Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
- Research what's going on in the world.
Which has, in turn, made me:
- more libertarian/conservative
- Muslim
- More independent.
- Save more of my money.
- Am more environmentally aware.
- Eat less meat (a spin-off effect from PO, environment and Islam - just a major circle really between everything)
- Am a (environmental) geology major - hoping to work in land restoration and water treatment and alt. energy.
I'm sure there are plenty of other things that I can't think of right now. PO really changed my life and without it, my future would be very bleak. _________________ I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God. - Rabia
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:16 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
step back and take a good hard look at all the political and corporate forces that make geologic depletion seem like an immanent, impossible to deal with nightmare. I also enjoy watching "reasonable" people finding common ground with those who are way beyond the curve.
Joined: Apr 27, 2007 Posts: 4353 Location: The Great Sonoran Desert
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
could give a crap about most everyone. _________________ "There must be a bogeyman; there always is, and it cannot be something as esoteric as "resource depletion." You can't go to war with that." Emersonbiggins
"... hope is a rotten-thighed whore" Niko Kazantzakis
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:14 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
Dream less, act more.
Prioritize.
Focus less on peak oil, and doomed thinking ( I get the concepts and reasoning ) to stay optimistic.
Avoid nearly all consumerism.
Gave up my amateur music career entirely.
Don't care about new technology as much as I seek to embrace the old.
Am at peace with my own fate.
Embrace my inner spirit as my religion.
Am more helpful toward others; even more so than before.
Know I may be married to the wrong person but will be there for her until the end. I just know she'll fall in line like a buck private if the crap hits the fan, even though she is a very independent person now.
Appreciate every single day, even the bad ones.
Ramble on...
I don't invest in mutual funds or stocks. I only consider short term savings like bonds. I use my dough to pursue independence, which is what I like to say in place of "prepare for peak oil".
I don't buy gold or silver because I'd have no where to spend it anyway. If I play my cards right, I should need less and less money as time goes on and after that, I think we'll be bartering for your goods.
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:28 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
I dream just as much as I always did. Only now I dream of a 5 acre organic farm with a woodstove, solar PV, chickens ducks and pigs.
I've learned to get by with less than 20 amps of electricity. This is primarily due to a tree falling on my house, but has been especially instructive.
I've learned to heat my water and a greenhouse with the power of the sun.
I intend to sell my house in town, buy some land, get some small livestock and live like no one else, so that in the future I can live like no one else.
I went and bought a truck as the old jalopy was tired and dysfunctional. I use the truck less than I did the car, but get more done in less time.
I grow more food in my back yard every month than the month before. I realize that with limited space I expect to reach Peak Backyard Food Production at some point. I also expect this peak to establish in the form of a long term plateau because my methods are sustainable.
I look out for friends and neighbors in ways I did not before. I visit them more and take more interest in their lives than before. If it all goes to hell tomorrow, these are the people I will have to depend on.
I freeze in the winter and sweat in the summer.
I eat more produce, beans, pasta/grains, and eggs, lots of eggs. I eat less meat. I still strive to eat a fine steak on the first of the month. mmmm...Ribeye!!! I have become more creative in cooking methods and menu selection. I sample a wider variety of dishes while I experiment with what works, what tastes good, how much endosomatic energy I have, and most importantly to me: how I can raise the ingredients myself with the tools available.
I travel around and constantly size up things I see. The traffic in Tampa. The housing congestion in Jacksonville. The pecan trees outside Valdosta. The charm of small towns. The awful food served in restaurants. The endless useless products sold in stores everywhere.
I constantly add to my plan for the farm. If I do not get it, I'll be able to apply those plans to my little house in town. If I do get it, I'll be able to get by easily with a tiny amount of cashflow.
I have found that it is better to make changes in my lifestyle now, voluntarily and in a tolerable manner, rather than wait and have those changes forced upon me.
I have learned the value of having backup systems. The house went, I had a camper. The electricity went with the house, I have a fantastic neighbor and some extension cords. I locked myself out of the new truck, I still had the car. If the power goes out, I have a camp stove and light. I have about a dozen ways to make coffee.
I've learned the value of having supplies on hand. The IRS caught up with me about some past due taxes. Having taken out a great portion of my paycheck, I've been able to get by comfortably for the past few months using stocks around the house. I have enough coffee to last a year, enough toilet paper to last 2 years. I'll be done with the IRS in another couple of weeks. With the sudden boost to my income, I'll stock up on supplies all over again, only to a higher level.
I've learned that with each crisis I respond with a greater level of preparation and less dependence on any particular system or product. I've learned to improvise solutions to a wide array of problems using rudimentary materials and a fair amount of brain matter. This has been the single most useful skill I have acquired.
I have gone without. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally. 5 years ago I found myself unemployed for several months with no supplies and no cash. I've made changes in my ways to avoid the hardships experienced. If I go through such a situation again, I can do it for a longer period, with less money, eat better, stay warm, take regular hot baths, and maintain my lifestyle at a comfortable level without further sacrifice.
While the future will bring hardships and deprivation to a great many people, I know I'll be able to not only get by comfortably, but I'll be able to help my family, friends and neighbors make do and get by with less. _________________ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
-George Orwell, 1984
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 6555 Location: My Grandkids' Farm
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
PO Changed My Life; Now I
started reading a little more after 9-11 and the dawning that I should look around a bit brought me to PO. Reading about it, I though lots more about how an increase in energy would impact my customers and of course me and my personal economy.
I was in a business dependant on the ever increasing economy free lance advertising and graphic design. Worse, my locale was increasingly dependent on commuters, cheap mortgages, new houses, new cars, refinancing and such and not so much on ag as it had once been.
Even worse, our plan was to pay off our little place in a few years, we had re-fied to a 10-year loan to get it paid off but between the big note, the utilities and such it was a large nut to crack. Though there was a lot of cash flow usually, a couple of month glitch could have caused serious problems.
I began to think my little plan was facing a problem and was getting kinda down in the mouth reading all the doom that spouted from any slightly PO related site I came across. Interestingly, some sorta bad family stuff opened the way for us to make quite a big change...
{I was not intending for this to become a narrative thread but after tapping that out, it dawns that might be a better way for people share their experience than just another Thread O Lists. I'd love to read some other's stories as I preview mine! :^) } _________________ Make a plan and work it:
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:19 am Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
My wife is now into an independent lifestyle so much raising a big garden, canning and baking bread that now she wants a scythe for Christmas so she can plant her own wheat field next spring.
She's going to hand harvest her own wheat.
You know, a good scythe is really an elegant tool. I might even have to help her ...
Joined: Jun 15, 2007 Posts: 566 Location: St.Albert, AB
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:54 am Post subject: Re: PO Changed My Life; Now I
I'm getting outa here.
With or without my parents I'm gone-zo
I leave for Finland in 6 months
if not in Finland, Costa Rica
Peak Oil was the linch pin in all of this
it really gave me a time line
climate change was sort of like
the dust on my dresser, it'll get dusted.......eventually.....
Last edited by Nicholai on Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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