F*CK OPEC!

Bend over and give the "man" more of your money
So has anyone noticed the price of gas lately? A few years ago my broker told me that when gas prices went up, I was making money. When I asked him last month if I was making any money he said I wasn't "in" oil any more. I nearly had a heart attack.

I live in Silicon Valley where oil companies think I have nothing better to do than spend my entire bank account on gas. My girlfriend Jane and I kid about how we have chosen gas over food this week. For me, I have to choose between my son's medical coverage and gas. The plan (stop laughing, God) was to buy Anthem Blue Cross as of the first of the year but gas was going up fast because of unrest first in Tunisia, then Algeria followed immediately by Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, ANYONE WHO PRODUCES OIL was having a moment and gas prices shot through the f*cking roof!

I'M NOT MADE OF MONEY! I'm on disability for a very legitimate reason. My income is fixed. Gas prices are not. Further, I've recently won two major court cases and now owe two lawyers my left butt cheek. Did I mention my daughter is coming home for good from boarding school and despite her permanent disability is not getting paid by SSI so I get to pay for more with the same? In other words, there isn't a mani or pedi in sight.

I'm already pulling rabbits out of my hat as it is just to make ends meet. When she comes home, I'm going to need a miracle, sign or wonder to get from month to month. Did I mention I have to WAIT TWO YEARS just for an SSI appeal hearing? Oh yeah, she qualifies for permanent disability and I have the doctor and education reports to prove it but TWO YEARS?

Then there's the trickle-down theory. Not the one where the wealth gets down to us minions eventually. No. I mean inflation. Gas prices go up. Suppliers pay more to move merchandise then EVERYTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE. Basics such as milk, bread, eggs, fruits, vegetables, Starbucks (gasp) are getting astronomical. I mean my venti chai tea latte is fast approaching $4. What the hell? I need my latte!!! I remember walking into Smart and Final and noticed my Soy milk nearly doubled from one week to the next. I'm lactose intolerant but not at those prices. Now I drink regular milk with lactaid pills.

But seriously, employers aren't exactly being generous with pay raises according to my friends who work. This also is the second year the feds got out of paying SSDI/SSA/SSI a COLA because of some screwed up economic formula I don't quite understand and my brain hurts just thinking about it. Something about the GDP not increasing. WHATEVER.

My kids want a big vacation. Even years I schedule housekeeping in Yosemite National Park but even that is nearly $100/night. It used to be affordable. Odd years we reserve a week in our Maui timeshare. Forget that. I haven't been able to afford the annual maintenance fees so I can't make a reservations. Even if I could make reservations, I can't afford to eat or rent a car. Anyone who's been to Hawaii knows you have to budget at least $5k for air, car, food, incidentals, etc. My legal fees have nearly exhausted my brokerage IRA so staycation it is.

I'll probably take the kids to Santa Cruz beach sans the boardwalk, Carmel, Golden Gate park and the Natural History Museum, DeYoung Museum, Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, Mt. Hamilton and Lick Observatory, a picnic at Lake Del Valle, etc. Sounds great, right? However, the gas and entry fees alone will kill me. Time was the aforementioned itinerary was affordable, reasonable, a poor man's vacation. Not any more.

I know it's not as bad as the great depression but I wasn't alive then so it FEELS like the great depression and I have major depression.

In closing, stop the world. I want to get off.

How's your wallet doing?