tired but awake....

a night for insomnia....I'll let my body decide in time what it wants to do.

still awake...

stumbled  across this site... I tried some of my old addresses and also thought about how physically fit I was when I lived at those addresses, it pays to live in a walkable community. I'll be back at this site again....

finding gas...and our future

Locally all the gas stations are above $4.00 and rising. Costco was at $3.95.9 but even that is expected to rise soon. ARCO = $4.01.9; Shell = $4.05.9 for examples. In town (Anza) we have Mobil at $4.15.9 and at the Circle K Market it is $4.11.9 . I was thinking of a truck, but now I'm thinking it would cost more to move stuff than buy it new again. So, when I market this place it will include a lot of tools and extras. If I do buy a truck, it will be a basic Ford Ranger, that gets about 26 mpg. I may look for an older Nissan, as my 1989 Nissan used to get 30 mpg highway with the air conditioning turned off. As for a car... I would not buy anything that gets less than 40 mpg highway. Such is life in the age of peak oil.

the case for public transit....

I'll be sacrificing time for savngs in this age of high oil prices.  I start with a bus ride from Temecula to Corona, a  train from Corona to Santa Ana, another bus from the train station to Civic Center, and a short walk to the office. Total time is a bit over two hours. This does not count the 40 minute drive to the first bus stop. Now I will concentrate on making the time in transit productive or at least enjoyable.

I see this use of public transit being the nexr wave, the new paradigm, more than just being 'green' but part of the new economics. The question will be how many bodies can I move per gallon, at what unit cost per passenger. If I want to make this work even better, intergrate a folding bicycle into the mix. I'm serously thinking of getting rid of one bike and working on getting a folder that can be easily moved from one mode to another,  In ant case, I see that happening within a few months. That will add a bit of physical acyivity to the mix and probably help in my overall health. 

I'm entering the phase of my life when decisions are being made about retirement. I'll have a comfortable amount of money but I will have to conserve that income by any and all means, as increases in income will not match inflation, and yes, we are in a period of inflation even if the 'economists' want t love wuth their heads up their collective arses. 

So, what ar eyou going to do when gas hits $5 or $10 a gallon. It will have a big impact on where you live and where you shop and play. Think about it.

one more day...

I got one more day before I return to work. I  got a few things to do around here tomorrow before preparing for the commute. I was on the road today, an excursion to Idyllwild, Beaumont, Cabazon, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and back to Anza. I did a few detours, went to Kenworthy, Pine Cove, and a ride up to the Palm Springs Tram. Didn't take the tram, but will sometime in the near future.   

As I was climbing back to Anza I passed through Pinyon Flats.  There I found a few cactus blossoming, and a Joshua Tree in bloom. Those picturs will appear when the bandwidth allows.