Your nightmares are only supposed to happen while you sleep.
But for drivers running on empty, theirs began Tuesday morning, when they hit the road and discovered gas prices had gone up three cents a litre overnight.
If you were heading home Monday evening, you were lucky to squirt out regular for an already expensive $1.05.
Less than twelve hours later under the cover of darkness, those same gas station marquees are now displaying a far uglier $1.08, among the highest rates seen in the GTA since Hurricane Katrina created a prices crisis in 2005.
There's no big storm this time.
And oil prices actually fell a bit below $68 a barrel on world markets.
So what's the excuse this time for pumping up the costs?
It will be a familiar one to those in Ontario.
Analysts say refinery problems in the U.S. and reports that gasoline stockpiles in that country are down have raised concerns with investors that there simply won't be enough gas to meet consumer demand as we near the peak summer driving season.
The oil companies call it a Katrina hangover. They never shut down their refineries for maintenance after the storm, and some are doing it now.
The result - oil slides down a bit, but gas prices go up.
"Because of the decline in the gasoline inventories (in the U.S.), the difference between what it costs to buy oil and what it costs to buy the refined product has skyrocketed ... almost to record-high levels," outlines analyst Bart Melek.
You don't have to have a long memory to recall what a refinery outage did in Ontario.
Last February, Esso's Nanticoke plant was damaged by flames that put the facility out of commission for almost a month.
The cost of a fill-up skyrocketed and some stations were actually forced to shut down because they ran out of gas.
Things aren't that bad here - the supplies are plentiful, but affording them is the problem.
Experts also blame ongoing tensions in the key oil producing countries of Iran and Nigeria for keeping the cauldron - and your blood - boiling.
But Liberal MP and longtime gas critic Dan McTeague has his own explanation.
He blames alleged collusion in the industry and the ongoing monopoly of the big oil companies for keeping the price high.
"Petro Canada, Sunoco and Imperial Oil that owns Esso all share refineries across Canada," he points out. "So one person in every region decides the price and every morning it changes."
For the locals with their fingers on the gas trigger, it's just another excuse to fire off their grievances.
"I'm not sure who it is, the government or George Bush or who's involved in this at this point," sighs a frustrated David Goldberg as he watches the numbers go up and up at the pump. "I think it's bigger than they are."
Shasta Lutz has a less conspiratorial explanation. "I think somebody's greedy. Honestly. I don't understand why it's $1.07.9 There's no fire."
And Alec Hunter has a few choice words for those behind this latest spike. And yes, they are printable.
"Give us a break," he moans.
And the bleat goes on.
"I think its exorbitant."
"I'm deeply distressed."
"It's not good, not good, and the prices keep climbing."
Michelle Giroux waited as long as she could before pulling into her station. But with the dial on "E" she didn't have much choice.
"I was hoping it would go down but I had to drive to Kingston and back so I'm empty."
And now, so is her purse.
But she can consider herself fortunate. She only drives a car.
Those with gas guzzling trucks practically have to take out a mortgage to keep their tanks filled. One man paid $99 by the time his nozzle stopped pumping.
"Consumers are exhausted and frustrated," agrees Bruce Cran of the Consumers' Association of Canada. "We've got no satisfactory explanations as to why these huge price rises take place year after year."
He claims to have received hundreds of calls since Monday from disgruntled drivers nationwide complaining about the escalating cost of a fill-up.
It traditionally goes even higher the closer we get to summer. And the first unofficial weekend of that season - the May 24th Victoria Day three-day holiday - is now just a little over three weeks away.
Still, McTeague believes all that noise and moaning will have an effect, and expects to see prices dip to around $1.04 over the next few days.
Little do drivers here know they don't have all that much to cry about. Other parts of the country have been paying a lot more for the same litre.
Vancouver car owners have been spending money like water - or in this case - oil, parting with $1.25 a litre in some places. The average price in B.C. is around $1.21.
It's $1.17 in Montreal and up to $1.19 in parts of Newfoundland.
The biggest bargain is in oiltown Calgary, where drivers are lapping up the litres for just 99 cents. (For the rest of the country, see chart
here.)
Gas saving tips for drivers
Toronto drivers have been on a gas price roller coaster since the calendar changed in January. Here's a look at the average prices for a litre of regular since the beginning of 2007.
January 2: 85.4
January 9: 81.2
January 16: 80.7
January 23: 77.8
January 30: 79.8
February 6: 84.1
February 13: 83.8
February 20: 91.5
February 27: 97.7
March 6: $1.00.4
March 13: $1.02.7
March 20: $1.01.5
March 27: $1.01.2
April 3: $1.01.2
April 10: $1.02.3
April 17:
$101.3
April 24: $102.1
May 1, 2007: $1.07.9
How much have things changed in the last 20 years? In May 1987, we were shelling out 44.8 a litre - and complaining madly about how expensive it was.
Here's a look at where gas prices have stood in Toronto on every May 1 over the past two decades.
May 1, 2006: $103.4
May 1, 2005: 84.3
May 1, 2004: 85.5
May 1, 2003: 66.9
May 1, 2002: 67.7
May 1, 2001: 79.9
May 1, 2000: 67.8
May 1, 1999: 58.5
May 1, 1998: 52.7
May 1, 1997: 56.0
May 1, 1996: 60.0
May 1, 1995: 55.9
May 1, 1994: 47.1
May 1, 1993: 50.6
May 1, 1992: 49.9
May 1, 1991: 55.1
May 1, 1990:
54.3
May 1, 1989: 50.5
May 1, 1988: 48.6
May 1, 1987: 44.8
Source: Natural Resources Canada
So what are others paying while you burn money, fuel and anger? Have a look and potentially consider yourself lucky not to be driving somewhere else. (Survey taken May 1, 2007)
B.C.
Vancouver: $1.21.8
Victoria: $1.22.5
Alberta
Calgary: 99.7
Edmonton: $1.00
Saskatchewan
Regina: $106.9
Saskatoon: $1.07.6
Manitoba
Brandon: $103.6
Winnipeg: $102.8
Ontario:
Hamilton: $1.07.7
Ottawa: $1.09.9
Toronto: $1.07.9
Quebec
Montreal: $1.17.2
Quebec City: $1.08.4
Sherbrooke: $1.09.4
New Brunswick
Fredericton: $1.06.7
Moncton: $1.06.5
Saint John: $1.06.2
Nova Scotia
Halifax: $1.13.2
Sydney: $1.15.0
Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown: $1.12.9
Newfoundland/Labrador
St. John's: $1.16.7
Gander: $1.19.3
Corner Brook: $1.17.4
Northwest Territories
Yellowknife: $1.19.5
Yukon
Whitehorse: $1.09.9
Source: MJ Ervin & Associates