Lynners fume over sky-high gas prices

LYNN – Gary Fairweather took a philosophical attitude Tuesday as he dropped $20 worth of gas into the tank of his Chevrolet Suburban.The four-door SUV can gulp down $80 worth of fuel before it is full and Fairweather had someone to blame for its nearly insatiable appetite.”It’s Bush who is making money off it. If he says the price goes down, it goes down,” he said.David Wessell offered a similar perspective as he contemplated the prospect of trying to make ends meet this summer delivering pizza while paying four dollars a gallon for gas.At a time when gas prices and the cost of a barrel of oil are setting sky-high records, drivers don’t mind placing the blame for their empty wallets on the former oilman now residing in the White House.John’s Oil sold a tank of regular gasoline Tuesday for $3.07 a gallon and offered diesel for $3.99. One customer brought employee Amy Lank a plastic bag full of change to pay for five dollars worth of gas.Gas prices have increased four consecutive weeks and are higher than they have been since September 2005, when the average post-Hurricane Katrina price reached $3.23 per gallon in Massachusetts.AAA says Massachusetts remains 14 cents below the current national average price of $3.22 per gallon for regular unleaded. Wessell said his friends in Hawaii and California are already paying nearly four dollars a gallon.”It’s absurd,” said Jonathan Gaudet as Lank dropped a few gallons into his 1991 Cadillac. Gaudet drives for a living and is thankful his employer covers fuel costs.Florence Taylor plans to cut back on her driving to save money on gas but Fairweather isn’t making any plans to take his Suburban off the road.He remembers the gas shortages of the 1970s when fill ups were restricted to drivers with even-numbered plates on some days and odd-numbered on others.”Prices go up and come down. I’ve got more important things to worry about.”