The Elysian Fields

It was confirmed: three coyotes were spotted at the Lehigh Gap Refuge, which means that when Justin and I were there hiking with kk1raven and lj-less Chris last fall and we spent some time speculating on exactly what kind of creature made those coyote, wolf, or family-dog type tracks. Naturally, we did not have the same difficulty identifying the tracks left by the hordes of penguins that had marched through the area on their way to world domination (they had made a wrong turn at Albequerque and thus wound up in NEPA.)

Just moments ago, I had the distinct pleasure of tasting Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel, and, having done so once, need not do so again. The caramel did nothing for (or, to be fair, against) the peanut butter cup. Out of all the variations, I must say the original is still the best. As a matter of some related news, the price of the common candy bar has now gone up to 65 cents. I half-imagined that somewhere the price increase was being blamed on the increase in gasoline prices.

( Ramble on... )

Okay.

First off, mandatory reading: Kurt Vonnegut's article Cold Turkey from May 10, 2004.

Next, cheap gas: yesterday at 5:15pm or so, $2.49; same station today $2.64. There is no way that the gas costs that much more to produce - it costs the same. What changed is the demand. Five cars deep today, lots of demand. Zero to one cars deep yesterday. People are afraid that the supply is gone - and it will be, not too far down the line, and it will be in shorter supply on a smaller time scale due to the effects on the supply chain down in the Gulf. Two things can raise the price of a commodity: one, lots of people wanting it - which happens when everyone rushes to the station to fill up quick, before the price goes up! Nice job, panicking masses! and two, lack of supply, and that part is going to get hit while we're waiting for them to spin some of the drilling rigs and refineries back up - and figure out ways around the gaping holes no doubt left by loss of Gulf coast facilities.

Some Snopes reading:
-- Pain in the Gas - 1-3 day boycotts can bring down the price of gas (false)
-- Katrina and the Waves - Hurricane Katrina impacting the price of gas (multiple)

I haven't done the math, but I know in some international discussions, that gas is routinely four or five dollars a gallon in other parts of the world, without any assistance from hurricanes and Oil Market Voodoo. I'd like to take the time to do a comparison - what is the price of regular gas, in US dollars, here and in a handful of other countries; along with the price of other commodities (sugar? bread? any ideas?)

I have a significant commute and I go through a tank of gas every three or four work days. I plan - and it's a very loose, open plan, subject to much change - to get an additional vehicle in Fall 2007. That vehicle will use some form of alternate fuel - most likely it will be a diesel pickup truck that I will convert to biodiesel, but time will tell.

I will also be looking into several means to reduce reliance on electricity - not just to go it on our own in power loss, but to help reduce the amount of money spent on electrical generation, which comes mostly from fossil fuels. I don't have the cash to fund this outright and do what I'd like, but I'll certainly be keeping it in mind as a goal, and using the principles of reducing the amount of fuel we require.

Sooner or later, we'll all have to do that. Might as well work towards it with purpose.