Someone bought five dollars in gas before I arrived

I do not know if I'd consider the Metric system to be "popular" over here. We still use (proper) pints, gallons, miles, and degrees here in the colonies---although I've personally been abroad enough to do the conversions myself with some degree (pun unintended) of comfort.

Daniel....why is it unfortunate that you should be exposed to opinions that differ than those of your own? Yeah...I suppose that when Priuses were a tree-hugger car that it was a lot more "comfortable" on this site, but I would hardly conclude that it was more civil. Back when there were only two or three conservatives on the planet that drove Priuses, their opinions, when lofted, were probably snuffed out rather quickly and so yes....you didn't have all of the childish back and forth’s that we have to wade through today.
But really?
Civil?
It's no secret that I used to knock holes in the ocean aboard Nuclear Powered, Trident configured, fleet ballistic missile submarines. Ten patrols. We never even shook our fists at "the enemy". No missiles were ever launched in anger. Ever.
Zero Conflict.
Do you consider that to be "Civil?"

The outcome. Probably. The clock is still running on that one.
The method? Your call.

I always like to challenge my belief system by exposing myself to opinions and comments that come from a different point of view that that which I've developed during my short walk through life.
Sometimes....this takes me out of my comfort zone. I personally always try, and admittedly sometimes fail, to take the moral high road when I'm doing a philosophical "stare and compare" with somebody else. I do this to make sure that my moral compass is properly aligned to magnetic North. It's actually an interesting metaphor when you consider that not only is the magnetic North pole not actually at the geographic North pole, but it actually shifts around a little over time.
Not much.
Not fundamentally.
Buuut. That's just me being me again.
Besides.....my outlook has the advantage of taking me to some interesting places, and I get to cross foils with some pretty groovy folks.

I personally think that this can be a lot more "civil" than locking yourself up in a room (or a forum) where all of the sheep are bleating the same old thing, in the same old way, and trying to stomp the crap out of somebody with a differing point of view.

I think I'll go out and get 5 bucks worth of gas now.
I have two motorcycles.
I do it all the time.

 

automobiles? subsidised? I paid a 54% TAX when I bought my prius. cars here pay a 54% tax.
And I disagree that is among the fairest. Fair is when you pay a circulation tax that is based on CO2 emitions. A Ferrari pays an equal gasoline tax and the 54% tax as any other car, including the prius. doesn't seam very fair to me. It pays only a slightly higher circulation tax, 300€ vs 100€.

It's like VAT. If I earn 99999999$ a month I pay an exactly equal tax then a person that earns 90$ a month. imo that's extremely unfair to me.

45L X 1.8€/L = 81€ = +- 105usd.

 

Perhaps the situation in your country is a little different - a 54% purchase tax is highly unusual. And the Ferrari driver might pay the same as you per litre, but will pay far more overall, based on total consumption. Does that sound like a fairer way of putting it?

How does your car insurance work? Do people pay according to the kilometres driven in a year? Are there any road or bridge tolls? Do you know how public transportation is funded, and how the roads are paid for?

Here, some of the biggest subsidies are given to oil companies in the form of grants and tax breaks. It can amount to many billions of dollars per year, which is very definitely a large subsidy.

 

But that's a sales tax, isn't it? Like with petrol, the more you consume, the more you pay. That doesn't sound so unfair.

The person with the higher income pays more income tax, don't they? Sorry, I'm not familiar with the tax structure in Portugal.

 

Neither is the Portuguese Government the way things are going

I know it's a cheap shot, but I could't resist it :focus:

 

car insurance, must be similar in every country. insurance is mandatory, it's a serious offence not to have an insurance. private companies provide insurances some with different coverages. prices depend a lot on the company and coverage. I pay about 120€ year for my insurance. ferrari owners pay like around 600€.

tolls, there's many toll roads. They tend (in the past, now there's everywhere) to be free or very low in most distant areas or regions of low income, that's to avoid desertification and to have better equality of opportunities for everyone.
in recent years tolls were used as a counterpart of building a road. X company constructs the road, in return, it will receive the tolls for Y years at a defined price. seams a good business but sometimes it's not because of lobbys.
There's 4 categories of toll prices, automotive and motorcycles pay the lowest price, large trucks pay the most expensive.

54% tax it's not that unusual, there's many other countries with these kind of taxes when you buy a car. As an intensive to BEV's they pay 0% tax for now. But then, the cheapest one is nissan leaf that costs an insane 36000€ even 0% tax.
VAT tax for almost all products is 23%.

"Perhaps the situation in your country is a little different - a 54% purchase tax is highly unusual. And the Ferrari driver might pay the same as you per litre, but will pay far more overall, based on total consumption. Does that sound like a fairer way of putting it?"
No. it doesn't. Ferrari wasn't a good example. Let's compare another luxury car, let's say an Audi A8 3.0 TDI that consumes about 7.5L/100km. It costs about 110.000€. It has the same tax as a Prius (5.2L/100km). Luxury items should have higher taxes. Basic goods should have no tax.

The "more you consume more you pay". Well that's works in a perfect world where everyone earns the same, works the same and have the same opportunities. Unfortunately that's not what happens.
That's why VAT and those taxes are the most unfair.
Does it make sense that Bill Gates pays exactly the same taxes then you do? What is the VAT that Bill pays in his groceries? It's nothing, it's ridiculous, he has billions. Of course it should pay much more.
And for you, if you are not rich, you shouldn't pay the same as Bill does. Poor people should pay nothing.
It's the base of the "we are the 99%" movement.

On the other side we have the income and property taxes. It taxes directly the income and the assets of a person. It makes much more sense. If I earn the minimum wage and have 5 children to take care, should I pay the same income tax as Bill Gates? I just have one house, should I pay the same taxes as someone that has hundreds?


We have a big problem in this world. it's called oil. it's so easy to mass produce BEV's. I mean, so so easy. so easy to build a network of charging stations. Why can't we have BEV's or PHEV's at a cheaper price? And please don't give me the battery price excuse. That's bs.
It would be so easy to change things. People who make big decisions could really turn this world into a better place. And it wouldn't cost nothing, actually it would save trillions. But I guess oil is more important. it's because of oil that there's wars, it's because of oil that we are destroying the world, it's because of oil that were are making this world a worst place then we had when we were born.

The person that buys 5$ worth of gas? how much kW of clean 0% emissions electricity could he charge with 5$?

 

No, people who make small decisions could really turn this world into a better place.

Voting. Buying decisions. NOT buying decisions. Every decision.

 

Amen....

As well as those chiming in from across the pond...

Taxes play a big part... How those taxes are spent are a different forum....

 

I put $5 of gas in the tank this week--TWICE.

In my wallet have a coupon good for a fill-up at one particular gas station. But crises kept pre-empting me using the certificate and I didn't want to fill it all the way up and then have to wait until next week to have a low tank.

Just sayin' that the fact that someone put $5 in the tank doesn't mean that they did it because they couldn't afford to put more in it.

 

this thread is kinda funny since that $5 waaaay back then for one would have gotten you much less gas and it was a purchase for lawn mower..

now, typically the container is 2.5 gals and waaaay back then one got nearly 2 gals for that $5.

now today, we should not be talking about how people can barely afford to pay $5 for gas. it should be why we now have to pay $10 for lawn mower gas and that 2½ gal STILL aint full!

 

^ I wish I could fill up my lawnmower (Exmark ZTR) with a 2.5 gallon tank...
It takes almost 12 gallons to fill it up. Gas prices are starting to make my property maintenance expenses noticable in the monthly budget. However (comma!!) I'll use my 55-year-old Sears reel type lawn clipper before I move back into a city...

 

I just bought a 2003 Ford F150 that I drove from Salt Lake City ($1.49/gal) to Las Vegas ($2.79/gal) for less cost than my Prius. It runs on CNG, cost less than $10k and pollutes less. There are many others out there for much less money and the nice thing is that almost all present auto's can be converted. I'm thinking the money wasted on Obama's "Cash for Clunkers" would have been more wisely spent converting cars to CNG. Refueling at home costs between $1-$1.50/gallon from the last estimates I saw.

At 3600 psi I should like to see them try that on my F150! ound:

 

Gas Mileage of 2010 Toyota Prius
Fuel Economy of the 2003 Ford F150 CNG

 

imo it should be why they don't get an electric (battery or corded) lawn mower. They could "fill" it many times with electrons for $5.
Don't known where you live but around here stores don't even sell gas powered lawn mowers for a long time. no one buys them anymore.


or you can even go extreme like in my university. in order to cut costs, they bought 2 goats to moan the lawn. it started more like a joke. Surprisingly, they are really efficient at it and became a mascot. 0 maintenance, care free, and even fertilize the land, all at 0 cost. now they are used everywhere.
it was a big lesson, sometimes simple, cheap and ingenious solutions can work much better then the most technological advanced and expensive ones.

 

You have just confirmed the outdated, negative stereotypes the Americans have of Europe saying that

Apparantly goats can be good at keeping your grass down, as can geese and geese also make good guards - you don't want to argue with a flock of angry geese! Just watch out for their droppings though!?!

 

Funny story, it's a shame he didn't get a video of the kid installing the spigot without losing all the gas.


Edit: can't believe I just replied to a 5 yr. old thread.

 

I'm delighted to hear it. I've made that suggestion many times, but people here think it's crazy. To me, what's extreme is ignoring what's worked for millennia, and replacing it with an expensive, damaging substitute. I'm no technophobe, but throwing more money and more technology at a problem is not always the solution it's made out to be.

The wife won't let me get rabbits, either.

 

Average price of gasoline, $4.25/gallon.
Average price of CNG, $1.48/gallon.

Avg. MPG @ 70-75 mph
F150 17
Prius 45

Salt Lake City to Las Vegas 425 miles.

F150 cost - $37.25
Prius cost - $40.14

YMMV

 

CNG is a "bit" more expensive here. it runs about $2.75 a gallon and i think your price is a bit below the norm

 

I am one who always do this when gas i prohibitively expensive, but I need a little more than what's in the tank.
Full fill ups are only done in the mornings or late night when gas is the cheapest. No need to reward greed.

If that makes OP chuckle, then so be it.