There is a future...

... we just don't know what it looks like.

I realized that I was spazzing out about worst-case scenarios... *and* thinking they would last forever. Ok, there might be some food shortages or periods of time without electricity. But I would be incredibly surprised if it lasted forever. Or even years.

My children's future adulthoods will be very different than the one we've been living in. But it's not likely we're going to revert back to the Middle Ages.

Worst case scenarios could lead to a change in our style of government so that the government can get people fed. It might lead to different expectations of what "necessities" are. And it's definitely going to involve new technologies that we can't even imagine yet.

Growing up and making changes is painful, as my 6-year-old can attest lately. Our American society has been spoiled teenagers for quite awhile. The bill is coming due. But hopefully after some rough years of mac and cheese, and sleeping on a futon, our American society will evolve into something different, with new methods of food production and distribution, and resource management. And who knows...

And maybe the changes won't be all that dramatic at all.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

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In the meantime, I stopped by a bike store today and was told I could get the three-wheeled granny bike with the basket and a canopy for less than $400. Those things are going to cost more in the near future. I might need to clear some more space in the garage for a bigger bike.

project for next winter?

If we were serious survivalist with a serious sense of humor, we'd consider building one of these out of spare bike parts and PVc: Sun Coaster

Moonshine update

It turns out that moonshining is a hot new hobby, according to Wired.

Sewing links

Again, more resources to remind me later: how to mend clothes. I know a lot of that, but a resource is useful.

And not surprisingly, Sewing.org

Moonshine - We Need a Still

We need a still. Can we buy one, or get the parts for cheaper and build it ourselves?

I'll come back to this post with research.

Tricycle with trailer

We might want to look into something like this. We can find them in the US here or here. I'm sure there are more sources.

Bikes and trikes like are all over Europe, making deliveries to and from stores. If things really fall apart, I wonder if we could make a living with a fleet of delivery trikes.

The Chinese version -- built for heavier loads -- is here: http://www.orientaloutpost.com/images/goldfish1.jpg

White Men Call Them Sling Shots ... My People Call Them Wrist Rockets

For sale here ...

http://stun-ningsales.com/SportStore/wrist-rocket.htm

But they can be found cheaper on eBay. I wonder if we can find them cheaper somewhere else?

I like the idea of a folding sling shot. That would fit in a pocket nicely. And we would SO rule over the damned crows that will try to eat our garden.

I recently read a story about a guy who got in trouble for using a .22 rifle to shoot a garden-eating crow in his backyard garden (law broken: discharging a firearm in city limits). Plus, we don't want to keep firearms around the house. You don't have that problem with a wrist rocket.

We'll have to teach the kids not to shoot living things with the slingshots, of course. But I remember many a halcyon afternoon as a boy spent shooting at targets with a wrist rocket and marbles.