Random musings & an ethical dilemma

"His speedos must be cutting off the blood supply to his brain." Detective Alex Eames, "Zoonotic".

Our gas prices in WA are amongst the highest in the nation. I believe ours are the 4th highest. I know that our European friends and neighbors to the north in Canada have been paying an arm, a leg and half the other arm for gas for years, and I know they think, "suck it up America, welcome to our world." Still, the prices are shockingly high considering we are used to paying $1.50 a gallon.

Add to that a gas tax that the Governor slipped in last year, a .03 gallon increase each year for the next 4 years. The voters supported a petition to repeal it in the November, 2005 election, but the State put out TV ads stating what could happen to various roads & bridges were we to have a huge earthquake, and comparing our roads/bridges to those that failed in San Francisco in the 1989 quake. The voters got scared and ended up voting to keep the tax.

Last night I went to the Chevron station to put in $25 worth of gas in my car. I don't fill the tank anymore because I refuse to pay over $25 a week. The station's sign said $3.01 for regular unleaded. The pump I pulled up to still said $2.95. As I gassed up, I was torn. 99.9% of the time, I am extremely honest. I will go out of my way to point out incorrect change that's in my favor, or if something is priced higher than it scans. The right thing to do was to go inside and tell them that the pump didn't get recalibrated. On the other hand, that station charges .50 for air, and after big oil announced record profits last year, I decided, screw 'em. My savings only ended up to be a whopping .48, but since we had to use air for one of my tires a few weeks ago, technically I'm still .02 in the red.

I happened to mention to my hubby that I could tell I lost some weight (I've been cutting back and working out) because my clothes are really loose. Without thinking and trying to be supportive, he blurts out, "Yeah I noticed this morning that your ass seemed smaller". I shot him a look and raised my eyebrows. He got a mortified look on his face and started to stammer, "Not that I'm saying your ass looked big before....um....I mean....it's just that this morning....um" I said, "The correct phrase is, 'honey, you look like you've lost weight'."