The well armed liberal

They exist you know. Just because someone might generally be considered “liberal” or “conservative” doesn't mean they follow the party line.

I've seen out here in the country. A city liberal moves out to the country to get close to nature. They really get into it -organic garden, chickens, the whole country thing. Of course guns are terrible and nobody should have guns.

Then something eats all the veggies out their garden. A fox gets into the hen house. They surprise a bear digging though their trash -on their enclosed porch. Before you know it they are sniping groundhogs with a scoped high power rifle at 100 meters. The gun goes from being an abstract engine of evil to being a useful tool for country living.

I love it when people don't fit categories. For a few years I was on a strict vegan diet, due to doctor's orders. Since it was the first treatment that really helped me at the time I stuck with it. When people heard I was a vegetarian, and a vegan at that, they made a lot of other assumptions about me. Most of those were wrong. The fact that I still went hunting really freaked them out. The rest of my family still ate meat.

One funny thing I noticed around here was that a lot of hippy dippy artistic women marry redneck men. They women love to live out in the beautiful countryside. That's great, but country living has its challenges. A guy who can keep a wood stove fired up in -40 weather and pull a car out of a ditch with a tractor starts to look attractive. So they fall in love and marry.

Then, as nature takes its course, they have children. These little kids are pretty interesting people. I bet they are not going to be easily classified when they grow up. In the end we are all just folk.

-Sixbears

Summertime water fun

My son-in-law wanted to build a swim raft for Father's day. He built it in his driveway. Then he got a crew together and we all loaded it on my sailboat trailer. I had to remove one of the guide poles to fit in on, but it traveled very well.



After launching at the boat ramp my daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law paddled it over to my beach. Brownie the sailor dog refused to be left behind.


So now it sits at my beach, ready for summer party time.


-Sixbears

Air Conditioning and Grand Hotels

In the days before air conditioning it was common practice for the well off to spend summer in the mountains. Grand hotels were built to cater to those escaping the heat of Boston and New York. New Hampshire doesn't have as many of them as in the days of old, but some still remain. Others either burned down, were left to decay, or were stripped for their materials. Part of my house is built from lumber that came from such a hotel.

When air conditioning became common those hotels had to reinvent themselves to stay in business. Just having a big shady porch exposed to mountain breezes was no longer enough.

With our rickety grid a good heat wave could fail from increased AC demand. Cooling takes an awful lot of electricity. There would be more totally off grid houses in the south if it wasn't for the demands of AC.

Houses in the south used to be built to maximize cooling, with large tall windows and good cross ventilation. The humble “shotgun shack” was built with open air flow in mind. Even with good design, there's only so much that can be with natural cooling. Nothing beats the brute force power of air conditioning.

One could argue that the modern south is built on air conditioning. Take that away and people are going to have problems. A grid failure in the south in summer is as bad as power loss in the frigid north. In some ways it's worse. Many homes up north have backup heat independent of the grid. I've yet to see a wood fired air conditioner.

If you have a medical condition or other special needs a well equipped backup generator could literately be a life saver. That's fine for a temporary situation like hurricane or tornado damage, but long term keeping a generator fueled is problematic.

There are ways to lessen the impact of AC loss. I'm surprised at the number of southern people who have no tolerance to warm weather. Their homes, work places, cars, and stores are so air conditioned you could almost use them as meat lockers. It takes about two weeks to get acclimated to heat. Raise the temperature in your house. Get outside as much as you can. Don't forget to drink plenty of water. Water, not sweet tea -limit that stuff, I don't care how traditional it is.

While it's difficult to power AC with solar panels, fans use a fraction of the power. That can make a big difference. Part of dealing with heat is learning to slow down. My house doesn't even have air conditioning. Usually there are a couple days each year that it gets uncomfortably warm. Then I grab a cold beer and wade into the lake until I'm comfortable again. It's no grand hotel, but it works for me.

-Sixbears

Hours in the day

There are only so many hours in the day. Everybody fills every single hour. So how does anyone do anything new? By eliminating some of the things taking up time now. Basic math, but it's not all that simple.

Logically, it would seem easy to eliminate less productive things for more productive pursuits. The problem is that “less productive time” is filling some sort of need right now. For example: we'd like to think we'd give up mindless TV watching for reading great literature. Who can defend mindless TV, right?

Here's the thing, that mindless TV watching is currently filling a need. Maybe after a hard day's work some mindless comedy is just the thing for helping you unwind. Switching to the works of Shakespeare might not do it for you. It takes a bit of work, especially if you've never read the Bard before. The language takes some getting used to and maybe even some time reading all the footnotes. Learning a bit of History for some context will probably be necessary to fully appreciate what's going on. Maybe after the hard work of getting into good literature is done it'll then fill the need that mindless TV fills. I've heard of people who do mathematical problems to relax, so anything is possible.

Don't feel bad if you don't want to give up your mindless TV. Maybe you want TV and great literature in your life. Fine, but something else will have to go. Maybe you can find the time by giving up something else -preferably something that's not adding much to your life.

That forces a person to really take stock in what's going on day to day. Where does your time go? Are you spending time doing things you don't enjoy to impress people you don't like? How much of your life is rote and habit? How about your personal relationships? Just because someone is an old friend doesn't mean they are a good friend. Tough questions. Tough decisions.

The first bit of time that has to be cut out your day is the time for self reflection. Too many of us are too busy to think. Many like it that way, as thinking can be very uncomfortable. Change is also uncomfortable, but discovering what one really wants and making the decisions necessary to make it happen are priceless.

Oh, one little footnote. Avoid the mistake of cutting out hours of sleep. A good night's sleep is necessary for good health. It's also necessary for the proper assimilation of new knowledge. We've all shorted ourselves on sleep from time to time. Life sometimes makes that necessary. Just don't make it a habit.

-Sixbears

Dabbling in poverty or connecting with the common man

Everybody hates a tourist.



Just look at all the those very wealthy politicians out there trying to connect with the common man. People who don't wash a dish, do laundry, pick the dog crap out of the yard or even know how to shop for groceries are going around trying to connect with voters.

Sometimes I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

-Sixbears

Super Wealthy Bugout

I keep coming across articles like this one about the super wealthy establishing bugout retreats.

The wealthiest one tenth of one percent is getting richer and the rest of us are getting poorer. Urban unrest scares the heck out of them. Does it scare them into helping build a more equitable society? No, of course not. Their response is to grab their ill gotten wealth and disappear down some bolt hole.

Yeah, that works, if they can get to their bugout location in time, and the crisis is temporary, and it's not so bad that desperate people hunt them down like dogs. Of course, to feel really secure they will need some very hard men running security. Then all they have to worry about is being killed by their own guards. How long is some tough merc going to take orders from some puffy former hedge fund manager?

Maybe it's not so bad being poor.

I do suspect there are more of those bolt holes out there than people are aware of. I had a long talk with an electrician who was hired to travel to a different state to work on a retreat. It looked like a normal farm house, but was built from the ground up to be bullet proof. The normal looking grain silos were actually hardened steel observation posts.

Shouldn't real evil masterminds shoot the help and bury them in the basement? Naw . . . no need of that when you just hire a bunch of illegals, truck them out into the middle of nowhere and then truck them back.

Historically, the rich who fled with their wealth didn't generally fare all that well. There were a few notable exceptions during the Black Plague. Some who isolated themselves in their remote fortified villas did outlast the disease. Others did not do so well as they brought the plague in with them. Of course, plague burns itself out relatively quickly. They didn't have to stay behind their walls forever. Now that just got me thinking. What if you know a plague is coming? An isolated bugout retreat would make perfect sense. Modern medicine and isolation practices would increase the odds of success.

Most likely they are concerned about civil unrest following an economic collapse. The bulk of these guys are in the business of money, so it's what they know. I'm guessing they are hoping to avoid all those people they've been stealing from all these years.

-Sixbears

Back to tents

A buddy of mine built a remote cabin on an isolated island somewhere in the North Atlantic. It's about as remote a place in North America as you'd want to go. The island can only be reached by boat and most of the island is surrounded by steep cliffs.

Last winter an 11 foot storm surge sent a huge piece of sea ice right up the cliff and into the cabin. It was moved back 35 feet then tipped over on its side. Never underestimate the power of mother nature.

He's decided to salvage what he can from the cabin and will burn the rest. Instead of rebuilding a simple tent platform will take its place. His tent, at 12 X 16 feet, is pretty good sized. It's designed to be used with a wood stove. A well made wood heated tent can be surprisingly comfortable. I once stayed in one during an overnight cross country ski trip.

A quality tent is not cheap but worth the money. If you plan on spending any time at all in a tent don't spring for the cheapest Walmart disaster. Quality only hurts once. The difference between a good dry night's sleep and having your tent shredded in a storm is priceless.

For me, the type and size of tent one buys depends on how it's going to be hauled around. If it's going to on your back in a pack, weight is a major factor. However, if it's going to be carried in a vehicle or even a canoe, it's a different story. I've been known to carry a 50 pound canvas tent in a canoe. It was roomy enough to comfortably sleep a half dozen adults.

It was rated for more, but don't believe those ratings. For example, a four man tent is just about big enough for two people. Maybe 4 people could sleep in the tent, but forget about rolling over or having any gear in the tent with you. You want a tent big enough so you can sit up and play cards to pass a rainy day.

Maybe it's the nomad in me, but I still love a good tent. It might be a good substitute for that remote cabin. Even the most remote cabins have been broken into. A tent platform isn't something anyone's likely to steal or vandalize. It gets the tent off the ground so it's warmer and dryer. The tent sets up faster than on the ground too.

No, you don't really need a good tent. I've spent nights sleeping on snow covered mountain tops with a tarp. However, a good tent makes everything just that much easier and more comfortable.

-Sixbears