Woke up this morning and did a bit of a double take. Down in the Narrows, a dense ribbon of sea fog obscured our view of Mudge Island, the water, and everything up to sixty metres high over the water. It was flowing North to South down the channel at about 15 knots (My estimate)like a slow river of indistinct grey slurry. Above this line the sky was totally clear.
Very strange, but we've had a lot of low cloud and fog recently. The past two days have had sunny periods where it looks like God unzipped the clouds over the city for a few hours during the day just to see if everything was okay with Nanaimo, then zipped them right back up again at night.
Price of Gas is perplexing. Most Gas stations are selling it at 93.9, a rise of 19 cents from two weeks ago. Oil prices haven't gone up that much, so what in the hell is going on? Are the Gas companies trying to make some extra bucks before that idealistic fool the Americans have elected screws them with extra taxes to prevent the non existant 'global warming'? Shut up Jones, you've MSS to write. You promised Wife you would ignore the issue for a while and took a serious work break.
Today the Weather is a side issue, we're going to the movies to see 'Defiance' starring Daniel Craig.
Update: Gas prices seem to be associated with currency fluctuations affecting the Canadian Dollar....
Showing posts with label Gas Prices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gas Prices. Show all posts
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Things I never knew could happen
Price of gas locally has just edged below a dollar a litre which should make travelling a bit cheaper. Nice day, but quite brisk outside and I've started to wonder when the first low level snows will arrive. Friends who have lived on the island for some time are remarking that it feels distinctly colder this year.
Was watching some UK Webcams last night and found out that apparently it's illegal to walk through parts of London, England in fancy dress. Some people I know did this in the early hours of the morning (4am Pacific Standard Time, 12pm GMT) and were accosted by some council employees who 'arrested' them.
I don't get this. With all London's ethnic diversity, why was a group of apparently law abiding citizens thus treated? They chanted no slogans. They carried no placards. They brandished no weapons. They just walked, chatting to each other while some of them wore masks like these. They posed no threat to public order. What is going on over there?
Was watching some UK Webcams last night and found out that apparently it's illegal to walk through parts of London, England in fancy dress. Some people I know did this in the early hours of the morning (4am Pacific Standard Time, 12pm GMT) and were accosted by some council employees who 'arrested' them.
I don't get this. With all London's ethnic diversity, why was a group of apparently law abiding citizens thus treated? They chanted no slogans. They carried no placards. They brandished no weapons. They just walked, chatting to each other while some of them wore masks like these. They posed no threat to public order. What is going on over there?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Global what?
Had to smother a sceptical guffaw at the continued failure of the Weather to follow the computer models. Here on the island it's been pretty cool despite sunshine, and today is grey and damp. Over in the UK they are experiencing a dollop of the white stuff, which is unseasonably early, but not without precedent.
I know the 'warmista's' out there will hang onto their theory of anthropogenic climate change come what may, but it seems the climate has other ideas. Glad the price of gas is at 108.9 locally, although it would make life easier if it dropped down to below a dollar again. Time to wrap up warm.
I know the 'warmista's' out there will hang onto their theory of anthropogenic climate change come what may, but it seems the climate has other ideas. Glad the price of gas is at 108.9 locally, although it would make life easier if it dropped down to below a dollar again. Time to wrap up warm.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Winners & Losers
With the speculators taking a big hit it might just prove good news for the rest of us mere mortals. If they don't have the funds, they can't use panics to artificially inflate prices. Take for example the local gas prices, now down to 111.9 / litre, and oil price per barrel $60 ish. Elsewhere in Canada, this is dipping below the dollar a litre mark. This is good news because the rises that have been stoking the underlying inflation of food prices will slow down. For example; nine months ago, a 500g pack of thick sliced bacon was $5, now the same product has been seen around $8.29. I cite an example at the top of the price range (Premium product) but my grocery bills have gone up from $70-80 a week to $120 for roughly the same goods, so it's pretty much happened across the board, although if you're canny, you can keep the bills down to size (Not always possible with Wife in tow). These rises take an unwelcome extra bite out of the finances, I can tell you. Forty bucks here, another forty there. It all adds up.
In addition; immigration to Canada isn't a cheap business; every month brings new expenses. The latest item on the list is around three hundred and fifty bucks for a medical examination (Each). Took us a working day to track down which clinics did what (Loss of working time & pay), and who could fit us in on their list. Wife's new job is going through the full process, and it's like the old Cat Stevens number, 'Matthew and Son'. I think the lyric goes; "The works never done, there's always something new." So it is with immigration. Always something new.
On the other hand, when I negotiate past the false flags of nostalgia for Sunny early mornings on the Fosse Way and other Gloucestershire roads, I realise life for me in the UK wasn't as good as it is here. Less stress, fewer crowds. Just the weather alone is a compensation. Brilliant sunrises over the Islands, little traffic. Sometimes the silence can be deafening. When I walk Dog in the woods this morning, the only sounds will be a Sea Lion snouting and snorkelling as he hunts up and down the Narrows, one of the local Black Tailed Deer running away, Dog crashing through the underbrush and the sound of leaves falling.
Have been doing some work on my Sci-fi MSS "Sky full of stars", which grows by the day. Current word count, despite ditching paragraphs of unnecessary verbiage, is over 135,000 words. A tweak here, a sentence there, a single word change. It all adds up. One of these days it might even get finished.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Two good things about the current financial crisis
Two really good things about the current stock market falls;
Firstly, the price of gas has dropped from 129.9 to 117.9 in the past four days locally.
Secondly, all the whinging and bitching about 'Climate Change' seems to have dropped off the media's main agenda.
Wonder if the politicians will have the sense to drop the raft of ineffective and purely superficial 'green' tax plans as well. We can but hope. There's an election coming up, and although I can't vote, am not keen in seeing the NDP or Greens gain any more power. Canada can't afford them.
I don't own shares, so there's no tears shed there. We've spread our capital around a number of banks, so we won't lose if another one goes under, although we've been pretty careful where we stashed our savings. Wife and I have both got jobs. We're just hunkering down, continuing to work hard and waiting for the fiscal storms to pass.
Firstly, the price of gas has dropped from 129.9 to 117.9 in the past four days locally.
Secondly, all the whinging and bitching about 'Climate Change' seems to have dropped off the media's main agenda.
Wonder if the politicians will have the sense to drop the raft of ineffective and purely superficial 'green' tax plans as well. We can but hope. There's an election coming up, and although I can't vote, am not keen in seeing the NDP or Greens gain any more power. Canada can't afford them.
I don't own shares, so there's no tears shed there. We've spread our capital around a number of banks, so we won't lose if another one goes under, although we've been pretty careful where we stashed our savings. Wife and I have both got jobs. We're just hunkering down, continuing to work hard and waiting for the fiscal storms to pass.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Credibility and mainstream news sources
Having a wander through the news, I always make a point of avoiding the BBC amongst others, because I'll only find something to make me snarl at the screen and waste precious life seconds on their biased coverage of the news, if that's what they're still calling it.
What has happened to journalism? Where are the investigations to find the facts, the truthseeking, the veracity? Much of so called news nowadays from what I can see is heavily biased, sensationalised and easily 'fisked' (Checked for accuracy and found wanting). Sorry to be boring dear reader (I think I've got one), but let's look at this global warming mallarkey (All right, who said "Oh no not again" Go and stand in the corner and be quiet). The news outlets go on about the 'ice free' Arctic which led this guy to try and paddle his kayak to the North pole to highlight the problem about thinning ice at the poles (Antarctic ice has been thickening over the past few years, but no one seems to mention this). He got to just past 80 Degrees North (A good 600 miles short of his destination) and was widely applauded for being the person to get the furthest North ever by this method. Weeellll, not really. An earlier explorer managed it many years ago, 1893 I think and managed to get a shade further North to past 84 Degrees latitude. Nuclear Submarines have been surfacing fairly irregularly at or near the North pole since 1959 (USS Skate) in big open 'leads' or ice free areas of the polar ice pack even as early in the year as March. Yet this is not quoted on the 'news'. This article details how icebreakers reached the North Pole in 1977. Yet the fact that open water has been historically quite common during Summer at the North Pole is ignored, and each yearly ice melt held up as 'proof of global warming'. Well, maybe not this year, or last.
On some news channels, environmentalist press releases are almost parroted as gospel, when I know for a fact that many environmental groups lie, exaggerate and use hyperbole in a way that would make the most foppish romantic poet grit his teeth and scream "No more! Stop it! I'll go and get a real job!" before putting on a grey suit suit and training to become an Accountant.
To think I used to support these organisations with regular donations. No more. They lost their credibility back in the mid 1990's as far as I was concerned when I found a couple of environmental statements a bit far fetched and started doing my own research. I mean, I'm no scientist, but then neither are they if accuracy is anything to go by. For example, Greenpeace and the WWF continually bang on about the 'declining' Polar Bear population and how many of them are 'drowning'. Actually, the Bears themselves seem to be doing fine.
I chucked out the Television five years ago when I found the TV news continually patronising and insulting. It was all misinformation and froth. No one seemed to do any proper research on the background of stories any more. The news stopped being news, it was (and is) either highly sensationalised or religiously parrots the party line. Counterknowledge and pseudoscience have become the new wisdom.
Why does this bother me so much? Because I am (I like to think) a decent and relatively honest man (For a given value of 'honest'), and I hate being blatantly lied to, then taxed or ripped off on the basis of that lie and told it's "For my own good".
Rant over.
The Gas price locally is down almost to pre panic levels at 136.9 with crude bouncing around US$91-96 a barrel. Brent crude has been under US$90 a barrel earlier today, although I didn't take a screenshot. Last time I looked it was trading at US$91.90. I think I'll give it a couple more days until filling up again.
What has happened to journalism? Where are the investigations to find the facts, the truthseeking, the veracity? Much of so called news nowadays from what I can see is heavily biased, sensationalised and easily 'fisked' (Checked for accuracy and found wanting). Sorry to be boring dear reader (I think I've got one), but let's look at this global warming mallarkey (All right, who said "Oh no not again" Go and stand in the corner and be quiet). The news outlets go on about the 'ice free' Arctic which led this guy to try and paddle his kayak to the North pole to highlight the problem about thinning ice at the poles (Antarctic ice has been thickening over the past few years, but no one seems to mention this). He got to just past 80 Degrees North (A good 600 miles short of his destination) and was widely applauded for being the person to get the furthest North ever by this method. Weeellll, not really. An earlier explorer managed it many years ago, 1893 I think and managed to get a shade further North to past 84 Degrees latitude. Nuclear Submarines have been surfacing fairly irregularly at or near the North pole since 1959 (USS Skate) in big open 'leads' or ice free areas of the polar ice pack even as early in the year as March. Yet this is not quoted on the 'news'. This article details how icebreakers reached the North Pole in 1977. Yet the fact that open water has been historically quite common during Summer at the North Pole is ignored, and each yearly ice melt held up as 'proof of global warming'. Well, maybe not this year, or last.
On some news channels, environmentalist press releases are almost parroted as gospel, when I know for a fact that many environmental groups lie, exaggerate and use hyperbole in a way that would make the most foppish romantic poet grit his teeth and scream "No more! Stop it! I'll go and get a real job!" before putting on a grey suit suit and training to become an Accountant.
To think I used to support these organisations with regular donations. No more. They lost their credibility back in the mid 1990's as far as I was concerned when I found a couple of environmental statements a bit far fetched and started doing my own research. I mean, I'm no scientist, but then neither are they if accuracy is anything to go by. For example, Greenpeace and the WWF continually bang on about the 'declining' Polar Bear population and how many of them are 'drowning'. Actually, the Bears themselves seem to be doing fine.
I chucked out the Television five years ago when I found the TV news continually patronising and insulting. It was all misinformation and froth. No one seemed to do any proper research on the background of stories any more. The news stopped being news, it was (and is) either highly sensationalised or religiously parrots the party line. Counterknowledge and pseudoscience have become the new wisdom.
Why does this bother me so much? Because I am (I like to think) a decent and relatively honest man (For a given value of 'honest'), and I hate being blatantly lied to, then taxed or ripped off on the basis of that lie and told it's "For my own good".
Rant over.
The Gas price locally is down almost to pre panic levels at 136.9 with crude bouncing around US$91-96 a barrel. Brent crude has been under US$90 a barrel earlier today, although I didn't take a screenshot. Last time I looked it was trading at US$91.90. I think I'll give it a couple more days until filling up again.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Gas money
Was doing my tyre pressure at the local service station (Gas price down 4 cents at 144.9) when I was approached by a young woman. A student by the look, in her early 20's, and casual but smartly dressed by Canadian standards, who was begging for gas money "Excuse me, you got a twoonie?" (Canadian slang for a two buck piece) she asked. I was unable to help because I'd spent my last cash on a hot dog at lunchtime. Poor girl must have been desperate to ask.
The way the prices are behaving (Quick to go up, slow to come down) predisposes me to think that someone, somewhere up the gasoline supply chain is making money hand over fist. The damage and disruption caused by Hurricane (Tropical storm) Ike is less than expected and prices in Texas, where all the disruption was, only went up four cents per litre in some places.
The thought occurs that one tropical storm should not cause this big a price rise in so short a time. Has some company taken too big a financial hit with the stock market crash and is recouping their losses via higher gas prices? Wouldn't surprise me. Last I looked, the current price of crude was around the $90-93 mark per barrel. It's coming down for crying out loud. The refineries will be back up and running full steam by now, so what is going on?
Never mind, I'm busy MSS editing tomorrow, and I've got some phone calls to make and letters to write. I've really no need to go out at all. Will talk to Wife in the morning. That will calm me down.
The way the prices are behaving (Quick to go up, slow to come down) predisposes me to think that someone, somewhere up the gasoline supply chain is making money hand over fist. The damage and disruption caused by Hurricane (Tropical storm) Ike is less than expected and prices in Texas, where all the disruption was, only went up four cents per litre in some places.
The thought occurs that one tropical storm should not cause this big a price rise in so short a time. Has some company taken too big a financial hit with the stock market crash and is recouping their losses via higher gas prices? Wouldn't surprise me. Last I looked, the current price of crude was around the $90-93 mark per barrel. It's coming down for crying out loud. The refineries will be back up and running full steam by now, so what is going on?
Never mind, I'm busy MSS editing tomorrow, and I've got some phone calls to make and letters to write. I've really no need to go out at all. Will talk to Wife in the morning. That will calm me down.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Oil price per barrel down CDN$4.02*
....and the price of Gas locally is still 148.9 per litre. The Gas companies were quick enough to put the price up on only a rumour of hurricane damage.
Bloomberg site date and time: New York time, Sep 16th 00:24 updates here.
*Based on current exchange rates
Financial musings
I've been watching the news of the stock market crash in the US and UK with not a little disquiet. Wife and I got out of the UK almost at the peak of the property market, paid off the mortgage and invested our money carefully. No stocks or bonds, just a big wodge of cash earning steady interest at fixed interest in several of the larger banks, taking care to spread the load. We're still a bit nervous, but as they say, in a recession cash is king, and we have cash. We also have jobs. Our children's University courses are funded. So far so good. The family is safe. That is what counts.
Well, I'm not saying 'I told you so' but the UK economy is still, in my very staid and sombre economic view at least, horribly over inflated and has a way to go in a downwards direction. Even back in 2004 the writing was on the wall, it was only a question of how long the pressure was going to build before the bubble finally burst. You can only sell debt for so long. Even a comparative financial ignoramus like me could see that you couldn't float an economy on over inflated property values and credit cards forever.
At the time (2004-2006) we had Estate Agents (Realtors) soliciting us to sell so they could earn commission on the sale and so we could get a bigger mortgage for a bigger house, which we didn't really need. I shut down my business because I could see the way things were going in 2004, and took a day job to weather the inevitable financial storm. Turned out I was a bit previous as far as guessing the date of the crunch, but now the storm is with us, and we are hunkered down watching it pass.
There was plenty of warning in the markets, and I'm pretty sure the 'smart money' got out last year (2007) and went into precious metals because the price of gold soared as the UK gas price climbed above the #1GBP per litre mark. We were crossing the Trans Canada at the time, and keeping in touch with things via the various Wi-Fi points in Motels.
Some Neighbours of ours who put their house on the market shortly after we sold up are still on the market a year later at a reduced price. For less than we finally got, and they have a larger, more modern abode than we ever did. Notwithstanding, I feel for them and wish them well but in my heart I know they'll have to take another serious hit on the price before long if they still have to sell. My Brother bought into the district three years before prices peaked, so he won't be hurt too much.
Wife's ex, who she divorced back in the 1990's, is feeling the financial pain because all his stocks and shares have taken a palpable hit. We had some very snotty e-mails from him back in March regarding our Girls' higher education funding, but since we'd already taken care of 'the necessary' I fail to see what he was whinging about. Unless of course the Girls had been wheedling expensive stuff for 'Uni' out of 'Daddy', which, knowing them is pretty much par for the course. Hopefully, Wife and I have taught them a little frugality, and the world will teach them a little more. They both have jobs and support themselves, and I think will not be coming out of University with a first class degree and massive debts, just a First. That will put them ahead of their peers. I approve.
Here on Vancouver Island I am still perplexed that Gas prices locally are still at the 148.9 marker, yet oil has sunk below the $100 a barrel mark and dropping. Screenshot taken at 20:09 New York time 15th September 2008.
What the markets will do in Canada is another thing, and I don't know enough about them to even hazard an opinion. All I know is if you put the price of one thing up, it will have a knock on effect. No price or tax rise can ever be 'revenue neutral'. The UK is currently paying the price for thinking of that nature.
Well, I'm not saying 'I told you so' but the UK economy is still, in my very staid and sombre economic view at least, horribly over inflated and has a way to go in a downwards direction. Even back in 2004 the writing was on the wall, it was only a question of how long the pressure was going to build before the bubble finally burst. You can only sell debt for so long. Even a comparative financial ignoramus like me could see that you couldn't float an economy on over inflated property values and credit cards forever.
At the time (2004-2006) we had Estate Agents (Realtors) soliciting us to sell so they could earn commission on the sale and so we could get a bigger mortgage for a bigger house, which we didn't really need. I shut down my business because I could see the way things were going in 2004, and took a day job to weather the inevitable financial storm. Turned out I was a bit previous as far as guessing the date of the crunch, but now the storm is with us, and we are hunkered down watching it pass.
There was plenty of warning in the markets, and I'm pretty sure the 'smart money' got out last year (2007) and went into precious metals because the price of gold soared as the UK gas price climbed above the #1GBP per litre mark. We were crossing the Trans Canada at the time, and keeping in touch with things via the various Wi-Fi points in Motels.
Some Neighbours of ours who put their house on the market shortly after we sold up are still on the market a year later at a reduced price. For less than we finally got, and they have a larger, more modern abode than we ever did. Notwithstanding, I feel for them and wish them well but in my heart I know they'll have to take another serious hit on the price before long if they still have to sell. My Brother bought into the district three years before prices peaked, so he won't be hurt too much.
Wife's ex, who she divorced back in the 1990's, is feeling the financial pain because all his stocks and shares have taken a palpable hit. We had some very snotty e-mails from him back in March regarding our Girls' higher education funding, but since we'd already taken care of 'the necessary' I fail to see what he was whinging about. Unless of course the Girls had been wheedling expensive stuff for 'Uni' out of 'Daddy', which, knowing them is pretty much par for the course. Hopefully, Wife and I have taught them a little frugality, and the world will teach them a little more. They both have jobs and support themselves, and I think will not be coming out of University with a first class degree and massive debts, just a First. That will put them ahead of their peers. I approve.
Here on Vancouver Island I am still perplexed that Gas prices locally are still at the 148.9 marker, yet oil has sunk below the $100 a barrel mark and dropping. Screenshot taken at 20:09 New York time 15th September 2008.
What the markets will do in Canada is another thing, and I don't know enough about them to even hazard an opinion. All I know is if you put the price of one thing up, it will have a knock on effect. No price or tax rise can ever be 'revenue neutral'. The UK is currently paying the price for thinking of that nature.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Latest oil price
Just popped over to Bloomberg for the price update. The above screenshot was taken at 15:39 New York time 14th September 2008. Gas prices at the pump up, gas prices at the refinery down. Huh?
Updated prices can be found via this link.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Ye cats!
Got a bit of a shock this evening. When I went out around six, gas prices at the local station was 135.9. On my way home I saw it at 148.9. What in Satans left trouser leg is going on?
Hurricane Ike is now downgraded to a 'Tropical Storm' but there are still rumours of widespread damage in Galveston. There also seems to be a panic over the 14 refineries and two strategic reserve sites that were temporarily closed by the storm driving prices through the roof. According to Bloomberg, crude is still roughly the same with the WTI spot up at just over $101 a barrel, but Brent Crude down below that at a shade over $95. Here's a screenshot of Bloomberg.com updated 14:00 New York time today.
No doubt it will take another three or four months for the price to drift down to a half way reasonable level. Someone is playing monopoly with the Gas prices. I wish they'd stop.
Hurricane Ike is now downgraded to a 'Tropical Storm' but there are still rumours of widespread damage in Galveston. There also seems to be a panic over the 14 refineries and two strategic reserve sites that were temporarily closed by the storm driving prices through the roof. According to Bloomberg, crude is still roughly the same with the WTI spot up at just over $101 a barrel, but Brent Crude down below that at a shade over $95. Here's a screenshot of Bloomberg.com updated 14:00 New York time today.
No doubt it will take another three or four months for the price to drift down to a half way reasonable level. Someone is playing monopoly with the Gas prices. I wish they'd stop.
Kicking back
Wife is away until 24th. I keep busy. My superiors are pleased with my work, and the sun is shining. This means a new pair of polarised sunglasses have been purchased to counteract the glare off the hood of our little SUV.
Today's task is waxing and polishing. More glare. Sunglasses will help.
The price of gas locally has only slipped down a cent. With the cost of a barrel of crude dipping below the $100 a gallon mark (and not before time) someone in the supply chain is making money hand over fist. Maybe I don't quite understand the full economics of it, but to my mind, the price of gas is quick to go up, but very slow to come down. Local legend has it as tripling in the last two years.
This fits in with my experience; 2002 was spent in Ontario and Quebec. Price of gas taken from an old 35mm photo of us posing by our hire car at a service station - $0.63 a litre. Summer 2007 saw prices of $0.99 a litre on the trans Canada and around $1.08 on this part of Vancouver Island. Closest local gas station at the time of writing is $1.35 (Was $1.36 until Thursday). It has a way to go down, but down it will go, despite what all the doom mongers say.
Am taking a break from the tedious business of MSS editing. It's not as though I have a buyer at the moment, so, kicked back, no rush. It's how these things go.
Today's task is waxing and polishing. More glare. Sunglasses will help.
The price of gas locally has only slipped down a cent. With the cost of a barrel of crude dipping below the $100 a gallon mark (and not before time) someone in the supply chain is making money hand over fist. Maybe I don't quite understand the full economics of it, but to my mind, the price of gas is quick to go up, but very slow to come down. Local legend has it as tripling in the last two years.
This fits in with my experience; 2002 was spent in Ontario and Quebec. Price of gas taken from an old 35mm photo of us posing by our hire car at a service station - $0.63 a litre. Summer 2007 saw prices of $0.99 a litre on the trans Canada and around $1.08 on this part of Vancouver Island. Closest local gas station at the time of writing is $1.35 (Was $1.36 until Thursday). It has a way to go down, but down it will go, despite what all the doom mongers say.
Am taking a break from the tedious business of MSS editing. It's not as though I have a buyer at the moment, so, kicked back, no rush. It's how these things go.
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