I Don't Like Ike!

I don't particularly like Ike at this moment in time.

Ike has caused my brother and his family to board up their house. They are riding out the storm. I pray that they are safe and no great damage or danger shall befall them.

I also don't like Ike because he is driving up gas prices in this area. Last weekend I paid $3.40 a gallon for gas at Murphy Oil/Wal-Mart. Yesterday I put half a tank in the truck and paid $3.50 a gallon at the same station. On my way to work this morning (6:30 AM) I saw prices at $3.75 a gallon at both Pilot and the Flying J. On my way home this afternoon at 4:00 PM both stations were sitting at $3.95 a gallon. I decided to pull in to a Shell station and fill up that was selling gas at $3.63. A little higher than I would have liked but certainly better that $3.95. This turned out to be a wise decision. On my home from the Baylor football game (11:30 PM) I discovered that the Pilot station was selling at $4.19 a gallon and the Flying J was at $4.35 a gallon.

There is some good news though. Baylor was scheduled to play Washington State University here in Waco at 11:30 AM on Saturday the 13th. Because of Ike the game was moved up to Friday night with kick-off at 7:30 PM. Baylor won the game, beating Washington State 45-17. Way to go Bears and congratulations to Robert Griffin, tonight's MVP.

SIC-EM BEARS!

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day near the bottom of the left sidebar for free software downloads daily.

Hey Brother, Can you Spare a Gallon, or Two?

I've been watching the price of gasoline go up again. Last Wednesday I went to work and noticed that unleaded regular was selling at $3.129 per gallon at the nearby truck stop. A mere 10 hours later I drove by and the price jumped 17 cents to $3.299. I was shocked! I had checked the futures earlier in the day and had not seen anything peculiar. I went ahead and went the the Shell station across the interstate. They were selling for $3.159, a bargain considering. I asked the clerk if he knew what happened. I expected him to say that a pipeline had ruptured or someone had slipped and fallen in the largest US refinery prompting a shutdown for months to allow for an extensive safety investigation. He didn't know about anything. All he knew was that his station was cheaper than the others in the area and felt like that would be rectified by the next morning.

It was, to the tune of $3.299 a gallon. The truck stop lowered their price to $3.199 a gallon.

Since then prices have dropped a little and have now stabilized. There is a little bad news though. I noticed yesterday that gasoline futures closed at $2.79 a gallon. By the time you add on taxes and profit we're going to be back at the $3.30+ area. Not good.

If gas continues to go up like this I will have to start cutting back. Lets see, I think the first thing to go is the lawn mower. I'll just let the oppressive Texas heat take care of it. I used to use gasoline to kill fire ants. That will have to stop too. Probably for the best though. That will give my hair a chance to grow back. (Not really! Just sounded good.)

My Brother-in-law borrowed the truck yesterday. When he brought it back he told me that he "...put a couple of gallons of gold in it." I said, "Just two? You could have filled it up!" Didn't work. He didn't offer to add any more.Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain. By this time next week $3.309 for gas may be cheap.

© 2008 Barry T Horst This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

FREE, FREE, FREE-2nd Installment

I don't know how many of you spend much time on the internet. I have found a lot of useful things in my time. I have signed up, joined up, and who knows what else.

Many years ago I found a couple of places on the web that let you answer surveys in return for receiving points that could be redeemed for merchandise and sometimes cash. They were Bonus Mail and My Points. A couple of years ago both of these sites merged and they're now called My Points Bonus Mail. Original! Anyway, Chris and I both have an account. In return for giving them a little of my information I get e-mails to read. I get points for each e-mail. If I take advantage of the offer in the e-mail I get even more points. It's not that bad. Since I have signed up we have received about a total of $200 in gas cards from Shell, Exxon, and BP; $150 in gift cards from JC Penney; and $200 in gift cards from Circuit City. The cards from Circuit City helped me get my HDTV last fall. Not Bad! If you shop and purchase from certain retailers on-line you also get points. Check them out here: MyPoints.

In an earlier blog I mentioned the many magazine subscriptions I get. I get them from FreeBizMag and from AdPerk. I have had several new magazines come in now.

If you are looking for free stuff, samples, and such; I go to Weekly Freebie. I subscribe to their e-mail and get the notice weekly. But you need to check them every Th ursday because they post a couple of other offers on the B-Side. You can also check out The Bargainer.

There are also a couple of survey sites that I belong to. In return for participating in surveys I receive money, gifts, and points redeemable for merchandise. I complete surveys for e-Rewards, MySurvey, and Synovate-Global Opinions Panel. It's pretty good. there have been times where we were involved in studies testing various products for manufacturers. We have tested cat food, dog food, shampoos, laundry detergent, deodorants, and many other items.
If you go to the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club site you can find samples. At Wal-Mart you have go to the In Stores Now tab and click on FREE Samples. At Sam's Club you have to click on the In Clubs Now tab and then look for any free samples. More free samples can be found at Start Sampling. You have to join that site to participate though.

Do you get Frequent Flyer Miles on your credit cards or from taking trips? Do you get enough to take more trips. If not try Points.com. I had several thousand AA points just laying around collecting dust. I used this site to trade them in for something useful; although, I can't remember what it was now.

These are just a few of the places on the internet that give samples, points, cash etc. I use them and have been very pleased with them. You may know of others. If so, share them.

PS--Want to make a little extra money? Write a blog like I do. I am sure that you have noticed the ads on my blog. By placing the ads on the blog the author receives payment for each ad that is clicked. The payment varies based on the ad, daily traffic to the blog, etc. I certainly will not be able to quit my day job, but it is fun. Oh, and don't forget the Blue Sunflower Collection. The stuff is not free, but it is fun to look.
© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.