For drivers, shock to subtle shifts (3dollar gas arrives)

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=304aeff4b80ac689&cat=c08dd24cec417021

LOS ANGELES — Lots of things cost about three bucks, from a pair of socks to a takeout burrito. But one of life's essentials has never made the list.

A woman pumps gas that costs more than $3 a gallon at a Chevron station in San Francisco.
By Jeff Chiu, AP

Until now.

A handful of service stations in California, Illinois, Nevada, Washington state and Hawaii have begun selling self-serve unleaded regular gasoline for — gulp — $3 or more a gallon. Truckers are enduring three-buck diesel fuel in some places. (Video: Prices continue to troll record highs)

With oil prices continuing to climb — worries about refinery outages pushed oil to trade at a record $67.10 a barrel last week before it dropped back to $66.27 Monday — $3 gas is a trend that could eventually spread.

Of course, gasoline isn't the first product to crash through the electric fence of pricing. No one drops a dime for a local pay-phone call anymore. It's been eons since Motel 6 charged $6 a night. But as the lifeblood of daily commuters, long-haul truckers and teenagers going on dates, fuel can make tempers flare faster than just about any other commodity. (Audio: Prices not likely to come down until fall.)

"It's robbery," said Robert Mercado, 59, a corporate security manager from Yorba Linda, Calif., as he pumped $3.09-a-gallon unleaded regular at a Texaco station in Los Angeles last week.

The drift toward the dreaded $3 mark would make gasoline the most expensive it has ever been even on an inflation-adjusted basis, not just a nominal one. Gas hit a record $1.417 in March 1981, the Energy Department says. Adjusted for inflation, that's $3.04 today.

Gas prices have a long way to go before $3 becomes the norm rather than the exception. The government said Monday that gas averaged a nominal record $2.550 a gallon, up 18.2 cents over the past week. Motorist club AAA said its average Monday was $2.48, up 7.1 cents overnight. Among states, California was the most expensive at $2.758; South Carolina the cheapest at $2.337.

Price shock

Leading the gas price parade are the stations selling unleaded regular for $2.999 and up — 19 of them out of 92,792 in a daily survey by GasBuddy.com, a Web site that tracks gas prices daily using reports from consumers. Metro areas where motorists may stumble upon the most expensive self-serve regular in the country include Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego and the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The first reaction is usually shock. "Three dollars? You got to be kidding me. That's crazy," said Mike Lewis, 33, a Houston-based sales manager, recounting his thoughts as he pulled into the $3.09-a-gallon Texaco station near Los Angeles International Airport.

more...

Well these should get Republicans ticked off!!!

[truebrit71]

1. I paid $3.02 this afternoon in suburban Chicago..

...it was for premium, but regular was $2.89..not that far behind...

What was VERY interetsing was a couple of conversations I overheard today in reference to this topic and both of them involved heavy grumbling about Lt AWOL, a going-nowhere war the recent record profits of his oil buddies...

2006 could be very interesting...

[lovuian]

2. Let the Republicans pump that $3.00 gas and wait till it gets

higher!!! Their starting to scream!!! I heard them at my station too ... I like the guys with those Big pickups!!! Oh they are ticked!!!

this is really strapping them!!!

[electron_blue]

3. seems like there was practically mass hysteria

when gas hit $2/gal, but by comparison there is not much of an outcry now that it's pushing $3/gal.

[kestrel91316]

5. My BF is one of these, drives a Chevy Silverado, voted twice for *,

but he knows better than to bitch anymore to me about the cost of gas. He pays over $50 to fill up, I pay about $30 in my itty bitty old Accord.

[lovuian]

7. Girl!!! We know who has the Brains in that relationship!!!

Yes its really interesting at $2 a gallon I don't think they got it but they will catch on eventually!!!

[kestrel91316]

10. $2 a gal??? He pays nearly $3 in Santa Barbara.

[kath]

9. "BF voted twice for *" - wow, you're made of stronger stuff than I am -

I can't imagine dating someone like that. I was very, very attracted to someone 6-7 years ago. But when I bumped into him a year or so back (after not seeing him for years)and found out that he was a Bush supporter, all that attraction just *evaporated*. UGH.

[kestrel91316]

11. We have enough otherwise in common, and he knows not to

provoke me anymore about *.

We don't talk politics these days ..........so we get along fine. He knows he doesn't get my home cooking and homegrown tomatoes if he's not nice.

[Tesha]

17. Dump him now. Save yourself heartache (and beatings?) later. (NT)

[Oreegone]

4. Just wait

If gas goes up so does everything else, food of every kind, heating, clothing, building materials, shipping costs....I could go on but there will be some squealing soon, the only place those people have feeling is in their pocket books... I saw a guy all pissed off at the pumps with one of those 4 seater giant pickups. I asked the attendant how much it cost that guy to fill it, he chuckled and said $90.00
:nopity:

[lovuian]

8. Those if their lucky get 9mpg!!! He will be filling it up soon too!!!

This is going to destroy the economy of America!!!

Corporations maybe feeling the pain too!!!

[fasttense]

16. Wal-Mart already warned of a drop in consumer spending.

So people aren't shopping as much already. Stand by, things will be getting worse as winter and heating fuel prices hit.

[Joebert]

12. Great googily moogily.

$90.00

I drive a hybrid, so my pickup driving friends decided that I am the default lunch guy. I giggle at them when I can tell them that I get twice the mileage they do, in my 4WD SUV. I would have loved an Insight so I could be getting 5 times what they do in MPG, but an Insight would make a lovely speedbump when it snows here.

My friends are going to be depressed when I tell them that I am going to be bringing my lunch to work from now on.

[HadItUpToHere]

6. when Gasoline costs more than milk-

people will be topping off the rental cars- before returning them, with a trip to the grocery store.

[brentspeak]

13. For the first time in three years since I got my Honda Civic

it cost over $30 to have it filled up. It's probably twice as bad for people who drive minivans.

[mojavekid]

14. Not quite, $47.98 to fill up the Sienna,

in Venice Beach, Ca. yesterday...

[Shipwack]

15. ::chuckle:: I remember my father...

... pulling into a gas station, then pulling immediately out saying "I'll be damned if I'm going to pay 53 cents a gallon for gas!.

::sigh:: good times
(Well, only because I refuse to remember the bad parts...)

[mccoyn]

18. I walked to work today.

I recently (last weekend) moved to a new home that is within walking distance of where I work. My co-workers are all envious because I don't have to pay for gas. The argument doesn't hold though. If I bought a home outside of the side it would have been much cheaper and I'd save more on mortgage payments than I would ever spend on gas. Even factoring in the principal and equity growth it would still be cheaper to commute into the city, even at $4 a gallon.

I remember, some 5 years ago I was driving my grandfathers van, which had a 30 gallon tank. When the price went over $2 I discovered that the pumps stop pumping at $50. I guess thats probably changed now.