Ever wonder what would happen if gas went to $8 per gallon? Well, if you live in Shungnak, Alaska, you don't have to wonder. A front page story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal describes what is going on in Shungnak and other small towns in Alsaka hit by extraordinary gas prices. Hint: it's not pretty. The answer, Bob Dylan might say, is blowin' in the wind. Except that another small Alaskan town, Kotzebue, has 17 electricity-generating windmills but no wind was blowing when the WSJ reporter came by.

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I was waiting for the Prius to get its 40K service at the Toyota dealership yesterday and there was only one other guy in the waiting room with me. He crossed in front of me and I tuned into his conversation with the cashier. "Please stop swearing so much," he said to the young female cashier. She apologized profusely. I had been so engrossed in my book that I hadn't even heard her swearing and I was closer to her than the other guy.

When the gentleman crossed back in front of me, I noticed he was reading the same book as me, "Dreams From My Father," by Barack Obama. I pointed this out and we discussed politics for a few minutes. He was a middle-aged black doctor, very soft spoken, but clearly very interested in politics.

He said that he was supporting Obama for president, but that Hillary would be a very good choice too. I told him that I am considering Obama, but also considering republicans, and wouldn't really consider Hillary Clinton. I even told him that even after all the mistakes of the Bush Administration, if I was forced to choose between Condoleeza Rice or Hillary Clinton, Rice would probablty get my vote. He was shocked, I think, even after I explained my visceral negative reaction to Hillary and her long and conniving political career that is checkered with lies and blinding ambition. The gentlemen was either left with the impression that I am a thoughtful, open-minded citizen who refuses to be branded a republican or a democrat...or, just as likely, that that I don't have core values and can't be trusted to vote responsibly.

Obama is a very interesting person...I am almost done with the book, and I can't seem to figure out exactly why I can so easily see myself supporting him. He has never run a large enterprise of any sort, has never had to deal with significant political crisis and hasn't even served a full US senate term. Oh and that small matter of rasing my taxes, which he will do post haste if elected. But I keep getting the feeling that he could be great leader for our country, especially after I have read both of his books.

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We saw Midnight Cowboy last night, a Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman movie that was rated X when it first came out in 1969. What different times...it would barely be an R today, and maybe with a couple minor changes, a PG-13. Back when it came out, X ratings were not associated with porn only. Astonishingly, Midnight Cowboy won Oscars for best picture and best director....we almost turned it off a couple times because it was slow, confusing, bizarre, and not that entertaining. But you know when you have 80 minutes invested in a film and you think it just might turn a corner? That's what kept us watching, which was a mistake.