Going into Labor Day, four out of twelve local gas stations in our neighborhood are sold out. Three of the eight remaining were selling gas for $3.29 a gallon and were literally empty of customers. The five others were jammed full, and in a few instances, people were lining up for gasoline at $3.19 a gallon.

We were supposed to go away for the long weekend to Santa Barbara, but that has had the kibosh put on it, as running into soldout stations or lines out on the road just doesn’t sound like a great idea. This will be the first three-day weekend in years that we haven’t traveled. I hope I can handle the trauma.