Earth Daze

Because it should occur every day.

Via the Google API, some intrepid developers came up with a simple pedometer. I tried it out on my weekly roller-blade route and came up with the 15 miles that I had earlier swagged.

Bike sales outpaced car sales for the first time ever in Australia. It happened in the USA as well last year, as not since the oil crisis of 1973 have they sold in such big numbers. We just might catch up to the rest of the world at some point, unless China decides to go the reverse route.

Shortly after the first Earth Day, the two oil-price shocks of the 1970s underlined the risks of oil-dependent mobility. Car sales stalled near 30 million from 1973 to 1983. Bicycle sales, meanwhile, jumped from 52 million to 74 million.

Repairing some PVC plumbing that got installed a little over 30 years ago, also close to the first Earth Day, I noticed that the price for a 45^o elbow connector has barely budged. What cost $0.27 then (according to the old price sticker left on the pipe) now costs $0.29 in single item qualities.

Contenders for what causes the price stability in the face of inflation:

1. Automation & productivity advancements
2. All manufacturing moved to China

From PeakOilCrisis:

We use developing countries as Walmart-like leverage to keep prices down -- until they start advancing on their own. At which time, we lose all slack.

Let me just say that I will monitor the price of aforementioned elbow quite closely from now on. As well as that brown curve in the above chart, which looks like one of those parabola curves that Bush recently name checked.