Headline About Falling Oil Prices

"Why oil prices keep falling — and throwing the world into turmoil."

I only skimmed the article, so I'm not that informed. I can only say how I personally feel about the lower prices. In a word, "Hooray!"

As a writer, editor, writing coach, and now L. Cooper Press gen mgr, I sit many hours at my computer. But when I have free time, I love car rides. One day I'll take this direction, another day a different direction. SoCal is a world of freeways, and I love to go, love to explore. And that takes gas.

When prices were so high, I did very little exploring; instead, I ventured out locally, but I was always wanting to go farther. I'm always yearning to see something else, see what's behind that curve, hill, or simply to check a different city at night to see the lights. Now, with the lower gas prices, I can do so - after the day's work is done and the bills paid. And of course while I'm out, I love to stop and try a new restaurant. Maybe snacks. Maybe a famous site. That means I spend money. Perhaps not a lot, but more than they had before I got there, which is good for everyone. So again, "Hooray!"

What do you think about the lower prices?

Be thankful you don't live in the UK. Our petrol (gas) is priced per litre and there are five litres to a gallon. At one point we were paying £1.35 plus a litre, making our petrol the most expensive in Europe. We paid even more for diesel fuel. Today's price is just over £1.00 and expected to drop further.

Bank in the late 1980s oil from the North Sea dropped below $50 a barrel, and the UK oil industry nose dived. Exploration stopped with the effect that my ex-husband was out of work for months. (He is a hydrographic survey engineer responsible for maintaining such equipment as sonar used in oil exploration). Today's price is near that level and the UK papers are once again forecasting a downturn in oil exploration here in the UK.

Wages haven't risen in a number of years and most people are just staying at home because it's too darn expensive to run a car!

Sounds grim, Victoria. I remember when our prices started rising a few years ago, you were talking about how high they were in the UK. I guess there are always consequences to what I perceive as a good thing.