Driving at 55 MPH

[rickandcindy23]

Ouch! Glad I'm not your son Josh. And why is this thread still going on in the Timeshare User's Group?

I am glad you aren't my son, too. I love my son and his terrific memory.

 

[dmharris]

well put!

Although the topic here deals with energy conservation, the larger theme is the cost of energy. Take that one step further and we're worried about the US economy and how it impacts us personally. So the issue is discretionary spending and timeshares are very near the top of the list.

We all have rationalized the initial purchase, and then every year why the maintenance fees are a "good value for the buck". I suggest many of us did not spend much time considering the travel costs. In January 2001, the price of gas was $1.46 and today it's about 300% higher. Airline ticket pricing is just starting to escalate and it won't be long before that too is outrageous (and unaffordable). Travel costs are now a huge issue.

So all this is a real paradim shift from economical vacations to serious questions about affording those vacations and "what to do with these timeshares". If it were not for the fact that other costs such as food, healthcare, etc are still very cheap, it might start to be like real money. Maybe I need to go out and fertilize my forest of money trees!

Kal,

Good summary. And to our guest, check the Tug Lounge topics, you can find everything from dishwasher recommendations to help with health issues, non of which are timeshare related. We love each other on Tug like brothers and sisters and try to help each other out when we can. We even let people vent when they need to, like on a recent thread about a Tugger's decision whether or not to retire.

Thanks and do sign up to get the member benefits of reading reviews, etc.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I put a larger garden in this year, add 15 more fruit trees to my 8 survivors from the '70's, 10KW of solar on my roof, my sister is going with a 4.2KW of solar on her roof, and another sister is doing a geothermal heat, HW and A/C system. I also have 2 pellet stoves sashed in my garage.

Looking at large fish tanks for tilapia raising.

This is part of my answer for growing "money trees".

 

[Kal]

I put a larger garden in this year, add 15 more fruit trees to my 8 survivors from the '70's, 10KW of solar on my roof, my sister is going with a 4.2KW of solar on her roof, and another sister is doing a geothermal heat, HW and A/C system. I also have 2 pellet stoves sashed in my garage.

Looking at large fish tanks for tilapia raising.

This is part of my answer for growing "money trees".

Sounds good so far, but how fast do you drive that sweet Continental?

 

[vacationhopeful]

Vehicles==>
Ranger 3L 1999 used work truck 135,000 miles
Ranger 4L 2007 new work truck 9,000 miles and
Olds 1989 Royale 88 101,000 miles 6 cylinder, inherited

No RVs, boats, planes, jetskis, quads (or other toys).

And I drive 62 MPG, using my speed control on the open highway and my office is 2.5 miles from my house and all job sites are within 10 miles of office.

Oh, I could move the office to my house, but still like to keep business in at separate site.

et vous?

 

[Kal]

We've been able to keep it to two vehicles where each one gets about 25-30 MPG. Am waiting for the hybrid situation to flatten out and will go that route soon. With regard to highways, I like to get there quick, but have been keeping it at 55 with no jack-rabbit actions. The few minutes I save by driving faster just makes no $ense. Like many others we combine errands into a single trip rather than multiple pops.

 

[Htoo0]

For me, driving slow is actually painful (mentally). If I had to drive between OKC and Tulsa at 55, I simply wouldn't go unless it was an emergency. Same with driving to Corpus or Topeka to see family. In fact, it should come as no surprise that I find driving fast enjoyable. I do get ticketed once in a great while but, like I tell my wife, her extended weekend dive trips 2-3 times a year each exceed the cost of one of my tickets and I get to speed every day! (I also just pay the ticket- in case anyone is wondering. )
Guess if we want to get serious about cutting fuel consumption we could pass laws prohibiting the use of fossil fuels for any recreational activities. No more ATV's, 4-wheeling, boating, flying just because, Sunday drives, NASCAR, (you see where I'm going). Think of the fuel savings we could have with such a policy. Or maybe we could be allowed a certain amount of extra fuel (beyond the needs for business and required shopping, etc.) to do with as we please. We could further reduce use through laws requiring thermostats which automatically set the temp at 68 for winter and 78 for the summer months. I sure there are other brilliant ways of reducing fossil fuel use but this would make a great start. Just depends on whose ox is getting gored.

 

[Kal]

For me, driving slow is actually painful (mentally)....

In fact, it should come as no surprise that I find driving fast enjoyable...

[comment deleted by poster]

 

[Passepartout]

Driving a little slower is an easy-to-get-used-to habit. A small price to pay for safety, fuel economy, reduced emissions, and less stress. Using HtooO's examples: From OKC to Tulsa according to Mapquest is 106 miles. About 7-10 minutes difference in driving time 60 vs 70 mph. And for the longest trip mentioned, the roughly 600 miles OKC to Corpus, the difference is less than a half hour. Big deal! Less time than a coffee stop. Or the time it takes a cop to write the ticket. Based on 25 mpg at 60 and 20mpg at 70, that's about 5 gallons of fuel, nearly $20.

Sure, all of us have from time-to-time had Walter Mitty notions of being a NASCAR driver, or felt that where we were going was more important than anyone else has a right to say how late we can start getting there, but folks, we are in this together, and together we will find ways through it, but for now, conservation is the way to buy time for the technological fixes.

Of course, we'd all like to return to the way the world was some time ago. with the Chinese on bicycles, the Indians quietly herding their sacred cows, and Detroit happily putting 7-liter motors in mid-size cars. It isn't going to happen. Get used to it.

It is easy to say someone else should sacrifice. Ban putting gas in ATV's recreational boats, RV's, small airplanes, as long as it doesn't affect us personally. As long as there's no line to buy the $4+ gas and no one watches my thermostat at a comfortable 70, hey, life is good.

'Scuse me, I will be leaving now. It takes me extra 15 minutes each way for my daily trip to Salt Lake.

Just my $.02

Jim Ricks

 

[Steamboat Bill]

Unfortunately, as long as 80% of the other drivers drive faster than the speed limit (not me) and drive much larger cars (i.e. SUVs), then you are at a competitive and dangerous disadvantage if you are driving slow in a tiny mini-cooper and one of those gas guzzling SUVs that is being driven by someone who is speeding and putting on make-up at the same time does not notice your slow and tiny car...you will get crushed.

Thus, until we start buying smaller and more fuel efficient cars that go slower than a Z-06 corvette, then nothing will change. Sure, it takes people to lead by example, but are you willing to risk your family doing that?

 

[Pit]

And for the longest trip mentioned, the roughly 600 miles OKC to Corpus, the difference is less than a half hour. Big deal! Less time than a coffee stop. Or the time it takes a cop to write the ticket. Based on 25 mpg at 60 and 20mpg at 70, that's about 5 gallons of fuel, nearly $20.

Some people are happy to buy time at the rate of $40/hour.

 

[Kal]

Unfortunately, as long as 80% of the other drivers drive faster than the speed limit (not me) and drive much larger cars (i.e. SUVs), then you are at a competitive and dangerous disadvantage if you are driving slow in a tiny mini-cooper and one of those gas guzzling SUVs that is being driven by someone who is speeding and putting on make-up at the same time does not notice your slow and tiny car...you will get crushed.

Thus, until we start buying smaller and more fuel efficient cars that go slower than a Z-06 corvette, then nothing will change. Sure, it takes people to lead by example, but are you willing to risk your family doing that?

But who will be the first person to lead us in an effort of petroleum conservation? I can add another 35 reasons why we need to drive large vehicles that get 9 MPG. However, in order to reduce the consumption of gasoline at ever increasing prices, it has to be a change in the mindset.

 

[teachingmyown]

<snip>
Guess if we want to get serious about cutting fuel consumption we could pass laws prohibiting the use of fossil fuels for any recreational activities. No more ATV's, 4-wheeling, boating, flying just because, Sunday drives, NASCAR, (you see where I'm going). Think of the fuel savings we could have with such a policy. Or maybe we could be allowed a certain amount of extra fuel (beyond the needs for business and required shopping, etc.) to do with as we please. We could further reduce use through laws requiring thermostats which automatically set the temp at 68 for winter and 78 for the summer months<snip>.

Passing laws to govern every aspect of our lives is not necessary. If everyone would do something...slow down, drive smaller vehicles, drive less frequently, adjust thermostats, etc...not even everything, just something, then that would be a start. For that matter, it would be a start if just someone would do something. I guess in that sense, it starts with me. And you.

I hate the thought of slowing down and I'm only one of the "10-milies over" group. But I'm going to work on it. I have no plans to give up my vacation which means a 10 hour road trip. Ok, we can stretch it out a little longer, save a bit of fuel, and a bit of money. All the way down to 55? Probably not--especially not with everyone else driving 80 around us, but we can drop it a bit for at least part of the trip. Meanwhile, on my daily drives I can certainly drop my speed a bit. I'll begin doing my something...so what about you?

 

["Roger"]

Unfortunately, as long as 80% of the other drivers drive faster than the speed limit (not me) and drive much larger cars (i.e. SUVs), then you are at a competitive and dangerous disadvantage if you are driving slow in a tiny mini-cooper and one of those gas guzzling SUVs that is being driven by someone who is speeding and putting on make-up at the same time does not notice your slow and tiny car...you will get crushed.
...

My own personal experience has been, as long as I am driving between cities on the Interstate -- small car, at the speed limit, and, yes, 80% of the cars do pass me -- I have never come close to having anyone rear end me.

With the cruise on, not having to constantly pull in and out of lanes (the more dangerous activity as far as I am concerned), I arrive much more rested and relaxed. (Is that worth something? Or is it more important to arrive fifteen minutes early but frazled?)

Things change on an expressway through a city. Then, it does become more dangerous (or certainly appears to become more dangerous) to be considerably slower than the bulk of the traffic.

 

[Rose Pink]

....
'Scuse me, I will be leaving now. It takes me extra 15 minutes each way for my daily trip to Salt Lake.

Jim Ricks

Whoa! The location on your sidebar states you are in Twin Falls, Idaho, and you drive to SLC "daily?" Maybe you could save by getting a home closer to your destination--even if it is just during the week and then weekends in Idaho. I used to commute between SLC and Layton and that just about killed me. Can't even imagine commuting between Twin Falls and SLC! (Maybe you meant you commute to the northern reaches of the Great Salt Lake and not to the city?)

 

[Kal]

...With the cruise on, not having to constantly pull in and out of lanes (the more dangerous activity as far as I am concerned), I arrive much more rested and relaxed. (Is that worth something? Or is it more important to arrive fifteen minutes early but frazled?)....

I don't know about your corner of the universe, but I have noticed a considerable reduction in the quantity of traffic on major Interstates. This probably is a direct effect of the cost of fuel rather than an effort to reduce overall fuel consumption.

I also noticed a large number of SUVs in the local mall parking garage. Those folks probably dread the thought of visiting a gas station, but what do you do with a dinosaur??

 

[Rose Pink]

Just saw a news report on a local Phoenix television station comparing the costs of buying a hybrid vs keeping the old SUV. Even with higher gas costs, it is still more economical to keep and drive the SUV if you are only looking at out-of-pocket expenses. Many people just cannot afford the costs of purchasing a more efficient vehicle much as they'd like to. (Then there is my DH who says the hybrids are so ugly he wouldn't buy one, so I don't bring the subject up anymore.) Does it really cost that much more to manufacture them?

Our little Mazda got 32-34 mpg driving down to Phoenix yesterday. While DH was pretty mellow at the start of the trip (we've got all day so relax and enjoy the scenery), about 5 hours into it he became highly annoyed at the RVs and other vehicles going 10 mph below the posted limit with no way to get around them. ("If you can't drive it, park it!") Sitting in a car for 10 plus hours makes you just want to get it over with. Even 30 minutes to an hour cut from that time seems worth it.

 

[Rose Pink]

.... I'll begin doing my something...so what about you?

Some days I don't drive at all--I usually drive less than 75 miles a week. DH, OTOH, must commute to wherever the customer is. Last week that was Houston, this week it is Phoenix, next week it is Virginia. So, the energy costs of getting him to work far outweigh the benefits of my walking to the grocery store or to church. Still, I try to do what I can: combine errands when I must drive, keep the thermastat at a reasonable level, let the lawn be a tad brown, sometimes showering every other day. We've talked about moving but where? No matter where we live, DH would have to commute to the customer site.

BTW, Jim PM'd me about my comment re his commute. It is not a commute but rather the drive is part of his employment so he is in a similar situation as my DH. Some people must commute as part of their jobs, or as the job itself. Still, for others, moving closer to where you work or closer to public transportation hubs might be a viable alternative to driving so much. This, of course, takes some effort on the part of local government to bring public transportation hubs to areas where people live and to make the areas around existing hubs safe, secure and attractive places to be. That costs loads of money (taxes) and that makes you and me cringe.

I agree with what has been said about the collective need to take responsibility for our own choices even when it seems no one else does. It's just so hard to sit for that long in a car going only 55 mph! Oh, the pain in the derriere!

 

[RDB]

Want to do something about fuel consumption? Try this on for size.

Stop going to timeshares.

Think of what all that would change. :whoopie:

It is great that people can kick ideas around.
-----------

Robert

 

["Roger"]

J... ("If you can't drive it, park it!") ...

Not what your husband hand in mind but...

I drive up a winding road to home. (Eight minutes to work in case you are curious.) Hardly a day goes by where I don't have to pull over to the right because an SUV, an oversized pickup, etc. is coming at me with its tire on or over the center line. I am convinced that if they made the owners of the larger SUV's, etc. pass an extensive driving test, half of them would be off the road because the drivers would lose their license. (By the way, I watch and about 90% to 95% of the time these vehicles have a single person in them.)

As long as we are trading stories, overheard in a Maine cafe last week...

"People aren't really serious about saving gas. I just passed the Dunkin Donut store. There were ten cars lined up at the drive thru with their cars idling and not a single parking place in front of the store was taken."

(Somehow, I think that the drivers would not only have saved on gas, but benefitted from a little exercise before they gobbled down their glazed doughnut. -- I say this without bitterness, but bemusement.)

 

[Icarus]

(Then there is my DH who says the hybrids are so ugly he wouldn't buy one, so I don't bring the subject up anymore.)

Hybrids don't look any different than their non-hybrid counterparts.

The only one that he may be referring to is the Prius, which is a hybrid-only model. There was also a pretty odd looking Honda model at one point, but I don't think they make it any more. The Prius and that Honda look different because they were designed to be very aero-dynamic, and have long sloping lines. They also happened to get the best overall mileage of almost any vehicle because of that.

-David

 

[Kal]

This thread probably presents a good cross-section of public attitudes toward automobile transportation. It really shows how far we, as a country, need to go to even begin to think about energy conservation. Habits have been established over our lifetime and they're not going to change easily. It's always easy to find 35 reasons why we can't conserve petroleum rather than 1 reason why we should. Then moving from "should" to "accomplishment" is another major hill to climb. So far, the only reason to change is one of cost rather than conservation.

Can you imagine what will happen with $10/gallon of gas (like in Europe)! We'll be crawling with born-again conservationists who only want to preserve a depleting natural resource.

 

[Steamboat Bill]

Want to do something about fuel consumption? Try this on for size.

Stop going to timeshares.

Let me add, stop going to "nice" timeshares in Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, etc so we can trade into them.

 

[Pit]

So far, the only reason to change is one of cost rather than conservation.

You're right about that. If the price were still $1.30/gal there would be no talk of conservation. However, many people are chosing to economize in other ways, rather than conserve fuel. Instead of driving less or driving slower, they will eat out less, take shorter/fewer vacations, save less money, delay a big purchase, or ...

 

[Kal]

...save less money, delay a big purchase, or ...

How about delaying purchase of a nice big diamond ring for my sweetie? That ought to equate to a BIG petroleum conservation credit!