Long time lurker, I just recently started posting after I felt I was finally ready to contribute posts that will add to the discussion. I hope that assumption proves to be correct.
What about me? 26 year old male/part time grad student (phd in PoliSci) with a fairly decently paying full time job. Oddly enough, my first sort of encounter with Peak Oil came when I caught "The Prize" on PBS when I was about 10 or 11. (I was a strange kid.) After the first few segments, when the paramount importance of oil to our way of life became obvious even to me, a child, I began to ask myself, "How much of this stuff is left? What happens if we run out someday?" This question was never addressed by "The Prize" until the closing moments, when the narrator said something to the effect of, "Supplies will last well into the 21st century...blah blah blah." Reassured, I thought nothing of the matter for 15 years or so.
Fast forward to last year. The rapidly rising cost of gas sends me off to the Internet to do some research on oil. Soon enough, I stumbled across Savinar's site. This was my first exposure to peak oil. Instantly, the memory of my childhood question/worry came flooding back to me. After peeing my pants for a couple of days, I began to look into peak oil in earnest.
End result...still worried. Quite worried. If there's one thing I've got going for me, its that my father raised me "old school." I was told at a young age, "What a man can't afford, he can't have." The idea that credit cards were only to be used as a cash substitute and paid off in full every month and on time was impressed upon me again and again. I've kept that habit to this day, and I've never failed to pay my bills in full and on time. I live in a small, clean apartment that has an easily affordable rent. Heat is paid by the landlord and my electricity bill is low. I drive a used Corolla. My entertainment and RandR pursuits are low cost. I save money every month.
My next goal is to become a more efficient user of energy. I'm also looking into enrolling in NJ's CleanEnergy program, which allows you to channel your electricity bill payments to wind/solar generating companies. Slightly higher monthly cost, but so worth it, in my opinion.
I know this may sound silly, but being debt-free and living well within my means makes me feel slightly more secure about hitting the peak in my lifetime, though sometimes I think this is the equivalent of looking out the window of an airplane and thinking, "If the plane crashes, the clouds will catch me!" I guess we all have our pyschological defense mechanisms, right? At least I don't believe in fairytales like abiotic oil, right?
Anyway, I'm a huge music fan. Mostly very obscure stuff, but a few truly talented (IMHO) mainstream artists appeal to me. Anyway, one of these groups is Tool. And one of their songs, "Aenima" -- an enema-- get it? seems to me to be the perfect anthem (despite being LA-centric) for the truly misanthropic, cynical Doomers. So True-blue Doomers, if you've never heard of Tool or their music, take a look at these lyrics (and especially the final stanza!):
Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this
bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks here in this, hopeless fucking, hole we call LA.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time.
Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.
Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.
It's a bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time.
Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.
Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.
Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will
I sure could use a vacation from this
stupid shit, silly shit, stupid shit...
One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.
Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.
Mom's gonna fix it all soon.
Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.
Fuck L Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones.
Fuck all these gun-toting Hip gangster wannabes.
Fuck retro anything. Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memory.
Fuck smiley glad-hands with hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional, insecure actresses.
'Cause I'm praying for rain
and I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna see it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.
Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.
I wanna see it come down.
Suck it down.
Flush it down.
Again, hi everyone. Thanks for having me. I hope I can contribute to the great discussions on peakoil.com
