The Big Oil boys make another appearance. I like these guys a lot, because one is kind of the voice of reason (the younger black guy), and one is so evil and disparaging that he's not even aware of what he is and how he acts.

I wrote this strip last year, and the statistic is actually true - oil prices are 70% higher this year than they were last year (so so NPR informs me). This is absolutely CRAZY to me! I remember when I first started driving and they raised the price of gas to $.89 per gallon. "Outragious!" I said. "No on will stand for this. They'll have to drop the price back down to $.50 where it belongs!"

But the fact of the matter is that oil companies can charge whatever the hell they want for gas because 1) there's no alternative fuel source to power our vehicles (even the "alternative fuels" that are being developed rely on petrol to function - the combustible engine is outdated and will not work with fossil fuels), and 2) fossil fuels are becoming more and more rare and therefore, more and more expensive. I mean, who's bright idea was it to create a fuel system and engine based on a non-renewable resource!?! Good job, moron - we're only going to run out one day and be forced to find a truly alternative fuel source.

There's my rant about Big Oil. These guys will more than likely make more appearances down the road, especially as summer gets closer and the gas prices skyrocket again (now they do it in the summer - travel season - AND the winer season - when we need the natural gas to heat out homes. I'm sure it's a great business move, but it's screwing all of us little guys and gals over big time).

Next week, the last weekly color strip until I start the 3-per-week project for Laura's 21st birthday. Again, this project will only last 38 pages (about 3 months), will update in black and white 3 times per week, and should still be a lot of fun. However, I'm not going to sacrifice the color pages - they'll come back after this project is finished. And, I may also be able to update a little more often, as well. That's the hope, anyway - we'll see about the reality.

See you all next week!