I'M DROWNING! PLEASE... throw me a line..A CREDIT LINE! PLEASE!

I bought gas yesterday. Shocked, I only spent $4.15 a gallon. What a deal? Wait...what am I saying? It wasn't that long ago $3.50 was a deal. Hey, I actually remember $2.50 a gallon...when was that?

When I first learned to drive...a hundred years ago( actually it was in the 70's) I remember saving my hard earned cash to put gas in my tank. Mom insisted I pay for my own while she loaned me the use of her 68' Chevy Impala. I believe it was an 8 cylinder, as most cars where then. At 25¢ a gallon..my friends and I chipped in and we got a few gallons just to ride around town. That was hard because back then, we were lucky to make 50¢ an hour for babysitting. Most parents paid a flat rate of $4.00 for the gig.

Now my son will be driving and I'm sure I will do the same as my mom did.. make him pay for his own gas. Although pay has increased somewhat since 73', I think he may have to take out a loan just to drive around town. Cars are smaller ( some) and less cylinders ( some) and many are great on gas consumption ( some) but if your vehicle is a Hummer, Chrysler (any model) or a huge SUV ( any make) good luck expecting your new driver to be able to pay for the gas. This is why we have an old KIA that's great on gas!

At the grocery store, I literally had the same reaction to the prices as to the gas. OMG! Bacon is like gold and the price of fish blew me away. There went the blood pressure! At least 160/90! ( that's high if you don't know)

Catfish, a bottom feeder, was always the cheapest fish around. Good olé southern roots taught me some great ways to fix it, but now its competing with the price of shrimp! What??

Vegetables and fruit are also ridiculous. The prices are blamed on the drought somewhere and the torrential rains somewhere else. Gas prices fit in here, as the cost to transport by truck has obviously risen. Then we have layoffs of employees so more work for those who do get a paycheck. I could name about six more reasons for the rise in the cost of food but not enough space or time.

The bottom line is this....Everything costs more...much more than usual and the costs are going up as you read this! What are we to do?

**The way I see it, we have to eat, pay water and electric and gas and swallow the rate raises regardless. We could live with no electricity or gas and cook outside using wood and fire..but then we would be depleating the tree resources. We could only eat bare necessities like bread, peanut butter and potatoes...the cheapest healthy foods I can find ( don't forget the beans) but I can only imagine the horror my son would go through with pizza, burger and steak withdrawal!.

Of course we are told, things will get better. I do believe this, but how do we hang unto the boat in the meantime? I'm trying and haven't given up yet...but please.. it's getting cold in these high tides and my boat is so crowded that it has sunk, so...throw me a line...a credit line...with lots of $000000 after the numbers. Ok?  H E LP!!!!