Avoidance issues
I’m tryin’ like heck to stay away from the world mess. Apologies to all if you found my two small forays into the goings on, offensive. Believe me, there is so much more I could add to things, and my opinions aren’t exactly ‘nice’ towards certain groups,,, So I just shut my trap and watch as it all unfolds.
There may come a point in the future, where I just walk into the sunset and turn my back on things. I know what that point is, but currently, well, shit, NO ONE KNOWS what road we are going to trip and fall onto.
I want to talk about other things, self sufficient things, independent things, but finding the best approach without slapping you in the face with tons of information you can’t practically use in your situation. Thats not my style. I want you in a better situation than you are in, but I can’t isolate and expand on EVERY scenario. Like buiilding the rocket stove heater for homes. Every home and location is going to require different materials and designs, and I’m no expert on this stuff. For ‘experts’, you need to go to Permies and other outlets that are frequently experimenting. Dive deep and be willing to play with what you learn before you commit to it. More importantly, THINK outside the box of Regulations and Building Codes. Personally, I don’t think that much of that is going to be such an issue in the next 10 years. I could be wrong and sort of hope I am. Only sort of as I would like to see things getting a bit more relaxed, but not at the expense of the modern world collapsing.
Ok,,, follow along as you can or want. Lets talk about REALITY. There are certain things every one NEEDS. many things we desire, but the NEEDS are going to be the focus. Water, Heat, Shelter, Food. That order is not set in stone with the exception of water. That MUST be the priority in all situations, be it survival or just living a life. Clean water obviously, though if you have a steady source of clear questionable stuff, you have options. Collecting it into something where you can readily access it is your second concern Cisterns, holding tanks, water barrels, whatever, so long as you can access them, and keep them clean. Transporting the water may be buckets or plumbing, it all depends on you, your resources and TIME,,, Always that time thing,,,
Heat is more confusing,,, COMFORT might be the more apropo term here, and keeping that in mind, SHELTER takes second place with comfort drawing third. The Real point of shelter being DRY and out of the ELEMENTS. Comfort levels are going to be dependent on those two factors FIRST, heat (or staying cool) comes second. If you have a home already, look around at how its built and examine how it was made with ‘out of the elements’ FIRST, with comfort coming in second place. Look at our modern HVAC equipment that requires so much energy to maintain an internal environment. The world hasn’t shifted so much in 100 years, and people dealt with much the same conditions we deal with now, and were able to keep homes warm or cool without modern heatpumps: research those methods. And I’ll bet ya a steel penny that they are much cheaper and more reliable than that $8000 heat pump going on the fritz that requires hundreds of kilowatts to run. You might be able to incorporate them into existing structures (and likely skip the permit process so long as you keep your nose clean and mouth shut) Your milage will vary from mine in that regard. (I am already much closer to pre-industrial standards of living.)
But really, the biggest hurdle that anyone is going to face is “Lifestyle Change”. and it sounds so innocent, but believe me, if things get really strange, wyrd and sideways, that alone is going to kill more people than anything. Far too many won’t be able to get their heads around ‘that don’t work no more’ , and many many haven’t the wherewithal to adapt. Or adapt fast enough.
Probably not my readers though. I’ve had my head in the “world is on the cusp of a new dark ages” for near 20 years and thats really the touch stone of this here ‘shop’. Its why I taught myself oldskool machining skills and not CNC stuff. (besides, I didn’t have the means to buy the CNC stuff.) (and really, I have had my head in survival stuff since I was a kid, at least the really fingers in the earth type stuff, like ‘shirt on your back and a pocket knife’ survival ) Building my home using salvage materials and barebones pre-industrial level ‘climate control’ was expediant and educational. Going off-grid for power and water was just the natural evolution of the rest of it. And those of you that have been here for at least the last 10 years KNOW, I live what I preach. I don’t just quote passages from books I have read. I’ve done or I am doing. (or figuring if its worth doing.) I had my water source lined up and plumbed before I laid my foundation.
And I am always open to new or better ideas, and will admit when I have been wrong. I don’t know it all, but I know a lot, and the more I know, the more I realize, I’m still an ignorant bumpkin in the great wide world. Like Mike in Fla said in comments,(and I paraphrase here) ‘I gotta learn, I can do no other’ and the day I stop learning is likely the day they bury my carcass (but thats just the transition to even MORE learning, IMO)
But I digress,,,,
water, shelter, heat/cool,
FOOD.
This is my weak spot. I have stocks put away for if things get scarce, long storage stuff and not just MREs. But likely only enough for myself for 6 months or a month for a famliy. I have options to supplement that with foraging (knowledge base,) and hunting, but I am not the only one around here that will be taking that route. Things could get very lean if worse came to worser-er. But I have one peice of knowledge that can only be gained by experiance. FASTING. I know how long I can go without eating a bite without ill effects. I also know that with fasting, I felt better in short order than I have felt in YEARS, There really is truth to this meme.
(and I am going to take a World Stage bend for a second) Maybe the upcoming shortages are Gods Hand showing us, in a backhanded fashion, that we are NOT living right. (and those of you who read my spewings on faith know, when I say GOD, I mean Universe, not the God of the Old Testament.) Actually, much of what is going on in this world is taking on many biblical proportions and I am seeing more and more people reaching for Faiths to sort out the mess. Maybe this is part of the fourth turning,,, Dunno. (I am also seeing more and more question the old Ideologies and seeking better answers.)
What does all this mean to you, right here, right now? The quick take-away: start figuring out the old ways if you hadn’t already. That is what I meant in a recent post with “look to the past for the map to the future.” There is plenty of information out there to guide and teach you. Keep in mind, there is alot of junk information as well. Use your better judgement. Learn to THINK, then RESPOND,,, don’t just react,,, that’ll get you killed. Practice in your head worse case scenarios and plan on different responses depending on what you may or may not have with you. Do that while you have the luxury now, and when that luxury is no longer around, you will already have programmed responses into your thinking; you’ll be less likely to react badly, and respond in a positive and productive manner. Note, I said ‘less likely’ , I make no promises, but it should help .
LEARN
LIVE
LOVE
LAUGH
LOAD!!!
I don’t type those out every post for shits and giggles,,, Live them!!!
The odd at odds
(written last night, and no, not AI modified,,, Follow along.)
Nothing is sitting well today: my lunch, my thoughts, my music feed even feels off. I am at odds with the world and can’t quite sort the why of it.
Looking around at the big picture (and no, this is not going to turn into a rant about current events.) and some of my liberal upbringing is trying to escape the pen I keep it in. The “every body should/could” thoughts that seem the lifeblood of liberal thoughts.
Utopia for me might be your poison. The why I keep the internal liberal under lock and key. We are all individuals with individual drives and desires. No two will ever agree, or at least not for so long as to make peace a constant. Differences WILL arise, and not all are flexible in spirit.
I don’t see a world of scarcity. I DO see a world where resources are hoarded at the expense of others. OR Restricted and regulated out of existence for the everyday Joe. OR, people being indoctrinated into “this is how it is, there is no other”.
But we know that isn’t true. Take the building code thing. There is no reason for anyone on this planet to be homeless except by personal choice. Some will choose that, I nearly did at one point. I came real close to being the wandering hermit, mostly so I could find somewhere where I ‘fit’. (I found out there are no such places,,, I’m too ‘odd’ to fit unless I make my niche. Which I have been doing). But building codes have made homeownership onerous. Mortgages and property laws have made it worse. And in some ways, yes, even Capitalism has gone awry and made it so some own much, while many own little or nothing. That isn’t due to “Free Market” enterprise, but that regulatory monster of GOVERNMENT interfering (usually funded by the few with much to keep their edge.).
Here is a truth: a person, an acre of undeveloped land and one year of solid effort on their part, CAN have a durable and comfortable year-round shelter and a revolving food source for next to no money. A few tools, a little learning, and LOTS of drive, thats all it takes. But we have others build our houses, we have others grow our food, we have others do for us, that which we can’t do for ourselves, and no, there is nothing wrong with that, except for one thing. So many forget what they are capable of and depend on others for everything. And it has evolved into a growing welfare state where people are dependent on the FORCED welfare of others for their basic living needs. Maybe I should rephrase that part: So many have been taught they are not capable and to depend on Government for everything.
I don’t find the capitalism world at odds with natural rules. If someone is capable, I don’t find it sinful that they would want compensation for that ability. Such as the fact that I have black thumbs. I would happily pay others to run my garden, or better yet, build a shop in place of said garden and provide skills They lack for the Food I can’t get to grow. I’m not alone in that either. I know people that are natural talents at tasks, but completely inept at some of the most basic functions. It was said Einstein couldn’t tie his shoes, but look at the mental experiments he did that literally changed how we view the world. (is the shoe tying thing true? No idea, probably not, but it makes a great point to my missive here.)
“self-reliance has been systematically underrated and discouraged, and that’s the real scarcity problem”. Our modern systems of education have created disability, not grown sovereign peoples such as built this country. Those that have the sovereign drive are driven out of the discussion.
Here’s the real rub: We’ve been there before. Right after the Civil War/War of Northern Aggression. The Wild Wild West times. When the territories were lawless (they weren’t, but the law tended to be more precise and abrupt.). No Building codes, no real infrastructure interference except for RR right of ways. You typically knew the asshat you were trying to vote into office as your representative. You most likely knew where they lived when they weren’t ‘at the office’ which, at that time was NOT a full time job and they were paid Per diem, not a salary with lifetime bennies.
People built their houses out of resources from their land. Sod, Stone, Wood, Cobb, all of the above. No permits, no inspections, no inspectors to bribe, no Home Owners associations to dictate what condition your yard should be in,,, Typically every home had a small ‘truck’ garden to keep food on the table, and people depended on each other, locally, when things went sideways. How many even know their neighbors these days? Not saying it doesn’t happen, but everywhere I have lived the last 30 years, it was not as common as it was back in the 80’s. Everyone knew everyone in the hood back then. You may not have liked the Curtis’s but you knew them, and they knew you. You knew if you got in trouble at the Smiths, the word would beat you back home, and your butt might get a beating then. When I owned a home in Sin-Sin-nasty, I knew one neighbor: the elder retired lady across the street. That was it. No one attempted greetings, and it felt highly discouraged to meet them. And that was one tight packed neighborhood; 1/4 to 1/3 acre lots. I had more relationships in the neighborhood of Oceanside California where I was a renter.
Is that a symptom of something else? Like our reliance on tech these days? Or that most people tend to sedentary activities after the day wraps up in ‘the real world’?(again, a tech thing for the most part). Or is it a symptom of ‘Social Programming’?
Maybe things really haven’t changed as much as I perceive them.
And somethings are coming closer to reality and showing their true colors.
Stay tuned tomorrow. Posting up something for y’uns that have existing structures and looking to alleviate some of those huge utility bills. Not as glamorous as building a Cobb house with your very own two paws, but ‘something’.
LIVE
LEARN
LAUGH
LOVE
LOAD!!!!
Whew!!!! Tha-was a close’un!
Some of y’uns might have seen some glitches happening here on the site, last night. Maybe, maybe not, but I thought for certain I had lost 6 days of posting,,,,
And this one was not a “did it to myself” instance,, only, yeah, I did, sorta-kinda,,,,
When I paid for a domain set up, WP also made my site ‘more compatible’ for the server and switched me over to a ‘plug in’ set up, vs the “Classic Blog” set up I have been running for the last 12+ years. THAT was why I was seeing ghosts flitting around this here back room and fighting with clanks and clunks,,,
I finally broke down and got ahold of the help-desk, and talked to a REAL PERSON (omg!) and they ‘took over’ on the Exorcism after we had talked about what was needed done. And they had to roll EVERYTHING back 6 days to do it.
Luckily, I didn’t lose a damned thing, except the last audio file, and I had that on back up here in the MAC so re-loading it was ‘easy peasy’. Fixed one widget that was wiped (no idea why since it was older than 6 days ) and I may yet find other issues that need fixed.
BUT!
Because I am back into the territory I KNOW, not that whackadoodle plug in crap,,,
I can breathe easier now.
More laters,,, Just wanted to give ya an update on what the crazy was about last night,,,
Live
Learn
LAUGH
LOVE
LOAD
Backstage at the Workshop
I must admit, there is a certain amount of ‘discomfort’ for me, when it comes to this podcast thingie,,, I have never been one for the limelight: thats why I chose the support field of Audio Production over ‘bein’ on stage’.
Special Edition add-on
This one is for Mike in FLA,,, Since the bugger can’t hear me when I tell him, NO about giving donations,,, I figured I had better come up with a little sumpin’ for the Mad Bugger.
Special edition podcast, no politics, absolutely NO politics in this’un.
Freeday!
its that time of year again, things are slowin’ up in the J.O.B.
So yesterday, Son of Bossman came by my site where I was with a crew putting up decorative fencing and let us know that ‘don’t worry about coming in tomorrow. Text dad and let him know when you cut loose so he can cut your checks for you.”
sigh,,, Was rather lookin’ forward to a full week, or nearly full week.
(more…)
Dio's Workshop 