RAINER'S RAMBLINGS
Gas prices
By RAINER ARNOLD

When I left the US recently to go on a little vacation gas prices where about $3 per gallon. Well, when I got to Germany to take possession of a rental car they had given me a Diesel Driven car. An Opel Astra to be exact. I was not real happy until I saw the gas prices. Agallon of gas was about $6. A gallon of Diesel was about $5.50.

Well, I immediately started to count my money and tried to figure out how I could save money by driving less.

Then I started to driving and the gadget in the dash of this car told me I could get 1,000 kilometers per tank. That is about 620 miles on about 12 gallons. You do the math. I will get about 50 miles per gallon. Wow! Compare that to my yellow truck at 18 miles per gallon.

So, you think this is a really small car that will only go 50 miles an hour. WRONG!! This is a 4 cylinder car that will actually fly. IN some places the speed limit in Germany is unlimited. Well, like any normal guy, I had to see what this car could do. So, let me tell you. It is fast. I went over 120 mph and then eased off since the BMW's and other fast cars flew by me. I guess you could say I got a little nervous.

Now, back to the story. Gas is higher here. Double what we pay for it, but I am getting more buck for my money since the gas mileage is so much better. AND, diesel is cheaper than gas.

So I asked people here and they told me that diesel is cheaper to make and so it is cheaper. I had asked people in the US and they had told me that diesel is more expensive to make. So, I think someone is not telling me the truth. But either way, diesel is cheaper here and more car's use diesel than in the US.

But after this experience I may actually have my next car be a diesel engine. This car runs great and gets fantastic mileage.

If I had this car in the USA I would be able to save 2/3's of what I pay for fuel. That would be nice.

Then you take this plan to a higher level and figure out how much we could save as a country on gas if we all drive diesel engine cars. The mid east oil crisis would be gone in a week. The oil companies would not make the profits they do now.

And to top it all off, the American consumer, for one, would come out on top.