The Price of Gasoline...

About a week ago I decided to take a look at internet information regarding our economic dependency upon oil. I would encourage others to do the same, however, be ready to face some hard realities. It is time for all of us to start facing a change in our day-to-day lives, and seeking alternative energy sources.

Here are a few websites that I visited:
http://pup.princeton.edu/chapters/s7121.html
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4287300/
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5945678/
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/06-14/peak-oil-article.htm

Although you may look at the above sources and be thinking..."okay, looks like another wild tangent"... I hope you will at least take a look and, using critical thinking, decide for yourself as to what the above information may mean...or does mean.

My decision to read all this was spurred by the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump, and from hearing people say: "oh, it is just the oil companies' trying to squeeze every penny from us." (Or some similar statement).

Here in Wisconsin, the price of a gallon of gas is varying between $2.29 and $2.39 for 87 octane regular unleaded. (It is pretty rare to find any ethanol mixtures in our area, sadly, so the price does not reflect that). Since I don't use the higher octane fuels, I can't accurately give prices for those...but generally I recall seeing that the high premium fuel is running around $2.60 or more per gallon. Listening to Leno last night (7-26-05), he said that he was paying $2.99 a gallon in California...but who knows what octane.

Like everyone else, watching these prices rise causes me to think back (with my foggy memory) to lower gas prices. There are events in my life that have made me more aware of gas prices at certain times...these events are my moves from one location to another related to work, or other work related situations.

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, I worked as an itinerant teacher where I travelled daily in the rural areas of N. Central Montana. A typical day's work included a roundtrip drive of about 250 miles. I purchased gas probably every couple days (and drove an economical car for long commuting - 30 to 40 mpg), and all of us were complaining about how our mileage reimbursement was not keeping up with the price of gas. (Gulf War I era). I remember when gasoline reached $1.59 a gallon. I also remember retiring our gas-hog 4x4 crew cab pickup truck. We didn't drive it much (used for rugged travel or hauling), but when the prices were well over $1 a gallon, it just was too expensive to drive. It got maybe 8 to 12 miles to a gallon on a good day. I remember one of our last uses for it was a hunting trip. We drove round trip a little over 200 miles. Do the math, you'll find our venison was not necessarily "cheap"... $45 in gasoline (although I recall spending $70 - likely including the fill-up after the trip).

Of course after the $1.59 prices, gasoline dropped down to hover in the $1.29 range. It seemed to stay this price for quite a while, and I certainly recall that price being "typical" throughout the mid to late 1990's.

My next "gasoline price memory" comes from 1999 when I was moving to Eastern South Dakota. The interesting thing about South Dakota is that the price for gasoline would differ greatly (or used to) just by driving across a line of demarkation...as in the Missouri River. In the late 1990's, prices for gasoline East River were cheaper than West River. (West River includes the Black Hills...and as you might guess, gas is highest there!). So...when I was moving, East River gasoline was typically $1.07. West River gasoline was $1.19 to $1.25. The good thing was that I was moving to "cheap gas" country! I was also moving to "ethanol" country.

Of course the price of gasoline made its steady move upwards, and before long the typical price was the same as West River. Fact is, the price difference between the two locations (300 miles or so apart) ceased to be present. Because of the price of gas, during the early 2000's, I remember my male companion retired his old motorhome (sold it for cheap) , fondly called "the camper". The camper was a 1974 vintage, and it got 8 mpg on a good day. I remember we planned a camping trip to a location 130 miles away. We started figuring out the price of gas to go on a weekend campout with the camper (gas was around $1.79). Roundtrip was going to cost us around $60 or so, versus going in our car (27 mpg) and using a tent for $18. (I do have to say that when I see people driving motorhomes...I wonder where on earth they get the money for the gasoline that powers them down the road?.....same with big SUV's).

I made another move, this time from South Dakota to Wisconsin, in the summer of 2003. Now I know that a big difference in the price of gasoline between these two locations has to do with gasoline taxes. Taxes on gasoline are much higher in Wisconsin. In 2003, the price of gasoline in East River SD was hovering around $1.79 to $1.89 (possibly a little higher). The price in Wisconsin was hovering between $2.07 and $2.19.

So...what I sometimes ponder is how a gallon of gas can jump in price from $1.07 in 1999 to $2.29 in 2005. 6 years - 20 cents per year (although we know that it was more like 20 cents in days). Or....how about 39 cents a gallon in 1970 to $2.29 in 2005? 35 years - 5 cents a year. Doesn't look so bad over 35 years, does it? (Of course you have to remember that we were making about $1.25 an hour in 1970). (Oh...please remember that I'm depending upon my foggy memory...).

Well...anyway...I've digressed. I do suggest that people read the links I have posted above because it is really food for thought.

I guess, based on the math for the past 6 years, and the fact that we are nearing the "Oil Peak"...I better start planning for $2.49 by 2006, $2.69 by 2007, $2.89 by 2008? Of course there have been predictions that gasoline will be $3.00 a gallon by December 2005. Posting this will give me a chance later to see what transpires.

In conclusion, I look at our USA lifestyle and think...wow...there's major change headed our way. I can already see that the cost of energy is increasing the price of food at the grocery store.

S~

Everything But What I Should Be Doing

So its another summer day and I have a long to-do list. I think every day I have a long to-do list. I think every day I tend to put it aside and get distracted by something far more interesting. Like today, for instance, I spent time this afternoon updating my Geocities website. www.geocities.com/soozeej/index.html

As websites go, however, the updating was not complete. I know there are links down on several pages that I have created for special education teachers. The federal government is in the process of changes the rules and regulations for special education due to a change in the IDEA Statute. The problem has been that as soon as a link goes up with information, within a few days the web address seems to change and, well, down goes the link again. I discovered this while updating an on-line course in early June.

But...my topic is..well, in psych terms: "task avoidance behavior". (smile) If I was in school as an elementary student, my teacher would be quite concerned. She/he would say: "I just can't seem to keep Soozee on task." Heck, that's how I feel about me sometimes. I'll have to create a behavior management program for myself.

Tasks that I have been avoiding today are many of the typical: cleaning house, sorting junk mail (yuck),...and others like pitting sour cherries (I picked a couple days ago from the tree in my yard), weeding the garden, catching up on paperwork, and...well, cleaning house. When I sat down here at my computer several hours ago, I was telling myself how wonderful it was going to be because I thought I had the motivation to begin clearning by taking care of my home office.......ahhhh, well,...does cleaning up a messy website count? ~S

Summer Days

Thank you Lake Michican for the marvelous cool breezes that keep our little corner of the world a bit more temperate than other regions.

Being a new "cheesehead"...I am fascinated by this great big body of water. It's only a few blocks away from my house, and on windy days it "sings" with the sounds of crashing waves. I suppose some days it would be more of a roar. Other days it is quiet and serene. Being a "Westerner", the idea of that much water in one place (other than the ocean) is awesome. When I lived in Montana I was often awestruck by Flat Head Lake. The Great Lakes, however, are even more majestic. I am drawn to Lakes Superior and Michigan...thus the reason I now live nearby.

The photo on the left is of the frozen bay area in Upper Michigan - Lake Superior/Houghton area taken in January 05.

The photo at the top of the page is of Lake Michigan, taken April 1, 2005.

Annoying Web Behavior

Why is it that when a female is on the WWW, many many many men seem to believe that the woman is "looking" for love, single (possibly), and available?

As indicated in my first blog, I've been at this internet thing for a long time. I've even been thru the single's scene, and in the early years of "American Singles", I think it was an okay place to be....WHEN SINGLE. Thinking about it in the year 2005? No...I don't have the same belief.

When I WAS single, I noticed an alarming trend as the computer on-line world began to increase in population expodentially. I noticed that the on-line behavior of people became more and more crass, forward, and objectionable. I also noticed that the ability to trust that a person on the net was actually who they claimed to be also became more and more unlikely.

The eyeopener was many years ago when I was "automatically" logging into an internet messenger. I was very busy doing research for a dissertation, and I relied heavily on the wonderful ability to access reliable information in libraries and elsewhere. I would log on thru my "dial up" and spend either early morning hours or late night hours finding information for the literature review of my dissertation. During these times utter strangers would start IMing me. My own reason for having IM was to correspond with family and friends instantly..avoiding the long distance phone call. Well, these interrupting IM's were men looking for sexual encounters. Now in 2005, I would say that 98.9% of all of the "random" IM's seem to be of this genre.

My example today is one from Yahoo Messenger. I recently signed back up for that. Haven't used it in years. I just left YM open...and those of you using such know that it makes your Icon be "available for chat". Well, my computer was on late into the night. Late night...here comes the "random" chatter, male, who has not clicked on my "profile". (Probably because few seem to fill out one for identity reasons). I have the option to igore this person, but for the heck of it I say hello. Its like...online pickup lines: "Hi" "How are you?" "Where do you live?" "Do you have a cam?" "Do you have a pic?" I was stilted in replying. I respond with "no cam". This seems to be an oddity? I mention I'm married. Annon man is suprised...but not daunted....although there is an "Ok" with a long pause in the chat. I end the chat.

Probably the strangest thing I can say about this is that the next morning, I'm away from my computer for awhile and find an IM from the same man. Its a Bluemountain Love Poem. What? I am thinking...is this guy crazy? Is he confused? What is the deal?

So...I decided to change my online nickname. I did this. A few days later, same guy IM's me. Fact is, I'm not sure he even knew the new nickname was me. Once again the question: "Do you have a cam?" My response, "NO". I mention something about my husband in a sentence, and its "Your married?" I'm thinking "Oh Duh"....do we have a short attention span? Does ANYONE READ the profile?

So today's ramblings are that random IM's annoy me. I will have to change the settings on my YM....stealth mode ALWAYS.

A New Adventure in Cyberworld

Entering Blogging....Computers have been part of my world since 1982. Although I'm not always the "first" to do this computer stuff, it seems that I plod along and eventually enter the next stage of this Internet world. I started out with computers when PET was the word for a machine. Well, actually before that when I was learing (and cussing) a beginning programming class using punch cards. PET to Commodore 64 to Apple II to Apple IIe, ...then PC 286...386...486....etc. etc. You know the drill. I got involved in the early internet thru the newsgroup kind of activity. I was a moderator of the K12 special ed net in 1993-4....an "International Moderator" of the group postings sitting at my computer in an isolated corner of rural Montana. As I write this comment, I realize that this blogging thing is pretty much the same kind of deal...except now anyone can begin one and do whatever. So...then there were the early stages of email, and then the explosion of the internet possibilities. In 1996 I signed up for a Geocities website...have had that ever since! A wonderful teacher of basic webpage skills...that I value today as a teacher using online formats to augment and teach classes.

But, back to my first thought...I'm now entering the world of blogging, following in the footsteps of my son and "adopted" son.... Welcome to a glimpse at my world, my thoughts, and all that.