About a week and a half ago, New Mexico experienced its coldest temperatures in 40 years. The minus 7 low in Albuquerque marked the lowest February low ever. Only a stint in January 1971 was lower. During this chilly chill, the gas heating was shut off in several smaller NM communities, so that the bigger cities like Albuquerque and Santa Fe could keep the heat. Places like Taos and Espanola were not pleased.

Basically, the New Mexico Gas Company gets most of its natural gas from Texas. Since Texas was also unusually cold, the resource was tapped to where New Mexico would run out of gas energy if some lines were not shut off. So that's exactly what happened.

We all pay our gas and electric bills without much thought. We may grumble in the frozen part of winter and the super heat of summer, but for the most part, it's just another bill that comes every months. Of course, if you pay your bills, you really want to receive the service. Especially when the temperature is BELOW.

While the gas company has been getting reamed since then, it's reminded me how fragile our energy and living actually is. We think that all this new technology is making us advanced. What are we going to do when everything goes off the grid? No more electricity, no more natural gas, no more cell phone reception. It is not as far fetched as it seems.

What will you do without your electricity? Do we even know how to gather around the campfire anymore? What did people do when their natural gas heating went out? They ran to the stores to by electric heaters until they sold out. Blankets, anyone?

What about food? How long could we hold out if the food went bad? Two weeks? Three? We're not as stable as it seems.

What is the solution? Diversified energy sources? Maybe. Conservative usage? Not likely in America. Yelling and finger pointing when things go wrong? Now you're talking.

We always talk about saving the Earth, but I have no doubt that the Earth could survive without us. This crisis occurred with only two days of extreme cold. If the Earth wanted to throw us into another Ice Age, watch the chaos truly reign. One volcano spewing ash can stop air travel in Europe. One tsunami can devastate an entire country. One tornado can destroy a town. Heat waves can kill. Cold snaps can freeze. All we really know how to do is turn a thermostat.

I'm not trying to be a fatalist or claim the end of the world is coming. I'm just saying that the human race is not really equipped or prepared for any true disasters. National security can't save us. We yap about all of our views on this, that and the other, but when it really comes down to it, no one will be there to help us when we lose our electricity & gas & phones & livelihoods.

We are a fragile species, and we don't even know it.

Chris Jungle went to work in his cab when it was minus five outside.