In the wake of Hurricane Ike, the southeast United States is still facing severe cash shortages. From what we hear the pipelines are not at full capacity yet. (Refineries aren’t completely back up from the shutdown.) Anyway, our area here in the mountains of Western North Carolina we have seen some fairly severe shortages, long lines at gas stations, etc. The local school systems seem to be canceling events after school due to the shortage. It’s affecting businesses as well. There are hopes that by the middle of next week things will be back to normal, but at the moment many of us are running on empty…..