TW,
Glad you wrote this. I was considering doing the same thing; breaking a tank of gas down into real world comparisons. It's a good caveat to those wonderful accountant/economist types that slammed the "Exxon 32 billion (or something article) Profits" article a while back.

At the rate things are going, I figure by Labor Day, I'll be able to afford getting to and from work. But then again, maybe that's what "They" want?!

gas in calidfornia averages around 3.40 a gallon for regular. I hear your pain,

Colleens last raise was " I want the company to pay for Gas and tolls, great idea as she does not have to claim it as income. tolls are 4$ a day btw. add in gas for the drive and you get considerable savings. I gotta pay for my own gas.

gas in calidfornia averages around 3.40 a gallon for regular. I hear your pain,

3.49 here and rising (upper MW).

It's as high as $3.75 in the islands.

Considerably less on post but still insane.

$62 for a tank of gas is hard to stomach.

MM, Colleen is a smart woman. Although you already know that.

And yet people still stupidly (myself included) pay many times more than the price of a gallon of gas for the gallons of Java Juice they get from Starbucks and the like.

Gasoline is certainly expensive, and it will certainly drive up costs for many other things (including the effect of driving up the price of corn since that is one of the main ingredients that can be used for making Ethanol.  Which the news touted today as having a side effect of convincing the farmers in Mexico to switch from ingredients for Tequila over to corn, which will also drive up costs of drinking to forget your pain )

The sad thing is that it will take the better part of a year to see any increase in salary that will help to compensate for these increased costs of living.

Ouch, indeed. In Australia, petrol costs nearly $1.50 a litre (which converts to approximately $4.20 US per gallon), but this fluctuates according to the day of the week. Thankfully, we are a one car family and own a small 4 cylinder as it is.

Whatever way you look at it, petrol is only going to get more expensive. The silly thing is we will continue to pay the price because most of us can't do without our gas-guzzlers.

I feel for people who have big families with big gas guzzlers.

I drive every day all the time and right now it is costing me about $55 to fill up every 9 days.  When my husband returns though that will double.

I can not believe as industrious as Americans are that someone hasn't invented a better alternative to oil.  I also can't believe we have let ourselves become slaves to countries who hate us.

We need to get off the oil addiction and find something better.  Then we can give the finger to all those countries who like to see us PAY.

I swear if I were engineer minded I'd work on it non stop.  First person to really find a GOOD alternative...wins.

I swear if I were engineer minded I'd work on it non stop. First person to really find a GOOD alternative...wins.

Ever since I heard about hydrogen-powered fuel cells in 2001, I just don't understand why the powers-that-be aren't taking that idea more seriously??? It's the best fuel alternative imo... The two things holding that technology back seem to be 1) cost; and 2) it would put everyone in the oil / gasoline industry out of work. But I think for the good of the general population, it would behoove those currently working in the oil industry to find new jobs in the hydrogen-fuel-cell industry.

And I think hybrids are second best to fuel cells. (If they were more affordable I'm guessing more people would be driving them. Then again, I wonder what effect plugging in those cars has on electricity bills?)

Corn is alright too. But it gets stuck in my teeth if I'm not careful.

Heh, I hear you. I've seen prices here at anywhere from 3.70 or higher. It's pushed me to walking everywhere, or if i'm going a particularly long distance, the bus.

I've got enough expenses to have gas cut a hole in my pocket.

it cost me $50.00 to fill up my tank, and I drive a very gas friendly honda. I remember about 2 years ago it cost me $20.00 every week and a half...and I thought THAT was expensive. The highest I've seen it has bee $3.49.....I got lucky and filled up for $3.09 the other day though...woo!

Just taking a few stabs in the dark on this I can give you a few ideas on it.

Hydrogen is a VERY powerful explosive. It's what caused the Hindenburg to explode so violently. If there were a severe accident because of an explosion, I can guarantee the same people demanding hydrogen fuel cell technology now would be calling for the heads of our leaders.

Cost as you mentioned is another factor. The benefits of fuel efficient technology won't be fully realized until it filters down to the masses.

I have heard other arguments but I'm not an expert on this. Anyone got any input?

The one "technology" almost everyone seems to be overlooking (it's the elephant in the room) is hemp. Legalize industrial hemp; if you silly puritans want to continue with prohibition, then send DEA agents out to test the THC content to make sure marijuana ain't being grown in the middle of the field. It not only could potentially provide alternative fuel sources, but it could provide a wide variety of items, as the plant is very versatile and very rugged. It would at the very least be a good transitional fuel source to a new technology.

Maybe gas is a little cheaper in Texas. We're still under $3.00 a gallon. Come see me soon!