Gasoline
in [Mandrake]
|
Prev: Statistics for alt.os.linux.mandriva
Next: test
From: Adam on 13 Jul 2007 22:54 Moe Trin wrote: > I'd understand his not having "inside" knowledge, but I'd hope he > would be able to follow some of the shinanigings that are being > mandated. I think that as soon as my father retired in '94, he immediately stopped caring about fuels and lubricants. His big interest lately has been mental health. Sorry! > Flagstaff is around 7000' MSL, compared to 1100-2200' here, and 2000- > 2500' in Tucson. On our big cross-country drive, one short day (early March '94) was approximately Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ (actually Glorieta NM to Gila Bend AZ). On that one day, we went over a mile straight down. That was the day I took off my winter coat for the year! >> For a while, gasoline was a good 20 cents per gallon cheaper just >> across the river, which is a county considered /not/ near NYC and >> therefore carries more conventional formulations. > > Are they making the differentiation on a county basis? I presume you > are referring to Ulster, not Orange county, and comparing it to > Dutchess county. What are the commute patterns like? Are there that > many people living that far North and commuting in to NYC by car? Yes, I'm in Dutchess County (New York State for those who have lost track), and Ulster County is just across the bridge from Poughkeepsie. I don't know about Ulster and Orange Counties, but a lot of people commute from Dutchess County to NYC. The commuter trains (Metro-North) from NYC run up to Poughkeepsie on the Hudson Line (they had to build a new parking garage there recently) and, I think, Dover Plains on the Harlem Line. The 0.375% sales tax to support those trains includes Dutchess County, but not Ulster or Orange because the commuter trains don't go there. > In this area, a commute of longer than 20 miles is comparatively rare, > though it was not at all unusual in the San Francisco bay. I've got > friends working in San Jose who live in Los Banos (about 60 miles ESE), > and Manteca (about 50 miles NE). My cousin in Los Gatos used to rent out the extra bedrooms, and one of them was used by a man who was only able to get home (Redding) on weekends. Another Adam
From: Moe Trin on 14 Jul 2007 23:04 ["[OT]" added to subject, just in case someone is short on concepts] On Sat, 14 Jul 2007, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandrake, in article <HVWli.270$4J4.170(a)trndny05>, Adam wrote: >Moe Trin wrote: >> I'd understand his not having "inside" knowledge, but I'd hope he >> would be able to follow some of the shinanigings that are being >> mandated. > >I think that as soon as my father retired in '94, he immediately stopped >caring about fuels and lubricants. I can understand that. Those of my uncles that made it to retirement age all did the same thing except for one - he was in broadcasting and it was kind of hard to ignore that. >> Flagstaff is around 7000' MSL, compared to 1100-2200' here, and 2000- >> 2500' in Tucson. > >On our big cross-country drive, one short day (early March '94) was >approximately Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ (actually Glorieta NM to >Gila Bend AZ). On that one day, we went over a mile straight down. >That was the day I took off my winter coat for the year! We often get weather reports from the Grand Canyon. Most often, the data you see is from South Rim (the El Tovar hotel on the rim is at 6860 feet) or the neighboring airport (at 6600+ feet MSL). But occasionally you get reports from "Phantom Ranch" which is down on the river, more or less directly below the El Tovar - at ~2500 feet. And while the normal lapse rate should make that a mere 12F warmer at the bottom of the canyon, it's ALWAYS warmer than that. >> Are there that many people living that far North and commuting in to >> NYC by car? > >Yes, I'm in Dutchess County (New York State for those who have lost >track), and Ulster County is just across the bridge from Poughkeepsie. >I don't know about Ulster and Orange Counties, but a lot of people >commute from Dutchess County to NYC. Lessee, the South end of the county is at Beacon, and assuming either route 9 or the Teconic, that's about 50 miles to Manhattan? Maybe 10 more to Poughkeepsie. >The commuter trains (Metro-North) from NYC run up to Poughkeepsie on >the Hudson Line (they had to build a new parking garage there recently) >and, I think, Dover Plains on the Harlem Line. The 0.375% sales tax to >support those trains includes Dutchess County, but not Ulster or Orange >because the commuter trains don't go there. Ah, OK - I mis-understood this as the reason that Dutchess county is using different (more expensive) gas than Ulster or Orange county, and this was because cars commute - not people by rail. The "transportation district" sales tax addition is quite common - I'm getting screwed an extra 0.75% on the sales tax as well as a minor ding on the property tax for the same reason. Back in another life ten plus years ago, I also had knowledge of sales tax rates in the Bay area of California, and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tax was 0.25%. I seem to recall a CalTrain (commuter rail operated by the state) having a chunk (I want to say 0.50% - but that's hazy) as well. >My cousin in Los Gatos used to rent out the extra bedrooms, and one >of them was used by a man who was only able to get home (Redding) on >weekends. Bit hard to say - Los Gatos is Southwest of San Jose, and a popular bedroom community for the South Bay. A 45 minute average commute would allow you to work as far North as Palo Alto or maybe Menlo Park. Redding is the North end of the Sacramento Valley, about 280 miles by Interstate freeways (680 - 80 - 505 - 5) from San Jose. Yeah, I can see why it might have been a weekend only. I was doing 135 miles (Boston to Waterbury) in the mid-60s, and that was bad enough. At least for him, the speed limits are marginally higher. Old guy
From: Adam on 16 Jul 2007 14:52 Moe Trin wrote: > ["[OT]" added to subject, just in case someone is short on concepts] >> approximately Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ > > We often get weather reports from the Grand Canyon. We were within a two-hour drive of the Grand Canyon, but I just wasn't up to it. We'd been on the road for a week, and I was pretty wiped out. Eventually we did get to greater San Diego, where they have FOUR weather forecasts -- I think downtown, inland, mountains and desert. >> I don't know about Ulster and Orange Counties, but a lot of people >> commute from Dutchess County to NYC. > > Lessee, the South end of the county is at Beacon, and assuming either > route 9 or the Teconic, that's about 50 miles to Manhattan? Maybe 10 > more to Poughkeepsie. The south end is Beacon if you go along the river, or Fishkill if you're on U.S. 9. I haven't timed it lately, but I think it's about two hours from Po'k to midtown Manhattan. The train runs right along the river all the way down, with a great view if the windows are clean enough. You can see some of that train line in the movie "Hello Dolly!" > I mis-understood this as the reason that Dutchess county is > using different (more expensive) gas than Ulster or Orange county AFAIK the reason is that NYC and the surrounding area has to use "low emissions" gasoline, and "surrounding area" includes Dutchess but not Ulster. For the past few months, prices have been comparable in both counties, currently about US $3.10/gallon. Another Adam
From: Moe Trin on 17 Jul 2007 20:33 On Mon, 16 Jul 2007, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandrake, in article <q7Pmi.775$I76.393(a)trnddc05>, Adam wrote: >The south end is Beacon if you go along the river, or Fishkill if you're >on U.S. 9. I haven't timed it lately, but I think it's about two hours >from Po'k to midtown Manhattan. Is that the commute, or has the general traffic gotten that bad? I didn't get into Manhattan that often - had very few reasons to do so, and usually would be driving around it if possible. >The train runs right along the river all the way down, with a great >view if the windows are clean enough. You can see some of that train >line in the movie "Hello Dolly!" Hey - they clean the cars once a year whether they need it or not! I'm a little familiar with the route - I've ridden it several times, but that was obviously some time ago. >> I mis-understood this as the reason that Dutchess county is >> using different (more expensive) gas than Ulster or Orange county > >AFAIK the reason is that NYC and the surrounding area has to use "low >emissions" gasoline, and "surrounding area" includes Dutchess but not >Ulster. I can understand that - I just didn't think of the river as a divider between the microclimates. >For the past few months, prices have been comparable in both counties, >currently about US $3.10/gallon. Paid US$2.83/gallon last night for "no-name" (the local grocery chain has gas stations in some shopping malls). The price has been all over the place over the past three months. Old guy
From: Adam on 18 Jul 2007 22:16
Moe Trin wrote: >> I haven't timed it lately, but I think it's about two hours >> from Po'k to midtown Manhattan. > > Is that the commute, or has the general traffic gotten that bad? That's an average. Even in the 1960s it was about two hours from just-south-of-Po'k to my grandparents in Brooklyn, unless there was major traffic. That was usually on a weekend, though. > I didn't get into Manhattan that often - had very few reasons to > do so, and usually would be driving around it if possible. I've only been there twice this century, once to see a show in the theater district, once to see a doctor in Washington Heights. I went a LOT in 1981-1982 (saw 18 shows!), but that was by train. > Paid US$2.83/gallon last night for "no-name" (the local grocery chain > has gas stations in some shopping malls). My father's advice on gasoline, motor oil, etc. was to stick with the major name brands, any brand. You never know what you're getting with no-name products. Another Adam |