Hot Summer Ahead
It’s been a strange and sad week, and not just because I’m 500 miles from home and holed-up in a hotel. Don’t feel sorry for me — Jackson, Tennessee is a great place with lovely weather, friendly people, and I’m staying in a very nice hotel. On top of that, I just polished off a delectable lemon grilled salmon dinner so all things considered, life on this road trip has been pretty good.
But earlier this week brought the news of the untimely passing of LB Cebik, W4RNL. About a day later, access to his Web site was limited by (presumably) the new owner of that content. I make no inference about that move — I saw numerous email messages on various ham radio lists suggesting that folks download the entire site en masse as a way of preserving the body of reference left by Cebik. That probably spooked the domain holder into limiting downloads, but still, it just doesn’t feel right if you know what I mean.
Just for the record, if I drop dead one night please feel free to launch a massive search and download mission on all the data left behind and don’t forget to snag the audio files.
As the week continued we got a fairly stunning view of what the future holds for America and the rest of the world. Does even a day go by anymore without oil hitting a new high while the dollar hits a new low? One report out of Canada sees oil at $250 a barrel just four years hence. That will drive the price of a gallon of gasoline over seven dollars…
These kinds of painful realities tend to get drowned out by ‘American Idol, and ‘Dancing With Stars’.
When it comes to dire circumstances, Americans seem to draw on some mysterious, collective static that can drown out bad news. NASCAR, baseball and football have similar sedative qualities.
Another wake-up call will soon be manifest in the form of shortages and rationing. By mid-summer spot gasoline shortages will become problematic and we’re already beginning to see rationing of certain food staples in select areas of the country — something that two American generations have never witnessed.
A year ago who would have guessed that a Wall Street Journal columnist would be recommending that Americans hoard food as a way of hedging against rapidly rising prices?
But hey — why worry — next week Americans will begin receiving their $600 tax rebate checks which means the cash registers at Costco will be ringing up plenty of new wide-screen television sales so those dollars can make their way back to China post-haste.
w00t!
73 de Jeff