Good news and bad news
OK, OK.
I shall give you the good news first.
The good news is: When I topped off the tank of the Honda Shadow Spirit 1100cc bike this afternoon on my commute home, the price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline at Costco in Livermore was $1.959/gallon, the first time in a long time that gas has cost less than $2/gallon when I “gassed up.” I do not remember the last time that I paid less than $2/gallon. This is not from short-term memory loss (this time) 
but rather from the fact that gas prices have been so high for so long! (Note added November 30, 2008: The price of the same regular gasoline was down to $1.819/gallon today!) “Big Oil” must really be drowning in gasoline at this point. The price decline is a tribute to all of our conservation efforts.
The bad news is: The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary was published today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, right on schedule, and California LOST 26,400 nonfarm payroll jobs in October 2008. The preliminary California unemployment rate was 8.2% in October, third highest nationally after Michigan and Rhode Island (9.3% each), and up half a percent from 7.7% in August and September. Detailed historical statistics on California are here. To see where YOUR state falls (for those of you in the U.S.), take a look at the report.
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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