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This morning I had a Silverado 1500 that either knew how to work a traffic jam, or had been caught behind me before and knew the drill.

He kept back about 4 to 10 car lengths depending on what the flow in front of me was doing, and I kept 2 to 10 car lengths between the cars in front of me. The two of us and everyone behind us were travelling 20-45 mph through the jam and people were able to merge in and out of our lane with ease. The folks in the left two lanes were travelling if you can call it that 1 to 5 mph stop and go.

Continuing my posts about fuel stations today

Nearly every fuel station charges us a stupidity tax. Why must we pay an extra penny for every gallon we buy? The industry is not fooling anyone and the practice is so engrained in our culture we do not even mention the .009 when we discuss gas prices we just mention the numbers in the larger print on the signs.  I know there are reasons for why things are the way we see them today.

I know this sick twisted tradition dates back to when a penny was worth something significant on its own in the 1920s.  Eighty-Eight years later, we do not receive any savings off this practice.  Let’s get into the 21st century here; the stock market did it with their switch to decimals from fractions.  The other argument is the federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents on every gallon, my sales tax on all other goods is often fractional too, say 6.5% or 7.xx% whatever when everything gets totaled up the final price is rounded up one penny.  Gas purchases can be computed the same way, say the gas tax is half a percent; it really comes out that low at current prices. Multiply my whole tank by the .5% tax and round up to the nearest penny, I would even vote for a tax increase if it were actually going to improving the road system, maintaining the roads and improving congestion.

This has to stop, just because we have done something since the 1920s does not make it the best way to do things. There was a CITGO station in Gainesville that regularly didn't charge the "we're sticking it to you because we can fee" whenever they were not charging the extra penny I would fill up even if I didn't need to, to support the practice (rewarding good behavior they were .009 cheaper than the Shell station next door).  The only reason I stopped shopping them was their lack of top tier certification at the time.

Am I going to write my congressional representative or do anything about it?  No unless enough of you want to, not a fight I am getting into by myself.  I will just going to stop using gasoline eventually and switch to a battery electric vehicle.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

This is great news; I am tired of spending a night out on the town with friends and coworkers and coming back with my clothes, and car reeking of cigarette smoke.  I understand this limits the freedoms of the smokers, but it does protect my personal space, I don't arrive home feeling guilty for hanging out because now it will take days to get the smoke smell out of my car and my jacket.  Some of my friends and coworkers are smokers but they are quite responsible and only smoke in designated smoking areas, I am sympathetic to their potential increased burden and elated at my new potential freedom.

The State | 04/19/2008 | Smoking ban in Columbia bars possible

Councilman E.W. Cromartie, one of the four council members who voted to exempt bars from the city’s smoking ban, is having second thoughts about the issue.  “I think we may have to look at that again,” Cromartie said. “It has been some time since the last time we voted.”  Only one council member would have to change his or her vote for the issue to be reconsidered.  The change comes after hearing complaints from restaurant and bar owners.  Andy Yogherty, owner of the Publick House on Devine Street, pleaded with council members earlier this week to change their minds. He said excluding bars penalizes businesses, like his, that have both a restaurant and a bar.  If there is to be a smoking ban, he said, it should be enforced across the board. Yogherty apparently struck a chord with Cromartie.

What do you think?

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."