I'm seeing a number of options in the $150-180/night range. I'm not horrified by that. Some of them even look decent. :eek:

Cutting it with water would be a challenge. The ethanol in the gasoline will (partially) migrate to the water phase, and the water phase will sink to the bottom of the tank.

Nice. If you give me a list of the hotels, I can rate the various locations within Old Town, and possibly the hotels (if I am familiar with them).

I too saw the first one. I didn't think it was awful.

Hence some people getting tanks of water ;)

Yes, the business is, in substance, middlemanning, salesmanship, and commodity speculation. My friend's grandfather and father would buy product from distributors at $X per gallon, then decide how long to hold it before selling downstream at $Y per gallon. If they thought oil/gasoline prices would go up, they would hold product a little longer; if prices went up, they made a little extra; if they went down, they got hosed. The art was balancing the amounts they were willing to keep in inventory with customer demands, storage capacity, and the manner in which they were willing to speculate. In addition, the buy-side involved its own complex strategies based on relationships with the vendors, price speculation, and the ability to purchase options. On the sale side, they would try to sell high, not surprisingly.

My sense was that the industrial lubricants part of the business was less susceptible to price swings and more of a volume-driven business based on customer relationships.

My mother's favorite elderly client that she travels with is Dutch, and her family is in oil distribution. The son of the founder is still looking for a way to get the Quaker State brand into the EU.

It wasn't so awful, but it made a bit more sense if one had seen many of the episodes of the actual series (of which I will also confess to having seen about 75%), or at least were familiar with the major character lines leading up to the movie.

I watched the early seasons. I thought regardless of the subject matter that the show was well-written and well-acted. At the time that it was first-run on HBO, I also had a wee bit of an obsession with trying to see Kristin Davis nude.

Who doesn't?

Bank Hotel
Hudson Hotel
Ibis
Tailors Hall
Missoni
Mercure


All have made the first cut. I am vaguely considering the HH, too, but leaning away from it based on it being much closer to $250/night than $160/night like the others.

I also have the 2000 Accor points that can be redeemed at the Ibis or Mercure.

This is the credited response.

Time to shower and polish off my to-do list for the weekend. Overdue oil change and general car cleaning.

I had meant to say I don't really boycott BP. I just don't fill up there since my travels don't take me anywhere near one. Plus, I'm happy w/ Costco and Kroger gas. I also buy from HEB if I happen to be next to one. Even the "el cheapo"/no name stations near me cost more than Costco/HEB/Kroger. Either way, I like the fuel that ALCO uses - Metrograde.^

Stay away from Castr:rolleyes:l. They are owned by Big Pingas.;)

So, like I said, you're using BP at some level, just like Metrograde does. ;)