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.

On a more positive note than my last entry, I have a few links to share from my illicit news-surfing at work.

Nanoscale 'Coaxial Cables' for Solar Energy Harvesting

In short, new technology for improving the efficiency of solar cells -- it couldn't have come at a more apropos time, if you ask me, except that it will undoubtedly take time to go from the R&D stage to a full-fledged, commercially feasible technology.

And, in news that makes me think my physics BA might have ecological implications after all:

Quantum secrets of photosynthesis revealed

In short, the reason plants are still so much better than us at utilizing solar energy is because they are secret masters of the realm of quantum mechanics.

And just for anyone curious about the post title, a non-energy-related link:

Quantum physics says goodbye to reality

In short, experimentation has confirmed that assuming reality is there when not being observed actually breaks the laws of physics.
Conclusions like this are seriously why I love physics so much, especially quantum. I once read a theory that we're not actually living in a 3-dimensional space, just a projection of a 2-dimensional space. Isn't that a fascinating thought?

Well, not today; today has barely started and I expect to be spending 10 1/2 hours of it at work, so there's a chunk of time lost already.

But yesterday, yesterday I not only renewed my membership in the ACLU, I also made a contribution to NARAL Pro-Choice America.

"Okay, whatever," you're saying, "but why is this entry tagged 'wwo' then?"
Let's say we do have a catastrophic oil crisis on April 30th. What does this mean to me, as a woman, aside from the fact that I'll have to start biking/walking/riding everywhere (and you'd better hope I don't have to bike, I'm hopeless on a bike) and making my own food and dealing with no AC just as the summer will be kicking into gear? It means that if violence breaks out I'm more vulnerable than a man, cricket bat and swordfighting experience notwithstanding. It means that if anything happens I am basically SOL, 'cause what self-respecting policeman is going to be as concerned with a girl who got raped as with the murder and looting that's going on somewhere else in town? She's not dead, and was probably asking for it.

Granted, I'm probably being unnecessarily pessimistic and grim, but I can't help but worry about stuff like this when right now in our current oil-flush situation my reproductive rights are already being eaten away at by the radical right. I am extremely uncomfortable with the fact that five Catholic old men (by the way, that makes me uncomfortable all on its own, the fact that 5 Catholic old men are all sitting on the Supreme Court deciding what's right and what's wrong) have just decided that they have the right to limit my ability to decide with my doctor's input what medical procedure would be safest and most appropriate should I ever (and here's hoping I won't ever) need a late-term abortion.

I have a hard time believing that should we suddenly be faced with an energy crisis that women's rights in this country will take a turn for the better. Call me crazy.

Anyway, to make this post at least a little more relevant to its tags, I've been thinking about what I do that relies most on oil, and I think it pretty much boils down to electricity and driving. Electricity because I do spend most of my life on the computer these days, plain and simple. I'd be lost for some time without my computer and the Internet. As for driving, well, I have a 15 minute commute to work every day, at an hour in the morning when I'm not sure the limited public transit system my area has is even running. And walking or biking is not an option simply because it would take too long to walk and I am (as I said earlier) hopeless on a bicycle.

I've actually entertained the idea of hooking up (or trying to, most of them are married) with one of my coworkers who lives closer to be able to spend nights during the work week somewhere close by so walking would be a feasible option for my commute. I guess hooking up is not the only option, I could throw myself on the mercy of some of my married coworkers. I'm handy, I can cook or garden or fix things to earn my keep.

Though, come to think of it, since I'm not on birth control and getting a hold of any would be more difficult than usual in an oil crisis, maybe hooking up would be a bad idea. Hah.

Boy, I need to get in shape.
This selfish thought is one of many brought to mind by April 30th and whatever oil crisis it might end up bringing.
I mean, I figure I'm bright enough to build a solar oven -- don't have to be too bright for that around here, you could practically just put some tinfoil down on the sidewalk in summer -- and generally sensible enough to prepare food, and there's a decent number of horses around (though I'm sure my estimate of "decent number" is WAY off given how many people will be wanting to make use of them), but what really worries me is that it gets damn hot around here, and if I'm going to be in a situation where there's limited cooling and lots of getting around in the sun required, I'm going to get heatstroke or something from not being able to get from one place to another in a reasonable amount of time.

Is it likely that the U.S. will have a female president in the near future? In your lifetime? Why?

What a great Question of the Day to start my Vox with! Personally, my ultimate life's dream is to be president of the first independent settlement on Mars. But that's a whole different topic, and I'm digressing already.

I can't imagine the US won't  have a female president sometime in my lifetime. Beyond that, well, it really depends on your interpretation of "the near future." Realistically, and because I disagree with some of her policies, I'm not expecting Hillary Clinton to win the next presidential election. I don't believe the US is ready quite yet. That said, I could easily see her taking the Vice-Presidential seat for a term or two, paving the way for another woman to take the Presidency later on.

When questioned on his thoughts about the possibility of a UN Secretary General recently, Ted Turner responded with the following (hilarious and brilliant) idea:

Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world. ... It would be a much kinder, gentler, more intelligently run world. The men have had millions of years where we've been running things. We've screwed it up hopelessly. Let's give it to the women.

While I agree with him entirely in thinking that male-dominated civilization has mucked things up to no end, at this point in time the kind of change he's talking about could only be enacted by an outright ban on men in politics -- even a concerted effort to stand up female candidates for political office at all levels is going to be met with ridicule and an immense amount of pressure. Call me a pessimist, but right now I see an influx of female politicians as accomplishing nothing but causing the power structures and flows to shift to avoid them. Of course, there would be individual success stories, but on the whole it would just be a flop.

A female President, on the other hand, would be a person in a position to enact dramatic changes and inspire both male and female politicians to be more accepting of a co-ed democracy (I realize I've gone from civilization in general to the US political system in particular; just go with it, it's a starting point). The President is not someone you can just divert political power away from with great success; as we're seeing with President Bush, who stubbornly keeps the country dancing on the strings of his whim. Granted, he had the strength of his party behind him in the House and Senate for his first term, but things are still rough with the Democrats having taken control there.

I'm actually not in favor of a political system with zero men. What I'm in favor of is a political system that puts the best people to the best use, no matter their gender, religion (or lack thereof), or color. An entirely female political system is, I'm sure, going to put any number of good male statesmen to waste. It might be necessary to drive home the idea of how things need to change, but it would be a waste nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm digressing again. Back to the topic, namely why there will be a female President soon. It's inevitable, if you ask me -- women are currently expanding their presence in practically every walk of life that has been previously male-dominated; that is, just about everything beyond the role of homemaker. It's only a matter of time until the glass ceiling crumbles and women work their way into every aspect of society as equal members.

And here I was so pessimistic earlier! See, at heart I'm actually an optimist and an idealist.

In other news, I sliced my hand preparing dinner last night. It's already closed up nicely, but I guess this means no Guitar Hero for me for a little while.