Monday, February 9, 2015

frugal living 13


FRUGAL LIVING 13

UTILITIES

As soon as you say “off-grid living”, assuming folks know just what the hell you are talking about, they start hooting and hollering and bouncing off the walls, tearing hair from their heads and imploring Baby Jesus to save them ( even though he was around almost two thousand years before there was a grid so if He couldn’t save them I can’t imagine what chance you have ), general mayhem and caterwauling protesting the loss of hair dryers and George Foreman Grills ensues, and strong pledges are made of death before crapping in an outhouse in the middle of winter or not being able to take a hot twenty minute shower twice a day ( which kind of makes you wonder what they are doing in there ).  The good news is, roughing it today is a whole lot easier and cheaper than in the time of dirty Hippies or Mountain Men of yore, forty or fifty years ago.  Of course, the bad news is you still have to adjust slightly, but even though you might disagree with me I maintain that living beyond the limp wrested grasp of civilization is not much worse than if you headed down to the Arizona desert in a deluxe motor home.  With microchips and cheaper Chinese solar panels plus propane and propane accessories ( anyone remember “King Of The Hill”? ), while you can’t do everything you would in suburbia it will be relatively close.

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Okay, you aren’t really escaping from civilization, you are just not tethered to it in the Just-In-Time Inventory aspect of it.  You are storing your energy rather than having it fed to you continuously.  And, true, you can’t use anywhere near as much as you’d like and it isn’t Light Switch easy.  But unless you are a roly poly overweight asthmatic with one and a half feet in the ground already, it ain’t going to kill you to get off the friggin couch to hook up the TV to the battery.  People who don’t exercise regularly either die early or worse, live as long but in a LOT more pain with a lot more in the way of medical bills.  Besides, you ARE biking, right?  Need that cardio for the zombie apocalypse.  Hell, I’m writing this right now down in my hovel, off-grid, waiting for the coffee to perk as the sun recharges from my usage.  How is this much of a sacrifice?  So I can’t flush a turd but must cover it with sawdust.  It still don’t stink either way ( other than the stench that escaped, of course ).  And, okay, it would be nice to have a microwave to really shorten cooking times.  Don’t you remember when you were poor and you cooked everything in an electric skillet, even Top Ramen?  It takes a bit of ingenuity, but it isn’t really a sacrifice.  It is just doing things differently.  Which shouldn’t be a problem unless the herd approval is that important to you.  And, bonus, legions of morons who licked the sweat from the rectum of Al Gore after he invented the Internet, off-grid utilities will save your planet which should be a bonus.  No car, no electric power, renewables.  Come on!  This is what you female armpit hair braiders wanted, wasn’t it?  Show those hypocritical Volvo driving bitches who is REALLY giving Mother Earth a warm embrace and a little side action tongue.

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13 comments:

  1. What's wrong with Ramen noodles?
    Why, just yesterday I fired up a batch to test run the new butane powered hiker stove I just bought on amazon for $5.99 + free shipping ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENDRORM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). I used the beef flavor, added some dehydrated Augason Farms chicken, and mixed vegetables, and a heaping spoonful of gravy powder. In 3.5 minutes the 2 cups of water were boiling 10 minutes later I was chowin down like a big dawg. I have about 20 cases of Ramen on hand and though I don't eat it frequently I have no compunction if the need arises. I gave up community wrought scruples long ago.

    I don't have an issue with people that want to dig a hole and jump in, I just believe that with a little more effort, thought, and coinage, a whole nuther level of benefit can be arranged, and that's the direction I'm heading. I don't have a lot of money but I'm not afraid of sweating. I've spent 6 years planning, 2 years saving, and now it's time to convert thought to action.

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    Replies
    1. At one time before the first paycheck came in after a move, the Evil One and I ate literally nothing but Top Ramen so the kids got a better fare. I've yet to recover from that twenty years ago.

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  2. Damn straight Goldie locks !
    Seems that everybody and their inbred brother insists that I just give up and collect on the SSI teat. Well eff them ! That teat ain't gonna be there much longer and I am not ready to give up.
    Yes, I am now bicycling every day in addition to doing various muscle building exercises. Then I top it off with a half mile walk.
    Sure ,I need to do much more, but I will get there.
    Yesterday I went and did a 3D archery competition. After a total of 40 shots...39 were kill shots and one was a miss....Point is, if I can do this after what I've been thru this past year. Then any limp dick should be able to ! After all its only been two months since they let me out of a wheel chair !!!
    Lol...I did come home after the competition and slept for 11 hours straight. Woke up this morning real sore tho. Yet I will do some training today also.

    The rest of the world wants to just lay back and take what fate gives them...let em
    They can cry on deaf ears...

    Damn straight I'll be still giving it a go, as I know you will.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Don't discount SS if it helps you out. Not insisting, mind you! :) The whole system is going to implode, no skin off anyone's nose if you get some extra bucks for bills and preps. I for one am impressed with your resolve and disipline. Although I shouls expect nothing less from the Bison Legion Of Doom.

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    2. Hey, if it is truly free money, I certainly would have no problems accepting it -- I can always use more preps. What SS gives you for reaching a certain age counts in my book. BUT, if you have to prove you have a disability to get the money, that's not a string attached, that's a noose. Even if you are truly disabled, you now have an incentive not to get better. Unless that is completely impossible (like growing a new leg), it's just not worth the price.

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    3. Careful James, one day I may show up on your doorstep in the motorhome and trailer loaded down with shit lol.
      It takes a village to create the Bison Legion of Doom.
      PS...I have a Honda generator and panels too he he

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    4. The weather keeps up here, it won't be too much colder than FL ( and, above water ) and you might actually want to. Of course you'd be welcome. I'm still waiting for the first tribe member. How is a brother to construct a cannon fodder legion?

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  3. Solar and wind aren't as easy as hiring some else to do it for you - but you don't have to spend money on them every month either (not that there isn't an ongoing investment, but you can choose when and what to invest, try telling the electric company that you will pay them $500 in six months and see what sort of service you get).

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    1. Course, if you ain't spending money every month there is something wrong with you and 99% of society will shun you. Oh, and just as a FYI to everyone, the Unabomber not only lived in a shack, he biked everywhere even in the winter. Respect, yo.

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  4. "Jesus to save them ( even though he was around almost two thousand years before there was a grid so if He couldn’t save them I can’t imagine what chance you have"

    THAT'S IT. You blasphemous oaf, you are no longer on my recommended blog list.

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    Replies
    1. I was making fun of those who can't live w/o the grid, but okay. I'm nothing if not abrasive.

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    2. See what an active imagination can do if unbridled?

      "Pleez keep sketty monsters leashed at all times."

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    3. Ever notice how the overly religious don't know what their own terms mean, such as blasphemy? They have turned the term into meaning any criticism (as they perceive it) of God; this is not what the Bible says it is. I'm sure your Bible is close at hand, look it up.

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