Sometime back I published an article about how before the elections of 2010, the gasoline prices in the U.S. had been held at a government orchestrated below market price. Just a few months after the elections were over the price at the pump began a gradual rise to where we are today. It just amazes me how when the price of a barrel of oil increases on the market, within 24 hours it is reflected at the pumps. Then on the other hand, when the price for a barrel of oil decreases on the open market, it takes several days for the decrease to be reflected at the pump. We each and everyone silently question this, but unfortunately we never speak out to be heard. Let’s face it, the way they are conducting business with oil and gas in our nation borders on criminality.

Just think of it this way. A small gas station usually has four 10,000 gallon tanks of fuel in the ground. The four tanks consist of regular, plus, premium and finally diesel. If the price of oil increases at the end of trading on the stock market, by that evening the night clerk is out changing the price per gallon on their signage. Now wait a minute, no new priced fuel has been put into the stations tanks. How does the fuel remaining in those huge tanks require a cost change. It was purchased at the cheaper price. RIGHT? Actually, before the new price can legally be charged, the higher priced fuel has to be in those tanks, but it is the fuel that was purchased at the old or cheaper price. How much profit is the retailer making selling the cheaper fuel at the new increased rate?

Now, like today the price has decreased considerably per barrel. But in most cases we will not see this reduction at the pump until the more expensive fuel is depleted and replenished with the lower priced fuel. Many stations will lower the price by just a few cents per gallon to make it appear good business practice, until the cheaper fuel is delivered into their tanks and then we see a real decrease per gallon. As far as a retailer, it can be a win, win situation with the ups and downs of the market.

Let’s discuss why the price per barrel has gone down. Mr. obama and our leaders allowed our strategic oil reserves to be released for the common peoples use. Very few Americans understand these oil reserves. These reserves are our back up fuel encase of an emergency and for military use encase of all out war. It’s kind of like your rainy day money savings account. But, if you decide to use it, you no longer have it, if and when you need it. Now what do you do if an emergency arises. I just pray the government does not have to cross this bridge.

We are in this mess because of the knee jerk reactions taken by obama with the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. He single handedly shut down the drilling and production in the Gulf and also on the Alaskan North Slope! Most people do not realize that these two areas produce ¾ of the oil and gas we use in the United States. Most Americans also do not realize that just before these reserves were released for use, that OPEC had agreed and had told the world leaders that they were going to open the TAP and release to the world more oil. Now, the U.S. administration has upset the OPEC leaders with what they did and these are a group of individuals that you don’t want to piss off! The question I have to ask is why tap our reserves, knowing OPEC was going to release more production?

Why? Only time will tell and I’m afraid the answer will not be what we want to hear as a NATION. If your old enough to remember the gasoline crisis we had in this country as well as the world back in the 80’s then you will realize that the only reason it was not worse than it was is because of our strategic oil reserves. These reserves saw us through a very tough time. Are we fixing to have an emergency need for these reserves? If so, WE as a nation are in serious trouble and my friends that is spelled with a capital T.

 I tried and tried to leave the comment section of this page open to any and all wanting to place a comment on any article. Unfortunately there are too many users that will and did take advantage of this feature. You see, there are individuals and companies that sell computer robotic services. What are these robotic services you ask? These computer robots, search all over the web for open web pages, to ply their services. They really like unrestricted comment areas on a web page. They are able to fill in bogus names and email addresses, but a real URL address. When the comment is posted the URL is real and the customer who is paying for this service is banking on you the reader to click on this website. In other words, it’s like an advertisement for their web page and they are using a free medium to advertise. It’s SPAM! The same stuff we all deal with every time we open our emails. I hope you don’t have the 200 or so spam emails like I do each and every day!! I’m so tired of this and all I know to do is hit delete all. These companies or should I refer to them as criminals, spend money to obtain our email addresses and then turnaround and sell them to spammers. I know because, I have been approached by these criminals, attempting to purchase my bank of email address. I probably have 2000 to 3000 email addresses and will NEVER sell or give these to anyone.

 But, there is hope for those of us with web pages and blog pages and it is a simple word press plug in. If you spend any time on the internet, you’ll recognize the name of this plug in. It’s called CAPTCHA. The CAPTCHA is a box that uses a background design with letters and numbers that have to be entered by a user to access certain items on a web page. They range in difficulty from simple to very difficult in design. Remember the web-bots? Well, at the moment they are unable to configure these CAPTCHA codes and are not granted access to certain areas of a web page. I’m sure the internet criminals are working on hacking this as soon as they can, but for now we are safe with this CAPTCHA system and it works very well.

 I apologize to all my readers for the inconvenience of the CAPTCHA code. Allow me to give you some idea of what this has done to help me and this blog page. I was receiving 200 to 350 comments everyday and I reviewed each and every one to determine if real and publish worthy. After installing the CAPTCHA code, I receive 10 to 20 comments per day. This one fix has given me at least 3 free hours daily, that I can actually work on new articles.  I’ve had several people ask how I keep the spam from my page. I now let CAPTCHA code do it for me and life has gotten easier! So, HAIL CAPTCHA Code!!!

 Has your vehicle failed its emissions test? Replacing or repairing your car or truck just got easier. The AirCheck Texas emissions test inspects to see if your vehicle is generating higher levels of air pollution than it should. This is done each year when you have your vehicle state inspected. Your vehicle inspection report will detail why it passed or failed.

 You MUST repair the problem that caused your vehicle to fail. After repairs are made, take your vehicle back to the same inspection station within 15 days of your first inspection for a FREE retest. If you qualify, AirCheck Texas Drive a Clean Machine can help you with money towards repair or replacement of your vehicle.

 Replacement assistance is available on the following: 

$3,000 for a car, current model year or up to three model years old – ( 2011, 2010, 2009 )

$3,000 for a truck, current model year or up to two model years old – ( 2011, 2010 )

$3,500 for a hybrid vehicle, current or previous model year – ( 2011, 2010 )

 Repair assistance is available on the following:

Up to $600 for emissions-related repairs performed by emissions repair facilities recognized by the Texas Department of Public Safety ( DPS )

 >To be eligible to receive assistance with repair or replacement your vehicle MUST be registered in one of these participating counties: 

 The Austin Program Area: Travis or Williams counties

 Dallas-Fort Worth Program Area: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall or  Tarrant counties.             

 Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Program Area: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston Harris, or Montgomery counties.

 >You must meet these 2008 net income requirements:  * (Family Size) -   *(Maximum Net Income)

1 – $31,200   2 – $42,000   3 – $52,800  4 – $63,600  5 – $74,400  6 – 85,200  7 – $96,000  8 – 106,800

If you have more family members than this you need to have your own television show!

 Your vehicle MUST meet these conditions:

>Failed an emissions test

>Registered in your program area for at least 12 consecutive months preceding your application

>For REPAIR assistance – Passed the safety portion of the DPS motor-vehicle safety and emissions inspection and driven under its own power to the inspection station.

>For REPLACEMENT assistance – Passed a DPS motor-vehicle safety and emissions inspection within 15 months of your application and driven under its own power to the automobile dealership.

>Is at least 10 years old and gasoline powered

>Driven under its own power to the automobile dealership

>Registered in your program area for at least 12 consecutive months preceding your application, and

>Passed a DPS motor vehicle safety inspection ( if more than 24 years old ) or

>Passed a safety and emissions inspection ( if 24 years old or less ) within 15 months of your application.

 For further assistance you may call toll free 800-913-3321 or visit www.driveacleanmachine.org

 I’m as pro-environmental as the next person, but when I start thinking about these electric cars and do just a little research, I begin to get a little suspicious. To begin with, allow me to give a short history lesson. Here in the U.S, we used to generate our electrical power using an abundant and one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels known to mankind. Our electric generation plants were fueled by natural gas. During the Carter (Jimmy) administration all of that changed. The electrical generation plants were mandated to change from natural gas to COAL fired operation. This use of coal has so many negative impacts that it just boggles the mind. To mine the coal, defaces our EARTH and to burn this coal, destroys our ATMOSPHERE!  No political or environmental group has ever once said, “let’s change back to natural gas for electrical generation and save our planet.” One 12 hour period of coal burning power generation produces more atmospheric pollutants than the operation of every vehicle in the U.S. for 7 days! Do I need to repeat that statement?

 Now the “experts” say we have to go to electrical vehicles to SAVE OUR PLANET! This is an absolute misconception! First, the electric vehicles are more expensive to manufacture and  purchase and that’s just the beginning! At the moment, the batteries being used in today’s electric cars are definitely NOT environmentally friendly. I might be stupid, but I view these batteries to the same degree as nuclear waste. Go ahead laugh! Now, think about it! What is done with these batteries at the end of their life span? How will they be properly disposed of and what will this disposal cost each of us in the long run? What is their pollution factor, now and in the future!?

 Remember our COAL fired generation plants? Let’s take a city the size of Houston, Texas. Let’s say half of the vehicles are electrically powered and need to be recharged each day. When everyone plugs their cars in at the end of a day, the power plants need to at the very least, triple power generation to cover the grid use! In one hour of increased power production with coal, the byproduct has polluted the atmosphere 4 times more than what was saved with one days use of those same electric vehicles!

 Does this make perfect sense to you? Ask yourself! Where does the money go and what does money BUY! We unfortunately have bought into the experts! I hope this article will make you think for just a minute! When the bell goes off, DO something about it. Speak up and be heard!!! The big push for electrical cars is the typical knee jerk reaction of our government and our experts! All it takes is just a few minutes of informed thought to see this is not the environmental fix that we need! Electric vehicles are not the great cure all for our environment! In fact they may cause more harm than good and in more ways than one.

What a year we had in 2010. Some good days and some bad days. I hope everyone reading this brought in the new year responsibly and awakened 01/01/2011 refreshed and ready to get started into the new year. What does the new year hold for each of us? Do you sometimes wish you knew? At times I wish I could foresee the future, but then I would miss all the unexpected surprises that arise. Through the years I have slowly changed my attitude for the future and how to prepare. Most people in my age group were taught to save and save for the future. In the last couple of years we have seen what can happen to all those savings. All the sacrifices to scrimp and save vanish overnight or in the blink of an eye. The economic down turn, a dishonest company or a catastrophic medical event with yourself or a loved one. All of a sudden its all gone. Nothing, nada, nicht, just gone. We hear that because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 the world as we know it may be ending. Several religious zealots are saying the world will end this year, 2011. I take all of this as another Y2K prediction. Do you remember Y2K? To me all of this is about the same as global warming! How many people bought into Y2K? How many people, governments and corporations have bought into global warming? Now, how many are buying into the Mayan calendar?

Here’s what I think for what ever it means. My Father is 93 years old and has lived an incredible life. Dads outlook on life is that everyday is a good day when he opens his eyes from a nights sleep and can get up out of bed. He says, “The Lord has blessed me with another day and I will use that day to do the best I can.” Now that’s an outlook we can all live by, I truly believe. Take each day as it comes. Do the best we can with what we have. Plan for tomorrow, but tomorrow is the next day and not 5, 10 or 20 years down the road. Live each day as it comes and make the best out of that day we can. Reach out and help someone, a total stranger even. Do something good

What do I mean by this title? Well, we are entering a stage of consumerism that I believe is presently uncharted. Article after article discuss the new wave of consumer. Who is this new consumer? Well, the experts predict that 29% and growing of the American consumer is strapped with over $150,000.00 of student loan debt! Of these individuals with degrees, only 30 percent are actually working in the field of their degreed expertise. The remainder of these individuals have either taken jobs just to get by or are unemployed. There has been a 38 percent increase of 28 to 35 year old individuals actually moving back home with Mom and Dad. This trend actually includes wives and children, an entire family. Today the only thing a college degree means is that “YOU” are in debt! The only real change with the bankruptcy law is you still owe your student loans, No Matter What! There is another group of individuals that are attempting to live with over $100,000.00 and more in credit card debt alone. The interest rates for a credit card averages 9 to 27 percent interest. This amount of credit card debt is actually an unpayable amount. Think about it! Do you find yourself in this situation?

The United States Government bailed out numerous large corporations recently. The thought was an economic stimulus. The only thing the bail outs did was stimulate the payment of year end bonuses to CEO’s and management. Payment of bonuses to the same individuals that created the downfall of that particular company. Only in America. Right? Wrong, this actually went on world wide.

Banks and lending institutions just recently raised the individual credit score tiers. Used to, if you had a FICO credit score of 650, you were still able to obtain a loan at a decent interest rate. Just recently that score has been raised to 700 FICO score and this is considered bottom tier of the credit scale. Unfortunately today 47 percent of Americans have FICO credit scores of 510 and less. What does this mean in simple terms? In simple terms this means that to obtain a loan, an individual will pay higher and higher interest rates for that loan! They may even be denied the loan!

We are witnessing today the slow decay of the “Middle Class” American. At some point in time the government has to realize, that with the demise of the middle class American worker, there will no longer be people to pay the taxes that government needs to operate. The poor or those on government assistance do not pay taxes. The super rich have loopholes so as not to pay too much in taxes. So what happens? I’m not sure I want to think about it right now. All I will say is, that as long as everything continues as is now, the future looks very bleak. Is there a way to repair this problem? The answer to this is, YES!!!!!!! First, the leaders, lawmakers and politicians; our entire government needs to change it’s ways of thinking. The people need to be put first for a change and not those that contribute to the political machines. We need to take care of ourselves before we take care of the world!!!!! We need to fix our problems before we attempt to fix the world‘s problems. Politicians need to listen to the people and make positive changes. Our economy does not need a bandaid. We need to do complete surgery and fix the problem once and for all. Today and not Tomorrow!

I want your comments on this article. Don’t give any generic remarks or some B.S. to just put your website out there. If you do I have a very quick delete button! I want some real feedback about this article. Let me hear from you! Speak out, we need to!

 This was just brought to my attention and I must say, “ I’ve never considered this scenario.” I hope this will give every reader something to think about with all our new electronic technology.

 The story goes, a few weeks ago a couple had their vehicle broken into while attending a football game. Things stolen from the vehicle included a garage door opener, some money and a GPS devise which had been left in plain view on the dashboard. When the victims returned home they found their house broken into and ransacked. Any and everything of value had been stolen. The thieves had used their GPS devise to guide them to the house. They knew that the home owner would be gone for some time because of being at the football game. They had used the garage door opener to gain access to the house. Because of the football game the thieves knew roughly how long they had to do their evil, before the owners would be home.

 Were the victims stupid in this case? Hell no!! They were good people and didn’t realize the evil that is in the world today! What steps could have been taken to avert this situation? First, if you use a GPS devise, never put in your actual home address. Key in an area or land mark close by your actual home address. When you use the return home feature it will direct you to a known area to get home, but a thief has no clue the actual location of your home. Don’t leave your GPS in open view of prying eyes when you exit your vehicle. The stand on your dash can also be a tell tale sign of a GPS being present in the vehicle. Garage door openers! How many of us leave the door leading into our house from the garage unlocked so as to make entry for us easier? Well, this also makes entry for the criminal easier and never forget it. I’m following this article with one more and it has to do with your cell phone and today’s criminal element.

 Let me begin by saying, “I’m a Honda believer”. Ever since I purchased my first Honda in 1995, I have been a product believer. I sold Honda’s for years and my current vehicle is a 2008 Honda Accord V-6 Coupe! With that said, I believe I need to reveal to my readers something that I have caught wind of recently. Honda may be having some product issues. The issues are actually numerous and relate to the Civic and Accord models. The issues in question range from minor to very severe and I have not narrowed down to specific assembly areas of the world. Honda as well as every automaker has worldwide manufacturing and assembly plants. I recently saw a Ford Truck that the engine was made in Spain and the transmission was from Mexico?  In my estimation, no matter where a part is made, quality control standards should be the same.. If the quality control standards vary depending on which part of the world the part is manufactured, I believe manufacture’s need to reconsider their alternatives and make some serious changes.

 It has come to my attention that both Honda models are experiencing problems from brakes and engine to transmissions. The brake problem comes from an inferior holding spring clip on the disc pad causing a brake pad noise. A class action lawsuit was filed and now instead of Honda service repairing the problem free of charge, now the consumer has to file a claim to receive compensation. Thanks to the ambulance chaser lawyers and the courts. I had my problem repaired prior to the settlement and Honda service performed the repair free of charge and without any hassle.

 Now, the Honda warranty covers the drive line components for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Thank goodness these problems are cropping up before the warrantees are out!  But, can we all be this lucky? The answer to this is no! To replace a transmission cost around $3,000.00 plus and to replace the engine somewhere around $5,000.00 USD. Do you have that kind of ready cash? Hell no, and neither do I. What do we do you ask; well I’m going to give my own opinion here!

 If you own a Honda vehicle manufactured between 2006 and 2009, my suggestion would be to purchase an extended warranty!!!! This can be done through Honda for somewhere around $1,100.00 (appx.) or through any aftermarket retailer offering extended warranties. No matter whom you purchase your extended coverage through, please read your contract carefully before signing. Read “ALL” the FINE PRINT! Many of the extended coverage warranties are not what they are cracked up to be! Simply said, there’re scams. Please do not get caught up in this situation and only find out when you need it that you were scammed with your paid for coverage! There are actually several good service coverage companies out there! Do your research!!!!  Read, Study, See what others have to say and then make your decision. Don’t forget to check with the Better Business Bureau about each company. This is a great resource for consumer information.

 Look, you and I buy all kinds of insurance. Why not buy a policy for your vehicle. Damn, I should be getting paid for writing this article!!!! But seriously, with the cost of vehicle repairs skyrocketing, a few dollars spent today, could save you thousands tomorrow no matter the make or model of your vehicle.

I will apologize right now, but I need to vent about this situation. Just the other day I went to the bank to make a very quick transaction. I needed to be somewhere at a particular time and so I decided to go through the drive through to speed up the process. WRONG! When I pulled up to the drive thru, one line had 2 cars and the second line had one car. Well, guess which line I pulled into; that’s right the one car line.

 The first thing I noticed was the (individual was on their cell phone) as they sat at the reception area. I continued to observe and what I witnessed was unbelievable. First the phone conversation was finished. They then took possession of the tube carrier and sent it to the teller. That’s right, nothing inside of the plastic tube. When it returned the best I could tell is they needed a deposit slip and a writing instrument.

 Car #1 in the other lane has finished and car #2 was pulling up to do their banking business. Finally, the person ahead of me completed their paper work, but before they could send to the teller, they took another cell phone call. Finally, once the call was finished, they sent the tube to the teller. Car #2 is now pulling away and #3 is taking its place in the other line!

 Next I notice the tube returning to the person ahead of me. Excitement soon diminished! Something was wrong and needed to be corrected. Once corrected the tube was sent back to the teller! Car #3 in the other line is now pulling away with all bank transactions completed! Car #4 pulls into position and prepares to do their banking business.

 Finally the tube arrives back at the car ahead of me. Obviously they got several thousand dollars in cash. Why? They continued to sit there!! The best I could figure was a marathon counting session. No, I believe I witnessed them taking another cell phone call. Car #4 is now finished and pulling away. Finally, the person ahead of me slowly pulls away! I take care of my banking business in less than 1 minute, but I’m still late to my meeting!

Look, before getting to the bank drive through, have your deposit slip filled out, your signature in all appropriate areas and your identification ready to go. Your transaction will usually go smoothly and the bank teller will like you a whole lot more. I promise, everyone behind you will appreciate your efforts.

 I have always said that I listen to my readers and I do!  Several people have commented about this one particular article and I believe it has something to do with my comments about two entities used in the car market and the car industry.  This is the KBB (Kelly Blue Book) and Edmunds.com. These two resources are the most well known by consumer, but there is another car value resource out there and this is the one used by the dealerships, auto brokers and auction houses. The car industry uses the NADA Blackbook for all of their appraisals.

 Why have I never heard of this before, you ask. Well, the only thing I can tell you is this. They don’t want you to know about this information. The NADA Blackbook is on the web for your investigation and use. It’s just that no one knows about it. Ok, you’re the one in a thousand that know this book exists, but I promise, if you’re fixing to trade in your vehicle or sell it outright, you will be the first to go to KBB or Edmunds, not NADA Black! The reason for this is the true market values of vehicles.  NADA Blackbook gives the true market value for every vehicle out there and it is usually LESS than the other two resources!

 NADA— National Automobile Dealers Association. Do you understand now why this is the industry standard?  All I ask is for you to take a minute and throw each resource to the test. Using the same exact vehicle and the same zip code, key it into each of these vehicle resources. KBB and Edmunds will vary somewhat, but compared to NADA Black; You will be amazed at the difference in values!

 My point here is for my readers and followers to be educated. I want to provide for each of you an insight into the auto sales industry! There is no reason today for an individual to be taken advantage of by a car dealership!!! PERIOD!!!!!!! Those days are over with askthecarbuyguy.com and thank the good Lord they are!!!

 Be prepared for your car buying experience through research and understanding! “A wise person is never taken advantage of”.