Third World Country

OK so the gas shortage is pretty bad. Hurricane Ike has made a bit of a mess here and continues to have a significant impact on gas prices and availability. On Tuesday on the way home from work I went to three gas stations before I found one with pumps open-that was in Spartanburg. It wouldn't have been a huge deal but for the fact I was running on fumes. Today we're in Atlanta (or Marietta near Atlanta) and I've just dropped Jane and Isabelle off at the hotel and I'm in line, on the street, to fill up. When we went out to get some supper we kept driving by all sorts of gas stations that were either closed or had huge lineups-the kind you see before a hurricane in Texas or something. Anyway, I decided I'd rather make sure I have enough to get home rather than take the chance on Sunday. You see it's not just about getting home on Sunday but also about catching my flight to Ireland. I have a business trip to Ireland for ten days and decided to fly out of Greenville so Jane and Isabelle wouldn't have to drive home from Atlanta by themselves. So for this weekend we had plans to explore Atlanta but we may end up staying closer to the hotel and Jane's stamp show. I had thought about going to the Zoo on Saturday while Jane was at her show, but we may not. It seems silly in some ways but the gas shortage here is much more serious than I imagined. At least the oil companies aren't gauging yet. Now the price here is nothing by Canadian and European standards. I keeps hovering around $4 a gallon, and has been as low as $3.50 a gallon a few weeks ago. It isn't bad for me but everyone else who got used to paying (and even complained about) $2.25 a gallon last year sure have a lot to say about it. As you can imagine it is a bit of an election issue here but nothing compared to the financial mess this country is in. Anyway, I have to move the Jeep and get pumping-at least the Jeep got 32+ mpg on the way here. It's not the hybrid I wanted but it's not too bad. Hopefully when I get back to the hotel Isabelle will be asleep and things will be quiet. I'll let you know about the aquarium...