 | The Bullroarer - Thursday 22nd November 2007 | TOD: Australia/New Zealand | Australian Election: Peak Oil Policy Responses |  |
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I like your attitude. Positve and active without panic and extremist attitudes, rational and commonsense.
You have done a lot of work on this and it contains a hell ofa lot of common sense information and this is just part 1 of 3. When you are finished perahps you could post a mindmap of this total survival plan post peak as I have made a sort of general life map here wtih no particualr goal just general thoughts(I published this ont he end of yesterday's drumbeat):
http://www.mindmeister.com/maps/show/3220876
Such a map could help you to see anything missing from your plan and help others to use your palan with one glance. Perhaps in another format would work better weher you could make pictures to add on and in colour. at any rate this is my new idea for preparation.
“Without a video the people perish”-Is. 13:24
I agree completely, this series has been a refreshing change of tone, as I think TOD in general has been great at 'sounding the alarm' but has lacked some more solution oriented articles along the line of transistionculture.org or similar efforts.
Thanks again for the effort!
just joined TOD:ANZ to post this comment.
It is a well written piece, but I don't completely agree with everything as stated. The major premise of Ausiland being the "place to be" is really just another way of saying "I am familiar with this place and feel safest here". That is good thinking, individually. I am familiar with Brownsville, Oregon USA and feel safe here.
Going on from that, the part about being part of a small community is probably the best advice. One of the best articles written on how to survive these kinds of situations was written by a citizen of Yugoslavia (a self-proclaimed non-survivalists) who berated American-Internet-Survivalists for having all these "plans". He wrote that people will will figure out how to get food and drinking water. The biggest things missed were sweets (especially chocolates) and deodorant, followed by most everything else that made life pleasant beyond just the bare basics (including good alcohol and smokes (I don't drink nor smoke, by the way)).
The part about firearms is intensely personal, but probably the most weighty reason I think Ausiland is not "the place to be" for me (with the emphasis on the "for me" part).
You mentioned the part about the stainless steel water tank for hot water, and that being at ground level presented a problem with the collector being on the roof of the house.
Although they are expensive, a small electric water pump is available and can be installed inline with your collector and storage tank, run by a small P. V. panel, a simple one way valve will suffice to keep the pump from circulating the warm water from you storage tank when the sun is not shining
"you can cure ignorance, but you can't educate stupidity"
the old hermit
Bubba, I'll suggest that deodorant is not a problem. A physically active person living in the tropics, I've been sucessfully using sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) for years. It's dirt cheap and keeps forever; one problem solved, only 999 to go! : )
PLAN, PLANt, PLANet
Errol in Miami
It's a cleaning solution, a deodorant, u can brush your teeht with it. You can bake with it. What is it? Bicarbonate of soda.
I would agree. Anywhere that provides for your needs and allows you to contribute in return is probably going to work out for you.
I do wish that I could move to a more rural township... but, as I said, having my wife leave me would fail the "no regrets" test. In addition, if I stay in the city (actually, the outer fringes), then I have access to a network of contacts.
David C.
very similarly any further out & my wife would not go!
nice post very readable & timely. i like u'r logic.
Thanks, I will try it.
David C.
The no regrets test is exactly what I used to rationalise moving onto a small property with my family last year. The timing and magnitude of future "collapse" is impossible to pin down in advance, so you have to take strategic positions that make the most of all possibilities.
I travel by train to the nearby city of Brisbane once a week to work three days, leaving plenty of time to work on the farm set up. If everything keeps chugging along I would still be happy as I love my time in the garden. If TSHTF then we will have a head start on growing some or all of our food. Doing the project with my boomer parents means I havent had to go into debt, which also leaves me the option of working less hours so I can actually make use of the land. Neighbors and the village at large are generally similarly aware and should pull together well in hard times. I expect things in the city will not get so bad that more than a tiny fraction walk out- soup kitchens to feed the poor are likely here in Australia. The majority will take meagre certainty over walking into the sunset. The Australian bush and climate are so unforgiving of mistakes.
One thing I think more people should invest in is learning how to cook in bulk from very basic ingredients. Investing in a reliable pressure cooker is a good move (these were all the rage in the 1970s oil shocks too). Gardening in small spaces for higher quality food items is useful also- these are already slipping out of range in terms of price and quality.