Preparedness: Coming Out of the Survivalist Closet

I ran across a post today by Dorothy H. about how her daughter emailed her with news that gasoline and groceries were getting in short demand in some areas of Texas.

This is not a post about the end of the world or of life as we know it, so please relax.  This is about preparedness. 

Of course, the very term "preparedness" often brings up the image of a gun toting fundamentalist hoarding cans of beans in his basement shelter.  This isn't that kind of post either.

I won't say that I don't believe in the world, I just don't worry about it.  Armageddon could happen tomorrow, but if it does, being worked up today won't help much.  The truth is, the end of the world happens everyday somewhere, and all we can do is be prepared and then stop worrying.

Recent events should be telling us that 'preparedness' is not just for fundamentalists anymore.  In the last few months several catastrophic earthquakes have devastated large swaths of our planet.  New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Chile... not to mention other non quake natural catastrophes such as the flooding in Australia or the blizzards in the US.  I'd say it's safe to say that we seem to be going through a global 'rough patch'.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been preparing for an upcoming catastrophic quake they expect to occur in 8 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee. 

They have urged Americans to make their 2011 resolution "Resolve to be Ready", and FEMA is already training 'earthquake dogs' and stockpiling emergency supplies such as ready to eat meals.  In January 2011 they ordered a supply of prepackaged survival meals in the amount of "14M meals per day" for 10 days. 

This is the US Government, historically known for taking a pollyanna approach, and they think disaster impending enough to admit to the press and spend money preparing.  When the government cries wolf, I think it's safe for the rest of us to take the term preparedness out of the realm of the crazy and into common sense usage.

Why Dorothy H.'s daughter is experiencing gas and food shortages in Texas right now, I have no idea.  What I have come to realize is our reliance on shops to supply our needs must shift to more self reliance.  Your area may not be hit directly with a catastrophic event, but as interconnected as the globe is, we all feel it, as in the recent salt shortages due to the radiation leaks in Japan. 

Personally, I think you might find simple employee strikes and food recalls more likely to threaten your supply availability then natural disasters, but as events like the Hurricane Katrina aftermath seem to continually play out in our news it may be time to take FEMA's advice to heart and "resolve to be ready".

More soon on the difference and purpose between self sufficiency and stock piling.

Disasters Teach Us The Truth About Money

Awhile back I experienced my first hurricane.  While the actual storm was pretty frightening, it was the aftermath that was the truly scary experience.  I had never been in a situation before where basic things such as fresh water and electricity were unavailable.  In my reality, when you flipped a switch, the lights came on and a cool drink of clean water was available everywhere.

Suddenly the items we took for granted became things to hoard.  The lines to get gas were hours long, and several fights and at least one shooting occurred.  People waited all day to get bags of ice from the red cross, the few grocery stores open were quickly cleaned out and the radio stations stopped the usual stream of top 40 hits to advertise medical emergencies.  Of the entire experience, one small conversation stands out like a beacon to me, at the time altering the way I think and view life.

I was talking to a friend that lived in beach front property, usually the most desirable locations, but after the hurricane they were devastated.  Once living in an exclusive condo with a view to die for, now he was temporarily homeless and practically begging for hand outs.  The only difference between him and your everyday panhandler is that he had plenty of money sitting in his bank account. 

He was describing to me the situation on the island, how the hurricane had packed the ground floor condos full of sand up to the ceilings.  All the trappings of success were now buried and worthless.  People with triple digit incomes staggered about starving.  He told me, "Right now if you had a tuna sandwich, you could sell it for $100 down there."  A light bulb went off in my head at that moment and I realized an important truth.

No, it wasn't to go take advantage of people by selling sandwiches at exorbitant prices.  It was the sudden realization that money only represents goods we need, and if those goods are not available, it is worthless.  The real value is in the actual goods.

I once read a book as a child about money, and I remember the book stating that money was invented as a way of making trade easier.  If I had a chicken you wanted, but you didn't have anything I wanted, you'd give me something to represent that trade.  I could take that item, and trade it with someone else that did have something I wanted.  The real value was in the actual goods.

Now we usually think of the accumulation of money as a fail safe means of security.  If you have a fat bank account you are assured of having your basic needs satisfied.  But as we are repeatedly seeing with all the recent natural disasters playing out across the globe, money is worth as much as kindling when the stores are gone.

A few days ago I was in my bank when I overheard a woman next to me putting all her assets into gold, saying that after "witnessing Japan" she wanted to make sure "she was covered".  I almost turned and asked her what she was going to do with all that gold locked away if we were suddenly hit by a catastrophic disaster.  Would it really alleviate the hunger pains to know you were rich on paper?  Somehow I don't think so.

The idea of wealth would take a dramatic transformation, and value would transfer quickly to mundane things like gardens and chickens.  The truly rich would be those with the knowledge and ability to produce goods.

In the best of times, money is a worthy asset to strive for.  I am all for being thrifty, buying things to enhance your enjoyment of life and saving/investing.  My hurricane experience, however, taught me that a truly balanced portfolio is one that takes all scenarios into account, and money is not the end all asset.  Invest in self sustainability and you have a truly diversified portfolio, and any investment advisor will tell you that diversity is good.

Save the Planet ~ Live Virtually

Wow, February already? Somehow the days since Christmas have slid by through January in a flurry of activity.

Contrary to being bored while I wait for my visa, I have found the days too short, too many things on my to do list for not enough hours.  What on earth have I been doing with myself, some may wonder, that takes so much time and energy?  And my official answer would be, designing virtual clothes for our online business.

I know the terms "virtual" and "online" are sometimes hard to take seriously.  The limitless potential of the internet, after all, is still in it's formulative stages.  At this time we stand at the cusp of a new age, the rules are still being thought of and for many of us the internet is still a place to check email once a week and not much else.

To others of us, myself included, the internet has quickly settled in to our daily lives and become an integral part.  We bank, shop, date, stay updated, socialize and research all from our keyboards.  I won't even get into porn, that's another arena I'll leave for others to cover.  Suffice to say that to some of us, the internet is the bomb, and without it our day is, well.... bombed.

Recently I've turned to the internet to fill a need that my present day 'afk' world can't.... working.  As I wait in Australia (I've been here 6 months as of today) for my visa to be approved, I found myself in a one room flat with hours to occupy while my other half is at work. 

I'm not naturally a tv watcher, I don't drive here yet and I haven't gotten to know anyone well enough to be friends.  So I turned to a little virtual design business my husband and I had started together last year to keep myself occupied...and woke up an obsession.

Our business, House of SilverJinx, designs products for virtual lifestyles, specifically in the internet world of Second Life.  We make a variety of products for 'the sl lifestyle' and sell them in an online marketplace as well as 'inworld'.  Real people purchase our products, paying us in Second Life currency known as Lindens.  We regularly exchange our Lindens for real life US currency.  So, even though we are designing virtual items, we are reaping real rewards.

When we started our little business it wasn't anything serious.  We had a few items up on the market which we promptly forgot about until we cashed in our earnings.  In around one year, off of a handful of items, we had made over $600.  The wheels started turning in my mind, and I started to wonder what would happen if I worked at this 'game' like a 'real business'? 

So that's where I've been, sitting in our private studio and slaving away over textures, prims and scripts, creating marketing campaigns and setting up inworld shops.  Things are going very well, and surprisingly I'm finding the whole business very satisfying on many levels.  The experience has opened up a new concept of virtual value to me. 

Big businesses like IBM are using Second Life for conferences, colleges are teaching courses...there are television broadcasts, radio stations, music videos, banks, malls, churches, nightclubs, cultures, sub cultures, villages, amusement parks... all in a world that runs on thought and electricity.  My virtual creations will never rot in a landfill or choke wildlife.  It sounds good to me, and I'm hooked.

As far as I'm concerned, save the planet ~ live virtually!

Redneck Economics

The other day a friend of mine told me how to catch a gopher. At first I was perplexed.

"Why do you want to catch a gopher?" I asked.

"To eat him!" was the matter of fact reply with an implied "Duh!" for punctuation.

"Oh!" I answered, and a light went on in my head.

Gophers are made of meat. Gophers are made of free meat. Gophers are free range, antibiotic free and pretty much organic. They apparently taste like chicken. Did I mention that they were free? My interest was piqued. There are only a few problems I could see.

I've never caught a gopher.

I don't know where any gopher holes are.

I'm not sure I really know what a gopher looks like.

I'm not sure I could really drag a fuzzy little creature out of a hole with a broom handle, nails and can contraption, look in his soft little eyes and then bean him (even if he is made of free meat).

Suddenly I realized my limitations as a child of the suburban middle class. While I was wasting my teen years gawking at A Clockwork Orange and David Bowie, my redneck counterparts were learning useful skills like automotive repair and gopher catching.

When the economy starts sliding and push comes to shove, what skill have I got? I know how to apply eye liner like Robert Smith. What about my redneck brethren? He's smacking down gopher soup that he caught last night with a Busch Lite can.

The heat is on in our country and suddenly The Great Depression doesn't look so much like ancient history. The rich are insulated with a fat pad of wealth and the brains to keep it. The poor were already in the middle of a fight to survive. It's the middle class that gets the brunt of the shock wave.

In my two car, two and a half bath world it's a nasty surprise to look around and think "What do you mean, I can't afford milk?" It doesn't compute to the Liz Claiborne and Areopostale set. It's taking some of us a moment to let the new reality sink in. Driving and food are expensive. Computers and cars don't really need to be upgraded every year. No, we can't move up into a better neighborhood in the next six months.

My gophers-as-food conversation brought to my attention, however, that there is a valuable subculture among us that can help us all, if we can keep from turning our noses up. Like the Indians showed the early pilgrims how to hunt and grow corn, our twangy accented neighbors suddenly seem invaluable for their do-it-yourselfer ways.

A few days later I had another short conversation that made me re-evaluate our nations middle class values. At the school where I work I was urging children to look through the heaps of lost & found items that had gathered on the cafeteria stage before they were donated to charity.

"Make sure you look for any lost items!" I reminded an Abercrombie & Fitch clad mini fashionista as she cruised by without a glance. She waved a rhinestone covered hand dismissively in my direction.

"My mom never wants me to bring back items if they have been in the lost & found." she declared with a sniff. "They might have cooties."

Amazed, I thought "Good for her!"

One of these days her mom will look around and realize that her credit's run up and American Express is no longer her friend. In the meantime, I'll take her $75 cast off pullover home with me. I have an old fashioned machine called a 'warsher' that kills cooties, and I need something to wear while sitting around the fire pit enjoying my Fuzzy Catch of the Day Fricassee.'

Originally posted on January 23rd, 2008, 
Redneck Economics has been one of the most popular posts
ever to appear on my blogs.

Besides making numerous networld appearances
and being forwarded into inboxes everywhere,
the opening lines of Redneck Economics were selected
as Wisebread's  Quote of the Week.

Hope you enjoy this flashback!

My Eco Hypocrisy Confession - The Last Word

The other day I started watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth out of curiosity.  I have to confess, I didn't finish it. 

Somewhere in the middle of one of the many 'Gore Is Awesome" video montages, I started wondering if he really practiced what he preached. 

Maybe it was all his name dropping and political grandstanding, but somehow he just didn't strike me as an environmental hero.  One final yawn and I turned to google.

Ages ago I remember reading about Al Gore being the energy equivalent of Jabba the Hut, glutting in over consumption while preaching green, so I started there.  Interestingly enough, I find I'm not the only eco hypocrite skipping around the globe. 

• Al Gore recently urged attendees of one of his lectures to use public transport to reduce their carbon footprints, while he himself pulled up in a car which he left running for the duration of his speech.

 

• While flapping his gums in opposition to old growth foresting in the Pacific Northwest, he added a veranda made of old growth redwood and Douglas Fir logs to one of his houses.

• In March 1996, the Denver Water Department was directed to release an extra 96 million gallons of water to make the South Platte River a better backdrop for one of his campaign photos.  It was enough water to supply 300 average families for a year.

• During his 1992 election campaign, a Nashville station released video footage of a dump owned by Al's family.  The dump was filled with tires, aluminum cans, and old oil filters that drained into a nearby river. 

• During Earth Hour, a global sustainably movement, Al Gore forgot to turn off his own dozen or so spotlights that illuminate his driveway and trees.  His 9,000 square foot house also had lights on inside and the glow of television and computer screens shone in the windows.

I could go on, citing his huge electricity usage, opting for fuel sucking jet travel over more eco choices and his collection of mansions, none of which are set up to be considered 'green', but you know how to use google.  See for yourself.  On a funny note, if you type "hypocrite" into google images, Al's on the first page.  The inconvenient truth Al worries about, I imagine, is his own.

The bottom line is that if Americans use up to 10 times the natural resources over any other nation, then Al is the US poster child of consumption.  I think maybe, as far as eco hypocrisy goes, Al Gore gets the last word.

Read the complete Eco Confessions here.
 

My Eco Hypocrisy Confession - In the Drink

An Aussi shower is nothing like an American shower.  In my previous life, I considered any shower less than 20 minutes a short shower.  I figured it was my constitutional right to have long soaks, otherwise when was I supposed to get 'me time'?

Coming to live in a desert was one of the biggest eye openers for me.  Water restrictions are a way of life here, and every drop is managed with care.  Wasters are regarded with the utmost disgust.

I have heard water called "a precious resource" all my life, but I've never experienced how valuable it truly is.  Life on the underside of the world is different than life in the lower forty.  The atmosphere sucks moisture up like an invisible sponge and puddles dry up in the sun within minutes.  In some parts of Australia wasting water isn't just stupid, it's suicide.

Dish Swishing & Other Myths:  The biggest shocker for me, and I know some of you will disagree with this, is that dishes don't need the soap rinsed off to be clean.  We have one sink, so my dish washing routine when I first got here was to fill the one basin with soapy hot water, drain, and refill with fresh to rinse.  Worse, when I was in a hurry I'd just rinse them under a running tap.

I was quickly brought into line and converted from my rampant water wastage and taught to wash dishes in the soapy water, re-swish the dishes and then put the soapy dishes on the rack to dry.  I was highly doubtful at first that this was even sanitary and was convinced that salmonella was imminent, but after three months no one has gotten ill, the dishes aren't spotty and the Cleanliness Police haven't issued me any citations for improper dish swishing.  Not only do I save water, but time as well, often an equally precious resource.

Water saving goes beyond the kitchen sink, tho.  Just about every gutter drain here ends in a collection barrel to use in the garden.  Pure rainwater is saved and drank, and it's delicious.  I've learned that a little dust on the car isn't life threatening, and the whole thing can be washed in as little as 2 cups of left over dishwater, whatever hasn't gone out for the veggie garden already.

All in all, I've learned that water is as precious as life, and often, they are the same.

Read the complete Eco Confessions here.

My Eco Hypocrisy Confession - Laundry Day!

Recently I talked about how moving to Australia changed my environmental attitude.  In America I thought I was doing great, but it turns out I was the eco equivalent of a couch jockey. 

I watched from the sidelines, cursing missed plays and cheering the victories, none of which were mine.  Coming to Australia brought me into the game, and for the next few days I'm discussing the new rules and plays I've learned.  Today is laundry day.

My Clothes Washing Myths:
When it comes to washing laundry, I believed that whites must be shimmering and the only way to accomplish this was by using copious amounts of bleach. I also used a clothes dryer regularly because I felt hanging laundry to dry would take too long and be impractical. I always intended to explore bleach alternatives and hanging laundry to dry someday when I had more time.

My Clothes Washing Truth:
Clothes can be white without bleach. The chlorine in bleach binds with organic material to form organo chlorines, toxic compounds that are toxic and persist in the environment. Instead of using bleach I've used vinegar and baking soda in my light color washes. That, combined with the natural bleaching of the sun, has kept my whites bright enough. The sun also acts as a natural disinfectant, keeping everything spiffy clean and germ free.

As far as hanging clothes being too inconvenient, an interesting factoid about Australia is that I don't know anyone who actually owns a dryer. Everyone hangs their clothes out to dry, and an electric dryer is considered a luxury. My newspaper seller says that he and his wife received one ages ago as a gift, and they "used it a few times when the kids were small." His doctor actually recommended line drying clothes in the sun to take advantage of its anti bacterial properties and prevent rashes.

I've lived without bleach and clothes dryers for over three months now, and haven't had any problems yet. My clothes actually feel crisp and new, and they smell fabulous.

Gallons of chemically enhanced wash water and hours of power saved, and another attitude adjustment for me.  I hope you'll join me tomorrow as I continue my confession of waste.

Read the complete Eco Confessions here.

My Eco Hypocrisy Confession - In the Bag

When I lived in America I considered myself an environmentalist. I bought used when ever I could, I tried not to waste resources and every now and then I walked somewhere instead of drove.

I also read a lot of environmentally conscious books and could spend a good deal of time patting myself on the back about how well I was doing. Then I moved to another country and my feel-good, eco aware self disillusionment went up like a puff of diesel exhaust.

Compared to the Australians I've met, I've been a consumeristic piglet all my life.  I've been reluctant to give up my bleach, clothes dryer and comfy car.  I allowed my laziness to send thousands of plastic shopping bags to the landfill.  When my clothes got worn they went to the back of the closet or back to Goodwill, I didn't really repair anything.  I wasn't here long before I started receiving an eco-attitude adjustment.

I wanted to write a simple blog post about all the changes I've had to make to my personal consumerverse, but there are so many things I've had to learn I've decided to break it up into multiple posts.  With Americans consuming resources 4 times as much as any other country, even if just a few of us dedicate ourselves to positive change, it will make a difference.

I won't lie and say that I made these changes out of my great love for the earth.  Quite frankly, I was forced to.  I would much rather feel good about myself without actually giving anything up, but in retrospect the changes have been so easy. I hope I can encourage some of my friends to do some good that will benefit them as well as everyone else in the world.  So, on to my first attitude adjustment... life sans plastic bags.

My Shopping Bag Myths:
I always thought reusable shopping bags were a good idea, and I actually bought a few at one time that I fully intended to use.  They probably continue to live in the back of some closets somewhere, as of yet unused.  I'd like to say I never used them because I simply forgot to bring them, but the truth is I hated the thought of being an inconvenience while a cashier struggled with my cloth bags, the rest of the line glaring at me as I held things up.

My Shopping Bag Truth:
I've been off plastic shopping bags for three months now, and I really don't miss them.  It turns out that it's pretty easy to grab my tote of reusable cloth bags when I grab my grocery list, and all times I have two spare bags folded up very small in an extra pocket of my purse for unplanned purchases. 

It hasn't been an inconvenience at all, after I got used to it, and at this rate in one year I'll have saved around 240 plastic bags from being landfilled.  If the US government would take a hard stance and ban plastic sacks like the Aussi government did, that would save 73,681,572,000 non biodegradable bags in the landfill per year from the US alone.  What a big difference for what turned out to be a relatively easy lifestyle change.  Best of all, not once have I been glared at by a cashier for my reusable bags.

See you tomorrow where I'll share how I battled bleach addiction and learned to harness passive solar power...

Read the complete Eco Confessions here.

Freegans, Stamping Out Consumerism One Dumpster Dive at a Time

Just when I thought you couldn't get more eco-conscious extreme then veganism, along comes it's super charged counter part - freeganism.  While vegans avoid all animal products, including honey and dairy, freegans avoid pretty much everything.

Freegans, and I quote from their website, "are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources." 

Basically what I get from the info I've seen is that freegans object to modern consumerism and believe that it's the root of almost all social and environmental problems.  One trip into Walmart, and I can't really argue with that.

Like vegans, they adopt certain lifestyle changes to show their objection and seek to reduce their part of the problem.  They question why food is being tossed in dumpsters while people go hungry.  To object, they refuse to purchase food and dumpster dive for it instead. 

Also known as "urban foraging", one organization known as Food Not Bombs utilizes food that would be otherwise wasted by making large meals that they offer for free to anyone.  Not just for the homeless and hungry, the entire community is welcome in an effort to foster the idea of sharing. 

In addition to hunting the cityscape rubbish bins for free grub, freegans also engage in wild foraging.  Parks and wildness areas become their shopping centers.  They study wild and domesticated plants in their local areas to harvest them for foods and herbal medicines.  Dandelions become salads and rose hips become tea.  It's organic gardening at it's purest form.
 
In addition to free food, freegans try to get free living accommodations as well.  Called "squatting" or "homesteading", the freegan website has a detailed publication to explain how to properly squat in abandoned buildings.  With tips on everything from how to form your squatters group, to how big it should be and suggestions for self governing, the squatters' guide focuses on safety and order as well as freedom from landlords and mortgages.

My favorite aspect of the freegan lifestyle are called "Free Markets", which are basically stores where you drop off what you don't want and take what you do.  There are usually no rules except that items be in usable condition and you may not ask for compensation in return. 

Many of you are probably already familiar with Freecycle, an online free market site that I've personally used with great success.  Freecycle groups are all over the world, and an effective way to make friends while getting and giving everything from computers and cars to clothes and household items.

Ultimately, I like the idea of freeganism, tho I disagree with some of it.  Rather then pick thru dumpsters, to me it seems like it would make a better statement to be proactive and try to convince shop owners to give up their toss outs before they hit the ally bin.  Even better, gardening and cooking from scratch pretty much negates any consumerism at all since transportation and packaging is at a bare minimum.

I disagree with the idea of squatting in abandoned properties unless you have no other option.  Otherwise, why not contact the owner and offer to improve and fix an abandoned property in exchange for free rent?  Often people would rather have a place occupied and looked after rather then empty and falling prey to squatters which may not adhere to the freegan code of conduct.  With all the derelict properties available, I can see groups of freegans with handyman skills becoming desired assets to landowners instead of pests.

Freeganism is an interesting concept, and I'd like to see it as a chosen lifestyle rather then one fallen into due to often negative circumstances.  Freegans are urban pioneers that cross the city deserts in search of a promise of freedom, and perhaps, like the pioneers of old, they too will change the face of society.

Capitalism At Its Best - Happy "You're Broke" Day

You know the economy is in trouble when you can walk into Walmart and find Recession and Sympathy for Your Job Loss greeting cards.

The jokes are a painful reminder of how much most of our lives have changed.  Years ago it was unusual to actually know someone who had filed bankruptcy, been laid off or had a house foreclosure.

Admitting to financial failure had as much social stigma attached to it as admitting you were gay.  Now neither topic is taboo and everyone knows someone who is.

So what do Americans do to express the new status quo of financial impotence?  We send greeting cards to soothe and uplift each other.  For under $5 you can send a colorful and funny sentiment to say "I care".  Add a coffee mug for another $10, maybe a quippy T-shirt and a few biscotti mummified in cellophane and you have the perfect way to say "I'm sorry the economy sucks so bad" for about $30.  That'll cheer anyone up.

Americans drop cash like pigeons drop poo.  We think nothing of popping by the fast food drive thru and passing over a twenty in exchange for watered soda, cold faux fries and a burger who's first ingredient is "fibrous byproducts".

We can't tie the knot without tying ourselves to years of debt, express love without diamonds or have girl time without $5 coffee.  We are a nation of drivers that scream about oil spills.  We want change but not if we have to.

And that has all led us to where we are today with a wrecked environment and a tanked economy.  The biggest thing about us anymore is our waistlines.  We used to be known for being a nation of strength and integrity.  Now we are famous for our whines.

Recent politics promised us change, but the only change we have seen is a lack of it in our pockets.  Perhaps it's time to get back to the 'can do/make do' attitude that saw us through the Great Depression before this era becomes its financial sequel.  It'll take cooperation, sacrifice and determination... and maybe passing up the Recession greeting cards.