can't take things for granted anymore

Again, with the musings...

I don't want to prepare for "end of the world." I mean, how would I even know where to start. There are some people out there who think that's what they are doing. But ... I don't want to ruin my quality of life now for the off chance I'll have the right supplies to survive the off chance of a worst worst worst case scenario.

Instead, I think of preparing for "end of life as we know it." I envision not taking Internet access and cable TV for granted. I envision not taking wide variety at the grocery store for granted. I envision find alternative modes of transportation.

There will be gaps in services and entertainments and even basic supplies that we take for granted.

The hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 gave us a smidgen of a glimpse of what this could be like. No a.c., no phone, no open restaurants. Some roads impassable. Being careful about driving because you don't know if/when you'll find an open gas station. The worst of it was ... maybe a day. We had food enough for at least 2 weeks. But we were at the grocery store within a couple days.

I just hark back to those few days and try to think about life being in that state more often. Not all the time. We might not be able to get blueberries in winter. Or our favorite brand of ketchup might disappear from the shelves permanently. A few more movie theaters will close down (but egad, who goes out the movies any more these days at these prices?!).

And in some places, there will be more scarcity of water. In rough times, dryer months, our water restrictions will be more draconian -- screw cleaning the cars and watering the lawns.

Do I know for sure these things will happen? Of course not. Maybe those Peak Oil nay-sayers are right. Maybe there is plenty more oil, and we'll be sitting around drinking wine around our virtual fire and be laughing about the year we stocked up on cans of tuna and peanut butter.

To keep from fretting, I am focusing on stocking up on stuff that we need anyway. We'll certainly use up peanut butter and toilet paper and toothpaste eventually. Oh and especially bottles of water. We're ready for the next storm. We're ready for the next block party. We're... ready for an economic depression. I hope.

Learning skills such as sewing, veggie growing, bicycle repair, wine making are fun anyway. Never hurts to know more things, and not take these things for granted.

It's all a grand adventure.

I only fret when I start thinking about my kids not living as well as we have. But then again, what has this "well off American life" given me? High cholesterol, a wide waistline, an Internet addiction. Having my kids learn some useful skills, gathering a variety of information to learn from, learning to budget and buy in bulk, and to grow plants, and to respect the Earth... actually maybe I am preparing them for a better, more real life than the one I have been taking for granted for lo these many decades.