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Americans are car crazy. Always have been, and I guess always will be as long as they can scrape together enough money to buy gas.
A lot of that is due to poor public transport. For instance our fare free county bus will take you to the supermarket at 10:00am, but they might not pick you back up till 1pm. There used to be a very senior lady who walked around the supermarket with her couple bags after she was done shopping asking strangers to give her a ride home rather than sit there for 2+ hours. If I ever had to get to work via bus, it would take me 2 or 3 busses and probably 2+ hours for a 45 minute drive by car.
I heard about a "free food giveaway" that happens once a week at our local senior activity center, which has been closed to any other activity besides this and delivered Meals on Wheels since Covid began and remains so to this day, sadly, and I decided to go check it out one time. That's how worried I am about inflation! Any age over 18 and any economic level is welcome; this is stuff stores -- plus Starbucks (their frozen breakfast sandwiches) and Little Caeser's (cooked pizzas) == would end up wasting by throwing it in dumpsters otherwise.
The line, which I am told began forming three hours before the start time when they actually bring the food out from the freezers, wrapped around the center and down the street. Every single car was running its engine. They allow five cars to line up at a time to choose their items. The final count each week, I was also told, usually ends up being around 100 cars.
100 cars sitting in line for hours running their engines and burning fossil fuel. Is a free loaf of bread or bag of hot dog buns worth the cost of gas wasted as prices continue to escalate? Can people not instead park their cars and then stand in line or take a ticket/number and then wait in their parked cars (there were carts to convey the boxes and bags of food to vehicles, if needed, but they sat unused)? I was told no due of Covid; "we can't have people close together." None that I happened to see sitting in their running cars appeared elderly.
Anyway, I just shook my head and left. Crazy! Don't even get me started on school pick-up...
People in this country are very wasteful, and not just of gasoline. I worked in energy efficiency for most of my career. i couldn't believe how wasteful people are, and then they complain that the bills/costs are too high. If they would conserve resources, it wouldn't be so expensive. People will keep a 30 year old fridge running all summer in a garage over 100 degrees, and all that's in there is a case of beer/soda. First, no one needs an entire case to be cold at the same time. They could probably fit 4 or 5 beers in the house fridge, and replace them as they drink them. Second, old fridges use 3 to 4 times more energy than new ones, and in a blazing hot garage, ANY fridge will run A LOT. Other people keep all their exterior lights (incandescent ones, no less, and often 5 or more at once) on all night long instead of using motion detector lights. I had one guy throw me out of his house when I suggested that he insulate his pipes and put timers on his recirculating pump that kept hot water running 24/7 through his UNINSULATED pipes through his UNINSULATED crawlspace, year round, even in freezing weather, which kept his water heater running 24/7 as well. So I was asked to leave because I don't know what I'm talking about??? No, he said it was because our rates were too high, and we must've made a mistake on his bill. Makes me want to smack my head.
We've been using alternate transportation (bicycles, feet, bus, light rail, carpool, vanpool, motorcycles, mopeds, etc) for a lot longer than it's been fashionable. We conserve energy in our home, don't waste food, purchase in bulk and repackage or freeze, use low flow everything, always buy on sale, and people tell us how LUCKY we were to retire early. Call it "virtue signaling" if you want, we know we're not perfect by any stretch, but waste is just foolish. There are almost always ways to conserve, even if you don't "need" to. The money you save, and the power of compounding, makes retirement an attainable goal for the folks who take action. My mom always said "watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves."
Check out the cars on the freeway, and no matter how expensive gas gets, most will be occupied by a single individual, even at rush hour when everyone is essentially going to the same general area (downtown in the am, suburbs at 4-6pm). People would rather pay $6 a gallon, then walk a few blocks from a car pool or bus stop.
Last edited by TheShadow; 03-04-2022 at 11:15 AM..
That reminds me I need to put the timer back on our water circulator. I did turn the temp down from 2nd degree burns to scalding. I also started closing the blinds to hold in heat in the evenings into sunrise.
Our electricity bill is down a bit, and propane guy commented that we do not use a lot, so the little things here and there seem to be working.
I'm retired, I have the time to micro manage the household.
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I heard about a "free food giveaway" that happens once a week at our local senior activity center, which has been closed to any other activity besides this and delivered Meals on Wheels since Covid began and remains so to this day, sadly, and I decided to go check it out one time. That's how worried I am about inflation! Any age over 18 and any economic level is welcome; this is stuff stores -- plus Starbucks (their frozen breakfast sandwiches) and Little Caeser's (cooked pizzas) == would end up wasting by throwing it in dumpsters otherwise.
The line, which I am told began forming three hours before the start time when they actually bring the food out from the freezers, wrapped around the center and down the street. Every single car was running its engine. They allow five cars to line up at a time to choose their items. The final count each week, I was also told, usually ends up being around 100 cars.
100 cars sitting in line for hours running their engines and burning fossil fuel. Is a free loaf of bread or bag of hot dog buns worth the cost of gas wasted as prices continue to escalate? Can people not instead park their cars and then stand in line or take a ticket/number and then wait in their parked cars (there were carts to convey the boxes and bags of food to vehicles, if needed, but they sat unused)? I was told no due of Covid; "we can't have people close together." None that I happened to see sitting in their running cars appeared elderly.
Anyway, I just shook my head and left. Crazy! Don't even get me started on school pick-up...
Our use of cars in this country is worrisome.
That is really weird, although I'm glad to see that more places are not wasting the food that goes unsold from restaurants and the like. This "food rescue" is done on a huge scale in New York City with an organization called City Harvest, but it must be more difficult to organize in smaller, more spread-out places.
For me, it's about dealing with the income you have with the increasing prices for commodities. Reminds me of my Mom when she was a bride in the depression.
Yesterday, made taco soup with the spices I had available, makes many servings, no meat. Realized, I'll now purchase some seasonings in a package, as a jar of chili will expire before consumed. The Mexican tomatoes had plenty of spices.
Dining in a restaurant is a rare treat, fast food, seldom purchase enjoy my own cooking a lot more !
Gasoline, fill the tank about twice a month, live in a rural town. Just thought of Roger Miller's song:
"Oh, you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd, But you can be happy if you want too !"
I heard about a "free food giveaway" that happens once a week at our local senior activity center, which has been closed to any other activity besides this and delivered Meals on Wheels since Covid began and remains so to this day, sadly, and I decided to go check it out one time. That's how worried I am about inflation! Any age over 18 and any economic level is welcome; this is stuff stores -- plus Starbucks (their frozen breakfast sandwiches) and Little Caeser's (cooked pizzas) == would end up wasting by throwing it in dumpsters otherwise.
The line, which I am told began forming three hours before the start time when they actually bring the food out from the freezers, wrapped around the center and down the street. Every single car was running its engine. They allow five cars to line up at a time to choose their items. The final count each week, I was also told, usually ends up being around 100 cars.
100 cars sitting in line for hours running their engines and burning fossil fuel. Is a free loaf of bread or bag of hot dog buns worth the cost of gas wasted as prices continue to escalate? Can people not instead park their cars and then stand in line or take a ticket/number and then wait in their parked cars (there were carts to convey the boxes and bags of food to vehicles, if needed, but they sat unused)? I was told no due of Covid; "we can't have people close together." None that I happened to see sitting in their running cars appeared elderly.
Anyway, I just shook my head and left. Crazy! Don't even get me started on school pick-up...
Our use of cars in this country is worrisome.
What was the temperature outside? If it was cold or hot, I'd probably have my car running...
That reminds me I need to put the timer back on our water circulator. I did turn the temp down from 2nd degree burns to scalding. I also started closing the blinds to hold in heat in the evenings into sunrise.
Our electricity bill is down a bit, and propane guy commented that we do not use a lot, so the little things here and there seem to be working.
I'm retired, I have the time to micro manage the household.
When our electric bill got delivered to the wrong house, the neighbor brought it over and it had been opened in error by he or his wife. I got a kick out of the fact that someone had circled the bill amount and put an exclamation point next to it. They must have been surprised that it was only about $58 for a 2 story 2800 foot home.
That reminds me I need to put the timer back on our water circulator. I did turn the temp down from 2nd degree burns to scalding. I also started closing the blinds to hold in heat in the evenings into sunrise.
Our electricity bill is down a bit, and propane guy commented that we do not use a lot, so the little things here and there seem to be working.
I'm retired, I have the time to micro manage the household.
I was pretty shocked that these folks had the circulation pump (and thus the water heater) running all night while they slept, and for the 10 hours a day that they were at work or commuting. And the uninsulated pipes were a HUGE mistake, but mostly an easy, and cheap, fix. So little cost to save so much $$$.
So many little changes require a couple minutes to accomplish, and save hundreds of dollars over their lifetime, but old habits die hard and people resist change. I've had friends ask me to audit their home since I've retired, but I've declined because I'm so tired of "fighting the good fight". I don't want to get into an argument with a friend when they ask me for help, and then poo-poo all the helpful and valid suggestions I make. Hey, I can tell them where the energy's being used, but I can't change their wasteful habits.
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I also started closing the blinds to hold in heat in the evenings into sunrise.