by BigTex » Fri 06 Jul 2007, 16:05:15
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('clueless', 'I') get about 30-45 minutes a day. I am currently reading "The end of oil" by Paul Roberts, I cannot figure this guy out, it is full of thesis/anithesis garble...
Have you read that one ?
I'm reading The End of Oil right now as well. He doesn't seem to have an agenda, other than long term we are in a pickle when it comes to energy. I think you are sensing garble because he doesn't want to pour the doom on too thick. I'm enjoying it so far. I think it's a pretty informative one for the PO bookshelf. His overview of hydrogen as an energy source, the mechanics of global warming, the way plants "store" carbon that is released later--most dramatically millions of years later through burning fossil fuels is interesting. Overall, he's a good writer and I'm glad I picked it up.
I believe the book was written in 2004, and it is interesting how much has changed in three years. I remember reading articles around that time about how the price of oil was projected not to reach $70 a barrel for several decades. Talk about being off on a prediction.
Back to the country living thread, the most disappointing thing to me about country life is how far short the reality falls from the ideals in many instances. I've lived in the city most of my life, but both parents grew up in the country and I've spent a good bit of time around kin folk in the country and overall they seem bored, preoccupied with silly local things (including gossip), and tormented by the apparent lack of anything to do (other than work).
I remember one time I visited some family out in west Texas and there was a pharmacy in the town with an old-school soda fountain 50's style lunch counter (the pharmacy also had a gun department-woo hoo). I went in and ordered a float and was having a great time sitting at the counter enjoying it when I realized that my relatives could not fathom why anyone would want to waste their time sitting in a pharmacy watching tumbleweeds blow by the front of the shop. I mean, they were SO bored.
An issue I think I would face if I moved to the country would be trying to find someone to talk to about things that are interesting to me. I find a lot fewer news junkies, doom connoisseurs, alternative energy enthusiasts, and comparative religion buffs more than a hundred miles outside the big city. There are also fewer “wicked city women” (thanks Tennessee Ernie Ford for that one) out in the country, which I would miss a lot.
I love the promise and potential of country living and I respect country people very much, I'm just afraid that if I got out there I would be bored and feel isolated.
I think John Boy went to the city for a reason.