Will the escalating price of petrol have an effect on your ability to grab a few mates, jump in the banger and head off to a session you've never been to outside of the normal stomping grounds ?
The folks from Santa Cruz stopped coming to our session here in SF on account of the price of gas. Makes me think twice about going down there as well.
>there is no session worth going to outside of boston
Steven I haven't ever been to a session in Boston, but I complete agree with you. That's why I stopped going to all our local sessions. Now that you've given away the secret, everyone from the Montana Moles to the Venusian Gnomes are going to come to your session!
according to the author of "Oil on the Brain" Americans perceive our gas expenses to be 4 times greater than they actually are (or did in a Harris poll in 2005 anyway). She also said that most of us have no idea how much we actually spend on gas. So there.
>>"Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
cag, you're forgetting how large the U.S. is in comparison to other countries and the great distances we often have to travel in order to get places. Although our gas might be cheaper than other's, some of us have to travel many times farther to get to work, school (sessions!), etc. than people from other countries do.
Australia is roughly the same size as the US, but our petrol price currently is around the equivalent of $1.63US per litre.
What they don't tell you is that Honda, VW and I think Toyota and maybe others all make compressed natural gas fuelled vehicles. The cost of running those vehicles has been estimated to be around the equivalent of $0.28US per litre (in Australia anyway).
Unfortunately, however, the Australian government will not permit the importation of cng fuelled vehicles, probably because it rips off so much in fuel tax at the pump, but there is none on cng. (You can buy cng conversion kits though which includes a compressor, so you can fill up from your domestic supply. )
Alternatively, Sheik Yamani (remember him?) reckons that hydrogen will be the future fuel, then we say goodbye to gas guzzlers.
New session started 7km from where I live - I don't go coz I'm totally watching the number of kms I stack up per week. Trying to keep my weekly fuel consumption below ~10 litres. Even on a reasonable salary here in New Zealand, the cost of living is putting some curbs on luxuries... and some basics.
Creeper you can bicycle to your session. I saw one of our regulars
once (out of the car window) riding a bicycle down a busy street,
both hands off the bars, playing tunes on a whistle (a green bicycle too).
Yes, FidDLe01, you're right *some* of you have to travel greater distances. Not all of you however. I have to travel in excess of 25,000 miles a year on UK roads just on music business. At US prices I could travel three times that distance for the same cost.
I agree with cag ......."Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
Different mindsets. While home visiting in May, I filled up my dad's car and my first thought was, "Holy jaysus this has gotten ridiculous!" Then I converted it to litres and pounds and felt much better!
In Ireland these days, petrol/ diesel (gas) is average Euro 1.35 per litre or over Euro 6 per gallon. What would that be in greenbacks - over $9 per gallon.
Yes, I make a 40 mile round trip to play in a session and I think twice about it each week, often skipping a week.
Why do people in USA think like Fiddleo above???, quote ''you're forgetting how large the U.S. is in comparison to other countries and the great distances we often have to travel in order to get places. Although our gas might be cheaper than other's, some of us have to travel many times farther to get to work, school (sessions!), etc. than people from other countries do"
The price of fuel has definitely changed my driving habits, which includes driving to sessions. That said, those that complain about the the current fuel costs are just some of the folks in the U.S.. Some of us understand that we are still paying less per gallon or 3.8 liters than nearly the balance of the world.
The problem is most of our personal spending commitments have been established in an economic environment that was based upon much lower fuel prices and taxes for that matter. This creates somewhat of a budget crunch for a great number of folks. Self created agreed. We need an adjustment time to sort it all out. The one thing that concerns me though is that we'll capitulate to financial pressures and allow drilling in areas where perhaps such isn't environmentally prudent.
One possible benefit of all this may be the strengthening of our local communities as more and more folks may need to stay closer to home for their recreation and shopping.
Aw heck, nothing to it, just do what the oil companies and banks do, keep speculating in oil futures driving the price of oil through the roof and making a vast profit. I mean, the credit bubble is busting, all those ruling class losses have to be recouped somewhere. Why not food and oil speculation? Chu-ching!
Wow Hussar, 40 miles to a session? Wow, most people in America have to do that every day to get the kids to school and themselves to work. Yes, and it's because we're all bloodthirsty Imperialists, just wait until we come to your town.
No worries, SWFL. There ain't no oil here, so go and annoy somebody else!!!
Comes down to priorities, doesn't it. I only think twice about going into town for session because it's on top of all the other trips - work, school, shopping etc. etc. needed to run a family.
I suppose I could quit working and we could let everyone go hungry etc and play loads tunes to distract them
Even allowing for different sized "gallons" direct comparison of prices is pretty meaningless. Suppose I live somewhere that fuel is $1 a gallon, but average pay is $500 a month.
It's all apples and pears until you put it all in context of pay rates, taxes, health, housing, food and other costs.
The one thing that's certain is that prices have gone up!
Hey swfl fiddler, when you invade old hussar's house, I mean, I see he plays the concertina, an instrument I have thought about taking up. I was wondering if perhaps I help out I might end up with said instrument. We imperialists have to stick together these days.
I'm very sorry leo, but the Hussar's concertina has already been earmarked for the Halliburton Corporation, something about "we don't invest in Imperialism unless we turn a profit"? I don't know how this works exactly, I'm sorry. I'm entirely too busy watching American Idol and eating McDonald's to think about these things. Oh look, a shiny piece of paper...
I was going to say that I can loot and pillage with the best of them, but Halliburton has me beat. Bastards. An don't you know they will pawn the concertina and spend the proceeds at the very same Mcdonald's that you patronize. Even worse.
Given the late hours at which most sessions finish, I'd say most sessioneers get home by car, whether or not they're driving it themselves , regardless of where in the world.
Although I got home from my last one in Melbourne by tram, and in Perth a kind session.orger dropped me at the train station after I'd got to the session by train & bus.
Of course, I got to these cities by plane. Planes, trains, trams and automobiles!
If it's a 40 mile round trip to your session by car, and your car does 40mpg (so not in North America I guess!), and the price has gone up by $2 a gallon, then your session trip has cost you a cashtastic two (2) US dollars extra. You wouldn't even get a half-pint for that.
ejsant, I'm totally with you - as travel costs rise we will all invest much more money / time in our local communities, and that's got to be a good thing.
Petrol is around 1.50 € per litre over here in Germany.
We'll be out of oil in a couple of decades so the price is a timely reminder to change our habits.
As far as sessions are concerned it's more the scarcity of trains and busses in the evening that stop me going to far away places.
Yeah Bren, of course you're right, the actual increase per trip is small - though I would tend to cost car mileage at approx. Euro 0.50 a mile, taking into account the total cost of running a car.
But the point about the increasing fuel price, is that everything else is rising rapidly in price - especially in a small island economy like little 'ol Ireland. Electricity is mostly generated here from oil and coal and is due to rise something like 30% next autumn - food has increased substantially over past year. So throw all that into the mix and there have to be some cutbacks in most family economies.
Nate, yes, we still have public transport. But we have to fight to keep it viable. If you want politicians to spend money on trains and not just on roads you have to tell them so.
I can't ride a bicycle to the local sessions because it is difficult to carry a piano or a bass fiddle on a bicycle. Nor do I feel like pulling a trailer behind the bicycle.
Also, public transit isn't very good here because a lot of people don't want to fund it. The only people who use the buses are the people who can't drive and/or cannot afford a car.
On the other hand, though, the high gas prices do give me a legitimate excuse not to go the three sessions every month which aren't here in North Little Rock. There are two sessions here every month at the local version of Cregeen's which I usually attend because Cregeen's is only a mile or two from my house.
" If you want politicians to spend money on trains and not just on roads you have to tell them so."
that would be your politicians. Ours here in Pennsylvania are pretty crooked and thier cousin owns a road paving company
and even if their business interests didn't conflict, you'd still have to outspend the oil industry spreading money around the capitol for our politicians to listen
Gas is cheaper here in the US, but what's been difficult is how quickly the prices have doubled, along with an enormous increase in the price of food. It's getting harder to get by. I don't know anybody who has gotten a raise in pay in the last 5 years, either, except for the executives.
Yes, that's a point. Even without 40 kilometres (or miles) to drive, I heard (please right me if I'm wrong there) in many American cities it's hard to get around without car. Over here in Europe there has been done more for public transport systems in the last decades (maybe not everywhere but generally speaking).
Many drivers will purposefully try to run you down, lay on the horn, shout obscenities and do other nasty things to you if you ride a bike on "their" streets. People drive in the US. It's what they do and to get them out of their cars is more difficult than prying a gun from their cold dead hands.
I recently made a huge obscene profit margin playing music. at a gig... showed up, played some tunes, got a big check, went home... maybe ythe government should go after me? Screw the government and their taxes because a tax is a tax on EVERYONE... whats next with the freakin IRS? A sheet for computing your profit margin?
Fauxcelt, Yours is a sad predicament. Think of our sturdy forebears, though, and what they overcame. For them, an evening's music might have been preceded by a five mile push, over bad roads, and frequently in pouring rain. They often had to make do with sets of mismatched casters, or even none at all. The advent of the bicycle in Ireland only meant that the transportation of pianos became, if anything, trickier still. The "Old Ones' Persevered.
on the subject of riding bicycles here in the states,..
it's sort of funny but the reason I started playing fiddle was because I got run over by a truck on one of my training rides this spring.
I still don't remember a good part of that afternoon, but I think I was on the other side for a little bit. When they let me out of the hospital, I had this crazed desire to play fiddle.
I think I'm getting fiddle lessons from my old great-grandma from the other side.
seriously. its completely strange, but if I hadn't of been nearly killed in March I wouldn't be playing the fiddle at all
Well, I remember borrowing my brother-in-laws' car about 8 years ago in the States, and after driving about 350 miles with us and the two lumpy teenagers in the back and all the luggage in the boot ( or trunk as you guys call it ) we refilled at the pumps for $15 of gas, about £10 or less. That seemed amazing even then, to UK dwellers. Today, in London, the cheapest petrol is £1.19 a litre near me ( local prices may vary ), times 4.5 to convert to gallons, times 1.9 something to convert to dollars, don't you guys in the States complain, do the calculations, you're still getting it way cheaper than us !
It all depends where you spend your disposable income - some people still seem to have large amounts of the green stuff for instruments, anyway.
My band is thinking that we have to uprate our charges, and double our individual mileage allowances, to account for the current situation.
Meanwhile, as airlines all over the world lay off flight crew and mothball airliners, British Airports Authority STILL says we need a third runway at Heathrow...........
Anyway, we only go to local sessions, and there's always our excellent public transport, and it's free for me as an old codger.
Ach, it's €1.37 a litre here in Connaught at the moment! I'd love to say I'd spend more time cycling and walking, but it's rained every day for the last ten - though that's still some way short of the 47 consecutive days in the 'summer' of 2007.
I can walk to one session and then there a several anywhere from 1/2 hour to 45 mintues away. I like the one which is the furthest but have reduced going to that one to once a month. I have driven very little this week - the kids are home and tried to walk or do everything local. I'm tired of feeding the car. Cost me $64 to fill the tank of my minivan.
Now coming to think of it - transport apart from your own feet wasn't readily available in the old days. (And it's still like that in many countries). Sessions as we know them only go back about 50 years. So we are just getting more 'traditional' all the time. Perpaps we should turn to our neighbours and share their music whatever it is.
"Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
It's a relative perception problem. Here in the US we're not used to spending so much on gas. Over the many years of availability of cheap gas we've built a system (including personal lifestyles ) that includes traveling longish distances fairly cheaply. The current meteoric rise in prices at the pump is now making us realize how much we've depended on cheap gas. EVERYTHING is going up because of the price of gas. Doesn't matter if other countries gas prices have been high for years, because they've been integrating the higher price into their day to day existence for a long time. What's happening in the US is rather sudden, and actually quite a reality check. I live in the SF Bay Area, have a good job and make decent money--and I'm feeling it BIG TIME. For those less fortunate, I don't know how they're doing it. And, IMHO, it's going to get a lot worse...
I learned something new here today - the comment earlier about the price of hay rising. So even if you don't use a car for transport you're subject to rising prices! I guess the most positive spin you can put on it is that it's giving us a chance to get used to the idea of not having oil at all, as obviously that's going to happen at some point. I know people have talked about some of the newer EU countries as being good places to live as they never really lost their public transport systems to the car. Shame I never got on with riding horses!
Lack of public transit and rising gas prices are a huge problem where I live (Chilliwack, BC, Canada), especially for us university students paying for our own tuition, rent, car insurance/gas, and everything else by ourselves. In Chilliwack, a bus comes to each bus stop about once an hour, and each bus goes to all the bus stops so it takes a minimum of about thirty minutes to get to where you want to go (which doesn't sound like a long time, but those are the places you could get to in about ten minutes in your own car). How are we supposed to use public transit to save on gas and emissions when there isn't any practical public transit to use?
As for sessions, the nearest one that I could go to, as there aren't any in Chilliwack, is about an hour's drive one way; thus, I, being a self-paying student as mentioned earlier, am unable to go to it. Lucky for me, my SO is a fellow musician so we have our own sessions. It would be nice to play with others though.
Basically I just wanted to rant about my own situation, as whoever read my post can tell.
Yesterday the Provincial government sent out $100 cheques to every British Columbian to "make it easier for British Columbians to choose a lower carbon lifestyle." Wow. Thanks. Wait, what's that? You mean I CAN'T buy a smart car or hybrid and switch to a "low carbon lifestyle" with a whole $100?
With all due regard towards the good intentions of this act, are there any other British Columbians here who thought these cheques were more of a slap in the face?
Americans posting here: True, the US is big so you commute a lot (Canadians experience the same thing), but gas prices screw everyone, no matter what size your country is (that's a really dirty-sounding sentence, just realized *shrug*).
Non-Americans posting here: Come on, give them a break; after being used to something, it's hard to adjust when that something takes huge turns for the worse.
I live in a very rural part of the east coast. We would love public transportation, but the public transport authority can't afford to increase the bus routes! So, even the public transport can't afford the gas. We car pool for my son's school. Tonight, I had a client I could see and we did our service dog training class all in the same town. We combine as many trips as possible.
Tomorrow I may play 45 minutes away -but I will also make a WalMart run at the same time. I also have a client in the same town I can see as well.
Remember that the increase in gas is due to oil speculation - not the cost of production or anything else having to do with the product directly.
oil futures speculation causes short term changes GOW, but the long term trend is ^up^ no matter which way you look at it
Unfortunately, the rate at which small pubs are closing in UK and Ireland means it is less likely than ever that you will have one within convenient distance. One country pub closed here recently and there was a huge petition got up about it. The publican pointed out rather bitterly that if only the people supporting the petition had come to his pub regularly, it wouldn't be closing.
There is, as ever, a big disconnect between what people say they want and what they show they want.
The doorbell rang the other day and and when I opened the door the gasman was standing there panting.I said
"My,You're out of breath."
" So would you be if you'd just done 600 meters"
Since I will never be a multi-national corporation, I don't intend to waste any of my time, energy, and effort talking to the people who are supposed to represent me in Congress (the so-called legislative group and not the reel).
Before they had cars, I guess they had to transport pianos or bass fiddles in wagons drawn by horses or other animals.
I bought a minivan so I could transport my bass fiddle and it cost me $68.35 to put seventeen gallons of gas in the tank of my minivan last Friday.
If I used public transit to get to work, it would take me twice as long as it does to drive to my job. I would have to ride one bus to downtown and then transfer to another bus to get to the hospital where I work. Also, the bus which I would have to ride to downtown only runs once every thirty minutes during morning and evening rush hours. During the middle of the day, this bus runs once an hour. And. last but not least, this bus runs only from six a.m. to six p.m. and there is no Sunday service. The bus from downtown to the hospital runs more frequently; it runs until ten p.m.; and it runs on Sunday also.
Since this is a hospital, it is open all the time and there are times when they need me to come in at various odd hours such as four a.m. or midnight or eight p.m. If the bus isn't running, I have to drive my car to get to work.
Fauxcelt, thank you for that post. Let me jump back in while the topic grows cold, and most of the people have left the room. My first response was a feeble attempt at cheering people up. It came off as a poor joke, and your expense. Sorry for that. You are a piano player in this idiom, though; you will receive a lot worse. To complicate matters, you are an American, which means still more guff. What I was trying to get at, in a very clumsy way, is this: you and I are Americans. Any complaints we make about life in the US won't go down too well with lots of people in this forum, and won't until the proper declaration of a humanitarian chrisis. Even then, it would be best to keep mum about it. Please God, that day is a long way off. Now, back to the subject of pianos. Anyone who plays piano in Irish music must have a rebellious streak a mile wide, since you are seen by so many as an unwelcome interloper. All the best, and, UP THE REBELLION!
>Any complaints we make about life in the US won't go down too well with lots of people in this forum, and won't until the proper declaration of a humanitarian chrisis. Even then, it would be best to keep mum about it. Please God, that day is a long way off.
Am I the only one confused by this sentence? Is this what you meant to say, AQ?
Makes me wonder which Humanitarian Crisis you could be thinking of?
C Stu, the economic situation that obtains here in the US, as a whole, cannot be described as anything close to a humanitarian crisis yet. But then you might be slagging my spelling, grammar, and or punctuation. Slag away. You can meet me in the orchard after school. [ winks once]
You're a gas man
You're a gas man
Will the escalating price of petrol have an effect on your ability to grab a few mates, jump in the banger and head off to a session you've never been to outside of the normal stomping grounds ?
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Patkiwi
Re: You're a gas man
no, good music is more important than money
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Worldwide Pants
Re: You're a gas man
The folks from Santa Cruz stopped coming to our session here in SF on account of the price of gas. Makes me think twice about going down there as well.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Phantom Button
Re: You're a gas man
I'll keep riding my Vespa to my local session. But if it gets worse, maybe I'll walk or ride my bicycle instead.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by sbhikes
Re: You're a gas man
there is no session worth going to outside of boston
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by stevequincy
Re: You're a gas man
Yep. I stopped going to two of our local sessions when the prices hit $3.70. Fortunately, there is a great session within walking distance from home.
I went from 2-3 sessions a week to 1 every two weeks.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by feardearg
Re: You're a gas man
>there is no session worth going to outside of boston
Steven I haven't ever been to a session in Boston, but I complete agree with you. That's why I stopped going to all our local sessions. Now that you've given away the secret, everyone from the Montana Moles to the Venusian Gnomes are going to come to your session!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Eliot
Re: You're a gas man
Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there...
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by cag
Re: You're a gas man
according to the author of "Oil on the Brain" Americans perceive our gas expenses to be 4 times greater than they actually are (or did in a Harris poll in 2005 anyway). She also said that most of us have no idea how much we actually spend on gas. So there.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by airport
Re: You're a gas man
Well, reducing demand brings down prices. We should do what we can.
It is sad that our brothers and sisters (eeeee! I almost forgot sisters!) beyond our borders have been charged so much for petrol for all these years.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by feardearg
Re: You're a gas man
>>"Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
cag, you're forgetting how large the U.S. is in comparison to other countries and the great distances we often have to travel in order to get places. Although our gas might be cheaper than other's, some of us have to travel many times farther to get to work, school (sessions!), etc. than people from other countries do.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by FidDLe01
Re: You're a gas man
Australia is roughly the same size as the US, but our petrol price currently is around the equivalent of $1.63US per litre.
What they don't tell you is that Honda, VW and I think Toyota and maybe others all make compressed natural gas fuelled vehicles. The cost of running those vehicles has been estimated to be around the equivalent of $0.28US per litre (in Australia anyway).
Unfortunately, however, the Australian government will not permit the importation of cng fuelled vehicles, probably because it rips off so much in fuel tax at the pump, but there is none on cng. (You can buy cng conversion kits though which includes a compressor, so you can fill up from your domestic supply. )
Alternatively, Sheik Yamani (remember him?) reckons that hydrogen will be the future fuel, then we say goodbye to gas guzzlers.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: You're a gas man
New session started 7km from where I live - I don't go coz I'm totally watching the number of kms I stack up per week. Trying to keep my weekly fuel consumption below ~10 litres. Even on a reasonable salary here in New Zealand, the cost of living is putting some curbs on luxuries... and some basics.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Brown Creeper
Re: You're a gas man
If you can "grab a few mates" who play, why do you need to go to a session?
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: You're a gas man
Creeper you can bicycle to your session. I saw one of our regulars
once (out of the car window) riding a bicycle down a busy street,
both hands off the bars, playing tunes on a whistle (a green bicycle too).
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Hup
Re: You're a gas man
Yes, FidDLe01, you're right *some* of you have to travel greater distances. Not all of you however. I have to travel in excess of 25,000 miles a year on UK roads just on music business. At US prices I could travel three times that distance for the same cost.
I agree with cag ......."Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by bogman
Re: You're a gas man
Different mindsets. While home visiting in May, I filled up my dad's car and my first thought was, "Holy jaysus this has gotten ridiculous!" Then I converted it to litres and pounds and felt much better!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: You're a gas man
"when the prices hit $3.70"!!! per gallon??!!
In Ireland these days, petrol/ diesel (gas) is average Euro 1.35 per litre or over Euro 6 per gallon. What would that be in greenbacks - over $9 per gallon.
Yes, I make a 40 mile round trip to play in a session and I think twice about it each week, often skipping a week.
Why do people in USA think like Fiddleo above???, quote ''you're forgetting how large the U.S. is in comparison to other countries and the great distances we often have to travel in order to get places. Although our gas might be cheaper than other's, some of us have to travel many times farther to get to work, school (sessions!), etc. than people from other countries do"
Imperialism comes to mind...
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: You're a gas man
Deisel here is £1.39 per litre. £6.25 per gallon. What's that? About $12 per gallon?
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by bogman
Re: You're a gas man
Here being the Scottish Islands
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by bogman
Re: You're a gas man
About $10 - the US gallon's smaller than the UK one... assuming you were talking US$, of course. Nothing's simple!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: You're a gas man
All I know is someone's getting pretty feckin rich off all this.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Phantom Button
Re: You're a gas man
It's up to £1.39 on Skye? Ouch.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: You're a gas man
And how much does the US sell it's wheat for? $7 a bushel or so is it?
They are saying that oil could go to $200US a barrel by the end of this year.
How much does it cost to fill the home oil heaters in England and Ireland!!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: You're a gas man
The price of fuel has definitely changed my driving habits, which includes driving to sessions. That said, those that complain about the the current fuel costs are just some of the folks in the U.S.. Some of us understand that we are still paying less per gallon or 3.8 liters than nearly the balance of the world.
The problem is most of our personal spending commitments have been established in an economic environment that was based upon much lower fuel prices and taxes for that matter. This creates somewhat of a budget crunch for a great number of folks. Self created agreed. We need an adjustment time to sort it all out. The one thing that concerns me though is that we'll capitulate to financial pressures and allow drilling in areas where perhaps such isn't environmentally prudent.
One possible benefit of all this may be the strengthening of our local communities as more and more folks may need to stay closer to home for their recreation and shopping.
All the best!
Peace,
Ed
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by ejsant
Re: You're a gas man
Aw heck, nothing to it, just do what the oil companies and banks do, keep speculating in oil futures driving the price of oil through the roof and making a vast profit. I mean, the credit bubble is busting, all those ruling class losses have to be recouped somewhere. Why not food and oil speculation? Chu-ching!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: You're a gas man
Wow Hussar, 40 miles to a session? Wow, most people in America have to do that every day to get the kids to school and themselves to work. Yes, and it's because we're all bloodthirsty Imperialists, just wait until we come to your town.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: You're a gas man
No worries, SWFL. There ain't no oil here, so go and annoy somebody else!!!
Comes down to priorities, doesn't it. I only think twice about going into town for session because it's on top of all the other trips - work, school, shopping etc. etc. needed to run a family.
I suppose I could quit working and we could let everyone go hungry etc and play loads tunes to distract them
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: You're a gas man
Even allowing for different sized "gallons" direct comparison of prices is pretty meaningless. Suppose I live somewhere that fuel is $1 a gallon, but average pay is $500 a month.
It's all apples and pears until you put it all in context of pay rates, taxes, health, housing, food and other costs.
The one thing that's certain is that prices have gone up!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by TomB-R
Re: You're a gas man
Hey swfl fiddler, when you invade old hussar's house, I mean, I see he plays the concertina, an instrument I have thought about taking up. I was wondering if perhaps I help out I might end up with said instrument. We imperialists have to stick together these days.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by leoj
Re: You're a gas man
I'm very sorry leo, but the Hussar's concertina has already been earmarked for the Halliburton Corporation, something about "we don't invest in Imperialism unless we turn a profit"? I don't know how this works exactly, I'm sorry. I'm entirely too busy watching American Idol and eating McDonald's to think about these things. Oh look, a shiny piece of paper...
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: You're a gas man
I was going to say that I can loot and pillage with the best of them, but Halliburton has me beat. Bastards. An don't you know they will pawn the concertina and spend the proceeds at the very same Mcdonald's that you patronize. Even worse.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by leoj
Re: You're a gas man
I'm American, but I put more miles a week on my bicycle than I do my car.
I only drive around 100-130 miles a week, but I ride my bike 150-200 miles
I live out in the country, though, and I don't go to town much anyway.
I have a friend who's a Mennonite and doesn't drive cars. He goes everywhere with a horse and buggy or he rides a bicycle.
I told him I wish I didn't have to pay for gasoline like him and Merv says "well, the price of hay went through the roof this year"
So they get you one way or the other. Even the price of hay tripled this year!
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: You're a gas man
Given the late hours at which most sessions finish, I'd say most sessioneers get home by car, whether or not they're driving it themselves , regardless of where in the world.
Although I got home from my last one in Melbourne by tram, and in Perth a kind session.orger dropped me at the train station after I'd got to the session by train & bus.
Of course, I got to these cities by plane. Planes, trains, trams and automobiles!
If it's a 40 mile round trip to your session by car, and your car does 40mpg (so not in North America I guess!), and the price has gone up by $2 a gallon, then your session trip has cost you a cashtastic two (2) US dollars extra. You wouldn't even get a half-pint for that.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Bren
Re: You're a gas man
ejsant, I'm totally with you - as travel costs rise we will all invest much more money / time in our local communities, and that's got to be a good thing.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: You're a gas man
Petrol is around 1.50 € per litre over here in Germany.
We'll be out of oil in a couple of decades so the price is a timely reminder to change our habits.
As far as sessions are concerned it's more the scarcity of trains and busses in the evening that stop me going to far away places.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by kuec
Re: You're a gas man
"As far as sessions are concerned it's more the scarcity of trains and busses in the evening that stop me going to far away places"
wow, you guys actually have viable public transportation?
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: You're a gas man
Yeah Bren, of course you're right, the actual increase per trip is small - though I would tend to cost car mileage at approx. Euro 0.50 a mile, taking into account the total cost of running a car.
But the point about the increasing fuel price, is that everything else is rising rapidly in price - especially in a small island economy like little 'ol Ireland. Electricity is mostly generated here from oil and coal and is due to rise something like 30% next autumn - food has increased substantially over past year. So throw all that into the mix and there have to be some cutbacks in most family economies.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: You're a gas man
Nate, yes, we still have public transport. But we have to fight to keep it viable. If you want politicians to spend money on trains and not just on roads you have to tell them so.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by kuec
Re: You're a gas man
I can't ride a bicycle to the local sessions because it is difficult to carry a piano or a bass fiddle on a bicycle. Nor do I feel like pulling a trailer behind the bicycle.
Also, public transit isn't very good here because a lot of people don't want to fund it. The only people who use the buses are the people who can't drive and/or cannot afford a car.
On the other hand, though, the high gas prices do give me a legitimate excuse not to go the three sessions every month which aren't here in North Little Rock. There are two sessions here every month at the local version of Cregeen's which I usually attend because Cregeen's is only a mile or two from my house.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: You're a gas man
" If you want politicians to spend money on trains and not just on roads you have to tell them so."
that would be your politicians. Ours here in Pennsylvania are pretty crooked and thier cousin owns a road paving company
and even if their business interests didn't conflict, you'd still have to outspend the oil industry spreading money around the capitol for our politicians to listen
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: You're a gas man
I tried talking to my representatives. They told me to come back when I was a multi-national corporation.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: You're a gas man
Gas is cheaper here in the US, but what's been difficult is how quickly the prices have doubled, along with an enormous increase in the price of food. It's getting harder to get by. I don't know anybody who has gotten a raise in pay in the last 5 years, either, except for the executives.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by sbhikes
Re: You're a gas man
Yes, that's a point. Even without 40 kilometres (or miles) to drive, I heard (please right me if I'm wrong there) in many American cities it's hard to get around without car. Over here in Europe there has been done more for public transport systems in the last decades (maybe not everywhere but generally speaking).
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by TMB
Re: You're a gas man
Many drivers will purposefully try to run you down, lay on the horn, shout obscenities and do other nasty things to you if you ride a bike on "their" streets. People drive in the US. It's what they do and to get them out of their cars is more difficult than prying a gun from their cold dead hands.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by sbhikes
Re: You're a gas man
I recently made a huge obscene profit margin playing music. at a gig... showed up, played some tunes, got a big check, went home... maybe ythe government should go after me? Screw the government and their taxes because a tax is a tax on EVERYONE... whats next with the freakin IRS? A sheet for computing your profit margin?
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by McCracken
Re: You're a gas man
Fauxcelt, Yours is a sad predicament. Think of our sturdy forebears, though, and what they overcame. For them, an evening's music might have been preceded by a five mile push, over bad roads, and frequently in pouring rain. They often had to make do with sets of mismatched casters, or even none at all. The advent of the bicycle in Ireland only meant that the transportation of pianos became, if anything, trickier still. The "Old Ones' Persevered.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: You're a gas man
on the subject of riding bicycles here in the states,..
it's sort of funny but the reason I started playing fiddle was because I got run over by a truck on one of my training rides this spring.
I still don't remember a good part of that afternoon, but I think I was on the other side for a little bit. When they let me out of the hospital, I had this crazed desire to play fiddle.
I think I'm getting fiddle lessons from my old great-grandma from the other side.
seriously. its completely strange, but if I hadn't of been nearly killed in March I wouldn't be playing the fiddle at all
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: You're a gas man
Well, I remember borrowing my brother-in-laws' car about 8 years ago in the States, and after driving about 350 miles with us and the two lumpy teenagers in the back and all the luggage in the boot ( or trunk as you guys call it ) we refilled at the pumps for $15 of gas, about £10 or less. That seemed amazing even then, to UK dwellers. Today, in London, the cheapest petrol is £1.19 a litre near me ( local prices may vary ), times 4.5 to convert to gallons, times 1.9 something to convert to dollars, don't you guys in the States complain, do the calculations, you're still getting it way cheaper than us !
It all depends where you spend your disposable income - some people still seem to have large amounts of the green stuff for instruments, anyway.
My band is thinking that we have to uprate our charges, and double our individual mileage allowances, to account for the current situation.
Meanwhile, as airlines all over the world lay off flight crew and mothball airliners, British Airports Authority STILL says we need a third runway at Heathrow...........
Anyway, we only go to local sessions, and there's always our excellent public transport, and it's free for me as an old codger.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: You're a gas man
Ach, it's €1.37 a litre here in Connaught at the moment! I'd love to say I'd spend more time cycling and walking, but it's rained every day for the last ten - though that's still some way short of the 47 consecutive days in the 'summer' of 2007.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: You're a gas man
I can walk to one session and then there a several anywhere from 1/2 hour to 45 mintues away. I like the one which is the furthest but have reduced going to that one to once a month. I have driven very little this week - the kids are home and tried to walk or do everything local. I'm tired of feeding the car. Cost me $64 to fill the tank of my minivan.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by grumblingoldwoman
Re: You're a gas man
Now coming to think of it - transport apart from your own feet wasn't readily available in the old days. (And it's still like that in many countries). Sessions as we know them only go back about 50 years. So we are just getting more 'traditional' all the time. Perpaps we should turn to our neighbours and share their music whatever it is.
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by kuec
Re: You're a gas man
"Hilarious the way people from the US think petrol is expensive there..."
It's a relative perception problem. Here in the US we're not used to spending so much on gas. Over the many years of availability of cheap gas we've built a system (including personal lifestyles ) that includes traveling longish distances fairly cheaply. The current meteoric rise in prices at the pump is now making us realize how much we've depended on cheap gas. EVERYTHING is going up because of the price of gas. Doesn't matter if other countries gas prices have been high for years, because they've been integrating the higher price into their day to day existence for a long time. What's happening in the US is rather sudden, and actually quite a reality check. I live in the SF Bay Area, have a good job and make decent money--and I'm feeling it BIG TIME. For those less fortunate, I don't know how they're doing it. And, IMHO, it's going to get a lot worse...
# Posted on June 27th 2008 by gw
Re: You're a gas man
Pete, the US gallon is smaller than the UK, and equates to 3.8 litres.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: You're a gas man
This discussion would have been entirely different if a comma had been inserted in the title - “You're a gas, man”
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: You're a gas man
Well now Lazy H, in Ireland, a gas man (or a gas woman) without a comma, is exactly what you think it means with a comma.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by de Selby
Re: You're a gas man
Over there in England it's just someone who reads the meter, I know.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by de Selby
Re: You're a gas man
I learned something new here today - the comment earlier about the price of hay rising. So even if you don't use a car for transport you're subject to rising prices! I guess the most positive spin you can put on it is that it's giving us a chance to get used to the idea of not having oil at all, as obviously that's going to happen at some point. I know people have talked about some of the newer EU countries as being good places to live as they never really lost their public transport systems to the car. Shame I never got on with riding horses!
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: You're a gas man
Lack of public transit and rising gas prices are a huge problem where I live (Chilliwack, BC, Canada), especially for us university students paying for our own tuition, rent, car insurance/gas, and everything else by ourselves. In Chilliwack, a bus comes to each bus stop about once an hour, and each bus goes to all the bus stops so it takes a minimum of about thirty minutes to get to where you want to go (which doesn't sound like a long time, but those are the places you could get to in about ten minutes in your own car). How are we supposed to use public transit to save on gas and emissions when there isn't any practical public transit to use?
As for sessions, the nearest one that I could go to, as there aren't any in Chilliwack, is about an hour's drive one way; thus, I, being a self-paying student as mentioned earlier, am unable to go to it. Lucky for me, my SO is a fellow musician so we have our own sessions. It would be nice to play with others though.
Basically I just wanted to rant about my own situation, as whoever read my post can tell.
Yesterday the Provincial government sent out $100 cheques to every British Columbian to "make it easier for British Columbians to choose a lower carbon lifestyle." Wow. Thanks. Wait, what's that? You mean I CAN'T buy a smart car or hybrid and switch to a "low carbon lifestyle" with a whole $100?
With all due regard towards the good intentions of this act, are there any other British Columbians here who thought these cheques were more of a slap in the face?
Americans posting here: True, the US is big so you commute a lot (Canadians experience the same thing), but gas prices screw everyone, no matter what size your country is (that's a really dirty-sounding sentence, just realized *shrug*).
Non-Americans posting here: Come on, give them a break; after being used to something, it's hard to adjust when that something takes huge turns for the worse.
In conclusion: I HATE MONEY.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by Tasia
Re: You're a gas man
I live in a very rural part of the east coast. We would love public transportation, but the public transport authority can't afford to increase the bus routes! So, even the public transport can't afford the gas. We car pool for my son's school. Tonight, I had a client I could see and we did our service dog training class all in the same town. We combine as many trips as possible.
Tomorrow I may play 45 minutes away -but I will also make a WalMart run at the same time. I also have a client in the same town I can see as well.
Remember that the increase in gas is due to oil speculation - not the cost of production or anything else having to do with the product directly.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by grumblingoldwoman
Re: You're a gas man
oil futures speculation causes short term changes GOW, but the long term trend is ^up^ no matter which way you look at it
Unfortunately, the rate at which small pubs are closing in UK and Ireland means it is less likely than ever that you will have one within convenient distance. One country pub closed here recently and there was a huge petition got up about it. The publican pointed out rather bitterly that if only the people supporting the petition had come to his pub regularly, it wouldn't be closing.
There is, as ever, a big disconnect between what people say they want and what they show they want.
# Posted on June 28th 2008 by Bren
Re: You're a gas man
The doorbell rang the other day and and when I opened the door the gasman was standing there panting.I said
"My,You're out of breath."
" So would you be if you'd just done 600 meters"
# Posted on June 30th 2008 by dafydd
Re: You're a gas man
Since I will never be a multi-national corporation, I don't intend to waste any of my time, energy, and effort talking to the people who are supposed to represent me in Congress (the so-called legislative group and not the reel).
Before they had cars, I guess they had to transport pianos or bass fiddles in wagons drawn by horses or other animals.
I bought a minivan so I could transport my bass fiddle and it cost me $68.35 to put seventeen gallons of gas in the tank of my minivan last Friday.
If I used public transit to get to work, it would take me twice as long as it does to drive to my job. I would have to ride one bus to downtown and then transfer to another bus to get to the hospital where I work. Also, the bus which I would have to ride to downtown only runs once every thirty minutes during morning and evening rush hours. During the middle of the day, this bus runs once an hour. And. last but not least, this bus runs only from six a.m. to six p.m. and there is no Sunday service. The bus from downtown to the hospital runs more frequently; it runs until ten p.m.; and it runs on Sunday also.
Since this is a hospital, it is open all the time and there are times when they need me to come in at various odd hours such as four a.m. or midnight or eight p.m. If the bus isn't running, I have to drive my car to get to work.
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: You're a gas man
Fauxcelt, thank you for that post. Let me jump back in while the topic grows cold, and most of the people have left the room. My first response was a feeble attempt at cheering people up. It came off as a poor joke, and your expense. Sorry for that. You are a piano player in this idiom, though; you will receive a lot worse. To complicate matters, you are an American, which means still more guff. What I was trying to get at, in a very clumsy way, is this: you and I are Americans. Any complaints we make about life in the US won't go down too well with lots of people in this forum, and won't until the proper declaration of a humanitarian chrisis. Even then, it would be best to keep mum about it. Please God, that day is a long way off. Now, back to the subject of pianos. Anyone who plays piano in Irish music must have a rebellious streak a mile wide, since you are seen by so many as an unwelcome interloper. All the best, and, UP THE REBELLION!
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: You're a gas man
PS Why didn't you stand up to that guy who slagged Arkansas? But then why didn't I?
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: You're a gas man
PPS Crisis is not spelled with a h. I know that.
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: You're a gas man
>Any complaints we make about life in the US won't go down too well with lots of people in this forum, and won't until the proper declaration of a humanitarian chrisis. Even then, it would be best to keep mum about it. Please God, that day is a long way off.
Am I the only one confused by this sentence? Is this what you meant to say, AQ?
Makes me wonder which Humanitarian Crisis you could be thinking of?
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by cStu
Re: You're a gas man
C Stu, the economic situation that obtains here in the US, as a whole, cannot be described as anything close to a humanitarian crisis yet. But then you might be slagging my spelling, grammar, and or punctuation. Slag away. You can meet me in the orchard after school. [ winks once]
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: You're a gas man
Sorry. As you were. I was puzzled that anyone might not want a proper Humanitarian crisis duly declared, as that's the way it read to me.
So unless the apples are ripe ...
# Posted on July 1st 2008 by cStu