We would all like a vacation

The news today is that the price of petroleum dropped to $113 a barrel. It may be a slight reprieve, but gasoline customers are waiting for the other shoe to drop sometime after Labor Day.

The cost of gasoline is still swinging between $3.59 and $4 a gallon so local residents are spending their dollars carefully. More and more bicycles are being dusted off and are back on the streets around town, as are motorcycles. People are pedaling to local stores for shopping or more often just doing without extras and even the basics.

We have to hope that events such as the upcoming Sandusky County Fair do not take a hit as residents opt to stay home to save gas.

Then we have to marvel at the nerve our Congress had to take a summer break without addressing the energy issue. When our elected officials on Capitol Hill return from vacation, it may be time for them and their staffs to park their cars and bike to work too. Let them discover first-hand how hard it is to balance a brief case or a bag of groceries on a bike handle.

It's obvious that our President enjoys cycling. We've seen that he seems to be enjoying biking in China during the Olympics. Instead of biking the Great Wall, it may be far more comforting to us if he were to bike through the great washer plant in our town so people here can tell him that life at home is tough too.