Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I've Moved

I decided to move my Blog over to wordpress so please visit the new site @

www.dustinsroadtonowhere.wordpress.com

Where you'll find my favorite post from the last two years as well as my new post as I move forward.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Your World is About to Get Smaller

A couple months ago I finished reading Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin. Which is undoubtedly is a worthwhile read and I think he has his visions of where our economy is going spot on, and aligns with a lot of the thoughts I've mentioned previously. (Also reminds me of the views of Yvon Chouinard touched on in his book Let My People go Surfing a great book on what corporations should focus on to be both social responsible and profitable.) However, I can't say I believe his delivery of the message was in the most effective manner. And unfortunately I believe it may sway some people away from siding with him due to being a little to aggressive and repetitive in some points to convince someone who isn't on side with him already to a certain degree. Here's a quote from the book I'd like to share.
"Despite the steady barrage of climate change news and a growing sense that our affluent lifestyles may have unpleasant consequences for the environment, few of us stop to consider how just about every facet of our lives is built around our energy consumption. Nearly everything we do is inextricably bound to our use of energy.

And by "energy" i mean oil. Yes we use natural gas and some coal to generate electricity; but the world's car and trucks and ships and planes run on oil. That means that the global economy runs on oil, because of the global economy is about moving things around the world. and the reason the global economy has put all its eggs in one basket is that there is no other basket. As of right now, everything - from salmon on your plate to the entire model of a global economy - depends on keeping the oil flowing.

Now what happens when the price of salmon goes up? You buy less of it. and when the price of gasoline goes up, you drive less. when he price of clothes or computers or anything else goes up, everybody buys less. And when everybody spends less we have a recession.

.... History keeps showing that the economy recovers, usually after a few quarters, and life goes on. Markets pick up, factories ramp up production, and eventually you're back to eating all the salmon you want.

But the history of the mordern global economy is not all that long, and it is worth asking whether the patterns we have seen in hte past decades are onse we can expect to go on repeating into the future. we have seen high oil prices trigger recessions before, and in each case the medicine to cure a sick economy has been ready at hand a cheap new supply. It's simple as long as you have a ready supply of that oil.

But if you don't, the whole idea of recovery from a recession has to be redefined - because it's not going to look like it used to. "

November Update

Here I am apologizing for being behind on some post again, with a lot going on in the last month and half I haven't had time to do much worth writting about nor have time to share any thoughts. So you're asking what's made things so busy that I couldn't come out and entertain you at least once every couple weeks. Mainly my attempts to chase that road to nowhere and taking next step on this adventurous road I'm trying to follow. Actually it feels a little more like I'm trying to build it then follow it. October resulted in giving my notice to Yamaha to follow my next venture which is going to be opening a cafe. Which has resulted in a busy couple of months keeping up with my current positions workload in on of it's busiest seasons and toughest periods all the while trying get things aligned for the cafe. As the new venture approaches there's both excitement and a little nervousness in the air. (Check out www.goodearthcafes.com and plan for a visit early February at the corner of 91st and Ellerslie in South Edmonton.)

Aside from that what else new? The gentlemen at Track and Trail (www.trackntrail.ca) helped me finish up my new ski set up. With a set of G3 Onyx AT bindings and Garmont Radium boots, to add the Fisher Watea 94's which I'm excited to carve some turns on. The only disapointment is with the new venture I'm not sure I'll be able to get the back-country training I need to start doing some true alpine touring). But I'll sure to make the best of the new set up and hopefully next spring I'll be getting acquainted with the Alpine Club of Canada.

Other things one the go are finishing the arrangements to Nordic Ski Patrol at the Strathcona Wilderness Center this year, working through the application process for the Edmonton Search and Rescues, and also picked up a new car/suv in the form of the Jeep Patriot. Before you get on me for buying an "SUV" it's based on a compact car and is rated the greenest SUV with a 40MPG hwy rating so it's the most likely to most efficient option for me. Finally we've reached i'm trying to still enjoy some of the fall mountain biking, which may be my favorite time of the year which being so close to the Rockies has coincided with early season skiing! I'm enjoying making use of both the mountain bike and ski racks at the same time. (I'll try and get some better pics on the weekend)

Anyways I'll leave that as my quick personal update.