Rip Off???

Hi Everyone,

So there I was yesterday, in need of a tank of gas for my car. Like many of you, you probably have a favorite gas station. Maybe you get your vehicle serviced there and therefore buy your gasoline there. Most likely, the overwhelming reason is because of the lower price for gas. But how much lower is it?

Since I was already out doing errands and knew that I had to get gas, I started to notice the price of gas at every gas station I passed. Where I normally buy regular gas, the price was $3.59 per gallon.  There were other stations with prices ranging from $3.69 to $3.99. But the highest price I saw was at a Shell station that was selling regular gas for $4.09 Wow, that is a difference of $.50 per gallon or a $10 difference for 20 gallons. How can the price of a gallon of gasoline vary so much? I should add that where I buy my gas, is a mom and pop, no name brand gasoline. Can there be such a difference in gasoline's to command a 14% premium within a 5 mile radius?

Let's see if we can figure it out. First of all, there is a limited number of refineries in this country. So the no name gas is refined at the same location as the more expensive gas. Federal law requires gasoline sold in northern states to have added oxygen from November through March or maybe April. That means that both gasoline's must have it. The added oxygen makes the gasoline burner cleaner and more efficiently in colder temperatures. Additionally, all of the gasoline sold, at least in New York State, has 10% ethanol. So far, both gasoline's are exactly the same. Now if you believe their commercials, big name gas/oil companies, add even more additives to their gasoline that helps clean your engine, give you more power and burn cleaner. Not sure about their claims, but, it most likely doesn't cost $.50 per gallon. I believe that the difference is due to what they charge their franchises per gallon sold. That means that those big name gas stations pay more for their gasoline and therefore pass on the increased costs to their customers.

Now I know that some of you have cars, either new or old that requires premium gasoline with higher octane. In those cases, most likely the no name premium brand may not be a consideration. What I do know is that all our cars use regular gasoline and we have never, ever experienced any difficulties using the no name brand. If you haven't tried it, maybe you should. You will be able to save yourself a bunch of money, that you can then use on something else.

Happy New Year everyone.

Til next week.

Peter

Think You Have Heard It All? Think Again!

Hi Everyone,

Well, well, well! I am still here and I presume you all are still around. Therefore, all of the doom sayers were completely wrong about the end of the world. It didn't happen and all that has changed is the infamous Mayan long count calendar is now into its new calendar. I told you so....

Anyway, I learned something a couple of weeks ago that should flip your lids and get you all really angry. But first, we need to go back in history to AIG's bankruptcy a few years ago. We were all told that AIG, a huge insurance company conglomerate was too big to fail and it needed to be bailed out. And so it was bailed out to the tune of around $189 billion. What I am "mad as hell" about is that now we learn that HSBC, a huge banking/investment company conglomerate is too big to prosecute!? What?????? What am I missing here? HSBC was fined (settled) to the tune of $1.9 billion, the largest penalty ever imposed on a bank. Why the penalty? HSBC helped launder money for: Mexican drug lords, Iran, Libya and others. So let's make sure I got this right? HSBC agrees to pay $1.9 billion in fines, oh right settlement, because of years of illegal activity and now no one will be prosecuted? What is wrong with that picture? Just the amount of money transfers from Mexico HSBC between 2006 and 2009 was $670 billion!!!! And no one gets prosecuted? The total amount of illegal money transfers between 2006 and 2009 was an astonishing, wait for it............... $200 trillion!!!!! And no one gets prosecuted?

It seems that the story goes, that indicting HSBC could take down our financial system. So we should let people remain in their jobs, in one of the largest banks, where felonies were committed; to keep stability in our financial system? The Attorney General is so very wrong on this issue. My common sense screams at me that all those who were involved, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Oh, but the office that is suppose to uphold the law says they won't prosecute. I just can't say it strongly enough how so very wrong it is not to prosecute those people. Unfortunately, even the $1.9 billion is just a drop in the ocean to HSBC. They will feel no pain and employees will remain at their jobs and continue to do what they do without repercussions. Is there something that we are not aware of? Maybe, but at face value, HSBC admitted its guilt and then no one gets prosecuted. How sad and how wrong!!! By not prosecuting, doesn't it send the wrong message to other "big" banks? I think so.

Til next week...

Peter

Oh No, Not Again?!

Hi Everyone,

Again, recent events have forced me to change my topic. I have blogged about this before and I will blog about it again and again until a change is made. A change that must come and not soon enough.

Friday's massacre of 20 six and seven year olds and 6 adults in a school (not including the shooter and his mother) in Newtown, CT., means that tighter gun control must be made a reality and not lip service. Whether or not, the shooter was mentally handicapped is immaterial in this instance, due to the fact that it was his mother who legally owned the two handguns and the one semi-automatic assault rifle, which was the gun used in this unimaginable tragedy. Can someone explain to me why it is so damn important to be able to own an assault rifle? Are they used for hunting? No! Assault rifles were designed for one use and one use only. That use is to kill as many people, in as short of period of time as possible. So why do people think that they need to own one or more?

Are you aware that Michigan just last week, passed a bill that will make it legal to carry a concealed gun? Yes this is true. The Governor said that he had not made up his mind as to whether or not he will sign the bill into law. But here is another huge problem with the bill. It would allow people to carry their concealed gun into a school. Has Michigan lost its mind? Maybe that state has not experienced a mass school shooting. But approval of this bill will mean that instead of, if a mass shooting occurs to when a mass shooting occurs in a school. Schools and guns don't mix.

Add to the mix of gun control is the NRA, who has a hugely successful lobbying arm that seems to be able to get whatever they want. The NRA fights tougher gun control at every chance it has to and so far they are winning. This has got to stop. A minority of people, (gun owners), can not and should not make guns law controls for the entire country.

Are you aware that 40% of all gun sales in this country don't even have a background check done? Amongst other things, people legally sell their guns outside of each and every gun show. Those sellers don't care who their buyer is, they only care that their buyer has cold hard cash. How many more innocent kids and adults must die before we have tighter gun controls? This should not be a political issue, but it has and probably always will be a political issue. Politicians should get over their political differences and actually enact a law that will save and protect our kids as well as adults.

Any new gun control laws should be implemented in steps. The first step in my book of common sense rules, tells me to outlaw the ownership of any assault weapons. The only people in this country who should have and use assault weapons are the police and military. There is no necessity for any one else to own them, period. Step two is for all owners of such guns to mandatory turn them in, maybe for cash. Step three is to have a minimum jail time of say, 10 years, if convicted of having one. More jail time if it is used in a crime. Step four is that all gun owners must have their guns safely stored in one of those gun safes with a combination lock and no key lock! We must do something to  prevent these type of tragedies from happening again. 

Schools should be a safe haven for kids without the fear of being killed. Not only did the shooter take away 27 lives prematurely, he stole the innocence of countless other children who survived. Whether or not they heard or saw something, their class/school mates, teachers and Principal were killed and are never coming back. To make matters worse, the shooter's actions will cause an undetermined amount of kids to have some kind of mental issues down the road. Some may even have problems that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Do we as a country, want that scenario to keep repeating over the issue of assault weapons? I hope not. It's time for a change regarding gun control and it's not happening soon enough, especially for all of the survivors, including parents of what just happened in Newtown.

I believe that the Newtown tragedy will become the straw that broke the camel's back and more and more people are going to open their windows and scream at the top of their lungs, that they are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore!!! Time will tell.

Til next week.

Peter

Why Is Chicken Little Screaming Again?

Hi Everyone,

Recently I have been doing some online research on a topic that will affect every living thing on our planet, or will it? The subject of today's blog is 12/21/12. Hopefully you have not been living under a rock and recognize that date as the last day of Earth, before the supposed end of the world as we know it.

Thousands of years ago, the Mayan's created a calendar, and not just any calendar. The Mayan's were an advanced civilization who were able to figure out that observations of the sun, moon and stars translated into a method to figuring out how long a day was, how many days there were in a month and how long it took for the Earth to travel around the Sun. Using their new found information, they were able to create a calendar that was not just a yearly calendar, but a two thousand year calendar. Their two thousand year calendar ended on 12/21/12. So does that mean the end of the world, since the calendar ends?  Last year, while doing Christmas shopping, I found 2012 calendars for sale that ended on 12/21/12. Well my research has found some very interesting sites that give numerous reasons for the end of the world. There are other reasons than what I will give you, but these are the top six reasons and are in no particular order.

1) There will be an alignment of the universe that will destroy the Earth.

2) A meteor or an asteroid will strike the Earth.

3) A mysterious planet called Nibiru is on a collision course with Earth.

4) A giant solar storm from our sun will hit the Earth.

5) A polar shift will occur on Earth.

6) There will be a reversal of the Earth's rotation.

Well, well, well!? There seems to be a lot of destruction heading our way. What are we as a planet going to do to avoid the end of the world cliff that so many people truly believe is coming? My reaction was to investigate this further. So I checked out NASA's web site. NASA says that since 12/21/12 is less then 2 weeks away, they would definitely be able to see a meteor, asteroid or a planet heading our way. NASA states that nothing is heading our way, not even a so-called close call one. NASA also says that there is no universe alignment, solar storm, polar shift or a reversal of the Earth's rotation is going to happen. They stated that the Earth is over 4 billion years old and they fully expect the Earth to still be here on 12/22/12. NASA concluded that there is absolutely no science to believe that the end of the world is coming. There is just no evidence!

So, if NASA says the Earth is not going to end any time soon, how did this theory come about? When the Mayan's put chisel to stone to create their calendar, or long count calendar as we call it, they went out two thousand years from when they were living. The long count calendar just happened to end on 12/21/12. It is just like the calendar hung in your kitchen. Every year, your calendar ends on 12/31. Did the world end on the following January first? Obviously not. So it is true with the Mayan's calendar. 12/21/12 just happened to be the end of their long count calendar and 12/22/12 would just be the first day of their next long count calendar. Makes perfect sense to me, doesn't it?

Since the beginning of humans, people have believed in different and numerous Gods. But almost all of their beliefs were based on what was happening with the sun, moon and stars, as well as floods, drought and storms occurring here on Earth. People are entitled to their own beliefs, but not their own facts. And the facts here absolutely don't support the Earth ending on 12/22/12, or any time soon after that, for that matter. So with that in mind, I will be blogging as usual on 12/23/12.

Til next week.

Peter

The Virtues of Wood

Hi Everyone,

Before I get into today's blog, I have to again give my opinion regarding the upcoming fiscal cliff that this country is fast approaching. It appears that the GOP is again holding this country hostage over the one issue of increasing taxes to the wealthy 2%. Will history repeat itself? Romney and his plans/policy lost the election and President Obama and his plans/policy won. Did you know that 65% of recently polled people approved increasing the tax rate of the wealthy. What's not to get? Now is the time to compromise on both sides and that includes tax rate increases for the wealthy and cuts to government programs. It will be the GOP's fault if the fiscal cliff becomes a reality and this country goes into another recession. A small minority of GOPers, tea party members, are themselves holding their own GOP hostage. Something has to give soon, or else!!! Time for the GOP to do the people's will and stop being selfish worrying about their re-election and the wrath of Grover Norquist.

And now for today's blog... Those of us old enough will remember when it was affordable to heat one's home. Those days seem to be a far distant memory, especially when heating bills just keep going up and up. Isn't there a solution to heating your home without breaking your bank account? If you think about it, the three main stream ways to heat your home are: oil, propane or natural gas. There are accessories that you can add to your heating system to make it more efficient, i.e.: hot water solar panels, geothermic wells and upgraded burner units etc. All three are pricey and the payback will take years.

My common sense solution is an obvious one.......... a wood stove. Now I fully understand that wood stove use is not a viable option for all applications. But for those who are able to use a wood stove, the benefits are immense. When a gallon of oil went to $4.25, that's when my wife and I decided to buy one. That was four years ago and we have never looked back for many reasons. The first reason is that at $4.25/gal, times the number of gallons of oil we didn't have to buy, for that first winter, the wood stove actually paid for itself within one year. Unheard of. We also use the wood from our property and have only had to buy two cords of wood during the second and third year of use. The second reason is that the cost of a full cord of wood, 4'/4'/8', is about 80% less then what it costs to fill our 275 gallon oil tank and they both last the exact same amount of time, 2 months. One cord of wood costs $200.00 or $100 per month and filling up a 275 gallon oil tank costs approximately $1,000 or $500 per month. The third reason is that instead of lowering the thermostat to save money and then having to wear sweaters to stay warm, using our wood stove, the temperature is a balmy 75-80 degrees. If it gets to hot, you open a window or as many as you like. The fourth reason is that we no longer have winter time static electricity. There is a kettle on top on the wood stove and that gives the house a very comfortable 45-50% humidity level, instead of around the 30% humidity level when we used our boiler. The fifth reason is that wood is a renewable fuel source, enough said. And finally the last reason is that new wood stoves now come with a catalytic converter which makes them burn wood cleaner and more efficiently.

FYI, there are even wood stoves that can be connected to your hot water baseboard heating system. There are also whole house wood burning furnace systems that are located outside your home, in its own little building. Some counties have laws restricting the use of those outside wood burning furnaces though. Besides the regular looking wood stoves, there are wood stoves that are highly artistic and futuristic looking and others that are unique in style and colors. There are wood stove inserts that fit directly into your existing fireplace. They aren't as efficient since the majority of the stove sits directly under the fireplace's flue opening.

Using a pellet stove is more expensive then a wood stove due to the fact the the cost of pellets is about $300-$400 per month vs. $100 per month for the wood.

If you would like to pay considerably less to heat your home and if you like to have a warmer than normal home and if you have the ability to have a wood stove, why not consider one? It just makes sense and can save you cents.

Til next week,

Peter