Remember

Remember the name David Bookbinder, the chief climate counsel for the Sierra Club. Remember him when you are sitting in the dark freezing to death. Remember him as you watch China, unhampered by David Bookbinder and his organization, catch up and surpass us on every front. No technology, green or otherwise, can replace coal in the short term. Nukes could replace some of it in the medium term if someone were in possession of a magic wand that would eliminate the political and regulatory blocks. Wind? Solar? Feh. Double Feh.

In more positive news, GM may not survive to the end of the year without federal tax money. Unless they don't get it, in which case I'm willing to bet they find a way to hang tough. But somehow I doubt any scenario is going to be pleasant for anyone working for GM or any of its suppliers.

And the Santa Clause bounce has yet to materialize. The biggest shopping day of the year is a couple weeks away. We'll see how that goes. We are mostly opting out of Christmas this year. For one thing, we don't buy stuff for each other and it's too much hassle to get gifts across the country in one piece. For another, both of our jobs are looking more tenuous by the day. The cafe had a busy day today, but the rest of the week was a disaster. And most of the work Debbie has had over the last couple weeks is canceling cruise bookings. I passed a moving truck clearing out yet-another retail space while walking home from work today. The mall where Debbie works is losing its three largest tenants and numerous small ones.

And it ain't over.

The good news is that if I do lose my job, I'll be able to get done with college sooner. I had hoped to finish up at the end of the Spring '09 term, but trying to squeeze in six classes in five months and working (almost) full-time just isn't going to work. That means stretching things out until at least the end of 2009, maybe longer. But if I'm not working, it would be a cake-walk. Although I'd rather not have to tap into it, we do have enough cash to pay the bills for a while and pay my tuition and books. It's not the way I'd like to go, but we could do it.

I do try to end on a positive note on occasion.