Thursday, October 2, 2008

Do Not Panic

A year or so ago, I would crack up when Savannah would say, "Do Not Panic" in a dramatic low voice while slowly waving her arms up and down. It was something she was quoting from one of her animated movies...maybe "Bug's Life". She seemed to use the quote at very appropriate times and it was really cute.

Well, this is now a very appropriate time to remember; "Do Not Panic". But it's hard not to. Here in the southeast we've had a gas shortage. In case you haven't heard, the operations of many of the refineries in the gulf were affected by the two hurricanes that went through there last month. That is directly where we (as well as Tennessee, Florida, etc.) get our gas from. So until they get up and running to full capacity again, we're in trouble. For the past 19 days we have been stressed out looking for gas. Most stations simply don't have any...so you drive around using more gas looking for a station that does. If and when you find one, the lines are long and there is no guarantee that they won't run out before you get to the pump. Georgia has passed some temporary measures that will help a little. They are suspending some safety measures -- letting the tankers carry a fuller load, letting the drivers log more hours -- and easing back on the EPA standards just until production gets back to normal...which could be a couple of more weeks. Just yesterday and today they say these methods are slowly beginning to work. So Do Not Panic, fellow drivers.

Then there's the whole mess from Wall Street to Washington. Such a short distance on the map...but has all of us tangled up with them. Do Not Panic? What...trust our government? Trust the guys on Wall Street? Who do we trust? Well....Do No Panic. Look at what little money you have left and it will tell you, "In God We Trust." In the mean time, try not to watch too much of the news...it'll only make you crazy. Everyone now agrees that this is a crisis. But not long ago they were trying to tell us that it wasn't a "depression" or even a "recession". They were calling it a "market correction". I like what one commentator said. "If this is a correction, then why don't we send the ones responsible to the house of corrections?"
Dear Lord, when you're finished fixing our gas crisis and our financial crisis...we still need some rain. Thank you.

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