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From the bizarro world of Musbjim, here's another perspective on the angst over gas prices

e.g.- for discussion sake say that price of gasoline is $3.50 in your neck of the woods. Also, figure the mileage your vehicle gets on that gallon of gas. Let's say it gets 20 mpg. I don't know about you, but I'd rather pay that $3.50 for the gallon of gas than walk the 20 miles it would have taken me in the car.

I'm just saying...

Last edited by MusbJim

Lynn and I just got back to our house in Florida after spending over five months at our home in Michigan. Our son in law had a stroke in June, and ended up passing away in October. Our youngest daughter was married to him for two months - he had his 33rd birthday the day before he passed. We spent an additional couple of months up north trying to help our daughter see a path forward - luckily, we're her landlord, and can make rent affordable for her while she make's $18.50/hr at her new job as a postal carrier.

We got back home, only to find out our neighbor and friend of 30 years, was found by his wife dead in the basement of their home - he was 59. I guess my point is try not to worry about money too much - it's a pretty short ride on this planet. Inflation, gas prices, the stock market - they all ebb and flow - always has, always will.

Some may think it's easy for the guy with a couple houses to say not to worry so much about money, and while we do feel blessed, one of our houses has a 30 year mortgage attached. In addition, you could add the square footage of our houses together, and it would still be smaller than what many folks live in nowadays. So, enjoy the ride now - life is short.

Bill

Wow, Bill. Devastating news in all fronts; hope you all recuperate from those blows; especially your daughter. May she find peace and consolation to move forward and may your son in law rest in peace. And yes, without getting too deep into it my faith tells me better things await us after our crossing here. We are not Earth beings but from the spirit and that keeps me hopeful and at ease. Hope you all have a good Christmas/Hannukah.

Here in Mexico propane has gone up a lot. Our 300 qtr tank used to cost 550 pesos to fill. Now it's 3200 pesos !

We have no heater in the house and sometimes it's a little chilly on some mornings until about 10AM.  We have a double sided fireplace  (between two rooms) so I turn on the Propane fake log burner, turn on a fan in the one room and blow the heat out into the living room, then turn on the ceiling fans out there to blow the warm air down on us. Works pretty well !  By 10AM I'm down to shorts and Tee shirt again !  Of course the weather forecast down here is always  "Chile today, Hot Tamale" !

Bill......I am sorry for your losses.  33 years old is tragic !  Two months of Marriage even more !   I sure makes me realize just how temporarily ambulatory we all really are. Susan and I are just thankful for each day we are allowed to live pain free, warm, and happy with a full meal before us...................Bruce

Yeah I just got my electric heating bill for my sail boat. T stat is set for 32 degreesF and I leave her in the Tahoe Keys all year. the Keys is a series of canals and homes developed in the last 40 years. Waterfront homes with boat docks. If keep you boa's interior above freezing and water bubbler to keep the water from freezing around the boat is relatively risk free. No winter storage, and not launch and retrieval fees. She has an electric engine which I simply remove from the water for winter. You have to pump the sewage tank and drain the water tank. I do not allow any #2 on the boat and all pissing has to go in the Lake. Although prohibited I am not to concerned about a pint of piss when dispersed with 36 cubic miles of water. The visualize every drop of water in the Lake comes from snowfall and rain. The 72 flows into the lake are all in a basin that drains to the lake. If it stops raining and snowing tomorrow, may have), it will take 900 years for the water to evaporate.

Bill,

Sorry to hear of the losses you have recently been put through. It does put into perspective how fast life can change for ANYONE. So while we should all live as though our lives will be short, we should live them with honor and integrity, and treat everyone better than we would treat ourselves for today could be our last day. Prayers that your daughter finds the strength she needs to recover and move forward. And the same for your neighbor/friend who lost her husband.

Holy Cow, Bill - That's just awful.

We've been through some rough times over the decades but nothing really as serious as those two, close together.  Sounds like you're being the best parents you can be for your daughter and I'm sure that she appreciates it.  We did something similar for our daughter years ago (early divorce) and helped her all that we could.  That's what you do, right?

I'm hoping you all have as good a Christmas as you can have and know that things will get better.

All the best.  Gordon

Thanks for all of the kind thoughts and reply's fellas   - it's greatly appreciated. The neurosurgeon that operated on Justin said he had an arterial/venous malformation right by his brain stem. He felt it was probably congenital, and could have ruptured at any time. Between him and our neighbor, the world lost two very fine people.

Our daughters have had to endure far more in their short lives than in the entirety of my own. They'll be ok, but they've certainly been tested. Live for today - it's all we've got.

Everyone have a safe holiday season, and thanks again for the kind words of support.

Bill 

@majorkahuna posted:

Yeah I just got my electric heating bill for my sail boat. T stat is set for 32 degreesF and I leave her in the Tahoe Keys all year. the Keys is a series of canals and homes developed in the last 40 years. Waterfront homes with boat docks. If keep you boa's interior above freezing and water bubbler to keep the water from freezing around the boat is relatively risk free. No winter storage, and not launch and retrieval fees. She has an electric engine which I simply remove from the water for winter. You have to pump the sewage tank and drain the water tank. I do not allow any #2 on the boat and all pissing has to go in the Lake. Although prohibited I am not to concerned about a pint of piss when dispersed with 36 cubic miles of water. The visualize every drop of water in the Lake comes from snowfall and rain. The 72 flows into the lake are all in a basin that drains to the lake. If it stops raining and snowing tomorrow, may have), it will take 900 years for the water to evaporate.

Heating oil (for those of us unfortunately? in historic houses without natural gas) is at an ALL TIME high, a full 50% higher than what it was 10 years ago.

Really time to move somewhere warmer.

Auto gas is higher than Katrina days.

@slowshoes so sorry to hear about this.  I am an AVM survivor myself, still get an MRI every few years.  Only knew it existed because it was very loud.  They are quite rare.  There is some debate that Howard Hughes had one that was very loud, hence the reason he liked being in a cockpit where the sound was drowned out.  They can also drive you to madness because of the non-stop noise while for others they are silent.

@slowshoeslowshoes I broke down in tears after reading this and I don’t even know you it Tug at my heart strings! Sorry for your loss I hope your daughter finds her way.There are some tuff times ahead for sure!! We lost our oldest son 14 yrs ago in a car crash and my older brother about 6 - 7 months afterwards it might even been 8 months, I don’t know for sure I just Know we were living in a fog for a couple years. I just Know its the Hardest thing my wife ,kids & I have ever been through!! TIME makes it easier to deal with but the Grief well slip back in out of nowhere and hit you Hard but I think that’s all apart of healing. Holidays, birthdays, death days are usually the worst! My wife is the strong one, she said OK we still got a couple more boys to raise and let’s try to Not let our grief overwhelm us to where we neglect our other children. From then on we decided that we still have a life to live and life goes on and will see them again some day.  I don’t think they would want us to do it any other way! The ones we lost I mean. We will keep you in our prayers!

So like so many others have said before Cherish the Day because you never know when it’s gonna be your last! So be kind to each other and try not to go to bed Mad at each other if can!

Wow, really sorry for your loss. Tto hear 60 years is a long time and then to find yourself without her .. just wow,  thank God he is the God of the still living, but unseen.


@jprpdr

True story,  a friend lost his son at 33y.o. in a tragic accident.  

He had a service eulogy where the older pastor in private told him one of his life events.  He had died on the operating table and went to heaven, there he saw all of time on a single plane with all his relatives that came to greet him, past, present, future and he felt so much love from all that he realized he was in heaven and then he suddenly came back and when he woke up he lost all fear of death as he now knew he was going home for a family reunion when he would pass.

Last edited by IaM-Ray

Regarding the graph, gas prices, and the larger picture:

I agree with Ed regarding the historical downward trend in gasoline prices, especially if we are talking about a 100 year time window.

Most of us are not.

The graph from 1918- 1960 is pretty irrelevant to any discussion. In 1918, the petroleum industry was in its infancy and was essentially a monopoly. Even price data from 1960- 1973 has limited utility in the discussion, because that was all pre-EPA - pre-unleaded fuel, and pre-modern economy in a lot of important ways.

When most people complain about gas prices, they're complaining about the extreme volatility - the "knee jerks" that Bob notes, as well as the general "straight up" increases since 2002. There was a major dip that occurred around 2010 with the advent of fracking, but fracking is the nuclear power of our generation - the environmentalists' sum of all fears. There is still great pressure to stop it.

The graph also has no recent data. I think the point most people are making is that the current average price is at or over the peak of the graph ($3.50/gal), meaning that it's 30%-50% more than it was a couple of years ago.

Obviously, everything has to be viewed through the lens of the general rate of inflation, and that's been my point in trying to sound the alarm regarding real (as opposed to "measured") inflation. In the places that matter most, the cost of goods i accelerating pretty dramatically. Will it slow or stop? Not as long as the Fed is buying bonds and keeping interest rates at near zero. Will the price of gasoline return to earth? Not as long as we make it harder and harder to extract, transport, and burn with policy and treaty.

Whether or not this is a good thing is politics, which I'm trying hard to personally forswear on this site, but it's got to be fair for old men (many of whom are on fixed incomes or money they saved when it was worth a lot more) to complain about the price of gas, which is after all, the great American pastime.

Regardless, as Jim notes - driving a Speedster remains pretty cheap therapy.

Last edited by Stan Galat

I have no heat in the first floor of my house in Norfolk. Currently with 2 space heaters going it’s 59 degrees F. My heater/AC guy tells me the part to fix the system is sitting in a boat in the Pacific Ocean. Said it will be early January until I have heat. Conciliation is at least I’m saving a few bucks.
In regards to the other serious drift. Some folks just have a time bomb in them that can go off at any time. No reason to think about it since there’s nothing you can do about it. Just try to control what you can control. Try to eat right. Try to exercise. Get your yearly check up with your physician. And try to be kind. Being content and happy is probably the best thing you can do for your health.

@550 Phil posted:

I have no heat in the first floor of my house in Norfolk. Currently with 2 space heaters going it’s 59 degrees F. My heater/AC guy tells me the part to fix the system is sitting in a boat in the Pacific Ocean. Said it will be early January until I have heat.

... must not talk about it... must not talk about it... must not talk about it...

Lalalalalalalalalalalala.

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