15 May 2008

It's a Gas GLUT, People...
Fuel prices might be around $4 a gallon, but that doesn't mean we're having any type of shortage.
Quite the reverse.
We have plenty of oil coming into the nation for refining into gasoline. The problem is that this oil is costing us a crapload MORE than before, but all of you ALREADY knew that, right?
What you probably did NOT know is that when it comes to GAS (in it's myriad forms) this city is never running at a deficit. And there are a few cases in point that will demonstrate this to no small degree.
Glynn Hines (one of the invisible council members) showed up (to gas) at last night's "Henry Budget-Fest" (the 2nd of 4) to discuss the police department's "take-home" car policy. He stated that's it time to revisit this and possibly do away with it. Glad you finally caught up to ME, Glynn...only took about 18 months.
If anyone cares to peruse the archives of this blog, I said the officers should PAY for the privilege of taking the cars home (and that was more than a year and a half ago), since they DO NOT LIVE in the areas they are patrolling...it's that simple. And with the city's budget balancing precariously upon the red ink precipice, it made sense THEN, and it makes sense NOW.
It was nice to see our very own Pettit-Rudisill Neighborhood Association president (Mark Schoppman) in attendance. He's about the ONLY reason we STILL HAVE any close to what passes for an association. In a neighborhood with OVER 8,000 residents, a mere handful show up regularly at the meetings, and they consist mostly of association officers! Mark said he doesn't see HIS area being served by the department when he sees several FWPD cars parked out by Leo-Cedarville.
I agree.
But I've said that for YEARS (and no one listened).
And that;'s but one other GAS you never hear much about.
Poverty is also a "gas", or so people would have you believe.
And if my neighborhood is any kind of barometer for what constitutes (real) poverty, then I can see so many reasons why we should seriously consider redefining that word.
Take my newest "neighbors" (please...and far away), who have not yet mowed ONE SINGLE BLADE OF GRASS on their property.
One guy even has a small landscaping business with an array of lawn care equipment, including several types of MOWERS.
I smell a bit of irony here.
Must be the scent wafting from those foot-tall DANDELIONS.
Didn't know "poverty" meant TOO DAMN LAZY to mow your own lawn.
With ALL the people that come to "your" house, you MUST know SOMEONE who has a mower, so that BS doesn't wash either.
Then there are those that no matter HOW MANY times to tell them, still feel that they can do what they want. it's that damn "short-term" memory problem many suffer from down here.
The city tells them how to PROPERLY place trash out (and provides them with a bin), and after a brief time, they REVERT back to their old ways. Astounding!
They put out stacks of trash BAGS. Well, it IS a step UP from just dumping it into a pile outside (another ghettoism). But you have to take into consideration the number of STRAY CATS AND DOGS we have around here, as well as opossum and raccoon, who just LOVE to see what "you" had for dinner last week by tearing INTO those bags. And then we have trash strewn all about the street.
Yeah...looks like a ghetto NOW, doesn't it?
Same goes for the kids.
You chase them from the property once, and for a brief time, they keep away, but then they start coming back again...and again.
It also happens in our classrooms.
Tell them NOT to use the cellphone, and they listen...for a few days, but then you hear a ring tone during 3rd period , and you know EXACTLY who is playing games again. Yeah, it sucks to be in the POVERTY class and still not be allowed to use that cellphone while in the ENGLISH class, doesn't it?
Now I have to share some "gas" here as well. There was a time when poverty meant that you maybe were a bit worried about how much FOOD you had to subsist on, or whether you could afford to get a winter coat, instead of layering all those summer jackets. Today, poverty is being defined more like this:
-I "too po" to afford dem new $80 Air Jordans.
-I "too po" to get me dat Lexus.
-I "too po" to go to school, cuz I won learn nuffin.
-I "too po" to make anything useful of myself.
Face it...all you REALLY want to so is lay in bed until 11AM (or later), do your drugs or get hammered as much as possible, steal what you need when the government comes up short on that monthly check, do as little as is required by law, except when it comes to being entertained, and then kick back and disresepct everything and everyone while watcing the rest of the world go on by...right?
Sorry doesn't work QUITE that way.
Well, you say you're "too POOR" to do any of those things, but you sure ain't POOR enough to toke on that blunt every other day, or afford those 30 inch RIMS for that 1975 Buick Regal you just had painted that horrible shade of gag-a-maggot green, or be able to buy all these baseball caps (with the tags still hanging from them) and those athletic jerseys that cost $30 a pop, or afford that gold necklace, watch and "grille", or be able to purchase that 5000 watt stereo bass kicker box for the trunk of that POS you're driving, or get yourself a chromed gun to rob that Marathon station, are you?
Poverty really IS a gas. At least to THESE people it is.
And I somehow suspect that if gas (at the pumps) EVER goes over $8 a gallon, YOU people will somehow STILL (mysteriously) be able to "afford" that, being so damn "poor" and all.
Funny...we'll be parking police cars, but the drug dealers will have plenty of fuel to tool around with. Yeah, that'll set some interesting precedents in this city.
Gas isn't just another term for petrol or fuel any longer. I grew up knowing that gas can be the "fragrant" result of some cabbage and beer, or a term used to gossiping women (who love to "gas" for hours on end). It also referred to something being "like wow, man", as previously stated. (That sax jam session was a real GAS!)
And when it comes down to it, this city, as I have said above is NOT at a loss for gas. Damn shame we can't turn THAT into an alternative fuel source.
We could supply the nation, if not the world.
Wow...whatta gas THAT would be, man.
Believe it...or Else.

6 comments:

Phil Marx said...

It might make sense to limit the take-home cars only to officers who live within the city. Actually, I think city residence should be a condition of employment for FWPD officers. I also think that there should be some compensation made by the officers for the fuel used. I don't actually know what the current policy is, but if we are paying for one of them to take a trip out of town, that just does not make sense. But I do think FWPD's take-home policy is basically a good idea.

There is an FWPD officer who lives five block from my home. Until two days ago, I have never seen this officer taking part in any police action in my neighborhood. But he frequently passes through (probably just going to or from his house), and I have seen the dealers walk away from the corner because of this.

I've actually thought about getting an old car and painting it to look like a police car. The problem is, I'd have to move it frequently for it to have much of an impact.

Phil Marx said...

Bobby, you're going to love me for this. Yesterday I was cleaning out my shed and I had a lot of junk to get rid of. Most of it as scrap wood that I have been saving too long. I broke and stacked the wood, poured gasoline, and lit it up.

Burn baby burn! The flames were as high as ten feet at one point, but I quickly scaled it back. A police car pulled up across the street when the fir was blazing and I thought they were watching me. Turns out they were here on other business.

Yes, I know this was probably unsafe and bad for the environment, and it was definitely illegal. But what the hell, I'm just trying to fit in here. And it was kind of fun. Maybe next time I'll build the fire on the corner where the drug dealers camp out. They can cook their crystal- meth over an open flame just like the Boy Scouts do.

Bob G. said...

Geezus, Phil....didn't know you were having a PEP RALLY at your place...we could have brought an effigy of someone to fire up our (old) "school spirit"...LOL!

It's only illegal IF it's within 15 feet from a structure (house). Other than that, smoke it if 'ya got it!

B.G.

Anonymous said...

B.G.

Just for fun, there be could alternative sources of energy using Dandelions for energy.


Come on friend...its a thought
well worth investigating.

Bobett

Gloria said...

One thing I’ve noticed about poor people is they don’t want to appear that way. There’s also stupidity running rampant among business owners. I worked for a woman who bought a huge sport utility vehicle because in five years, she’d be able to write it off as a business expense. Never mind that she really only needed the Lincoln Navigator once a year to haul her back issues (she published a magazine) to the annual dog show so she could set up a booth. Why she didn’t just rent a van for two weeks out of the year and save herself thousands of dollars, I don’t know. Because to write it off as a business expense, she has to use it for her business. There really wasn’t much she could have used the vehicle for. The mailman picked up any outgoing mail, and so forth. Bottom line is, she wanted the SUV. She could be cheap about the dumbest things, but she could justify any purchase she wanted for herself. But I think it’s hilarious; I spend a little bit of time in poorer neighborhoods on occasion, and do I see fuel-efficient cars like the ones my boyfriend and I drive? No. It’s huge, gas-guzzling moosemobiles. Meanwhile, if I’m careful with my gas, I can make a tank last more than a week. But then again, I’m unemployed and try not to make any unnecessary trips.

Bob G. said...

Gloria:
I agree with you that stupidity runs rampant.
When I worked for the Treasury Department, I saw people able to write off things (falsely) they weren't "supposed" to, and when I questioned it, I was told to "look the other way"...needless to say, my consceience got the best of me, and we parted ways.

But around my neighborhood (at least), all I seem to see are gas-guzzlers...and it also seems to be NO PROBLEM for them to tank up every other day. Makes me wonder how people who never work have the where with all to have gas money regularly.

Now I drive a 1983 Firebird, with a V-6 engine (and it still gets 25MPG - even after 25 years of ownership), and even my wife, who drives a V-8 Chevy can go two weeks on a HALF tank, so we're as frugal as all get out.

Trouble is, people like us (and you) will NEVER get any kind of reward for doing what we do, by actually saving as much fuel as we can.
And an "attaboy" or "attagirl" will NEVER fill up MY tank...or yours, will it?

Thanks for you comment.

B.G.