The Seasons Are Changing

This is the entrance to one of the beautiful old boathouses along Kelly Drive in Philadelphia's famous boat house row. Most days we pass by the row of quaint nineteenth century structures on one of our daily walks.

We've had a few days of much needed rain. It's been a dry early Fall. Hopefully, we'll still be able to enjoy the changing colors of the leaves, since that occurs here later than it does further North.

Halloween is on Wednesday, but the stores downtown have already begun installing their holiday decorations. Time flies.

Jim

Oil Prices Continue To Rise, So...?

...when will the run up in the price of oil have an impact on the economy and on our pocketbooks? If this were June, with the summertime driving season ahead of us, the price of gasoline would probably be approaching $4.00 a gallon. You can't convince me that these prices are not manipulated by the big oil companies with the tacit approval of politicians like Bush. What will happen to the price of home heating oil and natural gas in the next few months as winter sets in? It's anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be surprised to see record prices. We'll pay because we have no choice. We have to heat our homes.

Oil at almost $100.00 a barrel is going to have an impact somewhere soon. Our only national energy policy is to let market forces work, as long as corporations reap the profits, that is. What we really need is an emergency national plan to deal with the energy crisis that we are facing. We need a plan like we had in WWII, that will require forced sacrifice and conservation and in all likelihood, eventual rationing. But that's not what we'll get. Instead, we'll all be forced to pay higher an higher prices for our energy needs until the price of gasoline, electricity, and home heating breaks the back of our economy. For some, the cost of energy already consumes so much of their family budgets that they cannot afford to heat their homes in winter. More and more people will fall into this category if something is not done soon.

PHOTO: One of the boat houses on Philadelphia's boat house row. We walk by these beautiful houses on our daily walks. Local high school and college rowing teams use these houses. The Schuylkill River is just on the other side of the house. When the ice caps melt, all of this will probably be under water.

Jim

What Would You Do?

One of my friends is reading a self-help book currently. One of the items he related to me about the book is a question that the author suggests that readers pose to themselves: "If you were guaranteed 100 percent success at something, what would you do?" I suppose the object of his thought experiment is to prompt the reader to examine what they really want out of life. This is a good exercise, but if your answer come up as something radically different from what you're actually doing, then I suppose that's something of a major problem. My first reaction upon hearing the question was that I wouldn't want to pick something that, if I did it, would screw up my current life. So I guess either I'm somewhat on the right track and happy in life, or I've just set my goals and expectations too low. I think both apply to me, actually.

PHOTO: One of the newest in the series of boathouses along Philadelphia's famous boat house row. This one houses concessions, bathrooms and a large indoor basketball court.

Jim

Colbert On Meet The Press

On my daily morning walks these days, one of my first sights is this monument to Abraham Lincoln. This statue used to sit out in the middle of a traffic circle at the intersection in the background. it was moved a few years ago when the circle was eliminated. The location is Kelly Drive, just where Philadelphia's famous "boat house row" begins.

There was not too much excitement on today's political shows. Steven Colbert was Tim Russert's guest on "Meet The Press." Colbert is running for president, he says. He was wacky and slightly amusing but his comedy is funnier on his own show.

Jim