In anticipation of extended power outages I had been filling up my truck at every opportunity. Once it was clear that the main roads in my area had power restored, I stopped buying gas. There had been talk of a supply problem, but I assumed that it would have worked itself out by now. Free markets tend to put the supply where the demand is needed. Yesterday the evidence of how real the gasoline supply issue is was thrown in my face. I drove past 8 gas stations on my way home from work around 7PM. Only 1 of the stations had fuel. A second station, a Hess on the corner of the Eastern Service Road for 495 and Route 83, had a fuel truck filling up it's tanks. The State Police were there and the line was already 50 cars long and growing. I decided to forgo waiting at the Hess, check a few more stations in the area, and go home to see if power had been restored. This is what I found instead (please excuse the Howard Stern show in the background, my phone stopped playing music through the car's stereo when I started to record video):
The above video shows lines at a gas station on Middle Country Rd around 8PM last night. The line was longer than that at the Hess station I passed earlier so I grabbed a slice of pizza and went home to eat in the dark. After my candlelight dinner, I read for a bit and went to bed early so I could wake up around 2AM to look for gas... no sane person is out hunting for gas at 2AM right?... My first stop was the aforementioned Hess station.... Wow.
My hand slipped and I stopped the video prematurely, but there were 70+ cars lined up along the service road, plus the cars on 83, plus the cars in the station... at 2AM!! Needless to say, I didn't stop here for gas. I found another Hess station on 347 with around 20 cars waiting. I was back in bed by 4AM. Good times!
Going on Day 5 with out power at home. It's slightly over 50 degrees in the condo. My patience is running thin. I haven't stayed in a hotel yet, but I packed a bag this morning. I have the money to stay in a hotel and if the power isn't on tonight I'll be checking in somewhere for the weekend. I sincerely appreciate the offers from people, including my sister (she woke up to power this morning), who have offered me a couch or a spare bedroom. For this weekend, I'm going to pass on these invites and enjoy room service, turn down service, and housekeeping instead.
:: EDIT::
Seems silly, but not everyone knows about this site yet: http://www.hessexpress.com/Home
It takes awhile to load, but it's worth it if you're hunting for a gas station.
