The next two paragraphs are lifted from another blogpost, still in draft format, but I thought them worth posting separately:
I am led to wonder what the 2008 Christmas shopping season is going to look like, particularly in the northeast, where a large proportion of homes are heated with oil, which has gone from, say, $2 per gallon to $4, and is normally bought in 300 gallon or larger tank loads. Depending on the size, age and heat leakiness of the house; the efficiency of the burner; outside temperatures; whether people are home by day; and the occupants' tolerance for cold (among other factors), a home might use a tankload every few weeks or a month. We talk alot about the gas mileage our cars get, but I've heard little about houses' days per gallon.
By Thanksgiving, most northeasterners will have paid for at least one delivery of heating oil, and will be facing concerns about how they will cover the much higher costs this winter will bring. Their Christmas purchases may look very different from those of prior years.
By Thanksgiving, we should know who has won the election, and perhaps who the cabinet officers are going to be in the next administration.
PostScript: This Gallons Per Day measure probably needs to be specified in terms of Gallons Per Day at 30 degrees -- let's call it GPD30 -- GPD40, GPD20, GPD10 , etc.
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