Some bits of wisdom.

I often hear people say that although they had lived their lives, and were fairly satisfied, they wouldn't want to live it over again. I disagree. I would like to do it all over again, but with more wisdom and a better sense of purpose. I wouldn't change very much, but I would not waste so much precious time, and I would do everything a lot better.

And now an admonition: Always remember; when the issue is great, when the future of society depends on you, when it is a matter of ideals and principles and morality, and when you know you are right, do not quit. Many a battle in history was won when it had appeared that all was lost.

America is now at the crossroads. Your country, your children, your grandchildren, and civilization itself need you to stand tall for righteousness and tradition. Be strong and resolute. You have nothing to fear. The enemy of God and man cannot kill your immortal soul.

Yes, a little higher in elevation than that, probably that much above mean sea level during some survey in the past. These mountains continue to rise slowly.

We’re working toward self-sufficiency but not so much toward living solely from the land. Designing and building for heating is enough, along with more meager efforts (gardening, livestock, etc.). We’ll try to start some productive, tiny businesses (plural efforts because of thin population), after a few cost-cutting projects are done.

A neighbor (accomplished horse trader) has begun teaching me a little more about horses and western ranching (my past experience being a little bit of Midwestern farming).

We’ve learned quite a few useful tasks and some things about older technologies (from easily and safely changing tires by hand to making castings). It’s a slow building process, because there’s not much money to speed the process up much. We’re still happier and healthier with this than living in a city.

We’re not doing it to survive any world shaking, exciting disaster, though, and don’t see the end of the world ahead. We read about the broadcasts of shows about the end of the world but don’t even watch TV. Oh, after being urged to do so by friends, we watched a couple of those crazy shows about that stuff from TV network sites. Those shows evoked laughs from us and spawned plenty of little jokes.

Living here, our point of view is very down to earth as compared to most contrived, popularized perspectives broadcast by media. We see more real physical interactions in nature and don’t see much of the abstract thought that most people are exposed to now from television.

We started doing it, because it’s an adventure. Bought the place long ago, even though the nearest powerlines were and are several miles away.

Funny... I was one of the technical temps helping to get software replaced in offices back then and knew that the Y2K problem would not be the beginning of anything terrible.

The National Electrical Code and PV solar technology were not so hard to learn and use. [Attended a comprehensive, residential building trades school long ago including electrical installation, worked some construction and related jobs since and have some electronics education.] Learning about thermal tech. has been more of a challenge.

More recently, we moved onto the place and must finish the efforts. Can’t afford to move and live anywhere else, until we’re far enough along in small accomplishments (too far from employers, fuel and parts too high, some losses due to a medical problem in the family).

Oh, granted, there’s a widespread disaster slowly happening now. More people are finding themselves out of good incomes every day. It’s not an explosion of excitement that many expected. Maybe it will be good for us in the long run in some ways.

This comment was powered by a small, homebuilt, mobile, PV solar power plant, and the battery meter is still smiling.

Come to remember it, there is one kind of possible widespread, sudden disaster more possible with time: nuclear exchanges started by the likes of Iran or North Korea for their larger partner nations. As we once learned (only former enlisted Guard here but was an assistant instructor while in a combat specialty), we should not underestimate such nations or rely too much on diplomacy.

Even with the more likely threat now than in the past, there’s no Civil Defense education like that of yesterday (done in high school for me). And most political folks on all sides assume that such an awful event would be unsurvivable for most (not true).

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