inflation at the pump...

I am so annoyed about the cost of fuel going up on a daily basis. I stopped three times on the drive from Valdosta to Col. yesterday to buy a few gallons at the time. I'd see that my gas gauge was inching down to the last little square. And not wanting to be taking a stroll along the right-of-way, miles from anywhere. Against my will, I'd stop at the next high-priced pump and get two or three gallons. Enough to get me on my way, when I am getting a minimum forty mpg. But not enough to see  my way clear to the house... therefore knowing I'd be stopping again.

I started off with $15 in Valdosta. Which at that masked bandit price, was barely over three gallons. Up I-75  to Tifton, and on to Albany, where it was even higher than 'hold-up' prices. So went on to Dawson, where I remembered it was about twenty cents less than south Georgia. And had to stop again in Columbus, at wally world (3cents off) to fill up. For a fresh start today.

This is all kind of like when you are tooling along on the interstate, and traffic precipitously slows to twelve miles an hour for no apparent reason. Then suddenly everyone is speeding up again to seventy plus, for no apparent reason.... Nothing at all visible on the road, or along the right-of-way to indicate the reason for everyone stomping on the breaks. No reason for slowing to a crawl, then getting to a point that you are whizzing along at the speed of sound.

So - a similar thing is going on with gas. What 'world wide' incident caused this instantaneous rise at the pump? What earth-shattering imbalance in the cost of a barrel of crude has created this sudden change? What dramatic event in global politics brings about this steep increase at the retail level?  I think that the convenience store workers all have binoculars, and periodically go out the door to peer down the street, checking the sign on the next corner, to know how much to raise their prices. And they should all be wearing masks, looking like the Lone Ranger, as the price of gas is definitely a form of banditry.