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About 9 weeks ago local gas prices peaked. Have you noticed? Prices appear to be going down sharply. Last month, some stations near the highway were a little over $5 per gallon while the cheaper stations were peaking around $4.79 to $4.85

I had business in the Hollywood area Wednesday and pleased to see a few stations as low as $4.17 per gallon for cash. I passed the opportunity and got gas in Fort Lauderdale for $4.27 I live in Palm Beach County and cheap gas was around $4.29 today.

A friend who has a membership with BJ's Club got gas on Friday and paid $3.89. That's a dollar less per gallon than he was paying in June!

Typically in the summer months, gas prices rise just when people go on vacation.
Since no one I know has the ability to control the price of oil as it gets to the refineries, all we can do for now is shop around.
There are a few phone apps that monitor gas prices so you can see who has the best price in your area.

Hopefully this is going to be a downward trend making consumers happy!

I pulled up a 6 month chart from the website gasbuddy to confirm my suspicion and the national average was $5.02 on June 12 and $4.40 on July 22. Yes, going down.



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The inspiration for this blog was another blog that stated fuel prices were skyrocketing, as in presently happening. That wasn't factual. Prices peaked weeks ago. It made a claim from outdated information as prices were declining. Since I posted this blog, the other blog title was changed and now compares it with a previous administration and that Biden supporters being happy with the high price of fuel.
Was it something I said?
(title edited because some people mistakenly thought I said gas prices were a dollar a gallon. I said they dropped a dollar a gallon) But that's okay, you can still complain about it.

Guys in Virginia, North and South Carolina who modify their trucks with oversized tires and modified suspensions are headed down the road of legal troubles.
The trend called Squat Trucks has the entire vehicle raised with the front suspension much higher than the rear. Often they have lighting in each tire and wheel well to show off their shiny rims.
What's the problem of having your truck jacked-up?
Raising the front affects the driver's visibility and aims the high intensity headlights to blind oncoming traffic. Depending on the state they are in, more than 4 inches is past the limit. There's a ban with fines as high as $300. In the interest of public safety, repeated offenders could have their licenses suspended. A Myrtle Beach pedestrian was struck and killed in 2021.

How NOT to make a good impression on your bosses boss.
One day years ago, 1973 to be exact, my company "Koni America" went to Watkins Glen as was our annual tradition, to service the Formula One race. We had our usual spot in the main garage where we entertained race drivers and crew members that came by to chat on various technical matters referring to suspension setups especially shock absorber settings and adjustments, and also test and set their shocks on our shock dyno as well. On this particular day a driver came by to chat and we formed a rough circle in the bay. There was my boss Ted M. to my right, between us was the driver, opposite to me was my bosses boss John Z., to my left was my co-worker, Bob K., another technician. I don't remember who the driver was, it could have been anybody. Normally an event like that would be engraved on your memory, however what follows is all that I remember of that moment in time.

So there we were chatting and my bosses boss John had a banana in his hand and was mindlessly trying to peel it while deeply engrossed in the conversation. I was trying to follow the flow of the conversation but the distraction of John and the banana made that nearly impossible. My focus kept shifting from his face to his hands and I was getting increasingly agitated. Ted was watching me watching John and he later told me that he could see my eyes going up & down as my attention shifted. He said he could also see my nostrils flare. My frustration grew to an unbearable level. I wanted to rip the banana out of his hand and peel the goddamn thing for him. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I blurted out "YOU'RE PEELING IT FROM THE WRONG END". Well, Ted nearly had a seizure from laughing so hard. My first thought was OMG . what did I just do? Did I just make my bosses boss look like a fool in front of some big Formula 1 driver? Do I still have a job? Lucky for me John took it as a learning experience and flipped the banana over and successfully peeled it.

I had dinner at a sports bar tonight with TV screens wrapping around the building. Several satellite stations were in the lineup and when they went to commercial break, the viewer was pounded mostly with Pizza, battery operated ear washer and electric SUV's.
Lexus has a whole fleet as well as Cadillac.

Back home and I Googled electric SUV's and found a few companies I've never heard of before (like Fisker) and all the major manufacturers offering at least one electric model.

Complain all you want about purchase price, finding a place to charge, exploding batteries, limited range and a few other negatives

Domino's Pizza is advertising electric delivery vehicles that are good for the planet. Who cares? That doesn't fix the taste of crappy pizza... having it delivered in an electric car doesn't make it better!

Like it or not, with all the negative aspects, electric cars are here to stay.

some people look to God for inspiration. i look to one of God's gifts for inspiration. i watched a documentary on Dave Munstaine of Megadeth the other day. i was riveted by his story.

i had the pleasure to meet him in the '80's when my sister worked as his band's press manager at Capitol Records. my sister said he was equally impressed with me. a high compliment for sure.

This man struggles with monumental drug and alcohol addiction but has kicked it and is a responsible family man with a wife and 2 successful children. he has overcome throat cancer and is currently in remission.

This man as been to rehab 15 times and thanks be to God that he is clean, sober and a living icon.

i appreciate his struggles and respect his tenacity and strength. his health achievements soar even higher than his musical genius.

i have struggled with addiction for probably 20 years. i've been to rehab once, after ODing on pills and whiskey. spent 48 hours under suicide watch, a very unpleasant experience.

last night, while i went out for smokes, i entertained the idea of picking up a 15 pack of beer that i can finish in a day, but while i was driving to the gas station, i could see Dave's face. i thought about what he had been through and where he is now, and i drove straight home.

i've been clean a week. i know it's not much but i have pictures of Dave to remind me of how i can be. if i have the will. Dave helps me. no, he's not God but i think God has finally reached me, through Dave.

this blog isn't about attention seeking. it's a sliver of a reality some of us live and i'm talking about it.

here's one of my favorite songs

What you see in this video is an electric car with a shorted cell at a charging station setting off all the rest.
Note the time it took to destroy 3 cars. The first car was destroyed in about 38 seconds.
The fire cannot be extinguished with water.

My car is under manufacturers warranty and I'm entitled to some free oil changes. I booked an appointment about a week in advance and they confirmed by email.
The email also contained an advertisement.
The next day, I received another confirmation of the appointment and like the first, it contained an advertisement. The third day... you guessed it. Another reminder of the appointment along with an advertisement. Okay... Enough.

I clicked the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email and 2 more days of emails and advertisements. Obviously they are unaware I clicked the link to unsubscribe.

We're past the oil change. While I was there, I looked at one the the new models for 2022. It's not what I expected, nor am I inclined to pay $6,000 over sticker price, give a deposit and wait 4 to 6 weeks for a car to arrive. However a few emails came through from the dealer... sales rep and one from the sales manager. That unsubscribe button is getting lots of use so I actually replied formally requesting they stop sending me emails.

Sheesh!
Don't call me, I'll call you...

COVID knocked out car manufacturing worldwide. New cars, factory parts, after-market parts. Everything.
If you were lucky enough to 'get in line' for a new car, the wait (in the beginning) was months. Because of this, the value of used cars went up.

No secret here. It's supply & demand. Cars that are 3 years old selling for the same price as when they were new.

I don't 'need' a car, but I've been eyeing the market and shopping for a 'future car' as the one I currently own should easily last 10 years, I'm just considering something a little larger.

Visiting a dealer for a model I wanted to test drive, they only had one to demo. It's not for sale. They are taking orders on it that are approximately 6 to 8 weeks out depending on the color and options.

I asked the price and was told some 'strange code' like 6250. I asked what is a 6250 and the salesman mumbled something. Figuring where he was going, I clearly asked "Are you charging $6,250 over sticker price" his response was "It's negotiable"

An associate of mine sold cars and told me the hottest SUV right now is the KIA TELLURIDE at a sticker price of over $42,000.
Currently, there are bidding wars with people paying over $10,000 sticker just to get one!

I went to the KIA site to check availability, but I was unable to get information on this model. It's not found in inventory for all the local dealerships.

At some point, chips and cars will become available and the demand for new cars will diminish. Those inflated used-car prices will begin to level out too. That means (just like house buying) if you paid too much for a car now, in a few years your devalued used car price will be giving you sticker shock!

the uk has announced that it is to ban ,the sale of petrol and diesel cars ,,
now as a regular driver i can see many misgivings with this,
electric cars are ok to pop to the local shops or drop the kids at school ,
but could you imagine the dread of a long trip in one ????
imagine your batteries are low ,,and hey presto there is a powercut ,,,
or you pull at a charging station and there is a queue waiting ,,
and these cars dont recharge that quickly ,yes a quick 30 minute charge will get you on the move but not very far,
so is it a good or bad thing ????