Dan Fixes Coin-Ops3d ago
Dear england, greetings and here is my latest report from america, everybody is very angry right now because their petrol has jumped up to their equivalent of 79p a litre which is the most it's been by quite a lot
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-Ops

🐰 Holy shit Dan so petrol is basically free there, I bet nobody ever worries about not affording filling up their tank huh,

🦝 25 miles per gallon is pretty normal here

🐰 oh

🦝 because of decades of basically-free petrol

🐰 oh.

Mar 23 at 12:18amWeb
Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago
@ifixcoinops also everything is a 20min to hr long drive away including grocery. and theres no public transit outside major metro areas...
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-Ops3d ago

@hi_cial don't forget the constant stopping and starting 'cause of no roundabouts

Nothing beat spending loads of money to keep your brake pads toasty

Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago
@ifixcoinops tho for some reason massachusetts is into the ol roundabout. we love em here. throw em at any four way intersection or highway on/off ramping its circle time
Show threadlopta2d ago
@hi_cial @ifixcoinops Parts of Indiana have them too.
Show threadjasonkarns3d ago
@ifixcoinops @hi_cial nothing but roundabouts here in central Ohio
Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago

@jasonkarns @ifixcoinops isnt there also corn

traffic circles n corn

Show threadPenny3d ago
@hi_cial @jasonkarns @ifixcoinops do they ever grow corn in the circles?
Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago
@penny @jasonkarns @ifixcoinops naw the road detritus aint good for crops
Show thread🍋 Superball ☀️3d ago

@hi_cial and crop circles in the corn 👽

@jasonkarns @ifixcoinops

Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago
@superball @jasonkarns @ifixcoinops pls, crop circles are an art form. a fascinating one where the planning involves math n the execution involves a plank of wood, a central pole, a long rope and a lot of time. used to be a site abt it called circlemakers but idk if its still around
Show threadKeeper of the orb3d ago
@superball @jasonkarns @ifixcoinops sweet theyre still online https://www.circlemakers.org/
¤ c i r c l e m a k e r s ¤

circlemakers: Home of England's crop circle makers. Making the world a more interesting place.

Show thread🍋 Superball ☀️3d ago
@hi_cial fascinating!
Show threadFarbs3d ago
@ifixcoinops @hi_cial Also the obsessive use of grids, to maximise the number of intersections.
Show threadErosdiscordia3d ago
@ifixcoinops
And 25 miles is a normal distance to drive to a store, too. 😕
Show threadjiub   3d ago
@ifixcoinops yup! gas gets expensive at least once a decade, i remember paying $4.40 per gallon in 2008 (which is $6.68 adjusted for inflation)

but people still buy mostly gas guzzlers that get 15 to 25 mpg, despite having many efficient or at least more efficient options on the market, not to mention EVs. they'll drive inefficient monstrosities and then endlessly complain when gas rises even a little bit
Show threadtops2d ago

@ifixcoinops

🐰 Holy shit Dan that's not a lot. (Also, good job we still talk in mpg rather than l/100km like everyone else so I can understand you.)

🦝 Don't forget that USA gallons are 80% the size of a UK gallon.

🐰 oh

Show threadTom Hayward2d ago
@ifixcoinops just fyi (on the off chance that you (or someone else reading this thread) don't know), the gallons in the US (3.79 l) are smaller than the ones in the UK (4.54 l).
And fuel prices are listed without taxes. So prices *are* much cheaper in the US, but they sound *even cheaper* than they are.
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-Ops2d ago
@hattom yeah I took that into account, it comes out to 79p a litre where I am like I said, if you wanna do the maths yourself feel free
Show threadTom Hayward2d ago
@ifixcoinops glad to hear it.
I wasn't trying to suggest that you had it wrong, just wanted to make sure that you were aware.
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-Ops2d ago
@hattom do you do that a lot? Making sure people are aware of things? Is that like a hobby?
Show threadTom Hayward2d ago
@ifixcoinops Not really. I'm sorry -- I really wasn't sure if it would come across well or poorly.
I knew it was a risk, and I hoped I had judged the tone accordingly. Mea culpa if not appreciated.
Show threadlopta2d ago
@ifixcoinops Petrol's subsidised and but you're only ever one illness or accident away from financial ruin.
Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)2d ago

@ifixcoinops 25MPG isn't just normal, that was considered good until fairly recently.

My backup vehicle barely gets 18, but that's why it's my backup vehicle.

Heck, when I had my Smart fortwo in 2010 or so I was averaging ~30 MPG, and that was remarkably efficient for any car in the US at the time.

Show threadRobin (going slightly mad)2d ago

@ajroach42 @ifixcoinops 25 US MPG is ~30 MPG here, which isn't actually terribly uncommon. It's about what my Volvo does with it's big (by UK standards) 2.5l petrol engine

My little Peugeot will happily do 60 (uk) mpg, which as I understand it is high enough that you could drive coast to coast in the US for the cost of a big mac

Show threadVenya (he/him/dude) 🇺🇦2d ago

@ajroach42 @ifixcoinops

It's so weird. I remember our '93 Geo Metro getting 48mpg. It was small and gutless but actually pleasant to drive, a great car. I suspect improvements in car fuel efficiency has been more than overbalanced by people preferentially buying SUVs and trucks that are under different rules.

Even our 2013 minivan gets about 25 on the highway. My 2019 Corolla gets 40+ on trips.

Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)2d ago
@venya @ifixcoinops We had a Prius C for a while. It was nominally 50MPG.
Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)2d ago

@venya @ifixcoinops I had intended to make that part of a larger thought, and then I didn't.

Prius C, nominally 50MPG.

It replaced a chevy cavalier, that barely got 20.

Show threadqwazix2d ago

@ajroach42 @venya @ifixcoinops I had a car that did 24 mpg in 2005 and I decided to ditch it because it burned a lot.

It's 1.5-2.0€ per liter here though, and that's why all those "efficiency" regulations do nothing about the CO² in the atmosphere. People will burn what they can afford, just like induced demand in freeways.

Show threadMark Shane Hayden2d ago

@ajroach42 My parents used to have a little Peugeot station wagon thay had similar fuel economy to a North America spec Smart car

In 1973

@ifixcoinops