Just Found Out About PO. Am I OBSESSED?

usncom · Tar Sands Joined: May 04, 2008 Posts: 38

Strangely enough I first kept hearing the term "peak oil" thrashed around in a high performance automobile enthusiast forum. On a whim I decided to investigate the subject independently. I was shocked and dumbfounded at what I've found. I can't believe reputable scientists/geologists have been predicting this for some time but this has not been pushed out into the mainstream.

I'm still in the process of objectively examining both sides of the issue. In the meantime my girlfriend swears I'm obsessed with this subject. I find myself slipping the topic in every chance I get without mentioning the buzz word "peak oil". In my profession as a patrol officer, I practically live out of my car at work so even as I'm driving around in the Ford guzzlin gas I can't stop thinking about it.

I even had a dream about the subject. I was filling up gas in a really old car from the seventies. Gasoline was spilling all over the place as I was putting it in the tank. There was even a special drainage bin in the ground for the spilt fuel going in the cars as if this was normal. I tried to drive off and the fuel started leaking out like crazy from the hose near the fuel pump. I was on my way to a college class but I was worried I wouldn't make it because of the leaking hose I was so desperatly trying to fix.

As I sit here getting ready to take a break by playing "Frontline Fuel of War" (yes, oddly enough someone has made a video game based on a peak oil scenario), I wonder if its all just a fad. The religious overtones of armeggedon and societal collapse seem rather ironic given my first impression of alot of people on these forums are that they are agnostic or atheist. Apocalyptic predictions stemming from an us vs them mentality tend to be dead wrong. Our nation's religious past is littered with cults and sects whose doomsday apocalyptic visions never came to pass.

Ok I'm starting to ramble, this is my first post, and my impressions as listed above are only first impressions. The thing that stands out in all my research of this is the graphs and the solid science behind it.

vision-master

Your life has just changed, forever. Cool

Ferretlover

Welcome to the real world.

Are your law enforcement and/or city officials aware and/or prepared for the coming future?
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"RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto

Jack · Moderator Joined: Aug 11, 2004 Posts: 4837

Welcome to the Peak Oil family!

It's an interesting subject, with all manner of derivative issues; one can spend a great deal of time on such matters.

I believe you'll find that the underlying theory is well-founded. It isn't a new discovery by any means.

Speculation on the consequences are where you find greater variance. Some contend there will be little impact; others have a more dire view. You will surely develop your own opinion in this regard.

Please enjoy your time here.
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Dieoff. Fun to watch. Better with hot buttered popcorn! new_popcornsmiley

Pops

Lots of stuff to read here us.

You should spend some time doing that, your brain might explode but if it don't then remember I said Welcome.

Smile

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Make a plan and work it:

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1060

USN, goddamit man, you're now one of us.

I'm sorry for your cold rebirth.

Don't try to convert other people too aggressively - people who don't want to see won't look no matter how much you tell them to look.

As in the movie They Live . . .

"Put on those sunglasses or start eating that garbage can."

Hagakure_Leofman

vision-master

Gandalf_the_White · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 511

RedStateGreen

Welcome!

Come up for air every so often, spend time with your girlfriend and family. As someone else said this week, the world isn't going to explode tomorrow. Smile

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What, so I'm in no end game
Move my piece right off the board

DomusAlbion

Yes, you are obsessed. You sound like me when I first encountered Peak Oil.

I started seeing a psychiatrist.

I convinced her and now we're married and live on a farm in the country. Very Happy

Welcome and keep your cool. Dystopia is on the way but it won't happen overnight.
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"Modern Agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food."
-- Albert Bartlett

"It will be a dark time. But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting."
-- James Lovelock

Pops

FoolYap

My emotional dance with Peak Oil has been something like:

1. Discover around 2004, freak out, read as much as I can find
2. Read some more in 2005-2006, decide I've maybe overreacted
3. Watch current events in 2007-2008, and get re-freaked Cool

I realized sometime last year that I have to consider myself officially obsessed. I need to spend less time reading about it, and more time doing something about it. My personal preparations are very modest compared to many here. As are my survival and power-down skills.

A few times in 2007 I had very odd moments during my work-day commute, where all the traffic seemed very surreal to me, like it just didn't belong there any more.

But this weekend while grocery shopping, I had the first mini panic attack I've ever had. It was the oddest feeling, like I could tangibly feel how thin the dividing line was between order (everyone politely pushing around their carts of food) and panic (food shortages, bare shelves, and the way people could behave in those conditions). I didn't linger.

In my good days, I still think we have years, perhaps a decade, before most of the US could be in serious trouble. I still think we have a lot of fiscal fat -- if everyone bought only what they strictly needed to (no lattes, no HDTVs, no new clothes just because it's "the spring season" even though the closetful they've got are all fine), I think the average American could pay much more for gasoline and not starve. (And I think we here sometimes underestimate how much unconventional oil can and will be brought to market. We're going to burn up every last bit of hydrocarbon on the planet, Global Warming be damned.)

I don't have as many good days lately, though.

--Steve

Homesteader

usncom · Tar Sands Joined: May 04, 2008 Posts: 38