I will have to check out that book (I think it's a book Animal, Mineral, Vegetable?) about water. For a while there, people were paying more per gallon than they were for gas. I think we have probably passed that. I think of that too, that water is often wasted as much as anything. We have water restrictions here in Mass where I am and I think I'm the only one that follows it. I thought that the other people had wells but no, they just don't care.

A few years ago, we hit a housing kaboom in Tahoe. If you had dirt, they would try and build on it. I won't go into the whole TRPA thing, but basically, there weren't many buildable lots so they ...made everything buildable. Building building everywhere. I couldn't understand who was buying these HUGE houses...we finally cornered a real estate agent at the local watering hole and she explained the 'no interest second' that people were taking out on their primary residence and then, either they were just figuring they would sell it in a few years because of the market (people were bidding over the asking price!) or they would just refi it or something before it came 'due' (ie they had to pay more on it or the interest went up). We didn't really get it. You would never really 'own' your house? on just paying interest only? What was going on...and like I said "this can't keep going".

And I guess that's what happened there. My house doubled in value of course, but no one is up for buying anything. There are people just loading up their furniture and shutting the lights out. It's crazy. My friend is telling me her neighbor is raffling off his house that he just HAD TO BUILD and ruin the lot with no intention of living in it. He just wanted to make $$$. So now there is a big ugly house with no one that wants it.

I remember back in the 90s when I bought my first house, they dug up everything on you, wanted all kinds of info, and it was much tougher. When I bought my current house in 2000, I think I just produced a w2 and tax statements for two years. It was over before I knew it.

To me, just that overconsumption was what made me realize this couldn't keep going on. It was like ....debt obesity? Or just waste?? And the more we build and build these huge malls on farmland, makes it less and less likely we will be farming anything on it? Has anyone else noticed that? Someone was reading me a list of stores that will be closing 'underperforming' stores. All I know is that there is a couple of stores that are under construction near me in Mass that aren't even going to open. What a waste...