Heading to the Cape For the Weekend

I may well just turn around. 

Better gas up first: 

"Gas prices guzzling family dollars at record pace" December 20, 2011|By Jonathan Fahey

NEW YORK - In the past, high gas prices in the United States have gone hand-in-hand with economic good times, making them less damaging to family finances. Now, prices are high despite slow economic growth and weak demand.  

Because of Bernanke's inflation.

That is because demand for crude oil is rising globally, especially in the developing nations of Asia and Latin America.

Ever notice gas stinks like AmeriKan media sophistry?

But it puts the squeeze on the United States, where unemployment is high and many people who have jobs are not getting raises....

People are more aware of small changes in gas prices because they drive past the signs all the time.

And a buck spent on gas has less bang in the economy than, say, a dollar spent at a restaurant. The United States is an oil-importing country, so many of the dollars spent on gas ultimately leave the country instead of being invested here in new ventures and jobs....

Still, it could be worse....  

I'm full up, folks.

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"Exxon Mobil earned $9.45 billion....

In the FIRST THREE MONTHS of this year!

Royal Dutch Shell PLC delivered forecast-busting first-quarter earnings as it benefited from higher oil prices. The company’s earnings were $7.30 billion....

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Oh, my tank runneth over!

Related: Falling gas prices expected to boost summer travel, region’s tourism industry


Okay, let's hit the road! 

"Bridge work frays tempers, hurts shops" by Eric Moskowitz Globe Staff / May 16, 2012

Repairs to the aging Sagamore Bridge during the spring have slowed traffic leaving Cape Cod to a crawl most nights and backed it up for miles on Sundays, culminating in a Mother’s Day morass when the stalled line of cars stretched past multiple exits on Route 6 and triggered all-day gridlock on nearby Route 6A.

“Whoever conceived of this plan should be fired,’’ said Anne Kilguss, a Boston social worker and psychotherapist with a second home in Orleans. “If I were a tourist and I was caught up in that thing on Sunday, I would never go to the Cape again.’’

Kerry Barrett, co-owner of a seasonal ice cream shop on the Cape a mile from the bridge, said business has fallen by more than 50 percent on Sundays, normally the busiest day, since Twin Acres Ice Cream Shoppe reopened April 1, with this past Sunday by far the worst.

“We’re a seasonal small business; we cannot make this up,’’ said Barrett, who watched bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 6A obstruct the entrance of Twin Acres and nearby businesses for much of the day.

Officials said the work, to repair and replace many steel elements, is necessary to extend the life of the nearly 80-year-old Sagamore Bridge and will wind down before May 24, leaving one more trying week and painful weekend before the span is freed from obstruction in time for Memorial Day and peak tourist season....

The state, which is ending its own Route 6 projects by Memorial Day, had removed workers and equipment for Mother’s Day. But delays were worse than ever because of heavy traffic volumes and rubbernecking at the bridge, said Larry Davis, canal manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers, with motorists slowing not just for the work zone but for a nuclear-power protest at the base of the Sagamore....  

A what, Globe?

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Where's the best beach?

See: Coronado Beach named best in US  

That's too damn far to drive for a swim in a polluted ocean.

Maybe we will just try the pool:

"US eases enforcement of rules on pool access for disabled" by Andrew Taylor  |  Associated Press, May 26, 2012

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is sidestepping an election-year confrontation with the hotel industry and other pool owners to give them more time to comply with access rules for the disabled.

The rules have been in the works since the early 1990s, but the Justice Department created an uproar among hotels, waterparks, health clubs, and other businesses earlier this year when it said it will require many facilities to install fixed lifts to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

After initially setting a March 15 deadline the department has granted two extensions. It first said it might grant a reprieve until September, then the Justice Department announced last week that pool owners will not have to comply with the new requirements until early next year, a move that gets the controversy safely past the election.

At issue is whether hotels and other facilities will have to install fixed lifts to assist disabled people getting in and out of their pools, which can require hiring a contractor and tearing up the pool deck at a cost of as much as $6,000. Many pool owners were hoping to comply with the rules by purchasing less costly portable lifts that could be wheeled out to the pool as needed. Hotel owners who already have lifts say few of their customers ever ask for them.

Advocates for the disabled are frustrated by the delay, saying it means another summer swim season without lifts at most pools. They accused the hotel industry of creating an 11th hour tempest to undo rules that have been in the making since the Clinton administration.

“It’s a little disingenuous to say that came out of nowhere,’’ said Heather Ansley, a lawyer with United Spinal Association.

But they are pleased that the Justice Department is not caving in to demands that everybody be allowed to get by with portable lifts.

“They’ve been trying to duck it for 10 years, and the agency keeps putting it off, putting it off,’’ said Representative Jerold Nadler, a Democrat from New York. “Enough already.’’

Disabled people complain that in cities where lifts are already required, portable lifts are often stowed away and that not all employees know how to operate them. And they say the hotel and motel industry has a long record of trying to evade access rules for the disabled.

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