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12 AUG 04: LOW AND AWAY
Hooray! A gas station in Columbus finally broke the $1.70 a gallon barrier. But it's a sign of how badly things have gone this year, when we're cheering $1.69.
The station I found which dropped a bit lower Wednesday night was Citgo at 5th and Veterans Parkway. But you'll probably want to hurry - because dealers are likely to go back up, to take advantage of all those Panama City people fleeing Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Then again, maybe I shouldn't say hooray for this particular price drop. The Citgo at 5th and Veterans Parkway is a very quirky place. For starters, it's across the street from the Booker T. Washington Apartments - so the "over-and-under" is 2.5 armed robberies per year.
True confession: I've stayed away from this Citgo for years on purpose. It goes back to a Thursday night in the late 1990s when a beggar came up to me in the parking lot, asking for something to eat. I offered him the 25-cent brownie I bought - but he insisted on telling a long, rambling story of money he couldn't touch since he came back from Vietnam.
(To make matters worse, several other men were sitting in the shade next to this Citgo - so if this guy didn't wear me down after 20 minutes, he might tag out for the next guy.)
But I digress: I'm not sure how the gas price can go down, when oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange keep hitting record highs. Some of us can remember when "$45 per barrel" meant the price of French wine.
Saudi Arabian officials announced Wednesday they could produce another 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. Oh really? And members of the U.S. military could head south from Iraq, to offer some "encouragement...."
Moving on to other automotive essentials: a strike by BF Goodrich workers in Opelika was postponed Wednesday night. You set a midnight deadline, then you put it off?! At a plant like this, this must truly grow TIRE-some.
I've never quite understood why tire makers at the BF Goodrich plant in Opelika are members of the United Steelworkers Union. Yes, many tires have steel belts - but why not the Rubber Workers Union? Certainly that can't be merely for (ahem) condom factories.
If BF Goodrich eventually has a strike, the impact might not be that noticeable. For one thing, other companies sell a lot more tires. And even more importantly for some of us, Goodrich doesn't provide any tires for NASCAR races.
Now some other notes from a calm, cool Wednesday:
+ Dylan Glenn told the Ledger-Enquirer after losing three races for Congress, "I have some growing up to do." Hmmmm - may we suggest some reserve duty in Iraq?
+ A temporary roof over several classrooms at Americus-Sumter County High School collapsed, after heavy rain. That'll teach the school board not to use workers from Habitat for Humanity.
+ Instant Message to the Columbus South Revitalization Task Force: Where is the outrage? Haven't you heard about the proposal to ship Chattahoochee County garbage to a landfill in Salem? Or do you expect the drivers to stop for gas and
dinner every day on Victory Drive?
SONG OF THE DAY: Since Tropical Storm Bonnie is NOT technically "over the ocean," we need to revise an old tune a little bit:
My Bonnie sits over the Gulf now.
My Bonnie makes plenty of rain.
If Bonnie comes over our county,
The flooding will be a big pain.
Stay out! Stay out!
Oh, keep that ol' Bonnie away from me!
Stay out! Stay out!
Head toward the Caribbean Sea!
COMING FRIDAY: Once and for all, how we found that "whore" in Auburn on the Internet....
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