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SCG, I got into a wild argument with a color blind guy He insisted the ground wire on a Vulcan Nomad MC was solid black. The wire is really black with a bright yellow tracer.... He got 2 buddies to confirm that fact before he admitted i was correct.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Quote:
Originally Posted by younglisa7
Sounds like you were camping not living off grid.
What do you think living off grid is? For me it is making our own electric and not having to rely on anyone else for my electric. I live in a nice sturdy shelter probably better then most of my on grid counterparts, I have controllable warmth, a regular refrigerator, a comfy bed, and a flush toilet.
But yeah it took a lot of hard work to get it this way
Oh yeah, I remember your pics from a few years ago when you got it up and running - gorgeous view.
I love civilization. I lived out in a tent a coupla times for several months, one time at the tail end of winter with some relatively bad weather (high winds, snow, sleet, rain, temps down to about 15f sometimes. It sucked. I kept walking into town to buy liquor (got drunk every night to feel better) and to buy food (instead of hunting, which is a lot harder .... even though the deer would sometimes walk right into camp, it's a lot of work to butcher and preserve meat). I'm quite lazy, unfortunately - I could survive like that on a pretty small income, but don't want to. I like a nice sturdy shelter from the weather, completely controllable warmth, a refrigerator so I don't have to go shopping every day, a nice comfy bed - and flush toilets are terrific!
I might like living off the grid if I were very energetic, but I'm not and never have been.
OK, I have to ask... why are you hanging out in SS&P? From your statements, it doesn't seem that you have the mindset -- self-sufficiency & preparedness. Nothing wrong with staying on-grid or going shopping for convenience food, but those aren't exactly SS&P attitudes.
SS&P is a lot of work alrighty. You either do it or starve.
Odd things can happen to people that do it. One thing is they end up liking it, and in my case I seem to be addicted to making soil, like up to 12 cubic yards from composting each year, then using it to garden.
This year I have a surplus, but taters are growing in one pile and taters and squash are growing in another pile I don't even need. I didn't even plant them, but i sure will harvest them.
I guess in Fall I will dump that soil in the garden anyway, and keep on composting for grins.
Another reason I do this is it keeps me fit. I hear old 59 year old geezers are supposed to take it slow. I have reached that age, but want nothing to do with that slow. My boots ain't curled up in the toe and while my back is bad i don't walk with a limp.
What do you think living off grid is? For me it is making our own electric and not having to rely on anyone else for my electric. I live in a nice sturdy shelter probably better then most of my on grid counterparts, I have controllable warmth, a regular refrigerator, a comfy bed, and a flush toilet.
But yeah it took a lot of hard work to get it this way
Yeah
Off-grid and self-sufficient doesn't mean you're living in a hovel without any modern conveniences just barely surviving eating bugs and moldy food
Sure, you may live in less than comfortable conditions while you work your butt off to become self-reliant, but you can most certainly achieve whatever levels of comfort and convenience you desire. It's hard work, but even in the building stages it's not total subhuman drudgery; and once you're set up, it's not excessive work to keep things going. The only real difference is that you're doing it for yourself, not having someone else do it for you.
It's totally personal preference, but I'd rather spend a few days in spring setting up a garden bed, a couple hours a week maintaining and harvesting in summer, and few days preparing and canning in fall than to spend 2 hours shopping every week. It's roughly the same amount of time, and the labor isn't hideously different -- wheelbarrow vs. shopping cart, garden hod vs. grocery bag.
Thanks Missing, I am gonna go build a hod. I don't know why I haven't before..... duh
Yesterday and for days it has been cookin hot for me... This day I took off and stayed out of the sun. A hod is great idea to go make and still avoid the sun a little. The past 60 days have been hard labor and i am sure you know.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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It used to interest me, and I accumulated a lot of knowledge. But now I have too many health problems to personally feel the need to do specific things to prepare - I probably don't have more than a coupla years left of life.
The other thing is that I don't believe there is going to be a total downfall of civilization, so to completely prepare for that is ..... not a waste of time, but overdoing things and leading an unnecessarily harsh life. Some people enjoy it, some people like to be alone like you, but it's ok to have the knowledge of what to do without actually depriving yourself of civilized comforts for the rest of your life. It's not rocket surgery, you can spend a few years learning wilderness skills, permaculturing, hunting, finding a community of like-minded people, and so on - not that you'd master it, but enough so that you could survive if something terrible would happen.
My vision of the future is based largely on some deterioration of civilization over the next coupla decades due to peak oil having passed, and to political gridlock as in the current situation leading to economic problems, so that things will become more localized and imported stuff including tech toys will become extremely expensive. There will continue to be a little bit of safety nets even if only bread and some limited health care, there will continue to be sporadic electricity and brownouts, as in the collapse of the Soviet Union as related by Dmitri Orlov, or the collapse of Argentina as related by Ferfal. There will be a huge underground economy and people will use every inch of fertile soil available to them for gardening. Basically we will become a thirdworld country, but we won't go back to 10,000 BC. So that means preparation won't have to involve buying lots of land now, going off grid, permaculturing, drilling a well, collecting large numbers of firearms and ammunition, living off wood heat from trees on one's land, highly secure layout etc. Therefore it's ok for me to be lazy and enjoy modern life while it lasts.
Party while you still can.
I remember one post by someone ..... maybe it was here or maybe in another forum ..... where someone had worked very hard for many years to get self-sufficient and have an organic farm. He said some of his old friends would stop by to buy eggs from him, and would admire what he had done, but he talked about the late-model cars and nice clothes and all the gadgets they had accumulated in their ordinary lives, and I could tell there was a little envy in him even though he didn't state it. He never had time for fun, he was always working and it was usually moderately hard labor.
I'm prepared in terms of knowledge and skills to lead a marginal life in a thirdworld kind of society, but I don't expect to live long enough to see it get really bad. I do however like sharing the knowledge I have, occasionally .... I don't visit prep forums very often compared to a few years ago, when I would hang out almost exclusively at them, but I like to stop in occasionally, it's still a little interesting.
Woof, Sorry your health isn't well. Mine isn't the best, but it's only a bad back with nerve damage in my legs. If i stop moving and doing hard labor i will seize up and be less than useless. The labor hurts, but that other choice is worse.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,164,711 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons
Yeah
Off-grid and self-sufficient doesn't mean you're living in a hovel without any modern conveniences just barely surviving eating bugs and moldy food
Sure, you may live in less than comfortable conditions while you work your butt off to become self-reliant, but you can most certainly achieve whatever levels of comfort and convenience you desire. It's hard work, but even in the building stages it's not total subhuman drudgery; and once you're set up, it's not excessive work to keep things going. The only real difference is that you're doing it for yourself, not having someone else do it for you.
It's totally personal preference, but I'd rather spend a few days in spring setting up a garden bed, a couple hours a week maintaining and harvesting in summer, and few days preparing and canning in fall than to spend 2 hours shopping every week. It's roughly the same amount of time, and the labor isn't hideously different -- wheelbarrow vs. shopping cart, garden hod vs. grocery bag.
Oh, I'd do that if I had land. I do enjoy the labor of gardening, even breaking soil by hand if it's not too big an area for that. And I would set up some solar panels too, that's not a biggie. Nor would I mind canning, in fact I'm thinking of getting a canner to be able to control my canned foods to my liking, for my nutritional needs.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,164,711 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac_Muz
Woof, Sorry your health isn't well. Mine isn't the best, but it's only a bad back with nerve damage in my legs. If i stop moving and doing hard labor i will seize up and be less than useless. The labor hurts, but that other choice is worse.
I plan to party the day I go out.
But you enjoy it, so it is partying for you.
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He insisted the ground wire on a Vulcan Nomad MC was solid black. The wire is really black with a bright yellow tracer.... He got 2 buddies to confirm that fact before he admitted i was correct.
