SB-What If The Collapse Never Comes

I have a spare tire, a few spare parts and a tool kit in my car.....I might never use them but I'm prepared.

 

Same here. It's all those little daily S's hitting the fan that will add up and kill you, not some big catastrophe that may or may not ever happen. Unexpected company will come at dinner time. The car will break down when its cold or rainy. Winter will always come. Summer will always bring storms. Prices will always go up. Nature will always affect the food supply, for better or worse. I'd rather waste my time prepping than waste it sitting somewhere crying waiting for help to arrive.

 

Like others have said, for me it is not so much about the end of the world coming as it is the little day to day problems that happen to all of us that will slowly bleed you to death and just wear you out.

It is nice to know that even if a catastrophe (like the house blowing away in a tornado) were to come our way we would be able to take care of ourselves (and probably a couple of neighbor's families also) for at least the short term.

 

Odds are the end will not enter like a lion, with a roar, but rather like a lamb, slowly, almost meekly. First one thing, then another, and anther after that, until there is not a recognizable US any longer. Or I could be completely wrong and the gray alien spaceship will fire it's bizzaro ray at our sun, causing a massive flare and EMP *whoosh* wiping out civilization as we know it in one fell swoop. OK, I'm all better now. =) Seriously though, it has already happened, we are just seeing the death throes of our economy. Watch the Secret of Oz on youtube, it's an eye opener.

 

I am of the slow and unnoticed camp. We have friends all over the place proclaiming that the recession is over and life is on the mend. When I ask them why they think that the typical response is "Well, that's what they are reporting on the news ..."

I don't get it but it isn't my problem to fix. I learned a long, long time ago that I can't save everybody. So I just trip long my merry little way, quietly doing my best to make sure my family will be provided for and safe.

I will go take a look at it right now ...

 

Our news said that survey in US shows that iPhone owners have twice more sex than other phones owners...
Anyone has an iPhone for sale?...

 

No! Not phone sex...real sex! Like, girls like iPhone owners much more!
Does iPhone have a vibrating function?...

 

lifestyle as oppose to "just doing it"

My approach is that if nothing ever happens, I will have the farm that I have always wanted. Secure, self-sufficient, self-renewing and MINE. Like most I have laid in food, water, medical supplies and other stuff. But mostly I work on skill sets. Gardening, Carpentry, animal husbantry, solar, etc.
If there is a collapse, so be it. I am ahead of most. If there is no collapse, I have what I wanted anyway. Win-Win.

Gafarmboy
Be Blessed, Be Vigilant

 

Legacy Preparedness

I get kind of tickled when I think about dehydrated and freeze-dried foods (according to some) having 20-30 year shelf life. That means that whatever my wife and I do not use will be helping my son and his family well beyond our span on this big blue marble.

Since my son's mindset is much like my own, he agrees that there is a predominance of foolhardiness surrounding us and that every step we take now is one that we do not have to worry about later.

 

What is an emergency to most is a vacation for a survivalist. When we had four feet of snow and the power and phones went out, I got to do what I prefer to do on any given winter day, which is to play in the snow, read books without interruption and have friends over to eat. What makes days like this so pleasant is that no one expects a thing from you. After all, how could you possibly do anything when they can't?

My girlfriend came over the night before, because the storm looked like a biggie. I have a root cellar, and a pantry full of food. My refrigeration runs off solar, so no problem there. There's enough surplus power to run a few lights. I'm on a well (with a 600 gallon tank in the basement, and an 80 gallon pressure tank running off the 24 volt battery bank, charged by the sun) and I"m on a septic system, so no problem there. Hot water is also courtesy of the sun, with propane backup for cloudy days. I heat with wood, and have plenty of practice cooking and baking on a wood stove.

Of course, the neighbors had to walk over for dinner, and they are 1100 yards away as the crow flies. (You should have seen their eyes when I dragged out snowshoes to go feed the animals.)

Now, I understand that if the grid went down for good, a la Lights Out, or if the banking system collapsed, there would be all sorts of societal crap to deal with. Sooner or later, I'd have problems with those same neighbors, because they aren't very well prepared and they know I am. But all those problems beat starving in a cold dark house.

 

Many people live paycheck to paycheck with nothing set aside. Some live one broken arm away from bankruptcy. We used to be that way. No longer do we live a materialistic life. I know that if I am hospitalized, I my children will eat. I know that we will not lose everything if I am laid up for a while. I do think I have become a better person with my gained knowledge and what I have learned & passed to my kids. I listen to my children and realize they also see life & living in a different way. We approach things and issues in a different manner. If collapse never happens then great but it will not stop us from living the way we have changed. We will continue with this mindset and confidence.

 

Living well is all that counts in the long run. If you are happy with your life, mine includes wood stoves, greenhouses, home cooking, canning, a long and happy marriage, etc. I can't tell you what yours should include. My only goal in life is to be able to have as my last thought, Thank you Lord, it has been a good life.

 

I hope the collapse never comes. I have become self reliant to become free of the control others have over you when you rely on them. The more I don't need the rest of humanity the more free I am. Once I reach total self reliance I could care less what happens around me. Let it fall or not. My goal is not to prepare for the end of the world but to make the end of the world not matter so much. Tn Andy did what I want to do. Remove my self from relying on the grid. Freedom from begging for power. etc. etc etc.

 

For me, survival planning = retirement/unemployment planning. It's all about being independent, rather than dependent.

 

If it never comes? Then you have lived a life within your means, and passed the ability to protect, sustain, and enjoy a responsible life down to your children.

 

Is always better to have and not need than need and not have, regardless of what it is.