So far the price of gas hasn't stopped demand. In fact, demand is increasing.

I received an e-mail stating I should stop buying gas from Exxon and Mobil for the rest of the year because a drastic decline in sales would cause them to lower their prices.

In the first place, I can't participate because we don't have Exxon and Mobil. In the second place, even if I could participate and not buy from them, they would still sell their gas on the commodities markets to those who do sell gas.

In this scenario, the same amounts of gasoline would still be consumed.

Until we find a way to conserve the stuff or find an alternative way of fueling our transportation needs, nothing will or can change.

While traveling on the interstate in Georgia, we were doing between 70 and 75 mph and were being passed by nearly everyone.

The quickest way to save gas would be to go back to the 55 mph speed limit, conserve trips other than absolutely necessary and share rides with others.

Until we change our ways, we're stuck with the prices. Get used to it.

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As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, I thought it would help to place an HHS All-School Reunion side banner on the Free Press Web site to make it easier to find information.

A signup form and a poster with the weekend's events are now posted there. Hope to see you. I'm told there will be one class entry in the parade on Saturday afternoon you'll not want to miss.

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"Do we really need a 9 million word tax code?" asks Jack Schultz of Boomtown USA on his daily blog.

He states the following:

"No one on earth knows what is in the federal tax code. Its vast complexity plagues the system, and is a burden the taxpayers are unnecessarily bearing.

"Steve Forbes, testifying before the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, put the federal tax code in perspective: 'The Gettysburg Address, which defined the American nation, is 272 words in length. Our Declaration of Independence is some 1,300 words. The Bible, which spans several thousand years of human history, is 773,000 words. But the federal tax code, with all of its attendant rules and regulations, is 9 million words and rising.'

"Since the last attempt at tax simplification was made in 1986, the code has been amended 14,000 times and grown by 3 million words. Today, a typical taxpayer filing a regular Form 1040 will spend 26 hours and 48 minutes per annum completing his return, that's up 57 percent from 17 hours and 7 minutes spent filing in 1988.

"Americans are spending 6.6 billion hours preparing their tax forms. That's the equivalent of 3.3 million full-times jobs are squandered on tax compliance! Does anyone else see a serious inefficiency here? Think of the lost productivity!

"And it's not just the everyday citizens that are confounded by the tax code. Tax professionals are often confused by the metamorphosing regulations. Isn't there a way that the people can be relieved of this headache?"