So I am an optimistic kind of guy. When things are going really bad I try to find that silver lining that will make them slightly less horrible. That is why I was so happy to see this. I am an avid cyclist; I love to ride my bike. With gas around here at $2.50 ridding my bike to work is not just fun, it saves me a lot of money.

To continue on the theme of making lemon aid out of lemons, hurricane Dennis is causing havoc. To most people this is a bad thing and I too believe this to be bad for the people that live in that area. However just because Dennis is the strongest hurricane on record for this early in the season doesn’t mean we should all freak out about global warming killing us all off (or maybe we should). So the silver lining, in all this destruction…its called watching the oil market go crazy and laughing your ass off.
Before the storm oil prices went up because of fear of the storm hitting oilrigs, and then after the storm prices went down. The reason why this is so funny is that because of the lack of supply, and the over abundance of demand, this is only the first in a series of funny events that are sure to come. Just wait, one day some translator will make a mistake for some OPEC guy and oil prices will shoot up ten dollars a barrel. Or an Exxon CEO gets caught in a sex scandal and oil prices will shoot up a dollar and a half.
So you might be asking yourself, “Shane why is this funny?” The reason its funny is because it displays a principle known as hydro-despotism. That is, “they that controls the water makes the rules.” It was practiced in certain tyrannical desert countries. But now the water is replaced with oil. We are all SO dependant on oil for EVERTHING that any little glitch in the system sends the whole mess out of whack. So in essence its not funny at all, but because the only thing you can do to keep from crying is laugh…its funny.
The only way to lessen this tragic comedy is to kick the oil habit. Ride your bike to work if you can. If you cant ride the bus, or car pool. You might think the bus is a slow stinky uncomfortable option right now, but when gas costs 8 dollars a gallon you might change your mind.