Health benefits of walking
July 22, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
If you walk instead of drive when you can, you won’t just save on gas, but your health can improve too!
If you want to live healthier longer, start now with daily walking or exercise. A study in the November 14, 2005 “Archives of Internal Medicine” showed that exercise levels directly related to years lived without cardiovascular disease. 30 Minutes of Walking a Day Adds 1.3 Healthy Years A moderate level of physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day, lengthened life by 1.3 years and added 1.1 more years without cardiovascular disease, compared with those with low activity levels.
Those who chose a high physical activity level gained 3.7 years of life and added 3.3 more years without cardiovascular disease. Invest a Little Time for a Better Future An editorial in the “Washington Post” did the math - invest 30 minutes of walking a day and you’ll spend 49 days of the next 12 years of your life walking to gain 1.3 healthy years.
Even One More Healthy Year is of Great Value If you hate exercise, imagine how much more you will hate surgery and all of the bottles of expensive pills you must take. Research Details Oscar H. Franco, M.D., Ph.D., of Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues used data from the Framingham Heart Study, a study that has followed 5,209 residents of Framingham, Mass., over the past 46 years.
For the whole story click here
Gas dip for drivers
July 17, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
Something happened today that I wondered if it would ever happen again…In case you missed this headline news item, oil fell below $130 per barrel today! That prompted a rally on Wall Street. In a related note, high prices seem to be driving demand down. U.S. drivers this month are driving 5% less than a year ago. So maybe the law of supply, demand, and prices really works– even when it comes to gas.
By the way, if you really want to follow gas price trends, let me recommend that you regularly check out our gas data center. We’ve put a great deal of work gathering sources of info and data to give you a comprehensive picture of gas price trends and related info. Our plans are to continually expand it. Visit our gas data center and you’ll find such information as:
* The cheapest gas price at your location!
* National price trends;
* Historical gas price trends; and,
* Gas pricing maps.
Online Store
July 6, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
Welcome to the Pump-Less-Gas online store. Here you’ll find bumper stickers, tee shirts, and other stuff all having to do with the high price of gas. It’s one way to express your disgust with high gas prices!
Screwed at The Pump Tee Shirt
This “Screwed at the Pump” tee shirt is an ideal way to show how fed up you are with high gas prices. The Ringer T has made a fashion comeback, and ours is a popular favorite. This classic style is sure to impress even the most discerning t-shirt connoisseur with an eye for retro-coolness. Great for relaxing in comfort year-round. It is 5.5 oz 100% preshrunk cotton, double-needle hemmed trim, and contrast ringer and sleeves. Available in a variety of sizes. Price only- $19.99 Click here to order
Frustrated With High Gas Prices Sign
Show your neighbors that you have absolutely had it with high gas prices. Display this sign of total disgust prominently in your front yard! Maybe you can’t do anything about high gas prices personally but at least you can share your anger with your neighbors! The sign measures 22″ wide by 15″ high. It is made of 13 oz. flexible water resistant vinyl and has sealed edges. It includes a metal frame for ground mounting. Basic assembly is required.
Price Only- $19.95 Click here to order
Get Out The Vote for Lower Gas Prices Sign
Let the politicians REALLY know how you feel about high gas prices! Tell you’ll vote for those who put their tank where their mouth is. This sign is the perfect way to let the politicos know that you’ve got high gas prices on your mind! This sign measures 22″ wide X 15″ high. It is 13 oz. and made of weather-resistant vinyl (made to last through the Presidential election) It has sealed edges and includes a metal frame for ground mounting. Basic assembly is required.
Price- $21.99 Click here to order
Get Out The Vote for Lower Gas Prices Button
Your campaign for putting into office a President who gets lower gas prices wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t wear this attractive, attention getting button! in fact, get one for all of your family members! Pull a team together to drive those gas prices down, down, down!
Price- $4.75 Click here to order
Gas Prices Too High Bumper Sticker
“Show that you think gas prices are too high with this bumper sticker. Also if you think we need to start domestic drilling in places like ANWR so that we can end funding mid-east oil and terrorism, you need to immediately place this sticker on your bumper now!!”
Price- $4.99 Click here to order
Screwed at the Pump Button
Sometimes a “picture is worth a thousand words.” That’s definitely the case with “No Word Gas Price Statement” button. We don’t have to describe in words what this button means, do we? There are no words or explanations necessary with this design! It speaks for itself! It has a 2.25 inch diameter with a metal shell and a mylar/UV protecting cover. There’s a pinned metal back.
Price- $2.99 Click here to order
COME BACK SOON- WE ARE CONTINUALLY ADDING TO OUR STORE!
Detroit working on fuler efficient cars
July 6, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
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Related Stories
The electric car - the last sign of hope for troubled US car makers? - Instead, GM will reassign a large number of engineers to its new product line of electric vehicles and small fuel-efficient cars. The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid will go on sale in 2010. The Chevy Volt is an electric vehicle with …
My ZAP - fuzzy crystal ball as to the future of cars and alternate fuels. They have dealt with crowded cities and high fuel costs for many years. What do they do? Mass transit, smaller cars, and more efficient cars. I think that we need a new …
Chevy Jolt: How Should Detroit Tackle the Gas Challenge? - He suggests Detroit’s fortunes—and America’s car-loving society—would be better served by developing just three new cars: a miserly minivan, a fuel-efficient pick-up and a stingy sedan. While not as revolutionary as electrics or plug-in …
GM may bring minicar to US - GM already was reviewing its lineup and seeking ways to produce more fuel-efficient cars “because of legislation with a 35-mile-per-gallon requirement,” Allen said. “That’s certainly something that impacts our portfolio planning.” …
Gas City, IN uses golf carts
June 25, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
It’s amazing how creative and innovative we Americans can be when faced with a problem or challenge, like the high gas price dilemma we’re all in…This just in from Gas City, Indiana (yes there really is a place named “Gas City).
People in Gas City have begun puttering around town in, all of things, golf carts! The police chief there has just given a draft ordinance to the City Council to regulate the use of golf carts on city streets! (Things must be slow at the council). What are the regulations? I don’t know but, using a little imagination, I can guess what one of the regulations could be- When throwing your groceries into the back of your golf cart, be sure to yell to all your neighbors puttering around “for”…or is it “four”…You can tell I’m not a golfer.
What would Tiger Woods do?…
Is this post funny? I really don’t know because I’m dead tired after spending five hours driving one of my kids into Brooklyn for soccer practice, across the dreaded BQE (for non-New Yorkers that stands for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, otherwise known as “driving congestion hell!).
It’s late and I accomplished my goal of a daily post…good night until tomorrow’s post!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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This unique article offers some money saving advice for all of us out there that have no extra money due to the gas crisis, with gas costing $4 per gallon, on a nation average. Well this guy from Miami details where you can find the . …
Quick Reference of Alternative Powered Vehicles
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is widely used for heating, cooking and cooling. When it is compressed and stored in a fuel tank, it can be used as a very clean-burning fuel for cars and trucks. Gas-burning engines can easily be modified …
The Harley-Davidson commuter scooter
Ok, I know this doesn’t exist and people will tell me labor costs are too high here to build something that cheap and it doesn’t fit the Harley image… but Harley has made everything from golf carts to bomb casings and Holiday Rambler …
Amtrak demand high
June 24, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
Several years ago my wife and I did something unusual- we decided to take the Amtrak train to New Orleans for some training for a new business we wanted to start. And I have to tell you the trip was one of the most relaxing, pleasant experiences we’ve had in long time. The pace was a lot slower than the hustle and bustle of taking the plane- or the wear and tear of driving to get there.
At the time we wondered why more folks didn’t take vacations by train. As we reflected on the state of the railroad business at the time, we talked about how the train business had dwindled down to a shadow of its former self. Why? Planes were faster, people liked the personal nature of driving in their own cars, and running a railroad was expensive for the operators since most trains never ran at capacity.
But the world has changed and demand for rail travel has expanded quickly because of gas prices. I predict the same for shipping. Shipping by rail I speculate is alot more energy efficient than by trucks.
Amtrak set records in May, both for the number of passengers it carried and for ticket revenues — all the more remarkable because May is not usually a strong travel month.
Here’s a recent news story about the railroad business, specifically Amtrak– With fuel prices going up, and consumers feeling the squeeze at the pump and at the airport, ridership for Amtrak is on the rise. That’s the good news. The bad news is that years of Republican attempts to drown Amtrak in the bathtub have resulted in it having difficulty to meet the growing demand.
But the railroad, and its suppliers, have shrunk so much, largely because of financial constraints, that they would have difficulty growing quickly to meet the demand.Many of the long-distance trains are already sold out for some days this summer. Want to take Amtrak’s daily Crescent train from New York to New Orleans? It is sold out on July 5, 6, 7 and 8. Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 5? The train is sold out, but Amtrak will sell you a bus ticket.
“We’re starting to bump up against our own capacity constraints,” said R. Clifford Black, a spokesman for Amtrak.The first point that needs to be made is that rail is a viable option. This is a lesson Europeans learned a long time ago. Portland has light rail, the Max, and Sound Transit is working to bring a viable light rail system to the Puget Sound Region. Both should be expanded. I’ve been to Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco and in every city I didn’t use a car, I used rail. Los Angeles even started putting in light rail before I moved here 6 years ago. If you want to be a “major-league” city, get yourself a light rail system.
The other point that needs to be made is that our Democratic-controlled Congress should expand funding for commuter rail because with the cost of oil not coming down anytime soon, the airlines are going to continue nickel and diming passengers until only the rich can fly. With additional fees for checked baggage and United Airlines’ recent announcement that it will require minimum stays, David Goldstein probably has it right:Better carry a shitload of quarters with you the next time you fly folks, just in case the plane loses cabin pressure and you have to feed the goddamn coin slot on the oxygen mask.
Can pay toilets on airliners be far off? And if people are paying to use the toilet, don’t you think they’ll feel entitled to smoke in the lavatories? Who really wants to travel that way?
With the state of our fossil-fuel based economy the way it is, it’s time to start thinking about other transit options, including building and/or expanding commuter rail. As we do that, perhaps Amtrak should be reconsidered as well.
And while we’re at it, can Sound Transit please have the Sounder stop at the Olympia station for all those commuters in Thurston County who work in Seattle?
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So Americans will probably spend more time on trains going to work or taking a vacation. What do you think?
Related articles below:
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This Week at Amtrak 2008-04-18 - Also, the SAL route through Ocala is also substantially being upgraded to handle a higher level of freight trains, which should also have enough growth capacity to add regional passenger trains, too. This deal demonstrates how the … Capital Facilities, Transportation Goals, Objectives, and Policies - If projected funding is inadequate to finance needed transportation facilities, based on adopted level-of-service standards and forecasted growth, the City should explore one or more of the following options:. § Lower the LOS standard … Map A New Plan For Transportation - Altogether, light-rail lines carry 62000 passengers a day, 15% more than projected. Sandeep Bohra, 25, an electrical engineer who lives on Denver’s east side, gave up his car three months ago. He formerly drove an average of 60 miles a … |
Energy Manhattan Project
June 21, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
In an earliest post, I shared the idea (promoted by many) that we should launch an “energy Manhattan project” with focus by top experts on energy independence. Well apparently there is a movement in Congress to launch such a project.
With gas prices rising and no end in sight, we hear a lot of rhetoric in Congress in relation to the way we should be approaching our energy problem in the United States. The “New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence” challenges the United States to achieve 50 percent energy independence in 10 years and 100 percent energy independence in 20 years, and will award competitive prizes to the first individual or group who can reach any of seven established energy goals.
To achieve these goals, the New Manhattan Project will bring together scientists and researchers in the U.S. in a competitive format to reach one of seven energy goals. Second, because it was the original Manhattan Project in the midst of World War II that brought together the best scientists and researchers to solve one of the most challenging scientific missions to face our nation — and by pure hard work and dedication to a unified mission, they succeeded. Click here for the full story
Will this Manhattan project be launched with the focus and intensity of the World War II Manhattan project? Can this country get excited “about anything” with the intensity during World War II? I wonder- what do you think? Do you think this Manhattan project will be something other than positioning by a few politicians? We all know something needs to be done but “when the rubber meets the road” - a road alot more costly to dirve on today- what do you think will come out of the “New Manhattan Project”?
High prices: more scooter sales
June 17, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
I’ve been writing about alternative vehicles here including a wide range of options including walking. Well, as you might suspect high gas prices has prompted an increase in scooter sales (we’ll cover how to shop for a scooter in subsequent posts). Staff reporter Dioni L. Wise of the News Record filed a story this weekend about music composer Greg Griffith who used to drive a Land Rover LR3 around town with low gas mileage. Now he drives a scooter- A fire-engine-red two-wheeler that gets 80 miles to the gallon. As gas prices climb higher, more people like Griffith are turning to a vehicle that sips, not guzzles, gas. Griffith drives his new Vespa S 150 to and from his studio. The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles reports that there were 192,115 active motorcycle registrants in the state between mid-April and mid-May, 5,000 more registrations than at the same time last year. Under North Carolina state law, two- or three-wheeled vehicles that have an engine smaller than 50 cubic centimeters and can’t exceed 30 miles per hour don’t require registration, a title, a license or insurance.- Those documents are required for motorcycles, the official term for any vehicle with more engine power than mopeds. Kevin Andrews, Vespa brand manager, said Vespa USA sold 105 percent more scooters in May 2008 than in May 2007. John Hill, co-owner of ScooterNerds at 425 Battleground Ave., said he can sell five to seven scooters a day. Scott Morgan, general manager of Scooter Vita of the Triad, 715 Tri City Blvd., said his showroom is half-empty. Will there be a scooter in your life?
See the complete News Record story. . .
Read other stories about scooters and high gas prices. . .
High gas prices boost interest in Segway scooters (AP) - High gas prices boost interest in Segway scooters (AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Paul Feeney didn’t commute with the Segway his parents gave him for Christmas in 2005 until he moved close to work this spring. …
High Gas Prices Spark Scooter Craze - As gas prices hover around the $4 mark, cash-strapped motorists are being driven toward cheaper forms of transportation. With warm weather here to stay, and the pain at the pump not going away, many are getting into the scooter craze.
Forum added to discuss high gas prices
June 15, 2008 by Frank Girard · Leave a Comment
We’ve just added a forum for everyone to discuss high gas prices and news, information, and resources related to this area. You can find the forum by clicking here.
