Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • Rants
  • Gas Prices Like Crazy, LOL

Gas Prices Like Crazy, LOL

Posted on August 20, 2005 By Tom No Comments on Gas Prices Like Crazy, LOL
Rants

I’ve been resisting a gas price rant.  Really, I have.  Summer of 2004, when we THOUGHT we were at the peak of gas prices, a certain poster on a forum in which I participate made some inane, rambling rant which ended with "Gas prices like crazy, lol".  On that forum, the other posters shredded him, and the phrase came to indicate any illogical or inane argument.  I have completely forgotten what the stupid comments were, but the catchphrase remains.  Regardless, I shall now add my rant, and if someone should decide to shred it, tough.  It’s my website.  However, I won’t add the cliche photo of prices, because I know that we may be longing for those same prices this time next year.

Also in the summer of 2004, we drove from one side of the nation to the other and back. Prices were higher than we would have liked, but it didn’t stop us.  Here it is a year later, with prices even higher, and I don’t see ANY change in driving habits.  I-85 is still the domain of huge SUVs cruising at 80 mph, sucking down fuel at a ridiculous rate.  Of course, habits are hard to break, and not every family can shed a huge land yacht on the spur of the moment and purchase a hybrid.  Perhaps we will start to see some changes as prices continue to rise.

I came of age driving in the first fuel crisis of the 70’s.  As a child, I remember prices of $.29 per gallon, and was not happy having to pay $.49 per gallon in high school.  The 70’s crisis occured between those two points, and what changed habits more than prices was availability.  The long lines formed, and driving habits changed because gas was scarce, not because it was more expensive.  That’s the difference with this current crisis.  Apparently people are willing to pay more rather than conserve, even if they’re not happy with it.  I’m afraid we won’t see real changes in behavior until gas is hard to get.

So, of course, we get a new energy bill.  Instead of promoting new sources of energy, it encourages more of the same.  Search for new oil sources.  Keep the appearance of abundance high so people will continue in their habits and keep buying the expensive stuff.  Line the pockets of the oil industry.  Maybe, just maybe, when the last drops of crude are sent to China, we can take the rusting hulks of Ford Expeditions, GM Hummers, and Yukons, and create a monument to consumerism.

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Current Cable Score
Next Post: Palm Lifedrive ❯

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (200)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (121)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (99)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (266)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (451)
  • Miscellaneous (550)
  • Music (196)
  • Paddling (248)
  • Photography (779)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (227)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (34)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (411)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (60)

Recent Posts

  • In Search of the Road Builder
  • The Phoenix Riots and Dr. Benjamin Mays – An MLK Day Ramble
  • An Obsession with Steak Knives
  • An Epiphany on Patriotism
  • Kayaking Bates Old River and Running Creek

Recent Comments

  • Elizabeth on The Temple of Health: Ground-Truthing in Antreville
  • The Bay Area Basketball Fan’s Guide to March Madness on FU All the Time!
  • Why You Should Root For This March Madness Underdog on FU All the Time!
  • Gregory Davis on Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 2, Centenary
  • Ivo Otto Deron on Seeking Music in Upstate SC

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
March 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Jan    

Copyright © 2023 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown