Okay, not really. We still have shelter, electricity, running water, phone service, plenty of food, and most of the other essentials of life. What we do NOT have at the moment are the two things I most need right now: internet, and gas.
To clarify: we do not have reliably working internet at my house. It’s been on and off (mostly off) for the last two days. Right now I’m sitting in the car, parked on Main Street in town, using the public wi-fi to do my blog since I can’t get onto the blog at home.
The reason I am downtown instead of somewhere else leads us to Absent Necessity #2: gas. Seriously. The TWO stations in the area with any gas AT ALL have hour-long lines at the pumps. They are limiting what you can get, of course. The car we are driving has less than a quarter of a tank left. My husband is walking a couple of miles up the road to one of the stations that has gas to try and get a couple of gallons in our gas can. My car is at home, also with just under a quarter tank.
The thing is, tomorrow I’m supposed to fly to San Francisco for YaoiCon. I am flying out of Charlotte, about 100 miles from where I live. There is NO WAY I can get there on 1/4 tank of gas. If the hubby and I can’t find any gas today, I won’t be able to go. If that happens, I am going to be So. Pissed. OFF.
Why in all the multiple hells is Western North Carolina, of all the places, STILL experiencing not only gas shortages, but worsening gas shortages? Is it just us? That seems really hard to believe, but the people I’ve talked to who’ve recently traveled through other areas have run into no such thing. Yet we have even less gas here than we did in the first couple of days after Ike hit. WTF, y’all?
So. Hopefully, we’ll find some gas and I can get to Charlotte, and by the time I get back home from SF this crazy shit will be OVER. Y’all cross your fingers…
Written by Ally Blue
Ally is a rich and famous author of hot gay manlove. She travels the world in her private jet, being waited on hand and foot by her team of pretty young men who bring her umbrella drinks and make out for her pleasure . . . Okay, so that's her dream life. Her novels of Manlove & Angst are mostly written in her living room, in between working at the Evil Day Job and doing Mom Stuff. Oh, the glamorous life of an author!
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Rex wrote,
Unfortunately, we are experiencing the same problem in Metro Atlanta. By Federal mandate, our region has to have a special low-sulfur blend of gas so it is illegal for other forms of gas to be hauled into our area for use. Breaking news is that the EPA has finally authorized us to use a higher-sulfur blend during this crisis. Hopefully it will help us.
Not sure if your area is one that has to have a special blend as we do, but whatever the reason, good luck!
Link | September 24th, 2008 at 6:29 am
lyne wrote,
i am in south central missouri and while we have had some stations trying to take advantage of the hurricane situation we still have gas. our attorney general as well as arkansas’s ag has told everyone to take pictures of the stations that are over charging and they will file charges. its to bad some people have to be that way. hope things work out for you. lyne
Link | September 24th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Ally Blue wrote,
Rex, as far as I know we’re allowed any kind of gas. We’re just not getting any :-/
Soooooo weird. I’ve never EVER seen it like this. Luckily, my in-laws had gas in the shed for the tractor, the machine that cuts the hay, etc etc, so they gave me enough to get me to Charlotte :D Looks like they have gas down here, so that’s good.
I hope getting the higher sulfar blend will help out down there! I Not having gas is just WAY too Mad Max for me O_O
Lyne, I keep hearing about gas scalping! OMG. That is SO evil! We had a couple stations under investigation up here too, before everyone ran out altogether. Now it’s mostly running $3.79-$3.99 a gallon, if you can find any. Hopefully things’ll be more normal by the time I get back from SF.
Link | September 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Jules wrote,
Good luck finding gas in Charlotte. I live just south of the state line, and I ran out of gas on the road this morning (missed my biology class) because I used it all up driving around trying to find some. 13 stations I drove past were out. From what I hear, anywhere that had gas in Charlotte was blocking traffic with the lines.
If you can’t find any when you get to Charlotte, try driving about 30 minutes south into Rock Hill, SC. They’ve got plenty down there and it’s still pretty reasonable (3.77 last I saw).
Link | September 24th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Ally Blue wrote,
O_O
Well, hell. I have enough gas to get home, barring a huge, gas-sucking traffic jam, but if I can’t fill up I won’t be able to go to work. Hmmmm…
Link | September 25th, 2008 at 10:30 am