[yull]

It may be affecting me lately. A few years ago it was all theoretical and academic but to see it all unfolding as we predicted is making it a bit creepy. I mean, oil is nearly $140, food prices exploding, Arctic melting as rates well beyond anybody's worst-case, metal prices exploding, financial crisis, rioting over fuel, strikes, etc etc. If someone predicted this a few years ago they would have been called nuts.

The more I read, the more I think that it could be worse even than the doomers think. I think the psychology of the realisation that it's all over will trigger a massive social, cultural and political shift across the western world. It will be a change from a cultural mindset of progress to that of decline and believe people's thoughts, behaviours and attitudes will drastically change. Their whole mental make up will be shaken, it will be like waking from a dream. I get a feeling that something huge is happening. It's subtle at the moment but I do feel it.

[pedalling_faster]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', 'I')f someone predicted this a few years ago they would have been called nuts.

[Olaf]

I am so glad to have this board as a sort of 'support group' if you will. It does help to some small extent to hear others voice the same things that I am feeling and thinking.

The description of having one foot each in a different world feels very appropriate. My stress levels fluctuate, but I find myself more and more distressed that I am not nearly as prepared or as knoweldgeable as I would like to be; yet have to spend so much of my time doing things that have become a waste of time as I see it. I am angry a lot and I do not wish to be. My tolerance for most people has gotten worse, and I was never very patient with most folks to begin with. I seek a degree of calm and find that it evades me much of the time.

I have land now, but no house on it yet. Every day that passes I worry that what my wife and I have planned for it will come to naught. The in between just sucks. I try to stick with some of my hobbies to maintain my sanity and try to devote more time to those that I think may have some bearing on my future.

As has been voiced by others, it has ceased being entirely academic and has become very real; much quicker than I really was anticipating. I see what the politicians spout, and I think, 'Really, that's your plan? F**k me".

It's like in the medieval fighitng that I do, we joke:

'What's the plan'?

'Get 'em'.

'Get 'em, that's the plan'?

I just turned 35 this past weekend, and well, generally, it kind of sucked. It all has me feeling very small and unimportant. Isolated. I'm not a hero, I'm just a guy. I hope to get to be a guy that is a survivor for a while and never be one to quit. Maybe that is the best I can hope for, scratched in the dirt around my dying spot: He didn't quit.

Olaf

[CarlinsDarlin]

Just for you, Olaf

[Hagakure_Leofman]

Another for you Olaf, and indeed everyone; certainly for our future...

an old saying...

"Fall down six times, get up seven."

[mmasters]

After reading a number of responses I have to reiterate the diet, supplement and lifestyle changes I outlined. The difference is nothing short of huge.

[pedalling_faster]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RacerJace', 'I') currently work in the automotive industry and I have an overwhelming sense of despair every day. I know that what I am doing is futile. However I also know that with two small children and a lovely wife I can not just abandon our main source of income.

I work in advanced development and all of my focus in the last few years has been on inventing technologies that will be somewhat future proof (given what I know we are in for). I have invented manufacturing methods for composite structures that can use natural fibres and resins, minimal labor and minimal tooling. I have ideas for distributed rapid manufacturing that reduce logistics to walk-able distances. And many other ideas for technologies that are somewhat fitting the post PO world. Yet I can't help feeling that it is all moot.

[jedinvest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yull', 'I')t may be affecting me lately. A few years ago it was all theoretical and academic but to see it all unfolding as we predicted is making it a bit creepy. I mean, oil is nearly $140, food prices exploding, Arctic melting as rates well beyond anybody's worst-case, metal prices exploding, financial crisis, rioting over fuel, strikes, etc etc. If someone predicted this a few years ago they would have been called nuts.

The more I read, the more I think that it could be worse even than the doomers think. I think the psychology of the realisation that it's all over will trigger a massive social, cultural and political shift across the western world. It will be a change from a cultural mindset of progress to that of decline and believe people's thoughts, behaviours and attitudes will drastically change. Their whole mental make up will be shaken, it will be like waking from a dream. I get a feeling that something huge is happening. It's subtle at the moment but I do feel it.

[bodigami]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('albente', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('greenworm', '
')
Love is the cure for stress

[aldente]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', 'S')ex is not Love. Love can be expressed with Sex, but Sex can also be expressed with no Love.

[pedalling_faster]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'I')f I didn't write I'd blow up. Seriously, I think my head would just explode.

[hopethreat]

I don't know if this is pre-traumatic stress disorder, but I cannot handle loud noises all of a sudden. I jump when a truck hits a pothole and the loud clanging of metal happens.

The boom of an occasional firework outside is also causing this reaction.


The "voice of reason" in my life said to me 'be careful what you think and believe...because even if it is happening, you don't want to contribute to it with your own thoughts.' ...Thoughts/beliefs create reality

[ReducedToZero]

I must say I have been having a bit of PTSD. I am a senior in college studying Construction Management and Sustainable Design. I really want to graduate before the shit hits the fan, ive been in school my entire life (21) and if I just accomplished that it would be excellent....I think id be "more ok". This last year with the spike in oil prices it just feels like the prophecies are coming true and all my doubts as to whether "this is actually going to happen" are flying out the window. I quit driving and have begun to embrace bicycles as my main form of transit. Its very difficult when someone says a statement regarding the future, such as, where do you want to work when you get older, etc etc. Seems so futile. If you truly believe peak oil down to your core, you cannot be convinced otherwise. I really wish I got 5 more years to prepare, it seems to be hitting me when I really dont want it to... but who gets that luxury...

[RacerJace]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pedalling_faster', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RacerJace', 'I') currently work in the automotive industry and I have an overwhelming sense of despair every day. I know that what I am doing is futile. However I also know that with two small children and a lovely wife I can not just abandon our main source of income.

I work in advanced development and all of my focus in the last few years has been on inventing technologies that will be somewhat future proof (given what I know we are in for). I have invented manufacturing methods for composite structures that can use natural fibres and resins, minimal labor and minimal tooling. I have ideas for distributed rapid manufacturing that reduce logistics to walk-able distances. And many other ideas for technologies that are somewhat fitting the post PO world. Yet I can't help feeling that it is all moot.

[BigTex]

As my current sig line suggests, I think that one way of looking at where we are at is to understand that although many of us used to think we were walking on solid ground, we now realize that as a society we are actually walking a tight rope above a huge tiger pit and both anchor points for the wire are unraveling.

There are people who can perform stunts like this and keep a cool head while doing it. We should aspire to be like those people.

Big wave riders are cool like that:



Just look at the "mana":

[Ludi]

BigTex, I can't help but think of the opening to the tune "Wipeout"


Hahahahahaha! Wipeout!

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'B')igTex, I can't help but think of the opening to the tune "Wipeout"


Hahahahahaha! Wipeout!

[Revi]

According to this article there are three types of doomers:

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/45752

Peak oil has come a long way when there are three types of doomers.

I feel like a "do-more doomer", but I think I have aspects of all three on different days.

I know it's going to get bad, but I try to be like Roberto Benini in Life is Beautiful. He lived in the worst conditions imaginable, working for the Nazi war machine. All the children were gassed along with anyone who couldn't do heavy work. He told his son to hide and if he did a good job he would get a tank.

I know how bad it will get, but I prefer to tell my students and even some friends that we're building a tank.

[PonyBoy78]

I have my ups and downs. The Peak is with me, everywhere I go. I take it with me to grocery store and wonder about how the variety we see on the shelves will soon begin to vanish while prices rise. I bring it along on trips home, wondering how much longer the airlines will stay in business.

And no matter where I go, it's in the background of my thoughts when I see people: "You are so screwed." Co-workers, patients, acquaintances, family friends, strangers at the shopping center, people sitting in their cars. I hear people talking about their hopes, dreams, upcoming weddings, new babies on the way, houses being built.. and I wonder how they'll all fare. It's an eerie feeling, but I don't want to risk being deemed crazy if I bring-up the topic. So my mouth stays shut.

It also lingers in the back of my mind at work; how long will health care be around to bring me the income I need to prepare? Do I have another 5 years of employment? 10? I know that I'll be cutting things very closely financially, and it's been a huge stress to me lately. I'm gobbling-up all of the overtime I can right now while I can. This is probably the thing that keeps me up at night.

I don't stress about politics nearly as much as I used to, since most issues pale in comparison to what looms ahead. This is quite dramatic, as I used to obsess over these issues. Electoral map on one wall of the office, key senate race numbers on another wall.. but now gone! While I tend to be in the left-libertarian region, I no longer stress. Obama winning might get me tax credits for solar power.. who knows? Heck, McCain might buy us more time by "liberating" more oil fields! Given the past 8 years, there's no telling. So it's hard to predict or care.

My partner is totally on-board with me for off-grid homesite preparations, but I'm not sure he's as pessimistic as I am. I don't think of myself as particularly 'doomerish,' but I don't see what's coming as merely another Great Depression, which is what he's thinking.

Dad seems very open - his mantra has always been "get independent" - but I'm not sure he sees all implications of the Peak. To be honest, I haven't talked to him at length about what's coming. Still, he's pushing me to go off-grid and become as self-sufficient as possible. He's very vague, but often talks about how "we (civilization) can't keep this up much longer."

Of everyone, I think I worry about Mom most.. (this is the point where I had to stop typing and think. I'm at a loss for words.). I'll just say.. I fear how she's going to take the transition, and I admit, I'm adding some comfort measures for her to my plans. It's what any good mama's boy would do, I guess. (On the plus side: she's going to love living with me again.)

The positives? I'm actually looking forward to a simpler, quieter life. A place in the country - complete with garden, chickens, etc - has always been my wish for retirement, even before I found-out about the Peak. And the morbidly unemotional part of me thinks that this is going to be a fascinating period of history to be living in. A front row seat.. to this?!? Wow! But through what venue will I watch? Will TV broadcasting survive? How about radio? Internet? I suspect that the answer is 'yes' to all of these, but I don't know the scale to which we'll see each medium reduced.

Given the complexity of what I'm feeling, there's no surprise that I'm rambling. It felt good to get it out though.

[cestlavie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PonyBoy78', 'I') have my ups and downs. The Peak is with me, everywhere I go. I take it with me to grocery store and wonder about how the variety we see on the shelves will soon begin to vanish while prices rise. I bring it along on trips home, wondering how much longer the airlines will stay in business.

And no matter where I go, it's in the background of my thoughts when I see people: "You are so screwed." Co-workers, patients, acquaintances, family friends, strangers at the shopping center, people sitting in their cars. I hear people talking about their hopes, dreams, upcoming weddings, new babies on the way, houses being built.. and I wonder how they'll all fare. It's an eerie feeling, but I don't want to risk being deemed crazy if I bring-up the topic. So my mouth stays shut.