East Nashville Weirdness

So in taking a turn from my usual seriousness and politics I'm writing today about an odd experience I had last week. I had been out to a bar and had a few drinks with some friends and decided it was time to head home. On my trek along Gallatin Road home I decided I needed a gatorade and promptly stopped at Inglewood Drive-In Market. I have been into this market on numerous occasions and it's always been a bit sketchy but this particular night took the cake. I'm standing in line to pay and a guy walks in with no shirt on, soiled jeans, prison tattoos and a greasy mop of hair. He's holding a 40oz of bud ice and is so completely fucked up he's spilling it all over the floor. He goes directly to the counter and says, "Hey dude, can I get y'all to turn on the water out back? I need to wash my feet." The guy behind the counter politely says, "You're not washing your fucking feet here. Get the fuck out of my store." The guy looks a little bummed out, but walks out the door. I ask the guy behind the counter what the hell that was all about and he tells me he has no idea who that guy is or why he wants to wash his feet. He says stuff like that happens there every night. So I purchase my beverage and walk out to my car only to have the foot washing fetish guy standing right next to me and he proceeds to ask me, "Hey man, you got any empty beer bottles in your car?" I simply say no and get in my car and leave. As I'm pulling away I see the guy behind the counter come out and start yelling for the guy to leave and the guy starts yelling back. I have no idea how this bizarre event ended, but I can only imagine. Maybe the man behind the counter had a change of heart and decided to let a poor fellow down on his luck wash his feet. Maybe I was a victim of a prank being pulled off by two friends. Who knows.

Oil Update

I heard a bit on the radio today that while America has pretty good records of oil supply and demand; the rest of the world has little data recorded on oil demand and the oil producers tend to lie about their supply/production. Therefore, we literally don't know what the world's oil supply or demand is. Does this seem completely fucked up to anyone else?

Oil, Black Gold, Texas Tea

Ah, yes. Oil. The viscous fossil fuel that's costing each of us thousands per year. We keep hearing that the price of oil is rising because of an increase in demand and a decrease in supply. Is this really true or are we being fucked at the gas pump? I've been doing some research and the answers aren't exactly clear. Here are a few findings of mine:

1. The low value of the American dollar has attributed to our rise in fuel costs.

2. Earnings for oil companies for the 1st quarter of 2008 were up over the first quarter of 2007. As an example, BP's 2008 1st quarter profit had increased 63% over the 1st quarter of 2007.

3. Drilling in ANWAR and stateside would greatly benefit Bush's cronies but likely won't help our situation any. We don't have the refining capacity and haven't built a refinery in this country since 1972.

4. Increased demand from developing countries such as China and India has attributed to the rise in fuel costs. However, oil speculators are an even bigger reason that prices have risen.