26 April, 2006

I’m currently in the middle of one of those “holidays that aren’t actually holidays” things. School ends, ZYPE starts. I need to rebalance this way of life or I’ll go mad. We spent last week in Auckland…and most of that was staring at insane people, drinking water that tastes strongly of chlorine and avoiding speeding cars. Good times.

Petrol costs have well and truly gone north on us now and have started making things a bit tricky for some of us. It’s been fascinating to watch different people’s reactions and the somewhat odd solutions that start to arise. Places like Auckland are in so much trouble it’s not funny. I wonder who is trying to kid who at the moment.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about things like “house prices only go up”, “do women get sexier over 40”, “reverse mortgages (where a younger generation takes on debt to sustain the lifestyle of the older generation)” and the usual “think of the children” bullshit. Now, to me this just seems like self-congratulatory backslapping from an aging generation who are getting a bit concerned about how wrinkly they have become. Word of advice, don’t look to your kids for reassurance. You thought your parents were ugly as they got older…nothing has changed. In general we’re in massive debt and simply can’t buy houses without going bust. Forget a reverse mortgage, if you didn’t save that’s your problem. I’m assuming the concept of inheritance has gone so my money goes towards my future not yours. Stop telling young people they are in trouble or getting worse. You sucked as kids. Didn’t you base your existence on sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll? Shit, teenagers today can’t do anything to make a difference without being stamped on. Stop thinking about the children and stop shafting them.

”denial > anger > bargaining > depression > acceptance”. Peak oil is starting to cause us problems….where do you fit on that sequence of emotional reactions of humans facing certain death?