High gas prices have me, like all Americans, mad. But I'm not mad because I have to pay more at the pump. As many of you know, I'm filthy rich. No, I'm mad because I'm tired of hearing people complain about prices and then doing dumb things about itThis video from DallasNews.Com red-lined my rage metre (like the English spelling? I'm trying to be more English-like. So please notice my liberal use of the word "cunt")
Here's the summary of the video.
Two Georgia men are biking their way to work, and saving big money without burning gasoline. What makes their commute so extreme? It's almost 21 miles long - each way.
BIG MONEY??? REALLY??
OK, lets do the math. 21 miles in an average car would be a little more than 1 gallon of gas. So, at $4/gallon, they are saving, what?, $5? Since they ride together, they could be carpooling, so really they're only saving $2.50 each way.
Wow!
Not only that, but 21 miles, for me, would take at least 1 1/4 hours to bike ride. Worst case, in a car, 21 miles would take 30 minutes. So they are exchanging 45 minutes to save $2.50. That's not even minimum wage anymore.
And this is what's infuriating me about gas prices. People don't do the math. We have these stupid ads from Chevron on The Ticket telling us that if we slow down to 55mph from 65mph, we would get an extra 30-50 miles per tank.
That means for every hour you were driving 65mph, you are now driving an extra 12-13 minutes. So, essentially, for every 5 hours driving at 65, you now have to drive 6 hours. And the savings -- 2 to 3 gallons of gas. That's $8-12. Would any of you do anything at a rate of $8/hours?
There is something more precious on this planet than money or gas, and that's your time. You only have so many hours here on Earth. Don't waste them trying to save a few bucks on gas.
Rant off.
12 comments:
Did you write this post just for me?!
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$5/day works out to around $100/month or $1200/year, which is a pretty nice vacation each year, a new big screen every two years, Pirahna every two weeks, $41,663 after 20 years earning 5%, or $59,307 after 20 years earning 8%, depending on your fancy, savings discipline, and /or risk tolerance. Of course, none of this takes into account the benefits to their health, nor the time and money saved not driving back and forth to a gym to exercise.
Regarding your drive time estimate, it is 26 miles from my apartment to Grapevine league. According to your 21 miles in 30 minutes calculation, it should only take 37 minutes to get there. That may have happened once, but the average is closer to 50. It takes almost 37 minutes late at night with zero traffic. Most people do not commute in those conditions.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 25% of people in the Dallas area earn less than $9/hour. The mean hourly wage is $13.76. (See State Cross-Industry Estimates spreadsheet at http://www.bls.gov/oes/oes_dl.htm). For many people, $8/hour is not something to scoff at.
There are also more variables to optimize than simply time and money. Someone feeling particularly patriotic may want to do their part, however small, to a) reduce our nation's dependence on oil bought from our enemies if they're national security oriented, or b) keep the air clean for their fellow citizens if they're green oriented.
</rant>
Love, Pokey
I said mean hourly wage is 13.76, but I meant median. The mean hourly wage is actually 18.21
Thanks to Pokey for doing the research. I was just going to call Big Ed an asshole for being offended by those guys rather than the assfucks who drive fucking Hummers by themselves. Every little bit helps.
I can actually hear Pokey's voice yelling over the computer.
I'm not mad at these guys. I'm mad at the mindest that $5 a day is worth spending 1-2 hours of time away from your family or, for me, away from my precious sleeping.
I please remember, I'm the guy that thought gas should be taxed to $5/gallon back when it was under $2.
And we can go through most peoples finances and find $5 they could cut out a day that would net them $1200. Stop buying coffee at Starbucks. Stop smoking. Stop buying organic. Stop buying premium beer instead of MGD. And few of us would make those changes for just $1200.
And let's go back and do the math. 1-2 hours a day. 5-10 hours a week, 250-500 hours a year. Would either of you trade 250 hours of your time for $1200.
Also, I was not address the hoi poloi. I never address the hoi poloi and hoopleheads. I was addressing my readers. None of whome would trade and hour of their time for $8.
But clearly this can only be resolved over a bottle of scotch on Duane's porch.
I'm pretty sure the Jester trades more than an hour of his life each time he saves $2 by eating a Totinos pizza instead of almost any other option ;) It's just that the hour is at the tail end and decades removed from the monetary savings.
But for those of us for whom biking is FASTER than driving, it's like I'm being paid in money AND time. Of course, since I can walk to work in under 20 minutes it's not like a bike is necessary. but people look at you funny if you ring a bell while walking to get them to move. On a bike, it's totally cool.
of course, if these guys were in dallas the focus would've been on psychotic SMU law professors trying to run them over because of an innate hatred of cyclists.
Yes let's not forget about the danger of biking to work with angry commuting motorists.
I've given up Totinos, bitch.
Please tell me you aren't writing about subprime mortgages next.....
Seriously Steve. Didn't your parents teach you their depression-era values. A penny saved is a penny earned.
A penny saved is not a penny earned if it costs three pennies to save it.
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