# Stop Worrying & Start Living.....engage life



## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.

Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????

You are going to Die, that is for sure.....100% for sure. In the meantime embrace aliveness. Don't worry....be happy.

The truth is despite all of your preparations, you will most likely die in a vehicle crash, or in a hospital bed, with drain tubes sticking out everywhere, from some disease.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

Well thank you sunshine! Thats giving them the old pep talk by golly! * yes thats sarcasm*


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Although you put a decidedly negative spin on things, this is essentially what I was getting at with my thread here.

I wouldnt let my preps get in the way of life (i have little preps and little life by some standards) but I think there probably are some folks that do. From the responses I got to my thread it sounded like most folks on here have a positive attitude about it and dont let their preps get in the way of life either. I was pleasantly surprised! :congrat:


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

As good as any thread to throw it in so I'll post it here. One of my personal favorites.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. 

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. 


If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. 


Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. 


Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. 


Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. 


Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. 


With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. 


Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

I agree to some extent,but once you've been without food or water for awhile you always wish you'd prepared.

Also life is for living,and not in constant fear,we all die sooner or later but nobodys in a hurry or wants to die unnessasarily.

I was just tellign my hubby,we need to start living some and enjoy whats left of life.I'm sure man here do just that have fun and prepare.This luxuary belongs to those who have the money to do both and familes who help them.Most families live in denial.

A happy medium is whats needed.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I always try to live life to the fullest knowing that death can come in so many ways and unexpectedly but it is a foolish person who refuses to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. 
I do not stand around and wring my hands and worry about whether or not I am prepped enuf, cuz there is no such thing as being fully prepared.(my opinion)
Worry is like a rocking chair-gives you something to do but doesn't take ya anywhere.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I've never known anybody that said, "damn, I wish I wouldn't have wasted all that time & money on food, fuel, and other necessities... I just have too much"

heard plenty of kvetching the other way tho, from a LOT of 'grasshoppers'


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Some of us do get burned out with all this and so we rant.And we do need some fun time or we get nuts after awhile.:nuts:


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Meerkat said:


> Some of us do get burned out with all this and so we rant.And we do need some fun time or we get nuts after awhile.:nuts:


I grew up doing all this and thought it was normal for a large part of my life so I'm not really 'adjusting' to anything so far, but I guess I can see that changing lifestyles can be stressfull.

Better to lament what you did as opposed to what you didn't do, in all areas of your life? :dunno:


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

At times I will take a trip without leaving the farm.

I jack up the old music and some of the new and dance if knee ok and just move with it if knees having bad month .Either way I can always be where ever it leads me.Strauss,Bing,No Doubt,Alman Bro.s,George Jones,Michael Jackson,All Green and many more.Its all good and according to mood.

When we leave we like the water,the ocean or beach.I try to wait for full moon to take the trip to the beach,irs so beautiul with the moon shining,turning the serf a beaming silver.Nothing like being rocked to sleep in a boat on The St.Johns River either while you watch the falling stars.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Our family motto is we work hard & we play hard. Being prepared does not exclude one from enjoying life. Our family does more playing than any non-prepper I know.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Sourdough said:


> If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.
> 
> Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????
> 
> ...


I don't have a phobia. I'm preparing for an event that absolutely will happen within the next five years. We WILL see so much hyperinflation that the dollar will be worth NOTHING. The dollar will lose it's status as the world's reserve currency and OPEC will stop accepting dollars in payment for oil. The federal government will go bankrupt and so will all state and local governments. There will be no services that are normally provided like police, fire protection, electricity, or water. Gasoline will get so expensive that food won't be shipped across the country anymore. Millions will die. I'm absolutely convinced of that.

I've been preparing but I still sleep well at night. My life is calm and happy. I don't have to taunt people who are smarter than me like you do.


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## Halfway (Nov 26, 2009)

Sourdough said:


> If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.
> 
> Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????
> 
> ...


Live with passion or stop stealing oxygen from those that Are LIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


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## Cahri (Feb 18, 2011)

BillS said:


> I don't have a phobia. I'm preparing for an event that absolutely will happen within the next five years. We WILL see so much hyperinflation that the dollar will be worth NOTHING. The dollar will lose it's status as the world's reserve currency and OPEC will stop accepting dollars in payment for oil. The federal government will go bankrupt and so will all state and local governments. There will be no services that are normally provided like police, fire protection, electricity, or water. Gasoline will get so expensive that food won't be shipped across the country anymore. Millions will die. I'm absolutely convinced of that.
> 
> I've been preparing but I still sleep well at night. My life is calm and happy. I don't have to taunt people who are smarter than me like you do.


Touche, living the best for now, prepared for the worst that will come......never looking back


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## Norse (Jan 30, 2010)

Sourdough said:


> If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.
> 
> Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????
> 
> ...


Some say being prepared for ANYTHING IS the best way to enjoy life, because you realize IF something bad happens, you will most likely avoid being one of the sniveling zombies "like in Katrina" waiting for help from a Government that most likely will not come for weeks, IF EVER.

If you have plenty of preparation and survival plans and think ahead, THAT IS PIECE OF MIND and happy living.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Sourdough said:


> If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.
> 
> Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????
> 
> ...


I am happy ... 

But it is a way of life ... I can't change it because I have tried and it don't work. :wave: (*Andi in the city!!!!!!)

I love my critters and can't do without them ... they are part of my world. Just like the garden, it is part of me and I can't do without it.

Yes, I will spend hours canning or tending a critter but that IS MY life ...

Mother earth calls, and I can not turn my back to that call ...

And yea, I know how a vehicle crash can take a life ... but that does not change how I want to live. (or how they were living at the time.)


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

BillS said:


> I don't have a phobia. I'm preparing for an event that absolutely will happen within the next five years. We WILL see so much hyperinflation that the dollar will be worth NOTHING. The dollar will lose it's status as the world's reserve currency and OPEC will stop accepting dollars in payment for oil. The federal government will go bankrupt and so will all state and local governments. There will be no services that are normally provided like police, fire protection, electricity, or water. Gasoline will get so expensive that food won't be shipped across the country anymore. Millions will die. I'm absolutely convinced of that.
> 
> I've been preparing but I still sleep well at night. My life is calm and happy. I don't have to taunt people who are smarter than me like you do.


You do know this is the exact same story that I/we were reacting to in 1964 some 45+ years ago. Yes, I have been prepping all that long. And what I have learned is that the end always seems so very near, but somehow another set of illusions keeps being fabricated, and the con continues. I expect we will see the fabrication of the "Universal Galaxy Bank" which will be funded, and buy up all the bonds of the entire planet, quasi "The World Bank".

Odd that you experience being "Taunted", even odder that you would blame me for your fabricated experiences, especially as you state, your superior intelligence. If it makes you happy to be superior, I am happy for you.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

by being prepared, i can relax and enjoy things knowing that I will still eat tomorrow. yes some people do go a little over board and don't enjoy life. but i do believe most of us would go fishing or hunting to have fun. much of what we do for fun is used for prepping. but is also a hobby. besides when i stop to smell the flowers, they are in my garden, becoming beans tomatoes, onions, herbs, ...............:flower:


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

With all due respect, I disagree with the premis that prepping means a person is phobic.

We have car insurance; does that make us phobic about being in a car accident? We have home insurance; does that make us phobic about something happening to our house? 

We have candles/matches and flashlights at various locations in the house; does that make us phobic about losing electricity? We seek alternate water supplies; does that make us phobic about having a drought? (Actually, we live in the country and do lose electricity, and we did have a drought last year - we would choose to ignore those facts, but it seems a bit odd to be considered paranoid if we do something to prepare.)

We do other prepping activities like freezing/canning/drying. Helps us buy low and buy a lot, and also to grow our own food and save it over the year. Does that make us phobic, or just economical/practical?

The more self-sufficient our family becomes, the more alive we become. We connect to our creator rather than our government. That's just my 2 cents.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Heck... I've been living more since I "woke up" then I was before hand. New skills, new toys...er um equipment , etc. Before it was a routine with no planning and very few new experiences. A lot of day to day.

Another thing, I took some classes and feel that if that car crash doesn't happen to kill me but instead severely injures a loved one with me I just might now be able to save their life. Something I could not have done before.


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## Calebra (Nov 8, 2010)

Sourdough--you've watched too many cnn shows on survivalists. We don't all seat in our bunkers and wait for the bombs to fall.
As far as that ********--don't worry,live life,you all gonna die someday--that's pure crap. We are not worried about dying--we are worried about what will happen to those we care about when shtf. We see it as our duty to think a day ahead and deal with what's coming. The live for today attitude is fun sometimes but when you hit 12 there comes a moment when you have to forget that your ass is the center of the universe and take care of business.
But hey--thanks for the lecture.


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## Herbalpagan (Dec 8, 2008)

Personally, I enjoy being prepared. It takes a lot of worry off of my mind. I live a full and active life, I read, play with my family and try to live a wholesome life. One does not preclude the other. I prep in some way every single day, butthen I also read a book a day, tend a garden, write, and manage to keep house. I feel that those who don't prep, have nothing useful to say on a forum where preparedness in the focus of the forum.
jmo


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Sourdough said:


> If people spent more time living, really aggressively go'for it living, there would be less of this survival sillyness.
> 
> Are you missing out on the experience of aliveness, because of your survival phobia..........????
> 
> ...


Sourdough, I've tried to ignore this thread and your post above, but today was a day filled with business issues relating to people doing exactly what you stated above. And that really pisses me off, because when people insist on living only for today without regard for the burden they place on others because of their irresponsible - live for the moment attitude, and perpetual poor life choices, guess who pays for it? *I do. And every other tax payer and property owner.* Let me tell you I am pretty damned freakin' tired of paying for other's bad choices.

On a more drastic note, while I don't toss an turn at night worrying about some sort of apocalypse, my family does plan for the tough times virtually every realistic indicator in the national and world scene indicates it going to occur. I have no intention of watching my family starve or live in a FEMA camp. Period.

The don't worry, be happy scenario is just fine if you are alone, own no land, and can subsist of the local wildlife. But if you own land and have kids and grandkids, you had damned well better be worrying and preparing.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

Calebra said:


> Sourdough--you've watched too many cnn shows on survivalists. We don't all seat in our bunkers and wait for the bombs to fall.
> As far as that ********--don't worry,live life,you all gonna die someday--that's pure crap. We are not worried about dying--we are worried about what will happen to those we care about when shtf. We see it as our duty to think a day ahead and deal with what's coming. The live for today attitude is fun sometimes but when you hit 12 there comes a moment when you have to forget that your ass is the center of the universe and take care of business.
> But hey--thanks for the lecture.


Question what is a CNN thingie.......? NOTE: I am 65 years old and started prepping in late 1964, I was one of the very last people to file for, and get a Homestead in Alaska in 1974. I have roughly two years of food, and a little over 2,000 gallons of fuel. And I have not owned a TV or seen a movie in 14 years. I live in a 11' X 23' cabin and have lived in this cabin for 12 years, have a outhouse, and get all my water from a creek. I live in the middle of the Chugach National Forest. Yes, You are correct I need to start prepping.........Sorry, My post was meant to be positive, but seems to have ruffled some feathers.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

The ant and the grasshoper? 

I guess I'm a blend of those. I have my preps and I keep working on them, but if I don't get out and have some fun occasionally I feel like I'll implode. That's when the "gypsy" in me loads the camping gear on the bicycle and heads off cross-country.

However, I have to mildly agree with a couple of other people on this thread. I've been working on prepping and food storage for more than 30 years and have lived through many on-the-bring-of-disaster or war close-calls, seen the economic disturbances, the embargos, impending ice age (the 70s) and global warming (more recently), conpiracy theories ranging from HAARP to the Illmuniati, Y2K, and the collapse of 2007-2009 and our alleged 'recovery' we're in lolsmash, now 2012 coming up with end-of-the-world predictions running alongside of the dire predictions for the presidential campaigns/elections. And more. And I wait. I'm ready...and I wait. wait wait wait

Older people I talk to can list even more. I was a child during Viet Nam and the cold war, and I remember air raid drills in grade school. Hah, they'd probably have to have psychological counseling for the kids nowdays if they still had air raid drills! 

Point being...do what you can to prepare but don't forget to live. And for some people prepping is fun and they never get tired of it. I do, though. After I've stretched and stretched our money to put back just one more large bag of this or that, I just want to quit for a while and take a breather to have some adventures.


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## Calebra (Nov 8, 2010)

Lol--see that I did not expect. I took you for some punk kid looking to pass on his wisdom on the foolishness of trying to be prepared . BUt if what you're saying is true you are sort of ways ahead of most of us. Now you just need a girlfriend lol--she'll help you understand the downside of an outhouse idea lol.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

horseman09 said:


> Sourdough, I've tried to ignore this thread and your post above, but today was a day filled with business issues relating to people doing exactly what you stated above. And that really pisses me off, because when people insist on living only for today without regard for the burden they place on others because of their irresponsible - live for the moment attitude, and perpetual poor life choices, guess who pays for it? *I do. And every other tax payer and property owner.* Let me tell you I am pretty damned freakin' tired of paying for other's bad choices.
> 
> you had damned well better be worrying and preparing.


You sure make a lot of uninformed assumptions, hope that has worked well for you in life. Did you ever hear of, "One Mans Wilderness" well Dick was my neighbor when I homesteaded on Lake Clark, as was Alaska's "Bush Rat" Governor, Jay Hammond. I have lived a Henry David Thoreau lifestyle, very simple, no debt. I did work, and spent 34 years as a Registered Alaskan Big Game Hunting Guide, and Bush Pilot. I am retired now.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Sourdough said:


> Question what is a CNN thingie.......?


Am I the only person who will actually admit to not only owning a TV, but to (shock & horror) actually WATCH it? :lolsmash:

sarcasm of your post aside (faux ignorance) CNN was around YEARS before I was even born (est. 1980(?))



> "I would rather die in the wilderness for want of a survival kit. Than have a hundred survival kits, and die for want of the Wilderness".


me?... I think I'd rather just NOT die at all.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

Calebra said:


> Lol--see that I did not expect. I took you for some punk kid looking to pass on his wisdom on the foolishness of trying to be prepared . BUt if what you're saying is true you are sort of ways ahead of most of us. Now you just need a girlfriend lol--she'll help you understand the downside of an outhouse idea lol.


Send girlfriend, the new cabin will have an indoor pooper thingie. Should have it done by October 30'th. It would be done now but I insist on hiking 8 to 10 miles most days and working my gold pan.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Sourdough said:


> You sure make a lot of uninformed assumptions, hope that has worked well for you in life. Did you ever hear of, "One Mans Wilderness" well Dick was my neighbor when I homesteaded on Lake Clark, as was Alaska's "Bush Rat" Governor, Jay Hammond. I have lived a Henry David Thoreau lifestyle, very simple, no debt. I did work, and spent 34 years as a Registered Alaskan Big Game Hunting Guide, and Bush Pilot. I am retired now.


and?... :dunno:


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

From my six months with no human contact:


The wilderness can change a man............ 
There is a real transformation that can metamorphose within a man who is alone in the wilderness. He can exit the wilderness fragile, very fragile, he is no longer sure where that which is himself ends and that which is not himself starts. 

Everything is kind of fuzzy, and has a softness about it, all things appear slightly blurred to the eye, like after one has been crying, and it can be hard to distinguish where one object stops and another object starts.

He feels weak and vulnerable, but centered. In fact he is stronger, but the feeling of weakness, and vulnerability comes from the loss of arrogance. 

There is a clarity about the perfection of everything. Sounds are crisper, colors are different, there are so many more (new) colors now.

He feels as if he is looking through things and through people, this is a very uncomfortable experience, he tries to focus, but he just looks through everything.

Part of him wants to go back to the way it was, before being alone in the wilderness. But he also enjoys the bliss of how it is now. He wants to weep for no reason, but for the perfection of everything.

He has change, and can not change back to that which he was before, being alone in the wilderness.

I know not of drugs, but being alone in the wilderness, for long periods will change your perception of the universe. The universe is the same, but you have shifted to a place where you can see, with new eyes, a new heart, and a new empathy for all life. You have been born a second time, and are a child of the wilderness.

There was a time long ago, that a man was encouraged to go into the wilderness alone for a extended period, so that he might find wisdom about life. Sad it is discouraged today. Welcome home....welcome home. Home from the wilderness, for he is free to return at any time to his true nature. .


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Sourdough, I made no assumptions........I simply quoted you and rejected your opinion (of which you certainly have a right to hold) for anyone who owns property, has a family and lives in mainstream America.

If you are happy to live alone, completely independent with no family to care for, I sincerely say, "Go for it. Don't worry. Be happy." Witout any sarcasm Sourdough, I mean that.

But I feel genuine, deep seated anger toward those who are sucking off the system (my hard work) because they consistently make bad choices or are just plain lazy and have no pride. 

*I don't wanna pay for them making babies with no way of caring and loving them; 

*I don't wanna pay for their mortgage/rent, heat or food because they got fired at work for being consistently lazy or late; 

*I don't wanna pay for their disability payments because they cooked their liver by abusing drugs; 

*I don't wanna pay for their health insurance when we work hard to pay for ours and they have a big screen TV (ours is an old 20" with no reception) in their living room and a newer and nicer chromed-up 4X4 truck in their driveway.

In short, I'm damned tired of paying for leaches. From what you've said, you've paid your way, but overwhelmingly, most of the "don't worry, be happy crowd" is sucking off my hard work. 

My wife and I really do not wring our hands and wait for the apocalypse. But we do feel some comfort knowing that, in the relative near term -- no matter what, we won't watch our family starve or be ravaged by the animals streaming out of the cities.

If I sound pissed, it is because I really am.


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

Preps are hobbies. Like some play golf or take a drive on Sunday afternoon. Some people have fun looking at 200 cans of food in their basement and seeing how to better re arrange it. 

Most preppers just have fun doing something that protects them like no insurance can. I enjoy making a garden grow, planting fruit trees, and keeping a stocked food shelf. I also enjoy golf, riding my dirt bike, and working.

Although lighting is more likely to strike me than the dollar collapsing (not sure if that's true anymore.) I still have a life, and I can almost guarantee everyone on this site has a life too.


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## Aemilia (May 27, 2010)

*I'm not in it for me...*



horseman09 said:


> The don't worry, be happy scenario is just fine if you are alone, own no land, and can subsist of the local wildlife. But if you own land and have kids and grandkids, you had damned well better be worrying and preparing.


Having kids is what changes things for me. Sure I'll die someday (we all will). But I have kiddos, including a baby daughter. I'm not paranoid - in fact I even have some hope for the future , and my "prepping" doesn't interfere with fun. Actually, 'prepping' skills like archery, fishing, shooting, woodsmanship, building, etc. are enjoyable to me. But I want to be sure the kids eat, and I want my vehicle running well enough to get us outa dodge if needed. Plus I'm rather broke right now - that food sitting in my pantry is really nice to have, even if I don't need it now - one of the things I've done right.

_Disclaimer: I own a TV, but don't have cable or a converter-box-thingie. I do watch videos on hulu and youtube._


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## Calebra (Nov 8, 2010)

"You sure make a lot of uninformed assumptions, hope that has worked well for you in life. Did you ever hear of, "One Mans Wilderness" well Dick was my neighbor when I homesteaded on Lake Clark, as was Alaska's "Bush Rat" Governor, Jay Hammond. I have lived a Henry David Thoreau lifestyle, very simple, no debt. I did work, and spent 34 years as a Registered Alaskan Big Game Hunting Guide, and Bush Pilot. I am retired now. "

Well bud--I did not make an uninformed assumption. I just read your post and responded to it. What you wrote usually comes out from a mouth of a wanna be intellectual who has just about as much experience in life as a twelve year old.A guy that lives of the grid by himself in the middle of Alaska,preps 2 years of food ,lives without tv and then gives a speech about how the rest of us should " engage life aggressively" and not spend all our time preoccupied with prepping. Really? Sort of sounds like Al Gore giving a speech about pollutionin front of his private jet. Sorry --Al Gore is the guy that invented internet and greenhouse effect lol.
But hey--I read your follow up post, Sourdough ,and even so it sounds fake as hell to me I attempted to make amends. I make mistakes and happy to admit that. You want to be butt hurt about it--well, I guess I am just going to live with that lol.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Sourdough said:


> From my six months with no human contact:
> 
> The wilderness can change a man............
> There is a real transformation that can metamorphose within a man who is alone in the wilderness. He can exit the wilderness fragile, very fragile, he is no longer sure where that which is himself ends and that which is not himself starts.
> ...


 Man was not made to be alone.I don't know of an animal that can survive alone.Some time alone is good,but theres a limit.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Meerkat said:


> Man was not made to be alone.I don't know of an animal that can survive alone.Some time alone is good,but theres a limit.


*wistful gaze* I wish I could have at least a DAY alone... Sigh... :dunno:


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I didn't read all the posts...but one point isn't raised...I am preparing corn for the freezer now.
My only thoughts so far have been these..
1) glad dh had the money to buy this 'spectacular' corn to go in the freezer with the 'white ice'
2) glad I have a freezer to put this corn in
3) glad I am of sound mind and body to prepare this corn to go in the freezer
4) glad to afford electricity to keep this freezer cold

Labor intensive?? I'm not that kinda gal.:ignore:


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Sourdough said:


> From my six months with no human contact:
> 
> The wilderness can change a man............
> There is a real transformation that can metamorphose within a man who is alone in the wilderness. He can exit the wilderness fragile, very fragile, he is no longer sure where that which is himself ends and that which is not himself starts.
> ...


I can relate to a lot of this, actually. It pretty much sums up how I feel after a few tumblers of a nice Oban 16 year old . . . Except for the lack of arrogance part. I tend to become more arrogant. Though that could just be because I am awesome, it's hard to tell.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

The_Blob said:


> Am I the only person who will actually admit to not only owning a TV, but to (shock & horror) actually WATCH it? :lolsmash:
> 
> sarcasm of your post aside (faux ignorance) CNN was around YEARS before I was even born (est. 1980(?))
> 
> me?... I think I'd rather just NOT die at all.


Hell no! I have a TV, and it gets somewhere around 7billion channels. Somehow all but about ten of them really suck. Not sure how that happened, one would think that with 7 billion channels I would have better odds... There are a few shows (very few) which I thoroughly enjoy and watch on a regular basis, time allowing. Thank goodness for the DVR. See? I don't think technology is evil, I just don't like most of it.

And the emphasis about 1980 being "YEARS" before you were born? SOOOO not needed. Some of us are a little sensitive about being born in the (last year of) the '70s.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

For some of us, preparedness IS living! I prepare just as I go about my daily life. Fun is found in different ways to different people. For my family, fun is shooting at the target range together or riding our horses together or going to a baseball game together or whatever. My kids are better off because they know how to grow their own food, can dress out a deer, and they know what it is like to be bone weary after a day of fencing or whatever. Not many people today have had the experience they've shared.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Turtle said:


> Hell no! I have a TV, and it gets somewhere around 7billion channels. Somehow all but about ten of them really suck. Not sure how that happened, one would think that with 7 billion channels I would have better odds... There are a few shows (very few) which I thoroughly enjoy and watch on a regular basis, time allowing. Thank goodness for the DVR. See? I don't think technology is evil, I just don't like most of it.
> 
> *And the emphasis about 1980 being "YEARS" before you were born? SOOOO not needed. Some of us are a little sensitive about being born in the (last year of) the '70s.*


Bwaahahaha!!! What's tha say about us that was born in the 60's... I was a teen in the late 70's and early 80's Best of both worlds ya know! Bell bottoms and leggins all in the high school years!

I love my tv/computer/cell phone.. They may not be here after TSHTF but for an insomniac like me they save me from "the Crazies" I love living and I am big on grow my own and save my own. Even my hubby has come to see that my homegrown veggies, even frozen or canned or pickled, are so much better than what you can buy year round that he hasn't given crap over it in years... My buying in bulk used to be ridiculed by family on both sides and now is being praised as being a "smart shopper".
I don't have to go out in the back ass of beyond to appreciate the miracle of life all around us and to live each moment like it just might be my last.. I find so much joy in the little things in my own yard and the beauty of watching the momma and daddy birds feed their babies with the bugs from my garden or watching a praying mantis chow down on a big bug in my garden.. or even the best-watching a monarch butterfly hatch out from the chrysalis on one of my biggest tomatoes. Or the joy in my granddaughters face when the cherry tomatoes ripen and she can chow down.. 
For the OP-always remember to take a good hard look in the mirror before passing judgement on others... Surprising what sometimes gets seen.


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

Why are you all defending yourselves to the OP? The heck with him and his opinion on whether any of us are living the way we do. Whats it to him? He ain't my daddy, so I don't have to explain myself to him. lmao

Look, if you want to waste your time or life just sitting at staring at a rock, thats your business. It ain't nobody elses. *shrugs*

Quit defending yourselves to the OP. Live your lives the way you want.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Genevieve said:


> Why are you all defending yourselves to the OP? The heck with him and his opinion on whether any of us are living the way we do. Whats it to him? He ain't my daddy, so I don't have to explain myself to him. lmao
> 
> Look, if you want to waste your time or life just sitting at staring at a rock, thats your business. It ain't nobody elses. *shrugs*
> 
> Quit defending yourselves to the OP. Live your lives the way you want.


In the end I think we all do what we want to do -- regardless of what everyone else thinks. Most of us here are independent thinkers and ultimately have our minds made up about how we want to live. We are just here to share our experiences and advice about how to do what weve all decided is important to us. I dont know that the OP was being 'offensive' -- just sounded a bit on the negative side.

All I can say is I dont want to be a grasshopper when the hard winter comes!


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

kejmack said:


> For some of us, preparedness IS living! I prepare just as I go about my daily life. Fun is found in different ways to different people. For my family, fun is shooting at the target range together or riding our horses together or going to a baseball game together or whatever. My kids are better off because they know how to grow their own food, can dress out a deer, and they know what it is like to be bone weary after a day of fencing or whatever. Not many people today have had the experience they've shared.


 Your one in a million.Most kids today are only into themselves and being entertained.They will have a hard time WTSHTF.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Sourdough said:


> You do know this is the exact same story that I/we were reacting to in 1964 some 45+ years ago. Yes, I have been prepping all that long. And what I have learned is that the end always seems so very near, but somehow another set of illusions keeps being fabricated, and the con continues. I expect we will see the fabrication of the "Universal Galaxy Bank" which will be funded, and buy up all the bonds of the entire planet, quasi "The World Bank".
> 
> Odd that you experience being "Taunted", even odder that you would blame me for your fabricated experiences, especially as you state, your superior intelligence. If it makes you happy to be superior, I am happy for you.


If you don't believe anything bad will happen why are you here? All you have to do is study a little bit about economics and you'll see that hyperinflation is around the corner. It's only idiots and those in denial who think that our world isn't going to drastically change for the worse in the next few years.

No, actually I was telling you not to taunt people who were smarter than you are. It's too bad you weren't smart enough to see that.


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