Gas Prices, Oil Prices, and the Media

To my loyal blog readers (both of you), my apologies. My rate-o'-blogging has decreased dramatically with my new job, and my injury at my new job (which, by the way, is mostly better now...thanks for asking).

(Aaron steps up onto soapbox.)

So here' what I'm talking about tonight: GAS PRICES and the MEDIA!!! (Yes, it has to be in CAPS, because that's the way they announce things.)

Wow. One of the media's favorite topics in Atlanta is gas prices. I am sure that it's the same other places, but I don't read the Tulsa Times (sorry Jeff). This past week, with Hurricane Ike coming in, they began to announce things like:

• Gas Prices May Climb to $5.00/gallon!!
• Georgia Only Has Three Day Supply of Fuel
• Texas Refineries Shutting Down Due to Approaching Hurricane
  

So what did people do? They went to the gas station as quickly as they could and filled up. Lots of people. And guess what, wouldn'tcha know...some stations ran out of gas. Gas stations took advantage of it and raised their prices some, also. Imagine that. Thing is, though, no one is doing any more driving this week than they would have. Why did everyone need that extra gas they just "had to have"?

True, there are some stations around with their pump handles covered, so some stations did run out of gas. Of course, about 2 miles away is a station with gas for $3.79...a whopping .15 more a gallon than before the "scare". Heck, even the media is blaming the media.

I just think it is crazy that if a person with a microphone says there' s a chance of something happening, everyone acts on it like it's fact. And, just because there's a chance it could happen, it's no reason to broadcast the worst-case scenario. It's a great way to start a self-fulfilling prophecy, though!

Below are some example headlines of what the media HAS said, along with things that the media COULD say, if they wanted...because they are just as true.

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Example 1:
Gas prices could soar above $5 per gallon with the effects of Hurricane Ike.

Alternative headline:
Miniature schnauzers could spontaneously combust if dipped in lighter fluid.

My take: I'm not gonna fill my car up, and I'm not going to trade my schnauzer in on a less combustible canine.

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Example 2:
With only a 3 day supply of fuel in Georgia, many stations could begin to run low.

Alternative headline:
With most grocery stores only carrying 10 pounds of bratwurst, a run on a particular store could cause a shortage.

My take: I'd be more worried about the bratwurst. You can never have too much bratwurst.

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Example 3:
Refined gas could possibly be in short supply due to damage to refineries in Texas from Ike.

Alternative headline:
The mullet could possibly be the next in retro look.

My take: Almost any statement can be made true if throw in the words "could possibly". As in, I "could possibly" quit listening to the media entirely if they keep saying stupid things like they did this weekend.

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(Aaron steps down off of soapbox.)

Which Reminds Me...

If you read my last post, you'll learn that there's a news feed in an elevator I ride in daily. Something I saw on it yesterday prompted my previous post. While typing that post, I was reminded of something else I saw on the screen in my elevator around Christmas.

(CNN) -- A CNN analysis of four common brands of Christmas lights shows levels of lead experts say are high enough to be dangerous to children.

Personally, I would be much more worried about the fact that kids were playing with the lights at all, than the fact that there are traces of lead in the paint. The last time I checked, electrocution tended to lead to death more quickly than lead poisoning. I dunno, maybe I've got it backwards...

Here's the article if you are concerned about your children chewing on lead painted lights.

I Must Confess...

My daily commute involves an elevator ride. In our elevator, we have a nice little 9" screen in the top left-hand corner by the door with a news feed running on it. Sports, current events, stock market stuff, etc. Sometimes it will just throw a quote up from a current new story. Yesterday, I saw this one:

It has been discovered in a small sample study that some toddler and preschool children have unusually high levels of chemical fire retardant in their blood. These elevated levels of the chemicals average three times higher than levels found in the blood of their mothers.

I must confess...when I first read it, I thought to myself, "Well, that's good. That means the children are 3 times LESS likely to combust than their mothers."

I really did.

Of course, even though I have this post categorized as "humor", it actually appears to be a serious problem. If you want to read about it, here's an article.

And Now for Something Completely Different...

(This is my contribution to a syncro-blog started by RobbyMac.)

It was the summer after my freshman year in college. That first year in college, I, like many freshmen, "got a little wild". But back home after the school year, I really began to try to figure out the whole "God" thing. I knew God existed, but didn't really have much of a grid of how to relate to Him.

So that summer I started attending my hometown Methodist Church. I joined the choir, and went every Sunday. Right at the end of summer, I was sitting in the choir loft off to the side looking out over the congregation, just watching the people as the pastor gave his sermon.

There were probably 75 people there. Near the front were the gray hair and bald heads crowd, half of which were nodding off. In the middle, there were a few middle aged couples. On the back couple of rows were the teenagers, mostly passing notes (this is before texting existed) and talking. Pretty much no one was paying any attention to what was being said.

As I sat there, I thought to myself, "God...if this is it...if this is what being a Christian is...I'm just wasting my time. I could have been working this morning and making some money."

Now, I did not hear the audible voice of God (which I always picture sounding like Charlton Heston), but deep in my heart, I heard a "No!". As in, "No, this is not all there is."

I left there thinking, "Okay, if this isn't all there is, that means there's something different. What is it?"

A few weeks later, school started back and I went back to my college town. This year, though, there were a couple of new freshmen. Actually, there were lots of new freshmen, but three in particular stood out. They were all friends from before college, but they welcomed me into their circle, and I started hanging out with them around school. I was a music major, so we spent lots of time together in the band hall, etc.

They seemed a little "different" to me. They didn't laugh at my vulgar jokes, but at the same time, they didn't berate me either. Apparently none of the drank either. Weird. A month or so into school, one of them, Mike, asked me to go to church with him on a Wednesday night. To his surprise, I said yes. So that night we went to Christ Is Life Church.

Hold on!! Something's different here. These people actually seem excited to be at church. Now that's just weird!

They played upbeat songs. They clapped and sang...some people even kinda danced a little jig. Near the end of the service, the pastor had everyone stand and asked everyone to raise their hands and pray with him. So I did. I wasn't religious enough to know I wasn't supposed to do that. During that Wednesdy night service, and specifically that prayer, God really began to change my heart. That was the moment that I saw there could be something different.

Since this is a syncro-blog, I won't go any further with my story, but this was definitely my first "charismatic" moment.

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Okay, I lied. Sorry. I am going to continue on with my story. Just one more thing.

A few months later, after I had jumped into spiritual life feet first, Mike and I were talking about something related to God or the Bible, and he said to me, "If someone had told me 3 months ago that we would be sitting here having this conversation, I never would have believed them. I was shocked when you went to church with me the first time and shocked when you went to that Carmen concert. On the outside, you didn't look interested at all."

I often use this story to encourage myself whenever I try to talk myself out of sharing with someone because "they wouldn't be interested", or "they aren't really ready to hear this."

As if I know what someone else's heart is ready to hear.

Google Chrome - Gotta Have It!

Today Google rolled out their next step in taking over the world:

Google Chrome!

It's a brand new (and extremely cool) web browser.  It has so many new features, I won't even begin to tell you about them all.  Don't wait.  Don't be the last one to do it.  Just go here and download it.

Then go here and watch the short (very well done) demonstration videos so you'll know how to take advantage of many of the cool features.

And if you are geeky, go here and read the comic about it.

The only negative I have found so far:  it doesn't support live bookmarks yet...