Tuesday, August 30, 2016

bison ten year plan


BISON TEN YEAR PLAN
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note: nothing for sure, but I believe Walking Dead starts next month on Netflix.
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note: right now, The Road is on Netflix.
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note: if you have KU, check out "Richter Ten" by Rob Leininger.  The disaster doesn't happen until the last 10% of the book, and the thing last forever ( if you prefer shorter books ), but it is wonderful for a character driven story.  I really enjoyed it myself.
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Why isn’t it a Five Year Plan?  Negative connotations to communist regimes.   Also, ten years is when it will be obvious this plan must be implemented.  Okay, this year I’m fifty-one years old.  Hard to believe that I was barely over thirty when I finally got off my ass and started writing full time, every day, rather than my previous attempts which were undisciplined, sporadic and unprofessional ( I write on weekdays now and take the weekends off, whereas previously I wrote six or seven days a week.  As long as I meet my word quota I consider it all “writing every day” ).  As you all probably remember, I’m not overly fond of writing fiction.  I’m not all that great at it, but that is lack of practice.  I can quickly catch up on quality once I was doing it regularly.  I just prefer non-fiction.  In fiction, you are writing 99% entertainment with 1% education thrown in.  Writing non-fiction is the exact opposite.  Plus, fiction readers are a very demanding, fickle bunch.  They want a thousand page book, several times a year, and they want it to be perfect in every way.

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At least with non-fiction you just need to be accurate and minimize grammar blunders.  The information is the main prerequisite, not how well you are transported to another fantasy bubble ( despite my disdain, I’m exactly the same as every other demanding reader of novels ).  Writing a novel, you need to work ten times harder for far less reward or loyalty.  So, I prefer to NOT write fiction.  Life is too short to cater to a snarling rabid pack of never-satisfied ingrates.  That said, I find myself dissatisfied with my current situation.  I always seen to find something to babble about, but there is no longer a challenge in it.  Don’t get me wrong- I’ll NEVER stop writing as long as I’m healthy and my mind works reasonably well.  I can’t not write any longer.  It gives life a lot more meaning than sitting around picking my ass and indulging in yet more navel gazing.  This is THE hobby I’ve selected for my life.  So, I’m asking myself how I can mix this up a bit now.  How often can I convey my alarm and desperation to our predicament?  All I’m doing is repeating myself so that my warning will “stick” better.  I don’t mind that, per se.  I’ve always needed to repeat instructions multiple times to absorb and remember it.  And every time I repeatedly study the same material I add to my knowledge which in turn increases my analytic content pool.  But you also need new stimulation in life.  I can’t just be content with the same old content.  I need to learn something new every day.

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 And I need to challenge myself.  Now, add this to what shall transpire in ten years and a few months.  I turn 62.  I have always, all my adult life, been convinced Social Security would not be there for me.  When I was a teenager going through High School I read all the magazines and large newspapers of the day ( waiting in the school library for classes to start as I was on the early rural bus ).  I was well versed in the politics of the time.  This was the period the media ( back when it was socialist in bent rather than the fascism of today where the ONLY concern is profit for Mother Corporation ) was harping on how the poor Seniors of the time were eating cat food and were being abused and were indeed sad sack creatures.  So right about the time I started working, the withholding percentage was jacked up.  I took this personally.  Not only was I being screwed to placate the current retirees, I very soon thereafter learned ( after studying economics ) that I would never see a dime of that increased tax.

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And nothing I’ve learned since the early Eighties has changed my mind.  If anything, I became more and more convinced things were far worse than we all imagined.  If I actually see a Social Security payment ( and you can bet your ass I’ll be taking it.  I was screwed to pay the Oldsters, the Youngsters shall be screwed when it is my turn ) I will be incredibly shocked.  In fact, it will shake the very bedrock of my convictions.  My paradigm will be in danger.  And so I have decided that if indeed this impossible contingency comes to pass, I shall have to suffer.  I’m placing a bet right now that I am right and that I shall never see Social Security.  That I’m right the country has collapsed ( if they jack the age up past 62-yes, I’ll have to take a 30% cut to get the early retirement but I’ll be so crippled from my current job I can’t wait to 67-then I’ll still consider this a win on this wager.  To lose, I must be eligible for the same amount at the same age and actually start collecting it ). 

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And the bet is that if the system stays together after another ten years, I’ll do one of two things.  Write fiction, or turn my writing into for-profit.  Believe me, I don’t want to do either.  I hate writing fiction and I hate grubbing for enough money to replace my day job.  I’ll still do a good job, even if I don’t want to.  I’ve always strived to do better than the average, because I think that highly of myself.  Those other idiots suck, and I’m neither an idiot nor do I suck.  It isn’t to prove anything to other people, but to myself.  Everyone who matters isn’t going to be impressed anyway.  I could just collect my pension and tell the rest of you to piss off, but as I said, I can’t NOT write.  And there is little point in writing if nobody reads it.  But if I’m collecting Social Security that far down the Peak Oil road, I’ll be wrong about pretty much everything I’ve written previously.  So I’ll just accept that I might as well capitulate and join the masses either making money or pissing away a life in cheap and tawdry entertainment.

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Of course, I’ll be starting the transition now, prior to that.  Nothing happens instantly.  This will give me the challenge I am currently lacking, plus will be my insurance policy.  Having done all the prepping I can, I might as well start prepping for Business As Usual.  So, a for-profit publication and/or fiction writing.  I’ll be sharing these in a short time after things solidify plan-wise.  I’ve done both before, but half-assed.  This time I’ll put more effort into it.  More details soon.

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18 comments:

  1. I had a well thought out comment about the wage cap being eliminated but on second thought-screw it! Despair has lead to Apathy!

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    1. LEADS TO TEQUILA! GET IT RIGHT

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    2. Yep, my bad. Must be geographically correct.

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  2. Well, between your hair and your wheat supply you should do better than average on SS. Plus you do not have to worry about rent, electric, car insurance and a bunch of other crap others do. Provided social security holds up until you can file for it, I say you are in a good postion to live on it. Plus if you still want to write, you can do that with no danger to your check.

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    1. Plus, if I get SS we can move to a much smaller town where the NOL has a rental house. If we so choose, dependent on purchasing power. It was easy to agree with because I don't think it will happen. I'm sure I'll be living back in the BPOD very soon ( with the NOL and probably her family also ).

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    2. I turn 62 this coming Jan so in the next month I'm going to find an SS office in the big city and see whats going on. I want to be ahead of the game if I can. An new asshole is gonna be in the WH when my birthday rolls around and I'm betting whomever it is will be trying to make a name for theirself so I want to start collecting as soon as possible while theres still some to collect. I've waited too long for this stuff as it is, not that I ever wanted it taken from me in the first place.

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    3. Wow, your NOL have a sister?

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    4. The new prez isn't making a name for themselves-they could care less what we think. That is what spin doctors are for. No, they are just paying back their sponsors.

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    5. The NOL has a sister but they are all poor ( or at least wallowing in debt to get to that point ). No, I got the pick of the bunch.

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  3. Crichton novels and Grishams first 5 books turn that 99%/1% paradigm backwards. Reading that stuff is exhausting but very entertaining and a university of learning.

    You're burned out on your chosen craft and you need a breath of new life. You lack ideas on how to improve, that is, how to make your craft more rewarding to you. You're stuck in a rut and can't see the forest for the trees.

    My suggestion is to study others, other writers, other craftsman, and discover new ways of seeing things. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel find ways to improve the wheel, incrementally.

    Don't discount the fiction aspect. Initially it may be harder to do and perhaps that is the stumbling block, that it is harder. Readers like to be entertained (I hate that word) so if fiction is what it takes, make it so. It gets easier with experience and as we age that experience is difficult. That's why the best learning happens in our youth when it's easier.

    I read your stuff everyday, so I like what I see for the most part and I've learned some things and that will keep me coming back. I'm a learning sponge, gotta have more data!!!!

    So don't take what I'm going to say the wrong way. Read, digest, think. Don't be offended. Or I'll send you to your safe space. :-)

    I think you spend too much time on the *swingin' cheese dingus* type stuff. Now and then it's OK but it tends to distract.

    I don't like interruptions when I'm reading and those habitual (--------) forks in the road that go on and on for multiple sentences and paragraphs turn me off even if there is good info in them. To me they seem to be things that are added after the article is written to boost the word count. I don't count words but I do count the quality of content. Your articles are high on quality but you're letting word count drag you to a fault, in my opinion. Again, I accept your articles even with their faults. I'm just trying to be helpful. If I'm not helpful then just say right out loud, "fukyoo" and go on about your bidnit. LOL

    Lastly, in todays world the attention span has shrunk for everybody, what can be said in 10 words is better than if it's stretched out to 20. Readers value their time too you know. Laconic is thy name. Paul Craig Roberts takes that avenue to a fault.

    Long ago an old architect told me, "If you want to BE an architect you must first ACT like an architect." I have been acting like an architect for more than 40 years (1972) so I know what I'm talking about.

    Peace. Never quit. Onward.

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    1. On the "cheese dingus distraction", I hear what you are saying. Others have said it also. I thought about it, and mostly agree. But here is the thing. I'm writing "stream of conscious". I don't add anything later, it is all first draft. Long ago, my writing was more stilted as I struggled to write more than short and simplistic. Now, my brain has trained itself to write in the current way. I actually don't wish to stop this, even if the structure might be too rambling. The word count is just my form of self-discipline, not a chiseled in stone rule. I just use it to avoid laziness. It is all part of the same process. As I said, I understand your comments, and don't disagree that much. It is just the way my writing evolved.

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  4. “And the bet is that if the system stays together after another ten years, I’ll do one of two things.  Write fiction, or turn my writing into for-profit.”


    I personally don't think that we will have an official collapse along the order of a Mad Max scenario within 10 years, but rather, the system will have just unraveled that much more. I have my own sort of litmus test and signs to look for when that time is fast approaching: When I stop seeing females straight out of college with no work experience easily landing cushy high paying jobs (which I see in volume even in today's terrible economy) and when overseas military bases start to close and troops are brought back en masse, the end will be very near.

    Sorry to hear of your writers dilemma James, and I don't really have much to offer in the way of suggestions, however, I do have a question that perhaps you can turn into an article. It has to do with burying or caching goods, but not just any goods, but rather food, primarily wheat. I wouldn't have any idea on how to go about doing that on a long term level to keep the cache good. I recall your suggestion on the book to cache goods, but didn't recall if it covered the topic of food. Also, not sure if one can trust much of anything written by a guy named “Eddie the wire”. But I'm interested to know how you did it, and if you have any suggestions on making the process any easier with regards to digging and the such. Like I said, feel free to turn this into a post if you wish, and if so, you can answer my questions at that point.

    Oh, and I saw a book that might tickle your fancy if it's one that you haven't already read:

    After America: Get Ready for Armageddon

    Optimistic About America’s Future?
    Don’t Be.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596981008/ref=pe_848040_205602450_em_1p_6_des


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    1. Short answer on wheat storage underground-I'm trusting the snakes to keep the rodent population under control, but I know I am taking a chance burying poly buckets. The Eddie The Wire book was the best of its kind, in my opinion-but was all about burying guns. The recommended book might be good, but I was turned off by its seemingly Limbaugh-esqe jingoistic empire cheerleading. I can't remember if I tried it out as a library book or not. I hate books that preach political solutions without involving resources.

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    2. Line your storage area with the stuff they make rabbit cages out of. That should cut down on the rodents and snakes

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  5. Jim if you want to write a good fiction book on post apocalyptic events. re-read Jerry Young books EVERY one of his follows the same script A,B.C,D,E,F.G. While not the best writing they are fun reads. I think you could do an outlined, scripted story very well with your (warped) perspective. Fiction that teaches and entertains is possible .

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    1. Well, I do enjoy them myself but I look at them as fluff pieces. I can do a bit better I think. And much more character than plot driven.

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  6. I turned 62 in June and signed up for social security. Note to those who plan to keep on working: be very careful filling out the application. Mistakes in the amount of income you write down will be caught. You are allowed to make 15,720 and still get your ss check. However after your birthday(your retirement date)you will only be allowed to make $1310 a month the rest of your retirement year; beginning the next year, the annual limit is imposed, meaning work all you want, as fast as you want, but when you hit the annual earnings limit, you quit.

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    1. Geez, even something that simple they make complicated. No worries, I shan't work a real job, only writing. That should never come close to the max. :)

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