A motley collection of events over the past couple of weeks. I found myself locked in a Dallas hotel with 20+ folk at a meeting.
Meetings Bloody Meetings For 2 weeks I was on the hot seat to keep a large meeting on track. Not something they train you to do in Revenue Officer class or Assembler programming class. I pulled it off, and everything went pretty well, although the room temperature was the subject of much kibbitzing. No one was happy with that. Did get to check out Allen Premium Outlets and get a few things. Managed to make weight on the luggage even with the extra stuff. Whew!! Drove a Pontiac Vibe for the duration and decided I like that car. I can just reach out and touch whatever I need on the dashboard, no leaning or reaching required. Nice. Did 3.6 mile walks every AM, and I do mean every AM at 5 AM. Discovered a donut shop next to the hotel that makes very good cake donuts. My walking partner pronounced them superior to Dunkin Donuts. She likes Dunkin's coffee but their donuts give her heartburn. Not the local beauties though. It was in the 90s the whole time, I missed the fall weather.
My Movie Adventure Discovered that a couple of the guys in the meeting were movie buffs. Wound up going to see Eastern Promises. Loved it. Read Rotten Tomatoes for a roundup of reviews, overall the movie is rated at 7.7 out of 10. I'd go higher myself. Ebert gave it 4 stars. I can see why. The fight scene at the baths is incredible. I totally agree with his assessment of it.
My Fabulous Jet Ski Adventure So there we were last Saturday on Lake Lewisville, enjoying Just For Fun's party barge when this guy shows up on a jet ski and wearing a wetsuit with JetPilot on it. He started giving rides and I took one in my jeans, shirt, and his body glove. What an adrenaline rush that was!!! whoopeee!!!! We fed him beer, brats, and burgers, and of course one of the more adventurous in our little troop took the guy's jet ski on a spin with a nervous passenger. They dumped into the lake on a tight turn, just behind the barge thank goodness. The seat came off, the engine flooded and we were close to saying "buh-bye" to the jet ski. This was followed by a lesson on blowing water out of a flooded engine. A good time had by all and we left with as many as we started with.
My Equally Fabulous Gruppo d'Amici brunch The spinach and pear salad is wonderful, the tiramisu even better. Drinking $5 mimosas, complete with orange pulp, is a civilized way to enjoy a sunny and warm Sunday. I got a gander at the Out Of This World Bloody Marys and have decided to try them next week. How often do you see Bloody Marys served with a beer chaser?
My Silent Auction Treasures The RP Garden Group had their fundraiser over at Charmers today. I went and signed on as a member, even though I only have window boxes to putter in. Looked at their stuff and played in the silent auction. Won too!!! Reflexology session, dance lesson, Feng Shui consultation, and I think a coupon from Margo's biz. I lost track. Anyway, the money goes to a good cause.
Joe Moore made an appearance too. Imagine, he shows up to hobnob with a group that some folks think is a Gordon front, AND he chatted with Jocelyn and Rebecca!! Wow! Wonders never cease do they? Did our favorite legal eagle come down from his aerie to marvel at this miracle? When I left Joe was in a conversation with Rebecca regarding community gardens and had offered to facilitate with the Park District regarding underutilized parkland. It was rather entertaining to watch the alderman work a group that had been described as 'waspish' in their behavior. Didn't see any of that in evidence. I suppose that means folks do indeed know how to work together despite their differences. I always thought that to be the case, even though I don't trust the guy. Which means I'd be very careful working with him. All the same, he did what an alderman should be doing; getting behind a self developed community group that is providing opportunities for folks to give back to the community at large. If he can help get the Park District on board with community gardening, then props to him. On the flip side, his interest was welcomed and I have no doubt that the RPGG would work with him on a shared goal.
So that's the roundup for now. My travel schedule has gone ballistic, and my Marriott status should, with any luck, climb up a notch. Same with my frequent flier miles. I'll take the bennies, but nothing beats sleeping in your own bed.
I'm still following the Peak Oil news, and will see if I find anything significant to share. One caution; don't be fooled by gasoline that is <$3/gallon. It isn't going to last.
5 comments:
If the current price of $80/barrell sticks,and it will, we will see $4/gallon gasoline soon, and corresponding increases in gas prices, with pleas from the utilities for yet more rate increases.
We will also see more inflation of goods that are not reported in the ludicrously rigged inflation index, which does not include such minor little inessentials as food and fuel. But it doesn't matter whether the Fed reports the inflation or not because we can see it plainly before our eyes already in steeply elevated food prices, which are not helped by competition by biofuels.
Against this backdrop, Congress is coming in behind the failing legacy airline carriers- hopelessly wasteful, inept and obsolete companies that can't compete in a horrendously wasteful and inefficient sunset industry- with $15 billion worth of bailout.
In other words, the taxpayers will be forced to fund what is wasteful and inefficient and can't afford itself even with full planes, at the expense of the railroads that could easily pick up the short haul traffic and run very profitably with no taxpayer assistance if only the byzantine regulatory obstructions designed to murder the rr's were removed, and the airlines were allowed to collapse from their own weight as they surely will, anyway.
Neither anyone in our leadership, nor our population at large, including the "progressives" of the north Lakefront, are giving any indication that they realize that a major shift is in the air and that we must drastically change the way we live on a daily basis if we want to continue to enjoy basic technological amenities.
So, thank you for continuing the work of trying to pursuade the local public, Kheris, but I give up. I will concentrate on saving myself, and prepare for a much leaner, meaner life accordingly.
I hear your frustration, but even the Drummers recognize that the process is moving slowly. At some point those of us who are halfway prepared will become the mentors of those who aren't. We can either continue to advocate for change and be there when it happens, or try to disappear into the woodwork. The latter approach is never truly effective.
I don't expect the world to come crashing down about our ears en masse in the near future, but I do expect it to undergo radical change over time. How quickly is what is at issue and so long as we have the opportunity to influence how the change is managed we can provide a useful service.
I expect things to get very nasty and expensive over the next five years, and the reaction of the uninformed population will be shock, dismay, and scapegoating, along with demands that leaders "Just DO something".
People are so deep in denial that they will not make a decent adjustment, to say the least. There will be much economic fear, as the economy begins to make massive, rapid shifts from industries that are import dependent, and dependent upon ongoing cheap energy, to industries that will be necessary to the new order and that are sustainable without cheap energy. It won't be as easy as even people like Kunstler thinks to choose what industries, and what way of life, will make it and what won't. There will be many surprises, some pleasant and other very nasty.
The poor, the not-quite-poor, and the old (that will be me, in another 15 years)will get the worst of it, but many present economic "winners" will find themselves rendered "losers".
It would be nice if at least our leaders were doing what is necessary to make sure we have what we need to generate the power we need, and to create a favorable climate for business and employment in a vastly different environment, and a much harsher one.
However, I'm not optimistic. We could have built a new train line with the money being spent on the el Superstation at Washington, and the ridiculous Olympics. We could be rebuilding our sewer system with what is being leeched from the taxpayers and conveyed to the back pockets of the Aristocrats of Clout via TIF and other tax-funded gimmes. The $1.2 Billion that Blago has earmarked for the development of biofuel and ethonal to compete with food, could fund first class public transit in Chicago and other major IL cities and towns, and could be lent at low interest to rebuild long-distance rail on the many disused rail rights-of-way throughout the state. We will be needing that service in not long at all.
So where does this leave the population, whose members might know what needs doing, but who lack the power and authority to implement the changes in systems we will need in about 10 years, or less?
It leaves us struggling as others before struggled. There is an article over at the Drum by Robert Rapier who broaches the subject of fundamental change in our approach to life and living. I haven't read it through, but I do know he is younger than me, has kids, and is going to feel the pain longer than I will.
Wonderful: ". . . so long as we have the opportunity to influence how the change is managed we can provide a useful service."
The idea is clear and applicable to so many issues. I'd add local community planning as a realm in which we can make an impact on both the status quo as well as changes that appear to be on the horizon.
So, do we wait for the opportunity to arrive OR do we seize the moment and make it happen?
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