I probably should put this in the what makes you happy thread but it seems that most of us have had very happy experiences in meeting only "nice, friendly" Americans and not the ones who voted for Lumpy. Yes, I now think of him as being exactly like a big, bellowing bully character from the old Leave it to Beaver show. Not smart and constantly being bailed out by Daddy's old money. Oh maybe I have sorta met one. Perhaps my library has a copy of the famous 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. I've never read it before but now might be a good time to read that one!
@redstar Yes, as you rightly say, it's certainly those of us who actually do the shopping, fill the car tank and pay the bills who have the best idea of the true cost of living. The "high ups" rarely have a clue - often can't even accurately price the cost of a pint of milk Good that you are finding life is improving for you.
There are as many "nice" Americans as there are "nice" Canadians, English, French, Indians , Africans, and every other nationality. We meet them every day whether virtualy or in the real world. There are of course also some very unpleasant ones - that's people for you and we are unlikely to change.
Here is something funny, and just regarding Gas in the car. So when we get ready to go down to North Carolina, from our home in PA. Gas up here about 3 weeks ago was $2.79 a gallon. We don't fill the tank up here, we usually have a half a tank when we leave. We know it will be cheaper in North Carolina, and it was $2.39 a gallon. Now if you listen to the news they will tell you gas in California is something like $4.00 a gallon. Yesterday I was out shopping and gas was $2.15 a gallon in my town. Why the difference you may ask. It could be or California that their laws/rules/regulations placed on Gas Stations there cost a lot more so then they have to pass those costs to the consumer. I did see in California a sign at a gas station for Car smog check up to be done. . (horrid). When we were there this past August. As Trump in general says he is deleting some regulations, regulations in any area always cost the consumer more money. It takes the cost of staff to observe the regulations and carry them out, or certain objects to be put in place to meet the regulations. I used to work in the field where I had to follow Federal and State regulations, put things in place, train staff how to follow the regulations, find staff to check behind other staff to make sure regulations were followed, its all cost factors. And all of that takes time to resolve itself.
Interesting @redstar ........... there are price differences in petrol and diesel here too but more the case of retailers competing with each other. As far as I know, there is no "standard" price for vehicle fuel in the UK but smaller business enterprises which only sell petrol will have to charge more whilst the large supermarkets can afford to offer lower prices per litre. In your own case as you say, the different states have their own laws/regulations. You only mention California in the West as against PA and N Carolina in the East as that is the area you travel. I could well be wrong but does not California have stricter Green/Environmental regs which presumably accounts for the higher fuel costs ? Getting rid of some regulations can be good but some regulations are necessary for both the populace and the environment as a whole. Are electric cars popular in the US ? Plenty of disadvantages as well as advantages.
