A Final Solution?

27 and 28 May – Expected hangover was remarkably tolerable all things considering, probably dismissed by the still existing real physical pain being inflicted upon my tortured body.  Was sure that I was woken by the sound of my own moaning in pain which really cant be a good thing.  Going to the movies seemed like a sensible way to spend the afternoon and got to knock of a second bird with that stone by seeing mater as well - ‘The Italian’, a Russian film whose existence I was only aware of by seeing it previewed at a Swedish (or Swiss, I have a habit of mixing those two countries up as does every New Worlder) film, not a very good movie I’m inclined to say – lesson being that orphanages are depressing and it might have been a political diatribe against people smugglers but I can’t quite be certain of that.  Evening involved getting cleaned out at a poker night at Mr Creber’s, whose shock of red hair can only fully be appreciated when he’s helmetless.  I suspect I might have got my money’s worth on the food though, a rather spectacular barbecue, unique in the absolute absence of steak, sausages or chicken – wish I was not one of the few who witnessed the uncooked calamari falling on a rather unwashed section of balcony but I’m pretty certain I identified a safe ring or two.  Taxi journey over there (how low have I sunk???) was memorable in part because it was a taxi ride and in part because he was the fattest cabbie I’d ever seen and my half eaten apple launched him off on a remarkable lecture on healthy eating.  Monday had slightly less pain and the day was broken and sucked up by midday medicals that meant productivity suffered – this also not helped by the fact that the similarity of my and my mother’s mobile phones meant that I had a days worth of calls fielded by a maternal secretary who I can imagine quite enjoyed being able to intercept anyone who might call me (every single one of them would have got a chat, I tell you).  Really stressed right now.  Cant let it push me into a corner – have to use it to fuel something but what?  
Went to an interesting lecture at the Australian Institute of International Affairs (someone’s alma mater???) with the topic of ‘Peak Oil and Climate Change’, speaker was certainly a believer in both and he was relatively convincing in explaining how the two were inextricably linked and that both were pretty much upon us.  The upbeat side of the lecture was that he saw this as a catalyst for significant social change for the better but, like all of them, he didn’t convince me that the energy solution is on the verge of solution.  The population is growing, especially in the developing world, and the developing world is sucking up more and more energy per capita (which is pretty much their inalienable right at some level) and the amount of cheap energy available is becoming harder and harder to be cost effectively recovered.  The fossil energies we have are not completely underwritten by future generations at the moment but can the renewables fill the gap?  They’re going to have to but right now the technology does not exist and I just hope necessity is the mother of invention.  I was also upset by a perception of me during the latest crash.  That was very unsettling.