Gas Price Hysteria

With all of the gnashing of teeth about how much money the oil companies are making, and all the screams that it must be price gouging; I decided to put my googling skills to work and see what the Political Truth is.

Several things had occurred to me about the topic, including that the government is collecting more from the gasoline sales than the profits the oil companies are making.  Another aspect is that a company is expected to make profit.  They don’t go into business for the purpose of charity.  It shouldn’t be anybody’s business how much money a company makes.  It most certainly shouldn’t be restricted by the government.  If I run a business and customers are willing to pay my prices, that is a free market doing what it does best.  If the customer isn’t willing to pay the price, I won’t be able to make a living and I will either adjust my prices or go out of business.  It’s capitalism working the way it’s intended.

I was pretty sure that oil company profits were not out of line with any other market or company, so that was another thing I searched for.  Most reports show about 13% profit.  Just think about it: you have a product of which huge numbers are sold.  So, simply reporting the total profits doesn’t tell us anything. 

To make things worse, the media — and the sundry other scoundrels who try to attack the oil companies — will often report the profits in multi-year terms rather than in single year terms.Why?  Well… it gives you the impression that those evil oil companies are so far out of line with the rest of the world,  that they are breaking the back of the little guy and doing it purposefully with only the bottom line as their inspiration.

What happens when we apply the same standards to other companies?  In fact, why don’t we?  Why don’t we, for instance, see screams that Wal-Mart is “price gouging” when they make $11 billion profit in one year?  If it’s a big deal and some great evil at work when an oil company merger increases that company’s profits by roughly 30 percent, then why isn’t it a big deal and some great evil at work when Wal-Mart increases their profit by 26%?  Why don’t we scream that Amazon.com is price gouging when they record $350 million profit on $8 billion in revenue with a 23% increase in one year?

In reality, the oil company profits are not out of line, the government makes more profit than the companies themselves do, and the media are largely a dishonest pack of hyenas that will use any means they can to increase their **own** bottom line at your expense.

A couple of things I found while googling:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/4/26/90121.shtml

 http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2005/10/gas_taxes_excee.html

Subject of My Previous Post

So…….  here is the subject of my previous post.  I call it, “My New Bucket of Debt”…. A.K.A. Inferno Red 2006 Jeep Liberty.

Mixed Emotions

How is it possible to feel terror, shock, apprehension, and numb all at the same time?  Moreso, how is it possible to feel those things at a time when it should feel like something nice?

Sigh.

Yesterday, I was carrying a monitor to put it in my car and I had to step across a computer that was one of several I had running tests.  As I stepped over, I missed my step and fell.  I caught myself half-way, leaning onto a stand and computer, holding the monitor to keep from dropping it.  I really banged and scratched my leg; in addition to pulling my back.  So, I delivered the monitor and a computer and picked up two more. 

When I got back to the house, I opened my door on the car and the hinge broke loose from the frame.  It had been repaired previously where I had worn it out from opening and closing the door so much.  Now, the door is barely hanging by a small piece of metal.  The body shops don’t want to touch it.  I tried a couple of welders and one construction welding shop that is a client of mine said they would fix it, but it will be expensive: $200-$400.  I can’t get a loan on a car, so I was trying to make this one last as long as possible.  I don’t know when they could attempt to repair it for me, but I need a car.  I can’t get by with this door the way it is.

Sigh…

My Sunday

I’ve been busy today.  I needed to change the brakes and oil on the Cherokee, so I started changing the front brake pads when I realized that the rears were probably worn enough to change, too.  The fronts were really needing it and although the rears usually don’t wear as quickly, I figured it was best to just do them now. My sister was on her way to my house, so I had her pick up the rears.  I got that done, along with the oil change. 

I was waiting for my coupons to arrive in my email from my Blockbuster membership.  I wanted to rent a couple of Xbox360 games so I could try the system out.  After I got cleaned up, I was going to put the bike away since I had checked and they hadn’t arrived.  I went out to put the motorcycle away and noticed that there was brake fluid on the ground and inside the wheel-well.  So, I checked into that and discovered it had come out the cap because of the new pad being thicker.  That was ok.  I decided to check one more time on the coupons and they had arrived.  Yeah!  So, I took the motorcycle and got my games and a free DVD.  While I was there, an attractive young woman was ringing up my items and handed me a broken, leaking pen to sign the receipt.  I had blue ink all over my hands.  She got me some paper towels and hand soap and started apologizing over and over, even though I told her it was ok and not to worry.  I mentioned I would clean the rest off at home with good cleaners; that I just didn’t want to get it on my bike.She apologized some more, so I smiled and said, “It’s ok.  I’m not excited about it.” (Apparently, smiles mean something to some people.)  I rode the bike a little, came back, hooked up the Xbox360 and am about to go play.

Cool!  Nifty-keen!  Dude!  And all those other exclamations.  🙂

Experts Find Evidence of Bosnia Pyramid

Wow.

Narnia

I watched Narnia last night.  I liked it, but it seemed like some little “it” was missing from it.  Even so, I thought it was a really good movie.  One of the previews on the DVD is for the new Pirates of The Caribbean which is being released in July.  I looked up Narnia on IMDB and saw where a second one is scheduled for 2007.

Well… just got paged by Charleston and I’m now headed for Tyler county.

Riding Today

So, I took the Volusia out and went to Extreme to return the gloves I bought the other day.  I tried them on and tried to work the controls on the bike and didn’t like how they fit.  They didn’t have any others that fit or I liked, so I just did a return on them and I’ll keep looking.  After leaving there, I went across the river into Wheeling and rode out Route 88 past Oglebey Park.  I went through West Liberty and Bethany and went to Castleman’s run.  There were people fishing from the water’s edge and a couple of boats.  I then came back into Wellsburg on 67 and north on Route 2 to home.  I put about 80+ miles on the bike today.  It was a nice ride.

I think I don’t make the turns with enough skill.  On the winding road today, I averaged (when I could look) 10 miles over the marked speeds for the turns, but I don’t feel like I’m doing well enough… enough confidence, etcetera.  Even though I’ve been riding regularly for about 3 or 4 years now, I’m thinking about taking the Basic Rider Safety Course.  I don’t know if it would be a waste of the money.  I’ve heard lots of people say they road for many years and took the course and learned lots from it to the point that they increased their riding abilities.

Light Work Day

I made today a light work day so I could do a couple of maintainence things on my car and possibly go for a ride. I delivered back a computer that I had repaired, adjusted my clutch, took the door panel off and lubricated the sticking door handle/lock, and now I’m going to get cleaned up and go riding.  Off I go…..

Hmmm…..

So, I worked today for a client that I hadn’t seen for awhile. She saw me going through the worst part of my Jana situation.  We were catching up a bit and she said that I seemed so much better than I did even the last time she saw me.  She thinks I seem different on several levels.  So, I said to her that the situation with Jana was really hard, but it taught me some things and I learned something from it.  A little while later, I realized that today is Jana’s birthday.

I came home, retrieved the mail from the box and there was a card for my mother.  There was no return address on the front, so I looked at the back.  It’s from Jana.

Timing.  Hmmm……