<p>Never underestimate the superior tone of the self-righteous</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But on another thread you said this,
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=305444&page=8&highlight=allmusic[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=305444&page=8&highlight=allmusic</a></p>
<p>I can tell you right now that you are a much bigger consumer of energy than I am, even with 2 SUVs and a sports car. We average around $200 a month on gas, and our total utility bills (electricity and heating oil) add up to another $400. Even with our profligate use of gasoline, we spend several thousand dollars a year less on energy than you do just in your home energy needs. I’m really not trying to pick on you, just to point out that the issue is total energy usage, not what car you drive.</p>
<p>sjmom2329 wrote: “You’re just jealous.” </p>
<p>You’ve got to be kidding! Only immature kids with their “new cool cars” believe their car makes a statement and think others notice. </p>
<p>Everyone should be concerned when an entire class of vehicles violate the bumper height requirements which were designed to protect all!</p>
<p>simba, I don’t disagree that people should act with social consciousness for the greater good, but it’s presumptuous to think that just because someone drives an SUV that they are not following that belief. My point is that the car one drives should not be the sole indicator of the type of person they are.</p>
<p>
I’m glad you enjoyed the humor! The SUVs we drive would never be described as “cool” by anyone. They’re just functional.
So how do you suggest fixing this? You can lobby your representatives to try to put legislation through, but I’m sure many of them drive SUVs and don’t want to give them up. The rising cost of gas will take care of the biggest offenders – Suburbans, Hummers etc – through market forces. Who wants to spend $100 filling up the tank? In the meantime, your moral outrage is just wasted on me. As I said above, I’m a really frugal person and a safe driver. I’m not your problem.</p>
<p>“I’m a really frugal person and a safe driver. I’m not your problem.”</p>
<p>Keep telling yourself that!</p>
<p>A five figure energy bill, allmusic? If your house really isn’t a “McMansion”, and you’re keeping your heat not nearly as high as 68 degrees, I’d be trying to find out who is tapping in on your line. Maybe it’s the a.c. in the summer?</p>
<p>Thanks for the safe driving tips, ek4. That was a really informative list. I especially liked the no honking for applying makeup at the stoplight! ;)</p>
<p>One of my pet peeves is people who switch lanes and don’t use their turn signals. It’s just plain dangerous.</p>
<p>reflectivemom, why are you so determined to be offensive to me? Have I offended you somehow – other than by my transportation? I always find it hard to understand why someone would be so deliberately rude to someone they’ve never met.</p>
<p>I’m also pretty sure that you don’t live in my neck of the woods. If you did, you’d drive an SUV, like 98% of the people who live in my rather large neighborhood.</p>
<p>coronax, around here, it’s people running red lights, or passing in the middle turn lane. Both of those really bug me, especially since I have teenage drivers. Traffic control north of Boston is pathetic – it’s like they’re afraid that a traffic light or stop sign will hold things up too much. Instead, there are just too many accidents.</p>
<p>Same here, sjmom, with the red light runners (you can count on at least two or three cars going though on red at our busier intersections). I can’t say I’ve seen the passing in the middle turn lanes - yet.</p>
<p>
Bumper height is not an issue with an entire class. Check out the Acura MDX (and others). They’ve engineered the structure to be compatible with a variety of vehicles including non-SUVs and also pedestrians.</p>
<p>“We average around $200 a month on gas, and our total utility bills (electricity and heating oil) add up to another $400.”</p>
<p>That actually is a lot.</p>
<p>Well, how much do you spend? H commutes to work, and I drive S2 to and from school each day, and to any ECs. I don’t think that $50 a week is a lot for two adults driving 2 cars. Our utility bills are much lower than what allmusic is paying – my point is that our TOTAL energy use is less than what some people pay to just supply energy to their homes. And we don’t live in a small house. </p>
<p>How much do you spend each month on your utilities? Everything in this house is electric (no natural gas) and we live in a climate with harsh winters and hot/humid summers. If we lived in Oregon or Washington that might be considered a lot to spend on energy. But we live in New England, where everything costs a lot.</p>
<p>Even with the 2 SUVs we don’t come anywhere near to spending 5 figures a year on energy costs.</p>
<p>
sjmom~</p>
<p>I’ve been out the majority of today, but I wanted to be sure to post and tell you that I agree with you a MILLION percent! At the time that someone wants to pay for the car I drive, they can have input into the choice that I make. </p>
<p>We drive older Suburbans for practical purposes. We have eight people in our family. If we WANTED to drive a minivan (which we have in the past), we could not fit everyone in it on the rare occasions that we do take everyone with us. Our car decisions have been based on our rather specific combination of safety (for our number of people), price, and practicality.</p>
<p>To make indiscriminate judgments about someone’s personality, values, and general attitudes on the basis of what car s/he drives is ludicrous. Social consciousness can take many forms. When I use <em>MY</em> gargantuan Suburban (and my fuel) to haul the kids of families to various activities because their OWN parents won’t do it, then I am behaving in a socially conscious fashion. :p</p>
<p>I’m quite certain that the same people who might object to our family’s car choices make choices about other matters which would not meet with my approval (<em>IF</em> I were the kind of person who felt it to be my business 
). Best to concentrate on your own family and make choices that are best for you and for your circumstances.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Thanks Berurah. I especially agree with this statement:
</p>
<p>Frankly, I’d love a Lexus hybrid, like Al Gore has. But unless someone else wants to pay our huge educational expenses (1 private college, 1 private HS), we’re stuck with the cars we have until they fall apart and can no longer be repaired.</p>
<p>Your gasoline prices are OK, but utility bills are high. I have a 2,200 sq.ft home and my last 4 year average is about 180 a month.</p>
<p>That took a little work…finding my past posts, SJ.</p>
<p>Well, since you mentioned it, I am horrified by our utility bill myself. However, we have electric heat…in New England, in a house with old, drafty windows (we had a quote to replace our windows, at $46K…um…no). Our house is a regular three bedroom family home, not even remotely close to a McMansion, and it costs a fortune to heat, although we never have the heat above 63-4, even in the dead of winter. This winter we had one month with an $800 bill, several others with $600-700. Perhaps it is not exactly five figures for the total, but we could be at $8-9K for the year, and we don’t cool much either. </p>
<p>We are thinking of switching to gas, but that is a very expensive undertaking, in an of itself.</p>
<p>I would never voluntarily buy a behemoth, either in car or home. My house is very modest, by most standards, but happens to have a higher utility bill than most behemoths, which is completely not my choice. </p>
<p>But if I had eight children like you Berurah, I might also buy a Suburban. However, for the average mother of two children, like myself, I cannot imagine the need. And that is mostly what I see driving around where I live…women with families the size of mine, in a car meant to carry a family the size of yours.</p>
<p>Have you insulated your attic well? In most houses loss through the attic is larger than loss through windows. Attic insulation is not that expensive <2 K?</p>
<p>
hee hee…The eight was counting dh and me. I <em>think</em> we still have only six kids, though you’d never know it by walking into my house…usually we have quite a few extra! ;)</p>
<p>p.s. Our house is HORRIBLE with energy too. It’s AWFUL. And, the proposed solutions are too expensive for us to consider right now. Though our bills are not as high as yours, I can definitely relate.</p>
<p>Oops, my bad. I know you have six. Sorry to add two to your mix!</p>