Blowing My Own Trumpet

The day so far. I awoke at 0640 and had the Hybrid booked in for it’s 30,000 Km service at Westside Honda in Werribee for 0800. Amy wanted to come along with me, so after a cup of coffee, we headed off. It was my first long drive for a few months, so Amy was my insurance if I couldn’t take the pain. The trip was uneventful, but the traffic was very heavy all the way down the Western highway to the Werribee turnoff. There are so many road works going on to improve the travel times from the outer towns to the city of Melbourne, that is is slowing down traffic. I haven’t got the heart to tell them about my next post! They really should be beefing up the public transport system, and forgetting about the roads. We got to the dealership at 0745 and had to wait for 2 hours, even though they had a 45 minute guarantee for their express service. Their lame excuse was that there were low oil levels in the CVT transmission, and they had to find the correct type of oil for the Hybrid. You would think that because I booked it in two weeks ago, that they might have checked their stocks before hand. Not very professional at all. If I can go to the effort of leasing a lower emitting car from them, they can at least get their act together.

Amy and I then went to get Kim’s birthday present, as it is her birthday in two weeks time. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it is what she has been after for a while. Then we had breakfast. Not much choice for organic or non-fast food produce at Werribee Plaza so we had some Chicken Schnitzel Foccacia and a hot chocolate each. Not very green, but it is my birthday after all.

When I got home, it was card and present time. Kim bought me some new cookware. A pressure cooker, which cooks in a third of the time of normal cooking techniques. I remember that when I was growing up, my mum used to use a pressure cooker all the time to make stews and casseroles. I am so looking forward to trying it out tomorrow night. I have some really crappy cuts of beef in the freezer that should cook down really well in the pressure cooker. I also received a frying pan with a glass lid, a book about Chickens and Companion planting from Amy, a Jamie Oliver herb basher from Ben, a Solar powered fan in a baseball cap, with PV cell (which is really cool) from my lovely mother-in-law Pam. Megan bought me a cook book titled “200 veggie feast” by Louise Pickford and two blocks of organic dark chocolate. I love dark chocolate, especially when it is organic. Adam will shower me with presents when he returns home from work (here is to hoping anyway). Thanks to all my family for sending cards and text messages. They were brilliant and heart felt, and you will be happy to know, that I will be recycling them all into the compost bins in a few weeks time. The garden also appreciates them.

Kim is whipping up a gourmet dinner, with tuna stuffed cucumbers for entrée; silverbeet, mushroom and cream cheese puffs with stuffed potatoes with sour cream; cauliflower, broccoli & carrot bake for mains; and for dessert Lemon Meringue pie. All vegetarian except for the tuna of course. I bought a couple of bottles of local Pinot Noir wine on the way home so we will wash it all down with a nice drop. Kim is a great cook.

Kim told me yesterday that she wanted to learn more about Peak Oil, so tonight we are watching a documentary called “A Crude Awakening – The Oil Crash“. She wants to learn what I have been going on about now that the price of petrol is at an all time high. I suppose it takes a bit of a reality check for people to grasp the real meaning of events. After that movie, I hope to show a happier documentary called “Power of Community – How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” which is a great way to understand how to solve most of the problems faced when the era of cheap oil is behind us (which it is). Should be a great evening of understanding.

Yes, it is a weird way to spend ones birthday, watching documentary movies, but if I can help just one person understand the problems that will be facing us all in the very near future, and assist them in getting over the shock, anger and denial stage faster, then I don’t care what day of the year it is. Then we can to get into the action part like we have for sustainable living and reducing our carbon footprint, . Everyday should be one in which you learn something new!

To cap it all off I received a fantastic comment from an anonymous reader today attached to my 1000th visitor post. Here it is.

“Congratulations, Gavin. I’m at the very beginning of my greening journey (I had my ‘a ha’ moment only a couple of weeks ago), so I really appreciate your willingness to dig deeply into the current issues and share with us what you know. People are reading, and you are making a real difference. So thanks!”

Have a great day readers. I am.