The news

9AM

I heard on the news today that we had tapped the last oil reserves on the planet. No-one is talking about it, as though the subject is taboo, and in a way it is: we would be talking, gossiping, about our own extinction. As I filled the car up this morning I wondered if everyone else was thinking the same thing: How long? It just doesn't seem real. The government set up a 100 million research grant to provide a real solution, but they don't get it. This isn't a political game any more. 100m is just a speck, a tiny drop in a gaping chasm and it won't go far. We need to resolve this now, or in three years, when the power starts to fail we are going to have a much harder time of landing on our feet. I have been trying to work, but I can't focus or sit still. I have checked the web about sustainable energy sources, and the consensus across the board is that we're stuffed. We don't have the time to fix the problem, and even if we had the time, to make solar panels, wind farms, geothermal machines, we need to use power. Oil.

10PM

Home again, and the whooping glee of the kids playing tag in the street dissipated the feeling of doom that had wrapped itself around me all day. Relaxing back in front of the t.v., listening to the talk shows discuss solutions, argue over details, politicians spin the angles for better poll results, everything just seems normal. The neon light from the Chinese place next door keeps buzzing, but rather than irritating me I find it soothing. We still have power, that buzz says, and everything is going to be ok.