[SilentRunning]

I am Silent Running - I live in Upstate NY, on a plot of land that could be turned into a doomstead. We're not yet ready for peak oil, but I have started making plans and putting some of them into action.

I've been super-insulating the house. I've created a small cache of dry-food stuffs. The wife and my grown kids are interested in growing some crops - but we're all newbies at it.

My hope is that - if it comes to it - we'll be able to scratch out a living when we need to.

[Aaron]

Greetings... glad to have you here.

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SilentRunning', 'I') am Silent Running - I live in Upstate NY, on a plot of land that could be turned into a doomstead. We're not yet ready for peak oil, but I have started making plans and putting some of them into action.

I've been super-insulating the house. I've created a small cache of dry-food stuffs. The wife and my grown kids are interested in growing some crops - but we're all newbies at it.

My hope is that - if it comes to it - we'll be able to scratch out a living when we need to.

[SarahHollis]

http://sites.google.com/site/sarahhollis2012/

The Sarah Hollis Chronicles - final part 3.

This is how I am mentally preparing for PO/EOTW

Sarah Anne Hollis is a lonely yet extremely sensitive 23.5 year old girl who has been hurt in the past and just wants to find true love, live a happy life and eventually start and raise a large family and work with kids with cancer. She is the daughter of Peggy Sue and Merlin Wayne Hollis and currently lives in the little town of Topeka, KS. Like many of us, she has no idea that the world is coming to an end in less than five years from now. This is her story.




...

My life currently consists of working full time, going to night school twice a week, and sleep. It's pretty boring but right now we are working long hours at work and I just don't have the energy to go out and do much. My typical day is just bascially - get up, go to work, come home, relax, go to bed. It sounds boring (cuz it is), but there are errands in there somewhere and dog walking. If I find something that I'm interested in I will stay up all night readting. I would say that I have read over 20 books in the past year. I've been reading a lot of romantic novels, and now I'm reading some books on financial stuff. I have a confession, I may sound like I'm busy but most of the time I am completely bored and sitting at home watching tv. Isn't that awful? My nephew is 6 weeks old now and we have him a couple nights and a week and that has become the highlight of my life, sounds pretty dull doesn't it? Its just my parents, my brother, and I here in Topeka. Both of my parents are from other states so the family is spread out all over. We moved here from northern Iowa to follow my dads job when I was in second grade. There's really not a whole lot of difference between Kansas and Iowa, lots of cows, lots of allergies.. Really the only difference is that I'm not 3 feet deep in snow every winter. I've been here since I was 8 and I look forward to escaping one day. I'm not a big fan of Kansas, but as long as my family is here I will probably consider it home. I wouldn't mind living somewhere else though. I hate the school systems around here and do not want my children going to school here. Topeka sucks. Topeka sucks because theres really nothing to do here. After 10pm it is dead. Everybody here either goes to Lawrence or Kansas City to do something, with the economy good bad everybody here seems more depressed than usual. My father is convinced that Obama will be our downfall. I don't know if it is actually Obama's fault, I think that it is just the natural cycle of things. It's our turn to be humbled. My parents have been stocking up on ammunition and they have been socking cash away in a fireproof safe that we have in the house, they are trying to prepare in their own way. I'm sorry to put it so bluntly but I've never liked it here. The weather is too unpredicatable here and I think I would like to live in a warmer climate. I've been to Colorado once in my life and I remember it as being incredibly beautiful. I loved the mountains. The only place that I've been that I can remember is Colorado Springs and South Dakota.

My birthday does usually coincide with spring break and I've always thought that was lucky. It is also my parents anniversary. Although, since I was born I don't think they've ever had a real anniversary because it has always been my day. My mother says that I'm the best gift she could have ever received but I must admit that at times I feel a little guilty that I took their special day away from them.

My mother met my father in the military, while actually met while doing laundry on a base in Okinawa, Japan. My mother joined the military to get out of a bad home life, and I think she regrets not staying in and making a career out of it, but she wanted children and she didn't feel that she could have both. The military is not something I can see myself doing, but I think it can be a great career. It's especially good for kids just coming out of high school who aren't sure what they wanna do yet. I think once upon a time they were in love but I think children ruined it. My father is not a good dad and I think she realized that too late. He is a very self-centered man and is unable to put anybodys needs before his own. But she wanted this life and refuses to divorce him even though he has walked out on us numerous times. I think it's because she doesn't want to admit to her family that they were right about him. It's her pride that keeps here here. I used to beg her to leave him when I was little and she would tell me "I'm not leaving my husband for you!" That was the first time I realized that I was not and would never be the most important person in my mothers life. That totally crushed me.

I have always had a fear of ending up alone and I think it comes from always feeling alone when I was growing up. My brother was never treated the way I was so I didn't even have an allie in him and I was threatened with more punishment if I ever told my friends what was going on so I spent a lot of time alone in my room. I don't regret this, for it was the only way I could survive, but I just remember sitting in there and crying for hours and feeling so alone in the world. I realize now that I had it easy compared to other people but it was hard to see the big picture when I was younger.

I have tried to get to the bottom of things and really it all goes back to my parents I think. My father is bi-polar so genes probably played a big role and before he was put on medication he was very abusive. He never hit but he did throw things and I can remember being yelled at just for walking too loudly (his yelling was so loud that the neighbors would comment on it). I think because of his abusive nature I lost a lot of respect for men. My mother was/is an enabler. She was more than willing to turn the other cheek to whatever he did. She always said "it's not as bad as you think" and told me to "get over it". I used to talk to her about things until I came to the realization that he holds some sort of power of her and saying anything against him just makes me look bad. So I bottle it up inside of me and I think that's where the depression comes from. In my younger years it used to satisfy him to just see me cry but nowadays I yell back and absolutely refuse to cry, which just pisses him off more. I'm not sure why he is the way he is and I don't care anymore. He's just not a good person. I could tell you horror stories about the way he treated me, but I won't put those thoughts into your head.

I never tried to commit suicide but I have had plans to and that is why my mom and my dr had to watch me so closely. I have tried a lot of the anti depressants out there but once in a while I just have a bad day where it is wayyyyy too tempting to take that bottle of sleeping pills and put an end to all the pain that life seems to cause.

I'm religious about taking my medications at night, but the dr is currently in the process of switching me from lexapro to prozac so it could be a bumpy few weeks ahead. The lexapro has stopped working after 4 years so its time to try something new. I do also meditate and do a little yoga, it helps me be calm and I picture myself laying by a lake watching ducks. I am trying to go to church more regularly but for the most part I have only been going for major holidays. I'm trying to find a pastor that I like. Our old one moved away and I miss her terribly. I am a Lutheran, bacically we're as close to being catholic as you can get without actually being Catholic.

My brother got back from Iraq in Febuary and that has to have been the longest year of my life. I finally had to give up CNN because I always looked for him in their clips. The media seem to be very anti-american. And so two-faced. They preach "support the troops" and then they bash them with their stories. My brother has been home for about a year and is going back in 2010. Although now his unit is saying that he might have to go to Africa to fight pirates (I couldn't make this up). My brother is addicted to call of duty. He doesn't so much like the newest version though, thinks its a waste of money.

I may have babied my brother too much when he was younger and turned him into the self-centered, arrogant jerk that he is today. My mother keeps telling me that he will grow up and turn into a decent human being but I don't thin that will come to pass. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be friends with my brother but after 5 minutes with his snotty attitude I usually find myself wanting to throw his off the nearest roof. My family has now been told that we need to stay away from the baby because my brother is afraid that someone will figure out he is the father and he will go to jail for knocking up a minor. The whole thing seems very silly to me, but he is concerned and unfortunatly we have to humor him.

My brother, as long as he is with his current girlfriend has no hope of ever becoming a person that I could care about. She has turned him against our family so that she may have more control over him. She is quite the manipulator for a 16 year old. My brother has always gone for the damaged girls (abusive parents, liars, cheaters, etc) so I can't say I'm surprised by the partner that he has chosen but I hope that eventually he grows out of this. Sometimes I really miss the feeling I used to get when I saw him but I'm starting to realize that I can't keep putting myself out there for him to just reject me. My heart can't take it anymore.

Audie does bring great joy to my life but I am very dissipointed in my brother. He refuses to accept responsibility for the baby and when asked who the father was, the mother said that she didn't know. They think they are going to get state aid if she's a single mother. I am very dissipointed in this. Looking for welfare is not how we were brought up. I love Audie like he was my own, its his father that depresses me. Its so hard to believe that we were raised by the same people. If I met him on the street I don't think I would like him. But those are my issues and I need to come to terms with them. I wouldn't mind throwing his ass in jail right about now, but I know that that would be wrong. However if he was in jail he might have to listen to me..... My father wants to have a man to man talk with my brother and has tried calling him but my brother refuses to answer or even acknowledge our existence. I'm just glad somebody else is on the shit list for once. I am temporarily the favorite child!!!

I'm a big fan of bears. They just look so cuddly. I was watching a special the other night on panda bears and they had some that were just a few weeks old and they were so cute! Makes me wish I could have one for a pet. Penguins are pretty cute. I love the way they walk. I'm a fan of all bears, but pandas are probably my favorite. I also like the big cats. Baby lions and tigers are adorable. I used to take horseback riding lessons but then a horse stepped on my foot and I never went back. I really loved it and I should have stayed with it but I got frustrated because it's imposssible to reason with a horse. Very stubborn animals.

Peabody is one of the smartest dogs I have ever met. I wish I could take credit for Peabody's name but my best friend named his. He was originally supposed to be her dog but her parents changed their minds and I begged my parents to keep him. They only bad thing is that my parents are quite attached to him and I've been told that if I move out he does not get to go with me. I just recently moved back in with my parents and although I love living with Peabody again I'm not sure how much more I can take of family bonding. Its hard living at home again after being on your own I think in a past life he must have been some sort of genius. Also I think he is so human because my mother and I talk to him all the time and we fawn all over him telling him how cute he is and such. There has never been a better dog than my pea. Pea does like to sit next to people and fart. It is quite gross but sometimes really funny. He'll fart and then look at the person as if to say "i can't believe you just did that". I don't know if you know anything about this breed but they are supposed to be very intelligent, curious, and hyper. He is all of those things and more. He's very barky and cuddly, and I swear sometimes he talks back to me. In my free time I surf the net, read, do a little sewing, and I'm a Law and Order junkie. I like all of the L&As except for Criminal Intent. I just can't get into it. I also enjoy watching "House". He has such a twisted way of looking at things, I think he is absolutely hilarious. Peabody is very put out when we talk about baby Audie but I'm very careful to constantly reassure him that he is #1 in my heart. Pea gets very jealous if I even pet another dog so I can't imagine how he will react when I am cuddling a baby. We showed him pictures of Audie and I know it seems odd but he really seemed to understand that we had addition to our family. Hopefully Audie and him will be friends. Pea will run up to anybody and start jumping on them. He's scared more than a few people walking by the house. Usually I let him out to take out the trash with me and it ends with me running after him screaming "He's friendly!" to the lucky passerby thats about to get licked to death. I am not a fan of snow but I do like having a white christmas. Peabody doesn't seem to mind the snow at all, he's so cute when he digs in it he gets snow all over his face and then he shakes to get it off. He can't seem to figure out why its so cold though.

I am studying to be a nurse but right now I have to become a certified nursing asstant (CNA) so I'm going to school for that and then I'll just keep working my way up until I am a nurse. Eventually once I get my nursing degree I would like to work with children that have cancer. I think I could do the most good there. I want to do this a cheap as possible. I don't really want to go into a huge amount of debt in school. (Debt is for fun things) Being a dr would be incredible and maybe one day I will get there, I would really like to be on the frontline of cancer research. I work in an Optometry office right now as an assistant. I do all the billing and scheduling, I really like my job but it doesn't pay shit. I have a great job but I know its just temporary, I am hoping to make it last a year or so though. I like it, but its just not what I see myself doing long term. I hope that makes sense. I have my associates in elementary education and I decided that that was just not the job for me.

I love italian food, really any kind of pasta. Chili's has this great Shrimp alfredo dish that I would eat everyday if I could. I am also a Dr Pepper junkie. I can't get through the day without one. I'm not really a candy person but if i do eat it I prefer to have reeses pieces candies. Those with a glass of milk is just pure heaven. Right now my favorite food is probably the bow tie festival from Johnny Carinos (its an italian restaurant here). It has pasta, bacon, and chicken in it and it tastes like they actually cook it in bacon grease. It tastes so good!!!!!! I'm licking my lips as I think about it right now.

There were several unrequited loves when I was younger, I was a little boy crazy. Senior year of high school was the first time I realized that the boys I liked might like me back. My first boyfriend was the total opposite of me, very loud and was constantly needing attention but I thought he was cute so I asked him out. I honestly don't know what made me love him the way I did but we stayed together for 8 months (which in high school is a lifetime). He's gotten involved in drugs since then and I don't talk to him anymore but sometimes I think about the boy I loved and try to remember the girl I was then. I was 17 before I got my first kiss. The first time a boy put his tongue in my mouth I thought it was the grossest thing ever and I had to consult my friend before I found out that they were supposed to do that!

After high school so many of my friends ran down the aisle with their boyfriends thinking that they had found someone that was going to love them forever. It's hurt to see how heartbroken they become after the honeymoon has worn off. I used to feel so superior to them because I didn't get married but truth be told I was insanely jealous looking at their wedding photos.
I do believe that happily ever after is out there, but in this generation of constant motion it is harder for people to take the time and find someone that fits them, hence out high divorce rate. I did have a best friend in elementary school but we had to go to separate middle schools so we weren't able to stay friends. I see her every now and then but we became such different people that it is hard for us to connect. Back then I was a very shy, bookish kid and although I am a little more outgoing now I think for the most part I have stayed the same person. I felt very lonely growing up, we moved here in the middle of the second grade and it was a difficult transition for me. I just read my books and tried to escape. I did have one imaginary friend, David. He was older than me and he always looked out for me.

None of my friends are looking for places so I think I'm on my own. I just want to get a cute little one bedroom apartment, nothing big. I think I'll move next spring, I wanted to move out this fall but with going back to school and working its not like I will be around here much anyways. Might as well just save the money.

I lived with my ex boufriend for a year and I think the fact that we lived together contributed greatly to the break up. The boyfriend I had last year just wasn't interested in sex (at least not with me) That kind of rejection really stung, but eventually I just gave up and it became a fact of our relationship. We don't talk and really I don't know if I could recognize him on the street. I have no desire to ever see or talk to him again. I tried living with my boyfriend for a time last year but it felt so wrong. I would go to bed every night crying because I knew that I was going against what I believed. It was a very painful growing experience but it really helped me learn more about myself. Really towards the end of things it because very apparent that we had nothing in common, so I don't know what we would talk about anyways, "hey remember that time you left the wet towel on the bed and I didn't speak to you for a day?". Yeah, not exactly the type of conversation I need to have. Or how bout "are you able to get an erection now and keep it, I was just wondering if you ever got that problem sorted out". I fell for him because he had his own apartment and it was a safe place away from my father. I regret that relationship and I wish it never happened, but I'm sure I learned something from it. I'd love to find a man who can fix my car! I know nothing about cars whatsoever but I would love to get an old VW bug and restore it, I just need someone to show me how to do it. Honestly I just want to find the one and live happily ever after! Don't we all? Sometimes hope is the only thing we have left.


--

Will Omega Point outpace Olduvai Gorge? Will our own personal 'Cambrian Explosion' occur this year or will it remain forever an illusive absolution that will never come? If there ever was a time to get it all out into the open, all of it, to finally express our grievances and cherish our sorrows, to say the words and do the things that we always secretly wanted to do but never had the guts or courage to actually get around to it.. Now is the time. For the End is Nigh and in these End of the World of Ours there will never be a second chance. If we ever wanted to heal, to be complete and happy, to expose our secrets and discover the truth. This is it. Now is the time.

[edit - topic moved to Welcome Forum - markl]

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SarahHollis', 'I') don't know if you know anything about this breed but they are supposed to be very intelligent, curious, and hyper.

[SeaGypsy]

With your 1st post you have outdone everyone in terms of revealing yourself. Assuming you are being honest rather than creative!.

Remember the old saying "A good man is hard to find but a hard man is good to find."

Women grow up way faster than men. When a girl gets her period she realizes a connection to reality that many men don't get until they see their own child being born.

Big age gaps are not popular in the west but they are in many cultures.
A very old freind of mine has a saying: "Real men begin at 40."

Western men in their 20's are mostly like adolescents. The word 'Kidult' comes to mind. My advice for what it's worth: look beyond Saturn return; the age of 28/30. I'm not big on astro- wank; but sometimes it rings true.
Saturn is regarded as the planet of Authority and Responsibility.
164 days after the 28th birthday it is back where it was on your birthday.
That's a full cycle of Saturn. This date is not a precise indicator of events because it depends which 'house' and where in the 'house' Saturn was positioned at birth.

[Tanada]

Welcome to PO.com . Be aware people on this board are like people everywhere else, except they are not restrained by PC patterns of speaking, which can be quite shocking if you are used to everythign harsh being nuanced into gentle wording. Best advice, anything you read on here that you do not already know to be fact should be researched by yourself before it is accepted as fact. Well meaning people often repeat things they do not know to be facts because they trusted someone else to do the research for them, and this leads to error.

[pup55]

Welcome Sarah.

I have been to Topeka and quite liked it, but the image of some bipolar guy stocking firearms out there is also not surprising.

You are my daughters' age. If you were them, I would tell you to get a little more laid back. You are posting on a doomer website, are into the Olduvai theory, and seem to be pretty intense around the fellows, so a vacation would do you some good. I suggest Key West. Fresh air, sunshine, and a bunch of crazy young people that party until they can't anymore.

Of course, we dinosaurs can't help giving young people unsolicited advice (LOL), but It's the exact opposite of Topeka. You might eventually find someplace in between where you can get a bit more stimulation.

anyway, Welcome.

[oldchuck]

Good Morning,

I'm not as much a doomer as I used to be. After years of political activism I realized in 1975 or so that energy and consumption were at the root of our problems. I've been an advocate for renewable energy and a steady state economic system ever since. I've enjoyed precious little success convincing others but have managed to live a pretty happy life outside cultural norms. I'm just an old hippy I suppose.

I live in Vermont with a house in the nation's smallest state capital and 300 acres of forest land about nine miles away. We are starting to put together an adequate homestead out in the woods, which involves road building and land clearing (maybe an acre this year). Even with one tractor, one pick-up, and two cars we don't use a lot of gas. Making plans for alternative fuels, mainly wood based since we have so much of it.

I have three kids, the youngest still in college, and four grandchildren spread from Indiana to Oregon. At least one of them will be back here, I think, after he's done with school. My daughters seem pretty rooted where they are but there will always be a place for them here.

I may post a little from time to time but probably mostly just read. I get the urge to offer a little advice on some threads which is why I registered. I like forums, some forums. I'm registered in a few others. There's always a diversity.

[SeaGypsy]

Hi Chuck,
sorry, who'se got 300 acre's? Is that yours? I guess that's what your saying? Wow, that's a serious committment. You must have been doing something else than hippyism to get that together; or do you grow wicked bud and have a clever accountant?
How well do you know this board? Loads of relevant stuff here for an oldish doomer with 300 acres!
I'm a forum junkie ex hippy myself; this is my favorite.
Welcome aboard me hearty!

[oldchuck]

Hello Gypsy,

I started reading this forum a couple of weeks ago, reference from The Oil Drum. I've read several of your posts and you don't seem like much of a pirate.

Yeah, our land, bought it about a year ago, hopefully to become a family legacy property. Hardwood and softwood forest, mainly maple, beech, birch, hemlock, spruce, and balsam fir. Only about two acres are cleared and most of that is ledge. We fell into the money through no fault of mine. I've lived all my life pretty low on the food chain and haven't suffered from it a bit.

[Caffeine]

I've been lurking on peakoil.com for a while, but haven't posted here before. While I've believed for a long time that the world's oil supply would begin to run out eventually, I did not really become "Peak Oil aware" until last year. I have not (yet) read Scarrow's "Last Light," but I have read Orlov. (I hadn't heard of him prior to visiting this website!)

I would like to thank those here for getting so many people to think about Peak Oil/resource depletion.

[Aaron]

Welcome... glad to have you here.

[Caffeine]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'W')elcome. What is Scarrow's 'Last Light'? Orlov is right on.

[Maddog78]

Are you jittery and can't sleep?





Welcome.

[Caffeine]

I do love caffeine. (Sadly, I'd imagine that post-Peak Oil coffee/tea cultivation is probably pretty far down most people's priority lists.)

[aldente]

Hi there,
Just were confronted with the Olduvai-theory again of Richard Duncan, stating that the effects of Peak Oil will not be noticable in an obvious way, but the sudden effects of power outages could bring North America down much more unexpectedly, especially if Mexico has a major power outage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWCQ9MDxOaw

[dbruning]

Welcome

Everyone can always use a little more caffeine

[Schmuto]

Awesome.

[Vogelzang]

Beam me up, Scotty.