# $2.65 for a gallon of gas?!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409 "2004-04-28T01:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/21 "2004-04-28T13:40:49Z")
I got my paycheck for last week. It turned out to be a whopping $2.34. I guess I better hurry up and cash it while I can still get a gallon of gas with it. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/22 "2004-04-28T13:43:33Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > When I lived in L.A., I worked in Orange. 43 miles _one way_. Before that, when I had a job in L.A., I was still seven miles from work (14 miles r/t). I donā€™t know how it is in England, but it can be difficult here to live where you work because of the high cost of housing. > > Now I live up near the Canadian border. (Incidentally, **grienspace** , I _wish_ we were only paying $1.75/gallon!) I couldnā€™t afford a house in Bellingham, so I have to drive about 25 miles each way to work ā€“ 50 miles rount-trip ā€“ and my job pays less than half of the job I had in California. Yes, yes and I used to live in Watford and commute to Epsom, which is 45 miles each way. And my friend lives in Wembley and commutes to Oxford, which is about 60 miles each way. Except that at the moment heā€™s on secondment to somewhere in the Black Country and commutes something like 100 miles each way. Believe it or not, the UK has the longest commutes in Europe. We _average_ 45 minutes each wayā€¦ and that includes all those people that have a 5 or 10 minute walk. And donā€™t talk to me about housing costs. I just paid $0.5m for a small 2.5 bedroom mid-terraced house in the middle of nowhere with no local amenities, no local transport links, no nothinā€™. And it needs a lot of work doing to it. We have about a quarter of the country living in a 50 mile radius around the centre of London. That makes for an extremely densely populated and hence expensive housing bloc. pan ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/23 "2004-04-28T13:46:37Z")
While the prices here in Texas are near an all-time high, theyā€™re still lower than the prices all of you whiners are quoting! [Nelson] HA-ha! [/Nelson] ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/24 "2004-04-28T14:12:58Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Indeed: $5 per gallon, $9 for 20 cigarettes, $5.50 for a pint of beer, we British certainly like our non-progressive taxes. Where the hell is it $5.50 for a pint of beer? Oh wait, thatā€™s dollars. Just out of curiousity, has the price of a beer gone up in the past few years? When I was in the UK in 2001, we paid about 2.50 pounds for a pint. Maybe itā€™s just looking artificially high in dollars because of the currency plummet. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/25 "2004-04-28T14:15:11Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Where the hell is it $5.50 for a pint of beer? > > Oh wait, thatā€™s dollars. Just out of curiousity, has the price of a beer gone up in the past few years? When I was in the UK in 2001, we paid about 2.50 pounds for a pint. Maybe itā€™s just looking artificially high in dollars because of the currency plummet. Actually. Ā£2.50 will still buy you a pint in all but the most expensive places. And by todayā€™s currency exchange standards, that works out at $4.50, not $5.50 But Iā€™ve paid Ā£5.50 (or $10) for a simple gin and tonic before now, so who knows? pan ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/26 "2004-04-28T14:21:50Z")
Got gas for $1.67[sup]9[/sup] this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/27 "2004-04-28T14:34:36Z")
Itā€™s $1.83 here in small town Ohio. This would have killed us before the move. We were both driving 60 miles or so each way. Our average monthly gas bill was over $1000. Now, of course, Lady Chance telecommutes from our home office and I have a 2 mile bike ride. Color me the king of good timing. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/28 "2004-04-28T14:37:56Z")
> [@Who\_me?](#): > > Got gas for $1.67[sup]9[/sup] this morning. I make that $101.03 per gallon! You definitely win the ā€œmost expensive petrolā€ prize! ---
**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/29 "2004-04-28T14:50:15Z")
> [@Legolamb](#): > > Oh please. When youā€™re paying more than $6 a gallon (itā€™s around Ā£3.50 per gallon where I live), then you have cause to complain. You North Americans donā€™t know what it is to be ripped off. The bottom line is that anytime you have consumers facing a price increase, theyā€™re gonna bitch and thatā€™s pretty much universal around the world. Hearing that itā€™s $6 a gallon in some far away place doesnā€™t make the guy whoā€™s suddenly shelling out an extra $10 at the pump to fill up his tank feel any better. Thinking ā€œWell weā€™re still paying less than those other guysā€ doesnā€™t do much to fill up the empty spot in your wallet. This holds true for any commodity, be it gasoline, milk, food or whatever. Of course, bitching about rising prices while voluntarily spending $3.75 on a bottle of TAP WATER does make me scratch my headā€¦ šŸ™‚ EZ ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/30 "2004-04-28T14:51:31Z")
> [@kabbes](#): > > Hey ā€“ doesnā€™t your location have you as an Englishman in _Texas_? :dubious: > > Hehehe Right now there should be a ā€œwho should beā€ somewhere in there. ā˜¹ \ **duffer** - what **kabbes** said. Also, in 2001, rail and bus trips accounted for only 12% of passenger-kilometers. Car trips covered 86%. [Cite](http://www.cfit.gov.uk/research/10year/second/02.htm). Now try telling us that we Brits donā€™t rely on our cars as much as you do, thanks to our wonderful public transport system. I donā€™t have a definite cite for this but, despite the high cost of petrol, in my experience over longer journeys it often works out cheaper to travel by car than by train. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/31 "2004-04-28T14:59:42Z")
US$1.66/gallon here in San Juan (dispensed at 43.9 cents/litre). And people still complainā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/32 "2004-04-28T16:15:43Z")
> [@kabbes](#): > > I make that $101.03 per gallon! You definitely win the ā€œmost expensive petrolā€ prize! šŸ˜ƒ I never even considered that it could be taken that way. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/33 "2004-04-28T16:57:37Z")
> [@kabbes](#): > > ā€¦ You might have a point if there was VAT on food or other essentials. There is! There are some things that are zero-rated, books, fresh fruit and veg, and, for some odd reason, childrenā€™s clothing. Other than thoseā€¦ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/34 "2004-04-28T18:08:21Z")
> [@kabbes](#): > > Actually. Ā£2.50 will still buy you a pint in all but the most expensive places. And by todayā€™s currency exchange standards, that works out at $4.50, not $5.50 > > But Iā€™ve paid Ā£5.50 (or $10) for a simple gin and tonic before now, so who knows? > > pan 19 p was the going rate for a pint in the pub back in 75 when I lived in Lincolnshire for four months. At 250 p that is 13 times what I paid. You guys really have something to complain about. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/35 "2004-04-28T20:01:06Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > There is! There are some things that are zero-rated, books, fresh fruit and veg, and, for some odd reason, childrenā€™s clothing. Other than thoseā€¦ā˜¹ I think most food is zero rated. I know the whole thing is a bit of a mess but this very long document tells you what is zero rated and the exceptions to the rules :- [http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/701-39.htm#P95\_1852](http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/701-39.htm#P95_1852) ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/36 "2004-04-28T21:11:45Z")
Thanks **gum** and **Una** for taking care of my part in this thread. šŸ™‚ My car uses diesel, which is somewhat cheaper (about ā‚¬ .77 per liter right now, or $3.45 per US gallon), but last weekend when filling up my motorbike with regular petrol, the liter price was ā‚¬1.245. $5.57 per US gallon. And that baby isnā€™t exactly economical when I gun it. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/37 "2004-04-28T22:21:29Z")
I paid $1.99 for 93 octane this morning here in Connecticut. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/38 "2004-04-28T23:13:40Z")
Here in the Las Vegas area gas average is like 2.17 a gallon, the highest price I have seen for regular gas was like 2.25. But the gas station by my house has gas for 2.09 a gallon. Still, it sucks and I have a car with good gas milage. It will probably be another record profit year for the petrol companies :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/39 "2004-04-29T01:54:51Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > What about bus-fare? Bus fare is reasonable. However, getting around Los Angeles in a bus is a dicey propostition at best. It would take me about 6 hours to get to work by bus. God help me if I wanted to get\* back \* by bus. Here, we can get gas as low as $2.09 a gallon, upwards to $2.25. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409/40 "2004-04-29T13:00:54Z")
> [@](#): > > And that baby isnā€™t exactly economical when I gun it. šŸ˜ƒ :dubious: You should average 50-55 mpg on that bike. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-65-for-a-gallon-of-gas/242409.md?page=3)