So you think it's bad here...

In Ireland, gas at the pump is almost double the already exorbitant rate we are paying here in Pokeyville.

And check out this headline from today's NY Times: "Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average" Read that story here.

Food in Ireland, which thanks to the EU has in the last years prospered enormously, is double what we are paying here. Yet, somehow, the restaurants are full. In London, I payed almost $90 for two of us at a Chinese restaurant; in Dublin and Edinburgh $50 for myself at several Italian joints.

Let us join hands and count our blessings one more time...