Changes are coming.. And we can't do anything about it.

[GASPASSERDELUXE]

Kerosene does not need an additive to prevent gelling. Aviation jet fuel is kerosene.  Diesel needs and additive to prevent gelling. It is added at the refinery when the winter season starts around November.

When I was in the USAF I was in fuels at Randolph AFB Tx. In 1979 there was an extreme cold snap before the additive was put in the base diesel tanks and  every vehicle on base that ran on diesel stopped. I was in charge of supplys and had to get a drum of the additive which was over $500 for a 55 gl drum.  It was 2 days before everything got thawed out and running.

[Timothy]

Kerosene does not need an additive to prevent gelling. Aviation jet fuel is kerosene.  Diesel needs and additive to prevent gelling. It is added at the refinery when the winter season starts around November.

When I was in the USAF I was in fuels at Randolph AFB Tx. In 1979 there was an extreme cold snap before the additive was put in the base diesel tanks and  every vehicle on base that ran on diesel stopped. I was in charge of supplys and had to get a drum of the additive which was over $500 for a 55 gl drum.  It was 2 days before everything got thawed out and running.

Thanks but try and explain that to my sister in law!

 

I just do what I'm told like I said!  I'm sure it's some gimmick that the Oil company talked my father in law into, it adds about 10 bucks to a 100 gallons.  I've never used kerosene before, in fact, the northeast is about the only part of the country NOT using natural gas to heat their homes.

[Rastus]

That's strange. When I ran my VW Diesel during the Winter in Illinois, I would add Kerosene to the Diesel to prevent it from gelling??

I always regarded kerosene to be high-grade diesel.  We used JP-4 in lieu of diesel offshore to power our diesel crane engines...but that's like 50-50 kerosene & gasoline.  It ran fine in the crane engines and they had less maintenance required than with regular diesel.

The federal government placed an additional tax on diesel right after or just before we bought an Excursion back in 2003...obstensively to pay for heavy over the road vehicle wear on highways (right, I really believe that....).  Before that it was a cheaper fuel.  I think government taxation is a good example of killing a great technology....the new and smaller turbo diesels have plenty of pep, are sippers not drinkers and enjoy an overall long life if you change the oil regularly and air filters regularly. 

Our Excursion (7.3 liter) has 263k miles on it now and runs fine.  The diesel's have a higher initial cost, maintenace when you need it costs more, but the longer life pays out for us.  If you drive in town the diesel would not make sense to me.  We also have the F250 with a 6.0 liter and 155k+ miles on it.  I have a friend who produces and uses biodiesel....it is a messy and time-consuming process which requires methanol....but it makes sense if you have a source of cooking oil and time to process the fuel. 

[JdePietro]

Just to throw my two cents in on the matter...

The USPS is one of the worst government services they have ever tried to provide. The people at my local post offices are rude and about as smart as a dull spoon. If they loose a package or deliver to the wrong address that is your problem not theirs. There is no accountability withint the USPS so I spend my money with Fed Ex and UPS proudly.

Checks are an anitquated system. I'm not going to go off into a long tree hugging hippy rant but the bottom line is paper is a consumable. Yes we can grow more but why have anymore interference with nature than need be.

If both checks and the USPS would go away there would be no junk mail, or flyers arriving daily and no need for entire regions of the rainforrest to be nothing but an organic paper factory.

Add the newspaper to the list of items that needlessly waste paper and add to the fact that nothing in paper is even close to the truth these days. Walter Conkite did the American people a huge dis-service when he gave his opinion that the Viet Nam Conflict was "un-winnable". From that moment on I feel that the American press has taken the liberty to provide us with their opinions. If I wanted the opinion of a hollywood, left coast socialist I'd just ask George Clooney. The American News Paper would be just fine if they reported the actual news, just the news, with no slant and all of the facts. As it stands I wouldn't waste a free second or a wooden nickle on that garbage they call a news paper.

TV as far as I'm concerned is in the same boat. The News is just an opinion, the shows are the same stuff over and over again. With the exception of niche networks its all trash and I haven't paid for it in three years. I watch shows online and the occasional movie on Netflix. I wish the outdoor channel would move to an internet venue I could enjoy the programs a lot more.

I don't see things like hard drives going away. I think the idea behind the cloud is that you could provide people with low incomes a way to access the interenet. For people who want to own their content the hard drive computer is going to be around for a long time.

As for the industry section.
I have worked in industry for 6 years now. Those who last are those who can adapt to an ever changing market, who can provide total customer saticfaction and those who can keep their employees happy enough to keep out the unions while still being able to be competitive. I don't believe anyone can hold all of the fault on this, but I would say that not being competitive with the rest of the world is not an option and many of companies learned that lesson far to late.

[GASPASSERDELUXE]

I always regarded kerosene to be high-grade diesel.  We used JP-4 in lieu of diesel offshore to power our diesel crane engines...but that's like 50-50 kerosene & gasoline.  It ran fine in the crane engines and they had less maintenance required than with regular diesel.

The federal government placed an additional tax on diesel right after or just before we bought an Excursion back in 2003...obstensively to pay for heavy over the road vehicle wear on highways (right, I really believe that....).  Before that it was a cheaper fuel.  I think government taxation is a good example of killing a great technology....the new and smaller turbo diesels have plenty of pep, are sippers not drinkers and enjoy an overall long life if you change the oil regularly and air filters regularly. 

Our Excursion (7.3 liter) has 263k miles on it now and runs fine.  The diesel's have a higher initial cost, maintenace when you need it costs more, but the longer life pays out for us.  If you drive in town the diesel would not make sense to me.  We also have the F250 with a 6.0 liter and 155k+ miles on it.  I have a friend who produces and uses biodiesel....it is a messy and time-consuming process which requires methanol....but it makes sense if you have a source of cooking oil and time to process the fuel. 

Jet A, military JP8 is all kerosene based and works fine as an alternative to diesel. JP4 which was discontinued around 1999 or so was a Naptha based fuel. The flashpoint of it was minus 40 degrees as opposed to jp8 which is about 125 degrees. The best thing the military ever did for aviation fuel was to switch from jp4 to jp8. The navy still uses jp5 for its' acft when at sea.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

I've got a couple comments on JdePietro's post, but to keep my train of thought on track I will add them in the quote.

Just to throw my two cents in on the matter...

The USPS is one of the worst government services they have ever tried to provide. The people at my local post offices are rude and about as smart as a dull spoon. If they loose a package or deliver to the wrong address that is your problem not theirs. There is no accountability withint the USPS so I spend my money with Fed Ex and UPS proudly.
It's the Govt, what do you expect ? but it is a constitutionally mandated duty of the G. One of the biggest problems with the USPS is that it is unionized. Therefore poor performing workers can not be fired, and unneeded Post offices are hardly ever closed.
I could detail 4 of those off the top of my head but it would only make sense to a local resident.

Checks are an anitquated system. I'm not going to go off into a long tree hugging hippy rant but the bottom line is paper is a consumable. Yes we can grow more but why have anymore interference with nature than need be.
The part that irritates me is it was banks who pushed the use of checks but now they are reluctant to honor them unless you have ID, an account, and the secret decoder ring. I do not use checks, and the only ones I except are my employers payroll checks.

If both checks and the USPS would go away there would be no junk mail, or flyers arriving daily and no need for entire regions of the rainforrest to be nothing but an organic paper factory.
Paper manufacturing has nothing to do with the "rainforest". Huge swathes of the northern US and Canada are dedicated to the production of pulp wood that is harvested with exactly the same care and management as any other cash crop.
As examples, the northern 1/3 of NH, and the northern 1/2 of Maine are owned and maintained by paper companies and have been for more than 100 years.
When a section is not being actively harvested it serves as out door recreation land and wild life habitat.
The best hunting, fishing,  snowmobiling and gold prospecting are in that same northern 1/3 of NH, and the northern 1/2 of Maine.
And unlike State and national parks they do not charge any fees.

Add the newspaper to the list of items that needlessly waste paper and add to the fact that nothing in paper is even close to the truth these days. Walter Conkite did the American people a huge dis-service when he gave his opinion that the Viet Nam Conflict was "un-winnable". From that moment on I feel that the American press has taken the liberty to provide us with their opinions. If I wanted the opinion of a hollywood, left coast socialist I'd just ask George Clooney. The American News Paper would be just fine if they reported the actual news, just the news, with no slant and all of the facts. As it stands I wouldn't waste a free second or a wooden nickle on that garbage they call a news paper.

TV as far as I'm concerned is in the same boat. The News is just an opinion  Propaganda, the shows are the same stuff over and over again. With the exception of niche networks its all trash and I haven't paid for it in three years. I watch shows online and the occasional movie on Netflix. I wish the outdoor channel would move to an internet venue I could enjoy the programs a lot more.

I don't see things like hard drives going away. I think the idea behind the cloud is that you could provide people with low incomes a way to access the interenet. For people who want to own their content the hard drive computer is going to be around for a long time.

As for the industry section.
I have worked in industry for 6 years now. Those who last are those who can adapt to an ever changing market, who can provide total customer saticfaction and those who can keep their employees happy enough to keep out the unions while still being able to be competitive. I don't believe anyone can hold all of the fault on this, but I would say that not being competitive with the rest of the world is not an option and many of companies learned that lesson far to late.
I've been in manufacturing for nearly 30 years and pretty much agree with your last 4 paragraphs, (except for that one little change )