Are some of the prepartions even worth it?

What changes can we make to our lives to deal with the economic and energy crises ahead? Have you already started making preparations? Got tips to share?

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emordnilap
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Post by emordnilap »

Are some of the prepartions even worth it?
I've made no prepartions as far as I'm aware.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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adam2
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Post by adam2 »

RenewableCandy wrote:[

They also had extra-long net-curtains with fishing-weights sewn into the seams, the extra length fitting into a sort of tray like an internal window-box. That way, if your window was stoved in by object or explosion, all the glass would ball up into the cloth, and there weren't flying shards of glass all over the place.
This was also the practice in London in case of IRA bombs, stronger than usuall nylon net curtains were used with a lenth of chain sewn into the bottom were used. It was stated that the curtain had to be very close to the glass for this too work.
In Selfridges store many of the windows were fitted with decorative screens of lightweight aluminium chains, closely spaced. It was stated this this would reduce the amount of glass splinters flying around in the event of an explosion.
Both practices were discontinued when peace broke out in Ireland, rather short sighted in view of the present concerns re ME terrorists.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
Vortex
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Post by Vortex »

My brother was a butler working at a private restaurant around the corner from Selfridges when their bomb went off.

The blast 'bounced' around the corner and blew the restaurant windows in.

Apparently all the toffs simply carried on eating as if nothing had happened - they simply picked the glass shards out of their soup etc.

Shades of Up The Kyber!

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OrraLoon
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Post by OrraLoon »

WolfattheDoor wrote:As I wrote on my blog recently:


A common fear amongst those studying the effects of peak oil is thought of mobs of people fleeing towns and cities and invading rural areas. In so many science fiction movies, we see motorways clogged with thousands of cars as people panic and run from impending danger. But the difference between these scenarios and peak oil is that they were fleeing from a known and immediate danger ? a flood or a nuclear bomb ? whereas peak oil is a slow and gradual breakdown with an unknown set of problems and an unknown timescale.

People are notoriously reluctant to move even when things are bad ? consider the inhabitants of cities like London and Plymouth who stayed even when they were being bombed during the War, or the people of Naples or San Francisco who live in the shadow of a constant natural threat that will one day destroy them. People prefer the known to the unknown, familiar surroundings to the unfamiliar, friends to strangers, especially when the place they are fleeing to is alien or, in some cases, if they don?t even know where they are going.

There is also, especially in Britain, the infatuation with owning your own home. If you have spent 20 or 30 years to buy your house, and maybe spent thousand of pounds on improving it, you will be very reluctant to leave it without somewhere definite to go to. The house is recognisable and it?s yours. In a time of fear and uncertainty, the four walls and the garden are something to hold onto. It will almost certainly be the bulk of your assets. If you leave it, who knows what will happen to it, who will invade it.

I believe that the vast majority will stay put, hoping that ?things will recover? or ?the government will sort things out?. If and when they do flee, it will probably be for places they know (relatives and friends) or areas relatively close to home. I can?t see thousands jumping in their cars and using whatever petrol they have left to head off into the country. And those that do will probably be the adventurous, motivated people who would be useful in a survival situation.

In a good location, a house is a blessing; in a bad location, it is a curse.
I see it as a bit like the theory whereby a Jupiter-planet makes life on Earth possible by soaking up incoming asteroids and comets.

So, imagine the (depleted) hordes of, say, Tyneside being soaked up by the stout burgers of Hexham or Alnwick. Mr or Ms Peakoil should position themselves slightly 'further out' and then all will be well.
Give me a place to stand on and I will move the Earth.
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Andy Hunt
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Post by Andy Hunt »

What is there to do except prepare?

If you lose it all, well, you will end up with what you would have had if you didn't prepare.

If you don't, all to the good, and you will have some experience which you may be able to impart to others.
Andy Hunt
http://greencottage.burysolarclub.net
Eternal Sunshine wrote: I wouldn't want to worry you with the truth. :roll:
Vortex
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Post by Vortex »

If you don't, all to the good, and you will have some experience which you may be able to impart to others.
Exactly!

A year ago I was a techy nerd.

Now I'm a techy nerd ... who can handle, checkover & inject sheep; use a shotgun safely; set up very (!) basic PV systems; set up electric fences.

Not rocket science ... but a start.

In several years I might have learned enough to actually be useful around a farm ... which could mean the difference between being unemployed/hungry and surviving.
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