cb.blog

What do you know, Missouri is investigating gas price gouging:

Blunt asked Nixon to investigate Tuesday’s dramatic increase in gas prices. In Jefferson City, the per-gallon price of gasoline was posted at $2.91 per gallon at some stations today.

Gas prices have gone up by as much as $0.60 in a day. There’s NO WAY that supplies have been disrupted that quickly.

I almost think that, in a declared state of emergency, commodities such as energy should have reported - and limited - profits.

I’m incredibly exhausted right now. It’s been a long 36 hours. I woke up yesterday to a beautiful August morning, and drove over to pick up Anna (we’re trying to work out going to my church Saturday nights, and her church Sunday mornings). After church, we ate lunch, and then were in the car, headed to an afternoon of “us” time - something we’d not had for quite a while. Unfortunately, while sitting at a stoplight, our plans were changed when I was rear-ended. Our “us” time turned into 20 hours spent in the hospital. Being seven months pregnant is not conducive to any kind of trauma like a car accident - even minor ones, like this one. Fortunately, after a rather uncomfortable night spent in a hospital room, Anna was given the all-clear, and I took her home.

As it turns out, the woman who rear-ended us was also on her way home from church, and was distraught to the point of tears when she found out that Anna was pregnant. Interestingly, she attends the church that Anna grew up in. What was intended for harm was turned into good, especially since Anna wants to get Abi into dance, and the woman is a local dance instructor.

Nobody was injured; I’m guessing I’ll have to get the rear bumper cover replaced on the car - but that was the least of my concern at the time. I saw the look of sheer terror in Anna’s eyes (almost two years ago she, her mom, and her two sisters were in a near-fatal accident caused by a drunk driver) and it nearly broke me. I was much more concerned with getting her to the hospital to make sure Abi was okay than I was about insurance claims and police reports. In the end, everyone is okay, and the accident itself should be uncontested. Now, we both just need some sleep…

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Saint Louis area Rose-Hulman alumni and friends participate in St. Louis Habitat for Humanity in North St. Louis, 20 August 2005.
(Originally uploaded by Chip Bennett)

On Saturday, August 20, 2005, several St. Louis area Rose-Hulman alumni participated in a build project for St. Louis Habit For Humanity.

Alumni Ted Jaenke (ME’60), Eric Hopf (CS’02), Chip Bennett (CH’00), and Anna Johnson (non-alum) helped with Phase III construction of the Kennedy Household in North Saint Louis.

With the weekend forecast threatening thunderstorms, the RHIT alumni were blessed with a day of beautiful, sunny weather on a perfect summer day. The group helped with construction of the outdoor shed, back porch and stairs, front porch support columns, preparation of the exterior foundation for stucco work, and painting of the interior and basement walls and ceilings. Bennett volunteered to be the Site Safety Observer for the day.

The event - the first of its kind for the St. Louis area alumni group - was a success, and the group hopes to continue to work with Habitat For Humanity in the future.

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Anna on the carousel at Six Flags Saint Louis, 13 August 2005.
(Originally uploaded by Chip Bennett)

Anna and I went to the Third Day concert at Six Flags St. Louis earlier this month. The concert, held in the Old Glory ampitheater, almost got rained out due to some massive summer storms that day. But the show went on, and Third Day was as incredible as ever.

Anna has a tradition of getting her picture taken on the carousel every time she goes to Six Flags; I was only too happy to oblige her on this trip. We tried twice before to get a ride, but both times, the carousel was shut down due to incliment weather just as we were about to get on. The third time, rain-soaked but otherwise no worse for wear, we were successful.

Not to worry; I’m still around. Was away from the internet during my mission trip to Mexico in July. Between work (including the engineering department moving to a new office across town), tennis, church, and everything, I’ve not had much time for, nor felt much like, posting.

By the way, here’s part of that “and everything”:

This beautiful woman and I have been dating for about a month and a half. Needless to say, politics haven’t been terribly important lately. But God is good… and the tenor of my writing might be a bit different for a while.