Dinosaurs
Okay, this is just one more spoiled American complaining about the price of gas. And you friends in California will laugh at me and and our enviably "low" pump numbers. But we are out of control. Three days ago one of the stations I patronize regularly posted regular at $2.259. The next day it was $2.359. Yesterday it was $2.459. This morning it backed down to $2.419. I just passed there and saw $2.499. Has gas ever fluctuated 10 cents per day on sequential days ever before? I can't remember it. After years of only a bike to get me around on I finally have a car. And a convertible at that. But just like you, I may not get to drive it for long. A quick run of the numbers shows we're quickly approaching the point where we'll be money ahead to just quit our jobs and stay home. And the SUV still in the shop? Maybe I should just leave it there. Perhaps someone will come up with a way to make motorcycle fuel out of the rotting carcasses of cars and trucks.
btw, my bike ticked over 80,000 miles last night. At 60 mpg, just think of all the money I saved.
btw, my bike ticked over 80,000 miles last night. At 60 mpg, just think of all the money I saved.
posted by wingman at 4:11 PM
7 Comments:
i'm paying $3.09 at the moment... you don't have my symapathy.
Yeah. I didn't think there would be much from out your way. After posting I got to thinking about the folks in Europe who have been dealing with this extortion for many years.
Near my house its $2.759
by the way- that's a seriously cool bio pic. how'd you take that? was somebody behind you?
once i duct taped a video camera to the handle bar of my suzuki gs 500. not the best plan, may it rest in peace. (the camera, not the bike thankfully!)
Well, that's not my bike. Wish it was. One of my former students has a Honda VTX-1800. He knew I was going to make a run to Orlando from here in South Carolina to do a freelance gig, a trip I've done several times on my '85 500 Shadow. He wandered into my office and asked me if I wanted to take the VTX? "Are you kidding?!!" What a great ride that was. The VTX is an awesome machine. I'd like to have one, but I think I would be awash in tickets. That thing blasts through 100mph without even thinking about it. Anyway, as much fun as it was, by the time I was in the last hour of the return trip, I got a little restless. I got out my Canon A75 (a 3.2 MP cam that cost less than $200 plus a $60 wide angle add-on lens) and started messing around with slow shutter speeds combined with flash. Normally the flash doesn't work well with the wide angle lens because the lens casts a shadow over about half the field of view. But in this case, it was a nice effect. You'll notice that my left hand is not holding the handlebars. That's because it's holding the camera (upside down) to the left and behind my helmet where I tripped the shutter with my thumb. I had to try a bunch of times before I got something I liked, of course. But I had lots of time just sitting there. I love digital photography. You can just keep experimenting and learning from the experiments on the spot until you get something. That kind of thing took forever with film.
There's another copy of the shot here:
http://brokenfeathers.blogspot.com/2005_03_20_brokenfeathers_archive.html
double click on it and it will get bigger than the bio pick version
It's three months later now. We've had gas at well over three dollars a gallon. It's finally starting to come down again - all the way "down" to the prices I was complaining about in the original post. But now we're all feeling like two dollars a gallon will be really cheap. Something tells me that was the oil companies' plan all along. I think the hurricanes and the wars in the middle east were just very convenient excuses.
The diesel Passat I'm driving is not such a sweet ride, but at 36 - 41 mpg, fuel costs are below $.10/mi - much better than my wife's Pilot. I'm not holding out much hope for a good Detroit Diesel, but I'll be all over it when Honda gets their version to the US...
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