Hold On, This Roller Coaster Is Out of Control!

I think I am riding on a roller coaster right now and the train of cars is raging out of control downhill with no end in sight. I am not sure what how more I can take between Wachovia being bought out and the gas shortage... There are so many things happening here lately that I just seem to be constantly trailing behind the latest story as they happen. Yet, Congress cannot make a decision to save the rest of us! Someone had a really brilliant idea last week that I totally agree with- we should pass a law to limit Congressmen/women's term to 2 terms just like the President... some of those folks have been in office WAY too long! I think they are way too comfortable and just truly do not appreciate nor understand us regular folks.
I really panicked yesterday when I heard about Wachovia...I finally got in contact with the lady at the Wach-Securities office back home to discuss my Grandmother's accounts... I just made a large transaction between her accounts a little over a week ago and am seriously stroking over the possibility that the money might not get moved as planned... Her scenario would get really ugly if the money does not switch accounts too. I am sure my blood pressure level skyrocketed all day yesterday... yet, Lisa at WS assures me that the money will move... of course, that is what she says today not knowing if she will still be employed there tomorrow!
Hubby wound up funneling all of our lawn mower and tractor gas into his work truck on Sunday evening to get to work yesterday... he scoured the Conyers area and luckily found gas to fill up yesterday afternoon! A few stations have gotten gas deliveries all around work and home but, the lines are unbelievably LONG and there always seems to be cops and TV cameras around too! I did manage to get gas yesterday morning around 4:40am again on my way to boot camp... God bless the BP on JF Rd for opening the pumps at that crazy hour!
Hubby and I did manage to get to Athens on Saturday for the tailgate and the Georgia-Alabama game... we enjoyed seeing old friends, trying some south GA smoked pig and then getting jammed into that stadium with THOUSANDS of other folks only to be disappointed that the home team did not play well or win for that matter.
The one lone fan that just would not give up hope in the 4th quarter.

Oh well, maybe our next football outing at Georgia Tech's Homecoming game in late October will have positive results with the tailgate and the game! Go Jackets!

The Panic Has Set In

The panic seriously set in last night... we went to find gas for Hubby's work truck after supper. No such luck! We drove to at least TWELVE gas stations within 5 or so miles of our home and no one, I repeat NO ONE had gas! At this point, price is not even the problem... the problem is the fact that there is NO gas. It is so weird to drive up and down the road and every single gas station has no dollar amounts on the gas signs and the pumps are totally empty of traffic. The QT down the road from my office was/is like a ghost town this week. And that particular station usually has so many folks in the parking lot that you can not even turn into it just to go in and buy a coke. Yesterday, I was the only customer in the parking lot and in the store! The staff on duty were dusting the shelves and mopping the floors to stay busy! I could not believe it...After the pointless drive in circles last night gas-hunting with Hubby, I could not get the gas situation off my mind. I got up really, really early and left the house even earlier than the usual 4:30am to go find gas for my car since I was down to 1/4 tank... I said a prayer when I left our subdivision that I would find gas on the way to boot camp... Again, every station was out of gas or closed... and then, halleluyah I spotted some cars getting precious petro at the last station along the main drag out of Cobb county. My hands were shaking as I retrieved the nozzle and started the pump. The wonderful sound of gas guzzling into my car never sounded so good! I had the biggest grin on my face the entire time... all the people getting gas were just staring at each other in relief. I never dreamed I would see the day when a simple task of filling up my car was such a blissful, fulfilling moment... Boy, times have changed...

Running Scared

Or should I say, “Running Scared On Empty” instead? What does that phrase mean you ask? Well, that is the continuous nagging feeling of dread that seems to have encompassed most Atlantans this week… or so it seems to me and in my world. It is the feeling that one might not make it from Point A to Point B if the gas tank is not fed enough gas. Now granted I am used to driving a gas-guzzling hog of a truck in lieu of a cost-efficient soccer-mom-type sedan… and the fear of not getting enough gas to do the daily tasks of going to work, driving back home from work, going to the grocery store, etc. is not really as bad as it once was… however, the feeling is still there! I mean seriously… my Taurus has well over half a tank of gas right now, but the lingering want to stop at any gas station that a) actually HAS gas and b) doesn’t have a mile of cars waiting to fill up is BIG TIME on my mind! That nagging feeling just seems to eat at me all throughout the day… and believe me, I check every single gas station I pass now just to see if they have bags on the nozzles or caution tape up… all the while mentally mapping out where the available gas places are… so when I do need gas, I know exactly where to go. Based on my observations all this week, it seems that the best time to get gas is around 4:30am on my way to boot camp… less traffic at the pumps and easy to see the pumps from the road without putting my car and life at risk of having an accident while looking… the only downside is that half of the gas stations in Atlanta are not open at that early hour. Hubby called me yesterday afternoon to inform me that he only had enough gas to get home last night… he rode to work today with a co-worker. And then around lunchtime today I realized that I am supposed to take my Grandmother to the doctor tomorrow down in LaGrange… I panicked! How in the world am I going to get there and back without gas? There’s that panicky feeling of dread again! Fortunately, I managed to get around that whole scary scenario and begged someone else down there to take her… thank the good Lord for quick blessings. In the meantime, what happens if the tankers of gas don’t show up between now and next week? Will folks have to stay home and miss work? Especially those who don’t work anywhere near the office? Or is it our unspoken duty to ride all around Atlanta over the weekend trying to find gas so we can drive to work as usual? Is this par for course for the future? Fuel seems to be the most precious commodity we rely on day-to-day to live our lives… and it seems to be waning at an extremely fast pace…and then what happens next? Is it just me or is this whole week of financial scares and gas shortages really taking a toll on everybody??!

Gas Woes... Again!

What is the deal with the gas pumps AGAIN???!! Yesterday, I was cruising home to a sick husband who stayed home all day... and every darn gas station between my office and home had umpteen cars parked around the pumps and stretching out into the road waiting to get gas! They were causing traffic jams all along the road! And the ones that did not have a traffic jam, were empty with caution tape wrapped around the pump island! Now I know I heard some tidbit on the radio yesterday about a gas shortage in the Southeast... but, come on people! If you really do not have an empty tank, why put yourself and the rest of us through this torture?? And then this morning at 4:35am... I repeat AT 4:35AM THIS MORNING the only one gas station open at that ungodly hour, a BP had people at EVERY pump getting gas!! Are you kidding me?? I had thought for one brief moment that I would fill up on the way to boot camp because the pumps would be EMPTY.... Wrong! Once again, the general population has not ceased to amaze me... I wonder if these folks actually got up that early to assure a tank of gas before the surge of others later???!! Unbelievable! Do you know that this type of hype at the pumps has been going on now off and on since 2005... I distinctly remember the first time it happened in late 2005... during hurricane season no less... When will the madness end?

What In The World Is Going On Today?

What in the world is going on today? We were gone on a weekend camping and white water rafting trip over the weekend up on the Ocoee River in Tennessee and we come home to complete chaos! We did notice on the way up on Friday afternoon that the gas prices seem to be jumping up the further we drove north. And wouldn’t you know that by the time we got home last night, most gas stations were out of gas! I intentionally left the house late this morning for two reasons: 1) I had the day off from boot camp and 2) I had only 1/8 tank of gas in the company car. I was scared to chance traffic with such a low level of fuel…. And what is worse is that all the stations on the way to work were out of gas! When I got near the office, the big QT station just down the road only had Premium fuel at $4.39/gallon… I was really beginning to panic at this point. So I spent my lunch hour looking for a gas station with Regular fuel… I lucked up with a Shell station off Satellite in Duluth thank goodness! And now the stock market is plunging too… what gives?
In the meantime, enjoy some action shots on the river from Saturday: