Hunting the wily Gasoline, or Surreality at 4:30 in the freaking morning

[kitanzi]

We have a wee, tiny bit of a gas crunch here in northern GA, as you may have heard. I have a pretty short commute and a small car, so I have been able to put this off but there are limits, and Kitanzi needs Gasoline, badly. I went looking yesterday morning on my way out grocery shopping at the bright and lively hour of 7:45. Hah. Most stations were out, and the two that were not had lines a block long. At that rate, someone's going to have just pulled up to the pump when it quits after giving them a buck's worth of gas, and things are gonna get ugly. (Both stations had a cop car parked nearby, doing nothing visible. Funny coincidence, that.) I had enough for my errands and a bit over, so I did them as quickly as possible. The cashier at the supermarket mentioned he's gotten his gas on his way to work at 4:30 am with no trouble and no line (this is what passes for small talk here these days, it's ridiculous) which I thought was a good idea. I'm often awake by 5 anyhow, so that wasn't a stretch.

So this morning I woke up at 4:30 and figured I'd get this done with, go hunt the wily Gasoline. I swear to you, I drove around for nearly an hour and checked at least a dozen gas stations. Some are selling diesel and keeping their minimarts open, but a lot aren't even bothering with that. I finally stopped at one on the way home and asked if they expected to get gas today. The guy looked wary and said they were but he didn't know what time. Duh, if they gave folks a time then they'd be camped out all over the parking lot. (Hell, that was what *I* had been thinking of doing!) So I guess I'll go check that one later this morning and sit in the damned line already. Bleah. *yawn*

Comments

Gahh!

[smcmullan.livejournal.com]

I don't see much news, so I was unaware of the gas issues in your area... Yikes! That's really a pain. I'm glad we're not having those issues here; I have a long commute and my car doesn't get great mileage.

Good luck with the gas hunt!

Re: Gahh!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I just got home from the sequel, and I'm fairly sure from listening to the other folks who were waiting that there's no gas to be had right now within city limits, and some ways beyond.

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Rather than go driving around, I called local gas stations til I found one with gas. Still sat in line for 35 min, but at least I wasn't *wasting* gas looking for it!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I really didn't expect that to be required at four freaking thirty on a Sunday morning. *sigh*

[ketzl.livejournal.com]

Oy! Good luck. I just hope that by the time I fly back Thursday evening, that this mess is largely over with. Got a little less than a half tank and I could probably get back to Athens on that but then I'd be on fumes...

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Best luck, seriously!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

This is terrifying. Good luck!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Thank you! After the sequel, I've given up for the time being. I want to leave enough gas in the damn car to get to a gas station after things ease up.

[aiela.livejournal.com]

I'd been meaning to ask if things were really as bad as they kept talking about on the news, but I guess it is. I hope it gets resolved soon!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Me too. Last week the rumor (hah) was that we'd get a good supply by the end of the week. By the end of the week, rumor had changed that to the end of this coming week. By then, who knows.

[aiela.livejournal.com]

I find it disturbing that in an industrialized nation, one part of it can be having these kind of problems. I mean, we have trucks. And roads. And plenty of gas elsewhere.

its just bizarre.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Most of the gas to the North GA area arrives via pipeline from the Gulf. With the refineries shut down, they're having to truck in gasoline. The problem is that:

a) there's a logistical limit to how much gas you can bring in on trucks
b) people down here are panicking the same way they do when there's the threat of snow.

Either a or b wouldn't create a problem. A+B together creates the situation we have now.

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

First water, then gas. What is it with you guys and liquids?

[Thwap!]

Sorry. I should be offering some sympathy, shouldn't I? I can remember driving cab back in the '70s and getting in loooonnng gas lines at end of shift (3 AM or so). I *had* to leave the cab gassed up for the day shift. Yes, it sucked. I hope the Gulf gets functioning real soon. It's been a while since Ike went north. I didn't think Ike did *that* much damage to the rigs. Your LJ entries are all I know of the shortage. I've seen nothing else on-line or in the newspapers.

Ann O.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

anecdotal evidence (ie everyone gossiping at work) suggests it may be getting a little better. In any case, I managed to get a tankful last night and ACat got one today, so we should both be good until this eases up. I'm sure the cabbies, and delivery folk, and everyone who has to drive around for a living are having a horrible time of it. I dunno what the problem is - I would have thought the Ike damage would be fixed by now, but... *shrug* I'm sure it doesn't help that Atlanta drivers tend to have INSANELY long commutes (timewise, if not distancewise) so they depend more on fueling up more often. As for in the papers, I know it's been on CNN, don't know otherwise for non-local sources.

186,000 mm per second

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

Well, I found an article about it on-line yesterday. Most of the southeast's gas comes by pipeline, as ACat noted. What the article said was that the gas only travels at 3 to 5 mph! So I guess it takes a while to build up the local reserves for the tank trucks to deliver. FWIW, the article also said things might not normalize until the middle of the month.

3 to 5 mph - It's not just a bad idea, it's not the law.

Gas station attendant Hummer joke - Shut the engine off - you're gaining on the pump!

And no, I have no idea how close 186,000 mm per second is to 3 to 5 mph.

Ann O. (:-/