Fan in Chicago

I was actually referring to the overall economics. Subsidies prevent free market economics to take place so in essence hampers true innovation. I agree with you that the consumer may pay less for charging the battery, but if the fundamentals are not right, the tax payer is paying for the subsidies. Which means all of us pay for pushing some hair-brained idea. For renewables, take the example of wind power. Once installed, the electricity is the closest you can get to free. But the upfront costs, the variability of supply are so large that again the economics do not make sense compared to conventional generation means. The only reason you see so many wind farms going up (huge amount is Denmark, Germany, UK) is that they are subsidized by the federal govt. and have guaranteed rates that will be paid to the producers. A political ploy if you may call it so. Only place where subsidies may work is where costs would go down with large deployments and government money will help get the industry out of its learning phase/curve.

Which car is it ? If it is a vintage car needing leaded gasoline, maybe you don't have a choice. But if it is built for unleaded and the owner's manual says 87, then you are better off getting it checked and fixed (probably a major tune-up ~$75). Cheaper in the long run than paying 30c/gal extra.

Hey MadCap, Love your avatar. Fellow Tull fan ? It is my favorite band of all time.

Does your car really need the high octane gas ? A small percent of high performance, high end vehicles really need anything more than standard 87 octane gas. Check your owners manual. Else you may be flushing $$ down the toilet.

This is standard shallow news reporting. The electricity needed to charge the batteries is generated largely by either coal, oil or gas (others are nuclear and renewables). It is highly inefficient to burn one of these, make electricity, send it over the grid, have it charge some batteries to save emissions ? Imagine the losses at each step of the chain and you realize why this does not make overall economic or environmental sense.

By choice or force of circumstance ?

But the crude oil is getting heavier on average. Lighter crude is at a premium over the lighter variety. One way or the other, a refiner has to pay.

Thanx for the acknowledgement of what us in the oil industry never get credit for - cheap capacity increase without parallel in any other industry.

I speak from data unfortunately. I am anti-Bush in terms of his foreign policy but chose not to color my explanation accordingly. {I know your post was sarcastic}

And I agree with you on this. But oil is used for making gasoline, diesel, plastics, electricity .... Overall the demand surge has caused this major spike.I think we got so used to the low prices of gasoline etc. that entire generations have been brought up to not think about conservation. Little things do add up. It will take a long time for Western society to get used to the fact that the more careless we are with using non-replenishable natural resources, the more we have to pay for it eventually. I think a period of sustained high prices will cause us to think about (1) higher mileage vehicle purchases (2) Renewable sources of energy. See more windfarms for electricity yet ? (3) More nuclear plants around the world - probably not the US (4) More overall conservation efforts

Very good post and I mean it. We are profligate gas burners as a society. Gas and tobacco are very very price inelastic - takes a lot of price increases to hurt demand. Hence, prices and taxes are high on these products. I posted elsewhere that the current high prices are a result of (1) Too much demand, too little supply of products. (2) Political troubles/uncertainty in Middle East (3) Loss of 3% of gasoline pool due to MTBE take-out. Someone else noted that people have to go to work, run errands etc. But can't we increase use of public transportation ? I do agree on the other point though - that vehicles are not replaced overnight. However we all have short term memories and an optimistic outlook. SUV sales are hurting now but will go up again when gas prices fall to $2 level in October. Get used to it guys - gas is not coming down below $2 ever.

Maybe this IS the vanilla version of our defense.

I am sorry to tell you this, but that is indeed true. I work in this industry and analyze the data very carefully. I can write a FFS type post and still would not cover half of the aspects but here are some quick notes: - Refinery capacity is near maximum and demand has SURGED since 2004. We were on the edge of the supply demand curve and now it has been tipped over - too much demand for the supply. The market is still trying to get the demand curve down with increasing prices. - Oil is high cos of the high end products demand and political uncertainty around Middle East (Gaza pullout, Iraq war, Saudi premier's death) - MTBE was taken out of gasoline because of political pressure. We lost 3% of the total gasoline pool in the US because of that. This was the most moronic non-science based political move in the history of petroleum. We are replacing it with ethanol which has lower clean-air properties.

As long as we get PP for vet minimum

You can spray a anti mildew agent in the intake vent but make sure it is something that will evaporate (not the stuff that you put on your shower walls). I believe there is something made by Lysol. Also check your local auto store. As someone else has suggested maybe the drain has plugged up. Side note to all - get into the practice of siwtching off the a/c but let the fan blow for a few seconds before you shut the fan off. That way, the cold air blows through and does not allow condensation to happen. This 'musty' smell is due to condensation effects (mold, mildew) that develop over the years so make it part of your regular habit. For example, a minute before I am going to stop, I hit the off button on the a/c , then by the time I stop and ready to switch the car off, warm air is blowing through the vents.

Miller Lite - not out of liking but necessity. Supposedly, this is better than regular beer (duh) and scotch for my cholesterol. That is right boys and girls, I need to watch out for this cr*p now.

There was a thread on this movie a few days back.

This is great - two cricket fans rooting for opposite sides of the Ashes series on a Bills fanboard in a thread about the London bombings !!!

Those not knowledgeable about cricket may need a clarification of that statement.

Any hopes of a lynching ?

Possibly. Guess I am just a tad paranoid - all these seemingly bungled attempts appear to be experiments for some grander attack. But I will stop at this post for fearing of hijacking the thread.

I think the point he was making was to have a healthy cash flow. In businesses, that is the top of all evaluations. To the original poster, I suggest you put all the numbers in a spreadsheet and see how that compares to your current deal. Also, consider fixed interest home equity loans to pay off your credit card debt. It offers a lower interest rat &, may be tax deductible. Finally, to use a cliche, don't get into schemes that put more money in your pocket now simply so you can spend it. Sounds corny and cliched but this simple truth goes a long way - controlling expenses to match your income is the only way to long term financial stability (see cash flow statement above).

Well stated and fully agree - I have experienced the first four on your list. Luckily I haven't heard cell phones or people talking on them.

Seems amateurish. Find a tough time believing the terrorists would bungle four attempts, however they do seem coordinated. Guess we will have to await the results of the investigations. First things first - keep the public safe.