Oil Bubble Bust

Oil as the primary fuel for transportation has become impractical for modern civilization. It is expensive, dirty, and in the mid-east has become the major financial strength of terrorist organizations. We’re running out of good reasons to continue to use gasoline. Like most issues, the general public doesn’t get motivated until they feel pain in their wallets.

The most important topic in the recent pow-wow of all the big oil sheiks was a term called demand destruction. What they were saying was, “We’ve reached too far and we’re about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.” They were actually admitting in public was that the automobile owners of the world now have options and they could turn against using gasoline altogether. I have personally already decided to purchase an electric car as soon as possible. I don’t care if they drop gasoline to 25 cents a gallon (like when I got my first car). I’m fed up with having my personal finances manipulated by people who donate millions of dollars to terrorists and dance in the streets when America is bombed.

We get what we allow. We allowed this to happen and we are the only ones who can stop it. People in the know have seen this popping of the oil bubble coming for a long time. The oil executives are not puzzled by the mysterious phenomena of the lack of new oil refineries being built. The few remaining aging refineries are not being quickly replaced because the overall fuel markets are getting ready for a major shift.

The present move to drill more oil wells can only bring a temporary solution. I’m all for it, but it’s a moot point. Only a major break from our dependence on oil can bring permanent change. Why would we want to fix the oil problem if it pollutes the environment and promotes terrorism? We need to eliminate the oil problem rather than try to fix it. I’ve traveled through China, and their pollution has skyrocketed as the number of automobiles has increased.

In the next ten years, the flex fuel and hybrid cars will give way to totally electric cars. It has to happen because its one of the few things that will make conservatives and liberals both happy. Conservatives will see it as a plus for national security and a strike against terrorism. Liberals will see it as a move to a cleaner environment and a victory over global warming. Both will be right. Electric cars that can recharge with a simple plug in will be the biggest win-win of modern history.

To Be Three Again

We just adopted two years ago and our daughter, Hannah, from China has become the center of our lives. I’m 50 and I’m longing to be 3 again. She has so much fun with everything she does.

Even going potty is an event. She screams out an announcement every time she goes and time stands still in our house. Right now we are negotiating for poo-poo in the potty and not in the pants. I have a special Snow White night light (from the dollar store, but she doesn’t know that) sitting on the fireplace mantle to reward her first poo-poo in the potty. Just to sweeten the pot, we’ve added a trip to the zoo. I can tell we’re close to a breakthrough in our ongoing talks because a few days ago she asked, “Daddy, if I go poo-poo in the potty, can I have some candy?” Good negotiators always ask for one more concession just before a deal is struck.

We bought her an aquarium with three goldfish and over several weeks, they died one by one. The big one was named the mommy and the two little ones were the babies. After the second baby died, she asks me, “Where is the baby?” I made up a story to protect her from a painful lesson on the reality of death. “The baby grew up and moved away from home,” I explained. Hannah quickly replied, “Nuh-uh daddy, he’s dead!” So much for innocence.

She asks a lot of questions. When we answer, she asks, “Whhhyyyy?” every single time. When we answer her why she asks why again.

Story time is one of my favorite experiences. She listens to the Three Little Pigs as if she’s hearing it for the first time. But now that she knows the story she jumps ahead and tells me the story line. Her mother tells me I need to back off because she had a nightmare the other night about the Big Bad Wolf.

The cutest thing she’s done so far was her ballet recital. In the first dance she was a hoola girl. In the second dance she was Angelina Ballerina the dancing mouse. She really hammed it up and we were very proud. She loves dance. She dances nonstop at home or in public. She is always in perpetual motion.

She watches the kids channels all day long, dancing as she watches. She dominates the big screen TV, but lets me know when its my turn to watch.

Sleep is like a precious treasure when it comes. If she gets a nap, bedtime will come after midnight. If she doesn’t get a nap, relief comes much sooner.

How great it would be to be three again. To have the energy level, the fascination with life, and the freedom from work and responsibility would really be great.

The Sun Will Shine Again

It’s easy to get discouraged and get a negative attitude about the future. Daily, we are bombarded with news that starts out bad and then gets worse. Spendable income is shrinking, unemployment is on the rise, housing values continue to plummet, the health of financial markets is uncertain, and we are at war. In addition to all this, we are in an election year where strong leaders are nearly helpless to get anything done. The backdrop to this dark scene is the constant flow of new politicians making new promises that remind us of all the broken promises we’ve already been given.

There is a silver lining to this dark cloud, perhaps several silver linings. Families that have been caught with huge debt in a falling economy have changed their way of thinking about money. Many are opting to fashion their future family budgets with all cash and avoid their past dependence on credit.

A public that has been crushed by high gasoline prices is ready and willing to make a permanent change to fuel alternatives. The price of gasoline is pushing the corporate world to respond to a market that is screaming for a car that runs on anything but gasoline. The electric car will be the future of transportation.

Public transportation has been given a shot in the arm. Cars in larger cities have become luxury items too expensive for the working man on a working man’s salary.

The tragedy of the huge number of foreclosures has given a runaway real estate market a dose of reality, and prices continue to drop. After the storm is over, home ownership will once again be a reachable dream for many lower income families. For those who have lost homes, their financial world view will be permanently altered, much like older people who survived the Great Depression.

Hopefully, our political leaders will learn from this recent history and do a better job at weathering the next economic storm or even totally avoiding it.

The economy will recover. The sun will shine again. We will learn from our painful experience and emerge wiser, more skilled, and less fearful of failure. Successful, positive individuals will use every experience of life, good or bad, as a rung in the ladder to our lifelong goals and dreams.

Energy Solution

Four dollar gasoline and rising prices on everything have affected every sector of our economy, even threatening our national security. Solutions range from increased drilling to playing the glad game and hoping everything gets better.

Gasoline as the fuel of choice for transportation will soon become a thing of the past. It has become expensive and dirty. Large amounts of oil money end up financing terrorism. Ethanol has created new problems, complicating food supplies and prices.

The emerging solution that has already found its way into the marketplace is electric powered vehicles. Names such as Zenn, Zapp, and Tesla are emerging along with more familiar names such as Chevrolet and Toyota. The electric car is not just a concept that might come true. The electric car is here to stay. Among all the solutions being offered, this is the only one that has long term viability. Several notable features of this solution are:

1. Electric cars use the existing power grid that is already in place. The infrastructure is built and operational in most of the civilized world.

2. The ability to quickly adapt green energy sources such as hydroelectric, wind and solar.

3. Many electric cars have already been developed and are available for purchase and many will enter the marketplace in the next twelve months. In short, electric powered cars are already here.

4. This solution bypasses big oil companies.

5. The government is already taxing this commodity, so there will be less political resistance to this solution.

When all our choices are explored, electric powered transportation is the wave of the future and that wave has already struck the shore. It’s here, it’s clean, it’s quiet ……. did I mention that there’s no downside?