When will it ever end??!!

Thursday, 9/25/08
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Today I had my first up-close taste of what stupid really looks like. I needed to find gas for the Suburban. I'd already delayed fueling up a day because of all the idiocy in this area; and could no longer wait, because I was below 1/4 and have to drive for my daughter's field trip tomorrow. So off to find gas I went.

I managed to find one place on the way to the kids' school that had 93 octane only. Didn't help much that they were limiting people to $15.00 transactions; as it was, I got just over $17 out of it before it shut off on me. How much gas did that get me? A whopping 3.9 gallons. That MIGHT be enough to get my kids to school in the morning; it was nowhere near enough to get me through the day, with the field trip planned.

So, after getting the kids from school, we set off to find a station that actually had gas. Ten minutes later, we found a place that had about a dozen cars waiting to fill up. Didn't seem too bad, so we got in line (after going down the side street and turning around, so we wouldn't block the main road) and settled in to wait. The station had two islands; and only one pump per island, so it actually took twice as long as we'd originally thought to get our turn. One side would pump; then the other; and back and forth. What a pain. All in all, it took an HOUR for us to get our turn, but at least it was worth it. They had a $40 transaction limit, much better than the last place.

But is all this craziness really necessary? People watch the news for information; the news and other media outlets make a big deal out of situations such as this; and as a result, they feed the paranoia and CAUSE the mad rush to get gas. It's absurd, really. If people would just keep to their regular routines, none of this fuel frenzy would have had to occur, and those of us who actually THINK before freaking out would be able to get gas when we really NEED it. I didn't feed into all this paranoia; but because of it, I am paying the price. The Suburban takes about 10 days to go through a tank of gas; I have no reason or desire to fuel up every friggin' day just because the MEDIA thinks we MIGHT have a low supply for a while. The boneheads who are buying into all this media hyperbole, who are rushing off with every vehicle and gas can they own, who are selfishly HOARDING fuel for their own purposes - they don't realize or care that they are hurting the economy and the rest of us. People really need to calm down and use that brain that God gave them.