As hurricane Ike bears down on the east Texas coastline, pain is being felt across a much wider region.

My kid sister is riding out the storm at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where she works as the IT/Telecom manager.  it’s one of those positions where she has to be on-site during emergencies.  Unfortunately, that means her husband and two children have to survive at home without her.

They’ll be okay; they’re Texas tough.

Here at home, the worst we’ve seen is gas prices going crazy.  This morning, gas was still $3.69, but by afternoon, the price had jumped to $3.99.  There have been rumors circulating that stations may run out of gas, which of course prompts everyone (or everyone else) to go fill up all their cars, thereby increasing the likelihood of a shortage.

There’s a better answer to this temporary gas crisis: just stay home. 

Other than going to the football game tonight, I’m thinking the "just stay home" strategy could work really well for me.  I have plenty of groceries; I can buy more beer on the way home from the game.  

I will not participate in the frenzy; it’s like people buying up all the milk, bread, and toilet paper when snow is forecast, as though they’ll never see a grocery store again.  This is crazy, and just rewards the gas merchants for spiking prices in advance of a potential problem.

A little sanity, please, if there’s any left in the pipeline.