Hello!

[Kitteh]

Hello! 

I'm a housewife who lives in the city, but I am interested in survivalism.  I'm pretty sure I'd have trouble surviving in a deadly emergency because I am physically disabled (I have a tremor and an over all muscular weakness).  I do, however, grow my own food, can at home, and can do many things that your average person cannot. (I can use a drop-spindle, sew by hand, I have studied herbal medicine, etc.)

I like to think of myself as a "Survivalist Light."  My hope is that if ever I wind up in trouble, I'll have enough useful skills to make up for my obvious shortcomings.  *smiles*

What kills me is how my neighbors react when they see me eating food that I've grown.  They act like it's disgusting or weird.  Where the heck do they think the food at the grocery store comes from?

I desperately want a pet goat.  We had goats on our farm when I was little, and I absolutely loved them.  I want a pygmy goat for love and milk--I like goat's milk better than cow's, and goats are very lovable. But city ordinances won't let me get one.  I called city hall and complained.  It would be a house-goat!  It's smaller than many of my neighbor's dogs, and a girls have no musk smell!  They would not listen to reason. 

My husband is a software engineer, and he's never lived outside the city.  He was actually very very relieved to find out that the city wouldn't let me have a goat.  He doesn't understand farming, or self sufficiency, but he has enjoyed the veggies that I've been farming, and he does think my herbal medicines are pretty nifty.  It helps I have a double majored in genetics and bio chem so he can't argue with me on the biology.  *smiles* He prefers food that comes in a box, but I am slowly converting him.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Welcome aboard, Kitteh.

Glad to see you're a real person and not a spammer. My board is under constant attack and it has impacted my ability to run the board. We also had some problems with forums that had design flaws that compromised usability. So far this one is working out and we might finally get forums that are fully functional and useful.

I'm pretty sure I'd have trouble surviving in a deadly emergency because I am physically disabled (I have a tremor and an over all muscular weakness).

Have you ever taken a trip through a really harsh environment--like a deadly desert, or the hinterlands of Siberia--and met little old grannies still surviving, in an environment that regularly kills passers-by? Well of course the answer is simply really--they grew up there and they "know the rules" almost instinctively. They know that in the desert you take plenty of water, avoid direct sun, and limit activity during severe heat. In cold climates, they know you bundle up, take shelter, avoid wind, stay dry, and limit exertion. They don't even really think about it, so much as the wrong behaviors strike them as being "wrong" and counterintuitive.

Natural disasters are probably still your biggest risk, and rational behaviors your best defense. Let's say there's an earthquake: you run for the sturdiest parts of the house--generally a doorway in a hallway--and ride it out. Let's say it's been damaged. Some people would flee--and get hit by a utility pole during an aftershock. You stay cautious and alert, and wait for the aftershocks. There's no hurry. Deal with the situation.

Similarly tornadoes, hurricanes, and such.

The primary risk that THIS website is dealing with is the fact that our whole economy has been built up around the premise of cheap fuel, that is becoming expensive as supplies run low and usage is skyrocketing (there are now a lot of cars in China and India). The real problem is that our system is also very corrupt, and prone to what's called "capital depletion". Bad decisions such as Sir Alan Greenspan intentionally pumping the economy in anticipation of the invasion of Iraq (in order to prepare the public's mood for it--we really didn't need that, and should not have been "partying" while our boys and girls in Iraq were dealing with personal hardships associated with fighting a war), which resulted in the biggest housing bubble in history. This was a total, massive waste of resources. People at various different socioeconomic levels were living FAR beyond their means, and far beyond what they really needed to be happy in life. They were also foolishly impoverishing themselves, speculating with BORROWED money. Even though in most states they can walk away from their mortgages, they have NOTHING to show for themselves for what should have been years of life-savings.

I'm a housewife who lives in the city

Several of us live in the city, including me. I am surrounded by roughly 4 million people. I do have a large lot by city standards, and I am relatively close to potential means of egress if necessary. We might be able to swim for it if we had to  :o.

Later this year, I will be shopping for farmland outside this country (USA). The purpose is to continue having a livelihood as the USA heads into a very painful restructuring, under a system that is somewhat hostile to my interests (and more importantly, to my children's interests). I can own the farmland before actually moving in, though I am considering recruiting someone to "sharecrop" for me to get things started in my absence.

My husband is a software engineer, and he's never lived outside the city.

Introduce him. We have several software geeks on board. I made my money in the software business, both in shrinkwrapped software (I was on several name-brand projects for several household-name software houses) and in client-server applications, mostly on the database back-end but sometimes, when no one else was available, pinch-hitting on the client side when the website was down and someone frantically ran into the room urging me to do something about it.

I was born in the city where I live (Seattle) though I have lived around the country, mostly in the city but sometimes in rural areas (I lived in Butte County, California, around the ages of about 10-11). I've mostly either lived in the city or in the country, rarely in suburban areas, which is where most Americans live.

I do, however, grow my own food, can at home, and can do many things that your average person cannot. (I can use a drop-spindle, sew by hand, I have studied herbal medicine, etc.)

Excellent. My daughter sews by machine, but we have references for how to do various hand-stitches.

Perhaps you can contribute to my wiki. I have some stubs of articles on various herbs but not much "flesh". I also have some stubs on sewing but just not much substance. I don't know anything about sewing, personally. I should try to get my kids busy submitting articles. My daughter could do sewing.

The purpose of the wiki is to share information and inspire ideas. One idea is to print useful pages of it so as not to take the continued existence of the internet in its present form for granted.

I desperately want a pet goat.

My daughter wants a family of sheep. She has visions of harvesting the wool and playing with the baby lambs.

If we had a sheep (out of the question!), I'd make her a "CD spindle" to twist the yarn.

We do have, and the city permits...CHICKENS! They are pullets, one of them just starting to lay. They live in a nice-looking chicken coop I helped to build.

It helps I have a double majored in genetics and bio chem so he can't argue with me on the biology

That should lead to some interesting discussions here.

He prefers food that comes in a box, but I am slowly converting him.

We seem to have a preference for more "natural" foods here...and especially for "home-cooked" meals.

We also have a number of "macho chefs" on board, possibly due to the fact that a lot of modern women don't like to cook but most modern men still like to eat. Every once in a while I will post pix of dishes that came out nicely, or often recipes.

This is a fairly typical dinner at our house:

http://www.mutuallyassuredsurvival.com/wiki/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?comments_parentId=585&topics_threshold=0&topics_offset=1&topics_sort_mode=commentDate_desc&topics_find=&forumId=2

The artichokes are home-grown for what it's worth.

[Kitteh]

My husband has absolutely no interest in anything having to do with survival.  He hates camping.  He's expressed the idea that he might not wish to survive in a future without modern conveniences. 
"There are some fates worse than death, and lack of high-speed internet access is one of those fates."

 I have basic safety procedures for him to follow, and he's reviewed them.  I also a notebook where I've outlined how to make many things ourselves.  Instructions for gardening, food preservation, basic nutritional requirements, etc.  I am not so comfortable with turning them into articles, because a good deal of them are "borrowed" from other online sources, and I'd feel bad about not giving them credit.  When I'm using it personally it is okay, but I don't have their permission to distribute their articles.

I spent a good portion of my childhood in Tornado country.  My MIL called me frantically one day because there was a tornado around where I lived.  I had to try not to laugh at her. 
We were in our shelter.  We had emergency rations and water.  I know how to survive a tornado!  Heck, where I come from people didn't say how many years old a child was.
     "This is my daughter.  She's three Tornada seasons old.  If she makes it to four, we're gonna name her Emma."

I'm not really worried about those situations.  My seventy year old Gramma would survive long after many of my neighbors.

My real worry is that I won't be able to defend myself against other people.  A stock pile of resources doesn't do you much good if you can't defend it.

What do you think about the most recent advance in solar power?
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21155/
I'm not holding my breath but for many reasons it looks promising. 

[Kitteh]

Wait, Why does your daughter want sheep instead of a pet goat?  Goats are a whole lot smarter and more interesting than sheep.  Sheep are dumb.  Goats are cleaver and mischievous, and you can get away with having just one if you let it sleep inside.  If you get one with long fine fur, you have mohair. 

Also, goats are useful for milk. 

Perhaps I'm a little prejudiced where goats are considered, though. 

[Atash Hagmahani]

If I understood the article correctly, it was about splitting water with sunlight. I think that hydrogen fuel itself has a ways to go before it is entirely practical.

Goats vrs sheep:

I'm not much of a livestock person myself. Part of the problem is my own emotional profile. On the one hand, I have enough difficulty developing rapport with people (Aspergers) much less animals. I see other people playing with their animals, interacting with them, etc. With me, it's "Cat, come here", and she runs away, knowing that it's bath-time.

Then there is the problem of getting attached to them, which despite the lack of rapport, I do. If it were an obstacle, I'd have the same problem getting attached to people, but I don't. I'm emotionally clingy in fact.

I try to evaluate different types of livestock for different purposes. My ideal livestock would be one that produces milk, eggs, wool, and can help pull a plough. You know, a Schmoo.

[Kitteh]

Well you get milk, meat, and wool from goats.  And as the boys are stinky, you keep them far from the house, and mature boy-goat is supposed to taste better.  Especially a long-haired pygmy is a goat that is pretty much breed for all of it.  They are jacks of all trades, you just have to be really picky when buying a goat to make sure you have the best kind.

Unless you find good domesticated platypus , you are pretty out of luck as far as eggs are concerned.  Go with chickens or ducks.  Me, I prefer chickens with a few geese to protect them, but that's just what I know.  *smiles*


You did say something that made me smile, though:

My mother has tried to tell me for years that I have Aspergers.  She's a nurse and thinks that she can diagnose everyone.  I was a very hyper child and I am shy.  Apparently she thinks this means I must have a syndrome or something.  I wouldn't be offended--I known Aspies (my husband is an engineer) and I'm rather fond of many of them--but after going to the doctor twice at her insistence it's gotten officially annoying.  I wish you could talk to her.

I'm well known as an animal person.  I love animals.  Animals love me at first sight.  I'm also good with shy people and children.  When I was in college, the most emotionally stressful thing was living in the dorms where we had no animals.  I adopted many shy engineers to be my new "pets."  It was pretty much like having cats, only you had to remind them to bathe.  I even carried a package of gummy worms around for a while as "treats" and a spray bottle.   :D

I'll post about the solar power article in another forum.

[Atash Hagmahani]

My mother has tried to tell me for years that I have Aspergers.  She's a nurse and thinks that she can diagnose everyone.  I was a very hyper child and I am shy.  Apparently she thinks this means I must have a syndrome or something.  I wouldn't be offended--I known Aspies (my husband is an engineer) and I'm rather fond of many of them--but after going to the doctor twice at her insistence it's gotten officially annoying.  I wish you could talk to her.

Unfortunately it's turned into the "it" condition. It was rediscovered (from Dr. Hans Asperger's notes) during the course of research into autism, that has increased dramatically in recent decades due to the surge in autism. Ironically, people who don't have it and more to the point tend towards the opposite ("empathetic") pole, tend to be less skilled at recognizing the pattern that defines it!

They know that it has something to do with poor rapport, so they tend to assign the label to people to whom it does not apply--for example, you perhaps for the shyness or perhaps for your scientific interests. It is irritating when they assume that people who are obnoxious due to poor impulse control must have Asperger's (I have EXCELLENT impulse control)--in part because they are confused about our tendency to say what we think instead of what we are expected to say (that's not poor impulse control--we actually have difficulty telling lies or being insincere--and ironically it also makes us gullible!). It's also getting applied to people who are autistic but obviously do not have Asperger's--late talkers (we learn to talk a different way than normal--by interpreting the pattern of communication instead of by mimicking parents--but we talk at normal ages or even precociously), low IQs, etc.

It's easy to spot, really. It's rare among females (1 out of 8 of us, and we are 1 in 1,000 already), but if you want a good example of the female geek type, watch the movie, if you haven't already, "The Saint". The character of the female cold fusion scientist caricatures it beautifully. In her own little geeky intellectual world, emotionally vulnerable, difficulty expressing emotions (but we do have them...), lonely, gullible,  physically clumsy, etc. A symptom that wouldn't show up in the movie is that we can't tune out sensory stimuli as easily as normal people, and have much lower thresholds for noticing it. What is subliminal to most people can drive us to distraction.

It's caused by being on one far end of what seems to be a tradeoff between the rapport-building mimicry and projection, and logic, reason, sensory (over) processing, and pattern-matching (the difference between a popular actress and a rocket scientist). We use a different part of our brain to resolve social situations than normal people do (somewhere in the frontal lobes, vrs occipital lobe), and use logical rules instead of intuition. Hence we strike people as being "stiffly formal" sometimes (assuming we have learned any manners at all--a few of us haven't and the rest of us get blamed for their bad manners), because we apply rules of etiquette that are promoted as being "proper", but widely ignored in practice because they've fallen off a quorum. Most people unconsciously do what they see other people doing, and that usually (not always, I think) works better in most (not all!) social situations.

I known Aspies (my husband is an engineer) and I'm rather fond of many of them

I suspect that it's rarer in women in part because their brain architectures tend towards the other pole, and in part natural selectivity reasons related to significant differences in male and female brain architecture that impact women with it probably more than men.

There has been some discussion about whether we are a divergent evolutionary line and what would happen if we were the majority...well, currently, there is a show-stopping obstacle in that girl-geeks are not only rare but perhaps there is a compelling reason for this...maybe you are on the leading edge of yet another evolutionary branch--the female who is compatible with us...    8)

[Kitteh]

I've found that you have to have *more* empathy than normal if you want to get along with Aspies and you aren't one.  You need to be able to register what "rules" they are breaking, why they are breaking those rules, and be able to explain to them very clearly what the rules are and why the rules are important.  That last part is critical.

This is one of my weird talents.  I've actually managed to help a few acquire a social grace or two--not that they have to, but many ask for help and I do help them.

Example:  One young man had a crush on a beautiful and intelligent young lady and had no idea why she was so "mean" to him.  I watched them interact.  Apparently the young lady had another young woman friend who wasn't quite as smart or as pretty.  Our boy was being quite rude to the friend, and did not make the connection between the two.  He wanted the friend to go away so he could be with the lady.  He treated the friend with a detached coldness that drove the young lady crazy.  Once I explained the "You have to be friends with their friends" rule to him, and why it was important to girls (I used evolutionary terms--needing a tribal support system to accomplish tasks, etc.), he understood and actually made an effort to include the friend.  Within a year he was dating the young lady.

For every one like that there are a dozen who *can't* learn.  My friends call me the "Geek whisperer."