In the newsroom Friday morning, it first started with a phone call from one our correspondents, Greg Gross. "Hey, did you see that gas is at $2.99?" he said.
I hadn't noticed. But I've been on alert for awhile when it started creeping closer to $3.

No, not Spring Grove. Chillicothe, Ohio, which usually votes the way the all-important Buckeye state does. Glatfelter purchased a plant there a few years ago and has struggled to make it a go there.

And now, it is the town politicos across the country are watching for which way the election is going to go.

Read about Chillicothe's politics here.

My boss got this e-mail forwarded to her from a friend and sent it on to me. I think it's about time we had a nice break from all the doom and gloom economy news for something a little more enjoyable.

Read after the jump for a good laugh.

As I headed to work this morning, I noticed that some regular gasoline prices had dropped to $3.25 per gallon. And those prices jive with AAA's survey that claims that the local average cost for a gallon of regular gas on Wednesday cost $3.298. The good news is that the average price for gas was $3.34 per gallon on Tuesday. We dropped 4 cents in one day. Not bad. But, not good enough. Gas prices need to fall below $2 a gallon before I'll even come close to calling fuel cheap. What do you think? How much does gas have to fall before it becomes inexpensive?

I can't think of a worse investment than a college education right now. Houses, cars and even AIG stock are at bargain prices, but the prices for degrees keep going up. And the resulting debt looks scarier by the day, considering the job markets.

Just look at the amount of debt students are taking on just to get a degree - $22,000 on average. That's more money than people pay for anything except their houses

I think this is just as dangerous as the mortgage mess. Sure it's less money than a house costs, but it's also debt taken on by people who are beginning their lives, and have absolutely no savings to fall back on.

I seriously think we need to rethink our education system in this country because of debt issues. After the mortgage mess, any system that convinces people they need something to live the American dream - and puts them in debt to get it - needs to be reconsidered.

What do you think?

Got word of this e-mailed from a friend this morning, and if you have a pet, you probably want to click the link to find out if your pet food, treats or whatnot are on the list.

The list of items possibly contaminated with a strain of Salmonella is pretty long.

The information is also on the FDA Web site, and it's a voluntary recall.

So last week I was all ready to become a member of Citigroup, the people who were going to buy Wachovia. But then Wells Fargo made a better offer, and Wachovia like that deal better.

So the news came out that Wachovia was going to be bought by Wells Fargo instead.

I was caught off guard by the switch and hadn't really seen it coming, but thought, "Ok fine, now I'm going to be a member of Wells Fargo."

But now it's all a mess because Citigroup is filing papers in court saying Wachovia is breaking contracts, and Well Fargo is saying it is still buying Wachovia even though Citigroup is trying to stop it, and quite frankly I am having a Wachovia identity crisis.

I just want to know what my bank is going to be and be done with it.

Sorry about my rant. Feel free to share your own in the comments.