Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Albion, Rhode Island

Hard work, self reliance, strong morales and, TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN DESTINY have been proven for 1000s of years. I don't see how that would exclude unions. People have been taking responsibility for their own destiny by forming guilds since 300 AD. Fast forward to the 20th century and those guilds became unions. GM Says 7,500 UAW Union Members to Take Buyout Offers (Bloomberg) "The retirements and buyouts of 12 percent of GM’s union workforce open slots for the Detroit-based automaker to hire replacement workers for half the current union rate. Under the federal loans GM says it needs to survive, labor costs must match those of Japanese automakers in the U.S. The company has trimmed about 60,500 jobs in three buyouts since 2005." In card check news, "But workers at the Dana Corporation Auto Parts plant in Albion, Ind., say the card check process has nearly torn the 50-person plant apart after harassment and intimidation from the United Auto Workers union forced them to a secret-ballot vote." Card Check Process Used by Union Organizers Ignites Fury at Indiana Plant (Fox)

E85 is said to be able to substitute for gasoline. This, superficially is correct. You can fill your FFV with gasoline or E85 or even mix them -- the car will adjust and run along, singin' a song, do da do da. If the supply of E85 and all the factors in addition to sheer quantity are such that E85 can be brought to market at a lower price and with profit it will be sold at the highest price the consumer is willing to pay. At some point, E85 certainly appears to stand a chance of not being a fungible commodity. E85 will be limited in its interchangeability, that is, unless the selling price drops to the point where ethanol and gasoline again become economically fungible. Once the two products are interchangeable from the customer's selfish point of view, they/it will seek price equilibrium. So, while supply of E85 is constrained (for whatever reason), it will (as it appears to be now) be more expensive than gasoline -- and this is in part, I think, but cannot prove, because the miles per tankful provided by E85 are not widely perceived to be substantially different than would be provided by gasoline. Indeed, the commercials for FFV's are careful to NOT claim the mileage with E85 will be equal to or better, but the information that follows the FFV information suggests that "FFV will join Ford Motor Company's group of green vehicles." And, "we're proud that Ford has more [alternative fuel motivated] cars that get over 30MPG's than any other domestic automaker." My lawyer wife said, "the implication is that the FFV's from Ford will achieve better gas mileage than cars that are not alternative fuel cars." But, technically, the spots never say the FFV cars/trucks will go further on a tank of E85 vs gasoline -- the implication by association is what makes it appear to be so. Once we get beyond the naive understanding of the differences in "range" per tankful for E85 vs gasoline and once we link a price per tankful more to a cost per mile to drive (even if we just do this casually, "you know Bob, I seem to fill this dang thing up nearly twice as much as I used to fill it with regular?") than just the pump price, we will need to have the price of E85 be at least the same "per mile" if not slightly less to offset the added inconvenience of using it (more trips to the fueling station.) When we get to a point where the market is able to understand the differences and accept a price that equates the price of E85 with gasoline (and perhaps a few cents less per gallon to offset the noted extra trips for refueling), when gas prices go up, E85 prices will also "track" gasoline. The price of E85, for some time, will have to be no more than 68% the price of gasoline (and I submit E85 will have to be more like 65% -- or less -- of the price of the dino fuel. Then to use a somewhat flawed analogy from above, we will not be looking at Coke and Jack Daniels, we will be looking at Coke and Pepsi and the prices for E85 and E0 or E10 will remain reasonably close to each other. These commodities will only be able to widely diverge in price to the user if they somehow do become Coke and Jack Daniels in the customer's mind. The situation as it stands now seems to be to claim E85 vehicles won't cost any real money more to acquire and that they will run similarly on E85 or gasoline (and this, today, is simply NOT the case.) The individual consumer will NOT behave this way: Columbus Telegram - Columbus, Nebraska 11 July 2006 A major increase in the price of ethanol, resulting from limited supply and high demand, has drastically affected E85 sales. Jeff Johnson, general manager of Sapp Bros.' Sinclair, 4300 23rd St., said when the pumps were opened last July he hoped the station would be one of the first to offer an innovative and lucrative product. When the pumps opened the price for E85 was set at $1.899, but since then pure ethanol has increased by $2.30 a gallon, more than double the price a year ago. According to Johnson, last year, on July 1, unleaded gasoline sold at Sinclair was $2.19 and now it is $2.76, not the dramatic jump reflective of E85 prices. “Since we have gotten into the E85 business, ethanol has gone through the roof,” he said. “Ethanol prices are killing E85.” White Star in Albion and AJ's C Store in Duncan, both owned by John Sellhorst, installed E85 pumps in April and June 2005, respectfully. Sellhorst said ethanol prices have hurt sales to the point that he has not ordered E85 since April, when a price boom occurred. When E85 “first started out, it was well received,” he said. “But the price of the product has skyrocketed and hurt sales. ... We have not been changing our price because it has not been selling.” Johnson said Sinclair was in a similar bind, and the current price of $2.769 is reflective of when the price of ethanol was purchased at a much lower cost. Last year, according to Johnson, E85 offered at Sinclair was 30 to 40 cents a gallon cheaper than unleaded gasoline. Currently, Johnson said E85 prices have shifted and would be more than 40 cents a gallon more expensive than unleaded gasoline if the tanks were refilled. Phyllis Stopak, manager of AJ's, said E85 sales were extremely slow. “I don't think we have sold any in the month of June,” Stopak said. Joan Sokol, manager of White Star, said there were no sales of E85 last week, and less than 20 gallons were sold the week before. “People won't pay higher prices to get less gas mileage,” Sokol said, except for state vehicles. Johnson said he also noticed a trend of state vehicles being the primary consumers of E85 fuel. “The sad part is the only people we are selling to are government entities,” he said. Steve Sulek, administrator of the Nebraska Transportation Services Bureau, said the state utilizes 690 FFVs and during the 2005 calendar year consumed more than 75,000 gallons of E85. “It might have been more if (E85) was available in more locations,” Sulek said. Consumption is expected to be approximately the same in 2006, he said, because of an increased number of commercial filling stations offering E85, from 15 to 29. Sulek said the last time he fueled a state vehicle, the purchase price of E85 was $2.97 a gallon, but if it “reached around $5 a gallon it would obviously make a difference” in terms of an executive order by Gov. Dave Heineman. On May 20, 2005, Heineman signed an executive order directing “all state agencies using fleet vehicles to require state employees to use E85 ethanol ... whenever available within a reasonable distance, while operating a state flexible-fuel ... vehicle,” according to a weekly column he had written at the time. FFVs are built to handle E85. “There's no doubt that alternative fuels have a positive impact on local economies,” Heineman said. “We will all save money as state agencies pays (sic) less for fuel." Yeah, why sure, you betcha!

E85 arrives at co-op pumps STACY LANGLEY, The Huron Daily Tribune 06/21/2006 The Cooperative Elevator Co. recently made a place for the ethanol-blend at its retail fueling stations in Ruth and Pigeon. Tim Sielaff, vice president of petroleum for the Cooperative Elevator, said they went on-line offering E85 at the Ruth location on June 7, followed by the Pigeon location several days later. Today, all systems are a go. “Our customers can now pull in, fuel up and pull out with E85 in their tank,” Sielaff said. “Adding E85 is a move that I feel shows the commitment we have made to our growers by offering alternative fuels and biodiesels here at the co-op. “We’ve been in the ethanol business for more than 30 years, offering ethanol products. And we’ve been in the biodiesel business for seven or maybe into our eighth year. Now we can say we’re the first ones in Huron County to offer E85 retail.” E85 FlexFuel vehicles can run on any combination of gasoline and/or E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Sielaff credits E85 as a move toward creating energy independence in the United States because it diversifies the source of transportation fuels beyond petroleum. And he said it provides positive environmental benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. “Using E85 is an option. Research has shown many owners of flexfuel vehicles are unaware their vehicles are capable of using E85, but recent strides are being made across the state to better inform consumers about E85,” he said. “We (the co-op) are currently working to purchase several vehicles that will use E85 — right now we are in the bidding process to do so. Our gasoline pick-ups we are using now burn a 10 percent ethanol blend, and all of our diesel vehicles use biodiesel. It’s important to us because of the investment the farmers are making in the co-op — we want to in return do everything we can by using the products and supporting the soybean and corn growers here.” The sales fleet Sielaff mentioned involves about a dozen vehicles. “We’re working on trying to figure out exactly what we need. Right now our sales people use their own vehicles, and you can’t tell someone what to do or what to burn in their own personal vehicles. We want to have all our own fleet that uses E85. We plan on labeling those vehicles and promoting the products made by many of our growers — promote corn and soybeans,” he said. “It makes sense financially to do this. We will have all the vehicles lettered letting people know they are E85 vehicles — just another opportunity to enhance our growers’ value.” As for value right now at the pump, Sielaff said the Co-op is offering E85 at a price slightly higher than unleaded gasoline. He said it’s simply a matter of supply and demand — there just isn’t enough E85 to go around. One reason is refineries have switched their production from winter-grade gas to cleaner burning ethanol-based summer grades. Nationwide they’ve stopped using MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) and are switching to ethanol, which is more expensive to make and costs more to get from an ethanol plant to the pump. “Ethanol is expensive — it’s expensive to buy, it’s expensive to truck,” Sielaff said. “Right now at the pump in Ruth (and Pigeon) we’re selling it for $2.99 a gallon. The only reason we can do that is because we bought some prior to contracts expiring. Today our E85 is very close to the same price as no-lead. But if I had to go buy it today, it would be about 80 cents higher than no-lead. And at those prices I don’t think there are many people who can afford E85 at rack price. “We’re doing our best to find the best prices we can. We want to be able to provide this to our customers with the expectation that a year or two years down the road there will be more supply to meet the demand and the cost will come down.” Sielaff said that demand by other states across the nation for ethanol is yet another reason E85 is so costly. “Right now ethanol is the fuel oxygenate of choice for most refineries in the United States after a fierce battle with (MTBE). Oxygenates are chemicals added to gasoline to make them burn more efficiently,” he said. “The ethanol trend is good news for Michigan, because it is expected to create hundreds of jobs and spur millions of dollars of economic growth in areas that choose to produce and distribute the fuel.” A typical ethanol plant making 40 million gallons a year employs about 50 people. Michigan is among the nation's leading corn producers with more than 257 million bushels a year. Currently Michigan Ethanol LLC in Caro is the lone ethanol plant in Michigan, producing 45 million gallons a year. Michigan still is 11th in the nation in terms of overall production — but not for long. Sielaff said four more plants are on their way. They are Great Lakes Ethanol in Riga, Superior Corn Products in Lake Odessa, Andersons Inc. in Albion and Marysville Ethanol of Marysville. All which are expected to come online within two years and combined produce more than 200 million gallons of ethanol a year. “When they can increase the supply, of course the price will go down. Right now they can’t keep up with the demand for E85,” Sielaff said. “We get calls from all over the state for biodiesel and E85, now we can offer it at our retail locations. We can cater to the public, our fueling systems are designed to be unattended to help keep the costs down. We want to be able to set people who are interested in becoming customers up with a card, then all they have to do is pull up to our filling station, insert their card and fuel up.” Sielaff said the co-op also recently invested in the first biodiesel plant in Michigan (Michigan Biodiesel LLC) which will begin production in July. Located in Van Buren County, it’s a 10 million gallon plant and has the versatility for using multiple feedstocks. Biodiesel is nontoxic, renewable, and biodegradable fuel produced from domestic resources such as soybeans. It is a cleaner burning fuel than petroleum. Pat Anderson, chief executive officer of the Cooperative Elevator said “the purpose of the minor investment of 1.176 percent in Michigan BioDiesel LLC is to have a viable interest in the biodiesel market and to promote the use of renewable fuels with agricultural products.” “We did this is for the long-term investment in alternative fuels,” Sielaff added. “We actually made a cash investment in a biodiesel plant. There was a limit to the amount of stock that any one entity could own. We didn’t purchase the maximum amount, and we surely would have liked to have purchased more. We feel biodiesel is important — being a totally grower-owned co-op it was important to use the products that come back to where they originate. “Instead of sending corn and soybeans away and not getting anything back, we want to reuse the products we

I have a 2002 Olds Aurora, the low tire pressure warning light keeps coming on saying low tire pressure, but when I check the tire pressure thay are all where thay should be at 30 psi. If I reset the warning light it still keeps coming on. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and how to fix this problem? Thanks, Dave

Other than the American cars, yeah. I have a couple of Vauxhall Crestas and Victors. I am not too familiar with Brit commercial vehicles, did GM hold any interest in those makes? Matchbox made a lot of Bedford and Commer trucks, along with some other oddball makes like ERF, Karrier, Trojan, Albion.