barefootcyborg5000 said:
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:No Time said:
Funny, but pushing it. That 'nasty man' is totally obvious to the world after all the similar memes that have been going around blaming one person, even though the cost of oil is now falling and the the whole world is suffering gas spikes.
Funny, I interpreted "nasty man" to be the proprietor of the gas station. But I guess everything has to be seen through a political lense.
As for gas prices, they are loosely tied to the price of a barrel of oil, though the ultimate price is set by the station owner. One might also note the wild swings in that commodity's price over the past 2 years have caused some hurt all round. Remember when the price for a barrel of oil was briefly negative?
Dusterbd13-michael said:
Number one really resonates with me.
barefootcyborg5000 said:
I didn't think that one was that scary... 
Steve_Jones said:
Was on base in Maryland once, according to the citation, I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign. I had pulled into my parking lot and was halfway across it to my room when the cops finally pulled up to the car. They ordered me back into the car so they could write me up.
They were too far away to hear me gear down to slow down and just saw the brief flash of brake lights it took me to stop. I maintained I had stopped after downshifting, they maintained I ran a stop sign. Guess who won?
Now me would have fought having that get put on my record, then me was a bit of a naive goober.
volvoclearinghouse said:Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:No Time said:
Funny, but pushing it. That 'nasty man' is totally obvious to the world after all the similar memes that have been going around blaming one person, even though the cost of oil is now falling and the the whole world is suffering gas spikes.
Funny, I interpreted "nasty man" to be the proprietor of the gas station. But I guess everything has to be seen through a political lense.
As for gas prices, they are loosely tied to the price of a barrel of oil, though the ultimate price is set by the station owner. One might also note the wild swings in that commodity's price over the past 2 years have caused some hurt all round. Remember when the price for a barrel of oil was briefly negative?
It has never been explained to me why profiting from a natural disaster is illegal, but jacking up gas prices immediately upon oil prices going up is allowable. It takes a minimum of a week to get oil to a refinery, yeah? Another two to get it to the pump?
So why the immediate price hike?
Mr_Asa said:So why the immediate price hike?
Why? Cause they can.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
Well, obviously yeah. More meant why haven't we rebelled against them? Attack the bourgeois station owners and such
For berkeley's sake, read an article today about a station in Wisconsin (I think) that was being sued by its two closest competitors for dropping its price $0.20 below theirs. They, meanwhile, were trying to compete with Costco ~5 miles away.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
the average profit for the station owner is 3 cents a gallon. They're not getting "bourgeois" on selling gas, it's the crap inside the store.
Steve_Jones said:In reply to Mr_Asa :
the average profit for the station owner is 3 cents a gallon. They're not getting "bourgeois" on selling gas, it's the crap inside the store.
All of this, I'm in the business and the gasoline and diesel sales make or lose money due to volume not margin. We want you to come in and buy food and drinks.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
My understanding (may or may not be correct) is the following, but seemed logical:
The money from selling the current fuel they have in the tanks at the station is used to pay for the next fill of the tanks, therefore:
When prices rise, the stations raise prices right away because they need to plan for the cost to fill their tanks at the higher rate.
When prices drop they lag because the stations don't drop the prices until the price drops make it to the wholesaler and the station will be able to refill their tanks at the lower cost.
I'm not sure how accurate that is, but thinking of it this way makes it seem less of a money grab so I fee a little bit less violated when leaving the station.
Although the more I think about what I wrote it does seem like they may be double dipping on the increases by jumping them right away to pay for the next tank, but not dropping them until they get filled with cheaper gas.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:No Time said:
Funny, but pushing it. That 'nasty man' is totally obvious to the world after all the similar memes that have been going around blaming one person, even though the cost of oil is now falling and the the whole world is suffering gas spikes.
Only if you look at all things with a predisposition to find a political interpretation.
I viewed the "nasty man" as the oil company or station owner in a much more general sense, and not as a literal interpretation of being one specific individual.
Steve_Jones said:In reply to Mr_Asa :
the average profit for the station owner is 3 cents a gallon. They're not getting "bourgeois" on selling gas, it's the crap inside the store.
Yep. There's a station near us that only sells fuel, and I've wondered how they stay afloat. They're usually close to the cheapest price in town, too.
Also: Oil & Gasoline prices over the last 5 years. To say things have been "abnormal" recently is an understatement.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Smell? My eyes are watering.
In reply to Toyman! :
Why do you hate airplanes? 
You'll need to log in to post.
