Unless you live under a rock, you're probably aware we're going thru an energy crisis. There are alot of people who blame speculators for the rise in oil prices...but oil contracts are bought both long & short...meaning speculators would have to be responsible for price increases on the up and downside. The real issue in the oil industry is the lack of easily attainable supply and the growing demand. The spread between what we can extract & what we're burning is tight. Of late.."demand destruction" is hitting the market as people just stop driving because they can't afford it. It's always interesting to hear an America feel that gas prices are a "crisis" at 4 bucks a gallon when a gallon of gas in most of Europe is 10 dollars.

I decided that living in the oil capital of the free world..I would go entirely green in my new condo. I started by buying wind power which is available either through Greenmax or Bullfrog Energy. They monitor your electrical bill and if you use 500 kw of electricity, they produce 500 kw using wind power & inject it in to the system on your behalf. You pay a minor fee on top of your power bill to cover the extra cost of wind. The cost for me was a whole 2 dollars in a month.

Aside from going 100% "wind", I bought LED lights for my house, ditched my microwave & decided I'd make a conscious effort to cook all my food from scratch. There are times it's annoying and it requires you plan meals, but the savings are surprising. The food also tastes much better than what you buy at the store.

I also ditched using paper towels and went old skool using clothes to wipe up things. Yes, I have to wash them, but my laundry load isn't any more than it was before I did this. Any types of paper I use are entirely recycled. I also try to buy local food & not drive my car unless I'm using it for work.

So far, it's working. It's taken a bit to get used too, but I actually find I'm less stressed & living simple makes your life incredibly relaxing. Now I just need to get a job where I don't drive and walk to work...a very viable option when one is living in downtown Calgary.

First 2 weeks I used 51 KW of electricity. My electrical bill for nearly 3 weeks was about 12 dollars.

Rain

Picture of a rainbow after a thunderstorm taken from the Safeway parking lot at 4th Street SW & Elbow Drive.

Stampede Time

It's Stampede Time.

Pizza comes to Mission

Here in the Mission (4th Street, Calgary), we used to have a place called CPU. It stood for Canada Pizza Unlimited. It's in a great location, sold slices & was easily accessible. Problem was...the people that ran it were the most negative folks I've met in business. More than a few times I watched them deride a customer for their choices or for ordering too much. Imagine, ordering 4 pizzas and getting a ride for that, as if it's some problem to do all that work.

The place closed up a few weeks ago and tada, I am happy to report that it's returned with new owners & will soon have a new name. I stopped by today for a slice and the slice was actually really good. The people running it are pretty nice & were very welcoming.

So if you live in the Mission, we now have a pizza place again. I haven't ordered a full pizza, just a slice, but it was much better than before. Having slices available for 3 bucks is great...it's cheap food that's gotten easily for people who are busy or just too damn lazy to cook