Let me be the first to (sarcastically) thank the oligarchs—whether they be the Russian ruling class or one-percent of people holding the most wealth—for rushing to grub as much money as possible from we whom they regard as chattel. The invasion of Ukraine, and the West’s (ah-hum) finger-wagging recriminating sanctions, couldn’t possibly have disrupted the flow of oil yet. But why wait, when profits are to be had and war is a convenient excuse for puffing them.
Yesterday, regular, unleaded gasoline sold for $4.46 a gallon at all three of my San Diego neighborhood’s three economy filling stations. That’s cash price; credit costs more. As you can see from the Featured Image, price is now $4.70. That shocker greeted my wife and I this morning when we stopped to top off the tank.
Anticipating such happenstance, and how rising fuel prices would trickle increases all along the supply chain, we rushed out for a massive food shopping; better to stock up for less than pay more later. We’re not hoarders or preppers but pragmatists. Because: Cost creep is everywhere. At Aldi, for example, the house brand cornflakes that Annie likes sells for 39-percent more than our last visit (about 10 days ago). Over at Costco, butter costs more per pound than the 85-15 ground beef chubs that we bought from Smart and Final two days ago. I mean, seriously? Butter? More than meat?
Food shopping is finished because, to reiterate, we aren’t prepping for nuclear winter. Nevertheless, this will be a big buying weekend in other categories. I am making a list of things that we would want sometime this year and purchasing the items immediately. Even more supply chain disruption could occur; rising prices are all but certainty. Minutes matter, because there is opportunity for someone, somewhere to cushion margins ahead of the rising costs of doing business. Please feel free to wait and pay more. We won’t, and I regret procrastinating yesterday instead of filling up at the pump. Lesson learned.
I used iPhone 13 Pro for the night shot—a little more than an hour ago, at 7:59 p.m. PST. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/40 sec, 77mm.