Mass market gas price hysteria- $12 a gallon gas

[Warp Daddy]

Wow..you really should start looking for a new job...we have fuel surcharges up the Yazoo..for all the granite that is shipped to us...and the delivery truck gets under 10 miles to the gallon @ $5..a gallon for diesel. We're looking at a 10-15% price increase for 2009..if gas hit $6-7 per gallons compared to a typical 5% price increase..but all of our competition will have to raise prices as well..since they're buying from the same suppliers and using the same trucking companies for freight.

Question:

At what point does the " psychology " of providing a grave monument for a deceased person in order to assuage the survivor's need for closure cease to become an economic benefit ? Guess what i'm asking here is what happened to that kind of business in really tough times-- it seems like heresy to ask but - i wonder??

 

[wa-loaf]

Well over there there are alot of people in a small area...here people are much more spread out as population density is alot less..Are you willing to pay double as much for a gallon of gas for better mass transit? Are you willing to pay more in federal taxes for universal healthcare...I like the way it is here..totally capitalistic..not socialized.

We used to have great public transport in most cities. As a history quiz can you tell me why we don't anymore?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Question:

At what point does the " psychology " of providing a grave monument for a deceased person in order to assuage the survivor's need for closure cease to become an economic benefit ? Guess what i'm asking here is what happened to that kind of business in really tough times-- it seems like heresy to ask but - i wonder??

Well in really really tough times like the Great Depression only the wealthy had monuments made...but in a typical recession..like the recession of the early 90s..business remained steady. The death rate right now is pretty flat..at least until about 2020 when the Baby Boomers start passing away in large numbers. To combat a flat market..we go after funeral directors to sell for us. The funeral homes are taking in way less revenue due to the rising cremation rate( currently at 30-35%) so they sell monuments as a source of additional revenue and to provide one stop shopping for the families they serve. The families I sit with usually feel guilty if they cheap out on a loved one. For instance if they initially want a Jet Black memorial for a loved one which is more money than a Gray memorial..they'll usually pay extra for the Black memorial because they want to give the best monument for their relatives..unless they are really hard up for money..then they'll go with the lower priced option..Our sales are up a ton so far this year but expenses/fuel/payroll/granite costs/utilities/health insurance are all up as well..so we have to keep pushing for more business.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

We used to have great public transport in most cities. As a history quiz can you tell me why we don't anymore?

Post WWII spoils and advantage that let us live phat for 50 years and an economy/society based on cheap oil.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

We used to have great public transport in most cities. As a history quiz can you tell me why we don't anymore?

Because people moved out to the suburbs???

 

[wa-loaf]

Post WWII spoils and advantage that let us live phat for 50 years and an economy/society based on cheap oil.

Because people moved out to the suburbs???

No, the car companies paid cities in the 50's to tear up light rail tracks so they could sell more buses and cars.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

No, the car companies paid cities in the 50's to tear up light rail tracks so they could sell more buses and cars.

Only possible with cheap oil.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

No, the car companies paid cities in the 50's to tear up light rail tracks so they could sell more buses and cars.

Wow I didn't know that...the grandfather wrote alot of articles for the historical society about Trolleys..

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Well in really really tough times like the Great Depression only the wealthy had monuments made...but in a typical recession..like the recession of the early 90s..business remained steady. The death rate right now is pretty flat..at least until about 2020 when the Baby Boomers start passing away in large numbers. To combat a flat market..we go after funeral directors to sell for us. The funeral homes are taking in way less revenue due to the rising cremation rate( currently at 30-35%) so they sell monuments as a source of additional revenue and to provide one stop shopping for the families they serve. The families I sit with usually feel guilty if they cheap out on a loved one. For instance if they initially want a Jet Black memorial for a loved one which is more money than a Gray memorial..they'll usually pay extra for the Black memorial because they want to give the best monument for their relatives..unless they are really hard up for money..then they'll go with the lower priced option..Our sales are up a ton so far this year but expenses/fuel/payroll/granite costs/utilities/health insurance are all up as well..so we have to keep pushing for more business.

Steeze, maybe you can introduce monuments made of recyclced plastic soda bottles. Lighter, cheaper and cheaper to transport. Monuments could make nice little billboards, too, lol, sell advertisement on them!

 

[Warp Daddy]

Well in really really tough times like the Great Depression only the wealthy had monuments made...but in a typical recession..like the recession of the early 90s..business remained steady. The death rate right now is pretty flat..at least until about 2020 when the Baby Boomers start passing away in large numbers. To combat a flat market..we go after funeral directors to sell for us. The funeral homes are taking in way less revenue due to the rising cremation rate( currently at 30-35%) so they sell monuments as a source of additional revenue and to provide one stop shopping for the families they serve. The families I sit with usually feel guilty if they cheap out on a loved one. For instance if they initially want a Jet Black memorial for a loved one which is more money than a Gray memorial..they'll usually pay extra for the Black memorial because they want to give the best monument for their relatives..unless they are really hard up for money..then they'll go with the lower priced option..Our sales are up a ton so far this year but expenses/fuel/payroll/granite costs/utilities/health insurance are all up as well..so we have to keep pushing for more business.

Thanks for an interesting response . Had no idea that rate of creamation was either that advanced and also that cost-effective for the families .

 

[ed-drum]

During World War 2 they put a carburetor on a Sherman tank that got 60 miles per gallon. The design is still classified. If a tank got that mileage, what would it do on a car? They're screwing everyone. Ed.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Steeze, maybe you can introduce monuments made of recyclced plastic soda bottles. Lighter, cheaper and cheaper to transport. Monuments could make nice little billboards, too, lol, sell advertisement on them!

I"M LIKIN IT MOE !!!

 

[Warp Daddy]

During World War 2 they put a carburetor on a Sherman tank that got 60 miles per gallon. The design is still classified. If a tank got that mileage, what would it do on a car? They're screwing everyone. Ed.

TRUE and in the 60's the Tire industry made a LIFETIME tire ( Had engineering faculty at my college that worked for them then ) and often recounted that fact --

 

[Johnskiismore]

No, the car companies paid cities in the 50's to tear up light rail tracks so they could sell more buses and cars.

I think too that Goodyear Tires attained contracts for street trolleys, and they pretty much phased them out as everyone was buying a car! My father knows a lot about this, I'll have to ask him about it again.

It is pretty wild to visit historical societies in almost any town in Southern New England, and undoubtedly there street cars on Main Street. There's a book out there about a man who rode various street cars, trolleys, trains and made it from Boston, MA to Chicago, IL for $2. The most he had to walk was something like 15 miles between lines, and it took him two days. This took place in the 1920's I'm pretty sure.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

It will hit home this winter when few can afford heating oil at over $6 a gallon ... next winter the house thermostat will be set to 62 and I will use electric heat .. heating oil is out it is already $4.35 a gallon now and that is for #2 .. I burn k1 which is usually 50 to 60 cents higher in cost..

That's what I meant by "affordability" earlier in the thread.

 

[Warp Daddy]

When the masses are threatened with cold homes and hungry and sick kids and unemployment --------- no amount of rhetoric from either public or private sector will suffice !

Change is needed now - the middle class is becoming extinct.

Incentives to either conserve / economize/ save or or live within one's means are being trashed in favor of the HAVES

 

[Warp Daddy]

On a cheerier not the damn sun just came out and i'm in need of some exercise to burn this negative energy off dammit

 

[wa-loaf]

During World War 2 they put a carburetor on a Sherman tank that got 60 miles per gallon. The design is still classified. If a tank got that mileage, what would it do on a car? They're screwing everyone. Ed.

Are carburetors more fuel efficient than injectors? Certainly not cleaner anyway.

 

[dmc]

Just paid $4.05 a gallon....

wow...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

:flame:

Steeze, maybe you can introduce monuments made of recyclced plastic soda bottles. Lighter, cheaper and cheaper to transport. Monuments could make nice little billboards, too, lol, sell advertisement on them!

Hahaha...I don't think so unless they hold up to the elements...maybe we can just make them out of cardboard and use a sharpie...that way errors won't be so costly..With our average order closing in on $3k..I don't want to sell cheaper monuments..