Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-fi-gashu...newsspecial3-1
>
> >Pinched at the Pump
> >
> >High fuel prices are pushing some drivers to the financial brink-
> >and to the pawnshop for gas money. Low-wage earners are feeling
> >the most pain.
> >
> >By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer
> >
> >July 16, 2006
> >
> >Stopping for gas on a recent evening commute, Joseph Godino
> >paused to make a call before feeding his credit card into the
> >pump's built-in reader.
> >
> >He listened as a recorded voice delivered welcome news: His
> >card still had $88 of credit available.
> >
> >The gas-up was a go.
> >
> >"I had to phone up to find out if I had enough credit on
> >there to fill up," said Godino, 58, whose workday round-trip
> >commute is a whopping 200 miles.
>
> 200 miles? That's ****ing INSANE! Clearly this guy has issues well
> beyond the price of gasoline...
>
> >"The gas is just really hurting me. I don't know what to do.... I
> >can't quit my job or I'd lose my house."
> >Godino, an Apple Valley resident whose truck driving job is based in
> >Buena Park, signed up for extra shifts and financial counseling, and
> >his wife went back to work to add income. But he has fallen further
> >behind. With his gas cards maxed out, Godino has switched to filling
> >his tank using a Visa card.
>
> Here's all the financial counseling you need: SELL the ****ing house
> and move to Texas, where gas is cheaper, housing is cheaper, and the
> cost of living is cheaper. Let's face it, you don't have sufficient
> marketable skills to be able to afford to live in SoCal. Sorry!
>
> The good news is, they need Truckers in Texas, too, the houses cost
> $100,000, and gas costs $2.99/gallon. So stop calling VISA and start
> calling Allied Van Lines.
>
> >California's sky-high gasoline prices are slamming Godino and other
> >motorists who had been barely getting by. Californians, saddled with
> >the nation's priciest gasoline outside of Hawaii, are paying more than
> >70 cents a gallon extra compared with a year ago and nearly $1 more
> >than two summers back.
> >
> >The wallop is worsened by interest rates that are at their highest
> >levels in more than five years, boosting adjustable-rate mortgages
> >and credit card bills and jacking up the minimum payments on most
> >credit cards.
>
> Really? Gee, I hadn't noticed. I guess that's because I pay my bill in
> full every month and never pay interest, let alone the minimum
> payment.
>
> >Economists largely have shrugged off the financial effect of higher
> >fuel costs on consumers. They say that gasoline demand and road
> >vacations continue to rise and that today's pump prices only recently
> >approached the record-high retail prices that forced drivers to pay
> >the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $3 a gallon for gas for a short
> >time in 1981.
> >
> >But as Godino's plight illustrates, the fiscal fallout already is
> >showing up at the lower end of the wage scale. And anecdotal evidence
> >suggests that high gasoline costs are forcing people to make adjustments
> >at nearly all income levels.
> >
> >That's especially so in California, where long commutes are the norm and
> >public transit is of little use to the masses who in recent years moved
> >ever farther from their jobs to find affordable housing.
>
> Yep, how do you like your McMansions out on the Urban Fringe now,
> suckers?
>
> >Margaret Vieyra, 41, paid a visit to Buena Park Pawn on a recent Friday
> >with her daughter in tow, offering a DVD player for some cash to buy
> >gasoline. Owner Dale Roach rejected it, explaining that only dual
> >players - with DVD and VCR capabilities - have value in his shop these
> >days.
> >
> >Disappointed, Vieyra took back the DVD player and put five DVD movies
> >on the counter. The transaction left Vieyra only $5 richer.
> >
> >Her friend Sal Hinostroza was outside waiting behind the wheel of a
> >Toyota Camry. The engine was off to save fuel.
> >
> >"Right now, my gas tank is on double-E - the tongue of my gas tank is
> >hanging out," Hinostroza said. The immediate goal was to buy enough
> >gas to get to nearby Stanton, where Vieyra's son was at her mom's
> >house waiting to be picked up.
> >
> >As the trio left Roach's place, Hinostroza said they were going to
> >another pawnshop, hoping to get at least $20 for the DVD player. "Then
> >we'll get gas and go get her son."
>
> Actually, sounds like her son is going to have a nice, long walk...
>
> Say, don't they have any BUSES in Buena Park? You can buy an OCTA Day
> Pass for $3 and your son won't have to walk.
>
> Now you know why gas prices are so much higher here than anywhere else
> in the country: people in SoCal are so brainwashed that they would
> rather hock their DVD player to get $20 in gas money than take a bus.
>
> >Roach said his own gas bill rose so much that last year he bought a
> >more fuel-efficient car for his daily 50-mile commute. He acknowledged
> >that his new car, a gray Toyota Scion that gets 32 miles per gallon,
> >required some adjustment for a man used to driving a bright red Ford
> >F-250 pickup with flames on the sides.
> >
> >"On the freeway, I get no respect," he said with a sigh.
>
> LOL!!!
>
> >"Gasoline prices are clearly taking a bite out of the consumer,
> >especially among people who are at the margin," said Keith Leggett,
> >the bank group's senior economist. "That's why we're seeing an uptick
> >in the delinquency rate, even though the economy is good."
> >
> >Godino, the Apple Valley truck driver, can vouch for that.
> >
> >He tried to refinance his mortgage earlier this year, but it fell
> >through after he had shelled out a $400 appraisal fee and used the
> >monthly mortgage payment to whittle down credit card debt.
>
> HELLO?!?!!? MCFLY?!?!?!!? You only get to stop paying your old
> mortgage after the refinance transaction closes - not when you apply!
>
> >Suddenly
> >behind on his mortgage, Godino saw his monthly payments balloon to
> >$2,300 from $1,800 to make up for the deficit and stave off foreclosure.
>
> Sheesh, what a dumbass!! Your problem isn't high gas prices, it's that
> YOU'RE A ****ING MORON!!! You're the kind of sad sack loser who would
> have problems even if gasoline cost $0.99/gallon.
>
> >"I've never been behind like that," said Godino, a Vietnam veteran who
> >has spent 38 years as a truck driver.
> >
> >He moved to the high desert two years ago because he was unable to
> >afford a home closer to work. At the time, Godino's Volkswagen Beetle
> >was getting good mileage and his employer, Oak Harbor Freight Line, was
> >talking about opening a terminal near Apple Valley.
>
> Here's another clue: companies talk all the time about their grandiose
> plans, but often times it turns out to be just Happy Talk. Wait until
> the fantasy becomes reality and the doors to the new freight terminal
> open before you move to BuFu Egypt, mmmmmkay?
>
> >But the Volkswagen got totaled in an accident, forcing Godino to commute
> >in his less-thrifty Ford Ranger pickup. His monthly fuel bills have jumped
> >to $650. And so far, Oak Harbor hasn't opened that inland terminal.
>
> Like I said, move to Texas. The weather is comparable, but your $1800
> mortgage payment will drop to $500.
> --
> What the heck, I'll play too.
> - Dave

I have to agree. Texas is much more reasonably priced than California.
Heck, even more reasonably priced than Arizona now is.

I'd probably suggest the same thing - get out of California. I mean
it's a nice place, but it's WAY too expensive.

Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com