Burrito West Blog

Energy.

I don't drive anymore so I rarely notice gas prices. I did finally notice the other day that gas prices are kind of high.... which always makes me think - since we're headed for a future where cheap energy is no more, what are all the people who live high-energy-consumption lives doing to prepare? I get the distinct impression that most people aren't doing anything. Am I wrong? Seems like people keep buying overly-large houses far away from everything which means the cost to heat their home and get to/from anything is just going to continue to increase.

I live downtown because I love it, and I definitely get that this is not the life for everyone. Peter and I made a conscious decision to live in a tiny apartment so we could be in a location that suits our lifestyle - we'd rather be in a shoebox within walking/transit distance of everything than a mansion far far away. We are perhaps on one extreme of the spectrum - for North America at least - I get that. But another reason, besides lifestyle, that we choose to live this way is because our carbon footprint is smaller as a result. Our apartment uses way less energy than a stand alone home. We physically have less stuff (it takes energy to make stuff). We walk and transit pretty much everywhere.

Still, I worry that everyone else is still living their life as though oil and gas will continue to be cheap forever and I really wonder what will happen when it isn't? And why are we so terrible, as a species, at planning ahead for these things? Is it really that extreme to relocate to a home that is served by transit? Or to put some money into making your home more energy efficient?

What are we going to do as a country when people can no longer afford to live in the energy-hog suburbs we've spent the last 50 years building as fast as we could?

Read Short Related Article. And longer related article.

Peter is away on a mountain biking trip (in Moab, UT which is apparently THE place to go to mountain bike (aside from, you know, where we live)), so I'm on my own this week which simultaneously sucks and is awesome.

Peter and I have been together long enough now that it's very strange when he's not here, my brain is in a perpetual low grade state of confusion. The problem is compounded by the fact that I use his absence as an opportunity to indulge in watching things he may not find very interesting. These are often sad things, which doesn't help with my state of mind, but I seem to do this repeatedly.

This time around it was the mini-series version BBC did a few years ago of Tess of the D'Urbervilles based on the Thomas Hardy novel. I've read most of Thomas Hardy's stuff, and it's amazing storytelling.... but pretty consistently heart-wrenchingly sad. And Tess is probably the most wrenching tale of them all. The mini series, like all BBC productions lately, was fantastic.

I would welcome any suggestions for uplifting, funny things I should watch this weekend to counteract the gloomy feeling left over from Mr. Hardy.

Other BBC productions that are awesome: the Jane Eyre mini-series (my favorite Jane Eyre adaptation ever), the new Doctor Who series, the new Sherlock Holmes series, and of course, the bbc mini series version of Pride and Prejudice.

I try not to get political on my blog, because discussions of politics and religion get people all riled up. But with the election looming in Canada, I'm quite worried about things here.

With our screwed up electoral system we've been governed for 5 years by a party that had the support of only ~34% of the country*. And that party has done scary stuff (from a fundamental eroding democracy point of view especially).

I assume everyone has seen the website that went viral last week: www.shitharperdid.com ? It points out, in a humourous way, some of the crazy stuff that has gone on - stuff that may sound like boring procedural parliamentary stuff in the news, but is in fact Harper giving the finger to our democratic system and to the public that elected him (except we didn't really - see point about dysfunctional electoral system above). This comic covers even more of the stuff that Harper has done, and seeing it all in one place should really scare you.

The question is - who are the people voting Conservative? And how can they in the light of that information? I know there are ideological differences between people who vote conservative and liberal (little letters) - but don't we all want to prevent having a government that runs roughshod over the very principles of democracy? It's like when I lived in the US and under the guise of patriotism and security, Bush stripped away some of the basic, fundamental rights of citizens - rights that were pretty much the foundation of the country.... and people just let him, in fact, they re-elected him!

I feel like we're in the same place - how can a Prime Minister be found in contempt of Parliament be re-elected? What message does that send him? "Go ahead, ignore all the rules of democracy, continue to do everything in secrecy, no need to inform us the public about anything." WHY would we do this? And the scary question - how far does Harper have to go in violating our democracy before Conservative voters (and party members) decide he's gone too far? I'm scared that they're all okay with this stuff.

Anyway - here's a site if you want to look up what happened in your riding in the 2008 election, it might help you decide who to vote for if your concern is to present the strongest front against a Conservative candidate.

If any Conservative voters want to visit www.shitharperdid.com and then weigh in and tell me how they can support Harper, I will honestly listen with open ears, though my head may explode afterwards.

In any case, I do hope everyone votes on May 2nd. As screwed up as our system is - at least we get to vote. People elsewhere in the world are currently dying trying to get that right, after all.

Tomorrow the blog will return to photos of cute cats and random craft projects, I promise.

(* also have to mention that our screwed up electoral system means that while 1million people voted for Green party candidates, they elected no one and have no representation, while 1.3million people voted Bloc and got FORTY-NINE seats in Parliament. That makes me angry. It should make you angry too if you believe government should represent the people. Join the people at Fair Vote Canada who are pushing for electoral reform.)

Last night Peter and I went out to a casino in New Westminster. Seems out of character for us, doesn't it? Yeah, we skipped the slots and went to the Redbar Lounge where there was a dinner + salsa dancing event. Buffet dinner and dancing for $18? I'm in! Turns out there is a cute lounge there - exactly the kind of old-school set up I've been yearning for - with booths that overlook the dance floor and stage.

We got there a bit late, getting a bit lost on the suburban highways, but still made it in time to nab the last table and get some grub. The food wasn't anything fancy but it was good and there was chocolate cake for dessert, so what more do you need, really?

There were two dance instructors who did a short performance of some salsa and bachata, then gave lessons in merengue and salsa, then it was open dancing. Peter and I had fun - it wasn't crowded at all (salsa dance floors are often packed) and they mixed in some chacha, swing, merengue with the salsa (I get bored fast if we do just salsa).

Apparently it's a new thing the Lounge is trying - Thursday night dinner + dance (with lessons). Next week is swing dancing. I'm pretty sure we'll be back there again at some point! It's always nice to find new dancing venues - even if they are annoyingly located far away. Even better if they include all you can eat chocolate cake.