On bumps in the road

[This is a repost of a thing written in 2008 (for obvious reasons). Currently U.S. infections of COVID-19 are at about 30% of the world total, with no coherent public policy, and rent for tens of millions comes due soon with unemployment running out -- and in this matter again there is no coherent public policy.]

Most of us want to live, so some may want to hear elders who've thought about resiliency. I've thought about it (and acted on it) over the years, but am rapidly aging out of the skills, the skills to communicate about the skills, and the motivation. Your Mileage May Vary.

Ready for the open road -- we thought.

Back when our family was living a nomadic lifestyle that revolved around tree-planting contracts on mostly federal lands, we pulled a small travel trailer behind an International Travelall with most of our worldly goods in the one or the other.

And one day we left home to go to a contract five hundred miles away, and in ten miles came to a brand-new sign that said, “BUMP.” As in, “the county road crew has removed the top four inches of asphalt from the bridge fifty yards ahead, with a vertical drop at each end, and if you hit it at any speed between five miles an hour and the posted speed of fifty-five at which you are now traveling, well, have we got a surprise for you.”

We saw what was coming, but with three second’s worth of brake time, there was not much to do but grin and bear it.

It took days to sort out our windshield and flour and beans and lamp chimneys and toe-in and trailer tongue and so on, and we lost some work. Fortunately no one was hurt.

All that was, was a bump in the road. But suppose it had been a cliff?

:::

"Civilization" has, since about 1973, seemed to me to be nearing a cliff, so (while younger) I did what I could about it. If you might wish to do the same, read on for some glimpses of doomer hobbies you might take up.

• This keeps disappearing as it is a 20 year old blog post, but I found it again and is your most required reading here: 100 Things You Can Do to Get Ready for Peak Oil
  
• Keep an eye out for anything from Chelsea Green Publishing. http://www.chelseagreen.com/books-and-products 
• Dump debt any way you can. Losing the McMansion (if you have one) is awful for you, but if it means you're out of debt, there can be some positives to that. There are worse things than living in your mother-in-law's basement (maybe not in good times, but are these good times?).
• Move away from megalopolis or even metropolis if you can. Small towns are more resilient than either cities or bunkers, though it helps (residents) if the small town has what it takes to be a bit hard-nosed about some things. Third generation small town folks often already know everybody they want to know, but this will be the least of your problems. 
• Depending where you are, you may wish to access (not necessarily buy) land or a flat rooftop or a lot of containers and do, to the extent possible, your own food (and maybe some for others). Don’t bother with a water barrel, go water tank if you can. There’s almost always a way to farm, until there's really not, which might a ways off yet. Be prepared to talk with neighbors about their underutilized sunny spots. http://poweringdown.blogspot.com/2009/11/design-project-three-neighborhood.html
• If you like, go low profile, find, make, repurpose, fix, mend, borrow, trade, recycle, but also lend, and lend a (gloved?) hand (networking). Friends can get you through times of drought, flood and no money better than money (or what’s left of it) will get you through times of drought, flood, pestilence and no friends. Leave banks for a credit union and draw down to invest in tools, dry food, the children, the grandchildren, the “friends and relations,” and the neighborhood. https://www.transitionnetwork.org/. Zoom may make this possible in times of isolation, but remember not to use it to plan the revolution out loud, same as for Facebook and Twitter, etc.
• If at all possible, drop the car and go via bicycle, or shank’s mare. Look at all your motors and downsize (from gasoline to electric, from electric to hand tools). http://www.wikihow.com/Live-Without-a-Car. I went on and on about the benefits of public transit in an earlier version of this but for now, stay home when you can and wear your mask when you can't.
• Maybe teach what you know, and learn what you don’t. Stockpile old (paper) books on tools, maintenance, farming, gardening, preservation, cooking. Simplify.
• Maybe learn some older stuff: https://archive.org/details/bookoffarmdetail01step_0 or https://archive.org/details/mrsbeetonshouse00beetuoft
• Get some current books (and supplies) for first aid, medical emergencies, health, and community health. http://store.hesperian.org/mm5/#Hesperianbooks
• Maybe pull the plug and go off-grid? We’ve done it, we loved it (but, yes, we were young). Our goal was to live like Mr. Badger, and we pretty much did:

Our solutions were low-tech, and for reasons.

You can do nifty technological off-grid solutions to keep comfy. But for that it helps to be well-heeled, with stable surroundings. In other words, it helps to be a colonizer, so give that a good ethical look before going all in. There might be worse things than being the last one standing. 

When in doubt, be good to your neighbors. Yes, those. This planet is only 7,917.5 miles in diameter.

Look:

We're on the right. Sustainable is basically on the left. Can't get there from here with the available political will. Systems were under strain before the coronavirus arrived, and are cracking now.

:::

I’ve picked Zen meditation and Bodhisattva precepts as my outgoing hobby -- cheap and portable.

Something else may work better for others.

May we and ours be ever more thoughtful, wise, resourceful, just, and kind in all our dealings than we have been hitherto. 

And may we live in peace and unafraid.