Connecticut lobstermen, Alabama cabbies and Illinois florists

[Bluebear]

All united by the administration of oilmen and women....


The 450-horsepower motor roars to life, and lobsterman Nick Crismale manages a smile. For people like him, fishermen, there is a certain freedom to working on the sea. Unfortunately, that freedom isn't as cheap as it used to be.

"Couple hundred bucks you'd make as a profit is being eating' up by fuel," he says, the smile now gone from his face.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3189006&nav=3YeXYTng
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Seeing cabbies lined up for fares at the airport may be a rare sight in the future.

Charles Gilchrist is a local cab driver who says, "Either I'm going to go out of business or I'm going to have to raise the fare. It can't keep going the way it's go

It is the price of gas. And the skyrocketing costs are hitting cabbies like Willie Streeter in the wallet. He says, "I don't know what we can do unless we raise the price of cab fare.

Another cab driver, Timothy Howard says, "The little profit that was in this business, taxi business, we can hardly operate it." These guys depend upon these cabs to feed their families.
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3171204&nav=0RdEYJjg
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Record high gas prices make filling up a painful experience for drivers. It's the third week in a row that gas prices have reached another record high. The US Department of Energy says drivers are paying almost 50 cents more per-gallon at this time than last year.

But, there might be a few places you never thought of that are taking the hit even harder. Flowers and gasoline don't have much in common.
That's until it comes time to load-up the delivery van and crank-up the engine to deliver bouquets of flowers all across Central Illinois.

Dave Cramer, owner of Floral Expressions in Peoria, said, "Well, it's real frustrating when you do look-up at the gas signs and it has gone up another 10 cents."
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Charitable organizations that deliver food and pick up clothes are trying to figure out how to manage their gas bills without cutting back on service.

"So far we're keeping up," said Brian Arett, executive director of the Fargo Senior Commission, which manages a ride service and meals on wheels. "But it's a challenge."

Gas prices continue to set record highs in North Dakota, a spokeswoman for AAA said. The state average was at $2.25 a gallon, including an all-time high of $2.27 in Bismarck on Friday, said Rose White of the AAA office in Omaha, Neb.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D89BG7A01
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With 44 trucks, a dozen skid loaders and more than 20 small engines, Landscape Garden center (South Dakota) has a lot of gas tanks to top off.

Erik Helland says, "From '03 to '04 we went up 50 percent from what we spent on gas. I'm guessing it's going to be another 50 percent at least that it will go up this year. "

Last year the company didn't adjust for the increase, but this year prices at the pump have gone up too much to ignore.

"We had a truck load of trees that showed up this morning, for every tree that showed up on there, it took eight dollars just to get it here. So on a 30 dollar three that's a big percentage of the cost of the tree," says Helland.

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail4514.cfm?ID=22,38936

[countryjake]

1. And the horse will be making a comeback!

Costs are also high for government. The West Chester police department uses between 5,000 and 5,800 gallons of fuel each month.

The chief expects this month's bill to be at least $1,000 more than last month's.

"What we have to do when you see these dramatic increases is to adjust other supply issus in our budget to compensate what it's costing in gasoline," said West Chester Police Chief John Bruce.

He says he can't cut patrols, but he's considering putting his officers out on foot, bike and horse more often to reduce some fuel use.


http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/04/05/autofuel.html

[bin.dare]

2. i honestly thought you were talking about diverse gay groups ...

... I guess that piece on the Daily Show a couple of weeks ago about Maine lobstermen stuck with me. sorry.