Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Hoofing It

I have an in-depth post about oil I want to write this week, but for now here's a blurb from the AP that caught my eye this weekend:
Gas Prices Drive Man to Commute by Horse

MINOT, N.D. -- Jim Jundt was so determined to rein in his spending on gasoline that he got out of bed early and rode his 14-year-old quarterhorse mare to work.

Jundt lives 15 miles south of Minot and works as a mechanic at Goodyear Tire & Auto Service in the city.

He said he and his co-workers had been talking about rising fuel prices, and he joked that he would ride his horse to work if gasoline ever hit $3 a gallon.

His co-workers laughed, but when the price at the pump soared to $3.20 last week, Jundt headed for the barn.

He said he was only five minutes late riding his mare, Patty, to work.

While he worked, Patty waited patiently, eating hay out of the back of a truck.
In Saudi Arabia, there's an oft-spoken proverb: "My grandfather rode a camel, my father drove a car, I fly in my own jet, and my son will ride a camel."

27 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to live in Minot and while he can ride that horse now, I'd like to see him do it in the middle of winter. Maybe then he can get a dogsled team together.

9/06/2005 5:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a fun story. Not very realistic, but it accentuates the point that if there is a trickle down theory, there is also a trickle up theory; people in the lower economic scales are feeling it now, but it hasn't hurt the wealthy who drive gas guzzlers, and have tons of cash.

They talked about oil on public radio today. The guest was from API. A problem with the current paradigm is supply and demand. I wish conservation was valued in our society. A few years ago the Chinese were 10th in oil demand, today 2nd, and within the next couple of years they'll surpass us. But it isn't just cars, it's fuel to heat our homes too. Scientific American had an awesome program on solar energy; much improved technology. It is ashame the things that are marketed to us are huge homes and huge cars all requiring lots of natural resources.

100 years ago we didn't have cars and I'm sure things will change again. I just wish we had realistic options. But corporations have such a stranglehold on our society, as they have had in the past, that they'll put roadblocks up to keep their profits at our peril. I would take mass transit, if it were available (there are hydrogen fuel cell buses available), I'd drive a fuel efficient car, if it were available. I'd ride my bike, if our society didn't promote monster vehicles driven by dangerous and rude people that would sooner run over you than help.

I'm looking at hybrids or mini's, but I figure I can get 10 more years out of this vehicle; so I hoping that is enough time for engineers some place on the planet to come up with an idea and implementation. I don't hold out too much hope for an American company though.

I'm looking forward to your blog on energy to sustain our society.

PS: I try to buy my fuel at Citgo to support Venezuela.

9/06/2005 10:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The previous poster illustrates the apathy that is at least as dangerous to the US as any external shock or incompetent governance.

You whine.."I'd drive a fuel efficient car, if it were available. " ..

in other words its someone else fault that im doing what I’m doing, not me , not me , not me.

Such a car is available. If you want one, buy it, take the cost and the hit to do your part to save the environment.

Turn up your thermostat, buy an energy efficient fridge or boiler. But that would require you to sacrifice. Its much easier to moan, no?

And rather than waiting for a blog to tell you what to do about conservation, why not research it and publish it yourself.

Me thinks that it would take more effort than just sitting on your ass and moaning about things.

Stand up, be counted and make a difference..... don’t just moan!

9/07/2005 10:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'If you want one, buy it, take the cost and the hit to do your part to save the environment'

And see you just jump on a person and assumed without asking or knowing, so you are just as bad! Seems you are the one moaning.

HHHmm... Yes I am aware of what is available and not, I don't have the money right now otherwise I'd get one of those, but as soon as I do. I am taking responsibility not to get into debt over my head and save for my retirement, oh and my health care. I saw a piece on 60 Minutes about Medical tourism. The cost of a by-pass is 1/8th of what it costs in the US (instead of $100,000 its $12,500), you can use your frequent flyer miles for payment, you get a register nurse, private room, and the doctors trained in the US.

I do ride my bike, and walk a lot of places. But thanks for assuming and not thinking intelligently outside your safety zone.

We need leadership that has vision and intelligence, for future generations can have as wonderful lives as ours.

But since you mentioned:
No air conditioner, thermostat at 65 during the winter in a cold climate (we do the Jimmy Carter and put a sweater on), we only buy what we need and from manufacturers we checkout, you'll love this one since you are so concerned, we don't flush the toilet when we pee because it saves money. So I guess you can say we are standing up ;-)

9/07/2005 12:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are fuel efficient cars available.
The dealers just don't sell enough of them.

My 2003 VW Golf TDI gets 47-54MPG and
that's diesel fuel. I'm not sure if it's
available in all states. Other fuel
efficient cars have been economic disasters
for their manufacturers. The geo metro
and the Chevy Sprint weren't the greatest
cars though.

The original Honda civic with the 750cc
motorcycle engine under the hood was
interesting albeit horribly underpowered.

Anyway, there are numerous cars getting
39MPG and many that do better than that.
Some are pretty nice rides. So it's not
the unavailability of fairly fuel efficient
cars. There must be another reason.

If people buy big gas guzzlers, then don't
be surprised if that's what the car makers
concentrate on producing.

I have a 4WD pick-up truck that gets only
9-12MPG too. I use it as a truck, to haul
feed and lumber. A pick-up truck with a
load in the back is a rarity these days.

I don't know what people find so appealing
about using a pick-up truck for commuting.
Is it safety, comfort, image... what?

Perhaps it's just another example of conspicuous
consumption. Wasteful, stupid and wanton.

If diesel reaches $6/gal I'm going to saddle
up my mules. I figure my commute will take
a day on mule back. But a three day work week
would suite me fine.

9/07/2005 8:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had two different 1992 Geo Metro's, each of which consistently got over 50 mpg. (One kept getting 52 mpg even with one of the three head gaskets blown out.) There was a time when I was living in Santa Barbara, CA and had a business meeting in Las Vegas, NV. I filled the tank in Los Angeles, drove to Las Vegas, and then refilled the tank. (Most other cars would have had to refill halfway, or even more often.) Often when I wasn't taking long trips, simply commuting to the office, I would go almost a month between fillups. (This car has a 9-gallon tank, by the way.) When gasoline prices started escalating around year 2000 or so, it was amusing, in a black-humor sort of way, to watch the price of gas jump a nickel or more between fillups. Most other drivers didn't have that experience.

By the way, I am 6'4" and 270 pounds. There was plenty of room for me inside the Metro, both headroom and legroom. I often used it to move large amounts of cargo and strapped my surfboard to the top.

They've stopped making this car, by the way, due to lack of demand or some pathetic excuse like that.

So when people tell me that fuel-efficient cars aren't available, or the technology is not ready for mass production yet, I just get disgusted. My car wasn't even a _HYBRID_ and thirteen years ago it got _TWICE_ the mileage of most cars on the road today.

Was the car safe? I never had an accident, so I can't say personally. But of course, if my 750-pound Geo hits another 750-pound Geo, that's one thing. When your 5,500-pound SUV hits my 750-pound Geo, then I suppose I'm toast. So... we all have to upgrade to armored cars, like some kind of arms race? Well, I guess that's the typical American mentality.

9/09/2005 3:25 PM  
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When an auto maker says a car was discontinued due to "lack of demand", they usually mean "lack of foresight" plus "lack of marketing"

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