P.E.T.R.O.L.

Dang.
So last Friday, a reported 85% of Nashville-area gas stations ran out. Of gas.
They RAN OUT OF GAS!

Some people were saying (check out my impeccable journalistic skills) that a rumour (English style spelling!) had started that there was a shortage here and people went batty like back in the day when a winter storm would hit Louisville. Now, Kentucky style demands that if you hear of several inches of snow coming to the Ohio Valley you MUST MUST MUST buy up all the bread and milk you can in the few minutes after the weather report you will have before others get to it first. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I'd be snowed in just longing for a glass of milk and some toast. It was a hunger pang that neither bologna nor PB&J nor Mountain Dew nor water nor canned goods nor any other edible item in my home would sate. It HAD to be bread and milk...And so it goes down here apparently for gas. I drove around on the afternoon of the 19th and it was a mad house.

But I heard that Atlanta had a bit of it this week as well. So, we're not THAT crazy. But, it does beg several questions. Number one, WTF? Number two, WTH? Number three, AYFKM?

Now I am restraining from a rant here, but what is going on in this country that this panic is taking hold? I mean, the economy is not good, gas prices are not good, consumer confidence is not good. It reminds me of after [that event that Republicans like to remind us about] how tenuous the market really was and is and how a feeling, such as FEAR, could and can wreak havoc across the board. And as much as some people might like to think it, what happens here does have an effect on global markets, and they get scared as well and it starts to snowball...

These problems are here. We'll have to deal. I don't want to join in the blame game but YOU KNOW if Clinton were in office right now there would be a rail in DC with him on it and he would be riding that thing out of town.

BUT, the most important take-away from this is that when the Zombie Apocalypse finally comes about, don't count on the kindness of your neighbour. They will have already ransacked the grocery store, filled their car ALL the way up to the brim (plus gas cans) and probably have "liquidated" their assets from the local bank.

Get your ZAKPAKs (tm) ready. [NOTE: Zombie Apocalypse Kit, available by special mail order through Biscuit World for $49.95 (child's PAK for $39.95)]