Gasoline, 35% offMost of the country saw their record-high gas prices around mid-July, but central Ohio's spike came about a month ago in the wake of the "Ike Lite" windstorm. The unexpected regional squeeze briefly had us paying more than $4.00 for a gallon of regular unleaded.
At least we avoided a Nashvillian panic, and prices have fallen steadily since.
Just 30 days later, local stations are charging in the $2.60 range, the least we've paid in 18 months -- still no bargain, but we'll take it. No telling how long our "fortune" will last.
Top-ten BuckeyesWhen the first quarter of Saturday's game ended with Ohio State up 21-0 on the Spartans, I couldn't help wondering, "Who are these guys in the silver helmets, and what have they done with my Buckeyes?"
That beat-down of Michigan State, along with a last-minute win over Wisconsin two weeks earlier, went a long way toward helping Buckeye Nation forget the humiliating loss to USC. And yesterday brought a pleasant surprise -- when the first BCS rankings came out, the 7-1 Buckeyes were ranked #9.
Hope springs, Saturday beckons...bring on Penn State!
Life on the battlegroundI used to live in an irrevocably blue state, a place where presidential candidates spent little money and seldom came a-calling. Eight years later and 700 miles west, I feel like I ought to be on a first-name basis with the McCain-Palin and Obama-Biden advance teams.
I can't escape the barrage of ads filling my mailbox, ringing my phone and blanketing the airwaves. If I weren't a political junkie, I'd probably pay a three-month visit to Vermont, or maybe some other minor Electoral College prize. Even so, all this attention is getting to be a bit much.
On the bright side, living in a so-called "battleground state" means that I get to see the candidates' true colors -- that is, they're revealing the lengths to which they'll go (or the depths to which they'll dive) to win 20 electoral votes.
I think it was a former head of IBM who often said, "The higher a monkey climbs, the more he shows his ass." As Election Day draws closer, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden are keeping their political pants pulled up, while Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, without apparent shame, are desperately mooning Ohio voters.
Blog blotter
We were visited by the season's first freeze last night, with temps dropping into the high 20s, bringing an end to this year's homegrown bounty. It was our best garden yet, yielding flavor for our table and lessons for next year. I'm not resisting the change-of-season, though -- the crisp air feels great.
On Wednesday morning, our older spawn will make an appearance in traffic court. I remember getting my first speeding ticket -- and the suspended license, and the traffic school, and having to be chauffeured around by my parents. It made enough of an impression on me that I haven't been pinched since. (knock wood) Time will tell if the experience "takes" on this particular 16-year-old.I'm not ready to say that an Obama-Biden administration is a certainty, but the odds against it grow longer by the day and the alternative brings me little comfort. Given the implications for my Second Amendment rights, I did a quick inventory and, just as I thought, the KintlaLake household is prepared for the prospect. If the worst happens, we'll consider packing up and moving to Montana -- seriously.
