I think that some people have been collecting waste cooking oils to use in their own cars.

If enough people try it, soon there will be a charge for it, instead of the stuff being dumped.

Did not say and do not think it is a bad idea. I think that waste vegetable oil is a great thing to use as fuel. Why wouldn't it be? Instead of pulling something out of the Earth to burn, WVO burns something that might be dumped onto the Earth as a pollutant.

I'd like to find a small engine (about 5 hp) that would run on it and was not a big behemoth like a listeroid. A good webpage about running stuff on vegetable oil is: http://www.me.columbia.edu/me3410/spring06/group01/.

Wow. They must be paying you well to put up with this kind of lifestyle. Best of luck with it.

Starting your own business might be an alternative.

Just about any diesel will run on straight waste oil as long as it's filtered...they just need to have a fuel system capable of pumping it and they need to be warmed up first. You can buy systems for trucks that have two tanks. One for regular diesel and one for oil. Engine starts and warms on diesel, then switches over.

I was self-employed for 10 years. I did well at it, but I just got tired of the administrative BS, constantly needing to close the next sale, always dealing with things other than what I was best at. I'm hardly a "workaholic" - my 3 days in are, admittedly, long days, however, I spend FAR more time with my family now than I ever could when I was self-employed. When I need or want to work from home, I do. When I need to take days off, I do - with no vacation days used. But I also get to work in an office that is fun, interesting and challenging. The people are smart, from all over the world and we work well. We have top-flight clients who pay us what we're worth, and as I realized a while ago, on any given day, about 50 Million people see use web site that I am working on in some way. So, for me, this works.

Oh - and my time on my bus ride - that' my work time. My broadband card in the laptop is just fantastic - and I'd like to point out that I leave the office at 3PM. Now how many people here who work in an office can say that they reliably can leave at 3PM virtually all the time.

Anyway - it's a lifestyle that works for me, and I don't think there's much I want to change.

Final point...remember - I have multiple sets of fallback work options. I'm a firefighter, I have medical training, I also have other experience with certain aspects of law enforcement (not as a sworn office) and that work has been an interesting sideline.

I am glad to hear that your schedule maximizes time with your family. That was my point all along.

You have good points about the admin BS when you have a business. I have a wonderful partner that enjoys that part of it and makes it look easy. Thank you for pointing that out. I don't do it entirely by myself.

But as for closing the next deal, I kind of enjoy that part.

I say get a new fuel efficient car. We here are well on our way to seeing $4 a gallon. See here. http://www.honolulugasprices.com/

Lucky.

The price of gas here has been more than $4 a gallon for a while now. Last I checked the price had come DOWN to $1.09 a Liter for regular ($1.05 if you get lucky). At 3.79 Liters per US Gallon that's almost $4.15 a Gallon by my math.

Its still hard to jusitfy a new vehicle. I spend $200 - $300 a month in gas now, so say I buy a cheap car at $199/month and put only $100 a month gas in it I break even. But a new car will mean higher insurance so my cost goes up. And thats assuming my gas cost will drop from $200 to $100 wich means 40mpg min. Some cheap cars can't even do that. For example the Kia Optima the insurance company stuck me in barely got 25mpg.

Hey Hacksaw,

Considering the amount of oil you are sitting on in Alberta, the high price of gas really must hurt!

Gas is about 1.15/L here in Northern Ontario.

Check out gas prices across Canada and the US at http://www.gasbuddy.com/ The gas price maps are interesting and you can find the cheapest gas available so you know where to fill-up when travelling.

Mike