I'm preparing for a total breakdown...

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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Erik
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Post by Erik »

WolfattheDoor wrote:the mismanaged, xenophobic authoritarian society that we are becoming in the (y)UK.
Which countries do you think DON'T fit this description?
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SunnyJim
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Post by SunnyJim »

Blimey! After reading this thread I feel that I must be the only one on the planet feeling good this morning!

It's a lovely day out there!

You know, I think one day people will look back and feel sorry for us for having lived at this time. They will think how constricted our lives must have been, and how crowded and noisy the planet must have seemed to us.

Really our existance is kind of limited right now. And most of the work we do is pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things, but looking above all that life is precious. Finding pleasure in the simple things such as seeing a robin in the garden or making a loaf of bread is the key. Peak oil, it seems to me can make one live in the future somewhat. It can make you want to be five years down the line, better prepared and more equiped, but we shouldn't let PO rob us of the now. I'm not trying to persuade you that you should or shouldn't pack it all in and get out of the UK. I think my only point is that we should strive to make life simple for ourselves. Don't take on too much. Earn enough to put food to mouth, and enjoy life. Enjoy walks in the country, enjoy making things, enjoy expressing your creativity. They are all the things that make life worth living, not slaving away to afford 100 acres of worry and pain. Take what you need, thats all.

Simplicity is the key to happiness.
Jim

For every complex problem, there is a simple answer, and it's wrong.

"Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs" (Lao Tzu V.i).
MisterE
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Post by MisterE »

I'm happy \o/

Good post Jim and your spot on :-)
Vortex
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Post by Vortex »

I find my present job (in graphic design) seems more and more pointless so I hope to leave the UK next year and go abroad teaching English, probably in East Europe initially.
Why not bring back a useful souvenir?
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Mean Mr Mustard
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Post by Mean Mr Mustard »

SunnyJim wrote:Blimey! After reading this thread I feel that I must be the only one on the planet feeling good this morning!

It's a lovely day out there!

You know, I think one day people will look back and feel sorry for us for having lived at this time. They will think how constricted our lives must have been, and how crowded and noisy the planet must have seemed to us.

Really our existance is kind of limited right now. And most of the work we do is pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things, but looking above all that life is precious. Finding pleasure in the simple things such as seeing a robin in the garden or making a loaf of bread is the key. Peak oil, it seems to me can make one live in the future somewhat. It can make you want to be five years down the line, better prepared and more equiped, but we shouldn't let PO rob us of the now. I'm not trying to persuade you that you should or shouldn't pack it all in and get out of the UK. I think my only point is that we should strive to make life simple for ourselves. Don't take on too much. Earn enough to put food to mouth, and enjoy life. Enjoy walks in the country, enjoy making things, enjoy expressing your creativity. They are all the things that make life worth living, not slaving away to afford 100 acres of worry and pain. Take what you need, thats all.

Simplicity is the key to happiness.
To all that good advice I'd add - give something back. If you can, put a few hours in for a favourite charity or something worthwhile each week. Seems to help lift my mood and improve my outlook.
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WolfattheDoor
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Post by WolfattheDoor »

I should point out in my defence that I had a tooth extracted last week and it is the party conference season so I have good reason to be depressed.
www.wolfatthedoor.org.uk
Alerting the world to the dangers of peak oil
MisterE
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Post by MisterE »

That will do it. I had man flu - the ultimate virus!
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RenewableCandy
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Post by RenewableCandy »

Chopping up wood is a very good cure for Man 'Flu but don't forget to tell the other 1/2 how VERY ROUGH you feel first so she thinks you're a total hero :D
MisterE
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Post by MisterE »

muwhahahaaaa I think it defo beats what I am doing a the moment ie plastering with all the dust :-) I would / and did need to chop some wood, but just come home from dropping the car at my mates for a serivice and find two big bags of stick put over my wall for me, by god knows who :-) I guess I could go out and pretend to chop it while I chill down my shed :-)
kenneal - lagger
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Post by kenneal - lagger »

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:
To all that good advice I'd add - give something back. If you can, put a few hours in for a favourite charity or something worthwhile each week. Seems to help lift my mood and improve my outlook.
Notso Mean Mr Mustard! :D
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RenewableCandy
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Post by RenewableCandy »

I've just remembered, didn't Churchill get depression episodes (he called it The Black Dog, nice metaphor) and look what happened to him. It might be that lurking inside Mr Haggis is the potential to get us all out of this mess!!
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Kentucky Fried Panda
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Post by Kentucky Fried Panda »

So I quit that job, found another, should start soon.

Sometimes I wonder if feeling like this is the result of the war. Everyday life does seem so incredibly mundane after that kind of experience. Everything back then was brighter, sharper and nothing mattered except survival... And toilet paper, you won't believe how important that is until it's gone.
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Andy Hunt
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Post by Andy Hunt »

Which war Haggis?
Andy Hunt
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Eternal Sunshine wrote: I wouldn't want to worry you with the truth. :roll:
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Kentucky Fried Panda
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Post by Kentucky Fried Panda »

Andy Hunt wrote:Which war Haggis?
This one 1987-1988 mostly.

*Awaits flaming from hippies*
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Potemkin Villager
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Post by Potemkin Villager »

Some time ago Mr E asked how do others cope with PO and a future that looks to have more chance of getting very bleak as opposed to very promising? These are some I find that work for me.

1. I continue to be perplexed by how so many people appear to have unshakeable faith in human omnipotence, the pronouncements of economists (especially those employed by financial institutions) and energy ?experts?, the potential to defy the laws of thermodynamics the tooth fairy and happy endings. That is why I do not bother to try and convince them otherwise directly and be labelled as some prophet of doom holding up a placard saying that the end is nigh.

2. I treat the issue as an opportunity to be a part time mature
student to try to clarify my own ideas and broaden my thinking. This is in itself very rewarding, even as a stand alone activity, as my first time around education and work experience was very narrowly focussed on engineering. This process has led me in to exploring and improving my understanding of many areas such as psychology, ecology, economics, history, politics etc that I previously only had peripheral interest in.

Currently I am working my way through Skidelsy?s biography of Maynard Keynes which I found in a cheap book shop remaindered for ?4. It provides a great insight into the tortured nature of, and some of the persona involved in , the ?special relationship? between Britain and the US, from WW1, through the depression and WWII up to Bretton Woods.

No wonder the World Bank and the IMF became the most evil and environmentally destructive organisations on this planet, ever.

Skidelsky notes how it dawned on him that ?economics was a form of post-Christian theology with economists as priests of warring sects.?

I do not bother much with the current opportunistic rash of trendy coffee table doomer and peaker books or the more extreme web sites. There is a lot of totally pure shite out there and life is too short.

3. My family and close friends absorb a lot of my time and energy. I belong to a small informal group of like minded souls that occasionally meets up for long walks, and occasionally surfing, on Atlantic beaches to discuss the madness of life the universe and everything. I use sites like this one, and a few others sparingly.


4. Long hours in bed with the wife, worrying about our teenage kids, gardening and tree surgery, some travel, swimming, reading, daft movies, music, walking, cooking and wine making, seeing friends, chatting in the local pub, winding up politicians, bureaucrats, anal holiday home owners with more money than sense and anxious, beemer driving dick heads ??? life is good!
Overconfidence, not just expert overconfidence but general overconfidence,
is one of the most common illusions we experience. Stan Robinson
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