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| The world as we know it is not sustainable. Sure, I can throw numbers at you but it doesn't matter, just think of a limit function. As time goes to infinity, finite resources will be used up. Two, ten, hundred years... it doesn't matter. The end result is the same. The early we do something about it, the earlier we can cause the function to diverge before our current equation crashes at zero. That sound awfully like Lost...
In any case -- I saw R4 and then began thinking of the social and economical impact if we were to start "re-thinking" how we consume our finite resources. I vote for the green party because I want them to have a couple seats in parliament because change has to start somewhere. My parents made the comment after I told them who I voted for, they said "So... you voted for the Green Party... How come you still drive the car around?" Wired had this great article recently that I totally agreed with. People do not understand what a sustainable future means. I vote for the Green Party because I hope that we can eventually evolve into a society that does not consume finite resources more than we can return back into the system. I drive my car because I need to drive my car. I even wish to own a Ferrari one day (what a gas guzzler!). I don't expect anyone to stop driving their cars, no one should be forced to do that. But we should be forced a choice of transportation. If the fuel I use is from a renewable source, then it is one step closer to a sustainable future. I don't believe that it is the answer, I truly believe the solution to transportation is using electric motors but at least we're heading the right direction. We can even buy Carbon credits to offset the amount of CO2 (you can buy credits for nearly all pollutants) you create. All this is heading in the right direction but sadly, we're still not educated enough to make the jump into a truly sustainable ecology.
A sustainable future means that we put back the same amount that we take out. Carbon credits only apply to the carbon capacity. Carbon sinks reduce the amount of carbon which is the true definition of a sustainable future. Realtors in the world are picking up forests for cheap in this decade because in less than 25 years, people will pay them for their carbon sink credits. We will reach that point but it is up to us whether or not we reach that point in desperation or in good will. I dream almost everyday to drive an electric car. In a heart beat, I would trade my car in for a 100 hp electric car. (Heres something to think about, 30 years ago, Honda made cars with 60hp and much more than 40mpg. Today, we're lucky to get 25mpg.)
I just got this wicked idea to help with our problem with fossil fuels and plastics. Plastics are not renewable. We consider them as use once and then throw away. The problem is that it will not degrade and be re-absorbed until millions of year later. Don't get me wrong, we need plastic. We have industries and technologies based on the advances of plastics, which is very good. But the problem is consumer throwaways. Second to burning fossil fuels (ie: driving cars) throwing away plastics is a terrible thing to do. Everyone does it though... worst everyone has a bit of plastic in our systems. Its something that plagues our society today and the next and the next, until we stop the cycle here.
I realized that there is a market for vending machine that dispenses liquids that would normally come from plastic bottles. It would reduce the price per liter as well as reduce the amount of plastic being used to make the wasteful bottles. We already do this for bulk spring water so why can't we apply this ideology to all liquid consumables. Dish soap, hand soap, detergents, water, juices, pop drinks, cooking oils, etc etc. We should give each citizen a dozen non disposable plastic bottles for each liquid item that we need. No charge unless lost, then you have to pay for the ecological offset that losing one bottle will create, ie: Perhaps you have a plant a few trees on the weekend... well pay some kids to do it for you, no one has time these days). Everything will be reused and not recycled. This is how I envision a sustainable future. The key is reusing as much as we can and reducing the amount we take out. If we can accomplish this, then less work is required to put back into the planet what we took out. Which, if you think about it, is a lot easier than trying to offset the amount of resources we are using up today.
Lately, I'm pretty upset because my father called me uncreative. I get all these ideas and it makes me depressed because they don't encourage these ideas. I know its stupid to feel this way but I do.
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| I want something
but I haven't bought it yet because have always made me feel guilty whenever I buy anything.
So now I sit here contemplating whether or not I should spend my money.
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| Well, the good news is that I passed my summer course. At least thats over with and I don't have to think about it for another couple months. Incredible considering my work put me on for 40hours that week. Argh...
Why is our company failing at managing anything is pretty simple. Our new boss is a nice guy but he doesn't actually do anything that doesn't directly increase the company's profits. Our manager is on a power trip and does crazy things like double shifts and asking me to do a 17 hour shift a couple days before my final. She is making crap up that is currently pissing everyone in the company off. The worst right now is that they don't want to accommodate us when we need days off, no matter how early I let them know. We tell our new boss this but we haven't seen any changes. Our old boss would help us out whenever we asked. If I needed a day off for an exam, he would have made sure I got the day off. Its quite sad because most of the people working at my company are good people and don't deserve the crap they're handing to us with a smile.
I really have to figure out some sort of financial plan that doesn't involve me working 40 hours a week. I'm working 40 hours and I'm not making enough money to do the stuff I want to do. Its annoying but thats how things are. I want a new laptop but I have this stupid feeling in the back of my head that I won't get the model I want, the Lenovo X61s Tablet. I'm going have to settle with a last generation Vaio C series or a MacBook. Even then, its still not in the freaking budget. The large chunk of my budget is going to quiting my job. I'm trying to save up enough money to pay off the rent for about 10 months and then I will go look for some cheap part time work to pay off various expenses. So right now, I have hit my goal of saving enough money to survive 10 months. Which is good cause its early in the summer. But I don't think I will be able to hit my goal for a new laptop.
I was hoping to get a digital SLR this summer but that idea had to be trashed. I don't have any budget for it at all (400+$). I could buy an older (like 10 years old) but they're not great quality and whats the point, it probably won't satisfy my level of picture quality. I wish my father would go and buy any new digital SLR, but thats a pipe dream. It sucks so hard... I'm stuck using a 2mpix camera phone for the time being...
I would love to get a new phone or a PDA because I need to be connected at all times as well the need to take notes down. I always find myself needing a pen and paper and I usually have a hard time remember stuff because I don't get the chance to write things down. What I'm thinking right now is to just buy an old Sony Clie because I know the chances of getting a new phone is next to nothing. Oh, and I love reading e-books but my PSP is too bulky and unintuitive to read any sort of e-book. I'm currently thinking I should get it because the chances of getting a tablet PC is next to nothing. Worst, if I don't get a tablet, whats the point of getting a laptop. I'm not going to type my notes in class because thats just retarded, how the hell do I type or draw complicated diagrams on a laptop?? Yea, my notes are going to be filled with, "look at diagram in notebook," thereby defeating the purpose of using a laptop.
I'm physically tired but my mind is blazing with ideas since my exam finished. I'm currently learning how to program for Java just to keep my mind busy when I'm at work. I was thinking of building a holographic projector but now the idea is canned. Theres no way I can feasibly make it within a small budget. I'm just going to play around with the math until I figure out how I'm ever going to afford it. Planning to buy electronics equipment to design my own circuits as well as help my studies. I guess I have that to look forward to.
I'm working too much to clean up, or to even enjoy, the turn table I found. I'm going to have to sell it as well as my PSP. I've outgrown it, its a great machine to play games but I'm not finding any time to play games. I use it to read e-books anyways, I don't need all that extra power for that. If anyone wants it, I'd let both go for 200$ each.
I asked my mom (not my dad) for money during the school semester but frankly, I doubt I will get the amount of I asked for. Living with my parents is confining, its hard to do what I want. I never got a good computer from them which is sad because it is probably the sole reason I can troubleshoot computers quickly. Know what, I'm not going to dwell on issues with my parents. It doesn't change anything and living away from them gives me enough breathing room to enjoy the small things in life, such as finally having the ability to read books of my choice (my parents never just let me buy stuff, they always have to make me doubt my purchase -- which is inherent in my personality, I succumb to doubt easily).
I'm not exactly exuberant but I'm not exactly depressed either. I'm optimistic that things will turn out well for me so I don't worry about it too much. Sigh, if its not money, its time, and I have don't have a surplus of either. But I do have just enough to finish university at least. Which I currently wonder if I should do architecture or something after I graduate. I'm interested in too many topics to be just tied down to one thing and it pisses me off. The very least thing that I can do is to try make sure my brother doesn't get screwed and not get some opportunities into doing things. Sigh.
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