Posted on April 23, 2014 under News & Updates with no comments yet

HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US TOMORROW EVENING AT 7:00

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Posted on April 22, 2014 under Storytelling with one comment

Pumped. Or Hosed?

 

I’m puzzled.  But that’s not unusual.  I was driving past the gas pumps the other day and noticed that the price of gas had jumped 12 cents a litre.  The previous week it had dropped by 3 cents.  Now, I am not a long haul trucker, so wild swings in gas prices rarely get my attention.  Actually, I hardly notice it now that the kids have left home and we have downsized to one small, fuel efficient vehicle.

I am going to go out on a limb and offer an allegedly fabulous prize if anyone can explain to me in simple English, or any other language for that matter, how the price of gas is determined.

I understand a thing or two about economics.  I have a cursory knowledge of the laws of supply and demand.  I have lived through many wild gyrations in the stock market.  I understand the correlation between bond prices and interest rates.  And when the price of gold whipsaws, I am rarely surprised.

There are other things that also befuddle me.  Our national postal system, in an attempt to attract new customers and improve the bottom line, recently increased the price of stamps by 30%.  Wow.  You should have seen the lineup of small business owners at the post office, eagerly waiting to do a mass mail out to their customers.  This should also enhance business at Christmas time for the handful of people, mostly older Canadians, who still send cards.

Do you understand cable and internet bills?  How about trying to decipher the myriad of phone packages available to a bewildered public?  And electricity rates.  These things are all perplexing, but like lemmings, we simply take our medicine, follow the crowd and pay higher and higher prices for everything.

But how do they calculate gas prices?  I watch the news and when reports come up about a glut of oil on the world markets, I pay attention.  When I hear about the price per barrel of oil plummeting, I rub my hands in eager anticipation of a drop in prices at the pump.  Wrong.  You are so wrong.  This is merely a clear signal that prices will go up.

Having no one, not even an economist, explain to me how gas prices work, I did some study and have come up with my own theory.

You simply take the number of sheiks and divide it by the number of billionaires.  You then multiply this by the millions of the great unwashed masses.  (That’s you and me, by the way).  You toss in a bit of supply and demand, add a dash of the Bakken shale gas find (no fracking way), a hint of El Nino, a pinch of pestilence, plague and polar vortex, along with several layers of taxation and … presto!  Gas goes up 12 cents a litre.

Thankfully, rum prices are not subject to these wild fluctuations.  Admittedly, the price continues to rise, but, as of yet, it has not reached its true value.

 

 

Posted on April 21, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Marathon Monday in Boston

 

 

My heart will be in Boston this morning for the marathon. Unfortunately, my body will be at my office. Good luck, Cathy, Lisa and Charlene.

So, here’s the tally: five church services, a turkey dinner; a ham dinner; a steak and chicken dinner ( barbeque ); too many desserts to count; a weekend visit from two grandchildren; house upside down. An Easter Sunday afternoon power snooze: Priceless! Hope you all had a great weekend too.

In the middle of all the above mentioned activity and confusion, I managed to write a few new stories.

I was driving by Kenny’s the other day and noticed the price at the gas pumps. I don’t pay much attention to the price of gas these days. The kids are gone, I don’t travel as much on business and we are down to one small, fuel efficient car. I think the price went up about .12 cents a litre in the last week. Which got me to thinking… how in the hell do they calculate the price of gas? I’m sure you’ve pondered the same thing especially when you hear that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped considerably. I have my own theory and it’s one you won’t find in any third year business course at the university. The story is called , “ Adding Fuel to The Fire.”

The inspiration for the other story came from a passing comment I heard the other day about an old boozer who showed up in town one day driving a brand new truck. He had been kicking around in the same old quarter ton truck for what seemed like an eternity. So you can imagine the heads turning and the tongues wagging when he travelled down Main Street in a $45,000 rig. It also brought back memories when we would “cruise the main” when we were old enough to drive. How cool was that?! Coming soon, “ Bottoms Up.”

Did I happen to mention that there is a fundraiser later this week? Only a few dozen times. The big day is Thursday so treat yourself to a night out and help support a very worthy cause while you’re at it. Hope to see you at 7:00 p.m on the 24^th. at the Schwartz Auditorium. Laughter, music and fabulous door prizes.

And yes, ladies, the comments I made the other day about seeing a man at a resort sporting a leopard print Speedo is 100% true. It may rank as one of the most ridiculous and obscene things that I have ever seen.

Have a great week.

P.S. The story on “new math” elicited quite a response. A friend, BV sent me this video clip on the same subject.

http://townhall.com/video/can-college-students-figure-out-common-core-math-n1818525