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Kingofpain89
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 4756
Joined: Oct 31, 2004
Last Visit: May 02, 2025
Location: Caddo Mills, TX

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:26 pm

Invincible Overlord wrote:Gas right now is around $3.65/gal (on the southwest side of Chicago... downtown would be around $3.85/gal).

Has the price of gas in the Chicago area been dropping recently? It was over $3.60 a gallon in the Dallas area at the beginning of the year but I drove past a gas station on the way home from the grocery store yesterday and it was $3.08 which is the cheapest I've seen in a very long time. Prices have been dropping steadily all month long.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
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Posts: 8079
Joined: Jun 23, 2003
Last Visit: Jun 24, 2026
Location: DFW TX

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:56 pm

Invincible Overlord wrote:Wow where to start...

Yes, it is expensive compared to the south. Probably only more expensive would be either New York/New Jersey area, or west around San Fransisco or Los Angeles. Gas right now is around $3.65/gal (on the southwest side of Chicago... downtown would be around $3.85/gal).

Last year's winter was one of the warmest on record, as my gas bill can attest to. :D

But unlike Dallas, we don't get 100 degree days on a regular basis either.

And as far as my political heroes go, nothing could touch either old man Daley or his kid. I wouldn't call it gross inefficiencies... I'd just call it the way business was done back in the day. You had a problem? You called your alderman, or your precinct captain. It got fixed. You didn't like the way things were done? You worked your way up the political ladder passing flyers at election time and hustling just like the next guy that wanted to be alderman. Sometimes it took a few bucks to get things fixed, but it got done.

The problem with corruption is... clearly... when people get stupid greedy. You make 90,000/yr as an alderman (and they consider it a part time job at that), and you get your ass hauled to jail for a $1,000 bribe.

Emmanuel is doing better than I had anticipated, and I need to give him more credit for his political savvy. He's made a lot of city employees happy by eliminating all of the furlough time, and only has to deal (right now) with the fire fighters [He wants to reduce the engine crews from 5 to 4 like they have in New York], and the teachers union [Who I believe will strike at the start of the school year if negotiations don't ramp up soon].

But for the most part, he's been low-key, staying out of the limelight. Smart guy.

And as far as Chicago getting a casino... it could happen... but I don't think so...

As far as Rahm Emmanuel, considering his hands on style at the White House I think he's done a pretty good job in Chicago so far, and I am not a big fan. But he's done as much as he can to eliminate some of the good old boy network way of doing things and he's to be commended for trying to cut waste and inefficiencies.

I hope to visit Chicago one of these days, my wife and daughter had a ball and there was something to do everyday, except for the high prices they had a great time. Also, despite the high costs there, my son got in free to all the museums and rode the public transit either free or at reduced rates when he wore his uniform, which is awesome.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
Co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con
NTRPGCON

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:20 pm

Kingofpain89 wrote:
Invincible Overlord wrote:Gas right now is around $3.65/gal (on the southwest side of Chicago... downtown would be around $3.85/gal).

Has the price of gas in the Chicago area been dropping recently? It was over $3.60 a gallon in the Dallas area at the beginning of the year but I drove past a gas station on the way home from the grocery store yesterday and it was $3.08 which is the cheapest I've seen in a very long time. Prices have been dropping steadily all month long.

Gas is under $3.00 a gallon at many locations in middle Georgia. I saw one gas station last week offering $2.93 a gallon.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

mdr003
Prolific Collector

Posts: 565
Joined: Aug 08, 2003
Last Visit: Jul 08, 2023
Location: Chicago

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:58 am

Thanks for the info. I've been to Chicago a few times over the last few years (last year we went for 3 months over summer) so I have a pretty good idea on what to expect. The cost of living is cheaper there than in Australia - here we pay almost $6 a gallon for gas. Groceries are cheaper in Chicago than here, and housing is a lot cheaper too, thanks to the hit the US market took a couple of years ago. We'd be out in the suburbs somewhere and houses down in the south west of Chicago are about half the price compared to a similar place down here. And the mortgage rates are better too.

KoP - funny you mention Galena - there's a chance we might end up there. I work for IBM here and I know they have a big data centre in Dubuque Iowa, where they do similar work. I'll probably look for a role there and looking at Google, Galena is only 15 miles or so from Dubuque on the road back to Chicago. It looks a pretty nice place too, so who knows, we might move there.

But it all depends on work.... if I can find a decent job in Chicago, that's where we'll stay. But if nothing comes up I'll search around - a great job in Utah is better than a crummy one in Chicago.

Regards
Mike

Demand of them whither they should comme to devide the worlde with the Emperour? And as they answered, he tooke up his shirte behinde and shewed them his buttocks, sayenge unto them, drawe your Lyne throughe the middest of *this* place.

Invincible Overlord
Verbose Collector
JG Valuation Board
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Posts: 1624
Joined: Aug 19, 2008
Last Visit: Aug 21, 2023
Location: Chicago, IL

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:57 am

Kingofpain89 wrote:
Invincible Overlord wrote:Gas right now is around $3.65/gal (on the southwest side of Chicago... downtown would be around $3.85/gal).

Has the price of gas in the Chicago area been dropping recently? It was over $3.60 a gallon in the Dallas area at the beginning of the year but I drove past a gas station on the way home from the grocery store yesterday and it was $3.08 which is the cheapest I've seen in a very long time. Prices have been dropping steadily all month long.

Gas today was $3.55/gal

Slowly... slowly... going down... But Summit, IL. is just next to Chicago so we're not hit with another ~ .12c/gal in taxes...

RPGâ€™s, D&D in particular has had a major influence in my life. Itâ€™s bonded me together with life long friends...itâ€™s that bond in life not just as friends, but in our jokes, our mannerisms, and what we find funny. Invincible Overlord

Chucho68
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Posts: 573
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Last Visit: Aug 12, 2022
Location: PA

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:43 pm

I filled the car tank today...0.80/ltr or, $3.02/gal for regular.

And people here complain that gas is expensive...

Hector.

Habent sua fata libelli

Plaag
Long-Winded Collector
Subweb Admin
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 4597
Joined: Nov 08, 2002
Last Visit: Aug 06, 2026
Location: Land of 10,000 ponds

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:38 pm

$3.34 for gas

Anyone know if New Jersey got effected by storms? 2 separate people from there have yet to reply to Ebay invoices and I think that maybe the reason.

ShaneG.

I reject your reality and substitute my own

Mizzle
Prolific Collector

Posts: 318
Joined: Jan 09, 2008
Last Visit: Apr 02, 2026

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:44 pm

Hi,

$7.72 here a gallon for gas (I think - several calculations).

Cheers,
KAL

Zenfinite
Prolific Collector

Posts: 417
Joined: May 07, 2007
Last Visit: Mar 28, 2026

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:47 pm

Plaag wrote:$3.34 for gas

Anyone know if New Jersey got effected by storms? 2 separate people from there have yet to reply to Ebay invoices and I think that maybe the reason.

ShaneG.

Yup, I'm in Dublin right now, but my wife's mother is still in NJ and she lost power for a couple days. That very well could be your issue.

As an side, here in the UK gas is a steady 1.30 a liter. That's right about $7.65 a gallon. The car we rented is diesel, so, add another .05 to that, but at better gas mileage. So, nobody gets to complain about how much gas is.

Zen

Blackmoor
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Posts: 3601
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Last Visit: Jan 13, 2026
Location: Canada

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:42 pm

Zenfinite wrote:
Plaag wrote:$3.34 for gas

Anyone know if New Jersey got effected by storms? 2 separate people from there have yet to reply to Ebay invoices and I think that maybe the reason.

ShaneG.

Yup, I'm in Dublin right now, but my wife's mother is still in NJ and she lost power for a couple days. That very well could be your issue.

As an side, here in the UK gas is a steady 1.30 a liter. That's right about $7.65 a gallon. The car we rented is diesel, so, add another .05 to that, but at better gas mileage. So, nobody gets to complain about how much gas is.

Zen

Fuel is around $1.35 per liter (can$) up here, just as a note the last time I was in Egypt it was 20 cents per liter (heavily subsidized)

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

stratochamp
Sage Collector

Posts: 2024
Joined: Feb 12, 2005
Last Visit: Jul 04, 2026

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:17 pm

I just bought the original gas from Tim Kask's 1974 Chevy Nova for $10/gallon.
But Tim wouldn't sell me his fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror.....Those were for Bracton.

Shrink is not a condition

Mars
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 6172
Joined: May 03, 2003
Last Visit: Feb 10, 2026
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:21 pm

Make sure you are converting to the correct gallon

The US gallon is 3.7854 litres and the Canadian/UK gallon is 4.546 litres.

Price here lately has been about $1.20 CAD/L is $4.92 CAD/US Gal or $4.84 USD/US Gal

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:40 pm

Plaag wrote:$3.34 for gas

Anyone know if New Jersey got effected by storms? 2 separate people from there have yet to reply to Ebay invoices and I think that maybe the reason.

ShaneG.

Ebay has a note about slow communication on the East Coast.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Plaag
Long-Winded Collector
Subweb Admin
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 4597
Joined: Nov 08, 2002
Last Visit: Aug 06, 2026
Location: Land of 10,000 ponds

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:54 am

FormCritic wrote:
Plaag wrote:$3.34 for gas

Anyone know if New Jersey got effected by storms? 2 separate people from there have yet to reply to Ebay invoices and I think that maybe the reason.

ShaneG.

Ebay has a note about slow communication on the East Coast.

Yeah it has been resolved, both paid last week.

ShaneG.

I reject your reality and substitute my own

Kingofpain89
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 4756
Joined: Oct 31, 2004
Last Visit: May 02, 2025
Location: Caddo Mills, TX

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:04 am

Versimilitude wrote:Hi,

$7.72 here a gallon for gas (I think - several calculations).

Cheers,
KAL

Good lord. I would never get to take camping trips if gas was that high here. I'd have to pitch a tent in my backyard and pretend my cats were mountain lions. :wink:

Price here is up ten cents from last week.

In the spirit of the thread.....spent last Saturday at my oldest brother's house with a bunch of his friends and a few family members eating grilled hamburgers and fake brats (Johnsonville). Had a few beers and one of the best stogies ever (Liga Privada No. 9 for you Cigar people).

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

DiscoDadda
Prolific Collector

Posts: 208
Joined: Mar 22, 2011
Last Visit: Jun 15, 2026
Location: Steeler Country

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:32 am

Got an "opportunity" to go to Haiti... Church Mission Trip... Decided to go... I am pretty handy with a hammer and screw gun... afterall.

Third world country advice from more worldly travellers?

PDT_Armataz_01_36

Disco

Last edited by DiscoDadda on Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:41 am

DiscoDadda wrote:Got an "opprotunity" to go to Haiti... Church Mission Trip... Decided to go... I am pretty handy with a hammer and screw gun... afterall.

Third world country advice from more wordly travellers?

Disco

Don't go to Haiti. Seriously. Why not try to find people near you who are in need of help?

"You get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word."

red_bus
Sage Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 2886
Joined: Feb 10, 2003
Last Visit: Aug 06, 2026
Location: Olde London Towne

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:35 am

DiscoDadda wrote:Got an "opprotunity" to go to Haiti... Church Mission Trip... Decided to go... I am pretty handy with a hammer and screw gun... afterall.

Third world country advice from more wordly travellers?

Disco

Sounds like a great opportunity. I would go with an open mind and also:

(1) don't worry about eating local food (visitors are often overly concerned about that),

(2) travel around as much as possible,

(3) take a cheap digital camera, - nothing fancy,

(4) also take along a dozen or so snapshots of your home, friends, family etc... they will improve any stories you tell of your home, and also can be encouraging to take out and look at if you feel a bit isolated and low,

(5) bring at least one long and interesting book you don't mind re-reading. The pace of life in other countries can be s-l-o-w sometimes and a good book is your friend when you are waiting around.

Have fun!!

Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!

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