Back To School

Well, I'm back from summer vacation. I didn't originally intend to take the entire summer off from this blog, and in fact have several posts in my files that I began to write, but never quite got around to finishing. In the coming days, I will be completing those posts that are still relevant and posting them here. Thanks for your patience and for those that have been checking back periodically for signs of life from the Debt Daddy.

In the meantime, I hope you'll join with me in sending prayers and good thoughts to the people who's lives have been turned upside down by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. And of course, if you can donate anything to the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army or any other relief agency that might be down there, that'd be great as well. I'm sure alot of folks in Texas and Louisiana are gonna need our help.

In addition, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to need to help ourselves a bit more. Ike did a pretty good job of screwing with some of our major oil refineries, and the fear of what effect that might have on our already strained economy is pushing up the price of gas at the pump. We've gotta buckle down and stretch our gas dollars further. Only making those car trips that are necessary is the easiest option. Personally, I've been trying to strategize my daily work and errands so I can take care of as many things as possible while at the same time driving as short a distance as I can.

But we should also never forget the power of car pooling and ride sharing. I always used to think that the idea of car pooling first came into being during the Carter Administration, when we were dealing with another fuel crisis, leading to long lines at the pump, only being allowed to buy gas on certain days, etc.

Turns out I was mistaken. I was doing some research for another post, and came across this poster that dates back to World War II. Check it:




So, while many will say that the idea of conservation is just a lot of new fangled, liberal, pinko hooey, let's just remember that it was good enough for the U.S. Government Office of Price Administration in 1943 (of course, that was before the U.S. Government started giving tax credits for buying SUV's, but think about it - we WON World War II, didn't we? Maybe they had the right idea.)

Anyway, that's my thought for today.

Back atcha later.