Bravo! That is the best preparation for the future. I’m 77 so may not be here in 2030 but I think some of us oldies know how to live with less. My parents lived without electricity & town sewerage for my early years and although we embraced those luxuries when they arrived we still knew how to be resilient, lean into change & adapt when facing difficult situations. I live in one of the hottest countries on the planet & can easily see the next wave of refugees being people affected by climate change. Many years ago I read of a project in India to train community members to carry out maintenance on small scale solar panels. They trained the elders in the village to carry out the maintenance because they figured that young people were more likely to leave. Ingenious.
I'm about a decade behind you, Dianne. There's a significant chance that the coming collapse will take me with it due to a few health issues. I won't go willingly, but the universe doesn't ask for permission. Carl Sagan once said it's neither welcoming or hostile, merely indifferent. I hope it's indifferent enough to leave me alone, but "shrug."
My SIL is an electrician who later took up teaching (trades, especially greenhouse/gardening, using the shop classes to build for the greenhouse 😻).
It’s a tremendously valuable skill to have for yourself and your community, and further scarce skills are one of the best protections in societies that are unstable: they might not like you, but they might need you some time 🤷♂️
I love this SO MUCH. It's got me thinking: maybe I will learn how to sew. So few of us know how to repair clothing and other linens, or to make a new thing out of the old.
Sewing! Okay, I might try that too. Very versatile, very adaptable for my particular flavor of chronic illness, and useful in any number of ways and situations. Tradeable skill.
For the “why bother” - there’s a fable / story out there that says a bunch (hundreds) of starfish washed up on a beach. A child was walking along picking them up one at a time and throwing them back in the sea. (Starfish die if out of the water) An adult came along and said “what are you doing? There are too many, you will never make a difference” the child picked up a starfish and threw it back in the sea and said “I made a difference to that one”
I joined a sheet metal Union for similar reasons, I want to learn things for myself even if only to end up not having to hire someone when I need something. I have a bachelor's too, but trades just ended up being the best way to make money and potentially be more self sufficient. I hope you don't meet the worst men you've ever imagined like I have been, there's a lot in the trades and it feels really terrible to be around them 40 hours a week... Or even just in my evening apprenticeship classes.
Er, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm also going to keep an open mind and hope most of them are decent practical people. It's strange, because most of the people who've ever worked on our house have seemed like good solid eggs. We'll see. Either way, I can't let it stop me. As you know, the stakes are high.
Fabulous post - I love the concept of leaning in hard to our reality not waiting for the doom AI drones to show up at some future point. I am completely leaning into growing food in my suburban world and helping others to do so as well. The EMT idea is appealing too - I want to help those who need it. Sitting around waiting for endless doom - whatever it looks like - is just not my style. This post really spoke to me.
My son was attending a small liberal arts college when I read your post about your decision to quit teaching. I really hit me. All of those adjunct professors pouring their heart into their craft while AI is rolling along. After I read that post from you, I told my kids to be much much nicer to their professors. But you are still teaching - just in a different venue. I have started writing now too - we all need to share knowledge as we find it. Thank you again for all you share!
You go, girl! It’s SOOoooo weird you mentioned becoming an EMT — not an hour ago, I preregistered for the basic EMT course at my local community college.
I do actually live in the middle of nowhere on 23 gorgeous New England acres. Off-grid, partly because I can’t afford to repay the electric company and partly because I’m a stubborn SOB.
I spent the last ten years doing independent local journalism that almost no one will pay for and am now throwing in the towel. I figure I can get certified first as an EMT, then as a paramedic, and get a job on an ambulance crew (I’m already a volunteer firefighter). When the collapse deepens to the point that we’re experiencing genuine calamity in my neck of the woods, my medical skills will be in demand in a way that my journalism just isn’t.
So THANK YOU for being the inspiration you’ve been for a long while now, and best of luck in your new adventure.
Also, if there any more like you at home, you just send her my way. My kittens and chickens are decent company, but…
ToCatchTheSun.org (or whatever the link is from appropedia.org) looks like the kind of "corner of the shelf" book that might be part of your horizon. Also, wndw.net (Wireless Networks Developing World), as it combines electrons and signals. Also, just for reference, George Chan was a Chinese-origin man who became an engineer at age 65, and jen developed really cool stuff in permaculture ("dream farm"). I guess what I'm trying to say is: Well Done for Starting So Young (unless you're 66, which would also be ok). Fwiw, I'm 63. You're inspiring. Go. :-)
Awesome and good for you! I’m another oldie, 70, and I think your plan is smart and proactive. I’m in the country with critters.. my biggest concern about power failures is water for them. Most other things can be sorted and managed but lack of water for even a few livestock can turn into a crisis in just a couple of days. At some point a hand pump may be the way to get water from a well, if for whatever reason there isn’t electricity for the pump.
Would you ever supply information on that? The old hand pumps?
Anyway, I take my hat off to you. I’ve always been independent and have real admiration for what you’re doing.
Different enclaves have different views about it. It isn’t electricity itself they find objectionable, more the reliance on a grid controlled by outsiders. Even amongst those who allow for solar use, some have specific prohibitions about what it can be used for, and you almost certainly won’t find a big screen TV in an Amish house, even if they have no prohibitions on what it can be used for.
I was very intrigued when I started seeing the large Amish community near my parents adopt solar a while back. I’m not sure they’re far enough north to make a go at surviving what’s coming (northern Indiana), but I’d say they’ve got a pretty good shot at it, barring being overrun by a mass of starving humans of course.
The state is going to call me an electrician for licensing purposes, and that's the title that grants access to education and training: here in the u.s., it's thousands of hours of on-the-job training with a mentor and hundreds of hours of classroom instruction before you can even pass the license exam. I've seen so many DIYers on YouTube stop and say "hire a certified electrician for this part," and that seems like the best, maybe the only, way to get experience at this point in my life. But I agree, the larger point behind this is to combine skillsets. That's the greater goal.
Bravo! That is the best preparation for the future. I’m 77 so may not be here in 2030 but I think some of us oldies know how to live with less. My parents lived without electricity & town sewerage for my early years and although we embraced those luxuries when they arrived we still knew how to be resilient, lean into change & adapt when facing difficult situations. I live in one of the hottest countries on the planet & can easily see the next wave of refugees being people affected by climate change. Many years ago I read of a project in India to train community members to carry out maintenance on small scale solar panels. They trained the elders in the village to carry out the maintenance because they figured that young people were more likely to leave. Ingenious.
I'm about a decade behind you, Dianne. There's a significant chance that the coming collapse will take me with it due to a few health issues. I won't go willingly, but the universe doesn't ask for permission. Carl Sagan once said it's neither welcoming or hostile, merely indifferent. I hope it's indifferent enough to leave me alone, but "shrug."
And I another decade younger than you, RB.
My kids — and if they decide to have any, theirs — surely are going to experience very different & difficult times.
If we can keep the fascism, technofeudalism, and/or barbarism to a minimum, at least that’ll better allow them to adapt & survive 🤷♂️
In Sol ☀️
🍻
You can do it. Electric work makes sense. It beats trying to get people to. Wishing you the best on your journey.
Thanks!
My SIL is an electrician who later took up teaching (trades, especially greenhouse/gardening, using the shop classes to build for the greenhouse 😻).
It’s a tremendously valuable skill to have for yourself and your community, and further scarce skills are one of the best protections in societies that are unstable: they might not like you, but they might need you some time 🤷♂️
Exactly. :)
Like a BOSS!
Yes!
I love this SO MUCH. It's got me thinking: maybe I will learn how to sew. So few of us know how to repair clothing and other linens, or to make a new thing out of the old.
It's a great idea!
Sewing! Okay, I might try that too. Very versatile, very adaptable for my particular flavor of chronic illness, and useful in any number of ways and situations. Tradeable skill.
Thanks to both Jessicas for inspiration.
For the “why bother” - there’s a fable / story out there that says a bunch (hundreds) of starfish washed up on a beach. A child was walking along picking them up one at a time and throwing them back in the sea. (Starfish die if out of the water) An adult came along and said “what are you doing? There are too many, you will never make a difference” the child picked up a starfish and threw it back in the sea and said “I made a difference to that one”
In the land of the blind,
the one eyed man is king.
Erasmus (c.1500)
And I happen to think everything that you write deserves an award.
I joined a sheet metal Union for similar reasons, I want to learn things for myself even if only to end up not having to hire someone when I need something. I have a bachelor's too, but trades just ended up being the best way to make money and potentially be more self sufficient. I hope you don't meet the worst men you've ever imagined like I have been, there's a lot in the trades and it feels really terrible to be around them 40 hours a week... Or even just in my evening apprenticeship classes.
Er, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm also going to keep an open mind and hope most of them are decent practical people. It's strange, because most of the people who've ever worked on our house have seemed like good solid eggs. We'll see. Either way, I can't let it stop me. As you know, the stakes are high.
Fabulous post - I love the concept of leaning in hard to our reality not waiting for the doom AI drones to show up at some future point. I am completely leaning into growing food in my suburban world and helping others to do so as well. The EMT idea is appealing too - I want to help those who need it. Sitting around waiting for endless doom - whatever it looks like - is just not my style. This post really spoke to me.
Thanks! I'm glad. At some point, we have to take the big steps. For me, no more bullshit jobs (and teaching was sadly starting to feel like one).
My son was attending a small liberal arts college when I read your post about your decision to quit teaching. I really hit me. All of those adjunct professors pouring their heart into their craft while AI is rolling along. After I read that post from you, I told my kids to be much much nicer to their professors. But you are still teaching - just in a different venue. I have started writing now too - we all need to share knowledge as we find it. Thank you again for all you share!
You go, girl! It’s SOOoooo weird you mentioned becoming an EMT — not an hour ago, I preregistered for the basic EMT course at my local community college.
I do actually live in the middle of nowhere on 23 gorgeous New England acres. Off-grid, partly because I can’t afford to repay the electric company and partly because I’m a stubborn SOB.
I spent the last ten years doing independent local journalism that almost no one will pay for and am now throwing in the towel. I figure I can get certified first as an EMT, then as a paramedic, and get a job on an ambulance crew (I’m already a volunteer firefighter). When the collapse deepens to the point that we’re experiencing genuine calamity in my neck of the woods, my medical skills will be in demand in a way that my journalism just isn’t.
So THANK YOU for being the inspiration you’ve been for a long while now, and best of luck in your new adventure.
Also, if there any more like you at home, you just send her my way. My kittens and chickens are decent company, but…
Congrats! I think it's going to serve you well, and others.
Wonderful! I looked into apprenticeship for electrical engineering. It really is the way to go.
I think so. :)
I may join you. Time to have a skill that solves real world problems again.
Yep, we need skilled people more than ever.
ToCatchTheSun.org (or whatever the link is from appropedia.org) looks like the kind of "corner of the shelf" book that might be part of your horizon. Also, wndw.net (Wireless Networks Developing World), as it combines electrons and signals. Also, just for reference, George Chan was a Chinese-origin man who became an engineer at age 65, and jen developed really cool stuff in permaculture ("dream farm"). I guess what I'm trying to say is: Well Done for Starting So Young (unless you're 66, which would also be ok). Fwiw, I'm 63. You're inspiring. Go. :-)
Awesome and good for you! I’m another oldie, 70, and I think your plan is smart and proactive. I’m in the country with critters.. my biggest concern about power failures is water for them. Most other things can be sorted and managed but lack of water for even a few livestock can turn into a crisis in just a couple of days. At some point a hand pump may be the way to get water from a well, if for whatever reason there isn’t electricity for the pump.
Would you ever supply information on that? The old hand pumps?
Anyway, I take my hat off to you. I’ve always been independent and have real admiration for what you’re doing.
The Amish where I live are investing in solar. Every new house going up in their community has solar panels.
Really? That's an interesting development for sure.
Different enclaves have different views about it. It isn’t electricity itself they find objectionable, more the reliance on a grid controlled by outsiders. Even amongst those who allow for solar use, some have specific prohibitions about what it can be used for, and you almost certainly won’t find a big screen TV in an Amish house, even if they have no prohibitions on what it can be used for.
I was very intrigued when I started seeing the large Amish community near my parents adopt solar a while back. I’m not sure they’re far enough north to make a go at surviving what’s coming (northern Indiana), but I’d say they’ve got a pretty good shot at it, barring being overrun by a mass of starving humans of course.
The state is going to call me an electrician for licensing purposes, and that's the title that grants access to education and training: here in the u.s., it's thousands of hours of on-the-job training with a mentor and hundreds of hours of classroom instruction before you can even pass the license exam. I've seen so many DIYers on YouTube stop and say "hire a certified electrician for this part," and that seems like the best, maybe the only, way to get experience at this point in my life. But I agree, the larger point behind this is to combine skillsets. That's the greater goal.