High gas prices just the beginning

Does anyone know what we’re paying for gasoline — today? If so, do you have a cogent prediction for tomorrow? Frankly I’ve been complaining about the price of gasoline since back when it jumped from somewhere around a quarter to 33 cents a gallon.

I’m one of those Americans who have had a love for cars since their dad brought one home in the early ‘40s. Obviously, prices for fuel, and all other consumer goods, have consistently increased ever since. So what’s the big deal?

Fuel prices along the Oregon Coast were approaching $2.30 on the Fourth of July. If my numbers are accurate, I paid 70 cents a gallon less at the same pump last fall. We’re looking at almost a 50 percent increase in less than a year!

Sometimes I wish I weren’t a history buff. If my mind weren’t attuned to historical trends, I wouldn’t recall that we’d recently toured this “field of greed.” Do you remember when a manipulated spike in the price of gasoline caused a huge inflationary episode, which ultimately affected consumer pricing across the board in the late seventies? I do! And honestly, neither the Enron nor mutual fund debacles has erased those memories or enhanced my trust of corporate America.

Like most people I view the current run-up in petroleum prices with a jaundiced eye. Media coverage, which has focused mainly on the impact of fuel prices during the vacation season, has largely missed the point. We’re just beginning to see that the prices we’re paying for gasoline/diesel are impacting the costs of all the goods and services we use. In my view, we are on the cusp of an inflationary event unlike anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime. If my analysis is accurate many of us are in for some rough economic times, which will last well beyond tourist season.

Obviously, my view of our current economic situation is not held by those in a position to do something about it. Powerful congressional committees have not launched probes to identify whether current fuel prices are caused by legitimate shortages in the supply of crude oil or refining capabilities. We haven’t seen executives from major oil producing and refining entities testifying as to the legitimacy of their pricing strategies on one hand, while being lectured on the risks of gouging the American public, on the other. Without these kinds of data, I’ve concluded that we’re all being ripped off again.

So, what’s an old codger who’s on a fixed income to do? Well, I’ve chosen to ride my bike more while driving less. That decision has been a mixed blessing. I hadn’t factored the costs of new tires, a helmet, bike gloves, an air pump, new reflectors, and Aleve into the equation. Nor had I considered other ancillary issues, like the need for a backpack.

In fact, the backpack thing didn’t become an issue until Rosauers had its 13-hour meat sale. Realizing I wouldn’t be able to limit my purchases to a single slab of meat, I dug my World War II military issue pack from the bottom of its dust-encrusted hiding place, which I lovingly refer to as my hunting gear. I should have been smart enough to pull the cars out of the garage before I fired up the air compressor and blew the crud off the pack; but I wasn’t. They simply disappeared from view in a dust cloud.

Then I should have been smart enough to blow the dust off of my hair, clothing, and boots before storming across my wife’s freshly mopped kitchen floor while on my way to our immaculate bathroom; but I wasn’t. And I probably should have remembered to put the seat down on the commode when I’d finished; but I didn’t.

I can now report that inflation, the plight of the economy, and the price of gasoline are no longer the major political issues in one very small part of the United States.