Riding the gas price rollercoaster

On Wednesday, I posted about how gas prices go up like a rocket, then down like a parachute. I also compared them to a roller coaster. As if on cue, the prices at the local gas stations confirmed both observations, although maybe not at exactly the same time.

When I returned home Thursday afternoon, I saw that the price at the corner station had dropped from $3.87 to $3.69. Since my tank was less than half full and my intuition told me that was the likely the lowest I'd see gas any time soon, I filled up. The next day proved my intuition right, as gas at that same station shot up like a rocket to $3.99 overnight. However, the corner station rose all by itself. Two blocks away, two of the three stations were still at $3.69 and one was at $3.79. On the one hand, I was wishing that one station had a price of $3.89 so I could report how chaotic and fluid the situation had become. On the other, I was just as pleased that two of the outlets were holding on to the lowest price so that the price all four would settle on would be lower. It turns out that the latter sentiment prevaled. When I checked the price at the corner station today, it was $3.79. While that's lower than it was at the start of the week, it's still a dime a gallon more than I paid on Thursday. I'm glad I filled up my tank then.

This roller coaster ride will show up in this week's headlines. Based on the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, I expect tomorrow's news about gas prices in Michigan will show a modest drop from last week as well as gas prices being unchanged to slightly lower than a year ago. That's good news, everyone, and it's not a suppository.

Since I've already used Red Hot Chili Pepper's version of "Love Rollercoaster," I need to find another song about roller coasters for today's post. It would be too repetitious to post the original version by The Ohio Players so soon and I'm not sure I'm up for "Roller Coaster" by the 13th Floor Elevators today. Instead, I present B*Witched singing "Rollercoaster."