Sunday, February 03, 2008

Groundhog Day II.

So, I poked my head out from under the covers to find that some nut in gun-free Chicago has herded patrons and clerks at a Lane Bryant into the back room and mowed them down, I guess with a sharp stick or something; Indians trading in their mopeds for little econoboxes mean that $3/gal gas will soon be a wistful memory; and my next President is still going to be one of three Democrats or the Manchurian Candidate. This means there will be six more weeks of winter. Unlike Punxsutawney Phil, however, I can't retreat into my burrow, for the donuts beckon.

10 comments:

  1. Your comment on the Indian's and cars is what I have been talking about for years. Having spent a lot of time in the far east searching for oil over the last few decades, I noted that in say China, Indonesia etc that just in my career we have transitioned from walking to bikes to cars. The demand for fuel in that part of the world is staggering as we have created a middle class by exporting jobs from the US to their and so now they don't want to walk to the store when they can drive. Also, it is the shear numbers of citizens. If only 1 person in a hundred has a car that is still a huge number!

    This is why even though I work for a multi-national oil company, and I can certainly afford to drive what I want, I bought Hybrids because in the life span of my cars, I can foresee much more expensive gas. It is surprising how many of them are in the company lot down at headquarters. I am not the only one thinking this way.

    I expect that today's generation will think about 3$/gallon gas much like I think about 39 cent a gallon gas. It was sure cheap back then.

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  2. My favorite comment every time I hear it-

    "a robbery that "at some point went rather poorly," said Tinley Park police Sgt. T.J. Grady."

    As opposed to those robberies that go just peachy.

    I also like "The store did not have a security camera".

    But it's just good spokesmaning. "None of the victims was armed so she could defend herself effectively from the beast who killed her." would be pointing out the obvious.

    And unarmed victims are official Chicago Police Department policy.

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  3. You missed this little delight:
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080202/ap_on_re_us/officers_shot;_ylt=A0WTUeEML6VHmaIAQCNH2ocA

    --Credit the Daqta Viking for the link!

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  4. Er, "Data Viking"

    Veri word: "doxyrv" Say wha'?

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  5. You load 16 crullers
    Whadaya get?
    Another cuppa coffee
    Une petite Baguette
    St. Peter don't you call me
    That ain't how I roll
    I'm staying right down here
    to fry a donut hole

    If you see me coming
    Better step aside
    I baked the cake donuts
    The glazed I fried
    One filling is chocolate
    The other is cream
    The custard is tasty
    But the choc'lates a dream

    You load 16 crullers
    Whadaya get?
    Another cuppa coffee
    A petite Baguette
    St. Peter don't you call me
    That ain't how I roll
    I'm staying right down here
    to fry a donut hole

    I fight with my diet
    But it's sort of a draw
    I ate a cinnamon bun
    And a big bear claw
    One chocolate sprinkle
    And a day old glazed
    I didn't really gobble 'em
    Just sorta grazed

    You load 16 crullers
    What'daya get?
    Another cuppa coffee
    A petite Baguette
    St. Peter don't you call me
    That ain't how I roll
    I'm staying right here
    to fry a donut hole

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  6. Good one, carlh.

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  7. After that, I almost don't have the heart to point out that I'm using "Time to make the donuts" in a metaphorical sense, a la the old '80s Dunkin Donuts commercials...

    Then again, CarlH may have been, as well...

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  8. Gasoline is mostly $3 a gallon now because of government interference. Congress mandated the use of "an oxygenating additive" in gasoline. Then they mandated the use of ethanol as the additive in particular. (Which is less poisonous than the alternative, but more expensive.) Then they slapped an enormous tariff on the import of ethanol from other countries.

    On the other end of the stick, you have the over $1 Trillion we've spent in Afghanistan and Iraq (whether or not one is on board with us being over there, the money that got printed to finance it caused inflation that made our dollars worth less on the open market for oil) as well as the supply issues us being over there have caused.

    And then there's just the plain state and federal taxes on the stuff. Last time I was in Utah, the station I went to had a sticker on the side saying what the tax rate was. On $2.95 gasoline, I was paying $0.48 per gallon in taxes.

    At a rough, seat of the pants estimate, I figure gasoline costs roughly twice as much as it would in a free market with a non-fiat currency.

    ReplyDelete

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