Every time there’s a big increase in price of gasoline scheduled, we inevitably hear stories of “long lines at the pump.”
Now there’s no debating that an increase in the price from 70 to 77 cents a litre is a big jump. But for a car with a 40 litre tank, that’s an increase of $2.80 on the cost of a tank. Surely making a special point of driving out to a gas station and standing in line costs more than $2.80, doesn’t it? Even if you pay yourself the minimum wage, that’s about 20 minutes of time. To say nothing of the (admitedly small) amount of gas used to get to the gas station.
Perhaps the feeling of “sticking it to the man” by getting in under the wire is too attractive to pass up?
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Jodi filled up the other day
Jodi filled up the other day and paid over 90 cents/litre. I think we might drive out to Charlottetown and fill up for 77 cents, just to stick it to the man.
What really bugs me is when
What really bugs me is when the man sticks it to me! The company that provides my furnace oil suspiciously arrives to fill my tank on the eve of every DROP in oil prices. Either that, or they make me run the furnace on fumes and deliver just after and increase. Maybe I’m just paranoid but I’m waiting for the cool weather so I can confirm this devious trend. Until now I’ve dealt with it based on the kind of negligible differences you’ve calculated for filling the car, but it’s starting to annoy me.
At less than $1.00 per litre,
At less than $1.00 per litre, gasoline is one of the greatest bargains giong.
First, there is a multi-million dollar project just to put in an exploratory drill to find the stuff. Then, another multi-million dollar site is erected to extract the stuff from far beneath the surface of the earth. Then it’s off to a refining operation that removes lead and other toxic ingredients. It’s then shipped half-way around the globe, pumped into massive holding tanks, and then trucked to individual service stations. All of this for less than $1/litre!
Compare that with the litre of milk that I purchased this morning. No exploratory drills were necessary to locate said cow, and then the white fluid was extracted from said cow while it stood with its udder approximately 14-inches above the earth’s surface. A relatively short voyage across some Island sideroads to a small pasteurizing operation, where it was packaged and delivered by a small refrigerated truck to the local Irving Mainway. And I paid well over $1/litre for this fluid.
Furthermore, I have the option to carpool, and share my gasoline budget with other willing gasoline-consumers. But once inside my car, my passengers are very reluctant to share their breakfast milk.
Just something to think about the next time you look at the large 75.9 posted at the Petro-Canada sign.
It is between 76 and 80 here
It is between 76 and 80 here in Kingston. I remember in the 70’s in the UK, Dad complaining that gas for the rental car was over four bucks Canadian - much more than we pay now here. We do have too cheap a price if we are trying to reduce use so that my great grandchildren might see a real tree sometimes and might not live in underground tubes.
You know, even decent homebrew is a bit more than gas a litre. Bad homebrew isn’t but life is too short for bad beer.
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