MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you know, the good news is: In August, the economy created 315,000 jobs, which is important. We have created nearly 10 thousand million jobs since President Biden took office, which is the fastest job growth in history.
wait what??? what is that 10,000,000,000 jobs since January 2021? I’n not sure what she’s using as the denominator to determine job growth rate, but using 10 thousand million in the numerator sure seems like it’ll create the fast job growth rate in history.
If I heard the words “ten thousand million” in that sort of context I would probably interpret it as “ten thousand million” … in other words, quickly correcting herself. Not ten thousand [oops], but ten million. People make these little misspeaks ALL THE TIME and it’s really not a big deal.
And I think 10,000,000 is in the right ballpark for jobs created since 1/20/2021 too, so that’s almost certainly what she meant. Whether it’s right to credit every one of those to Joe Biden is a different story, but literally every POTUS who’s had job growth on his watch has taken credit, so … yeah. Seems like a nothingburger.
“A half-tank of fuel cost around $100. We stopped at the halfway mark each time so that we didn’t have to drop $200 every time we filled up. We refueled the van around 10 times, spending approximately $1,000 on gas alone.”
Perhaps beyond innumeracy and just plain stupidity.
Was this on a road trip or over time? It would be less dumb if it was over time as maybe the price of gas would go down or they didn’t have $200 but they did have $100.
But it sounds a little more like it was over a pretty short period of time.
When I go on road trips in the winter months, I will rarely let the tank go below 1/2 (which the gauge will let me know). So read the quote from @ArthurItas in the same manner as @soyleche.
There could be lots of good reasons to only get half a tank of gas, or to not let the tank drop below 1/2. I think they meant the latter. Either way, doing so because each fill up is cheaper is not a logical reason when on a long road trip. The article was about taking a long road trip in a van.
If I expect that the gas will be cheaper at a later destination (e.g., gas in the Chicago area is more expensive than down the road a ways), I’ll fill up just enough to get me to the “next destination”.
If I expect that costs will be more expensive at a later destination, I’ll likely top off (even if it’s 1/4 tank) before going on.
I do that too, but that doesn’t sound like the reasoning presented.
I always look up the gas tax of each state I’m going to and plan my purchases accordingly… within reason anyway. I won’t make a special stop to fill a 3/4 full tank. But if I’m going to be at or under 1/4 at the state line crossing from a low tax to a high tax state I will certainly make a point to fill up before crossing. Or wait until after crossing if going from high to low.
While gas tax obviously directly affects the price of gas, that is not always the biggest factor in the cost. I use the GasBuddy app to try to time my stops. Often driving 2-3 minutes off the freeway can save more than the difference in the gas tax between states.
Depends on how much the difference in gas tax is too.
I use GasBuddy too, and generally try to observe prices that are posted where I can see them on the highway. Also as a general rule, getting off at an exit with at least two gas stations is probably going to result in a better price than an exit with only one gas station. Exceptions abound and I certainly haven’t made a deep science of it.
Driving from Delaware (23 cents) to Pennsylvania (59 cents) you’re looking at a 36 cent / gallon difference in the tax. For a similar distance off the highway you’re going to see that difference in the prices.
But going from New Jersey (41 cents) to New York (40 cents) it’s not going to be perceptible.
I know what stations near me are cheaper and which are more expensive, and choose to buy at the cheaper stations.
When on road trips I typically don’t bother looking for the best bargain. When it’s around time to stop I’ll look for the best price at one of the national brands, but I’m not bothering with any research.