Well, they shut down the offshore oil rigs....... Hurricane Ike disrupts the flow of oil....... SO..... let's ramp up the gas prices throughout the South by twenty to thirty cents a gallon, in one swell foop! Then bump it again later in the day.... Lines of cars stretching out to the road on every station that still has gas. Several stations empty. It's hilarious seeing the cars pulling into one that's empty, no lines and no prices on the sign-board should be a clue. I saw the stations beginning to jump early this morning, so buzzed out at lunch a bit early and filled the mighty KLR for normal price - $3.65/gallon of regular. Prices are now running $3.88 on up to above $4 in places. Reports of stations elsewhere in town as high as $5 per gallon! Can you say 'highway robbery'..... Sure, I knew you could..... And the 'offifcial word' from on high.....? "No price gouging happening, just a temporary hike, no supply problems, all stations have plenty of gas!" Nope, situation normal, all F'd up! Getting home after work was fun - with the cars lining up filling the station's entry/exit ways - the few dumbarses who did get a tankful, couldn't get back out! BWAHAHAHAHA!! The dingbats were stacked up three abreast trying to get to a pump that another dingbat couldn't get away from! They created the 'self-fulfilling prophecy'........ Haven't seen this crap since the purposely created oil shortages of the Roaring Seventies..... Had a bike to get around them then, too. Don't ya love it when history repeats itself? We who were just trying to get home had to dodge around them - makes having a glorified dirtbike seem a mighty nice idea indeed! HEHEHE! So, who said Hurricane Ike wouldn't affect sunny Florida!? Oh yeah.... me.....
SeaWolf? Just got this in my email... I read an article on WJGH's site this morning and it says Florida gas prices haven't been affected by the hurricane yet stations in Tallahassee and elsewhere were charging 5.50 or more. The state is taking gouging seriously and would like reports of abuse of rising prices. If gas station owners are found guilty of price gouging, they'd face fines as high as a thousand dollars per sale.To report suspicious spikes in gas prices you can call the Attorney General's price gouging hotline at 1-866-966-7226.
I found only two stations selling gas Saturday - $4.09 and $4.15 respectively. A buddy says he bought Premium that night for less than $4 at an out-of-town station - they were out of regular. So prices have kindof stabilised - IF we can find gas...... I have enough to get by til the supply is back online. Though my vacation roadtrip plans for next week are in the toilet...... I won't hold my breath about the legal system punishing gougers....... We all know how shallow that promise can be.
One station here , after being reported, closed down on Saturday....Not saying the State will follow thru with monetary penalties...but they did try to contact them enough that they closed.... The Kangaroo convenience stores kept theirs at $3.49 with a sign saying: "We will keep our gas at the same prices, but we ask you to limit your purchases to 10 gallons at a time so we can better serve our Community" I went there. Front page of the Panama City Herald had reports of price gouging, all the numbers to call, and a list of who's doing it so far...... Hey, it's a start. And I'll take it.
