In my neighborhood, gas is now up to $3.75 a gallon and there are folks ("experts") who claim it will increase 40 percent, nation wide, by Memorial Day. According to my calculator, that works out to around $5.50 a gallon. Higher in the six states, and the District Of Criminals, where gas is already at or above $4.00 a gallon.
I'm retired so I don't have to drive everyday. I can usually get by with only putting twenty or so miles on my truck in a two week period. My wife, on the other hand, drives 71 miles to and from work... A DAY!!! And here I got all pushed out of shape when I bought $15.00 worth of gas the other day and it didn't even fill the tank on my riding mower. You can bet your buns that my property will soon look like a two acre swatch of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail before I blow that kind of cash on something so frivolous again.
On a brighter note; the price of groceries at Wal Mart has been keeping up with gas prices. What you could buy a couple of months ago at four for a dollar you can now buy as one for five dollars. When the wife saw a package of beef ribs priced at twenty dollars, well, suffice it to say we will not be having ribs for Easter dinner. She did take note that at least one enterprising Wal Mart shopper had selected a whole roasted chicken from the deli department and polished it off before making it to checkout. And just tossed the bones on the floor, while cruising the aisles looking for other bargains.
I'm sure many of you have been reading / seeing in the news where thefts of large quantities (read: truck loads) of food items are being committed. And our little adventure into hyperinflation land is just in it's infancy... the tip of the proverbial iceberg as it were. And while gas and food prices are headed for the Moon, how many of you have seen a cost of living adjustment let alone one that will help you pay for the fuel to get to work or the adequate food to fuel YOU so as to complete that work?
I may have spent way too many hours with my head stuck in a bag of Elmer's Glue but I still believe we have a chance to prevent the looming train wreck that is America. We need to make a plan and we need to make it now. As they say in the old country; "schmooze runs down hill." Well, it's time for those of us who live in the valley to pump it right back up to the top. I'm suggesting a general strike. Shut it all down. No work, no school, no driving and no buying. We need to put a severe shock on the entertainment / hospitality / visitor industry. No ocean cruises, no Disneyland and no weekend getaways to a casino, horse or dog track. When big business, big money and the mob starts seeing a loss of revenue, you can be pretty damn sure they will bring a mountain of pressure to bare on government.
If this doesn't work, then we go to war. The only other alternative, as I see it, is to make our peace with God and take our chances as soup-bones in zombieland.
MikeH.
I'm retired so I don't have to drive everyday. I can usually get by with only putting twenty or so miles on my truck in a two week period. My wife, on the other hand, drives 71 miles to and from work... A DAY!!! And here I got all pushed out of shape when I bought $15.00 worth of gas the other day and it didn't even fill the tank on my riding mower. You can bet your buns that my property will soon look like a two acre swatch of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail before I blow that kind of cash on something so frivolous again.
On a brighter note; the price of groceries at Wal Mart has been keeping up with gas prices. What you could buy a couple of months ago at four for a dollar you can now buy as one for five dollars. When the wife saw a package of beef ribs priced at twenty dollars, well, suffice it to say we will not be having ribs for Easter dinner. She did take note that at least one enterprising Wal Mart shopper had selected a whole roasted chicken from the deli department and polished it off before making it to checkout. And just tossed the bones on the floor, while cruising the aisles looking for other bargains.
I'm sure many of you have been reading / seeing in the news where thefts of large quantities (read: truck loads) of food items are being committed. And our little adventure into hyperinflation land is just in it's infancy... the tip of the proverbial iceberg as it were. And while gas and food prices are headed for the Moon, how many of you have seen a cost of living adjustment let alone one that will help you pay for the fuel to get to work or the adequate food to fuel YOU so as to complete that work?
I may have spent way too many hours with my head stuck in a bag of Elmer's Glue but I still believe we have a chance to prevent the looming train wreck that is America. We need to make a plan and we need to make it now. As they say in the old country; "schmooze runs down hill." Well, it's time for those of us who live in the valley to pump it right back up to the top. I'm suggesting a general strike. Shut it all down. No work, no school, no driving and no buying. We need to put a severe shock on the entertainment / hospitality / visitor industry. No ocean cruises, no Disneyland and no weekend getaways to a casino, horse or dog track. When big business, big money and the mob starts seeing a loss of revenue, you can be pretty damn sure they will bring a mountain of pressure to bare on government.
If this doesn't work, then we go to war. The only other alternative, as I see it, is to make our peace with God and take our chances as soup-bones in zombieland.
MikeH.
I don't think the country and our economy can get fixed until it crashes. I've believed this for the past 4 years. We're too far down this road to turn around. We're going to have to hit the "restart" button.... and it's going to be ugly.
ReplyDeleteI'm as stocked-up - food, guns, ammo, equipment - as I can reasonably be. My efforts are going into skills acquisition and precious metals accumulation.
Gas right now, is kicking my butt. I have to drive around 600 miles a week. Sometimes more.
We're clearly moving into a period of stagflation - price inflation with no corresponding increase in wages. This is going to crush some people, and make life more difficult for most. Thefts/robberies WILL continue to increase, and will become more and more bold.
Chief,
ReplyDeleteYou may well be right; we might have to hit bottom before we can climb back up. The thing that troubles me most in that regard is, who will take power during the rise from the ashes. We the possible soup bones really need to establish a solidarity base and be prepared to insure the direction that / any power grabber moves.
In the mean time, I feel the trip to the bottom will resemble a free-falling elevator. It's a fairly good bet that there will be a lot of casualties during, and long after, the crash. Perhaps naive of me, but I hope to see that prevented... if there is any possible way to do so. There are just way too many who appear to be living the "sheeple" lifestyle.
Thanks for noticing and commenting.
MikeH.
Good to see you back, MikeH. I drop by when I think of it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I lean toward agreeing with Chief Instructor. There are too many people who just don't get how bad the situation is. Anyone who says "tax the rich", or who says we can get out of this by just raising taxes a little is really out of touch with reality. I think there's going to need to be a reset. Unfortunately, I don't think you can manage those and there will be massive casualties. I sure as heck don't want to be in a major city. At 70 miles, I think I'm too close now. They'll be eating each other within a week.