Cant wait to pay more for gas?

I want to weigh in my opinion about the oil crisis. I just filled my home heating oil tank a couple of weeks ago, cost me about 550 dollars, and that was only 2.60 a gallon. I got it one day before the big hike to 3.30. I really cant afford that. I'll have to cut back elsewhere. I will have baby's in the house this winter, so I will have to run the heat high. That will cost me a bundle I'm sure. I have a hundred mile round trip to work every day. Thank god I have a Toyota Carolla (39 miles to the gallon), but it still cost me 35 bucks to fill instead of the 20 of a couple of years ago. Yes I am complaining, just like everyone else, I'm hit hard. Imagine the old widowed lady, can barely make ends meet. How is she gonna heat her house this year? It will hurt many Americans, this fuel crisis of ours. And yes I understand that this is not a simple supply and demand situation. That this crisis is fabricated by the oil executives. And I am tickled pink by it all ! Why ? You may ask. Why is this one of the best things that ever happened to America ? Because of a simple rule. That rule is "necessity is the mother of invention". I'll give you an example. How long have we been hearing of these hybrid cars? Since the late 80's ? The technology certainly is not new. So what's the problem, why did it take so long for the hybrid to appear in full force? Its simple, no demand. What reason did anyone have to buy a hybrid. Gas has been so cheap for so long. Today there is a 4 to 6 month wait for a Toyota hybrid. Where do you think Toyota is putting a large part of their R&D money right now. I can tell you there not trying to come out with a big gas guzzling SUV. I can guarantee they are putting money into fuel cell technology, solar assisted electric-gas cars, rotary engines, ect. Like I said, Nessesity is the mother of invention.
I'll give another example. For about 10 to 14 thousand dollars you could wire up your house to run on solar power. For about 20 grand you could do solar power and heat. With the average electric bill under 100 bucks a month, it would take at least 10 years to get that money back. Who the heck is gonna do that? Last month I paid over 250 dollars just for electricity. Guess what, 4 or 5 years to get that money back doesn't sound so bad. I may consider it if gas goes up any more.
All this being said, there will be growing pains. You will hear horror storys about this person not having heat or that person can't afford to drive to work and gave up his job. You may even experience a horror story yourself. At the very least you will have to make some sacrafices. In the end things will be better. We can loose this demonic dependancy to oil. It will be a beuitiful thing. These oil execs are shooting themselfs in the foot and they don't even know it. Other countries have been paying outrageous prices for years. It may sound conceited, but when it happens to America, things will change. Be prepared for the growing pains. You will undoubtedly feel them in some way, but look to the future. The day when your selling electricity to the electric company. The day you stop and get 10 dollars worth of hydrogen and drive for 4 weeks before your fuel cell needs another fill up. The day you heat your house for free with passave solar hot water. Worst case senerio, the price of gas drops back down within affordable range, and all the things I talked about never come to fruition. Then our sons and daughters can deal with the problem later, but I was really hoping we would see it and deal with it.

Jennifer Fisher.....Come on down !!!!

Can't think of anything scientific or even remotely clever to write about so I'll give an update on the Fisher goings on. We had the Baby(s) shower yesterday at my mother in laws house. It was quite a time. The shower was sort of Jack and Jill. I stood watching my wife unwrap gifts, and was fighting back tears the whole time. As I watched her, I think for the very first time it actually hit me. Were going to have two babys. I talked about it as if I knew, and we went to endless doctors apointments. I have even seen them in ultrasound. I felt them kick hundreds of times. But untill I saw my wife unwrapping gifts, I think it was all surreal. This was someting we did not get to do last time, perhaps that is why it triggered my emotion. So as I was standing there watching my wife and fighting back tears, my mother in law annouced for everyone to watch for the next gift (as she has so many times before). She handed my wife a small gift bag. My wife reached inside and pulled out a set of keys. The whole clan of us quickly darted for the front yard. There parked right in front center was a shiny white Ford Winstar minivan. Now I balled like a four year old on the floor at Walmart. Jens brother Tim is the auto mechanic in the family, so I knew immeadiatly that it was from him. I ran over and gave him a hug sobbing, I think I gave him eyes that were a little watery. I know he understood he was giving us something big, but I'm not sure he understood just what a great thing he had done for us (or he did but didn't look at it as if it was any big deal). Talking to him later and thanking him personally without any one else around he said something like "I work on cars and I can get cars, thats what I do. Its not that big a deal." He explained that the car had been hit in the front end and how he just finished up fixing it this morning. He was so very modest about this amazing gift. I explained to him that it wasn't this car he happened to get a hold of through whatever deal he made to get it that he was giving us. He was giving us this beautiful car that he could of easily sold for 3 or 4 grand or whatever it was worth. Thats what Tim and his family sacraficed for us. Truth be told its not really us that the gift was for. Tim really loves his little sister and he really did this for her. As Jen will tell you about her older brother "He picked on me all the time growing up, but if anyone else dared to, Timmy took care of them"
It is the perfect vehicle for our growing family. How we were going to stuff two car seats and my thirteen year old daughter in the back seat of my Carolla, I dont know. Now I dont have to worry about it. How do you thank someone for something like this? We got tons of great presents. My sister in law gave us two cribs (which I already set up) and all kinds of clothes and other stuff. We literally had to fill a truck and two car trunks to get everything home. My sisyter in law also came up with a great idea where everyone wrote messeges to the babys for a scrap book she bought for my wife. Everyone put down some heartfelt words to my unborn twosome. Thanks to all our family for a great job done for Jen and I.

Its not a plane

If you happen to be outside tonight right as the sun goes down, look west. You will see two very bright lights. On the left is Venus, and on the right is Jupiter. They will be almost next to each other. With a cheap telescope or good binoculars you can see Jupiters moons- Ganymede, IO (largest volcanoes in the solar system), Callisto, and the icy Europa. You may not see all four because sometimes one or two are behind Jupiter. Jupiter actually has over 60 moons and still counting, but these four are the only ones that can be seen without the aid of NASA or giant telescopes. The two planets will only be visible for a short time and will quickly disappear below the horizon. If you have a high tree line you probably wont see them at all. You can actually see them before the sun totally disappears because they are so bright. This past week the moon has been between the two planets making for a beautiful sight.
To update on my wife, she is still doing well. Almost 29 weeks (Monday). She is getting very large. We are having her shower on Sunday at her mothers house. I have almost finished painting the baby's room. I have painted a mural of noahs ark. The top half of the walls are painted sky blue and the bottom half is ocean blue with waves at the top of the ocean blue line. I completed the ark with animals floating on the most visible wall, a rainbow from the ark to the next wall and disappearing below the water line. I also painted some dolphins under the water and one jumping in the air. Still a lot more to go, it has taken hours and hours of work. I think it is coming out very good, at least that's what everyone says (unless they're just being nice). I hope the twins will enjoy the hard work I have put in to it.
God bless.