[ennui2]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '
')I guess love is accepting the other person... kinda, but always pushing them.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ennui2', 'W')hereas Toecutter admitted to having issues with authority, I have issues with masculinity. (This is a big reason why the characters I write for are almost all women.) I view men who celebrate their masculinity by driving big trucks and following professional wrestling with disdain. This is because of my own baggage, having been the typical nerd who got beaten up in school while the captain of the football team was getting all the tail. As a beta-male (or gamma, heh) I have a grudge against the Alpha Male.

Where that rubs off on doomerism is me having a visceral revulsion towards people who teeter towards the weekend-warrior Militia types, and by extension, libertarian/anarchists who are still bitter about Ruby-Ridge and Waco and who think the jack-boot-thugs(TM) are gonna bust down their door. Too many men value their self-worth based on their competitive ability, whereas I am wired for cooperation.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ennui2', ' ')But it's really hard to know how you may have impacted the world unless you could wave a magic wand and erase yourself and see how different it would be. It requires a leap of faith to believe that you still matter in some subtle way, and to keep plugging at it, rather than feeling like just another worthless yeast cell in the petri dish.

[Evltre]

Nice to see I'm not the only one still lurking around from time to time Nice to see some names I remember - I never really talked a lot so probably no one remembers me But I'm still here...with a huge vege garden and a lot of fruit trees

[Heineken]

I was or am the electron-entity known as Heineken, aka a mildly above-par beer.

Sheer chance that I decided to check out the home page for the first time in about a year, and noticed this thread.

I was reading an article in Bloomberg about how US oil production is going to outstrip Saudi Arabia's in the near future, at least for a five-year period. We're awash in oil, folks. Glub-glub. Anyway, that article made me think of you and brought me here.

As I've long maintained, POers are right about PO as to fact but not as to timing. It isn't the imminent threat to life that many of us (including myself, for a couple of years) believed right down to our groins. Ditto for peak NG (boy, were we wrong about that).

Whatever DID happen to me? Same thing that happens to everyone . . . I got old, in several ways. And PeakOil got old (for me, anyway).

When you're old you discover you have to conserve what was once but is no longer infinite energy. And I was spewing away entirely too much energy here, for a highly inconsistent positive return, not to mention occasional acute negative reinforcement brought on by friction with certain anal-retentive, blinkered, ego-inflated personalities.

What's more, I began to recognize that the central problem we all face is not PO but GW and, even more, the prospect of good ol'-fashioned nuclear war. I see the latter as increasingly likely, even though many POers pooh-pooh either that likelihood or the consequences thereof should it indeed transpire.

People embrace what is novel and sexy and young. Nuclear war seems like old hat.

Anyway, anyway, I certainly met some wonderful souls here and treasured my virtual friendships with them. POers tend to be highly informed and intelligent, and communing with them can be refreshing in this dumbed-down world.

I've been married for two years to a sweet lady, name of Sheila, who moved from Southern Cal all the way to backwoods Virginia to be with little me and be my only friend. Quite a culture shock for her, but she's adjusted and loves the state. We explore the back roads a lot on weekends. We both like antiques and collect a few (alas, you can't readily find good antiques in the real world anymore, you have to buy them online). During the week she works as a physician assistant and I stay home and clean, chop wood, fix things, plink away at printer-generated targets, and make fairly bad pottery. I'm still taking care of my mother (84) in her apartment over the barn, and once a month I make the drive to southside Richmond to visit my father (87) at the VA nursing home.

Earlier this year I was told I had prostate cancer. In August they cut the damned thing out (luckily I have VA healthcare myself). Recovery was really tough. An adventure in pain and humiliation. That's a very sensitive area of the male bod, let me tell you. Apparently I'm cured, though left with dubious erectile powers, at least for now.

My brother in Boston has had an annus horribilis of Job-like proportions. His wife's Alzheimer's disease was no longer controllable with medication, his son was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Whenever you think you have problems, think of that family.

Life goes on, for now.

[vision-master]

ppl fretting about 'survival' in this materialium need to look beyond their outer shells of illusion and focus on what's really important.......... (you figure it out) lsol

[SeaGypsy]

Preferably at 90mph with heated leather seats? (Lol)

[ennui2]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '
')Earlier this year I was told I had prostate cancer.

[Heineken]

Thanks, ennui, and I agree with your comment about crashing. Doom happens one person at a time (i.e, to ourselves). That's the only scale that can have truly graspable meaning to us as individuals.

[Keith_McClary]

Good to see the ol' bottle cap again.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'W')hen you're old you discover you have to conserve what was once but is no longer infinite energy.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', 'G')ood to see the ol' bottle cap again.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'W')hen you're old you discover you have to conserve what was once but is no longer infinite energy.

[ennui2]

OK folks. The real reason I popped my head in here was to humiliate Planty by gloating over Obama's reelection. I was also glad to get caught up with a few of you and to throw my 2c into a few threads for old time's sake. I posted links to my Youtube clips so if any of you want to ping me, do so privately via youtube or Facebook. Peace out.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ennui2', 'O')K folks. The real reason I popped my head in here was ...gloating over Obama's reelection.

[SpringCreekFarm]

It's always great to hear from Heineken even if he brings a bit of bad news. Sorry to hear about your cancer and I hope you stay well. Also glad to hear you still have your parents and that you are married. You did the right thing by getting away from here a while.

I'd like to know what ever happened to Aaron. Remember him? The Boss. Last I heard, he had a daughter and perhaps some problems regarding that. I hope you're doing well Aaron if you're lurking.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'P')referably at 90mph with heated leather seats? (Lol)

[vision-master]

I learned much from 2012btu...... You don't remember her?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'P')referably at 90mph with heated leather seats? (Lol)

[SeaGypsy]

I finished work at midnight and start again at 4.00am.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', 'G')ood to see the ol' bottle cap again.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'W')hen you're old you discover you have to conserve what was once but is no longer infinite energy.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpringCreekFarm', 'I')t's always great to hear from Heineken even if he brings a bit of bad news. Sorry to hear about your cancer and I hope you stay well. Also glad to hear you still have your parents and that you are married. You did the right thing by getting away from here a while.