Someone bought five dollars in gas before I arrived

I just put $12.00 in my Tundra thats 4.9 gal. @ 17-22 mpg OUCH!

You know some one mentioned gas siphoning and it made me recall a story about dumb criminals I read this a year ago and laghed untill I was sick...

Here you go:

Seattle: When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

As the rednecks say Heres your Sign... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Apr 10 2006, 03:40 PM) [snapback]237645[/snapback]</div>

Finally a Prius driver with a heart. I remember just a short while ago there was a thread where many Prius drivers were happy with the fact that gas prices were going up! Yay, teach those SUV drivers a lesson they cheered. Morons forgot about the working class that makes up much of America. Let them buy more fuel efficient cars they said. The news says that there are more millionaires in this country now than ever before. But guess what, there are still many more people who wonder where the next few dollars to fill up their car will come from. And chances are they are not driving an H2 either.

Good for you Nate, you're one of the few that cares about others, and is not lost in the cloud of Smug from their Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Apr 10 2006, 03:26 PM) [snapback]237702[/snapback]</div>

Wow, teachers make close to $100,000 where you live? Where do you live? I'm moving there.

And you're right. Those teachers with a bachelor's degree, master's degree and teaching credential have no business making more than minimum wage. After all, what did they do but go to school for 8-10 years and then take classes on their own time, paid for out of their own pocket. Their job isn't any more important than the checker at Walmart. They have no business owning a home or making more money than the working poor. Who do they think they are.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Apr 10 2006, 04:26 PM) [snapback]237702[/snapback]</div>

My Liberal Democrat brother inlaw makes 150k in NY as a teacher....(Public School)
10yrs

In Fl. My conservitive Democrat teacher wife makes 38k (gotta love the job)(Public School)
11yrs

& my happy republican Law Enforcement butt only makes 32k & top out is 40k (but I love the job)
So I dont think the its just the neo-cons that are getting rich here..
4yrs

But as I understand it the B-inlaw pays more taxes, it just looks good on paper.. Ha Ha
(feel the love baby)!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 10 2006, 07:26 PM) [snapback]237812[/snapback]</div>

Does the Brother in law work in a University or perhaps a private school? Does the wife work in a public school?

There's a difference between public school teachers and University professors. For one you have tenure at the University level. You don't in public school. You have "just cause" before being fired, but it's not the same thing.

You don't state what your 32K job is. Is it the same job skills, education level and work experience as your wife?

Why should anyone spend the time and pay the money to get a bachelor's degree, spend the time and pay the money to get a teaching credential, then spend the time and pay the money to get a masters degree just to make the same as the high school graduate working the register at Walmart? Aside from the fact that the Walmart checker gets more respect and less grief.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Apr 10 2006, 03:40 PM) [snapback]237645[/snapback]</div>

i wholeheartedly agree. as one of the very few who people i know who made it out of my hometown and managed to get into a position to (eventually) be financially comfortable, i have a large number of friends who are starting to really feel a squeeze in their finances because of higher gas prices. mainly people who travel to different job sites day to day, a friend who recently quit the elder home care business because her gas bill was nearly equal to her paycheck, people who are forced to live in the cheaper suburbs and work downtown, etc.

while we're not in that kind of critically rough shape, it's starting to affect us too. every time DH says his camry needs gas i groan. it used to be $35, now it's closer to $45 to fill his tank. and he gets mid 20s mpg in that thing after all the work he's done to it.

 

Why should anyone spend the time and pay the money to get a bachelor's degree, spend the time and pay the money to get a teaching credential, then spend the time and pay the money to get a masters degree just to make the same as the high school graduate working the register at Walmart? Aside from the fact that the Walmart checker gets more respect and less grief.
[/quote]

There was a time, and I naively think it still exists, that college was considered more than just preparation for a career or profession. When i got my liberal arts BA, I had no clue how I wanted to spend my working life. Granted, my Masters degree was a professional degree that I had to have to do the work I wanted to do.

My highest salary was $50K, and that was after 17 years in the job. But I absolutely loved (most of) my career. I'm on disability now with a drastically reduced income, and although I live a greatly simplified life, I can honestly say I have all I need and most of what I want. Not to sound elitist, but i do think my education plays a role in my overall satisfaction. Peace --

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Apr 10 2006, 05:51 PM) [snapback]237737[/snapback]</div>

LOL :lol: (redundant)

I used to do that all the time!! Not a performance car, but an older car that would ping/clink when I used 87. It was fine with 89.... but it was cheaper to use 1/2 93 & half 87 and get a 90 octane gas. They would charge 20 cent for for 93 than 87 and the 89 was 15 more than the 87.

 

Teachers in Missouri start out in the low $20s and may get to the low $40s after 25 yrs. of service. :huh:

 

I remember in the '70s, I used to put no more than a dollar's worth of fuel in my mom's Plymouth Arrow (Me and My Arrow...) and drive around forever it seemed! My how things have changed.

 

Well, last week I did put $3 on the pump at the station closest to where I work. The last pip was blinking and I didn't want to take a chance on running out of gas on the way home. Gas at that station was $2.93 a gallon whereas at my local station it's $2.71. So I put in one gallon and then drove home and filled up at my local station.

But I am aware of how the price of gas is effecting those in my neighborhood and the parents of the children at our school. I have one student who is starting to rack up tardies. Sometimes his ride is late. Once his ride didn't come and he had to walk. I think more students will be walking to school as older siblings and parents start to cut back on trips as the gas goes up. Of course, I walked to school until I got a bicycle. My parents never dropped me off or picked me up. Not even when it was raining. But I think the concept of "too far to walk to school" has shrunk over the years. Gas was a lot cheaper when I was a kid. But my parents felt school was a healthy stretch of the legs and it was up to me to budget my time so I got them on time...on foot.

There are two major transit corridors running through my neighborhood. But those busses are already filled to capacity and running five min. apart. They really can't add any more busses. What happens when more people start taking the bus because they can't afford gas? It's not like this particular population can up and move closer to where they work. They can't afford to live closer to where the jobs are.

And truth to tell public transportation in my city sucks. It is highly inefficient. I looked into taking the bus to college. It would have taken me 90 min. and three different bus routes to get there. I could drive it in 15-20min. by car. My parents opted to buy a second car. I was then assigned transportation duties for my younger brother and sister, to run errands and whatever else. I did pay for my own gas. I also paid for books and tuition for college.

But..I could never do that now. I worked minimum wage jobs in the summer and nights to put myself through college. I paid for tuition, books and gas. My parents provided a car with insurance, a room and food. I could never afford the tuition, books and gas now. No wonder student loans have become such a huge issue.

But it is an issue of life not being fair. Those with money will squander resources. Those without will eventually do without. So the working poor will be taking public transportation while the uber wealthy drive their SUVs 75 miles an hour. And eventually the working poor will not be able to get to their jobs washing dishes, picking up trash, cleaning toilets, making beds, cleaning pools, mowing lawns, etc. So the wealthy will have to learn to do for themselves.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 10 2006, 08:26 PM) [snapback]237812[/snapback]</div>

It's all about "cost of living"....

I make half the amount here in FL as I did in DC but live twice as well. Doesn't matter how much you make, it matters how much everything around you costs.

 

The poor always pay more. It's not "fair," it's capitalism.

There used to be good public transportation in this country. Most people didn't need a car. But the tire companies, along with the oil companies and the car companies, lobbied and paid bribes and got it dismantled. People didn't complain because private transportation gives more individual freedom, and times were good.

But 50 years is a long time. Enough time for television advertising to mature and convince people that what they had before was inadequate. They need a lot of stuff they didn't have before. This effectively reduces their disposable income. If you "need" cable TV at $50 or $100 a month, you cannot spend that money on gas or other stuff.

As far as the people who work for slave wages at Walmart, or in the garment industry, etc., their root problem is not gas prices, it's living in a country where greed is the most respected motivation, where it's considered noble to exploit workers ruthlessly in order to amass an obscene fortune, and where a single mother who works 60 hours a week for wages so low she still qualifies for food stamps is labelled as "lazy."

When you keep gas prices low, you are subsidizing Walmart, because lower gas prices mean it can pay its workers even less. And you make it that much harder for alternatives to enter the market.

I say, plop a $25 per gallon tax on gas so alternatives can get into the market, and set the minimum wage to a dignified, living level, like maybe $25 per hour.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 10 2006, 08:36 PM) [snapback]237816[/snapback]</div>

I wouldn't expect an answer. I find a lot of people like to throw BS figures around to represent teachers salaries, but when confronted by the fact that the average public teacher's salary usually around 50K, just mumble and shuffle off.

I don't understand the ire that teachers seem to draw. Is it the fact that they went to college? Work a thankless job? Do something that most of them enjoy?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 11 2006, 11:38 AM) [snapback]238016[/snapback]</div>

Wow, one of the few times I agree with Daniel....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(huskers @ Apr 10 2006, 09:55 PM) [snapback]237845[/snapback]</div>

Teachers in Bucks County Pennsylvania (North of Philly) start at $43K, currently average $65K and top out around $110K. Of course, the cost of living is significantly higher here and the median income in the towns around here ranges from $89K to $109K.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 11 2006, 12:01 PM) [snapback]238025[/snapback]</div>

Keep in mind that 'current average' is heavily weighed down by the high number of baby boomers pushing the upper ends of the salary scales. Once they start retiring, the numbers should go down a bit.

Of course, I've never really heard of teachers topping out at over 100K, but PA is a different animal than NJ I guess.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Apr 11 2006, 12:07 PM) [snapback]238029[/snapback]</div>

I swear I recently read an article stating that either Central Bucks or New Hope-Solebury school district had exceeded $100K, but I can't find one.

However, I did find an article from last October about about a teacher's strike in the Pennsbury school district. It seems they went on strike because the school district offered them only $92,212 for a teacher with 14 years, a master's degree and 30 credits towards a doctorate.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=..._id=40799&rfi=6

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("The Article")</div>

My wife just got recertified as a high-school teacher and I am anxiously awaiting her finding a teaching position. She taught in South Carolina about 10 years ago, where they don't pay very well; starting around $22K and maxing out around $50K with 25 years. But then again, a house that costs $450K in Bucks County would only cost about $180K in South Carolina, and you'd get three times as much land in South Carolina as well.

 

"a house that costs $450K in Bucks County"

A quarter acre lot just sold on my street for $400,000. No house, just a lot. That's Long Island.