My subconscious has been talking to my conscious mind a lot more lately about the rising cost of getting from point A to point B in this crazy world, the skyrocketing price of obtaining the sustenance I require each day for every person I am legally responsible for, the steady increases in energy, heat and all the costs I have come to rely on as absolute in my little “Garden of Eden” away from all the stress and pressures involved with earning a descent living in modern society. 

My conscious mind for its part would rather talk about the arrival of summer, the beauty and majesty of the universe,  the unlikelihood of the Pittsburgh Penguins coming back to win three straight games to capture Lord Stanley’s cup.  The shrinking value of what revenues I manage to earn as compared to the requirements of what has come to be normal in my life, and  believe me it is a Spartan enough existence for Canada, is the last thing my conscious mind wants to greet every morning.  Just waiting for me and beating the same tired drumbeat, my subconscious gnaws on the stark facts of life in Canada and the world, and I’m sure the same drumbeat reverberates in a large percentage of the minds I think about every day. 

My subconscious talks about how the coming changes to Canadian life will include less time spent on the road, at least in the gas powered transportation we have been using, and in the ingrained recreational attitudes of Canadians towards recreational choices we have normally been taking part in every summer at the lake.  About how it expects to see less large gas powered boats on lakes and rivers in some areas of the country it and the use of four stroke engines in a lot more boats this year, which is a good thing for Mother Earth, and that it expects to see an unprecedented rise in new and inventive ways of using the natural forces that exist around us to provide the energy to transport us from A to B.  That at the very least we can expect to see a decrease in the amount of trips undertaken on a daily basis and a better plan of action underwritten by many Canadians in their daily activities in order to conserve and cut back on costs in all areas of life at the cottage.

It reminds me that Transport Canada estimates the average Canadian boater will use on average about the same amount of gas over the summer that it takes for them to fill their SUV three times, not a lot in comparison, so it probably won’t decrease the amount of time the average Canadian cottage owner spends driving around the lake in their boat. 

That there are a few basic ways you can save fuel at the lake if you’re planning on spending a lot more time on the water this summer.  First; move around at a steady pace, revving the engine requires more; second, always turn off your engine when your docked or just sitting for awhile; third, make sure the engine and propeller are working efficiently and the boat is outfitted with the proper propeller and engine.

That all lake residents have a choice, they can always choose to do different activities then the gas guzzling ones they normally do if they’re feeling the gas-price-crunch.  Take a walk along the lake side with Mother Nature for a few minutes, kayak along one of her beautiful and shrinking coast lines, canoe along a lonely stretch of one of her wondrous and life giving rivers, or give up your motorized boat for a more traditional and Earth friendly sailboat for awhile and convene with Mother Nature, she is always there waiting for you, like your subconscious, only she is wiser and longer lived then your subconscious can fathom.  She awaits your arrival, like a long lost child she has been thinking and hoping to see you and will welcome you home.

Tell her your subconscious sent you.

If you’ve been shaking your head every time you leave the gas pump lately because of the consistency in prices at different suppliers that are cities apart.  You may have a reason to be a little suspicious of such consistency in a free market place where supply and demand is supposed to be the determiner of price.

Since I don’t drive, my information concerning the fluctuation at the gas pumps in the last few months comes mainly from the people I talk to every day, and I have talked to a number of Canadians lately who are a little suspicious of the consistency in gas prices in locations that are in different cities.

These thoughts started running through my mind after learning that 13 people and 11companies in Quebec were recently charged with fixing the price of gas in four cities in Quebec.

Three members and one company of what is being called a cartel pleaded guilty Thursday in Quebec Superior Court in Victoriaville, to conspiracy to fix retail gas prices.  Apparently, they phoned each other and agreed to a fixed price.  Penalties of over $2 million were imposed against the guilty parties who operated in the cities of Sherbrooke, Victoriaville, Thetford Mines and Magog, which are all south of Montreal.

The Competition Bureau stated that information they obtained suggests that an overwhelming majority of gasoline retailers in these markets took part in the agreement to fix prices.

The companies that were dragged into court are Les Petroles Therrien Inc., operating the Petro-T sign, and Distributions Petrolieres Therrien Inc. and Ultramar Inc.

This news sends a direct message that the Competition Bureau will take immediate action to bring to justice individuals and companies depriving Canadians consumers of the benefits of competition, like lower gas prices.

The Competition Bureau’s investigation into price fixing of gas used wiretaps, searches and information provided by individuals that were given immunity from prosecution for testifying.

The Competition Bureau has said that their investigation into price fixing at the gas pumps will continue in all markets in Canada, suggesting in their news releases that Quebec wasn’t the only province where gas price fixing was suspected.

Conspiracies to fix retail prices of a product are difficult by their very nature to detect and prove since suspicions and evidence of identical prices are not sufficient to indicate an illegal activity has occurred.  Securing a conviction under Canadian law requires the Bureau to dig up evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that competitors have agreed to fix prices and that any agreement will have a noted impact on the level of competition for their product.

It probably doesn’t surprise a lot of Canadians and gas consumers around the world that companies would consider making an agreement to fix the price of their product with their competition at a level that allows both to milk the public at a rate that most companies would kill for.

Many after reading this many consumers will be paying greater attention to the price of gas at different geographical locations they choose to purchase gas at.  The unearthing of this gas fixing cartel may cement beliefs that many gas buyers have believed for many months when they approached the pumps.  That gas suppliers were artificially controlling the price of gas at an unnecessarily high level and that suppliers may have made an agreement to fix the price of gas and in the coming weeks we may find out just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Hi!  My name is Warren Hayashi.  I bet you have a story you would like to tell the world, but your not sure how to go about writing your story in a entertaining, informative and educational way to the readers who might benefit from experiences and moments of your life.  Many people in the world today have interesting, informative and educational life stories that we would all benefit from and enjoy reading about.

  If your one of these people and you would like to tell the world about the story of your life, but you lack the time, energy, professional skills to tell your story in away that will draw the attention of readers, then I can help you.

  I  work for storyofmylife.com, a site that is owned and run by a world charity that is dedicated to many inspiring projects, of which storyofmylife.com is just one.  My job to search the world for people with interesting stories to tell about their life experiences, a never ending job that has introduced me to interesting people all over the Earth and I want to tell your story too.

  If you would prefer to write your own story the site allows this too, my job is provide writing services to people who cannot, or don’t want to do the writing themselves, for various reasons.

  This is how it will work, send me a story about a time period in your life, a day, an hour, it doesn’t matter, but make it a specific story about a specific event or story, not a full autobiography.  I will compose a story with the material you send me in third person and I will send it back to you for review, checking and such, and then we will go to the storyofmylife.com site and create a profile for you and download the story, actually the techs at the site will do this, we will send them the story.  Then the whole world will be able to read about you and your life, we have millions of current users on the websites, so readers won’t be a problem and soon the world will know more about the life and time of, you.

  If this sounds like a fun and exciting project that you would like to be part of, then send me your story at war9ren@gmail.com and well get started and before you know it people will be talking about you.  Or stop by the storyofmylife.com site and sign up for a free membership and begin telling the world your life story yourself, whichever, let’s get out there and do it.

Warren Hayashi

Hi!  My name is Warren Hayashi.  I bet you have a story you would like to tell the world, but your not sure how to go about writing your story in a entertaining, informative and educational way to the readers who might benefit from experiences and moments of your life.  Many people in the world today have interesting, informative and educational life stories that we would all benefit from and enjoy reading about.

  If your one of these people and you would like to tell the world about the story of your life, but you lack the time, energy, professional skills to tell your story in away that will draw the attention of readers, then I can help you.

  I  work for storyofmylife.com, a site that is owned and run by a world charity that is dedicated to many inspiring projects, of which storyofmylife.com is just one.  My job to search the world for people with interesting stories to tell about their life experiences, a never ending job that has introduced me to interesting people all over the Earth and I want to tell your story too.

  If you would prefer to write your own story the site allows this too, my job is provide writing services to people who cannot, or don’t want to do the writing themselves, for various reasons.

  This is how it will work, send me a story about a time period in your life, a day, an hour, it doesn’t matter, but make it a specific story about a specific event or story, not a full autobiography.  I will compose a story with the material you send me in third person and I will send it back to you for review, checking and such, and then we will go to the storyofmylife.com site and create a profile for you and download the story, actually the techs at the site will do this, we will send them the story.  Then the whole world will be able to read about you and your life, we have millions of current users on the websites, so readers won’t be a problem and soon the world will know more about the life and time of, you.

  If this sounds like a fun and exciting project that you would like to be part of, then send me your story at war9ren@gmail.com and well get started and before you know it people will be talking about you.  Or stop by the storyofmylife.com site and sign up for a free membership and begin telling the world your life story yourself, whichever, let’s get out there and do it.

Warren Hayashi