So a hundred years ago, we were living in a world that didn't rely on oil like we do now.  How did people live?  They lived locally number one, but they also used trains to get places, bicycles, horse driven carts/carriages and they walked.  They were a lot skinnier too!!  Hey an answer to the obesity crisis has just shown up!  Of course farms were closer to urban areas too - the green ring around a city has been transformed in the last hundred years to a suburban donut around a lot of dying cities. Then the green ring past that.  But not even a ring.  I should be counting myself lucky to live in California where food is actually produced.   We will be able to eat no matter what.
I am trying to think about all the impacts of this crisis.  The primary one I'm worrying about it coffee.  (that's kinda silly, but that's me and my addiction talking)  Coffee is grown far away in exciting places that take a lot of oil to ship.  I'm going to be kicking the coffee habit, it looks like, whether I like it or not!

  Heck, let's talk about soda!  There's lots of folks addicted to that too.  Think about those big old trucks to ship it.  And other products requiring a lot of shipping - sugar?   C&H Pure Cane Sugar from Hawaii?  Not in the near future. 

What goes away so that things can continue as close to normal as possible?  Road trips.  Joy Rides.   Quick trips to the store becasue you forgot something.  Hey we might get to know our neighbors by askign to borrow a cup of sugar again.  (beet sugar, not cane sugar)  I live a half and hour's drive from work.  My husband lives a half an hour's drive from work.  In Opposite Directions!  We either have to get new jobs closer to home or closer to one or another's work and then move closer in that direction.  Or on mass transit.  But I was readign somebody else's blog - that might start cludging up real soon too.  We're talking foot power and bicycles.  Both of us have hybrid cars.  Should we sell one?  There would probably be a buyer.   And I read that some people were converting hybrid cars to pure electric.  How much would that cost?  $6,000 to convert our Prius IF we could find someone to do it.   Will electricity also go up in price as it becomes more used?   That's domino effect.  That's a lot of money we don't have...

Okay - let's talk brass tacks.  What to do now.

• Use the eco-pass I got at work and start commuting by train/bus to work.  This will add 2 hours to my commute time.  Well I'll read more books this way. :)
• Look at the electric car/hybrid conversion dealio.
• Put my kid on the bike and tell her to suck it up. (and probably fix up bike and get her  a helmet)
• talk to the husband about him also commuting to work via bus.
• Sell one of the cars - the civic hybrid.
• Look into either one of us getting a new job.   I'm more easily employable, but I also make way more money than he does, but I"m a city employee and may be laid off or working unpaid if the financials go down the toilet.
• Stock up on coffee now before prices go through the roof - or wean myself off it.
• Stock up on other things that are shipped across the globe.  Or learn to do without!

Why didn't I listen to my paranoid self years ago??

Tags: coffee, electric cars, hybrid cars, paranoia, worldwithoutoil, wwo
Current Mood: thoughtful