What's your Gasoline vs. Event Breaking point?

[Lady Alyx]

Roy...the Irwindale Ren Faire is 25 bucks a pop...on their website there is a 2.50 dollar discount coupon.

[LadyBarbossa]

I'm with Macnamara.

The closest pirate event for me is nigh 6 hours away!

The closest Rev War reenactment for me is nigh 4 hours!

Tis quite th' drive.

Already I have been carpooling with MerryD for the past two years to Port Wash. But with the rising gas prices we are both already feeling this pinch. I make my own outfits and luckily the price of fabric has been decent to make my attire. But... what's the point of it if I can't wear it anywhere?

I'm getting to the point of desperation mates, I'm about to sell my piratey stuff just to be able to survive. Making ends meet ended long ago.

Oh, Mac, I might rent a movie once every year. Might see a movie in the movie theater every 6 months... maybe. No joke, mates. I don't have the luxury to go see movies let alone the time to do so. Eating out? Tis one reason why I still stick with my one job at the BBQ place cause of the discounted meal.

If prices were the way they were before 9/11.... yes, I would travel to more places.I'd spend money at all the locations I travel to. I would definitely stimulate the economy if I had money to spend! I would be fine and more than just making ends meet. I'd be fine.

Even with this stimulus check I was denied that.

~Lady B

[Iron Hand]

.....I hope I'm not oversteppin' me freedoms here, but we all know what needs ta be done.....When somethin' affects us all as much as this gas thing, we need ta make a stand....Either together or separately.....Our forefathers didn't stand for unfair taxation, and neither should we.....This fuel increase is effecting every fiber of our lives.Freedom, nourishment,entertainment, and our rights to gather together for the common good..Our ancestor Pyrates united against Tyranny, and did what they needed to do...We as a country need to tell our government...Enough is Enough....If they don't wake up, our great democracy, will go the way of every other great civilization before us....We have a great weapon in our grasp right now....We can vote for change...Now... Before we have to take to our ships again....The pen is mightier than the sword......Lets use our power....Doesn't matter your party affiliation....Let them all know.....They're all replaceable.....We've got to save the way of life all our ancestors sacrificed so dearly to insure

We don't deserve to be sold out unless we don't attempt to effect change. We need to impliment that change not complain that it never happened.....You all have the power......Use it.......Iron Hand

[LadyBarbossa]

Aye!

I be with ye, Iron Hand.

I've written for two years to my Senators and Representatives with no reply and no answer at my concern for the rising gas prices. And look what happens. A war was to blamed for the taxes before the War or Independence, and inflation was to blamed for during the War of Independence. de Kalb stated how terrible things were outside of the port cites due to the cause of such taxes and inflation. Inside the port cities was horrible once either side of the war came into the towns with marshal law!

Gas continues to go up and I know the Government plans to slap on more gas tax to help pay for the deteriorating roads but at the moment, I haven't seen a single penny go to those roads! The roads in Cedar Rapids let alone Iowa are poorly upkept!

Cigarette tax up the yingyang by Governor Culver in hopes this will force people to quit and will use it for other needed things. It's not working and the money is not all being accounted for.

Aye, Iron Hand. Tis a pity that what forced people from their homelands over 300 years ago is now happening in this fine country of ours.

I am disgusted.

I found the irony in EICo hiking the taxes and the monopoly on tea as the breaking point to the Am Rev War. And the EICo was backed by the Brit Gov.

What more can we do?

My persuit of happiness is being slowly destroy. Might not seem like it for most of you, but what freedoms be damaged for some will eventually follow for others.

God help me, I won't be able to pirate again if gas goes up. Cause I surely cannot be a patriot cause of it.

~Lady B

[roytheodd]

Roy...the Irwindale Ren Faire is 25 bucks a pop...on their website there is a 2.50 dollar discount coupon.

I thought it was more than I wrote, but I was working off memory and thought I'd err on the conservative side. Irwindale is the nearest Ren Fair so it'll likely stay on my list of things to do even when gas prices are unthinkable.

[Iron Hand]

.......I think we're all feelin' the crunch.....I know I have chopped down my plans fer pyratin' this summer already...And like others will probably confine myself to a smaller radius. I'm a veteran re-enactor and there are plenty of venues here in the San Joaquin Valley of Calfia within a 3 hour drive...The mountain men and Colonials love us pyrates to death. My days of goin cross-country look to be numbered....Can't carry much on my Harley, and my Hemi seems to love gas more than I do....Sucks too....Just bought a bigger trailer fer haulin me camp and Cannons around.......Just gotta plan ahead and hit fun events nearer to home........Iron Hand

[CaptainSatan]

This thread isn't that old. So this more of a nudge and less of a bump.

I have a very impractical car that has limited cargo capacity and only gets about 12 miles per gallon. As a result I don't have plans to attend any events until next summer.

Next year I will buy a more economical & practical vehicle. My goal is to pick up a little Toyota Tacoma truck. Hopefully we will be leaning towards gasoline from coal a year for now. If the gasoline situation goes from poor to bad next year. I will modify (downsize) my camp and go with a teeny tiny clown car like a Toyota Yaris.

When I first started playing SCA back in the Bronze Age my only vehicle was a Volkswagen Super Beetle. So having a smaller, lighter camp wouldn't need to be that painful of an adjustment.

Maybe I should throw a pool party for crew members in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? That way I won't have to drive anywhere.

-CS

[William Brand]

Far from worrying about gas in relation to driving, I worry about the airline industry skyrocketing out of control. If airline prices continue to rise, I'll soon be looking at impossible odds to overcome. A round trip ticket per person to PIP is currently standing at $750.50, so to take the whole family would cost me $2,251.50.

Pure pyracy.

[Dorian Lasseter]

Mayhaps we all need to buy a ship? Ye just have ta rely on the wind and water currents...

Of course, that only applies to those near water...

[Rumba Rue]

Sad to say, but with gas prices on the rise, events may be scarce of the paying public.

Will remain to be seen. I know I'm not driving anywhere far.

[Ransom]

I agree with William about the air fares. And US Air has just dropped Medford airport off their schedule, which leaves only two air carriers to choose from — so far. And to get to anywhere from here, you have to change planes at least once. Last year, for Chain Shot and myself, it cost over $800 to fly to Ojai in So. Calif (Medford>San Francisco>Santa Barbara). We've already decided that we're going to drive this year — 13 hours. Even using a rental car, it will still save us money, despite the gas prices.

Any way you look at it, going to events is costing more and more, no matter which way you choose to travel. Not good!

[Iron Bess]

Sad to say, but with gas prices on the rise, events may be scarce of the paying public.

Will remain to be seen. I know I'm not driving anywhere far.

In some ways though it may be of a help to local Faires.

Folks that would have been ordinarily away on vacation or on weekend trips that stay home may come out to local events. They may opt to do things just a few cities away rather then miles away.

We’ll see what happens with Belmont Shores. We had a huge crowd last year and the outlook is VERY good for this year.

[William Brand]

The most disconcerting thing about buying plane tickets was watching the price rise in the thirty minutes while I was searching flights. Yes, the price actually went up as I searched. Traveling to PIP again is quickly becoming as unachievable as reaching Timbuktu in my lifetime, which is entirely too bad, since most everything else is free once I arrive there.

[MadL]

Sad to say, but with gas prices on the rise, events may be scarce of the paying public.

Will remain to be seen. I know I'm not driving anywhere far.

In some ways though it may be of a help to local Faires.

Folks that would have been ordinarily away on vacation or on weekend trips that stay home may come out to local events. They may opt to do things just a few cities away rather then miles away.

At'a way Iron Bess! Th' rum bot'le always be Half Full!

'n actually this is true word ye say, my folks have been in the fair business all me life (State Fair, County Fair, Home Shows, Boat Shows, Fishing/Gun Shows, Convention centers, whatnots, e'en swap meets) 'n me father would say yer words be true as oak they be. Of course back in the 60's 'n 70's th' show 'n fair business was much more stronger then they be today but then all business' was for the most part, but as the 70's began t' turn 80 'n the dollar began t' be worth less 'n less 'n gas began t' cost more 'n more, me father always said just as ye do here 'n now. Same when they began work'n th' indoor shows (many boat/gun/fishing shows) when th' weather turn bad he always said "They will come, its dry in here!"

[Animal]

Good question. We've canned our trip to Hampton because of the price of gas. Just too darned expensive for an exploratory trip. It was cheaper to let our prepaid hotel go than to pay for the gas to get there and back.

The other gigs we participate in offset the cost with dough, so we don't see any other changes, even if it goes to $10 a gallon.

The majority of our local gigs are less than 10 miles, we only do two cross staters (John Levique and PiP and the rest of the time we're doing client stuff in the Caribbean and up the east coast. So not much affect for our crewe, except for the occasional desire to explore new events.

-- Hurricane

I agree with Hurricane. I live in Orlando and am about 45 min from him. There are time during the month when I can't even go to his place because of finances and having to have gass for the coming week at work. I got a Ford Windstar van from him and have been doing milage checks. I have been averaging 23 to 25 around town and 29 to 31 on the freeways here.Along with that we have tolls on some of our main highways here. That can average .25 to !.30 a pop at the toll stations. I only go to what I can fit into my work schedule (Iwork Saturdays). PIP is on fer me if I have to push or hitchhike there.

Animal

[MadL]

.25 to .30 a toll? A Pox On Ye I Say, A Pox!!

why I pulled up t' a toll booth t' get t' NorCal Fest 'n I handed her a dollar, she look at me 'n she say "It's four dollars sir"

FOUR DOLLARS?!!? For a bloody toll that I only going t' drive 100 yards down then turn off??? That Be High Seas Robbery I Tells Here....bloody wench just stick her hand out 'n say "It's Four Dollars Sir!"

'n after I had t' pay $4.76 per gallon!!! ($5.15 at th' Grape Vine!!)

...I be personally think'n o' taken up highway piracy, lay in await fer some fat rich galleon full o' fuel t' sail by, then go on the attack

[Rumba Rue]

4.76 a gallon, hey we got it as high as 5.00 at some stations here in San Diego! :angry:

[callenish gunner]

our trip to Long Island this past weekend cost us over $400 in gas and tolls ($14.50 to cross one bloody bridge) plus fees ...for less than $100 in sales ...events like that will restrict what events we can do in future

[hurricane]

I got a Ford Windstar van from him and have been doing milage checks. I have been averaging 23 to 25 around town and 29 to 31 on the freeways here .Along with that we have tolls on some of our main highways here. That can average .25 to 1.30 a pop at the toll stations. I only go to what I can fit into my work schedule (I work Saturdays). PIP is on fer me if I have to push or hitchhike there. :angry:

Animal

Damn! 29 to 31 miles a gallon? I want it back!!!!! :)

-- Hurricane

[Misson]

I actually stopped driving much outside of need when it hit $3 a gallon. (Mostly because I was annoyed that it had hit $3 a gallon. Just for that, you can't have my money. Nya!) Since I didn't start going to events until this year, it has had no impact on my driving habits with regard to events. (And I am damned lucky to have made the airline reservations to PiP when gas was still near $3 a gallon. They slipped that baggage charge in on me, though... BTW, if we have to, I say we create a fund to get the Quartermaster to PiP...I'd sure miss him.)

In the long run, I suspect this is what's going to actually create better vehicles - in one form or another. America is such that until it hurts, we don't do much about things. (Well, humanity is sort of like that - we're quite reactionary.) Once the suffering starts, however, we get to work. And the solution doesn't usually come from the gov. (The gov repeatedly proves itself to be dammed useless at doing anything but underhandedly costing us money while explaining how much it's doing to ease our burden - on handbills that we indirectly pay for the printing of!) No, fixing problems is usually the purvue of the rabble - entrepreneurs essentially exist to solve problems like this. (Here's some really bizarre proof: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/envi...cle4133668.ece)

I have a feeling something is going to change dramatically in the next couple of years. It takes a breaking point like this to produce such.

[Ransom]

I think my husband was only half-joking when he said, while on our way home from NorCal (After just having paid our $4 to get out out of Dodge. LOL), that the reason the gov. isn't doing anything about the high cost of gas, is because it is all part of a secret plan to get the car companies to make more fuel efficient cars.

Because we live so far away from, well, anything, we have basically limited ourselves to two events a year — NorCal in June, and Ojai in September. Both cost us an arm and a leg (gas, rental car, hotel) to get there, but we feel it's worth it to hook up with all our pirate friends at least twice a year. Last year we flew to Ojai, but as plane fares have gone off the chart, we changed our plans, and this year will make the 14 hr drive. :angry:

It puts a chill in the bones, gas prices do, but if you want to play, I guess you have to pay!

[CaptainSatan]

The United States can easily produce oil from coal for about half what we pay to import it. This is not a new technology. The Nazis flew airplanes with fuel made from coal in WWII. Chemistry and technology in general have come a long way in the past 65 years. There are environmental concerns with producing gasoline from coal. But I would much rather have higher CO2 emissions than have our economy burn down, fall over, and sink into the swamp. These environmental issues could probably be resolved with time.

[MadL]

I think my husband was only half-joking when he said, while on our way home from NorCal (After just having paid our $4 to get out out of Dodge. LOL), that the reason the gov. isn't doing anything about the high cost of gas, is because it is all part of a secret plan to get the car companies to make more fuel efficient cars.

Then ye don't e'en want t' hear th' freakish plan that th' fool major o' Los Angeles spell'd out a few years ago for he's idea o' a utopia:

"mico communities"

'self contained communities where ye live, work, eat, play, vacation....all within walk'n distance so there be no need for anyone t' ha'e t' drive anywhere'

now color me purple, but does anyone else who make but a fraction of what that overpaid, over bloated, two-time'n, self proclaimed "pot hole king" o' a major makes in salary able t' see th' holes in that plan???

heck, we got's his 'micro communities' already, we just calls them "gang neighborhoods"

[Captain Tito]

Once upon a time it was easy to figure out when and why gas would go up... summer, holidays, a few other reasons. Now it be just whatever, whenever, 5 more cents a day in some cases, with no real reason.

I agree with most o'ye. They keep sayin they have more in reserve then ever, so it not be likin we has a shortage goin on.

And we don't get it all from the MidEast. We have alot of our own drillin spots right off the coasts. Its a big excuse game right now.

Some how, somethins gotta make it give.

I hope to still make Alex Bay this summer as it only be a couple hours away. The West Canada Creek voyage be much closer, so only bad weather would wipe that one out fer me.

[CaptainSatan]

"mico communities"

'self contained communities where ye live, work, eat, play, vacation....all within walk'n distance so there be no need for anyone t' ha'e t' drive anywhere'

Sounds like a good way to control the peasants.

Why is it that US oil companies are not allowed to drill off of the coast of Florida. But Cuba is able to tap into that very same oil and so that they can sell it back to us at an inflated price?