oh no.

and you have to pretty much live downtown or in the downtown area for the buses to even come by.

That sucks. I'll resist the temptation for the Mississippi jokes though.:laugh:

And I got rid of my woodstove, for a gas one(with remote control!).:confused:
I'm torn too on the locking in thing. Last year, I bought 2 tanks of gas(I'm in the country, on LP gas) at $1.35 gallon(which we could book up until Sept). I called yesterday, and it's $1.55, and MUST be purchased by 7/31.
And July's REALLY slow, moneywise for me, BUT, they told my that they see this being a terrible winter, pricewise(maybe over $2/gal), sooooo, I'm off to book at least one tank on my credit card.
I usually keep it pretty cold in here in the winter, but it's REALLY gonna be cold this winter.:shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

Is it good that people are changing their habits? Of course it is- but it's BAD that it's happening so quickly. Gas prices have tripled over the last ten years and my disposable income has certainly NOT. The price hike has come too fast to do anything but harm consumers- if it was more of a gradual change, with people given more time and more options to come up with solutions to lower gas consumption and save money, it'd be fine.

Most people don't live in areas where public transportation is accessible or a viable option. In order to change their gas consumption, their lives have to be uprooted- move to an area closer to your job or school or find a job or school that's closer to your home, buy a new vehicle that's more efficient, cut down on things like extracurricular activities for you or your kids, etc. This isn't something that can be done overnight by ANYBODY, and no one's paycheck is being doubled overnight either. Change is good- but it needs to be gradual, not these steep overnight hikes.

In an ideal world, I'd live in the city of Chicago again, where I could efficiently get around via the excellent CTA to whatever job, school, errand, etc. I need to get to. But I can't- I cannot afford the higher housing costs, the higher taxes (property, sales tax, etc), the high city fees (parking, vehicle stickers, even pet licenses are out of control), the more expensive goods, and the $8.00 a day in CTA fees to get to my suburban job. It all balances out. Cheaper places to live, more money on gas. More expensive places to live, less money on gas. Etc.

I honestly wonder how much of it is "f*ck 'em, they'llkeep buying." I mean really, we will keep buying. Gas is something I need, not something I want. I'm in the burbs too, and public transport is close to impossible from where I am to where I need to be. :(

I think it's A-LOT of it and someday what is really going on will come out. It usually does. I'm not usually a big conspiracy theorist but record profits + record prices = something shady is going on. :nod: