In the News this morning

[cbd2cai 0]

OK, these were 2 headline type news items on the news this morning:

1) The Bird Flu has reached England . . . . wow do you think some of those birds might be migrating here soon?

2) A call to boycott Exxon till their prices come down . . . last time I passed an Exxon station here their gas was actually cheaper than some of the others. Of course, that still doesn't excuse the facts that even with some big huge fine for polluting (remember Exxon Valdez???), they still have billions of dollars of profits.

What's in the news in your area??

[Jasman0717 9]

No bird flu but the Mobil station (Exxon) where I normally get gas was up another two cents to $3.27 9/10 a gallon! It figures, I just bought a BFT and it guzzles gas

[Sinergy 3]

Yesterday on CNN i saw that at a wedding, not sure where, i forget, the brides step dad got impatient waiting for the cake to be cut, so he stabbed the brides DAD and brother.

Makes me think twice about inviting my family members to my wedding now

[Welshcookie 17]

Bird flu arrived here in the UK some weeks ago....but there was another case confirmed at a turkey farm...but not the most dangerous kind....

oh and here the current price for gas is...$7.69 a gallon

[munchkins 0]

Bird flu arrived here in the UK some weeks ago....but there was another case confirmed at a turkey farm...but not the most dangerous kind....

oh and here the current price for gas is...$7.69 a gallon

and going up even more Welsh can't wait to get me some of that $3.00 petrol (oops, sorry - Gas)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

In the news here... Governor Corzine goes to war against corrupt members of his own party who are on the recieving end of a slush fund in Newark.

[mercuryroad 0]

Yesterday on CNN i saw that at a wedding, not sure where, i forget, the brides step dad got impatient waiting for the cake to be cut, so he stabbed the brides DAD and brother.

Makes me think twice about inviting my family members to my wedding now

I think I saw that on the Sopranos

I said cut the fuhkn cake or I'll cut yew

[David&Erin_Owens 0]

Yesterday on CNN i saw that at a wedding, not sure where, i forget, the brides step dad got impatient waiting for the cake to be cut, so he stabbed the brides DAD and brother.

Makes me think twice about inviting my family members to my wedding now

I think I saw that on the Sopranos

I said cut the fuhkn cake or I'll cut yew

Something tells me there's more to that than just being impatient that the cake wasn't cut.......The guy was obviously a "screaming mimi"....

[Welshcookie 17]

and going up even more Welsh can't wait to get me some of that $3.00 petrol (oops, sorry - Gas)

I don't blame you!.....I always feel guilty here cos my other half is able to buy all his petrol on the base at US prices....I keep it quiet to ppl around me....

[m_and_m20 0]

oh and here the current price for gas is...$7.69 a gallon

so............just because gas is double in Europe doesnt mean you get to complain about it! only us in the US of A get to complain when prices go up to $3.00!

[sukie175 0]

Hubby said last night on the news they stated one of the petroleum companies had made a profit of $400 billion - totally gross, why are all governments so spineless with them!

[denali_1963 0]

Bird flue might hit north america by birds migrating to alaska from asia Gas prices rediculous, the pipeline is about 5 miles down the road from me i might sifen some out of there if they don't come down in price soon

[Sinergy 3]

Yesterday on CNN i saw that at a wedding, not sure where, i forget, the brides step dad got impatient waiting for the cake to be cut, so he stabbed the brides DAD and brother.

Makes me think twice about inviting my family members to my wedding now

I think I saw that on the Sopranos

I said cut the fuhkn cake or I'll cut yew

[almaty 19]

Bird flue might hit north america by birds migrating to alaska from asia Gas prices rediculous, the pipeline is about 5 miles down the road from me i might sifen some out of there if they don't come down in price soon

it all sucks..

[Reba 2]

here's an article from the local newspaper where I live in NC

Tough Times For Some

BY MATTHEW LAKIN

Media General

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Pete Nelson, owner of Smokefoot Trade & Loan, on North Sterling Street, looks at a gold necklace and wedding ring set that a man exchanged for a $25 loan.

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Robbie Paxton made a choice between love and gasoline at a pawn shop last week. The gas won out.

Paxton pawned her wedding ring, along with her husband's, to get enough money for one more tank of gas.

"I think it's ridiculous," she said, "but I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and I can't cancel. I don't get paid until next week."

She called her husband first to clear it with him. He gave her the OK.

"He needs gas, too," she says.

As gas prices climb to nearly $3 per gallon, pawnbrokers say they see more people hocking their valuables to get by until payday.

Pete Nelson, owner of Smokefoot Trade & Loan, on North Green Street in Morganton, says the talk at his shop's counter is all about the high gas prices.

"A guy was just in here to take a loan out for $25," Nelson said. "He said that would be enough for gas and to get him through to payday."

The man brought in a wedding ring set and a broken gold necklace.

Nelson will hold the jewelry for 90 days or until the man pays the $25 loan back.

"It's just been flooded," says Cheryl Brown, manager of Uncle Sam's Loan Office on State Street, in Bristol, Tenn. "Sometimes it's depressing. Everybody needs gas."

Brown estimates business at her shop has increased by as much as 15 percent since gas prices took their latest surge.

"We're seeing a lot of new people," she said. "They need $20 for a quarter of a tank of gas. That's over medicine, groceries or the baby that needs diapers."

Kitty Hill manages Albert's Loan Office a few blocks down the street. She puts the number of new customers higher. She's seen maybe a third more people, she said.

"We're hearing it from every other person we wait on," she said. "It'll be Wednesday. They get paid Friday. They need to get to work."

Brokers said they saw a similar increase last year when Hurricane Katrina's damage to Gulf Coast refineries sent gas prices soaring past the $3-per-gallon mark.

"And this time I don't think it's going to go back down," Brown said. "You can gauge the economy and the government pretty well through a pawn shop. The worse the economy is, the better our business gets."

Anna Lee McVey stopped by Uncle Sam's with two television sets and a combination DVD player and VCR. She said she needed money for a drive to New York City.

"This is reality," she said. "I'm a single mom. I have three kids. You can't even afford to drive down the street anymore."

Drivers have hauled in merchandise of every kind in the past few weeks - wedding rings, DVDs, guitars, golf clubs, power tools, lawnmowers, karaoke machines, even false teeth.

One man called and asked whether he could pawn a litter of pit bull puppies. No sale.

A few people pawn family heirlooms or other valuables, but most just grab whatever's lying around and getting the least use, brokers said.

Gerald Norman, owner of Gold Nugget Pawn, on East Union Street in Morganton, says several of his customers have said they are just trying to get enough gas money to get home and to work for the rest of the week.

"I think these high gas prices have really hit the poor folks pretty bad," Norman said.

"If they've got a truck that needs gas and the truck's full of tools, they'll bring in some tools," Brown said. "Musicians bring instruments. They'll bring 200 DVDs in and sell them for 50 cents apiece."

The shops usually hold the pawned goods for about three weeks, sometimes longer, before putting them out for sale.

"Most of the time they're back on payday to get their stuff," said Hill, the manager at Albert's. "We're kind of the in-between person. If you want gas money, you don't want to go to the bank. This is just a fast, easy way to get a buck."

Prices at the pump show no signs of dropping, and brokers don't expect business to slow down anytime soon.

"It's called the poor man's bank, but not everybody's poor," Brown said. "Even the people who wear Rolexes have to pawn them sometimes. This is really creating havoc in people's lives."

perhaps folks should consider a smaller, more economical vehicle? Even the freakin' pizza delivery guys here that I work with drive big monster guzzlers that get about 6 miles to the gallon. If they weren't trying to make up for other short comings, and bought a sensible car, maybe they wouldn't have to pawn off all their valuables to fill the tank.

When they start complaining about the gas prices I point out to them that the US has the lowest gas prices in the Western world. Canada, the UK and Europe are paying far higher prices than we are here. If you don't want to spend $60 to fill up your tank in your gas guzzling UAV (urban assault vehicle...not a single one of them has ever seen a dirt road unless it was a highway under repair) then get a smaller car!

Edited April 27, 2006 by Reba