[Stratovarius]

Even after ingesting all this time ingesting information about PO and misc. international affairs, I still think I'm living with denial.

I talk and talk and talk but I never do. I might rant here and there about how the economy is going to slide into recession and the rolling blackouts are coming, but when I'm done, I'll sit around and waste time when I could easily be doing something monumentally more productive. I might talk about things we can do to prepare for the future but then I never act on it.

Usually I'm open-minded about stuff like this...but for some reason it's like I'm aware of it and I tell myself it IS going to happen, but I kind of just push it away. It's hard to explain. It's like my brain is holding two completely opposite opinions at the same time.

I'm young and I've just recently been looking into "the real world" after being in a bubble during my childhood where my hand is held through every little damn thing.

It seems like I get worked up over shit one month and the next month I find something else to get worried or compassionate about or whatever. This has been going on somewhat for the past couple of years.

I feel like this whole PO situation could just be another thing I simply got overly fervent about and in few years from now, I'll be looking back laughing at how stupid I was. I'm already looking back and laughing at myself for some things and feel quite embarrassed about it.

The question, "What if we're wrong?" keeps popping up. What if absolutely nothing anybody in this forum says is coming comes true and life goes on as usual.

People in this forum always talk about how secure people are inside their bubbles, but there's probably more people like me who get it but they don't get it. They acknowledge, but they don't acknowledge.

The whole situation of an economic collapse is just too wild I can barely imagine what it would be like. It's too wild to imagine that, possibly within the decade before I even finish college, 6.4 billion people are going to get anally raped by Mother Nature and the economy.

Maybe I'm just in denial because I'm such a huge doomer that I think a major recession is going to happen before I'm even near being ready, so I push the worst out of mind. Almost everyone on this forum is an independent adult and can do whatever they want but I can't. Or maybe I just don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

I'm fucked.

[Merlin]

I asked myself the same question: What if PO never comes and economic collapse doesn't happen, will all my preps be for naught? Well, the answer I've discovered is that all the things that I've done have made for a better life for myself and my family.

My efforts to make my home more energy efficient save money every month. The extra insulation in the attic, the new seals on the casement windows, the new high efficiency furnace -- all make our home more comfortable and less expensive, even if PO doesn't happen during our lifetimes.

I've saved food, learned to garden, can and dehydrate food, grind my own flour and bake bread. If PO never comes, we're eating better, healthier food. I just took a loaf of sourdough bread out of the oven and as I type this post, I look out the window at the winter garden and can hardly wait for spring! I'm 61 years old and the exercise is good for me. I've lost nearly 20 pounds!

Speaking of exercise, I bought a bicycle and ride it on short trips around town (to the post office, the grocery store, the bank, etc.)

Do you just suppose that my life has improved as a direct result of preps I've undertaken in anticipation of the effects of PO? And do you just suppose that these improvements might be worthwhile even if PO never comes? Recognition of the benefits of a simpler and healthier lifestyle counters my inclination to deny the reality of PO. Maybe that could help you too.

[Fergus]

I hear ya, I initially sat around and wondered what to do. then realized like you that I sat around doing nothing. Then my mistakes started happening. We decided to try this, then that and then another thing, ike trying to do several things at one time. I found myself in a financial bind and over extended.

Your right to think about it. But you need to think about what your thinking about. Rationalize your actions. Can you make do with what your doing if nothing happens, will it be enough is all the SHTF at once? Will anything?

I have slowed down. We just take it one day at a time and hope the sun rises tomorrow when we are done with today. I have prepared several emergency kits, for the cars and in the house. We have paid down our mortgage aquite a bit and shaved maybe 5-7 years off a 20 year note. We also are reading and trying to learn about prema-culture, various gardening techniques and other more primitive activites and occupations. We just dont have the practical time or space to put it in practice. I personally want to learn to thatch a roof, since I was a kid even, and it will come in handy, but I have no way of learning. I cant well thatch my roof here. Things like that are the thorn in my side atm.

But while we find we are more prepared we find we still have a long way to go and are hoping the crash has a long time before it hits. Just keep at it and do what you can today and hope tomorrow is there for you to continue to prepare and not have to use what you have.

[Lighthouse]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', '.')..

I'm fucked.

[Ludi]

You;'re not fucked, Strato. You're a healthy young person (at least, I'm guessing you're healthy) - as such you'll be able to adjust to almost anything that comes your way. Don't despair.

[davep]

I'd like to chime in and agree with Ludi.

You're not fucked. You'll wake up tomorrow morning and still be healthy.

I lost my job (like Ludi) a month ago. Only I did it through choice. My wife went ape. However, she's still here and the sky hasn't fallen in on our heads.

I'm now in a better state of mind to make choices for my future than I would have been working 40 hours a week and being stressed out. You don't have the commitments and the family, so this won't even be an issue for you.

You're aware and able. Just choose the best route you can. But remember that you don't need to do it all now. Preparation and long-term planning are the key (IMO).

[Ludi]

I didn't lose my job, dave. I've been self-employed for years.

I don't completely agree regarding preparation and long-term planning. Not at your age, Strato. Flexibility and willingness to adjust to changes are key, in my opinion. I don't know how someone your age could prepare and plan long-term.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I') didn't lose my job, dave. I've been self-employed for years.

I don't completely agree regarding preparation and long-term planning. Not at your age, Strato. Flexibility and willingness to adjust to changes are key, in my opinion. I don't know how someone your age could prepare and plan long-term.

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'I')'d like to chime in and agree with Ludi.

You're not fucked. You'll wake up tomorrow morning and still be healthy.

I lost my job (like Ludi) a month ago. Only I did it through choice. My wife went ape. However, she's still here and the sky hasn't fallen in on our heads.

I'm now in a better state of mind to make choices for my future than I would have been working 40 hours a week and being stressed out. You don't have the commitments and the family, so this won't even be an issue for you.

You're aware and able. Just choose the best route you can. But remember that you don't need to do it all now. Preparation and long-term planning are the key (IMO).

[Stratovarius]

It seems like I can't do much unless there is a complete and total downfall of western civilization with zombies and cannibals and people nonchalantly walking around with rifles with no worry of the law. At that point, you own what you can defend.

Otherwise, the more likely situation, I'll come out of the useless public school system having no money or a job into a dying economy with my connections (my friends) in the same situation.

Mechanical engineering degree? I hope the shit doesn't hit the fan before I actually complete it. Professors or whoever works at universities might decide it's better not to go to work anymore.

I can't rely on my parents. My mom is working from paycheck to paycheck and doesn't have a clue about what the hell she's doing. My dad is a fascist greedy asshole and I wouldn't be surprised if he ran away after he finds out a recession is coming. He's also totally clueless and lives in a bubble...he keeps trying to talk me into moving to Saudi Arabia with him so he can get a job LMFAO. Apparently 5,000 / month retirement pension isn't enough (where is all his money going?). Oh right, to send me to college even though he fucked over his other kids after promising to send them to college.

The worst part is that I'm not free until...2012/2013? What state will the world be in by then? Hopefully things will be okay, but maybe it will be all-out-war by then. In which case, I am fucked.

Sorry, I'm ranting like hell.

***

Anyway, it's like all this Christmas break I was supposed to do a bunch of things I promised myself I would do, but then now it's almost January and I haven't done SHIT. I mostly played video games and wasted time...ugh...

I used to work out regularly, for some reason I quit that. I used to read a lot, for some reason I read a fourth of what I previously did. I'm all-talk. I talk talk talk and don't do anything. I'm a fraud, poser, a failure.

If I was thrown out on the street this very second I would not be able to do anything...and therein lies the problem. I'm totally dependent right now and can't do anything.

I wish I could just drop out of school and get into college this second but TPTB (my parents included) don't like overachievers.

And yes, I used to be healthy, but I'm turning into a fat, lazy, apathetic, fuck. I used to run track, cross country (I even placed) and played basketball. But since I'm such an asshole toward the system I decided to quit in order to pursue other endeavors, which I sort of have, but mostly all-talk because I'm a lazy fatass.

Somebody slap some fucking sense into me and tell me to quit my bitchin' and get my shit together.

I hate myself.

Oh and I listened to that radio program someone posted, kinda helped. I think I'm still in that "shocked" stage spanning out over a month and a half period. Caught in the headlights.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', '.')..I hate myself.

Oh and I listened to that radio program someone posted, kinda helped. I think I'm still in that "shocked" stage spanning out over a month and a half period. Caught in the headlights.

[grillzilla]

Actually Strato I don't think you are in denial. I think you are freezing up in the face of what you feel is an insurmountable problem.

The problem is that you feel you have to solve all the problems that peak oil will present to you all at once. This is similar to obtaining a synopsis of a class at the start of the school year. It sometimes looks overwhelming because you feel you have to do all the work at once, not over the entire school year.

You do not have to solve (or even get ready for) all the hazards of a post-peak-oil world all at once.

First do the things that are both easiest and most immediately deal with the most immediate threats.

Do those things that make sense right now financially. Let the others wait.

I'm a geologist living the the Los Angeles area. People sometimes ask (after they find out my profession) how they should prepair for the eventual earthquake. I give them the advice above plus this:

plan as if you know the event will happen in about one month.
Time enough for you to prepair without panic, but close enough to cause you to act.

To get over your Frozen-in-the-Headlights state, just pick the first small action to prepair. (such as prepairing a bug-out-bag). As you complete that action, plan the next. No panic, just a step at a time.

It's amazing how one step at a time can move you down the road.

Cheers,
grillzilla

[Laurasia]

Whenever I feel as if it's been a while since I accomplished anything towards my goals, I put a little money into my secret stash of cash. I have a shoe box in a secret place and I put money in there every once in a while. It's good to have cash around. Imagine a situation where the power has been out for a while and no credit/debit card machines work. A shopkeeper would be able to accept good old-fashioned cash, so you would have an advantage over the plastic people! Saving small amounts of cash is an EASY thing to do; you don't have to swing a hammer or dig in the dirt, you just have to give up whatever you were going to spend that money on. Consider it money donated to a good cause - your preparedness. Peak Oil changes will be, for the most part, slow-motion, so you just need to do a tiny little bit each day to prepare. It will be great for your self-esteem. It might be good also if you spent some of your video-game time away from the little screen, with your nose stuck in a book instead. Schneider started a good thread in the preparations section about helpful books for us Peak Oilers!

Don't allow yourself to get too discouraged; it sounds like you're in the first stages of Peak Oil-itis and you will become more mellow and accepting after a while. Your youth is a big plus, you know. I am much older than you and the mental and physical preparation for Peak Oil has actually given me a "cause" to work for, and keeps me from dwelling on the usual aches and pains of folks my age!

Anyway, that's my bit of advice...

Regards,

L.

[kjmclark]

Stratovarius, if it isn't too rude a question, just how old are you? Are you studying ME or finishing high school?

I started out in aerospace engineering after going to a so-so US public high school. If you're studying ME, I would guess the problem is you're in the weed-out phase of the program. The first few years of engineering can be frustrating. If you're in high school, it sounds like you're bored. It happens to many smart people moving on to college. Either way, it may be hard to believe, but things get *much* better.

If I'm right on either of those, I recommend you turn off the computer and do some work. Something that involves a good deal of physical labor. Something that you think is at least marginally worthwhile but that gets your mind off this stuff while making you good and sore. Around here I could go to my local parks department and get a volunteer job removing invasive shrubs. Habitat for Humanity may need help building a house near you. That kind of thing. I would recommend you find something mentally challenging to do, but there aren't as many good options there short of a fulltime job.

The world isn't going to end tomorrow. There will be plenty of useful work for smart, hard-working young people no matter what happens. Even if the economy does collapse, it will take at least a generation. More likely, a century or so of hard times. Learning to enjoy hard work may be the most valuable skill in the near future.

[frankthetank]

strato~

Don't worry, we have a lot in common (some atleast!), and i don't consider myself to be fucked..........yet! I figure atleast i'm not in denial about the possibility of wide spread chaos in the near or atleast not so distant future. Take a few steps at a time, don't try to do everything at once. Try to take it easy on the video games. I don't play games, but some friends do, and thats all they do! Go for a hike everyday for a week or just get outside...it'll clear your mind.

[Stratovarius]

Well after pissing myself off, I worked out and raped my body. Then I finished The Art of War.

Yay, I accomplished something.

[NEOPO]

Perhaps it seems like denial but it is really only a fluctuation of fear levels or even fear tolerance levels if you will.
When you are weak you think this is "normal" and fear is strong.
When you are strong you think this is not "normal" and fear is weak.

Our current motivation is provided more by the knowledge of people dying (war) and/or enslaved (unequal globalism) to serve the unsustainable 1st world lifestyle.

Another motivating factor is climate change.

Peak Oil and the supposed economic ramifications thereof do not bother us as much.

A less common yet still very real motivation for us is the DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT factor.
WTF is life right?
A tv and a sofa?
A car and a mortgage?
The Illusion of ownership?

Ecovillage.
At this time I hear no higher calling then sharing, caring, sustainability, communication, permaculture, preparedness, full/semi independence, off grid saying NO to a coal and nuclear future, etc etc and all this is Ecovillage.

This is probably our last year or even months in the "real" world.
Even though I am savoring some things I get the funny feeling that by this time next year I wont miss much at all.

Whatever comes we will know that we were doing the best that we could by our children, ourselves and the earth - nothing else matters...........

Ecovillage......

[Harlequin]

I think I can understand where you're coming from.
I'm finishing my VCE, after that I did plan to go to University for three years and study accounting.

On the same note I'm still trying to prepare around herem, My mother boguht a combustion stove to replacew our gas systena dnw e're currently trying to get the plumming in order so it'll provide us with hot water.

But I guess I'm lucky, my family owns a fair bit of land that used to be a sheepfarm and orchard and most of the stuff is still in good order except the blackberries that have overrun a lot and the sheep that need a good deal of work.

The upside was that after I got over the three months or so of shock I started to spread the word.
It is a shame, most of my friends seem to listen and believe, but not really if you know what I mean.

Now I've pretty much given up spreading the word but on a better note I've finally started to take action. Just this year I've helped clear the orchard of blackberries and fix up the house the only real problem I have is a lack of money.
The problem is that even as I can see the crash-scenario looming closer it seems I can't run fast enough to do all the things that need doing in fact some days go by that I waste so much time, there are still weeks that I do nothing and it does make me sick.

If I've got thing right you'll probably be about my age right? I'm seventeen, I think it's a problem with a lot of people our age, not a lot of determination.
Where do you live though? Do you live in a flat or something?

[TreebeardsUncle]

Hi.
Well, to Strato, would advise, if you have a console game or various game cds etc, to sell them. Another first step is avoiding going into debt by eschewing credit cars (except for 1 maybe) and paying ones way through college or at least having a trust fund.
There is quite a bit of time yet, as the slide shouldn't occur until at least 2015.
g