Gas prices are not encouraging hamfest attendance! How About Alternative Fuels?

[The Slab Bacon]

this whole gas price scenario just plain SUCKS. Big time!! Why are the prices going up?? Simple, it ig getting into the summer / traveling season. Why are they raising the prices: Simple, because they can!!
The oil companies know that we as Americans would much rather pay a high price for it instead of waiting in long lines to get it.

If the government tries to step in and regulate pricing, we will have gas lines again. I dont think the American public would stand for that. So to keep the plumbing flowing, we have to pay the price.

Due to the Americans love for the automobile, and the fact that we have accepted long commutes and no longer want to live where we work. We have screwed ourselves, and left ourselves at the mercy of the oil companies. Dont just blame the oil companies blame ourselves as well.

As was said before, we have fallen prey to the laws of supply and demand. Keep the demand high, keep the supply minimal, get maximum price for quantity produced due to high demand. MAXIMIZE PROFITS!!

                                                         The Slab Bacon

[W9GT]

Gas price here is now $3.399 /gal.
Let's see, where did I put that shovel?

Jack --

I have a good friend that lives in Huntertown and takes route 1 (or is it 3.... been too long since I lived in da Fort...) and he keeps telling me the gas stations around the ITT and Raytheon plants just the fuel prices up on paydays, and lower them afterwards.......

73 Mark K3MSB

Hi Mark,

Didn't realize that you had lived here.  Yes, we seem to enjoy the highest gas prices in the state.  Been told that it has to do with the fact that this market (Allen county and environs) has one of the highest ratios of vehicles to population in the country.  It is always interesting to watch the patterns of price increases....seems like it is always a 20 cent increase...recently taking place on Tuesday or Wednesday...then drops back a nickel or so for the weekend...but does not drop back to the original amount before the hike...just keeps going up.  I know that there are many technical excuses for the high gas prices....some may be valid, but many are not....bottom line is.....it hurts the pocket book severely and causes us to curtail extra curricular activities and non-essential travel.  I have to drive to Decatur every day to work (25 miles).....not a terribly long commute by east or west coast standards, but still adds up to a lot of non-optional driving just to get to work.  
Hey...we will adjust.....we always do....we take it on the chin for awhile...then move on to other ways of doing things.  Life certainly is not always fair, but the challenge is to prevail over adversity and keep on keep'in on.

73,  Jack, W9GT

P.S.  It is Route 3 that goes through Huntertown and up to Kendallville.

[Joe Long]

A Threat to nationalize the oil companys might scare a few speculators.

[W8EJO]

keep the supply minimal, get maximum price for quantity produced due to high demand. MAXIMIZE PROFITS!!
The Slab Bacon

The supply is the key!

In an ever more industrialized world with a growing population the demand will (obviously) continue to grow. How can it not?

We MUST remove the barriers to supply increases.

1) Make it easier for a new company to build A BLEEPING REFINERY.

2) Make it easier to drill for new oil.

What has happened to gas prices will happen to ANY product whose demand grows while supply is kept artificially low by market constraints

Terry
W8EJO

 

[WA1GFZ]

Joe, we can only dream but our government has been nationalized by the oil crooks. So the fox is guarding the hen house.

Take every Lobby A.H. and hang them on the mall as a fourth of July celebration....I would buy a ticket

[The Slab Bacon]

The supply is the key!

In an ever more industrialized world with a growing population the demand will (obviously) continue to grow. How can it not?

We MUST remove the barriers to supply increases.

1) Make it easier for a new company to build A BLEEPING REFINERY.

2) Make it easier to drill for new oil.

What has happened to gas prices will happen to ANY product whose demand grows while supply is kept artificially low by market constraints

Terry
W8EJO

Terry,
         I agree with you 100%!! It sounds like one hell of a business opportunity for someone. However i dont think investors would be ready for the pllitics and other bs that comes along with it.

And then you get the pissers and maoners who want it, and know that we need it, but cry....................... "I dont want it in my back yard"

American drilled oil, and American refineries would put a lot of Americans back into good paying, productive jobs!! "Smokestack industry" is what made this the greatest country in the world. We need to get back to our roots!!

                                          The Slab Bacon

[WA1GFZ]

Right on Frank. We have become a society of button pushers.
producing nothing

[The Slab Bacon]

Right on Frank. We have become a society of button pushers.
producing nothing

Frank,
        Since we are both close to the same age, I know that you will remember this. At one time just about everything consumed by this country was made in this country. (Except specialty ethnic food items) When you picked a item up off of the shelf in a store, you automatically KNEW that it was made here. Americans wouldnt buy foreign made consumer items back then. (mainly because they were inferior to our own) We didnt NEED any foreign produced materials, so we were independant and proud of it! American made products were the standard of excellence all over the world.

Somewhere in fairly recent times that has changed. Now we are at the mercy of others. We probably now import more than we export. This is not a good thing. If you spend more than you earn sooner or later you end up broke. I am really sick and tired of seeing "made in China" on everything in the stores! And the overall quality of it sucks as well. As I said before we really need to get back to our roots.

                                                        the Slab Bacon

[Bill, KD0HG]

I haven't heard of any specific case where a proposed oil refinery was nixed for environment reasons except for a couple of cases on the west coast and citizen opposition.  For that matter, they're not even expanding their EXISTING refineries. Why not?

Solely blaming the EPA is a red herring, in my opinion. It's an excuse, getting lamer all the time.

The president issued an order some time ago to expedite expanding our petroleum infrastructure, yes, they ARE drilling more wells here in the west but they STILL haven't expanded our refining capacity.

It walks like the proverbial duck. They're NOT going to build any more refineries as long as the situation exists where the less product they produce, the more profit they make. Why should they? There is NO motivation to do so. Every time there's a refining problem, they get more profit for every gallon of refined fuel they sell- And that's a fact.

Another thought: Would you build a multibillion $ refinery needing to operate for 20-50 years to pay itself off with our uncertain energy future?
Will the increased use of alternate fuels cut demand for refined petroleum in the future?

Isn't that EXACTLY what the President and Congress are proposing?

So if the American plan is to cut demand by using alternative fuels, WHY build additional refining capacity? That would be like investing in a whaling ship in the 20th century.

That's probably why instead of building NEW infrastructure, the Exxons and Mobils simply buy each other's assets out instead of building new infrastructure.

New refineries could be built outside the CONUS where there isn't any EPA to contend with, and that's not happening, either. The Mexican oil monopoly and/or the oil companies could build all the refineries they want across the Texas border on the Gulf, a few miles of pipeline away from existing infrastructure. Cheaper labor, too.

They're not.

We all want simple answers and there ain't any out there that are wholly truthful or satisfactory.

[WA1GFZ]

Frank,
Right on. These friggen yuppie idiots are whores. they buy cheap and don't care who it hurts. We have become the chink mart generation.
I bought my son a basketball hoop set up. We were mounting it on the frame and my son was holding a wrench as I tightened up the nuts.
I only bought it because I didn't have enough angle iron to make the frame.
First one was a 1/4 - 20. I put about 20 ft lbs on it and it snapped right off. I'm thinking this thing must be made of lead to be that weak. look at the pet food thing. Now we import crap food from a country that barely feeds itself. WTF OM. Are we that friggen stupid. They are friggen putting plastic in with the food.
Look at this link below and really get pissed off. LOCK AND LOAD!

http://usawakeup.org/

[W1RKW]

Hi Mike,
I tried.  Didn't have any takers.  Maybe this fall though.

I wonder how many people stayed away because of the high cost of 'Olene.  Perhaps you can find another person locally and car pool. 

Hope to see you at NEAR-Fest II in October.

73,

MrMike, W1RC

The cost of fueling the vehicle was the thing that kept me from going to NEAR-Fest.

[WA1GFZ]

What the worse you run a refinery the more you get to charge for the product. Now that is some motivation

[W1RKW]

Futures market report:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/fc?s=CLM07.NYM

Not looking good for December.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Mark, MSB, good thoughts.

I have a way-conservative acquaintance who once stated that it was his desire that we use up all of the "cheap" Arab oil, drill Alaska and open the pipes so we use up the petroleum deposits all the faster, then fuel hits insane prices and we have to turn to alternatives all the quicker.

Who knows! It's something to think about.

For the reasons I previously mentioned, I'll bet that it's tough to get financing to build a new refinery. Government policy is both supporting and discouraging the investment. What a screwy world we live in.

[k4kyv]

To residents of Europe, Americans must sound like a bunch of cry-babies, ranting about $3-a-gallon gas.  Last time I was in UK it was running the equivalent of nearly $5 a gallon.  I am told that it is now over $6 per gallon there and even higher in some countries on the continent.  Even as nearby as Canada, the last time I travelled through it was substantially more expensive than south of the border.

Prices of Premium in Europe 1999-2007

Worldwide  prices of Regular a year ago

Maybe we should all take our SUV's with us and move to Caracas.

[W1UJR]

Do you ever see the food they sell at the hamfests?
Tell me the end results of that fare could not be bottled up for processing.
Reducing your "Carbon Footprint", via hamfest food, who would have thunk?

Rather than "Octane Rating", we could use the new standard "Flatulence Factor".
Just think of the effect on third world countries like Mexico, this can be a new found source of wealth, heck it might even reverse the illegal immigration problem!
I bet the greenies would jump on this, they could even add it to "Green Credit" scam.

I can see it now, Hollywood clebs would feel good, they could switch from the "one square of toilet paper" theme, to the "eat natural, smell natural" tag. Would even boost American farmers, wow, its like we struck oil all over again, right in our rear end yard.

All brought to you thanks to the magic of Ham Radio.
Just another public service of the guys with the tubes, "Saving the planet, one chili hotdog at a time."

[N3DRB The Derb]

[quoteSomewhere in fairly recent times that has changed. Now we are at the mercy of others. We probably now import more than we export. This is not a good thing. If you spend more than you earn sooner or later you end up broke. I am really sick and tired of seeing "made in China" on everything in the stores! And the overall quality of it sucks as well. As I said before we really need to get back to our roots.quote]

Well, stop voting for Republicans and Democrats. Vote for someone else, anyone else. Greens, Libertarians, Communists, whatever. Just stop voting for the same people that made the system you hate. They're all bought and paid for.

[Ed KB1HVS]

[
Well, stop voting for Republicans and Democrats. Vote for someone else, anyone else. Greens, Libertarians, Communists, whatever. Just stop voting for the same people that made the system you hate. They're all bought and paid for.
[/quote]

   Bingo!

[Bill, KD0HG]

Willie Nelson for Prez!

[kf6pqt]

No, Drinky Crow for President!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Desiring a simple answer to a complex problem is self defeating. Or just plain silly, depending on how blunt you want to be.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Build a gas producer plant for your car or truck.  They run on most any solid matter, depening on design.  Wood chips are cheap and plentiful. You could als chip up a bunch of brush- no need to use large healthy trees for fuel.  (this would be a big help in limiting the wild fires, harvest the brush), grind to fuel and burn to run your SUV or better yet a generator- get electricity and heat/hot water too.

The cool thing is they are relatively easy to built.

You could also build one to run on junk mail... too bad you couldn't build one that would run on spam!!! 

[Ed KB1HVS]

No, Drinky Crow for President!

 I'll second that (hic)

[Bill, KD0HG]

Here's what I was saying about "The less you produce, the more profit you make". From a story in today's Bloomberg:

"...The profit margin, or ``crack,'' for turning crude oil into fuels has more than tripled this year. Turning three barrels of crude into two barrels of gasoline and one of heating oil provided a record high crack of $29.841 on May 11 in New York..."

This is bass-ackwards!

[w4eal]

Let's see here. If the UK is paying over 7 pounds sterling per gallon and we are paying 3.28 USD per gallon, and our dollar is roughly 1/2 the value of the pound then we are getting a real deal.

The value of our dollar has dropped drastically over the last few years on the world market. Since we depend almost entirely on import merchandise, mostly from China, and China is dumping the dollar (and other US money investments) it takes many more of our dollars to buy imported goods.

But have no fear, behind the scenes action is taking place to rectify all this nasty stuff. The North American Union will fix (yeah right) all!!! No borders anywhere in north america. The illegal federal reserve notes will be replaced with the new and improved AMERO (like the EURO). Fun times will be had by all. Google the north american union and see the 50,500,000 results if you have doubts.

Enjoy the future.

Dennis