Why stuff is expensive

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

Taxi to Parking
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Feb 23, 2005
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UQACY, WI
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iMooniac
Next time you wonder why everything is so expensive these days, well, here's why:

Total tab for fueling the truck today: Over $1400.00. :hairraise:

At least I now have enough fuel to run for about two days... :eek:
 
We were calculating the cost of home heating oil for the upcoming winter. One of the plans my friend uses is to prebuy 1,000 gallons. Looks like that will cost her about $4,500 today. And where are the prices headed?
New Oil Heat Industry commercial says 70% is produced domestically. So why is the price going up faster than gas?
$100 to fill the Tahoe. I remember when I thought $40 was too much.
 
silver-eagle said:
$100 to fill the Tahoe. I remember when I thought $40 was too much.
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$100 does about 2/3 a tank in the Excursion. :eek:

This is why I drive the Jag when I can! Well, one of the reasons anyway. :yes:
 
I saw this coming when I went with the dome 20 yrs ago. My neighbors thought (still think) I was crazy.

Here's a copy of my latest electric bill...
 

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My next house is going to be an underground house. Heating.cooling bills will be almost nothing.
 
I have a couple of texts on the subject if you want them (construction details, etc). "Earth-sheltered" is the PC term.... ;)

EdFred said:
My next house is going to be an underground house. Heating.cooling bills will be almost nothing.
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Now I know I am nuts... I have always thought that an underground house (preferably in a hillside) was the perfect arrangement.
 
On the other hand, that "build somebody a house" show on tv last night - the one hosted by Ty Pennington, built a family near Cheyenne, WY a new house, as their "earth-sheltered home" was full of radon gas
 
Steve said:
I saw this coming when I went with the dome 20 yrs ago. My neighbors thought (still think) I was crazy.

Here's a copy of my latest electric bill...
Click to expand...

Steve -- who designed your house (or your plans)? My grandfather-in-law, after leaving the Manhattan Project, designed geodesic dome houses and sold plans...

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
I would suggest pulling that electric bill image - or at least redacting it. That gives me all the information I'd need to become Glenn S. See, at least long enough to get some cool stuff and wreck his credit.
 
http://www.aidomes.com/

I did the floor plan myself. Plenty of skylights to minimize artificial lighting, short plumbing runs, and windows oriented to catch early sun on winter mornings.

astanley said:
Steve -- who designed your house (or your plans)? My grandfather-in-law, after leaving the Manhattan Project, designed geodesic dome houses and sold plans...

Cheers,

-Andrew
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TMetzinger said:
I would suggest pulling that electric bill image - or at least redacting it. That gives me all the information I'd need to become Glenn S. See, at least long enough to get some cool stuff and wreck his credit.
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Tim, not meaning to start thread creep, but besides the name and address, which might already be in the phone book, and the electric company account number, what information is there that could be helpful?

And, to keep this on thread, I was shocked the other day when it cost over $62 to fill the car. And I noted that a while back a bunch of the gas stations had notes saying that if paying at the pumps the pump would stop at $50 because of credit card company rules. I didn't really believe that was the reason, but I also note that most of those signs are gone now.
 
gprellwitz said:
Tim, not meaning to start thread creep, but besides the name and address, which might already be in the phone book, and the electric company account number, what information is there that could be helpful?
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Well with the account number I can call up and have his electricity turned off.
 
smigaldi said:
Well with the account number I can call up and have his electricity turned off.
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Most any service now requires key words or passwords to change services or terminate. I had to fax an authorization to terminate my old water account.
 
Someone with intent could go to www.anywho.com and find address info, even those on Melville Lane.


TMetzinger said:
I would suggest pulling that electric bill image - or at least redacting it. That gives me all the information I'd need to become Glenn S. See, at least long enough to get some cool stuff and wreck his credit.
Click to expand...
 
smigaldi said:
Well with the account number I can call up and have his electricity turned off.
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Are you sure? Usually I'd expect them to ask an additional validating question, such as last four of the SSN (which they probably shouldn't have but probably do!) They gather an awful lot of information on those applications!:hairraise: (BTW, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just not sure that the bill contains all you'd need.)
 
gprellwitz said:
Tim, not meaning to start thread creep, but besides the name and address, which might already be in the phone book, and the electric company account number, what information is there that could be helpful?

And, to keep this on thread, I was shocked the other day when it cost over $62 to fill the car. And I noted that a while back a bunch of the gas stations had notes saying that if paying at the pumps the pump would stop at $50 because of credit card company rules. I didn't really believe that was the reason, but I also note that most of those signs are gone now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those are mainly for the folks running the pumps. If you run a preauth (for say, a dollar) to make sure the account has money, and someone pumps 100$ into the tank and the card is declined, you have a liability of 100$ worth of fuel in someone's tank. Whereas if you force the transaction to stop at 50$, you can at least minimize the cost there. Most of the signs I'd read said if you needed more than 50$ (or 75$) in fuel to start a second purchase at the pump. I mainly see those signs at the Flying J gas stations, and I think I've seen one at a Citgo and one at an Exxon. But still, only a few places.

I've also noticed the number of places demanding a minimum purchase amount for a credit/debit card have gone up (even though they're not allowed to per their merchant agreement). I wonder if the merchant transaction fees have risen.
 
smigaldi said:
Well with the account number I can call up and have his electricity turned off.
Click to expand...

Our public works requires last four of social. Same with the cable company.

Oddly enough, I was able to cut off my grandfather's cable by going up there and telling them I needed to turn it off, and finding out his last four via my mother. Only after they were processing the disconnect did they ask why I was turning off the service and I told them that he had passed. So apparently you don't really even have to be the person on the bill.
 
Probably true up north in the more "civilized" urban areas. Down South out in the country, if Billy James doesn't recognize you over the phone it ain't happening.

smigaldi said:
Well with the account number I can call up and have his electricity turned off.
Click to expand...
 
gprellwitz said:
Are you sure? Usually I'd expect them to ask an additional validating question, such as last four of the SSN (which they probably shouldn't have but probably do!) They gather an awful lot of information on those applications!:hairraise: (BTW, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just not sure that the bill contains all you'd need.)
Click to expand...

The phone company will ask for the last 4 digits of the account number, which is on the bill. :dunno: Thankfully, they send out automated alerts by phone and email to any changes like that, though.
 
Steve said:
Someone with intent could go to www.anywho.com and find address info, even those on Melville Lane.
Click to expand...

It's not the address, it's the account number, billing details.

With that information and a bad fake ID I can go get a library card, or a voter card, and with THOSE I can go get more info, and snowball it from there.
 
It could only improve my credit score.

Far easier to hack a credit card company's database and buy direct.

TMetzinger said:
It's not the address, it's the account number, billing details.

With that information and a bad fake ID I can go get a library card, or a voter card, and with THOSE I can go get more info, and snowball it from there.
Click to expand...
 
SCCutler said:
Now I know I am nuts... I have always thought that an underground house (preferably in a hillside) was the perfect arrangement.
Click to expand...

I have the hillside, but only the rear portion of the lower level is surrounded by earth on three sides. Tons of ledge had to be blasted out before the foundation was poured in 1997. Much of it was used in landscaping; there are two large piles of pieces of the "blasted" which I'm bringing down the hill to build a stone wall/erosion barrier. The wind tower/ power generator is next -- provided the voters on June 14 pass the ordinance proposal for the tower which exceeds the current 35' maximum permitted.
(Photos taken April 2007, a few weeks before I bought the house. Not too many feet beneath the small grassy area, ledge starts and allegedly goes down very deeply)
(( Yes, all the leaves from "the years" got raked and hauled off))

HR
 

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My house is built into the side of the hill. Three sides of the lower level are into the ground. You enter on the second level if coming in the front door. The lower level stays nice and cool when it gets warm (we call 85 warm around here). But my heating bills can still be high in the winter. Something was left out when it was built in 1972 - insulation. No attic to put it in. Cathedral ceilings, exposed wood. Only exception is the master bedroom which has some insulation under the wood, and sheet rock under that.
 
When my house (3700-ish sqft) was built in 1954, there was no insulation of any kind - none- in the attic. The A/C when we bought it was an industrial unit, 7.5 tons, and on a hot day, it could not come close to keeping up; 105* outside, A/C running non-stop, held maybe 84* inside.

Had insulation blown in after two hot years, instantly brought temp down 10* on hot days; re-zoned A/C with two new and higher-efficiency units and it's comfortable.

Still was hot in the parts of the house (about 1/4 of it) where there was flat roof w/o attic into which insulation could be blown. Had flat roof redone (it leaked, too!), with several layers of insulating material, much much better.

But I'd never build a house like this today, no way. Not sure I could persuade CJane to go for a geodesic dome, but designing in energy efficiency is just common sense (and, by th eway, is the most conservative of principles).
 
Thread Creep Alert!!! ;)

I fondly remember telling the service station attendant I would like "a dollar's worth of gas", and receive about three gallons.

Sigh.
 
jshawley said:
Thread Creep Alert!!! ;)

I fondly remember telling the service station attendant I would like "a dollar's worth of gas", and receive about three gallons.

Sigh.
Click to expand...

I can even remember a time when that would have gotten 5 gallons. Oh, that was a long time ago.
 
Ghery said:
I can even remember a time when that would have gotten 5 gallons. Oh, that was a long time ago.
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Yeah, and if you bought at least 8 gallons you'd also get a drinking glass! Collect the whole set! And they were actual glasses, not plastic junk.

I remember those days, too.
 
'I can remember when milk was $.05, you could go to the movies for a $.10 and still get popcorn' Geesh you are starting to sound like my dad ;)
 
smigaldi said:
'I can remember when milk was $.05, you could go to the movies for a $.10 and still get popcorn' Geesh you are starting to sound like my dad ;)
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OK, then I also remember when my dad thought we were on easy street because he got promoted and his salary worked out to $10 an hour. Which paid for a family of 7, nice house in the suburbs, two newish cars, vacations every year...

My first job: delivering daily newspapers for about $8 a week.

Gawd, when did I get old?
 
wbarnhill said:
Yeah, those are mainly for the folks running the pumps. If you run a preauth (for say, a dollar) to make sure the account has money, and someone pumps 100$ into the tank and the card is declined, you have a liability of 100$ worth of fuel in someone's tank. Whereas if you force the transaction to stop at 50$, you can at least minimize the cost there. Most of the signs I'd read said if you needed more than 50$ (or 75$) in fuel to start a second purchase at the pump. I mainly see those signs at the Flying J gas stations, and I think I've seen one at a Citgo and one at an Exxon. But still, only a few places.

I've also noticed the number of places demanding a minimum purchase amount for a credit/debit card have gone up (even though they're not allowed to per their merchant agreement). I wonder if the merchant transaction fees have risen.
Click to expand...

We're only allowed $550 a day on our fuel cards, which has been kind of a pain since the prices have gone up so much. But, now Pilot truck stops are cutting the pumps off at $540 regardless of what our limit is anyway. Too many drive-offs I guess.

I got the $1405 in one day by getting my $550 worth in the morning (Le Roy, IL) and after burning it all up on my way up into WI, I was at our terminal where we have no limit and I filled it completely up. 180 gallons at $4.75, and $550 worth at $4.79.
 
If I switch jobs again, you better believe the ability to "work from home via VPN on a REGULAR basis" will be high on the list of "benefits" I'll be looking for... Currently just the fuel runs me about $2K/year to drive to work. It's a measurable percentage of my annual income; I can only imagine how this is affecting our minimum wage earners, single parents, and low-income families.

EDIT: I've even told my boss I'd forgo an annual raise to be able to work remotely--I'd make more saving on the fuel than their typical raise. We have the technology, and they do allow it when needed (appt at home with service contractor, etc.). It's so seamless, nobody even knows I'm out of the office unless I tell them! They dial my desk, it rings at my home phone.
 
I just did a quick calculation, and at today's prices I'm spending $3225/yr on fuel. Nothing compared to what Kent's putting in the truck, but still! Yeah, working at home would be a significant benefit! Not to mention the time saved from the commute. That would be an additional 450 hours or so!
 
Grant, I work 2-3 hours per day longer when I work from home, and I get 150% more done [less interruptions]. I start working when I would normally walk out the house to begin my commute, and I usually finish working when dinner is ready, generally... not at 4:30, as I would at the office, as I head out to beat the traffic. So, yes, in many ways it's better for both me and the company to let me work from home.
 
My boss mentioned something today I hadn't really thought about...

Those who hang out at the FBO and complain the most about the fuel are those who fly the least or rarely at all. The high prices sure hasn't cut into his sales a lot. His profit margin may be lower than a couple decades ago but the credit card companies sure aren't hurting on fees.
 
KennyFlys said:
Those who hang out at the FBO and complain the most about the fuel are those who fly the least or rarely at all.
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Maybe 'cuz they can't afford the fuel any more? :dunno:

Naah, I know the type you're talking about. Sit around the airport and *****, but never get up and fly. If it's not fuel prices, it's something else.
 
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