Reading Stoic_Slaughter's journal

At this point, I feel like everything is flying by me and I'm just sitting still. My life is so inconsistent. I just sit back and laugh. Honestly, I've never been happier, but this is all very strange. My best friend of three years decided that she was better off being best friends with an 18 year old sophomore who smokes lots of wonderful things. That's fine, I suppose. I'm struggling in school, but I'll get through it and do better next year. My home has been too dramatic to discuss, and I'm not actually involved with any of it. Everyone's been really nice to me throughout everything, and I think I'll be just fine, but I'm certainly exhausted.

Gas prices have gone to hell, haven't they? $2.17 in my hick town. This time last year, it was $1.15. I should appreciate it I suppose, considering that they'll be $8.00 by the time I wake up tomorrow. Maybe we Americans should stop guzzling gas like it's going to be around forever. We use the most, you know. I hate that about American culture. "Work hard so that one day, you too can have huge, useless vehicles and lots of money. That's all that matters anyway, right?" Haha. I could roll with that, but I'm awfully tired. Maybe some other time.

For my next trick, I shall make you all disappear.

Gas prices have gone to hell, haven't they? $2.17 in my hick town.

Tell me about it! This is my biggest complaint right now. I absolutely can't stand this. Our gas costs as much as gas in Hawaii (they have been hovering from 2.20 - 2.30 forever and a day). This is completely stupid!

You guys really complain too much! In Italy gasoline costs 1.15 Euros per liter, which would be a fifth of a gallon!!! This also means that 10 Euros fill only a quarter of my tank! And yes, it's true that we have to thank America for this, because certainly the war in Iraq didn't help, but we shut up and bear it.

You're so much better off, and I don't really think you have a reason to complain so much afterall. You just need to buy smaller cars instead of those huge engines which are 4.0 cm^3

My and my mom's car is a delicious dark grey VW Polo (like this model

) and it doesn't do a little more than 170 Kmh. Considering that here, just like there limits are 130 Kmh at most (80 mph) (well actually in Italy they have raised them to 150 now), I think that is more than enough.

Anyway, really, I think that before complaining about your 2 dollars per gallon, you should take a little holiday here in Europe, and more specifically in Italy, to see what is like to be in a bloody hell where you pay so much for gas :P

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

VW Lupo TDI. 2.7l/100km (measured it myself), which is about 87 miles per gallon. Top speed is about 190km/h (~120mph) - and it runs well, satisfactory acceleration even at higher speeds.
My car (Renault Laguna 2.0 16V, 1143kgs, 140hp) is rated ~35mpg, which we already consider thirsty. Compare this to a Ford Explorer or Dodge Rambler.

And yeah, I agree, gas is way too cheap in the US. Here in Switzerland it's cheaper than in neighboring countries, but it's still around $7.50 per gallon right now ($4.50/gallon is considered cheap, but we haven't ever seen anything close to that since the Iraq war started).

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

This post was edited by null on Apr 16, 2005.

Well, to be frank, your gas prices are QUITE ridiculous. You must understand, however, that I have been spoiled by "cheap" gas all of my life. When I was younger, it was literally like, 80 cents a gallon, so $2.17 seems like a lot to me. I wish we all had electric cars. That would make more sense.

For my next trick, I shall make you all disappear.

Well, to be frank, your gas prices are QUITE ridiculous.

Oh, most of the money we spend for gas is taken by the government and used for road construction work or environmental protection projects, so basically it's (more or less) the polluter pays principle. Plus it motivates car builders/owners to build/buy more economical cars. I like the idea, and when you compare oil consumption and pollution in Europe and the USA, you have to admit that it obviously works.

Oh, and it's nice to see you around. :-)

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

This post was edited by null on Apr 16, 2005.

Oh, most of the money we spend for gas is taken by the government and used for road construction work or environmental protection projects, so basically it's (more or less) the polluter pays principle

Yes! Go Europe!! To quote a song in Latin:

"Magica Europa, magistra vitae, magna legenda in coelo est!"

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

Gas prices are higher in Europe, but the nature of driving is different than in north america.

Because the population is so tightly packed, and the developement so much more dense, you guys drive shorter distances to get places. You could cross all of europe in the time it takes traverse a third of Canada. Also, the older roads are probably narrower, smaller, and there tends to be a much smaller market for the kind of gargantuan vehicles that guzzle gas like beer at a ball game then there is here.

Still... I thought Canadians had it bad, but we're only at 90 cents a litre. I guess I should be tankful... :p

But I can't find no place or nothin', where thrills are cheap, and love is divine

tankful

Intentional freudian slip? :-)

and there tends to be a much smaller market for the kind of gargantuan vehicles that guzzle gas like beer at a ball game

Granted and taken into consideration, but it's still amazing how many owners of 3-ton-tank-like cars have never left the big city in their whole life. (It's the same here, I often get the impression that people buy those monster trucks just because of the horse powers or to intimidate owners of smaller cars.)

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

I wouldn't say that in Europe we have all small cars. Okay, here the average is probably not 4.0 cm^3, but a lot of people here have big cars. Like my dad. My dad used to have this little jewel...

3.5 cm^3 and gasoline... needless to say that it was a bad combo. My mom and I managed to have him change it fortunately, and now he has opted for the new Honda Accord Euro

Let's say that it is a little better (only 2.4 cm^3 for a diesel) but it still consumes quite a bit. Oh but it is a pleasure to drive it ;)
Well, my point being that while in America is definitely more common to find cars that consume that much, and are gigantic as you like to call them, you can still find them here. And it is a real pain in the ass to maintain them!! This is why I am in love with my bumpy VW Polo. I know that the new car we'll buy will be another Polo (the new model of course), because it's probably the best car ever. I mean, it is safe, it is small and you can park it anywhere, it is beautiful, it is not expensive, and it consumes very little.

Not to say that I always have a lot of fun when I drive it: when I am in the fifth gear, if I push too much the accelerator, I can hear the engine scream in horror, and everytime this happens I am wondering where the heck the sixth gear is! Yeah, I am convinced that my car is a little Ferrari ;)

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".

This post was edited by andromacha on Apr 18, 2005.

I wouldn't say that in Europe we have all small cars.

Oh, absolutely not. I've been driving around with big cars myself, and the extra horses are always loads of fun. But let's be honest, who really needs it (as opposed to "it's really cool")?

Plus there are alternatives. I'm picking three of the faster cars I've experienced personally. All of them are great fun, and all offer vast power (don't be fooled by the hp numbers, TDI engines kick serious ass). Cars aside, let's just take a look at the engines.

(* It's probably not 100% fair to compare older and newer cars, but I haven't been able to find the mileage for current models on the Jeep homepage.)

It's hard for me to compare the cars directly, because quite some time lies between sitting in each of them, but I'm 100% positive that the acceleration of all three cars can be described as "badass", which frankly is all you'll ever need to be happy... and I think the numbers speak for themselves.

I can hear the engine scream in horror,

You should try a TDI engine. 180km/h sounds just like 120 (minus the airstream). (But make sure you buy one with a particle filter)

3.5 cm^3

Whoah, one would think that a 0.0035l engine would have a hard time moving such a car. :-P

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

This post was edited by null on Apr 18, 2005.

My brother owns a 1993 Opel Vectra powered by a 1.7l turbo-charged, chip-tuned diesel engine (with a state-of-the-art Remus exhaust) that packs some 120hp but does 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in under 8 seconds! Top speed is somewhere around 200 km/h due to diesel engine's weak spot, it doesn't like(or go) anything above 5000 rpm, and the transmision(standard 5-gear manual) hasn't been thinkered while the engine has.

Anyway, it burns around 6.5l/100km.

Needless to say it is a blast to drive, especialy when you use the all the that torque that diesel's have(much more low-end torque than a gasoline engine) in tight corners, just talking about it makes me drool! :-p

Vladimir, student od economics

This post was edited by Vladimir on Apr 20, 2005.

Wow, your house looks really beautiful!

"Sie wollen nichts anderes. Sie wollen kämpfen! Sie sind Soldaten! Fucking Wahnsinnige!" - Noel G.

Wow, your house looks really beautiful!

Heh thank you! ;) No, really. That's not my house :P It was the only picture I could find on the internet of my dad's new Honda, that's all. Though I can say that I would really like to live in such a huge villa :P

Un bacio è un'apostrofo rosa scritto tra le parole "ti amo".