No, not that kind of gas!  F-U-E-L.  That smelly stuff that enables our various methods of conveyance to transport us from point A to point B to point C and back home again. It’s a precious commodity, and one that we have been taking for granted far too long.

My husband and I are fortunate in that we have one family vehicle.  That may not sound ideal to most, but it works for us.  He has a company vehicle that fuel is provided for at a minimal cost. That vehicle takes him to and from work, and around all points necessary in the course of his workday.

Since I work from home and our children are grown, I rarely venture out during the day, unless I’m meeting my parents or friends for lunch or coffee, or have some small errand to run.  Our outings together consist of church, choir practice, a few nights out to dinner and the occasional shopping trip.  We also drive to Tennessee once or twice each month to visit his family.  All that being said, our vehicle doesn’t need much gas each month.

We recently took our annual Florida west coast vacation, just as Hurricane Gustav was preparing to make his entrance in the United States.  That was all fine and we didn’t experience anything beyond some high winds and a few hours of rain.  The week following our return, I made another trip to Florida, this time down the east coast, to pick up my son and grand-dog, and return them to Atlanta.  It was during this trip that the rumors of a future gas shortage began to surface.  My mother-in-law had accompanied me on this trip, and our Tennessee relatives were calling her to share the news.  We only noticed a difference in gas station activity at the cheaper stations, because prices were beginning to rise.  Reports from Tennessee were of stations either rationing the amount one could purchase or being out of gas completely.  We arrived safely in Atlanta and promptly filled back up.

Back here in Loganville, prices were somewhat higher, and although many stations were running out of lower priced fuel, there was still supply available. Until this week.

Now let me tell you what happened yesterday. It was Wednesday, which means dinner at Chick-Fil-A followed by choir practice.  As we left the house, we knew the first order of business was to fill the gas tank.  I don’t like to live on the edge, but we’re testing a new product and I was letting the gas gauge go as low as I could before re-fueling.  Turns out that wasn’t such a good idea.  We drove around town in quitting time traffic with the orange “Low Fuel” light staring us down. Station after station was completely out of gas. Rather than risk going to yet another station, finding no fuel and the possibility of being stranded, we headed for home, texting my brother-in-law that we would not be present and the reason why.

Immediately, I got online and did search of local gas stations, which I called one by one.  There was literally not one gas station in town with any fuel other than diesel.  All but one answered my question, “When will you be getting more?” with this answer, “I don’t know.”  The one that did know stated that it would be overnight or early in the morning.

So guess what I did first thing this morning?  That’s right!  I called said store and inquired of Stephanie (who answered cheerfully although it was early) whether there was currently a supply.  Her answer was, “Right now there is.”  I dressed quickly and headed out the door, praying that my trusty blue chariot wouldn’t start sputtering along the way to the pumps.  God is faithful, and he delivered me safely to a pump with no waiting.  I filled up as much as I could (16.647 gallons), noted the mileage and headed home.

It feels good to know that I CAN go if I need to, which I will shortly.  One of those trips to the store for dinner ingredients I can’t make substitutions for.  I’ll be going to the nearest store to save that precious gas!

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