Full acceptance

StephenCurran (Stef) · Post by **StephenCurran (Stef)** » 11 May 2006, 11:20

Beard for the winter, clean shave for the summer.

Beards do a good job of protecting your face when your up in the hills in a gale... also get frost beard, which is cool.

extractorfan · Post by **extractorfan** » 11 May 2006, 11:24

ahem.......although I'm 32 (nearly) I can't grow a proper beard

I could grow a goaty but defeats the objective of not shaving. Also I have brown hair but when I tried to grow a tash, to punnish the wife lol, it came out ginger.

Got nothing against ginger btw, I just don't like two tone. Bit like Allistair Darling.

SherryMayo · Post by **SherryMayo** » 11 May 2006, 12:36

The other advantage of having a beard is that it protects the skin. Friends of mine who had been long-time beard-wearers both had baby smooth skin and looked heaps younger than their peers when they finally shaved them off!

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 12 May 2006, 13:32

Ballard wrote:
(although whenever Andy posts I turn a notch greener with envy).

Ohohoho! I see what you did there...

And it's funny because it's true...

I can't follow all of this. Too much for a simple country boy like me!

I shouldn't put too much store by my meagre efforts - the thing I have going for me is the same thing that could work against me in the end - I don't actually have very much to work with.

So on the one hand, it's quite cheap for me to put a bit of PV on here, and a wood stove in there, and pay off some of the small mortgage - but on the other hand, the amount of land covered by my back garden hasn't got a hope of feeding me, and I have to get all of my wood fuel delivered - another thing which might fail post-peak.

My only hope is to try to encourage others in my town to do similar stuff, so that we can pool food/fuel resources. It's a far cry from a self-sufficient community, which would be the most effective set-up post-peak. I am very much afraid that unless the bigger picture is resolved in my locality, my few little efforts may well not be enough . . .

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 26 May 2006, 21:35

An update - have now got an acceptable offer on my house but no-where to move to. The trouble is I want to downsize a bit, but the market is rising fast here in NI and I can't see anything I want! I want to get rid of some debt and downsize my mortgage, but houses are getting bid up.

Still want a box shaped house, with a decent garden, preferably near a small town with bus or rail routes for obvious reasons.

I am wondering if I should rent for a while - not easy with 3 boys and a lot of stuff that would have to go into storage..... but I feel a house crash coming on - the increase in house prices in the last few years are unsustainable in my opinion. If I let the sell-off start and then buy in a year when the prices have come down a bit then I would be better off.

But if the house prices keep going up then I will be able to afford even less - when do I get off the merry-go-round?...... any advice?

aliwood · Post by **aliwood** » 26 May 2006, 21:47

Snow, is a doer-uper a realistic prospect where you are? To get the house we wanted that was the only thing we could do, four years later we are still on the 'do' rather than the 'up' but the garden more than makes up for it.

grinu · Post by **grinu** » 26 May 2006, 23:13

We're still nowhere near ready for anything.
In the 9months since discovering the concept of peak oil (came across powerswitch website whilst looking for green energy providers

) I've got rid of all debt except the house (which is halfway through being sold) bought a few bits and pieces, changed job for the time-being to something a bit more stable, done a permaculture course, bought stacks of books, about to enroll on a 3month dist learning env management course with the aim of heading towards natural resource management, started growing plants and learning about forest gardening, going to start learning traditional crafts, drastically cut down on car-use, energy-use, water-use and a few other bits and pieces.

Other than that, doesn't feel like there's a lot we can do because we are stuck here for a year, but are planning to move to Ireland next yr and so can't energy-proof our home cos we aren't there yet.

Snow I presume it's the same position that you're in - it's quite weird isn't it - almost being in a state of flux, like floating with a lifebelt out at sea hoping the current goes in the right direction.

We're also getting married next April, which will eat a fair bit of the profit we make on the house (which is about 5k so not a massive amount). Going to go on one last big holiday around south africa - depending on what conditions are like in a year's time, which will be our carbon splurge.

Just waiting for the contracts etc. to get sorted for the house and then will need to find somewhere to rent for a yr. Take things as they come. I like the saying:

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 27 May 2006, 12:12

StephenCurran (Stef) wrote:Beard for the winter, clean shave for the summer.

Beards do a good job of protecting your face when your up in the hills in a gale... also get frost beard, which is cool.

Beards do a good job of providing a habitat for various bugs also. Post-soviet hair fashion seem to have been "short" in large groups of the population.

StephenCurran (Stef) · Post by **StephenCurran (Stef)** » 29 May 2006, 16:24

MacG wrote:
Beards do a good job of providing a habitat for various bugs also. Post-soviet hair fashion seem to have been "short" in large groups of the population.

Reminds me of The Twits ; )>
By Ronald Dahl

Pippa · Post by **Pippa** » 30 May 2006, 09:08

snow hope wrote:But if the house prices keep going up then I will be able to afford even less - when do I get off the merry-go-round?...... any advice?

Just my thoughts... In order for things to keep going up you need to support them with things going in the bottom - apart from any other reasoning re house price if you haven't got first time buyers the market has no way to move. For years now we have been incouraging kids to saddle themselves with loads of personal debt (and I don't just mean for university). The young have historically been the "kindling" for the housing market - increasingly now its "buy to let" schemes and big landlords that have (temporarily?) filled that gap. The lack of people entering the housing market is now be exascerbated by increasing bankrupcy and I can't see any chance of that reversing - especially with all the redundancies that fill the head lines daily (and today it's vodafones turn). I also think that rental prices will go up (supply and demand) as more and more people are either forced, though bad finances, or choose to turn to the rental sector.

What to do? Mummy, can I have my old bedroom back!

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 27 Jun 2006, 22:20

Aliwood, Pippa - thanks for your thoughts.

We still haven't found anywhere - the market in N Ireland has gone crazy. We are having to look out further from Belfast than we expected - there is a real bubble going on over here. I am even thinking of putting my house back on the market as prices are rising that fast. But I need the surety of a sale in order to be able to buy - Catch22.

Getting a bit tetchy about it all. Really feel the bubble could burst soon or maybe not for another year. Also coming to the conclusion that I need to free up some money and get some silver and/or gold investments going as I can see paper money devaluing when TSHTF. I have to admit my mind is in a degree of turmoil at the moment.