The Price of Gas and Cigarettes...

I've finally acknowledged that I'm well on my way to becoming an opinionated old fart. I've always been opinionated and admitted it - it's the "old fart" part I've come to terms with. I know I'm on my way, 'cause now I've taken to regaling my kids and younger acquaintances with stories of "how it used to be".

Echoing back from the dim, distant past (circa 1973), I can still hear my dad bitching about gas prices - "If it ever gets to a dollar a gallon, I'm gonna quit drivin'!". My Uncle often threatened the same, adding that he'd quit smoking if cigarettes ever got to a dollar a pack (both still drive. I think my Uncle may have quit smoking - but more likely because he's on oxygen now, because he didn't quit when coffin nails hit 5 cents apiece). At that time gas was 40 to 45 cents a gallon, and cigarettes were 50 cents a pack. Quite a difference from the oft-reported 10-a-gallon/15-a-pack of their younger days.

My kids know that I used to get a dollar a day for lunch money from my mom. 'Cause they've also heard (too many times) how I used to stop every morning on my way to school for a gallon of gas (50 cents by then) and a pack of smokes (still only 50 cents, but we could get generics for 40 plus tax).

Ahhh. The good old days... When a dollar a day could get you to and from school (or the lake, or a buddy's house, or wherever you went when you were supposed to be at school) and feed your budding addiction to nicotine.

Not so anymore.

I don't smoke anymore (worse - I "dip"), so I'm not real up on the price of cowboy killers, but I'm wholly dependent on my gas guzzling van. Last summer when gas hit $2.50 a gallon I discovered that it was fast approaching the time when I literally could not afford to drive back and forth to work every day. Unless I quit dipping, of course. Soon after the point became moot as the price of petrol went over $3.50. Most recently, I went home to Colorado for a visit. I flew instead of driving because it was cheaper! And gas prices were still rising.

WTF!?!?

I continued to tell myself that it couldn't go on. Even if the price remained the same, it couldn't possibly go any higher. I was wrong.

But, I believe in "the system". I know that the vendor will charge whatever the customer will pay - and I felt confident that others besides myself had begun car-pooling, or taking the bus or whatever (the fact that it now was taking only 40 minutes to get to work instead of 45 lends creedence to my supposition: 5 minutes time saved = fewer dumbasses clogging the roads).

Finally I was vindicated - the market could bear no more. I was not suprised to see the costs level off and drop. I wasn't surprised when the price fell a little more. But now I'm a bit baffled by the falling price of dead dinosaurs.

Last week I needed gas but was short on funds and I was SEETHING: I wanted some of that CHEAP GAS dammit - before the price goes back up! I finally topped off at $2.11/gallon. The next day the same station was selling for $2.09. *&^%$%^$@^%$*&%1!

This is all destined to be a story related to grandchildren - how the price of gas fell so much that people could afford to drive again!

My new mantra is it couldn't possibly go any lower. I sure hope I'm wrong. Who knows - maybe I'll be able to afford to start smoking again?

Who Knew? The Secret Life of Scotch Tape...

I find this both fascinating and disturbing. On the one hand - Wow! Who knew?

On the other hand, you've got people spending oodles of money to develop machines and methods to unravel Scotch tape in a vacuum...

And the next question is???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081023/ap_on_sc/sci_scotch_tape_surprise

Investment Opportunities

As many of you know I did not fully avail myself of an "adequate" education - my GED and questionably useful AAS in Criminal Justice hardly qualify me to make the following statements. But here I go anyway...

I'm having a hard time understanding why so many people seem surprised at the state of our economy. Also having difficulty with the people who are casting blame at large corporations and political figures. I guess it goes to show just how "in-tune" the (seemingly) majority of the people in this country are with reality.

I don't know squat about economics. But I do know quite a bit about value. Over the years I've also learned (admittedly the hard way) quite a bit about living within my means.

I would like a new car. I would like to buy a house. I can't afford to do either on my current salary. However (at least until a few weeks ago), it is possible for me to obtain both. Why?

Well - it's NOT because some evil, greedy politician or lending institutuion will give me what I want. It's because too many people in this country have assumed that the asking price is valid. Not enough of us have turned our noses up at artificially inflated "values".

Yes - some evil, greedy politians and lending institutions have told us that it's O.K.; that the assigned value is the true value of the good or service they're hawking. But the bottom line is that we've enabled them to continue to the point where what was once a $9,000 car became a $20,000.00 car or an $80,000.00 house a $200,000.00 house - without qualification.

Not enough of us said "BULLSHEEEIT!" and told them to go fly a kite.

Now those who didn't - those who don't understand supply and demand; those who don't realize things cost what they do simply BECAUSE THEY'LL PAY THE ASKING PRICE, are bitching about who's fault it is now that we're in the crapper and someone's just flushed.

Now they wonder why they have no choice but pay the asking price...


INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Here's my top picks for investment opportunities over the next ten years -

http://www.afte.org/aftelinks/aftelinks_ammunition.htm

XOXOXO

PH

Palin - Qualified or not?

I (still!) keep hearing and reading about how Governor Palin isn't "qualified" to be VP.

I wondered.

According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States, both party's candidates appear to be qualified.

Shut up already.