22 MAR 05: IT TAKES TWO
The car sat unused all day Monday. I pulled a couple of things out of its trunk, but that was it. I had no reason to go anywhere -- and as high as gas prices are going, it's reaching the point where a brain of reason needs to weigh more than a lead foot.
Many Columbus gas stations made history Monday, as their price of regular unleaded jumped above two dollars a gallon. I don't know why the price took a ten-cent increase - unless all those motorcycle riders at the "Rally for the Troops" were on "gas hawgs."
The lowest price I saw in the downtown area was $2.03 a gallon for regular unleaded. I'm old enough to remember when people bought two dollars' worth of gasoline for short trips around town. You can still do that, I suppose - but these days the town might have to be Waverly Hall.
WRBL was all set to crown the Phillips station on Wynnton Road the gas price leader, at $1.97 a gallon. But then Monday afternoon, the price there jumped to $2.07. Didn't the managers know the TV station was coming? They could have sold a lot of extra high-priced bags of chips.
Because the Phillips, uh, fill-up costs more, the unofficial "low price leader" became RaceTrac on Victory Drive -- still reportedly below two dollars. Considering this station is at the edge of town for drivers heading here from Cusseta and Albany, this station may have the most compassionate managers in Columbus.
Did you notice the gas prices in East Alabama aren't that much higher than Columbus? The Opelika-Auburn Wal-Mart SuperCenter had a posted price Monday of $2.04. And after last week's court settlement, there might even be an illegal immigrant standing in the parking lot to pump it for you.
It stings to see regular unleaded gas above the two-dollar mark. But I'm satisfied knowing I filled my tank Thursday night before the price went up for only $1.88 a gallon. That happened at the Summit station, at 22nd Avenue and Victory Drive. Of course, now we realize that "Summit" was little more than a plateau.
And to think in October 2001, I drove home from a Florida vacation to find a gas price war underway in Dothan - with regular unleaded around $1.10 a gallon. This feels weird, calling the weeks after the September 11th attack the "good old days...."
I suppose we could blame the latest jump in gas prices on the state of Alabama. Many schools there are closed for spring break this week. Can't you students park outside the Amphitheater, walk across the Dillingham Street bridge and board a METRA bus?
It will be interesting to see if METRA ridership increases, now that gas costs two dollars or more. You can take a bus to Peachtree Mall, travel all over downtown - and someday I'll figure out why the bus line stops about a mile short of the airport.
(No, I'm not kidding. A few years ago, I had to walk from the Wal-Mart on Airport Thruway to Columbus Airport to rent a car. There's no METRA route heading all the way there. So what did the bus drivers have against US Air and Northwest Airlines?)
My decision not to drive Monday could be a sign of things to come. You can save on gas mileage by combining several stops on one trip. Now if grocery stores would please set up youth baseball diamonds in their parking lots....
Gasoline isn't the only thing increasing in price. Did you hear what Buffalo Rock plans to do next week? The vending machine supplier will charge 70 cents for candy and 75 cents for sweet rolls. It's almost enough to make office workers listen for passing ice cream trucks.
(BLOG-BLAH-BLAH: What's the lowest gas price you've seen in the Columbus area? Pass it on to us, and we'll spread the word to others.)
E-MAIL UPDATE: The aftershocks continue from the WRBL pregnancy discrimination case. This message reached us Monday from Fort Smith, Arkansas:
Richard,
Noticed in the blog that my appearance in Columbus was the subject of some debate. Interesting.
Just to set the record straight, I was there because I was served with a subpoena to be there.
Basically, when you get a subpoena from the U.S. District Court and it includes the language, "You are commanded to appear in the United States District Court"... you show up!
Best,
Dale
Thank you, Dale Cox -- but I'm still confused about something. Does this mean you would NOT have come back to Columbus without a subpoena?!
Dale Cox was responding to the weekend e-mail by plaintiff's attorney Maxine Hardy, claiming he "voluntarily" came here from Arkansas to be a witness for WRBL and Media General. Mr. Cox claims he was "commanded" - and otherwise, I guess someone would have volunteered to lock him up for contempt of court.
Speaking of WRBL, the topic of a Monday message responds:
Richard,
I admit I had to chuckle this morning when someone told me I'd been spotted on The Daily Buzz, and it was on your blog. Yes, it's true, I'm a fan of the show. It was a lot of fun spending the morning in the studio in Orlando, but just as the person from the show told you, it was just a visit. While working there would be incredible, I'm still a long way from being talented enough to work on a show of that magnitude.
By the way, I thought that was you sitting in court Thursday, but I wasn't sure. You should have said hello, It would have been cool to meet you.
Take care,
Blaine
That's Blaine Stewart, of course -- and after giving it some thought, I decided against saying hello to him after his testimony. I didn't want federal marshals hauling Stewart off to jail, for beating me senseless over what I've written about him.
Blaine Stewart was one of several WRBL news team members to testify in the pregnancy discrimination case. During closing arguments, an attorney for plaintiff Melissa Schultz Miller declared they spoke against Miller's skills because they feared being punished themselves. Yeah, right -- as if "News 3" needed five or six overnight producers.
By the way, I think this is the first time I've seen anyone to describe The Daily Buzz as a "show of.... magnitude." In most cities, it doesn't have large numbers of viewers - and earthquakes under Columbus wind up with a bigger "magnitude" than that.
Now let's see what else was shaking on Monday:
+ A marketing research firm from North Carolina reported hardly any tourists visit Columbus for leisure trips. Well, we can do something about that! Let's head to federal court, and file some more discrimination lawsuits....
(The research firm assembled several focus groups in Atlanta, and discovered many people don't know how close Columbus is to them. Of course, people who ride airport shuttles from Columbus know this very well.)
+ The Muscogee County School Board voted to make Wynnton Elementary an "arts magnet" school. Does this mean all the students will be given that toy with the baldheaded guy?
+ The National Basketball Development Association announced plans to expand next season to four new cities: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin and Fort Worth, Texas; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Compared to the Columbus Riverdragons, this is called "going big."
+ Instant Message to "J.R.'s Steakhouse Downtown": Really now - does Smiths Station HAVE a downtown? Or are you declaring your new location actually IS downtown?
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