After posting my first entry late last night on this blog, I immediately began to think what would my next topic be? Should it be something funny? Maybe a look at more serious world issues? At 3:00 am in the morning, there are many ridiculous notions that come to mind. With nothing really standing out for a topic, I wrapped it up and called it a day.
The alarm went off at 7:00 am and it was not a welcoming sound. As I dragged myself out of bed and got my children up and off to school, I began t think of my topic for today. Still could not come up with anything. Could it be I was already hitting writers block after one post? Well, that would really make me a poor excuse for a blogger now wouldn't it. It wasn't until I was getting gas for the car that it hit me, "Big Oil".
I will be using the term "Big Oil" to avoid naming the particular oil companies that have really pissed me and millions of other Americans off. I'm sure you all can figure it out, just check the names on you local gas stations. I pulled up into my brand name gas station to find, yet again, the cost of gas has gone up. Within a week I have seen this particular station go from $3.89 to $4.19. That is one hell of a jump in seven days if you ask me. I start filling my tank and realize how much more money I am sinking into my car. Then I start thinking if I am spending so much more, obviously others are in the same boat. Grocery stores have to fuel their trucks. Farmer's have to spend more to fuel their farming equipment. At that one moment, it occurred to me that we as consumers are at the bottom of the crap funnel and have all those costs passed down to us every time we purchase anything. Now I'm looking at my $4.19 a gallon as $7.00 a gallon with all the other items I purchase, like food. Depression sets in and I go into the store to get a Twinkie. Kind of hard to stay depressed when you have a Twinkie.
I take my Twinkie and soda up to the counter. I'm listening to the clerk and the person in front of me chat it up about, what else, the cost of fuel. The clerk throws the comment out there on how she plays the lottery every week hoping to hit anything because of her high oil bill from the winter months. The customer laughs and agrees with her and plays his quick pick for powerball. How bad has it got out here in the world where we wish to win the lottery so we can pay off bills? Wasn't winning the lottery suppose to make all our dreams come true? Don't know about you all but I don't dream of winning the lottery so I can go major food shopping.
Finally making it into the office, fire up the computer and get ready to push through the day. With the same routine, I pull out my fancy 4G phone that uses more battery power than a small island and plug it in. Just as I'm ready to start the day, my phone vibrates. An email. Not just any email. My "E3 is right around the corner" email. For those of you who don't know what E3 is, the best way I can explain is to compare it to the Super bowl. Except it is not a sporting event and its mostly for us gaming geeks or tech junkies. It comes once a year and brings nothing but gaming goodness for us all. This was going to be my first trip there. I figured with all the time I have spent gaming, I should make the pilgrimage there. Unfortunately, with finances the way they are I have had to cancel any traveling plans, including E3. The cost to fly, rent a car, and stay at a hotel has gone up so much since I first starting planning the trip, no way can I afford to go.
So how does my rant about "Big Oil", the lottery and E3 have in common? Well, I single handedly blame "Big Oil" for the canceling of my E3 trip and my renewed interest in the lottery. If "Big Oil" wasn't trying to make so much damn money, maybe I would have more money to travel. Instead, I now play the lottery to not make all my dreams come true, but in hopes of hitting an amount that will help me travel to E3.
Hey "Big Oil", do you think you could spare some of that $36,000,000,000 you made last quarter? I'm sure a couple of grand won't hurt the bottom line.
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