Running on empty . . .

A certain number of my readers are old enough to remember things like pulling into the service station for two dollars worth of gas, knowing that was plenty for an evening roaming the town– in fact that would probably make your tank half-full.

I suppose they would yell for anyone in the station office to come out for a laugh if I held out a “toonie” (or is it “two-nie”?) and asked for gas today. The attendant would have to be pretty good with the pump to get it stopped at about a liter and a half (not as much liquid as the milk jugs we buy— but notice that gas is cheaper than the milk).

We’ve been using up oil, and many other natural resources, for some time now. Back in the 1800’s when men invented mechanical things to ease our work load, and the “Industrial Revolution” started, things were initially fired on coal, and steam was used as the means of moving things, both outside with trains and ships, and inside the factories. Gradually we became more sophisticated, and along came cars and trucks, then aircraft, and we wired ourselves together in electrical grids and started enjoying the Good Life. But we were gradually relying on oil as the fuel; coal took on a smaller role because it was cumbersome, dirty, and difficult to get out of the ground.

Oil was great… black gold, Texas tea. We all moved to Beverley Hills and put in Cee-ment ponds and enjoyed ourselves.

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