For the record, I have no desire to go back to the fuel prices of say, ten years ago. Gas was around $4.50 a gallon, and heating oil wasn't much better. At that point, my wife and I felt like we'd probably warmer and save money if we just burned dollar bills in the living room. It would have been about as satisfying.

And then sure enough, a couple years ago, for a bunch of political/economic reasons I don't fully understand, the bottom fell out on fuel prices. I know on the news they were trying to paint it as a potentially bad omen for the economic outlook of the world, but I know us workin' stiffs reeeeeaaalllly appreciated the break on our wallets.

Well, it would seem the economy must be "bouncing back" because the fuel prices are on the rise. Gasoline we see move up and down constantly, but fuel oil has been a bit more stable. But it's gone up nearly $.60 since a year ago. That's almost a 25% increase, as evidenced by this page at Maine.gov. Could you imagine if your landlord just showed up one day and said, "Hey! Your rent is gonna go up 25% tomorrow. Sorry!"

And up in northern Maine, the price of oil just went up over $3.00 a gallon according to the Bangor Daily News. So I would imagine it's only a matter of time before we start seeing similar prices in the greater Bangor area. So maybe we're going back to the days where you can just burn money for heat?

Either way, we gotta keep warm. Maybe you're more tough and industrious than I am. I'll never be the guy out on the back 40, with a chainsaw and 4-wheeler. And more power to you. I'll just be that guy that sits on his couch, orders oil off my iPad, and complains about the cost of oil.

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