Stumble it!
Jul 02 2008
Diesel is HOW MUCH?
Our motorhome takes diesel fuel and has a 100 gallon tank. It gets, on average, about 8 miles to the gallon. I know, that’s terrible, but when you consider that your home probably gets 0 miles to the gallon…. okay, okay. But the fact is, we drive less now than ever before. We work from home, we go for walks, and we each have a more-or-less-functional bicycle. We try not to move the motorhome more than once a week, and we haven’t moved from our current spot since June 8th.
Diesel is very close to $5/gallon right now. By the time we fuel up next time, it will probably be well over $5/gallon. When we fuel up, we use the truck stops because there’s enough room to maneuver, and we frequently have to either go inside and hand over the credit card, or re-start the fueling every $50 to $100. For those playing along at home, with a 100-gallon tank, that can mean re-starting 4 or 5 or even up to 10 times while fueling. Why? I mean, I understand wanting to keep “drive-offs” to a minimum, but seriously. If I’ve put in my credit card and there’s money available, even if I drive off, you have the credit card. I suspect it’s to prevent drive-offs with stolen cards– limiting the possibility of chargebacks. But the fact is, if I just put my card in a second and third time, I can keep refueling. And if I’m a crook, the credit card is still stolen during all three charges (and potential chargebacks).
People have asked me how we’re coping with the rising price of gas. How do you think? We’re coping the same way you’re coping– by bitching about it and digging into our savings.
Thankfully, people don’t ask me how we cope with the rising price of food. For us, it’s more like the falling price of food– California may produce more food than anywhere else, but they also pay more for it. I think California’s been subsidizing the cost of tomatoes in Iowa.
2 Responses to “Diesel is HOW MUCH?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not A Member? Register for Free!
I actually heard the gas station attendants here in Oregon talking about this the other day. I guess the limits comes from the credit card companies. I have no idea WHY they chose to limit purchases at gas islands; perhaps the limit is any machine where you neither sign nor use a PIN? It seems to make sense, until you think of the argument you put forth here - that the card can simply be swiped over and over. Perhaps with the rising gas prices, the card companies will rethink (i.e., either raise or eliminate) this cap.