Monday, July 28, 2008

Sunset: Survivors

Chad Grable Wichita, KS October 5th, 1991
I made up my mind that I would go today before it gets dark. It took awhile to convince myself but I finally found the courage. I went out to the garage and set up the step ladder in the center of the floor. Above the ladder was the opening to the storage in the rafters. I climbed up to the cubby hole in the ceiling and pushed open the plywood that covered the entrance. Dust bunnies and mouse droppings fell down in my hair and on my shoulders. I did the nervous gross me out dance and shook my head and arms to get the filthy things off of me.

I climbed another rung and stuck my head up into the hole. The attic was dusty and full of cobwebs and it made me want to sneeze constantly. I felt around for the pistol I had hidden up there when we got back from camping last year.

Read more...
http://ithappenedatsunset.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunse-survivors.html

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Hubbert's Peak: Prologue

Prologue

By the year 2020, the United States was able produce 10 million barrels of oil each day in country. To sustain its economy, it had to import an additional 15 million barrels consuming 25 million barrels a day. This means that the United States consumed two thirds of the oil the world was able to produce.

Commuting from suburbia to the city for work and school is commonplace. Fruit and vegetables are trucked from farms hundreds of miles away to local grocery stores. Large sport utility vehicles make up over one third of the new vehicle market in the United States. Not only do sport utility vehicles generate higher volumes of pollution, they also typically get seven miles per gallon less than standard size vehicles.

Read more...
http://hubbertspeakcrisis.blogspot.com/2008/07/hubberts-peak-prologue.html

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Sunset: Survivors

Amir Baghira New York, NY October 4th, 1991

After it happened I walked the streets for hours in a daze. The cold rain continued into the evening. I was frozen and chilled to the bone. Smoke poured from some buildings while others appeared untouched by the disaster. I can’t help but think of it that way, a disaster. If I would have been responsible for the deaths of all these useless sheep it would have been a glorious triumph. Since it was some freak act of nature it is a disaster.

The city lights were still on but nothing moved. The twisted metal of automobile crashes lay in huge dripping heaps. Some smoked, some burned and others sat in silence showered by the rain and streetlights. Of course there were bodies literally everywhere. Thousands of them. I had to weave and jump to avoid them. Occasionally I had to walk on top of parked cars for half a block to avoid stepping on them.

Read more...
http://ithappenedatsunset.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunset-survivors-5.html

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Sunset: Survivors

Stan Howard Las Vegas, NV October 4th, 1991

After Stan made it back to his room, he sat on his bed and stared at the wall for six straight hours. The shock of what he had seen overwhelmed him. Stan drifted in and out of a conscious state for those hours. Occasionally he was aware of where he was. When in a deeper state of shock or denial, Stan’s mind went to his home town of Clear Creek, Wisconsin in the south eastern part of the state.

Clear Creek was a town of about twenty two thousand people. Stan grew up there with his brother and parents in a middle class house in a middle class neighborhood. For the first thirteen years of his life, Stan had a pretty normal childhood. On one cold Saturday in January, normal became the last word Stan would use to describe his childhood.

Read more...
http://ithappenedatsunset.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunset-survivors-4.html