Friday, April 29, 2011

A Telling Moment


Well, you'd never guess of course, but I do have a flair for the dramatic.

I pull up to the gas pump of my local GrocCon (that's what we call the wee local shops of our little outports that stock just about everything - from hammers to towels to milk to gas) and there is a sign outside:

"SORRY NO GAS."
"WTF?!", I ask him as I pick up my mail and drop off client packages.

"Well," he sez, "My gas delivery man tells me it is too expensive to fill up his truck to ship gas all the way out here so he stopped a couple of weeks ago."

"What's going to happen now?" I ask him.

"I tried a few more independents and they all say there's no profit in it for any of them. We've been selling gas here since 1925. Imagine! First time the pump has run dry."

I felt a frisson. One of those pesky geese running over my grave.

And felt lucky I drive one of those tiny cars - where I get 700km for 40 litres of gas which is now $1.40 per. While USians are paying $5/gall.

Pundits are saying the price will drop one more time and then head for the stratosphere.

The future is here. And we're not ready.

Tell me I'm a drama queen.

9 comments:

  1. We pay 1.75 Euro for a liter, that's about a quart of a gallon. I'd say the future is here.

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  2. You don't mean there's no petrol at all and you can't use your car? Or do you have a special black market supply?

    Lucky you, paying only $1.40 a litre. We pay around 140p a litre, about $2.30.

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  3. But fortunately all that profit on gas is going to the oil companies who can now afford to frack the gas shale when the oil is gone. I just found out I live on top of a gas shale deposit and they have already fracked four exploratory wells here. I am so happy to be paying at the pump to subsidize this!!!

    [that would be sarcasm]

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  4. With this news, I sink into deepening gloom about our disappearing quality of life. Sigh.

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  5. No, you are not a drama queen. Yes, the future is here. We are just slow to wake up to it.

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  6. No drama about this.
    Yes, the future is here and is breaking through our sheer veil of denial.
    Historically, greed and power take the lead.
    It's so much deeper than the price of oil but this is one of the places we really feel it personally. We feel it as opposed to "watching" it on television.
    We can only pray that the fragile balance of good and evil doesn't fail us - and that is up to our prayers and actions. I truly believe that to be a reality.
    As you can see I am a drama queen. :)
    It's frightening. What will the face of the world be when my one year old grandson is our age.
    Here in S. Florida we are paying, cheapest, $3.83/gallon.

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  7. betcha the next to go will be grocery delivery, next year at this time 12 bucks a gallon. Lizzy May's wet dream is gonna happen.

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  8. Outrageous! So are you all going to switch to cooking oil?

    Our Petrol is £1.36 per litre and still climbing. Like everyone else I have reduced my mileage and think twice about using my car to go anywhere.

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