Quick note

Greetings all!
Please pardon the long delay in posts! After Christmas, we also had Chinese New Year and with ramping down and then back up again at work, and the holiday duties in between...well, it didn't leave much time to write.

Even now, I have only a quick moment to ask: did you see the "It Starts at Home" article by Peter Miller in National Geographic? Ironic of course that the print-on-paper magazine so often does articles promoting a "greener" way of life. Still, what it left me with was a profound sense of moving the world by inches. I mean, the writer talks about the trials of everyday problems that the Famn Damily and I tackled ages ago. (And of course that is why we're here trying to Compact!) It was all too clear from the style that Mr. Miller was trying to encourage people with a "its not so bad or hard" approach. Sheesh! How many more times do peopel have to hear "get floresent bulbs"? Seriously, who is still buying incandesents?!

In semi-related news, there is this article on the state of Chinese Consumption (or do a search from Google for "Hard Yards" and check out the cached page). Its striking to think that the wages of skilled workers went from around US$100 a month, up to about US$200/month and are now settling out at about US$120-150/month. There is a tsunami of more factory closings expected due to the droop of consumption in USA and Europe. The gov't here is trying to stimulate domestic buying by kicking off old fashioned building of roads, tracks, dams, etc. However, folks here are *very* conservative. When the going gets tough, people here save...even more than they do when the going is good.

For myself, I am taking a big "wait and see" as well. I mean, on the one hand I actually think the adjustment (both in the Compact sense, and the overspending in The West aspects) is overdue. On the other hand, it is very, very difficult to look at the hardship that is beginnig to span the globe.

Gloomily yours nowadays,
Chris