So, living in Utah, most people I know are conservative by default without really knowing much about what that means. I think people around here for the most part understand the difference between social issues, like that its more conservative to be against gay marriage.
However, in my experience in Utah people usually either disagree or are surprised that economic conservatism means minimal government participation, or a “smaller federal government,” even though its a commonly understood principle. In other words, the further right you go on the scale, the less you believe the government should impose rules and regulations, and the more you believe that the government should tax less and eliminate more social programs, allowing private parties to provide these services. Theoretically, anarchy (or pure capitalism amongst private parties without any government involvement) is the most “right” one can go.
These days solutions to issues can fall on both the left or right side of the spectrum. Its possible to be economically conservative but still be interested in solutions to improve the environment for instance. I think we will see that market driven solutions by privateers will make a much more efficient change to the environment than slow capital hill tax fund eating bureaucrats.
As an example, Utah companies are some of the country’s leaders in developing renewable energy sources like bio-diesel. A norweigan company called Havgul is making plans to build the world’s largest wind farm. In my opinion the best thing government can do to help in these situations is to regulate as little as possible.
Anyway, there is an interesting and really short test you can take online that tells you how conservative or liberal you are in all of the different aspects government plays in our lives. Here is my breakdown. You can click on the link at the bottom to take the test yourself.
Your Political Profile:
Overall: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Its been a little time since I’ve done any updates on the Sewellebrity wall. Since my last update, we’ve received three new signed glamour shots: Peter Gallagher, Slim Goodbody, and Denny Blaze.
Peter Gallagher is a bit of a strange one, especially since he’s actually in some movies I like, like American Beauty. Slim Goodbody is another strange one since he’s not really that into himself. Well, I guess wearing spandex with your insides printed on the outside, I guess that’s one way to be really into yourself.
Denny Blaze is a great fit, however. Check out one of his demo videos from back in the dizzay called “Average Homeboy”:
This signed pic of Denny Blaze actually cost $3, the most expensive glamour shot so far. He didn’t even sign it which is strange. Maybe average homeboys don’t sign pictures either. Yo D, thanks for keeping it real.
I was going to talk about this in yesterday’s post about Costco gas economics, but I held back just because I knew some people would object, but I’ve done a little research, so to Sam’s comment, this is just my humble opinion.
A couple weeks back I was enjoying Click and Clack’s weekly Saturday Morning show ‘Car Talk’ (which you can find on your local public radio probably) and they addressed the question on whether or not premium gas is really essential for cars that supposedly require it.
Octane ratings in gasoline measure its ‘knock resistance.’ Knocking occurs when fuel in a combustion chamber ignites before it should.
Apparently according to Click and Clack, cars until about the early 90s required the correct octane gasoline, or suffer extreme knocking and vibrating under the hood. It wasn’t until the early 90s that car manufacturers installed ‘knock sensors’ to prevent this from happening if you are using the wrong octane.
The knock sensors basically slow the speed of the cylinders to match that of a regularly tuned car that doesn’t require the special octane ratio.
Philip Reed of Edmunds.com said that the only advantage now to higher octane gasoline for your luxury/sports cars is that you can make it to 60 mph in half a second less time.
Here are some more sources:
NPR’s Car Talk - Click and Clack on “Car Talk” diss Premium Gas.
USAToday - Experts say that these days there isn’t much difference at all between premium and regular, and even challenges you to go back and forth to test it.
Edmunds.com - Modern sensors have made engine knocking a thing of the past.
ConsumerEnergyCenter.com - Knock sensors have made high octane obsolete. Using premium to clean your engine is also a myth.
CBS2.com - A mechanic of 25 years says that high octane is much less important these days with sophisticated on-board computers and knock sensors.
straightdope.com - this article warns against using regular in a car that requires premium if you do not have knock sensors (if your car is more than 15 years old).
This is a view from the Costco gas pumps this morning at around 8:15. Notice how there is not one car in line.
This is just a follow-up of the previous post about the economics of getting gas at Costco. Go on a weekday morning. It is amazing how much time and money I can save by planning a time to get gas instead of getting gas when I happen to be driving around which is always during prime gas hours.
Another interesting thing about Costco gas is their supply chain. I’ve been trying to find something online that explains their supply chain and I found this CNN article, although it is about 8 years old. It explains the “hypermarket” strategy to discount gasoline. Costco and other big retailers or supermartkets these days have opened up gas pumps on their property and are able to offer gas at a discount by avoiding rent and other overhead costs, while staying aloof of contracts with big fuel distributors by buying from local suppliers.
It is interesting to see the disadvantage of this approach. This morning I saw this sign over the premium octane selector:
Because the model of “hypermarkets” restrict themselves to only buy from local distributors in order to avoid contracts and fees with national distributors, they also run the risk of shortages by buying from a smaller market. Evidence of this is their shortage today of Premium Octane.
This shortage doesn’t effect me personally, since I don’t drive a car that supposedly requires this.
So I guess as long as I am trashing on local credit unions, here’s another complaint. I’ve used Utah Community Credit Union for years, and have been pleased (until now) with their service. I guess I’ll start with a compliment. One thing I like about them is that when you are depositing a check, all you have to do is endorse the back of it and write down your easily remembered account number under your signature, and let the teller know how much funds to put where. Washington Mutual always requires you to fill out an extraneous deposit slip.
But lately I haven’t been impressed. Recently they changed their website to include an extra security question if you are attempting to login from a different computer than usual. This is a good idea. If you are logging in from a different computer than usual, after you put in your account number and password, it asks you one of your predetermined questions, like, “What is your Father’s Middle Name” for instance.
I like to handle a lot of bill paying and banking using my phone’s web browser. I use Blazer, the default browser for Palm OS smart phones. So its my assumption that Blazer is one of the most commonly used mobile browsers. When I enter in my account number and password, it works fine, but when it asks me that security question, the submit button doesn’t work using Blazer (although with IE or Firefox on a computer, it works fine). So, thinking I was helping them with their traffic and their customer loyalty, I wrote this email to the webmaster:
Hi,
Whenever I attempt to login using Blazer, the default browser for Palm OS smart phones, I am able to get past the username/password page, but not the security question part. I can fill in the field with the answer, but the button under that to submit the answer doesn’t work, although it works fine with IE or Firefox on my computer.
Thanks,
cameron
Here is the response I got, which looks canned:
Dear Member,
For assistance with online banking access please contact member services. Representatives are available to assist you business days from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm at 223.8188 or toll free at 800.453.8188.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Online Support Team
Utah Community Credit Union
I’m not savvy enough to know if this is an issue they can fix on their side, but my suspicion is that they could recode their site to make that page more compatible for mobile browsers because I’ve successfully logged in with Blazer before that security question page was instated.
Its just weird to me that they wouldn’t put in some sort of effort to fix something that would effect a significant amount of their traffic (I bet lots of people use their mobile browser to check their balance when they are out and about), and it is also doubtful that they handle such a large volume of emails that they have to send canned responses. I work for an internet retailer that serves North America, and our tech support team handles each email personally and with custom responses.
The least they could do is write a personal email explaining the cost inefficiency for them to invest the time for their engineers, or simply tell me its impossible to fix, if that’s the case. Or, hell, just lie to me or something. Usually people choose to go with a Credit Union because of the personal attention and because any input its members would give would be taken seriously. Apparently, UCCU has gotten big enough that that’s no longer the case.
With gas at about $3.00, Costco has become more and more of a popular source. In a way, this doesn’t make a ton of sense, because whether gas is at $1 or $3/gallon at the normal stations, you’re going to be saving about the same amount per gallon at Costco, about $.10/gallon. Nevertheless, the lines get longer at Costco when gas spikes, as it did this weekend. I drove by to get gas myself, and with one look at these lines, I decided my time was worth more than to wait and save $.10 per gallon:
But then I realized that I needed proof, and I needed to know what my effective wage would be (in gasoline savings) for sitting in line.
So I started in line around the bend, about two cars away from being in the main line area which you can see above, at about 12:04 on a Saturday afternoon, which I’m guessing is one of the more crazy times of the week. The line moved considerably faster than I expected.
I also chose to get in a line that led to the left side of the pump. If you’ve ever been to Costco, this is the faster less popular line since you can only drive in one way, and most people have their tank on the left. I guess some people don’t realize that the pumps are equipped to reach quite easily and safely to either side of your car. I estimate that you cut out about 1/3 of the wait time on that side.
So, here are the stats:
Started in line: 12:04/ Started Pumping: 12:14
Gas price at Costco: $2.95 9/10/ Nearest Competitor: $3.05 9/10
Savings per gallon: $.10
Honda Accord Gas Tank: +/- 15 gallons
Total Savings: $1.50
Effective wage (in savings): $1.50 divided by 10 min. in line = $.15 in savings per minute, or +/- $9 an hour.
So if you need about 15 gallons, and you value your time at about $9 an hour or less on a Saturday afternoon, then its worth it. I personally don’t think its worth it, and I did everything possible to speed up the line process. I’d rather go to Chevron (with Techron) and spend the extra 1.50, avoiding the stress of the line and getting on with my day. However, if you need 20 gallons, and you’re also filling up some cans in the back of your truck, it might be more worth it.
Its been a little time since I’ve done any updates on the Sewellebrity wall. Since my last update, we’ve received three new signed glamour shots: Peter Gallagher, Slim Goodbody, and Denny Blaze. 
I was going to talk about this in 
So I guess as long as I am 
