Thursday, October 30, 2008

Blame It On The Fuel ...

The week is really moving by so fast. It was only yesterday that I was complaining about my horrible Tuesday and today is already Thursday. Not that I'm complaining mind you. It has been a pretty tiring week for me what with a sudden surge in my workload. I'm glad that tomorrow is Friday already cos Friday is my favourite day of the week. Well, Saturdays too of course :D

The world fuel prices is one subject that affects each and every one of us in some way, irrespective of whether you own a car or not. The price of fuel has been spiraling up and down and currently is on the decline which is good news for us. Things should be a little cheaper, right?

Well, I've got news for you. I don't think anything is going to be any cheaper. Here in this country when the price of fuel or gas as some of you call it was first increased quite sometime back to an exorbitant price, every business entity took advantage to increase their prices citing the increase in fuel prices. From big huge establishments like the TNB (our national electricity company) to the roadside street vendors increased their prices.

Well, that's fine and dandy. I don't blame them. After all, since we're going to pay more for fuel, it's only natural that businesses and products that use fuel (which is practically everything!) would also have an increase in price. And that puts a huge dent in everyones expenses, including mine. I couldn't get the same amount of things that I could get before with RM100. I had to pay a lot more for stuff. And everyone, I mean practically all businesses increased the price of their goods. And when you ask them why, they'll say,

'Aiyaa, the price of fuel so high, how not to increase if I want to survive!'

And you're left with no choice cos you need your everyday groceries and you need your comforts at times. Even eating out was not cheap anymore. But what puzzles me is when the price of fuel was reduced and is going to be reduced again (I think), these same business dealers, especially the restaurants quickly come out with statements saying that don't expect them to reduce their food prices just because the cost of fuel has gone down!

Something is not right with that isn't it? When the price of fuel was increased, they were the first to say that they have no choice but to raise prices. And now they're saying they will NOT lower the price of their food even though huge hypermarkets, where some of these restaurants buy their supplies from have already said they will reduce their prices. Like I said, something is not right here isn't it?

And I'm not making up this story. I actually read about this in the newspapers a couple of days ago where these association of restaurant owners or some crap like that came out and made a statement about not to expect them to reduce the price of their food (which they increased due to the fuel increase in the first place) just because the government has reduced the fuel prices. What a ridiculous statement!

And the worse part is they're making all sorts of reasons to justify their statement. Maybe I'm stupid or something but for the life of me, the mathematics to this is plain simple. Price increase when fuel cost increase so price should be reduced when fuel cost go down, right? No? That's not the way unscrupulous people work? I see. Why didn't anyone tell me that!

Anyways, I have decided to boycott eating outside unless I have no choice. I'm also hoping that the rest of you would also refrain from eating out as much as you can so these high and mighty restaurateurs would know what it's like when no one eats at their shops anymore. And when they see their business dwindling, then maybe they just might stop trying to be so unscrupulous.

I actually wanted to make a tag and 'force' (LOL) all of you, my fellow bloggers to join me on this quest to stop eating outside but I'm just too darn lazy to come up with a tag. You all by now know how much I 'love' doing tags, right, let alone creating one ... hehehe ...

But seriously though, consider not eating out at these restaurants as much as you can. You'd be better off just cooking your own food at home for a fraction of the price you have to pay eating at such places. I know wifey and me have started our quest to eat at home as much as we can. It's a little more troublesome having to cook your own dinner, but think of how much you'll be able to save if you boycott these cutthroats out there. And home cooked food is way healthier anyway :D

So come on people, join me on my quest to eat at home more. I don't have a special eat at home icon, badge or avatar that you can put on your blogs as a show of supports (mainly cos I'm too lazy to create one) but maybe you could mention a line or two of my ramblings about this topic as sign of support for my quest :D

Ok now that I've got that out of my system, with the money I'm going to save from eating at home, I can visit this site called www.casino.de and try out their free blackjack training game and also their free slots with cash prizes to be won ... hehehe ... The thing is the site is in German and my grasp of the German language is as good as my grasp of Swahili ... LOL!

Well, German or not, I actually did go and check out the site, the English version of course and if you're a huge fan of online gambling, then this is basically the site for you. They've got a huge variety of game rules, some great tools and loads of strategy and advise on how to play all your favourite casino games besides helping you to find the best places to play. I guess if you're going to be be spending money on gambling online, then you probably want to maximize your gambling dollars right?

As for me, I'm not much of a gambler, in fact I haven't ever gambled online before but I found things that piqued my interest there like getting some hand-on experience playing some of their free casino games. At least this way I can brush up my non-existent gambling skills before actually trying my hand at the real thing :D If I ever have to guts to that is ...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, you're also able to keep abreast with the latest happenings and reports of what's going on in the gambling world by checking out their daily updates or even subscribing to their RSS feed. Cool isn't it? Now with www.casino.de, you're ready and prepared to face the online gambling challenge with confidence :D
.

42 comments:

  1. I read that piece of news too, I wanted to blog about it, but the Yoga thing won hands down! :-)

    I like the idea of boycotting restaurants! I'm up for that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gallivanter - Oh that Yoga thing is a riot isn't it? LOL!

    And thanks for the support :D I'm definitely eating home more from now on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my!! And here I am abt to get ready for dinner outside!! ;)

    Btw, I read that newspaper article too, dunno what to say la for all the silliness going around nowadays! :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fri is my fave day too, which is tomo yeeha! :):):)

    ReplyDelete
  5. we too eat at home, only sometimes, during the weekend, but you are so right... when it comes to reducing prices, they will wait for others to reduce before doing so, if they intend to...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nick, when is everything going to go down in price? When fuel price increase, everything follow. now fuel price decrease, how come no one want to follow? what is the logic huh?

    I was also blogging about food and price yesterday. A never ending topic of the year, i can say! :p

    ReplyDelete
  7. well, I will not be dining out for a long time. The last time I ate out I was sick, so Im only eating At Home for a long time!

    Fridays are my favorite day tooo....and its Halloween tomorrow so, it should be a fun day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're so damn right. We should eat at home more often. Those restaurant&hawker fellas are just not right! Bugger.
    Really, 100 ringgit don't buy you lots of stuffs these days. Aaaacheeww and it's gone!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, I agree! It's alot better to eat at home but I plead guilty of packing food home from the tze char stall yesterday because I was too busy to make dinner :-P

    Tonight I will cook at home.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Marzie - What? You're not supporting my quest to boycott eating out? How could you? LOL! Just kidding ...

    Yup, the world is becoming a really silly place to live in these days.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sting - They really don't intend to reduce their prices judging by the statement they made. Same here, for me and family, eating out is going to be a once week thing on weekends too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rose - That's how these unscrupulous traders work. They just want to make money, that's all. It just defies logic sometimes.

    I'll come over and check your post out soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Meleah - Well, good for you. Nothing beats healthy home cooked food anyway :D

    and a Happy Halloween to you :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. Shern's Mom - Aaaaacheeww and it's gone ... LOL! But you are so right!

    Good on you for eating at home more :D

    ReplyDelete
  15. BT - LOL! Once in a while tapau ok la :D

    I'm only going to eat out on weekends and that also if we do go out on weekends ...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Believe it or not, I cook almost everyday. I usually just have ONE dish, very simple, very cheap, so I'm not complaining.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You know what Nick, until they reduce prices of goods, I won't be happy with the fuel price reduction. I only consume about RM150 for my petrol in a month. When our so-clever-PM increased the price to RM2.70/Litre, my petrol consumption increased to RM250 and thats is that. But the grocerries expenses in my house is different story. It was double the amount i spent before the fuel price was hiked. So who to blame???? (Aiseh!! i'm ranting in your blog pulak! hehehe)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh!! Forgot to mention..my household expenses is almost 2k a month now..and eating outside not even counted!! Crazy huh??

    ReplyDelete
  19. sigh... problem is Nick...no one cook for me at home and i dont even have the energy to go through all the hassle to cook after long day at work la.. so how?

    But i agree with you, we should boycott these nutso people..but erm is there any other way beside not eating out?? Maybe boycott only those who was featured in the newspaper saying that they wont reduce the price?? :P

    ReplyDelete
  20. The Real Mother Hen - Welcome, good for you :D Wifey and me have decided to start practicing that from now on. Saves us loads of cash :D

    ReplyDelete
  21. Kadus Mama - Yeah, I won't be satisfied with the fuel reduction too until I see every other thing that was raised because of the fuel increase come down in price which is very unlikely.

    And you're always welcome to rant over here. No charge punya ... hehehe ...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Kadus Mama - RM2K? Wow, that's a lot. I don't even want to count how much we spend for groceries alone. I'd probably faint. Wifey is the one who keeps track of all that for me ...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Emelda - Well, for you I guess no choice la, have to eat out, kan?

    Well, I'm sure you know and Dan know some pretty decent food places with reasonable prices, right? Subang got a few ... hehehe ...

    Yeah, we should especially boycott the ones that came out with that statement in the media ...

    ReplyDelete
  24. well...i agree that we need to cook at home rather than to the restaurants..sometimes, it not worth to eat something simple with a higher price..but sometimes, once in a blue month should be ok..cuz i'm also sometimes bored with my own cooking..ehhehe

    ReplyDelete
  25. The whole world's economy is in a mess just because of high oil prices. Everything follows everytime it goes up. Crazy world we live in. If only gambling can win me bucks of money in one play, I will eat outside everyday, hehee!

    Have a nice weekend, Nick...

    ReplyDelete
  26. I would love to join your boycott movement but sometimes no choice got to eat outside because lack of time to cook. Furthermore, I'm a pretty lousy cook : )

    ReplyDelete
  27. We hardly ever eat out. It's cheaper and healthier to eat at home. Have a great weekend! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  28. I work in a restaurant! Are you trying to kill me?? LOL... Our prices have remained the same (very reasonable, I might add) no matter what the price of gas has been. As a matter of fact, when it was at it's worst- we offered a lot of specials to help offset it, so to speak. So we actually went the other way.

    Not all restaurants are evil. But I totally see your point here, regarding the ones that are.

    I just hope America doesn't ban dining out or I'll be out of a job and unable to pay my bills. And that would suck for me worse than gas prices. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  29. btw, I have an award and a tag for you. Pls visit my blog here

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sweet-Girlicious - I'm not saying we should not eat outside, just that we should eat at home more ... hehehe ...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Marlene - Yeah, I guess it's the same everywhere, ya? Sometimes I long to just be a kid, where I wouldn't have to worry about all this!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Foongpc - LOL! In your case, no choice la :D But it's not all the food shops that are high priced. I'm just saying boycott the unscrupulous ones :D

    ReplyDelete
  33. Tammy - I have to agree. I know I'm going to eat at home more :D. A great weekend to you too ...

    ReplyDelete
  34. Corrina - I have to agree, not all restaurants are evil :D It's just the unscrupulous ones that I want to boycott.

    There are some pretty cheap and reasonably priced restaurants out here too but I'm eating in more cos things really are pretty steep out there ...

    ReplyDelete
  35. Foongpc - An award and a tag? Cool, thanks. I'll drop by to pick it up soon :D

    ReplyDelete
  36. Nick, eating at home sometimes sucks! Sometimes I need to go out even though restaurant prices are expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Cidao - LOL! Well, with th current cost of everything out there, suck or not, I'm still opting to eat at home :D

    ReplyDelete
  38. uh-oh! I've to learn how to cook! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  39. Monica - LOL! Yeah, you eat a lot quite a bit don't you ...

    ReplyDelete
  40. It's the same when the service stations immediately increase their fuel prices for the consumer the very instant world oil prices increase but are they in such an all fired hurry when the prices go down? No...they drag their feet on that one. We have "watchdog's" here that look out for that kind of thing but they still get away with it for far too long in my opinion.

    Great post Nick.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Gypsy - It's the same everywhere Gypsy. When it comes to raising the price of things, they're like the flash. When it's time to reducing, even a snail is so much faster!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment on ANYTHING GOES!