We need to take Climate Change seriously

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Okay, that makes sense.

That puts you right around $7.51 US Dollars per US Gallon.

I'm showing average annual salary in Finland at 56,300 EUR per year which is $68,650 US Dollars per year.

For the Midwest area of the US that I am located, the average annual salary is $68,876 US Dollars per year - so you could say we are basically EQUAL.

The average gas price here is $2.93 US Dollars per US Gallon.

 

That tells me TWO things -

1) I'll agree that you are paying too much, and

2) My gas prices SHOULD BE DOUBLED  

Edited May 26, 2021 by ArcticFoxie

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

7 hours ago, ArcticFoxie said:

2) My gas prices SHOULD BE DOUBLED  

and some say you overpay your gas there. I can change your gas price to mine anyday

[NotHereToPlayGames]

6 hours ago, Mr.Scienceman2000 said:

and some say you overpay your gas there. I can change your gas price to mine anyday

Oh trust me, I am aware!

I have friends, familiy, coworkers, and neighbors that biaatch and moan ALL THE TIME about gas prices - and I find it entirely irksome considering I get 6 weeks, and then some, to ONE tank of gas.

They'll watch gas prices "like a Hawk" and will leave work an hour early just to make sure they fill up before "gas prices are about to jump".

They install "phone apps" to tell them when prices are about to jump and which local gas station will be the last to raise prices.

They'll drive an extra 4 miles OUT OF THEIR WAY (8 miles round trip) in a beat up ol' ride getting 18 mpg city "with the wind at their back" to save $0.08 per gallon when gas prices are only $3.00 per gallon and their tank is 16 gallon capacity.

ie, if they were running on FUMES and had to buy AN ENTIRE TANK of 16 gallons, they spent $1.33 to drive OUT OF THEIR WAY to save $1.28  --  they spent an extra $0.05 but in their mind they "saved" !!!

And you know d@mn well they did this NOT for an ENTIRE TANK so they were "upside down" by much MUCH more than $0.05.

But it doesn't matter how many times you "do the math" for them, they continue this INSANITY and continue to FALSELY think that they "saved".

Edited May 27, 2021 by ArcticFoxie

[jaclaz]

18 hours ago, InterLinked said:

Got an electronic piano with a floppy disk reader in it, dates to 2003 - again, 19 years old now. But it works perfectly fine, except the E key below middle C has been stuck now for the past half year. But otherwise, works great, what should I do, get another piano we don't need?

Suggestions:

1) fix that d@mn stuck key
2) get a floppy emulator (GOTEK or similar) 

jaclaz

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

31 minutes ago, jaclaz said:

2) get a floppy emulator (GOTEK or similar) 

usb flashdrive on Piano trough Gotek floppy drive would be epic

[Tripredacus]

There is no point to raise gas prices on the consumer alone in order for them to stop using gas, when there is no current alternative for many applications. You think too small if you are only thinking of people driving in cars and going to work or on vacation or whatever. Think about the immediate impact it would have onto the economy, specifically in the supply chain and service industries. If you think the situation is bad in the world now, doubling gas prices would compound that.

[InterLinked]

6 minutes ago, Tripredacus said:

There is no point to raise gas prices on the consumer alone in order for them to stop using gas, when there is no current alternative for many applications. You think too small if you are only thinking of people driving in cars and going to work or on vacation or whatever. Think about the immediate impact it would have onto the economy, specifically in the supply chain and service industries. If you think the situation is bad in the world now, doubling gas prices would compound that.

Well, at this point, the economy is part of the problem. There is no economic incentive to get stuff locally when possible when we get all this cheap crap from China all the time, shipped halfway across the world, destroying the oceans and marine life. Rasing gasoline would reverse that, and force all sectors of the economy to shift incentives towards local production.

Edited May 27, 2021 by InterLinked

[Tripredacus]

It would only reverse it over time. The immediate effect would be that a lot of things would not be available, and potentially for a very long time.

Think of it like this. We do not make any computers or displays anymore. An extreme change like this could cause a situation where you could not get any computer, television or cell phone or potentially any other type of appliance or consumer electronic device (because their industries decided to put computers into everything) for at least a year. It is not like we can just reopen the old food and manufacturing facilities we used to use 40 years ago. Those are all gone and the skilled labor groups have moved on.

The doubling of gas prices (diesel would likely follow suit as usual) would primarily impact commuters, but also shippers by truck. If the prices of other fuels also increased suddenly, then the cost of using jets, ships and trains would skyrocket. Anything imported would either disappear or become immediately expensive, and anyone in rural and in-land urban centers would not have access to anything. Port cities would become big again that's for sure.

The appropriate solution would be to remove all of the roadblocks to alternative power methods that are currently in place. Either government regulations, or the efforts of lobbying groups or other corporate interests. Then once a viable solution is available for all sectors, then you can ease the market in another direction. Doing so now would be a disaster.

(this is all based on the apparent agreement that battery powered vehicles are not a solution to the issue at hand)

[Qi Wilson]

I absolutely agree with you.

[XPerceniol]

There is just no easy/practical solution to this problem.

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

On 5/27/2021 at 4:11 PM, InterLinked said:

Rasing gasoline would reverse that, and force all sectors of the economy to shift incentives towards local production.

better would be laws charging extra from companies using outsourced workforce. Back in day they made all Nokia phones, Nokia Monitors, Televisions and whatever else, many finnish company also made phone/other electric parts to other companies. Later all of those started move to China for cheaper manufacturing and lot lost their jobs having economical impact. Sure prices went down but so did quality. Old finnish built Nokia product were more expensive but all of them unless recycled or beaten up still work as fully operational. I am ready pay that little extra for product that been designed and made locally...sadly there is no lot options on new market so I use used market.

On 5/28/2021 at 1:17 AM, XPerceniol said:

There is just no easy/practical solution to this problem.

best soluction is for everyone think not consume. Do you need use online streaming services all the time? No. I never had netflix subscribtion or other and been doing fine. I watch and record most of movies off tv and been working fine. Sure I use youtube but if watch video many times I rather download it to computer. Do you need those fancy fashion clothing? No. I like to buy spare military clothing that will last near forever. Do you need new 1500€ toy cell phone if old works? No. My good old 6600 is doing fine after 18 years. Do you need buy new car yearly or before 10 000km? No. Drive car until it is unrepairable then start look another. Do you need post everything stupid that comes to your mind on every single social media platform? No (MSFN wont count since I visit here few times a week with my desktop)

that is major issue on today consumers. They say need save climate while themself they wont do a thing to help it. Everyday choices helps. That is unpleasant to many since need give up their shiny new stuff lifestyle. Many think old computers are dangerous and toxic since leaded solder while they use their touch screen cellphones with Li-ion batteries and zero repairbility.

[UCyborg]

The fires are raging.

[UCyborg]

https://www.dailysabah.com/life/environment/disposable-masks-the-dark-side-of-covid-19-pandemic

Inappropriately disposed (thrown outside on the ground) masks are also a common sight here. And that's only the tip of the iceberg,

Edited October 21, 2021 by UCyborg

[TrevMUN]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:59 AM, ArcticFoxie said:

They'll drive an extra 4 miles OUT OF THEIR WAY (8 miles round trip) in a beat up ol' ride getting 18 mpg city "with the wind at their back" to save $0.08 per gallon when gas prices are only $3.00 per gallon and their tank is 16 gallon capacity.

ie, if they were running on FUMES and had to buy AN ENTIRE TANK of 16 gallons, they spent $1.33 to drive OUT OF THEIR WAY to save $1.28  --  they spent an extra $0.05 but in their mind they "saved" !!!

And you know d@mn well they did this NOT for an ENTIRE TANK so they were "upside down" by much MUCH more than $0.05.

But it doesn't matter how many times you "do the math" for them, they continue this INSANITY and continue to FALSELY think that they "saved".

Speaking as someone who watches gas prices like a hawk, tries to take into consideration cost in gas consumed for trips, and figure out the most cost-efficient way to run errands based on that, I can say that it can take a bit of effort and time to figure all that out.

And that might be part of the problem. GPS and the various navigation apps on our phones make it very easy for us to know how to get where we're going, how far away it is, and how much time it will take to get there. If you use sites/apps like GasBuddy (can I just say how much I hate that sites like that have intentionally made their sites harder to use on mobile devices to encourage you to install their app instead?) you can find out which gas stations in the area have the lowest prices. However, what's less obvious is how much money in gas you'll spend going to all those places.

You'd have to know the fuel efficiency of your car to even begin to sort that out, and for me I had to look up special calculators to even get an estimate of what I'd be spending to go to and from somewhere. Since this information isn't as easily obtainable for people as "what station in my area sells the cheapest gas," it gets overlooked.

As a side note: I've been so frugal about gas consumption (especially now, as the average price of gas where I live is over $5 per gallon) it's actually come back to bite me. I've learned the hard way that if you don't drive your car or at least turn the engine over at least once a week, the car battery will run dry. And then if you want to charge it, you'll have to spend twenty minutes or so with the engine going at or above 2,000 RPM.

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

15 minutes ago, TrevMUN said:

As a side note: I've been so frugal about gas consumption (especially now, as the average price of gas where I live is over $5 per gallon) it's actually come back to bite me. I've learned the hard way that if you don't drive your car or at least turn the engine over at least once a week, the car battery will run dry. And then if you want to charge it, you'll have to spend twenty minutes or so with the engine going at or above 2,000 RPM.

where I live battery can run flat even if drive car on winter if do too short trips. Cold takes battery life and short time alternator is not warm enough to produce enough power. I generally try drive atleast once over 20 minutes while engine is at normal 80c+ temp.