The crude oil pendulum is swinging back just as quickly as it went up, and might even drop lower than most drivers have seen in quiet a few years. According to reports from a Merrill Lynch Commodity report, oil prices may crash below $25 a barrel in 2009 and gasoline prices could fall below $1 per gallon. Demand for oil continues to decline as economic growth has already down to its weakest level since 1982. The report also states that the global recession could extend to China and that non-Opec cuts will be required. Since October, oil has moved from $100/barrel to a close of $43.64/barrel on Friday. So much for alternative fuels and alternative energy.
While traveling yesterday, I darted across the state of Ohio on Route 30 knowing that occasionally the gasoline prices are less expensive at a truck stop in Beaverdam, Ohio(Route 30 and Interstate 75), but before jumping onto the rural highway and leaving “known” stations, I pulled up GasBuddy‘s GasBuddyToGo on my Palm Treo. A quick check into recent price postings confirmed that I could save 13 cents per gallon by waiting. Give GasBuddyToGo a try on your phone.
It’s hard to imagine General Motors going the diesel route again after their last go-around 30 years ago, but considering a number of vehicles desired by American purchasers are the larger SUV and light trucks, a clean, highly efficient diesel would make sense. Besides the fuel efficiency of a diesel engine mated to the GM Light-Hybrid drive for these larger vehicles, the diesel’s notorious long life and superior highway mileage makes them an attractive option for U.S. highways and interstates.
From the late 1970s and into the early ’80s, Oldsmobile sold the most popular car in America: the Cutlass. Olds was on a sales roll; it seemed nothing would be able to stop the division. Then came the Oldsmobile diesels, and stopping is exactly what they did best.
Instead of designing a new series of diesel engines from scratch, GM decided to base its new diesel V8 architecture on the existing gasoline Oldsmobile 5.7-liter V8’s. Of course the modifications were extensive in order to handle the 22.5:1 compression ratio of diesel operation—much stouter iron block, new cylinder heads, reinforced bottom end—but it was still a series of modifications rather than a clean-sheet design. Soon after the 5.7-liter diesel V8 debuted in Oldsmobile full-size 88 and 98 models (during 1978), the engines started tearing themselves apart.
That extreme fragility was despite the fact that the 5.7-liter diesel option cost between $800 and $1000 extra per car and only made a puny 120 hp and a stingy 220 lb-ft of peak torque at 1600 rpm. In short, these engines were awful. But the 4.3-liter version of the diesel V8 was even worse—rated at only 90 hp, it was somehow even more fragile.
The diesel V8s (and a short-lived diesel V6) were eventually offered throughout most of the Oldsmobile line and spread to the other vehicle divisions as well. And when the engines inevitably blew up, the cars they were in would either head to an early death in a junkyard or have a more reasonable powerplant swapped in.
I’ve posted a few times on the social networking/micro-blogging tool called Twitter. This inspired a reader to send me his favorite Firefox add-on and an excellent Twitter related website that is worth sharing. First is the Pingfire(Ping.fm) Firefox add-on which isn’t working on my VistaOS notebook (surprise, surprise) and the other, a search tool called TwitterLocal.
TwitterLocal in particular is a great way to connect with others using Twitter in a specific geographic area, either by “City, ST” or zipcode, tweaked to the number of miles around this locale. It is also an easy way to follow an RSS feed from locals that you may not want to add to your own “following” list. I’ve recently added a couple more local friends to my Twitter/RichC account, but may have to once again trim back to under 50; in my opinion following too many active users over 50 becomes unmanageable for all those with “Master Geek” credentials.
While traveling through Akron, Ohio today, I sat for a few minutes at a newly remodeled McDonald’s — actually I just stopped to use the restroom. It was my second look at the McCafé which debuted back in 2001 outside Chicago. It was also a chance to upload a Palm Treo photo directly to Ping.fm — a Twitter updating service.
Click about photo for full sized photo unimproved from aging Palm Treo 700p.
A couple days ago I posted on a Twitter related site called Twitter.Grader. They have a quick ‘bookmark’ feature for sending ‘tweets’ and including links or text. Add it to your browser if you are a Twitter user … I’m betting you’ll find it useful?
On a related topic, here’s a great Christmas gift for the Twitter Geek on your list: a DIY Internet-enabled houseplant ‘tweeter’ — you’re plant will send a ‘tweet’ when it wants water! What will they think of next — ‘tweeting’ dental floss to let my dentist know that I’m not flossing? (FYI … my dentist appointment is today)
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Testing 16:9 YouTube embed with Neil Cavuto announcing Monday’s stock market close … down the entire gain from last week on Monday. DJIA closes down 680 points. (BTW … we are officially in a recession, shocking huh?)
Now that we are officially in a recession, how long will we suffer? Will we be out by the first or second quarter of 2009?
Since we had family traveling the Ohio highways this past weekend, it was good to hear they all made it to and from their destinations safely. It is probably the “dad” coming out, but receiving the update Sunday night that both my kids were back at school after their evening drive … I think its an age thing since I never recall giving travel a second thought when I was the one driving back from my parent’s house?
“The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported Monday, Dec. 1, that 11 traffic deaths occurred on Ohio roads during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, marking the safest Thanksgiving holiday weekend on Ohio roads since 2001 when there were 10 fatalities. Thanksgiving weekend fatalities were down from 17 traffic deaths last year.” –LINK
Considering the economy is weak, Americans when on a shopping spree the day after Thanksgiving this year, in fact retail sales were up about 7.2% over last year, according to the National Retail Federation. They also reported that 172.9 million made purchases from Friday and on through the following Saturday and Sunday. This “first holiday weekend” has often been looked at as the test for retailers as to what sort of holiday season they might have — but history has shown a strong first weekend doesn’t always translate into strong sales though the holiday season.
Analysts also fear that retailers are driving sales with rock-bottom price promotions — which started in early November this year — that could kill profits and hurt rather than help retailers already struggling to stay afloat. “Because they’re promoting so heavily, it’s going to affect their margins,” stock analyst Jennifer Black says. “Some retailers will lose money even though their sales are up. The bottom line is that (retailers’) bottom lines are shrinking.” Combine this with a shorter holiday shopping season, 27 days this year instead of 32 last year, and retailers who are already struggling to remain afloat might not earn enough to survive a recession.
While spending the day around home, I walked around the neighborhood and noticed one of the grass carp (white amur) was belly up around our lake. I headed back to pick up the shovel and rack … and realized I would probably need a wheel barrow to haul this 20 plus pound fish home. It is one big fish.
My daughter was with me and decided the comic event was enough to capture on her cell phone.
Considering the economy is weak, Americans when on a shopping spree the day after Thanksgiving this year, in fact retail sales were up about 7.2% over last year, according to the National Retail Federation. They also reported that 172.9 million made purchases from Friday and on through the following Saturday and Sunday. This “first holiday weekend” has often been looked at as the test for retailers as to what sort of holiday season they might have — but history has shown a strong first weekend doesn’t always translate into strong sales though the holiday season.
While spending the day around home, I walked around the neighborhood and noticed one of the