Last Friday, Rocky Twyman of Maryland came to Toledo and joined up with a small group of people at two gas stations to pray for lower gas prices. Earlier that day, the price of gas jumped 20 to 29 cents a gallon in Toledo, to 4.099 at most stations.
Well yesterday as I was driving home I saw the price of regular gas at $3.809 per gallon -- at both BP and Speedway, on the corner of Talmadge Rd. and Sylvania Ave. I drive by those two stations every day on the way to work and for me, they are the local bellwethers. Speedway almost always changes its price first, BP soon after, then every other station in town seems to follow suit.
As I stopped to get gas, I wondered how much Rocky Twyman's "Pray at the Pump Movement" had to do with the 29 cents per gallon saving.
I also read yesterday that there are some new signs that gas prices are going to drop in the long-term.
Funny thing, when I wrote about Rocky Twyman and his prayers to "deliver us from high gas prices," I got very mixed responses. Some people thought it was ludicrous, while others praised me for writing such an article for the mainstream news.
As usual, people read into the news articles according to their own preconceptions, or "worldview" as the buzzword goes, and then either love me or hate me for reporting the news objectively.
Then this morning I saw BP had spiked its price back to $4.09 while Speedway was still holding it at $3.80. Let's see what they're at on my way home tonight.
I'm really wondering what will happen over the July 4th weekend, aren't you? This is a big holiday weekend for traveling in the United States. Will the oil conglomerates gouge us even more, or are they sated with the multizillion-dollar profits they've already devoured this year? I'm guessing they want more.
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My old buddies Hootie and the Blowfish are coming to town! Maybe I can get out on the golf course with them again.
What a great band and wonderful group of guys. They rose to the top and their careers then tapered off, but they were level-headed all the way. The superficial self-anointed "critics" may look at them as washed up, but in reality these guys reached a level of fame and fortune that very few musicians (or any other career people) ever achieve. It never went to their heads, at least not very much. They were smart with their money and are set for life. They now make music for the love of it, regardless of the chart hits or commercial success.
Not a bad spot to be in.
I still love their songs, which are part of life's soundtrack for the 1990s.
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Sad to see George Carlin passed away. He was a brilliant guy and very, very funny. I interviewed him a couple of times and he was always interesting, although he was bitterly anti-religion. I hope he's in a good place now.
Among his many funny lines, I always liked this one the best:
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
Toledo, Ohio
June 24, 2008