Modern Polymath

All humbleness aside... I love being right.  I wrote this when oil futures closed at about $138 a barrel.  It peaked a few weeks later at just under $150.

Right now it's currently well under $110, and still think the slip isn't over.

Gas prices will come down.  That’s my prediction.  Will it happen immediately?  No.  Anytime soon?  Not sure.  But you know what?  We've hit a pretty big bubble here, and there is too much money to be made with gas that new ways to get it will come out.  (Actually, that has already started.  Remember the 70’s?)
This time next year, I'm sure we'll see gas at LESS than $4.50 a gallon.  Not the $5.00 or $6.00 a gallon all the harbingers are yelling.  Stop worrying so much.  I’ll still be driving my Lincoln Town Car.  And for those of you shaking your finger at me for contributing to Global Warming – You’ll thank me later when the start of this Ice Age becomes more apparent.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/738381/the_next_ice_age.html?cat=9
You know what I’ve learned?  Most people who worry about stuff really haven’t learned enough to worry about it with just cause.

Stop worrying; start learning.  You’ll quickly realize there is little you really know, and that worrying has little effect.

We are all feeling the pinch with gas prices, but an old practice that seemed to go by the wayside has reared it's ugly head again.  The "Discount for Cash".

You roll into a gas station, see an advertised price of $4.35 on the marquee, and decide it's a fair price.  You slide your Credit Card in the pump, and quick as a blink, the price changes to $4.48.  Then you notice somewhere, either on the pump or on the marquee that the advertised price is for cash purchases only.

Exactly that happened to me on my way back from Vegas at the Mobil Station in Buttonwillow.  Luckily I saw it (I'm sure most people don't.  As I was talking about it to the guy next to me, I think he fell for it, but didn't want to admit it.)  I hit cancel, and walked in and paid cash.  Had I been in my hometown and not in a hurry to get home, I would have pulled into a different gas station.

The reason I was on the lookout for it is because I fell for it about a month ago at the Shell station at March and I-5 in Stockton.  I walked in with my reciept, wondering if I had accidentally bought Premium gas.  The lady behind the bullet proof glass said with a smug look and attitude:  'Those prices are for cash purchases only.'  Yeah, the attitude didn't help.

I feel like that practice is dirty, underhanded, and misleading.  Gas stations that do that should be boycotted.  Don't fall for this, don't pay the extra money, and never go to that gas station again.  (At $0.13 per gallon extra, I would have saved money by going into the station and using my ATM to get cash out, then paying for the gas with that cash.)

I should see if my State Senator or Assemblywoman will sponsor a bill to make this practice illegal.

In an effort to make it easier for YOU to answer that burning question:  "I wonder what Micah is doing RIGHT NOW!?!", I have created a twitter account.

https://twitter.com/herrhepcat

Let me know if you have one, and I can stalk you back.... but you probably want to remain in the shadows.  I understand.  Stalking is much better that way... for everyone involved.

I was asked the following question, and though my answer was good enough to share:

Looking back on your life, of what are you most proud?

When I look back on my life, it's hard to put the pride I feel to one thing in particular, but I am proud of who I am. I can list off successes throughout my life that I'm proud of, and even failures from risks I am proud to have taken. I have lived an exciting life thus far, full of adventure and experience, and for that I am most thankful. I look forward to the adventures I have yet to take, the risks I'll make, and the learning experience from failure, and the benefits of success.