[WildRose]

I'm menopausal and have been finding it somewhat difficult to stay asleep lately. I've heard it can be quite a problem for menopausal women. I'm getting lots of fresh air and exercise these days (with my new dog), also gym workouts, swimming and bellydancing. I've never taken a sleeping pill in my life and I don't want to start now. Herbal teas don't make any difference.

I once read that a "natural" human sleep cycle, i.e. one that is found in tribes still living in a fairly natural state, is NOT 16 hours awake and 8 hours asleep.

Apparently our natural cycle is more like 3 or 4 hours of sleep, an hour or two awake in the middle of the night, then another 2 or three hours of sleep. Then a nap for an hour or two at midday.

When I can, I try to let myself follow my natural sleep inclinations. If I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm not feeling sleepy, I get up, have a snack, read, get on the 'net, etc. until I'm sleepy again. When I can I snag a midday nap as well.

It took my wife a while to get used to the fact that I was not crazy for doing this. I now find that when I let myself have this schedule (and can work it in to my life) I feel better and do better at most things in my life. Unfortunately, work and everyone else's schedule don't allow me to do this as often as I'd like.

So when you can, don't try to force sleep. Go with what your body wants whenever you can.

Thanks, Boris.

I do lie down in the afternoon sometimes - even if I don't sleep, the rest helps. My "schedule" is really all over the place, what with working nights and having a family to care for.

I'm going to try your suggestion re: not forcing sleep. Next time I can't sleep, I will get up and read for a while. Nothing's worse than looking at the clock every half hour!

[katkinkate]

...So when you can, don't try to force sleep. Go with what your body wants whenever you can.

Lately my natural cycle has me awake all night and soon after sunrise I feel so tired I crash for 5-6 hours and sleep away the morning.

[davep]

I got my new batch of 3mg melatonin through yesterday (you can't get it without a prescription in France or Germany) thanks to biovea.com.

I slept like a baby for the first time in a long time last night

[Quinny]

PCE is the best sedative I know - sleep like a baby - even better than alcohol.

[Rogozhin]

Just so you know Tex I was going to use this as my new tag,
Don't build a bunker and find that it's a prison.

But I've been around so long I guess I can't access my true identity.

At any rate kudos for a good line.


For Brat, I'd suggest you take either a little time away from the board to do something you feel satisfying in a material sense. This is like talking at the bar or coffee shop only less so.

Stop tapping about stuff tonight, do something about that stuff tomorrow, then tell us if you don't sleep better tomorrow night.

I thought that was a great line too.

[bodigami]

I rarely have problems sleeping, such is the advantage of being a misanthropist. Bring it on!

You mean that because you don't care that the world is "ending" you sleep well at night? ...the same can be said about the "ignorant ones"; they don't even know that the world is "ending".

[rangerone314]

I find that in organizing my "doomstead" that I am dedicating a portion of my gardening efforts to a Japanese garden in the center of the property that will be aesthetically pleasing and relaxing to be in.

The various permaculture guilds have certain plants overlapping into the Japanese garden area... like the willow tree/blueberry guild shares azaleas and rhododentrons and Japanese irises with the Japanese garden. So think a circle (Japanese garden) surrounded by overlapping circles (the other guilds).

This spring I'm even going to get a stone lantern and construct and paint a red Japanese gate "torii". I may end up growing much of my own food but a certain portion of the land is going to be for beauty. No reason why powerdown has to be a horror.

[Ludi]

I hope you can show us some photos of the garden as it develops, ranger.

[StormBringer]

Well I found a good cure for my sleeping problem ...............

I went and got Birth control pills...........

Now you ask how that helps

I drop one in my teen daughters orange juice and I sleep so much better..............LOL

Just joking

[BigTex]

If you want to approach the insomnia/depression/anxiety/PTSD problem from a different angle, study this device:

http://www.alpha-stim.com/

I have had one for about three years and it works quite well for a variety of ailments, both mental and physical. The website has a lot of interesting research which I encourage you to read and evaluate for yourself.

The question is not whether it SHOULD work, the question is whether is DOES work, and I have seen good results.

Don't get bogged down with the fact that it seems kind of dumb.

There are a few psychiatrists and psychologists around the country using this technology in their practice, but most respond the way a psychiatrist friend of mine did when I told him about it.

After listening to me patiently as I described the device and its effects, he nodded and said: "Hmm, that's interesting. Now, if I have my patients use it, will I also have to start ending my sessions by saying 'Na-Nu Na-Nu'?"

[rangerone314]

I hope you can show us some photos of the garden as it develops, ranger.

I'll post a few pictures... I like taking picutres. (Took 900+ pictures on 10-day honeymoon in Ireland in 2005)

I only moved to house in October and I have about 105 different things to plant that I ordered (mixture of seeds and also some potted plants like highbush blueberry that ship in the Spring). Fortunately the basis is there; for example the yew bushes that are by the bridge where the torii will be put are in a good spot for the entrance to the Japanese garden.

Where an above ground pool used to be has formed a shallow pond, which I will expand upon for the garden pond.

The farthest corner of our property has black walnut which causes issues with other plants, so I will deploy an immediate buffer of mulberry, pawpaw, pear & peach tree around it, while a little further out away from the trees will be two separate plots of corn, beans, squash & sunflowers (which is more tolerant also of black walnut). A lot of plants chickens forage for are also tolerant of black walnut juglone toxin, so the chicken coop & run will also go in the corner where the woods meets the corn field near the black walnut.

With about 98,000 sqFt of property about 40,000 sqFt is yard/house/stream and I'm converting about half of that to agriculture/permaculture. Using biointensive methods, 20,000 sqFt should be enough to support 6 people.

I plan on taking 5 years to ramp up to 20,000 sqFt... each year I will prepare about 4,000 new sqFt for usage. Thats about 240 hours of work each year for new soil prep, with maybe 1/3 of that time for each time allocated for reworking each individual existing bed that was already planted previous years. Once all biointensive & raised beds have been prepared after 5 years, it should only require about 400 hours per year of bed preparation, plus time for planting, harvesting and weeding.

Given the lay of our land and the certain boundaries (woods & road), weeds will be less problematic and invasive.

At each point where it becomes more clear that the situation is irretrievable I figure on ramping up preparations.

In 5-10 year range I figure if it is obvious we are closer to when TSHTF, I will have solar panels over a carport, deploy a couple 3,000 gal water tanks & hook to the house as an alternative to when public water stops, have my own water purification system (resin beads, charcoal, particulate filter, etc), deploy a greenhouse (if not sooner for that), and deploy a fence, and possibly build a few hardened defensive structures (like a small brick tower with firing slits that has field of fire over whole property or a few cloches)

I may also try & figure out what is necessary for refrigerator repair, so I can keep that going indefinitely. (I don't desire to build 19th century ice maker that uses compressed air--yes you CAN free ice using purely mechanical, non-chemical means)

Also planning on incorporating a compost toilet, for handling waste in a manner that keeps the system closed & preserves minerals for the soil & agricultural re-use.

The plant life will be fairly diverse... planning on growing non-food stuff like luffa cucumbers (for bath & dishwashing sponges) as well as buffaloberries for liquid soap.

Civilized life needs =
A) light
B) heat
C) clean water
D) disposal of waste
E) stable agricultural base

[Serial_Worrier]

rangerone314 - what will do to protect your estate when the zombie hordes come a callin'?

[rangerone314]

rangerone314 - what will do to protect your estate when the zombie hordes come a callin'?

I've been extrapolating the way people are going to react in my area. I rather doubt there will be "hordes". I'd be guessing there won't be large groups of people out and about when TSHTF.

The basic gist is I will have the entire property ringed by dense evergreens (mostly cypress) so that people won't be able to see the fence that is behind it (as a slight hindrance) or the agriculture I have behind THAT. One cypress tree stretch is already planted. The basic gist is to stay out of sight, what people don't see they may not find.

If they do find, I will have alarm system rigged on fence. If they are stupid enough to go over that, they are likely to be taken down by a boobytrap (which will not be deployed UNTIL TSHTF) Also I am planning on certain areas being more obviously "breachable" than others, with the idea of funneling people into a kill zone that will have covered ditches, etc and be easy to snipe from a camoflaged brick enclosure. (Am going to have the capability of firing from behind a thick wall with a firing slit). What I'd be firing will be either an AR15 or a SVD Druganov sniper rifle.

With the layout I'm planning, people will be S.O.L. if they don't have some serious hardware, like a TOW or a Javelin. I am also planning on having 3rd Gen nightvision (Picatinny-rail mounted on rifle or helmet mounted), so I will own the night. In a post-SHTF world, if I feel threatened enough, I would probably take the initiative at night before someone tries to get me. (i.e. if there be people who attempted a raid during the day, and withdrew, I would wait until night, and come after them, to prevent a re-visit)

[jupiters_release]

rangerone,

I like the sound of your setup especially the torii idea. Do you know what you'll do if the National Guard comes to confiscate firearms or resources during martial law?

[SeaGypsy]

Reading this I wonder if such preps may run foul of the last vestiges of government?

I know for a fact that strategic forward planning in a military command involves a very early stage of 'Uprooting Free Radicals'.

I am not in a militarized prep mode partly for this reason.

If I am part of whatever remnant of Government remains; I will be well armed and informed (?). In an emergency one can assume all healthy men of conscription age and 'moral fortitude' will be called into service.

On the other hand if I have a nicely prepared bunker station yet am isolated from the local establishment I may just find myself on the end of a 'pre-emptive' strike; from the best equipped personnell on the planet.

Does this make sense?

[misterno]

PCE is the best sedative I know - sleep like a baby - even better than alcohol.

what is PCE?

[rangerone314]

rangerone,

I like the sound of your setup especially the torii idea. Do you know what you'll do if the National Guard comes to confiscate firearms or resources during martial law?

Actually, I do know. And I WORK on a military base, and am friends with a fair # of such.

[mos6507]

With the layout I'm planning, people will be S.O.L. if they don't have some serious hardware

Are you expecting the interlopers to be your neighbors? If so, maybe you picked the wrong place for your doomstead, or maybe you should make more gestures towards them. I don't think one man vs. the universe scenarios are winnable in the long term. I think the only way to make it through TSHTF is to establish transition towns that function like independent fort-cities.

[Serial_Worrier]

With the layout I'm planning, people will be S.O.L. if they don't have some serious hardware

Are you expecting the interlopers to be your neighbors? If so, maybe you picked the wrong place for your doomstead, or maybe you should make more gestures towards them. I don't think one man vs. the universe scenarios are winnable in the long term. I think the only way to make it through TSHTF is to establish transition towns that function like independent fort-cities.

That's probably true. No man is an island.

[rangerone314]

With the layout I'm planning, people will be S.O.L. if they don't have some serious hardware

Are you expecting the interlopers to be your neighbors? If so, maybe you picked the wrong place for your doomstead, or maybe you should make more gestures towards them. I don't think one man vs. the universe scenarios are winnable in the long term. I think the only way to make it through TSHTF is to establish transition towns that function like independent fort-cities.

I'm worried about those idiots who live 3-4 miles away in the newer McMansions developments... you know the kind: huge, wide, tall, with like 0.05 acres of land around the house with no trees.

The near neighbors are less problematic. In fact the neighbor across the street (until my property is completely sealed) will probably have hunting rights on deers (since he hunts them and can dress them) and I don't want my fruit trees & bushes being munched on. The area I'm in is mostly semi-wooded 1-3 acre plots of land. West of me tends to be more suburban and stripmall oriented; east of me tends to be more rural & farmland, hay, corn, etc.

If things start to go downhill in the future, I may organize patrols comprised of the nearer neighbors (1/2 mile radius area)