So I throw my little hissy fit and post her to the Internet yesterday. I jump in the SS and head for home. On the radio some brain dead waste of a carbon footprint is spewing forth about the importance of bio fuel production. Reduced dependency on import product, renewable energy, our only salvation rests in this new technology he proclaims. So help me out here. We’re going to use our food supply to produce fuel that we could be just pumping from the ground? That’s the plan? I thought we had blended fuel in distribution now. I thought we’d had it for years. It seems to me that the price of fuel has only gone up. And have you been to the grocery store lately? Is that price increase due only to the increase in transportation costs? Could it be that the bio fuel market pays more for corn than the taco shell guys?
We hear that Brazil and South America produce large amounts of bio fuel. Unfortunately for us, we have to protect the sugar lobby, or some such nonsense. We have tariffs in place to discourage the importation of these fuels. I guess we have to artificially protect some American businesses even if it helps break the back of the American consumer. Let’s open up our market to these imports. If people can’t afford to buy gasoline, then some day the price may drop. Unfortunately our entire economy would have to collapse before it would happen. It’s a supply and demand thing. Yet you can still find people spouting off about how people in Europe send five dollars a gallon. It’s only fair that we should pay that too. They also spout off about how increased fuel prices will lead to less consumption. Huh?
I stand by my previous rant. We need an energy policy now. We’ve tried to conserve our way out of the problem. That didn’t work. Now we’re using our food to fix the energy problem. I don’t see that one working either. Anyone ready to get serious?
About shumanweb
I guess I’ve been groomed most of my life to be involved in the automotive specialty aftermarket. Back in the late 70s, while I was but a mere pup, I worked at First Stage Steel. They were a manufacturer of roll bars located in Harrisonville, MO. We’re talking the days when you got to choose between black or white for your new roll bar. Things sure have changed. My primary duties were to keep the toilets clean and the floors swept. Brother, that’s starting at the bottom.
Time rolls on and I’ve moved up. I spent most of my time since then as an aftermarket parts rep in the specialty aftermarket. I’ve done the retail gig. I’ve been a manufacturer. I guess you can say I’ve manufactured accessories, boxed them up, shipped them out, received them, sold them, installed them, and cleaned up afterwards. I think it’s fair to say I’ve paid my dues.
Today I am the President and CEO of a specialty part manufacturer in the light truck aftermarket. Yes that’s a fancy title. We’re a small business who cares more about building the best product than selling the cheapest parts available. We’re always behind in production. We’re far from being the cheapest available. We are however the best at what we do. You don’t have to take my word for it. You’ll find our customers in users forums out on the net saying that we’re the best in the business. I’m not getting rich, but I do get a tremendous amount of satisfaction knowing we help make someone’s life a little better.
I also have this website. CustomTrucks.net started off back in 1995. I wanted to build an online community back before we all knew what one was. Little things like remotely posting to a database on a web server just wasn’t done that much. It cost a lot of money back then. Over the years things gradually got out of hand. I couldn’t keep up, so we sat here and idled for 6 or 7 years.
Now I’m back. We have a new direction and objectives. I have this great new software called Community Server. While it seems a little slow, it works great. It’s also easy to install and set up. I still have some tweaking to do, but it’ll come along with time. The Community Server software was available from Intermedia. They host our website and provide our mail server. I have to say that since we started with Intermedia back in 1995, I’ve never had a problem with their service.
And what’s on the horizon you ask? I want to make a major contribution to mankind. I want to make life better for people everywhere. I see three major problems which threaten human life everywhere on the planet. First we have the “energy crisis”. Since we now use our food for fuel, we have now a global food crisis. People are rioting all over the world because they can’t afford their groceries. And third, global warming will surely kill us all by 2012. The plan? I am working on a new design of internal combustion engine. It’s not exactly as fuel efficient as today’s engines. It does run on a renewable fuel source. It doesn’t produce a cleaner exhaust, but its use will lead to an overall reduction in the production of greenhouse gasses. With continual use, it will lead to more liberty for all people. “So what’s the deal with this new engine” you ask? Simple, it runs on politicians. Mr. Kennedy – we need you.