There might be some localized price gouging on gas

yeah, I saw a news report this weekend where a woman said that when she pulled into the gas station, it was $3.09, but by the time that she got to the pump, it was $3.49

Back in the late '70s, my brother had a green Pinto for his high school transport--he used to cram five people in that car on a regular basis!

One my friends in highschool had an old Pinto we used to cram a ton of people into. No heat. No tape deck and an AM radio. So the morning drive to school meant freezing your butt off while listening to the Spanish station because it was the only AM station that played music. Still, it beat riding the bus.

Of course, this Pinto was a replacement for his old Renault Alliance that we crammed way too many people into (including one near-death experience) before it was totalled when he was driving it alone.

I had another friend who also had a Renault Alliance (that he named the Koybayashi Maru because trying to keep everything in it working was an unwinnable situation) that we managed to cram even more people into, and on a regular basis, because he was of the only theatre people with a vehicle. I think our record was 11 people, two costumes and a bike (the last being in the trunk). I think the under carriage was riding about an inch off the ground during that incident.

There was some major price changes in the past week at the pump--when I passed by my usual gas station on Thursday night, the price was $3.53-3.73 for the three grades. When I filled up yesterday morning, it was down to $3.14-3.34.

I live along a road that I swear has the highest density of gas stations in metro Baltimore. They are soooo confused. $3.29 next to $3.49 across from $3.59 cattycorner from $3.35 . Two crown stations within a mile are $0.10 different. Oh, and the $3.29 is at the usually priciest station that sits right by the beltway exit.. It had run out of regular unleaded on Sunday. It's just nuts. Stations down in Laurel that were more expensive 2 weeks ago are generally cheaper than my gasoline row. Flailing.

Gas is about $2.99 for regular unleaded where I live, with about $2.95 for E10.

My BIL had a Pinto in college. He STILL has that freakin' thing 30 years later. He also still has a Delta 88 that he got 20 years ago and his new car, an Explorer. He drives the Pinto when it rains so his Delta 88 and Explorer won't get wet.

Yes, my BIL is a freak. I think that goes without saying.

I remember the time I rode in a Chrysler LeBaron back from a high school play rehearsal. The rehearsal had run late, so a bunch of us needed rides, and we didn't feel like calling our parents so late. The kid with the LeBaron volunteered his services, so we crammed seven people in that thing (three in the back with one person lying across them, and me in the passenger seat with someone on my lap, and the driver). The road out of the theater started with a very steep hill leading away from the canal, and for a few minutes we thought we'd have to have a few of us walk up the hill because that car was straining to make it as loaded up as it was.

Hard times test all of us--and they can certainly show us the brave heart of an organization with a history of corruption.

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For dear old Kobayashi, we did driver, person riding on hump between driver's seat and passenger seat, passenger, person sitting in passenger's lap, three across the back seat, each with a person in their lap, and then a final person lying across the top of them. I'm still not sure how we managed it and in retrospect the sheer stupidity of it registers in a way it didn't when we were all teenagers. Though it's a shame the driver was just giving people rides home, as the looks on people's faces had we showed up at a restaraunt or whatever and all poured out of there like a clown car would have been priceless.

I had another friend who also had a Renault Alliance (that he named the Koybayashi Maru because trying to keep everything in it working was an unwinnable situation)

I had a Renault Alliance (which is French for "piece of shit") whose engine caught fire while I was driving alone, on the highway, at 1 a.m.

Merde!