided the train's the best way to get there, maybe I'll just go carfree for the weekend.

I do have errends, bank trip, etc but I can walk 'em, it will do me good.

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Mad Maxout on April 21, 2006 - 10:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
In my neighbourhood, I walk around, but I leave the car at home on weekends. Not having kids helps. Much shopping I can do by walking or using the CTA (but not Pace), and the CTA is a weekend option. It's that I really despise the Pace buses in Chicago's suburbs. They run once an hour at best and non-existent as the norm, plus their climate control problems, which is inexcusable when looking for ridership.

Unlike most drivers, I'm aware of energy use as I weekly keep track of fuel consumption and all but calibrated the gas gauge onboard my car. That way, I know how much money to put down to ensure it tops off when I get my weekly load of gas. I took a day off and this morning, I loaded onboard 5.0? gallons of gas but drove 144.5 miles for the previous week. 28.9mpg. I live .6 of a gallon away, yet I have coworkers who live 4 gallons away. Guess who's the real fool? The bloke with the 4 gallon commuting mission!

Once I park my car on a Friday, I don't have to touch it until the Monday morning mission to work. That's the way it should be. And all walking-inaccessible shopping done enroute on an afternoon commute. Why waste gas? Given the copious energy use of cars, it could be thought as a road-only aircraft. If you had to pay for that jet fuel, would you waste it? Of course not!. Why more people don't seem to care about fuel use as they drive is hard to fathom, unless they are a Jeff Skilling. (or some airline pays for a pilot's fuel use as he "drives")

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Anonymoose on April 22, 2006 - 8:22am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
My outlook is that basically there is no bright future while we are on this stupid detritus trajectory. So my approach is get through the detritus NOW. Burn it all. Burn it as fast as you can. I used to put $20 in the tank ... now its $30 ... soon ? who cares. As long as I still have some money for food, and the gas stations still have gas who cares. And fortunately my utils are included in my rent so I can help send us back to Olduvai as good as anyone else by leaving the air conditioner on max all the time even (gasp) when I'm out. Yeah, I want this money dominated bank controlled society to fail, so that something better can replace it. I want to be part of the solution but I need to get there .... so ... walk if you're desperate, bike if you gotta, drive if you can -- burn it. Burn it all.
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Mad Maxout on April 22, 2006 - 2:52pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I hope you're not a troll, but your thinking sums it up for most people. Assuming you are sincere, sooner or later, as gas prices climb, you WILL have to make crappy choices. That is one major point behind us Peak Oil people.

I don't know your commute's mission profile, but I know that gas prices if high enough will force you to change behaviour.

You may:

  1. take the bus

  2. carpool if possible

  3. use a motorcycle, scooter or even a bicycle

  4. LOSE YOUR JOB

If that's not enough reason to be aware of fuel consumption, I don't know what is. Yes, your car is your (road-only) aircraft.
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Anonymoose on April 22, 2006 - 8:32pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Mad Maxout,

I'm pretty sincere yeah, but I suppose I'm lucky -- I work from home. I own a bicycle, but live in the burbs and need to use the car to get anything done. I'd max out about CAD$8 a litre which would have me spending probably about $400/month on gas, (right now its $50-100 with $1.00/liter) before moving to the city (Toronto) where public transit is pretty good.

If I lose my job, I'll find a new one, or do whatever I need to do. I'll find a way. I'll survive. And when my luck runs out ... life will catch up with me.

If the S is going to HTF (and I believe it will) then I just want it to hurry up and do so. Cascading systems failure.

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256 comments on Friday Open Thread

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