OK here it is. Park the vehicle. Now for the whole definition. Park it for a couple of days a week. Don't park it one day and drive it twice as much the next. I mean, really eliminate at least 15% of your driving. Don't go where ever it is you were going. It will cause severe withdrawal reaction the first few times, but you will get over it, especially when your household budget slows its rapid overheating (note, I said slows, not stops). This may send a message to the oil companies, though I kind of think they will just sell it to somebody else (think Chinese or India Indian). The first step to weaning ourselves from petroleum addiction is conservation of use. Next will be alternative sources (ethanol and biodeisel aren't it, see the much higher food prices, though I admit transport and fertilizer costs are part of that problem). We must learn to live on lots less energy. We Americans are profligate wasters of almost everything, so this will be very hard for us to get used to, but conservation and re-tooling our life-styles is an absolute if we are to continue. So, step one is conserve, reduce, downsize and get used to it.
"Isn't it sad, isn't it queer", losing our perspective so badly at this point or year. Who really cares if two gay people want to be married, and why must so much of the media harp on this non-issue? My late uncle was a gay man who never asked nor told during the Korean war and was a decorated veteran, faithful to one partner his entire adult life and a loving generous person. Other than being gay, which of those characteristics qualifies him for monsterhood? Wake up people, we are dancing to Nero's fiddling while Rome, no the whole damn world, is burning.
Okay, I think I can just skip the part about WATCH OUT, HERE IT COMES. It's here. Now what do we do about it? First, assess your status and position. Where are you? What do you have? What do you need? How do we get what we need and how to we do all this stuff?
It is most important to have a place that you will not lose or be thrown off. McMansions are probably not the best possible place, but not entirely a loss, if you aren't upside down in your mortgage (owing much more than it can be sold for). Essentially, where-ever you are or will be by the next summer is where you will probably stay, unless you are a loner or a member of a nomadic group. Just assess the possiblities for gardening (even a small garden is a big help), heating alternatives, transportation (by other means than a petroleum powered vehicle), possible neighbor co-operation, and the list goes on.
What do you have that is useful or can be made so? Solid stable clothing, especially shoes are vital. Toilet paper (don't laugh, imagine using leaves or old newspapers), is a necessity, in quantity. A communications device (CB radio is a very good idea, don't count on cell phones). Pardon me, but guns are absolutes, and the ability to use them (do it now, before they disappear and get lots of ammo). A heavily stocked pantry, especially canned food (dried is nice to store, but if water becomes a problem, or heat, you can always eat right out of the can). Store some water, if you don't use it it makes a great heat holder. The latest CD's and DVD's are very far down on the priority list and so are video games, to say nothing of jewelry, geegaws and frou-frou. If it doesn't help feed, shelter protect, defend or water you, and it cannot be incorporated into those areas, ditch it, try to sell what you can and then go get what you can find that you need.
What do you need? Whatever you haven't got from the above list and scads of stuff we never think about (a sturdy bicycle, for example). Seek all possible sources, thrift stores, auctions, garage sales, etc (and don't forget the penny saver or the local gunsmith).
Learn skills that have been out of fashion in that regular world(canning, drying food, gardening, fishing, hunting, trapping and snareing for food, sewing, walking (long distance five miles or more and I know we can't all do this), conversation, and again the list goes on and on). Practice, especially tact, barter, shooting, and ask your elders, who have lived through the great depression #1, how to do things.
We are not where we want to be, and with the price of transportation rising daily it isn't likely we will soon be moving so we are getting ready to try to survive here. Our garden is being expanded, we are starting to exercise by walkiing and we are exploring those areas we need to improve. The thing I fear most is the apathy which is rampant in our world, so we must get the word out, even when those we are speaking to are not receptive at first. If we don't we might just find ourselves alone and without help when we need it.
Good luck, and GOD bless us all, though I'm not at all sure why HE'D want to.
Just a short note to say, hunker down and get ready for it, cause it is on the way. No matter who is the next president, we are on a very slippery downward slope. Our morals and our morale have slipped so low as to be gone. We have wasted our best and brightest young people on a senseless war (not the first time, I know from personal experience). We continue to flagrantly waste good land for idiotic sub-divisions, in spite of the current mortgage crisis and the pending economic debacle it will spawn. We try to replace the dwindling stock of petroleum with bio-fuel, regardless that it gouges into our food supply. Is there any hope? I'd love to tell you there is, but I cannot. So, prepare. Try eating pigeons, squirrels, woodchucks, muskrats, and dandelion and chickory, if you have not. They may be the main part of your diet. Oh, don't forget sunchokes. One last thing, practice use of weapons, especially those you can make yourself. Oh, this probably goes without saying, but pray, pray, pray.
I've decided to give it a rest for a time. We are in the midst of re-evaluating our life goals. I don't feel the fall of the American way of life is imminent and if it comes slowly, at my age, I probably won't ive to see it.
So, no more rants for a time, at least until we have made some firm plans and see where we are and where we want to be. I'll check in rom time to time to see what others are saying, but my input will be gone for a while. Thanks to all who were kind enough to make me a friend and special thanks to all those who took the time and effort to comment or send me a message directly. As our spanish brethren say "Adios".
A bridge has fallen. This added to a recent mishap on another bridge in another state. Not so long ago, a brand new tunnel had part of its ceiling collapse. A steam pipe burst in Manhattan, water mains leak all over the country. What's my point? The entire infrastructure (the foundation our civilization depends upon, physically) is deteriorating and falling apart under our feet. We were warned decades ago and those folks we put in office have chosen to ignore the signs and omens and the reports from engineers. If you'd like a local example, I'll bet you all know a road in your area that is, at best shabby, and, at worst, dangerous. Because of the most recent bridge collapse we are hearing from the media about the horrible condition of all the bridges in the country. (Now all this data has been available for years, but whether Miss Blonde celebrity wears underwear or not, or is or is not using drugs and who is having physical relations with whom is ever so much more important, there wasn't room for that information, at least not until someone died) I have some experience in puplic works and I can tell you that the underground piping (water & sewer) is a disaster-in-waiting. There are towns and cities with pipes that are a century or more old and still in service. Practically all systems have leakage, both in and out. Many, many treatment plants are a patchwork called upgrading instead of building new from the ground up and most of these don't perform the way they are supposed to. Water-born disease is very nasty and in a lot of cases fatal by itself, or it is so debillitating that a victim easily dies from some other opportunistic disease. I realize many folks herein are not too dependent upon municipal government run water utilities, but they are not immune to the problem. If it isn't the water in the city that gets one directly, just imagine the damage to the aquifer (underground water table) caused by the leakage of sewage.
We have not much time, so we need to prepare. Learn about solar distillation ( it is really very easy). And get ready to collect rain water and treat all water sources.
Am I nuts? or do others feel like the media is the most obnoxious part of life? Some bubble-headed rich person who does what they do because they have too much time and no moral anchor gets into minor trouble and it is world news, covered live and to the minute and to the minute (you know, the smallest part).This person displays gross ignorance everytime they open their mouth. The best friend is likewise another rich and pampered do-nothing that is in minor trouble and again the media slavers like dogs in heat to be the first with the most about nothing. Our best and brightest young people (my opinion) are dying half-way around the world in a place where they are engaged in a futile attempt to bring order to an ethnically ruptured land which is a made-up country constructed by outsiders. Every day people will spit up the names of the aforementioned two useless wastes of time and space, but they don't remember or never knew the name of the very first woman who lost her life in direct combat with an enemy. She was a Native American named Lori Piestewa. A person who had no special priivliges, lived in poverty, and joined the military to try to provide a better life for her children. (Oh yes, she was a single mother, but apparently a much better mother than some others)
Back to the tragedy of the pro wrestler. This is another amazment to me. Every other ex-wresler is flapping his lips and trying to get onto the spotlight one more time. I'd heard the roar of the crowd was addictive and I remember how it felt to her folks cheer for you way, way back in the day when I played sports in the service. (very low level of crowd roar) What is it with us, that we cannot have the respect to let the dead rest in peace?
About the garden, we plan to break it into four rectangles and sort of square foot it. Like I said before, three sisters in one 1/4 some maters, peppers and egg plant in another, the other two are still being decided. I'm for potatoes, but my wife thinks it is too much work for the results. How about your opinions. remember we have a small plot, oh yes, cukes on a trellis are a sure thing. Otherwise, I'm open to ideas.
My darling wife has been going through a kind of depression and has been down on some of the relatives. For example, the nephew who didn't call for weeks after her surgery, finally calls with "good news". He and his five-year live-in lover are now engaged. I'm glad for them, but where was their phone before this? Ah well, as they say, you can pick you nose, but not your relatives.
New subject, or new words on some of the same old subjects. The smoke and mirrors people on the stock market are doing really fabulous work. Even though there is a pending crisis in the financial world based on the massive failure of the sub-prime mortgage market and the very real possibility of other mortgages following suit, the dow is at an all-time high. Give the devils their due, they manage to keep enough people fooled into believing the DOO-DOO will not hif the fan. I hope they are right, but I doubt it. We are planning next year's veggie garden. We are going to give the Native American (just what does that mean? I was born in this continent, am I not a native American?) or Northeast U.S. Aborigines method called "three sisters" a try. It is that system where you plant corn and surround the corn seedings with pole beans and squash. I've never tried it, but I'm going to use about 1/4 of our garden to try it.Wish us lick. I didn't get anything planted in spring, but my compost pile has two volunteer tommy-toes (look like cherry tomatoes) coming up and I'll nurse them along. We might get some fall cropping done, like broccoli and cabbage and maybe even some late beans, though they weren't very good last year. I hope we have the space before TSHTF so we can get our garden space expanded.
Here is news, or perhaps just confirmation of what we all expected. Our frig icemaker was leaking and we had it fixed. The repairman (an old duffer, experienced and darn good and polite) and I got into a discussion about appliances. He said he wouldn't recommend his trade to any younger person, cause the companies are planning throw-away mentality into the stuff. The famous washer that was so good the repairman never got to work on it is long gone, the manufacturer wanting to have folks buy more frequently. Like every two-four years instead of having a product lasting 20-30 years. P.S. all top freezer frigs are mostly made in S. Korea, shipped to Mexico and sent here.
Lastly, I admit to being a wrestling fan, Pros, not the real stuff. Yes, I know it is faked and it smacks of gladiatorial shows, but it is like cartoons. The recent tragedy was the result of a man being overwhelmed by something and completely losing his reason. Otherwise, why slay your child? If drugs were a contributing factor, and I think they were, I don't excuse the deed, nor the man, but I will pray for all their souls.
It is friday, the start of the new Memorial day weekend. Used to be decoration day and fell on a specific day, May 31. Now it is the unofficial start of summer and another excuse for vacationing and picnicing. Great! Have a swell time, we may not have a lot of those left. Change is coming and we will go through a lot. However, please pause and give a silent prayer for the souls of those whose ultimate sacrifice gave us what we have. From Crispus Attucks (Boston massacre, African-American) to Lori Peistewa (Iraq, Native-American, female) to all those in between, before and after and still dying. God Bless them and keep them all, no exceptions.
Isn't it strange. I'm a huge fat eater of all the wrong things. My sweet wife is a 5'4", 122# woman who eats small portions. Last week she had a quadruple coronary bypass. (they call the operation a cabbage, from the abbreviation CABG) How come she suffers? It should have been me, I'm the idiot who wouldn't eat right and didn't listen to doctors. Now if this is a way of giving me a wake-up call and getting me to diet and exercise, I would have much prefered I be the one to get surgery.
I see that a lot of folks are starting diets, well, so am I. I really can't believe this happened to my wife. She has been through her share and then some of previous medical problems, and she doesn't deserve this. We are on a low-fat, low-sodium, low- cholesterol diet and in my case, low calorie also. Right now I'm nursing her back to haer former self, it will be a long process, but she is strong and brave and we will get through this. Then, I'm going to find a way to get us back out in the country.
Not much else seems important to me at this time, so I won't be ranting too much for a while. When my rants pick up, you'll know she is doing better.
Okay, here I go again. The price of gasoline is rising rapidly and one "expert" on CNBC opined we will have $4 @ gal gasoline shortly, with barely a pause at $3. What with the shenanigens in Iran, we are rapidly running out of sources of oil. It may well be that we have passed the "PEAK OIL" period, which is not to say there isn't any oil, only that there is not going to be any cheap oil because all the easily extracted oil has been discovered and is being extracted at a rate that will make it gone before too long. So what, you say, we'll just follow the Brazilian's example and use ethanol or bio-diesel. Nice idea, but just check the price of a bushel of corn or soybeans. It has risen quite a bit because of the demand for crops in the production of bio-fuels. Now consider, every bushel of corn or soybeans that is diverted to fuel production is one less bushel used for food production or animal feed. The consequent rise in food costs will affect us all, even those of us who try to grow our own (that has almost always been more a healthful choice than an economic one). Further, many farmers are taking fields out of production of other crops to increase their production of corn, which we all know can have a very detremental effect on the soil. (Use more fertilizer, you say, but commercial fertilizer is what based? OIL) And what shall we do about the missing bushels of those other crops? Well, how about fuel from coal, you ask? We are told we have a 200 year supply of coal. That figure is based on current usage and if we started to make liquid fuels from coal, we'd use that up in fifty years or less. My suggestion is use true alternate energy forms: wind power, solar power and hydro power, where ever we can. Conservation can be a real help also. We must learn to transport ourselves other than by automobile every time we go out the door. I'm probably as guilty as anyone, and I'm trying to combine trips, walk (you have no idea how hard that is for me), skip unnecessary outings, I may even try cycling, if I can find a bike cheap enough and sturdy enough to haul my gross tonnage around. Conserve otherwise, too. Break out the old solar clothes dryer (wash line) and use the racks by the stove or fire or in the cellar or attic. Reset your thermostat, wear more clothes when it is cold and less when it is hot (keeping propriety in mind, of course). Prepare more one-pot dishes, use the old slow-cooker. If you have one, a hay-box cooker or a solar oven is also a good idea on occassion.
New subject. Hereabouts there is much concern over the "Great American chocolate company" cutting jobs and shifting prodution to Mexico. The union approved a plan to eliminate 650 jobs at two plants in the home town (Chocolate-town, USA). I presume each of those who voted yes (only 128 or so voted NO) expects someone else to go and they will stay. LOL. A recent issue of Time magazine had a great article about the population of the USA, where we live, what jobs we have, how much we make, etcetera. In among a passel of info was the knowledge that the greater number of us make less that $30,000 @ year (about 55%). Of course with the obscene excesses on the upper end, the average is higher than that, but this is what the magazine charts show, 55% of us make less than $30,000. That is about 1.8 times the new minimum wage. There was also some information about what we waste our money on. A quick glance will soon give one severe dyspepsia. Tell me, just why does one need a cell-phone with a camera and computer downloads and etc, etc, etc. Remember, I asked need, not want. I won't even try to list all the kac we buy our children and grandchildren, just because "everybody's got one". The chocolate company is not the only outfit shipping jobs away. Somewhere I hear a man named Ross guffawing. I also notice when I'm near "chocolate town" I hear a loud humming, which is Milton and his Mrs spinning in their graves. If you are old enough to remember the mom & pop stores on practically every corner, you remember service and quality, rare commodities today.
Maybe the sky isn't quite falling just yet, but it is for sure sagging very low. I really fear for humanity, and Lord do I pray I'm a fool and wrong as two left feet, but somehow I doubt it. Dig in hang tough, prepare and love one another. Almost every religion believes that.
P.S. which is more offensive, a Chocolate JESUS, or hypocrits using biblical quotes to justify their behavior? Just a question.
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Todays stock market (the one in NYC, not the one most folks here follow) took a fairly steep dive. It is blamed on bad performance in sub-prime mortgages. Now, what does that mean? The way I figure, it means that those companies who have been sucking people into paying higher than standard mortgage rates because of shaky or marginal credit are losing money, or at least not making the amount they should. Ain't that a shame. They act like they are doing you a favor to charge you 1.5-3 % higher on the mortgage. If the chickens are coming home to roost for them, I'm hard pressed to feel any pity. Wait until the derivatives market finally reveals its bad news. Now, for many of us the results of this stuff will not have great effect. Unless, of course, you happen to be employed by a company that is affected by this.
Here's a piece of unsolicited advice, plant a bigger garden this year if you can, and stock up, however possible. Oh yes, get more ammunition, too. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks more and more like the stuff is headed for the fan. I won't even mention the middle east, nor the price rise in gasoline in recent weeks. Pray for each other, and tell those you love, just how much you love them.
Once again, gasoline prices are rising. Many alternatives are presented, but perhaps, we should seek something completely different. Making alcohol from corn is not the answer, as almost all of our corn goes int the food chain and any diversion just raises costs all over the place. Biodiesel isn't a great deal better. I know a lot is being said for using recycled veggie oil, but that is a very limited commodity when viewed in the perspective of the number of vehicles on our roads. One source claims we have a 200 year supply of coal. Perhaps at current rate of usage we do, but if we are using it to make vehicle fuel, we are going to cut that way down to at most a 50 year supply, and that is an optimistic estimate. Conservation is a good idea, but not everybody will do it, heck hardly anyone will if it gets into their comfort zone. So, you ask, what is the answer? Darnded if I know for sure.
But, here are some ideas I've entertained. Bicycles (really any kind of pedal power) , they are good for small moving, relatively short trips, and by golly, they are good for your health. Walk, it is even better for your health. MY Kingdom for a horse. Yes, indeed, get a horse, and a wagon if necessary. You have probably noticed these things all are powered without internal combustion, or any cumbustion for that matter. We really have to consider the elimination of "happy motoring" and return to a more sensible lifestyle, it will be forced upon us anyway.
I continue to be appalled by the manipulation of our minds by all who seek to benefit from the sweat of our collective brow. Advertising and TV try to tell us we should all live in a Martha decorated MacMansion. Then when we are trying to sell the hovel we currently inhabit, we are told it ain't worth what we have in it. Those same entities try to convince us we should be driving bigger, SUV-type vehicles, four wheel drive, no matter where you live, and the price of Gasoline is rising rapidly again just as spring is on the horizon (P.S. groundhogs are lousy weather prognosticators, three in this state all had different opinions and they will all be right or wrong to some degree). Illegal residents number in the tens of millions (well more that ten million, anyway) and there are probably some living here legally who have bad intentions toward our country. It gets harder to keep an optomistic outlook. I believe I'll go get an optirectomy, that operation which severs the nerve between your rectum and your eyes, thereby eliminating a crappy outlook.
New subject. We are thinking of gradually enclosing our yard with shrubs. Any suggestions?
Isn't it amazing how the untimely death of a celebrity can be used by the news media as a GREAT BIG STORY and then the whole sordid unseemly business is drawn out and re-hashed for weeks? I'm not even going to mention any names. It is just a sad comment on our whole perception on things that this is more important than the possible upcoming economic downturn, or the very probable involvment of Iran in what I call the middle east war. It is very easy to see pessimistic prophecies being fulfilled. What may be even more amazing is how some celebrities become celebrities. Or to what lengths some wil go to revive or extend that period of fame. "My athletic career is over so now I will admit I am gay." "If I act like a fallen bimbo, I'll be famous again." The list goes on forever and we, to our (includes me) shame just keep sucking it in and waxing amazed or enthusiatic.
Will the housing market "soften" further? In some places, farther away from the larger cities it is already happening. I live about 100+ miles from a couple of large cities and there have seen people who commute that distance to try to have the best of both worlds, high wages and low housing costs. While fuel was cheap it worked, now it doesn't work so well. I expect the large group of "McMansions" built around here over recent years to start to lose value and start being reposessed.
How bad will the fuel price crises get? We were doing well this winter with relatively warm temps, but recent weeks have thrown a great big monkey wrench onto the works. The price of oil today went over $60 @ barrel. I will be amazed if we see any further dips of any significance. Nigeria has said it is out of oil for this months exports and may have already used up next months export production quota. With Iran and Venezuela making threatening noises, we can expect oil to be economically volatile for the forseeable future.
On a personal note, we are in a flux about moving again. Should we stay or should we go? Should we seek something around here? My good wife and I have discussed (not argued) on and on for weeks. There are economic reasons to stay in the area, mainly the cost of moving any distance, not to mention the cost of replacing things that are not worth moving, like the old washer that keeps limping along, but wouldn't be worth moving and replacing would cost a lot. However, finding what we would like or a reasonable facsimile there of, is pretty costly here. So it comes down to how much debt we wish to encumber ourselves with. A mortgage is pretty much a given and with certain obligations we will have paid off soon, it wouldn't be unbearable if it isn't too high. There are also some family considerations, unfortunately not all good, though not all that bad either. I and my dear wife still would like to be more self-sufficient, have a larger garden, a few chickens, some fruit trees, maybe even raise a couple of pigs a year. Goats appeal to us, the dwarf kind, and I really want a couple of dogs. I'd also like to try rabbits again and having our own parking space and some privacy is like a dream fantasy. Where we are is not conducive at all to that life style. I grind meat and make sausage, but in our small kitchen it gets to be a major project just setting up. Any how, we are looking again. I've run across a neat little place in the mountains not too far away, but I'm leary of the handyman special tag. Who knows? I'll try to keep you posted. Pray for each other and especially for all our family members in the middle east war, for they are our family members.
In todays paper there was a letter about GOD and his thoughts about us people and what we have become. He once drowned most folks and started again. You don't even have to believe just the Bible, there is a flood legend in nearly every culture in the world and there is scientific evidence of a massive deluge. Could it have been a spate of warming? Are we doing it ourselves this time? And can you believe Al Gore is the prophet?
Lastly, are any of us good enough, or do we have enough left to help start the process again? Here's hoping we do get another chance. GOD in his great mercy keeps giving us a new start. This time, I sincerely hope those who get the chance do it right.