Classic Rant #1,192 (April 23, 2014): I Have Gas

No, not from Passover matzoh.

The holiday ended yesterday evening at sundown, and my stomach held up pretty well.

Everything in moderation, and I think that is how I conquered the dreaded "matzoh stomach."

What I am talking about is gas over the price of gas.

I don't know about where you are, but in my neck of the woods, gas has gone up tremendously over the past few weeks, probably a dime or more from what it was.

And even with that, gas is higher in price this year than last year.

I think the average national price is in the $3.30s, but by me, the price is approaching the $4.00 plateau once again.

If I look around, I can get gas for about $3.75 or so, but most stations are at $3.79 or higher.

Why has gas skyrocketed?

As usual, it has risen because of every excuse in the book.

Let's see ... unrest in the Middle East ... refineries not pumping out what they should for one reason or another ... or perhaps the dreaded "summer mix" of gas that we get in New York, which is different than the "winter mix," and pricier.

No one has yet to explain to me why we have to have "mixes" by season. Isn't gas gas, and wouldn't a standard mix power my car through all the seasons?

And once again the average Joe like me gets the bill.

What else is new?

But also, what can you do?

I need gas to power my car to get to work, to go to the supermarket to shop for groceries on the weekend, even to get myself and my family to the movies on the weekend, if we so choose to do that.

We aren't wasting the gas, it is something that we need to live.

I don't really know what we can do to preserve the gas we have, and use it more wisely.

The days of joyrides are over, and have been over for years.

I guess it is simply supply and demand, and we are just going to have to live with the reality that gas prices are going to go up and down with regularity.

When I first got my driver's license in 1974, I think gas was 67 cents a gallon.

Now, it is more than five times that price, moving up the ladder during the past 40 years.

Who would have thought such things when I first started to drive?

But things are different now, and we are just going to have to live with it.