Random Musings (and associated non sequiturs) v. 3.0

Because “Questions that we think people will have that we can’t easily answer except in a Q&A format” is too awkward?

Dang, it’s getting more and more expensive to cross the Golden Gate bridge. They’re raising the toll again this year. It’s going to cost $7.75 now.

Wow, I noticed an article to the side that also mentioned sub $3 gas, it hasn’t been over $2.50 for a couple years here.

It seems to me that between construction limitations, rent control, further gentrification of gentrified areas, and now restricting access to entrance to the city, no wonder they need a $15 minimum wage, they are moving along pretty well towards becoming a utopian city surrounded by mutants and chain wielding hockey mask wearers.

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It costs that much to cross my entire state.

Heck, I can cross into another country for half that!

To be fair the Golden Gate isn’t the only way into SF (although from where Nabiki is it’s definitely the easiest). I think the Bay Bridge has a toll as well if you’re coming from the east but if you are coming from the south on the 101 there are no tolls. As for sub $3 gas, that’s a recent thing in all of CA, not just SF.

I think I would pay more in gas to go around to get into SF, not to mention how much longer it would take. The other bay area bridges have tolls around the $5 range, which is still not cheap. Everything in the SF Bay area is expensive, though. Thank goodness I own my house, or I couldn’t afford to live here.

Edit: Oh, yeah. Gas under $3/gallon. It cost me $2.999/gallon this morning. :persevere:

Just for comparison, in New Zealand it is $1.90 per litre - which works out at about NZ$7.19 per gallon. At the current exchange rate that’s US$5.25 per gallon.

Stop complaining :wink:

Ah, but how far is the average commute? I have a fairly short commute, and it’s exactly 20 miles one way.

My commute is 30 miles. Still pretty short.

And the US and Canada are producing enough oil to keep our prices pretty low for a while. Helps that the rate of increase in consumption is going down at the same time our production is going back up.

20 years ago if you told me North American Oil production would break OPEC and Russia I’d slap you. Now all it has to do is last long enough to develop something better. I’ve seen a couple rolling hydrogen demos lately, that would be nice.

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The Toyota Mirai is available for sale right now. I’d be interested in one if the nearest hydrogen source wasn’t a two hour drive away. There are plans for one in a town between home and work, but it’s not going to be available until next year. I’m looking at buying a new car at the end of this year.

You’d think this tech would be a no brainer for huge fleets. Taxis, police, fire, maintenance companies.

My commute from door to door is 31km (19m) and that is a fairly average commute. A long commute is 50km (30m).
That’s in Wellington though, some people in Auckland commute much further than that, and their traffic is way worse than ours.

Good to know. I’m still planning on visiting the area to see if I want to move there. :wink:

I’m happy to show you around if you do get here. CoG get-together in Wellington would be a first :smiley:

I’ll let you know if/when I go. I’m getting my passport paperwork done next Wednesday, but it takes a couple of months to process. Then it’s the choice of new car or trip to NZ.

I don’t have a commute, but I’ve been driving 2,000+ miles a week for the last month or so. Pittsburgh from Columbus three mornings a week. Followed by whatever needs done after I get back.

That’s ridiculous :astonished:
Say you average 50mph (and that may be unachievable), that’s 40 hours just travelling. That’s a standard work week in itself.
My travelling time for the week is 10 hours, counting from when I walk out the door at home to walking in the door at work.

My drive is 27 miles. I’ve toyed with the idea of picking up a used Nissan Leaf (they’re relatively cheap) to commute with but there’s no charger near my new job like there was at the old place.

My daily driver gets about 27 mpg so I’m burning $5/day plus my $0.38/day in tolls.

Tessa just installed 8 chargers at our mall. But no solar panels accompanying them. Yet.

I doubt we’ll see hydrogen as a long term solution for the general public. Fleets maybe but not the average driver.

Actually it’s my job. I deliver stuff. If you get Netflix in western PA or western NY, I’m the guy who takes it from the regional processing center to Pittsburgh so it gets mailed just a little bit cheaper/faster than mailing it directly from Columbus.

It doesn’t make sense to me either. :neutral_face: But if I only delivered stuff for people I thought were sane, I’d hardly work at all.

I average 65-70 for all but the first two and last five miles. If I don’t have to stop for food, gas or bathroom breaks, I can make it there in just over three hours. In a cargo van that gets about 15 miles per gallon. Due to the standard mileage rate, I may not have to pay income tax, but I pay fuel taxes that make up for it.

Put that down to a reading fail on my part - you did say that you don’t have a commute, but I missed that part.
I guess it’s quite a bit better if it’s actually part of your job. I’m not sure I could do 6 or so hours driving per day. Whenever I do that much driving I’m a bit written off for a few hours afterwards, though I guess you’d get used to it if you had to do it.
I did the Google maps thing and at 185 (+7? - first 2 & last 5 not on the interstate?) miles in 3 hours that’s a little over 60mph average for the whole trip.