at the top of the mountain, just a few harmless flakes

What a way to greet the beginning of the oil crisis: I forgot to tank up yesterday before it all began. The local gas station I frequent had a tense, hostile aura already, and $55 to tank up hits me where it hurts.

But, I keep reminding myself, this is just the beginning.

Partly I wonder why people aren't more worried about this stuff, and then again, partly I wonder why I'm not more worried about this stuff. My mom thinks we'll be fine -- we've got a reasonable amount of acreage we could convert to growing foodstuffs, and we live in an area that has not only plenty of hydro power but also wind power and nuclear power -- and I'm sure with the kind of weather we get anytime but winter that we could be saving a pretty penny on our power bill if we put a couple of solar panels on our roof.

Speaking of nuclear power...it is, quite simply, ridiculously under appreciated and denied its due as an efficient, safe (yes, when you actually keep your safeguards in place is is), cleaner alternative to coal power. If I had grown up in Washington DC, where I spent most of my childhood, I might never had actually been educated about the upsides of nuclear power instead of just the dangers. Fortunately I was lucky enough (well, good luck in some ways, probably bad luck in others, but no way to tell anymore) to move to an area near an actual functioning nuclear site, so naturally the area is full of chock-full of scientists and we learned all about nuclear power in school. Back to my mom again -- she mentioned yesterday that she thought my generation was probably more open to nuclear power than hers. Really, though, is that the case? I told her I didn't think it was, simply because after accidents like Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island and the declining interest in science education in schools, people my age and younger aren't being told, "nuclear power is a viable alternative," they're being told, "nuclear power caused these disasters and nuclear weapons are BAD." It's criminal, if you ask me, but then again, anytime we get into science education in schools I get fired up. So. Moving right along.

When I looked at the initial report on the WorldWithoutOil site, a chill went down my spine at the mention of the US "competing effectively" for an "uncompromised flow of oil." Get real, Dubya! I guess that means, for one thing, that there's not a freakin' snowball's chance in summer of that Iraq deadline bill not getting vetoed or getting pushed into law by overriding the veto that we all can see coming. I only hope that when things do go further south, that they go faster than the massive juggernaut of politics and the military can keep up with. I am so not interested in the country getting itself embroiled in more conflict just for the sake of something we can get by without if we just make an effort.

I guess only time will tell. I'm going to go sit out in the sun now and practice solar gain -- if I can build up a decent tan before we start facing rolling blackouts and brownouts it'll be less painful when that time does come.