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Polar bear with carrot

Monday, June 2, 2008

Hello, June!


Yesterday, was kind of a wonderful day, sort of slid in to the new month. I didn't even get up until like 9:30. We drove into town and had brunch at Le Bistro with Dixon and Connie, and were joined by Linda Kissam. We had a lengthy civics discourse and really enjoyed the food which was as usual, great. He does a spicy shrimp omelet with tomatillo, that is divine. (I had the ribeye and eggs yesterday. Apologies to my cardiologist.) Leslie and I went back home and I got prone on the couch and started reading a massive new book called Shantaram, that is a largely autobiographical story about an australian escaped convict that manages to flee to Bombay. It was recommended by Shawn in Thailand and is pretty decent. It just felt so good to do nothing and chill with a book. We have an old cat that is terribly matted and won't clean himself up so we took a stab and shaving him with electric clippers and he is about a third done. Won't be appearing on the catwalk anytime soon however. I managed to get outside and water 5 or 6 sets and take all the crap off the old Toyota with the 300,000 miles on it which I hope will just disappear. We planted some morning glory seeds that Leslie had germinated to hermetically seal the fence and both got productive planting in the afternoon when I suddenly had this epiphany that I actually felt good from a cardiac standpoint and wasn't totally fried.


Leslie polished off the last of the duck confit risotto she had made the night before and made me a beautiful chicken curry with her special hearts of palm salad. We nestled into bed and watched Love in the Time of Cholera, which was an ok try but as usual not even close in greatness to the book. The spanish language inflections are kind of tough when you mix Bronx Puerto Rican with Columbian, but what can you say? Leslie actually suggested that I rent a game for the Play Station so I may start on a whole new addiction.

I have been thinking very seriously the past week about the continually escalating price of living in this age. And we don't even have children. I have been very extravagant about going out to eat too much. I need to really cut down on it. In the morning its a social thing because I drink coffee with the same old farts for years but maybe I start making a lunch and limiting dinners out.

I have been lucky enough to do very well in this economy but someday I might not have an income stream and I need to dial it down.. The other monster for us all is obviously fuel. I need to consolidate needless trips - A trip to Encinitas and back is like 30 bucks... I think that this is going to radically shift spending patterns in this country and throughout the world since we know it is far worse in Europe. People are starting to take local vacations with fuel surcharges making long term destinations prohibitively expensive. In my business, a lot less shopping in out of the way burgs, and maybe less marginal shows in the next year. I don't think we will ever see three dollar gas again.

Don't tell me that a prudent administration didn't see this coming. Of course, they are profiting from it personally in an obscene way. Energy and mining leases are sold to crony's for peanuts. Exxon and the rest of their ilk are making incredible bank with no real downside risk that I can see. As soon as they learn to tax sunlight or hydrogen I am sure that we will see new technology mysteriously appear. We have been on internal combustion for an awfully long time. Mileage standards have actually been reduced since the seventies so that americans can drive big fat piggie cars. And the soccer moms in their Yukons have to be eating shit right now.

Now conservatives will tell you about all the US reserves that we can still tap and plunder, environment be damned. But aren't these the last croaks of a dying swan? Fossil Fuels can last what, another 30 or 40 years at present consumption, worldwide. This is what really pisses me off about this administration's and past administrations burrowing their heads in the collective sand - the lack of long range thinking. If you can burn kitchen grease for fuel in the Bay Area and sugar cane in Brazil, it seems like there are a lot of renewable fuel options when oil is at a $200 or $300 barrel.

Lets tighten our belts.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Worlds second largest oil deposits are in Alberta Canada, yet we are fixated about the oil in the Middle East.
The Bush Administration is finally leaving the Oval Office-they have done their job. What other administration could use 911 and a botched take over of Iraq to make money off the Middle East oil? Greed and Bush/Cheney connections have lead to illegal oil cartels, diplomatic corruption and the high gas prices. Yet FOX News said it was "The Price of Freedom" (Ask Dick Cheney if he has any finanacial interest in the Tar Sands of Alberta? Perhaps we should have [Operation Tundra] We could free all the oppresed French Canadians, and of course secure the Alberta oil fields, then Cheney could raise U.S.oil prices due to cost of the war.

Unknown said...

Robert
I read Shantaram when it was hard cover...now reading it a second time, what a movie this would make! love your writing because I know its you and your "era" is my era
Michael

Blue Heron said...

Now, which Michael is this? Loughlin?