Yeah, I understand what you're saying....
I remember when I first came to sunny CA back in 1983, the cost of a
gallon of gas in Hollywood was $1.01....
Sign of the times indeed.....
Brian.
On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 21:44:47 +0200, Christian Lheureux
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Back in 1982, I was living in Montreal, Quebec. So you'll have to adjust all
>C$ prices to US$, which at the time was something like .71 US$ for 1 C$.
>
>I was paid 500 C$ a month. On that, I had to pay the rent, eat, and a few
>other things. Not that I'm complaining, of course, since nobody had asked me
>to do that - I had volunteered. A great experience, BTW.
>
>And I had a car and had to pay for gas.
>
>Now, let's talk about gas. Or petrol. Or whatever you guys are willing to
>call that liquid stuff you put in your cars.
>
>The price of gas at that time in downtown Montreal, IIRC not a cheap place
>by any standard, was about .50 C$/l, which is about 1.8C$ per US gallon, or
>about 1.3 US$ per US gallon. OK, summer '82. In Quebec, gas was a little
>more expensive. I've never fully understood why, probably it had to travel a
>little longer - my own assumption, not sure it's backed by fact, I did not
>do the math. In nearby Ottawa, Ontario (are you there, Birket ?), gas was
>about .42-.47 C$ per liter, which was like 10% cheaper than in Montreal.
>
>Now let's bring a little perspective to this story .... I drove a '74 Chevy
>Impala. Well, that was about the only car I could afford when I landed in
>Montreal, C$495, tax included. Of course, it was not the most economical car
>you could get. I quickly realized that the more fuel a car burned, the
>cheapest it was on the second-hand market. I remember that, at some
>reasonable speed, like 75 kph (45 mph), I got about 17-18 mpg. Well, at not
>so reasonable speeds, I got only 7.5 mpg. I once emptied the 22-gal tank
>driving back from Quebec to Montreal, which is about only 160 miles (262 km,
>at current exchange rates).
>
>Still, that gas-guzzling living-room-on-wheels (well, almost that big,
>indeed, it easily seated 6 or 7 passengers) still cost me less to drive than
>my old clunky Renault Five (a.k.a. "Le Car", for those of you who were
>already there in '82) back in Paris.
>
>At that time, gas was about 5 French Francs per liter in Paris. Or anywhere
>in France, since, in those delicate old times, gas prices were set by the
>Government (they were set free only in '85). That turns into something like
>.76 Euro per liter, or 2.89 Euros per US gallon, or (at today's dollar /
>Euro rate) US$4.46 / US gallon. I reckon it's a little questionable to
>compare 1982 prices on both sides of the pond using a 2008 exchange rate. So
>let's get back to a more realistic exchange rate of 6.70 French Francs to
>the US$ of that timeframe. That puts a French gas liter at US$.75, or
>US$2.83/US gallon. Ah, those good old times of 1982, when gas was CHEAP
>!!!!!
>
>Bottom line 1 : gas prices a quarter-century ago in France were comparable
>to today's gas prices on the West side of the Pond.
>
>Bottom line 2 : Gas prices today in France are about Euro 1.50/l, or ....
>believe it or not .... hold your breath while I'm doing the math ....
>
>... US$8.77 / gallon !!!!
>
>For some reason, the streets are still crowded, while public transportation
>is not exactly packed. I guess I need an explanation about my own country !
>
>Oh well, I'm taking French examples, since I live there, but I guess it's
>about the same situation in most of Europe.
>
>Bottom line 3 : Let's start a business - I'm buying US gas, reselling it
>here at some discounted price, making a profit in between, and in the
>process fueling, er, fooling the Government.
>
>If things continue along the same path, it's soon gonna be cheaper for me to
>run my car on Jack Daniel's that on standard diesel. Oh well, what's Jack
>Daniel's, after all, but a high-grade biofuel ?
>
>Bottom line 5, and final : Western Europe is still 26 years ahead of North
>America, ah ah ah !!!! That's a joke, of course, and I expect it stays that
>way.
>
>Christian, who still has a car anyway
>> -----Message d'origine-----
>> De : HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] De la part
>> de Brice Yokem
>> Envoyé : mardi 3 juin 2008 20:00
>> À : [log in to unmask]
>> Objet : Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Sign of the times
>>
>> On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 09:55:26 -0500, Ray Shahan
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> >Hi all,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > We needed to get some trees for our yard (umm, really, my
>> >wife wanted the trees - we didn't **need** them), so we (she) found some
>> >nice trees for a great price (according to her) at Home Depot. We
>> >rented the air conditioned Home Depot truck (they load and tie down the
>> >trees for you, too), and off we went to drop the tress of at our house
>> >about 11 miles from the Home Depot. To avoid 'stressing 'the trees (the
>> >poor things), we had to take the city streets, and stop at every *&^%
>> >light along the 11 mile route back home.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > What we found was that the truck was a great deal - it was
>> >$20.00 for 75 minutes (more than enough time, and your time doesn't
>> >start until after the truck is loaded), but the fuel we used amounted to
>> >$15.00 (3.79 * 4 gallons)!!! By this time next, year, the gas for the
>> >same task, may actually cost more than the truck!!!
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > In another stark contrast; back in 1976, I got my first used
>> >car with my own money...it was a 1969 Ford Galaxy 500 with a 390 engine
>> >and an automatic. I don't recall how big the tank was (I think it was
>> >about 18 gallons), but it never took more than about $7.00 to fill it at
>> >.40 a gallon (in West Texas at the time, gas was really only about .35
>> >to .38 per gallon, IIRC). Now it takes $7.60 to just fill the 2 gallon
>> >gas can for my mower!!!
>> >
>>
>> Well, I had a motorbike with a 4 gal tank. I could fill up for $1.50 and
>> have
>> a dime left over for a Coke...
>>
>> >
>> > I'm of the belief that in the near future, drug dealers will
>> >likely give up drugs sales, and start to peddle underground gas. 8-)
>> >
>>
>> No no, they will be paid in Oil for Food Vouchers...
>>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Have a great week,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> ><http://www.republictitle.com/>
>> >
>> > <http://www.republictitle.com/>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Raymond Shahan
>> >
>> >Information Systems
>> > REPUBLIC TITLE OF TEXAS, INC. <http://www.republictitle.com/>
>> > 2701 W Plano Parkway
>> ><http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?
>> addr=2701+w+plano+parkway&csz=75075&c
>> >ountry=us&new=1&name=&qty=>
>> >Plano, TX 75075
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >direct 214.556.0202
>> >main 972.578.8611
>> >fax 972.424.5621
>> >
>> > www.republictitle.com <http://www.republictitle.com/>
>> >
>> >[log in to unmask]
>> >
>> >Life is not a journey to the grave with the
>> >intention of arriving safely in a pretty and
>> >well preserved body, but rather to skid in
>> >broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
>> >and loudly proclaiming:
>> >
>> >-- WOW!!! What a Ride!!!
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
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>>
>> * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
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>
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