You may have seen news reports that Atlanta is running low on auto fuel--partly because the pipeline that services the city is under capacity due to Gustav and Ike, partly because the EPA requires Atlanta gas stations to use a lower-sulfur fuel due to our lovely smog, and partly because every idiot in town wants to top off the tank before gas runs out entirely, exacerbating the problem.
We tend to wait until our cars are pretty low on fuel before we fill up--it's been helping us attempt to make our weekly spending targets. This has made the past couple weeks feel like we're speculators trying to time the stock market, only our transportation to and from work depends on the bet. Riding a bike, walking and car pooling are all not options for either of us for a variety of reasons. Kind of like living paycheck to paycheck, it's a stupid way to do things.
The week before Ike hit, my husband's car was approaching empty, but we figured that he could make it to work on Friday, we could use my car if needed over the weekend, and he could fill up the next Monday, which was payday for me and thus the turnover for weekly spending. I filled up my car that Tuesday, and as the week wore on, gas prices went up as Ike churned toward Texas. We heard rumors that gas was getting low in the metro area. We decided that his car running out of gas in an uncertain situation was not going to work as he was already almost on fumes, so he went with all the lemmings to fuel up on Friday. Turned out to be a good thing, prices went up further, and supplies in the city were limited.
However, the hurricane passed, and we figured it would be about a week before everything returned to normal and stopped paying attention all last week. Fast forward a week to last weekend, and both our tanks were getting pretty close to empty. I decided to delay a trip to CostCo on Saturday to save money. I would have filled up while I was there, and since I go first thing in the morning, I probably wouldn't be so nervous now. I noticed a couple gas stations with lines on Sunday, but figured it would be OK by mid-week when I would really need gas. On my way to work Monday morning, I was shocked to not only see lines at every gas station, but the station right by my work had two lines 7-8 cars deep outside the station. I would say at least half, if not more, of the stations in North Atlanta are out of gas at any point in time. And prices are more than $4, sometimes a lot more, just for unleaded.
I'm starting to get nervous. My car might be able to make it through Friday, but my husband's definitely won't. And I don't want to waste the last of my gas sitting in line to have the station run out by the time I get to the pump (happened to two of my coworkers). Five of the seven stations that I checked early this morning were out, and the other two had insane lines. Since I'm already not eating lunch out, and we've been cooking dinner at home, I don't have a lot of ways to save fuel at this point. News reports say that it's supposed to get better by the end of the week, but I'm not sure our cars are going to last.
Between this and the stock market wobbling, it's hard to stay optimistic. My rational brain knows better, but a giant emergency fund and a full tank of gas would go a long way to feeling more sane.
Update: My husband waited a short while in line around 8 pm to get gas, but had to drive around for a while. I'm going to see if I can hold out another day.
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