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• In Search of our Ancestors    • New Arrivals
• Politics and Religion, Ketchup or Gravy
Decade of the Pasty Cam on this day ^{Printed on Recycled Internet}

Nice to see the picture of the MTU women's hockey team again. Our daughter Becky was on the team that year in her spare time, when she wasn't taking pasty orders on the phone.

Good morning from San Jose!

Mornin'

Good morning all! Gas here yesterday was $3.459 and diesel was $3.999 at every station!!

3.23 here in Tampa, that was yesterday..not sure about today!

Good Morning,

$3.03 here in MN yesterday. Some days it's good to lag behind the rest of the world!

Oh, today's Decade of PastyCam was a real tear jerker for me.
A Soo line engine and the Evergreen Cemetery. Wow!

Yesterday evening, my husband and I were watching a Canadian
program on Discovery Channel called "Planet Earth." We were
stunned when a major topic of the show turned out to be a story
about an ice sculpture from this year's Winter Carnival at the Tech.
The sculpture being described had started out as a frozen car.
Anyone remember seeing it? It presented many technical
difficulties. There was also footage of volleyball being played in
the snow.

That first shot was a teaser since they are talking about gas going to $4.00 per gallon this year.

Favorite shot: Winter's Icy Claw by Dan Urbanski. The man definitely had talent.

Good Morning, Everyone!

Wow, what the price of gas in Michigan has done in the last week is nothing short of incredible! We filled my car up Thursday evening, at $3.16/gallon. When we went out on Friday for a minute, it was up to $3.36/gallon, and I thought that was a mistake, and was glad we had filled it the night before! And, as of yesterday, it had jumped to $3.50/gallon, everywhere on the route between mid-Michigan and Houghton, with exception of the reservation in Baraga, according to what my son saw on his way back to Houghton yesterday. He filled his tank at the reservation in Baraga at $3.30/gallon yesterday. (His Spring Break was greatly shortened because has to work today and tonight.) And, to think he filled his tank Thursday night, in Pinconning, at $3.15/gallon! I don't know if this is because of school Spring Breaks, St Patrick's Day and Easter's coming, or approaching nicer weather, or the higher price of oil, or some combination of those, but it is crazy, to say the very least. (We know the gas stations, at least here in mid-Michigan, all raise their prices when holidays are approaching, so that lots of people will be driving long distances.) And, then Charlie shows us gas at $1.17/gallon. Sigh!!! I knew it was too good to be true, that we had reasonable gas prices compared to the rest of the country, for a change. And now, it sounds like we are back on the leading edge of the price increases, once again. :-(

The Frozen Car Project is still at Michigan Tech:
http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/cams/frozen-car/still.html

Glad to see I wasn't the only one who noticed the gas prices. If I were closer to work I would ride my bike!

With these gas prices today, makes me glad I got a motorcycle license, and my Harley! Never would I thought gas prices would climb to this!

Imagine yesterdays fuel shock to the trucker in from Minnesota [home of the nations cheapest gas] at the Houghton BP yesterday; he filled one tank for $271.

Everyone complains about gas prices but no one seems to be cutting consumption. If we all cut our consumption by 50% for just one month there would be such a huge surplus gas prices would plummet. The old law of supply and demand. If we don't cut consumption at $4 per gal., it'll go to $5.

Daveofmohawk, we have definetely cut our gas consumption...trips are consolidated etc; however, the price continues to jump up by leaps and bounds. In N/W Chicago suburbs we are looking at $3.59/gal. I now believe it will be $4 by May.

I'm sure most folks don't live within a mile of where they work so hoofing it in every day isn't an option. And, when it's -20 in winter, not very smart. Maybe the powers that are should give some thought to uncorking the capped wells all over our country. What are we saving them for??? Oh, that's right......there's an oil shortage...
Mr. Deb

Thanks, Marianne. Yes, that's it.

In this weeks cameo showing copper ingots awaiting shipment, some of the pictures show rows of barrels apparently waiting shipment. What was shipped in barrels out of the Keweenaw?

Actually Mr. Deb there is more at work than just a shortage of oil. Limited refining capacity, China and India's insatiable demand for oil and a whole lot of future traders trying to make a buck. I work for a large oil company and everyone wants to blame us but we have no control over the price of a barrel. We have to buy that oil to refine just like others. We have to compete on the open market against other countries and companies. My refinery happens to be the one of the most complex in the world, which is a good thing, we process sweet and sour crude so we run what has the best margins for us.

I know there's a problem with the refining capabilities Dave, and I know there's no real shortage of crude. But, why does our country continue to sit on capped wells and buy from the Arabs and South America? Is the cost of refining domestic crude that much more than importing? The "Strategic Oil Reserve" has lost it's emergency status in my mind. Could be time for a new topic on the other page.

Deb S. (Usedtobeayooper):
"Could be time for a new topic on the other page."

And here it is: Politics, NAFTA & Gas Prices

Bob Jewell, Farmington Hills (Rjewell)

There was a grade of copper termed "barrel copper". These were fist sized pieces that were shipped to smelters, as such.

Deb, isn't it possible that the major U.S. oil companies and government officials want to use up readily available crude oil resources in areas other than the U.S. first? This very likely would be part of U.S. strategic resources long range planning in conjunction with anticipated better control of the world economy. That makes sense to me.

And we're doing a bang up job!! LOL
Mr. Deb

There are oil companies that are looking for oil where 40 years ago they could not find it here in Hillsdale County Michigan. Since last July there have been 5 oil wells drilled with in one mile of our house. We heard that they found oil in at least 4 of them. An one well is estimated to be 500,000 barrels. The prices are now high enough that it makes it profitable to look over old areas again.

One big contributer to not using our own oil, NIMBY! The regulations that have been put in place in this country have made it almost impossible to re-open wells or drill for new oil. I would like to maintain the environment as much as the next guy but the new regulations make it almost impossible to go ahead. Our refinery in the Chicago area is in a big bruha because they would like to run more sour crude from Canada. Studies show that we would increase some discharges to the environment but still be within our permit. The Greenies got involved and guess what we got squelched. Instead we are trying to be a good corporate citizen and spending a ton of money to try, keyword try, and come up with some new technology to limit our discharges to the present level. The technology doesn't exist yet. We are giving money to several universities to come up with these new technologies but in the end if we don't succeed we may not be able to process that crude, which incedently comes from the North American continent from our neighbors to the north.

Come over to the politics Nafta and gas prices page, I think this is a topic that will last beyond a day.

John W, I remember when they were looking for oil in the Hillsdale area. One of my uncles had a farm in Osseo and the oil people were looking at it, but then the idea kind of went away. When I was back there last summer, I saw a few wells pumping. Would they have been oil wells?

Kathy P, We live just north of the town of Pittsford. The new wells are on Culbert Road and Pittsford road also on Rumsey road. This is now a hot spot of oil active.