I had to go out the other day for a check up, not the most exciting thing in the world but still. On the way, I managed to take a snap on my camera phone of the oil prices at one garage:
Thats 98.9 pence per litre - Im not sure how that works out in Dollars and gallons, perhaps if someone could help me with that?
Then I remembered a picture I snapped really quickly while I was on Holiday a while ago:
I wonder how that guy is doing right now! Talk about a car needing petrol! Hummer's are thirsty creatures! I imagine its just a nice garden feature in his driveway now. Maybe he could put plants in it? Haha.
Anyway, I found a nifty little article before from this link:
" Close your eyes and imagine your life without oil. Impossible? Well, according to the people behind the emergence of so-called "transition towns," it may not be too far away.
The first town in the UK to embrace a future without the black stuff was Totnes in Devon last September and since then others, including Falmouth and Stroud, have joined it. However, it is not just traditional rural towns that are keen to embrace this do-it-yourself movement.
Forest Row in Sussex has become the first transition village and Bristol and London's Brixton district are taking the idea to cities.
It was all started by permaculture guru Rob Hopkins and is based around community projects that prepare for life after oil.
The message is that we are on the threshold of "peak oil," the year when oil extraction peaks, after which we will all have to manage with an oil ration that will drop by 3 percent every year. The cumulative impact of this is a 50 percent reduction in oil by 2030.
Given that it is estimated the world currently consumes 84 million barrels of oil a day and that the International Energy Agency predicts this will rise to 116 million barrels by 2030, you can see that the numbers don't add up.
"We rely on oil so much, it is obvious that life will have to change dramatically when it starts to run out," Hopkins said.
And for all those who think that by the time the oil dries up we will have developed new sources of energy, Hopkins and the transition townies believe that there isn't time to wait and find out.
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil says that of the 65 largest oil-producing countries, 54 have passed their peak of production. It is estimated there are only around 1 trillion barrels of oil left and the world currently consumes around 29 billion of those a year.
In the face of such figures, and tired of waiting for the government to come up with the answer, an increasing number of towns, cities and villages across the UK are doing it for themselves and committing to "relocalizing" food, energy, transport and their economies.
"The idea of transition towns has caught people's imagination," Hopkins said.
"All we have been able to do before is protest, lobby or campaign for change. Now we want to give people the tools to be self-sufficient and withstand the kind of shock that a reduction in oil would bring. We don't have all the answers, but the amount of momentum and energy created by the project is amazing," he said.
It all sounds great in theory, but what do you actually do if your town is keen to embrace this transition? Since its "unleashing" (the term that transition townies use for the public launch of the project) in front of 350 people at Totnes civic hall, the movement has screened films and given talks to raise awareness, worked with the town council to develop long-term projects, introduced its own "Totnes pounds" that can only be spent in local shops, and conducted "oil vulnerability auditing workshops" with local businesses to see how they can reduce their reliance on oil. Meanwhile, they have also been working on re-skilling the local community, running workshops on growing fruit and vegetables, bread-baking and sock-darning.
Now, if this all sounds a little 1940s, that's because it is. Some of the inspiration for transition towns comes from the World War II, when the UK was experiencing a prolonged fuel shortage. However, people were more self-sufficient then, with good local food networks, less energy consumption per head and strong practical skills, and so were better equipped to deal with the change.
Like Totnes, Lewes in East Sussex is keen to embrace some of the "old" way of life and even has plans to create an oral-history archive, interviewing older residents to record their experiences. Andi Mindel is one of the volunteers for Transition Town Lewes and explains that they are gearing up for their "unleashing" today.
"There is a sense that people are ready for this in Lewes. Everybody is welcome to get involved and it is an all-inclusive process. We have had great progress with the town council agreeing to let us use four pieces of land for allotments and we are looking at bulk-buying solar panels as a cooperative. We have been into schools and made a short film [available to view on YouTube] that the local cinema showed before each of its screenings about the concept of peak oil," Mindel said.
It is this feeling of achievement that lies at the heart of the transition towns movement. Duncan Law, volunteer for the Brixton project, said he was attracted to the concept because the community could pull together and make a difference quickly.
"I've found that climate change deals with the invisible and has very little positivity about it, whereas this is all about positivity. Everybody can get stuck in and design the change -- it is very much a bottom-up initiative," he said.
And it isn't just people in the UK who are committing to change without the support of their governments. In the US, 400 mayors have signed up to the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, which pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet the goals of the Kyoto protocol.
Austin, Texas, has a climate protection plan that aims to make city buildings reliant on renewable energy by 2012, and Woodstock, New York -- made world famous by its 1969 festival -- is aiming to erase its carbon footprint within a decade.
Hopkins believes that to motivate people to change you have to present an attractive alternative.
"A future without oil could be better than the present if we use our imagination and think creatively," he said.
The challenge for the transition townies is replicating the success of market towns such as Totnes and Lewes in cities such as Bristol and London.
"I think we have a bigger hill to climb in Brixton than other places. There is not one community here -- it is incredibly diverse and it can be difficult to reach people," Law said.
Hopkins believes the only way the model can work in cities is if they split it into neighborhoods and have one networking body overseeing them all. He admits that as the movement grows, fledgling transition towns, such as Lampeter in Wales, which held its first meeting earlier this month, will need more help to put their ideas into practice.
This should be made easier by recent funding for a Transition Towns Network, which will be based in Totnes and will offer support to new groups, and link up with other organizations such as Friends of the Earth.
"Most people are aware that something is up and they want to take action," Mindel said. "We can do something and this seems to be the way forward. Change is not coming from above, so we will just have to show government the way." "
I found this such an interesting concept. I found some more links for you:
This is quite a new site, so some things are still 'comming soon' but its definatley worth watching:
http://transitiontowns.org/
Another Article:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energ
Transition Town of Falmouth
http://www.transitionfalmouth.org.u
Heres a forum for London:
http://www.transitioncitylondon.co.uk/i
http://www.transitiontownbrixton.or
Unfortunatly, It seems to be a real 'down south' thing. I wish Manchester had something like this :(
Thats 98.9 pence per litre - Im not sure how that works out in Dollars and gallons, perhaps if someone could help me with that?
Then I remembered a picture I snapped really quickly while I was on Holiday a while ago:
I wonder how that guy is doing right now! Talk about a car needing petrol! Hummer's are thirsty creatures! I imagine its just a nice garden feature in his driveway now. Maybe he could put plants in it? Haha.
Anyway, I found a nifty little article before from this link:
" Close your eyes and imagine your life without oil. Impossible? Well, according to the people behind the emergence of so-called "transition towns," it may not be too far away.
The first town in the UK to embrace a future without the black stuff was Totnes in Devon last September and since then others, including Falmouth and Stroud, have joined it. However, it is not just traditional rural towns that are keen to embrace this do-it-yourself movement.
Forest Row in Sussex has become the first transition village and Bristol and London's Brixton district are taking the idea to cities.
It was all started by permaculture guru Rob Hopkins and is based around community projects that prepare for life after oil.
The message is that we are on the threshold of "peak oil," the year when oil extraction peaks, after which we will all have to manage with an oil ration that will drop by 3 percent every year. The cumulative impact of this is a 50 percent reduction in oil by 2030.
Given that it is estimated the world currently consumes 84 million barrels of oil a day and that the International Energy Agency predicts this will rise to 116 million barrels by 2030, you can see that the numbers don't add up.
"We rely on oil so much, it is obvious that life will have to change dramatically when it starts to run out," Hopkins said.
And for all those who think that by the time the oil dries up we will have developed new sources of energy, Hopkins and the transition townies believe that there isn't time to wait and find out.
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil says that of the 65 largest oil-producing countries, 54 have passed their peak of production. It is estimated there are only around 1 trillion barrels of oil left and the world currently consumes around 29 billion of those a year.
In the face of such figures, and tired of waiting for the government to come up with the answer, an increasing number of towns, cities and villages across the UK are doing it for themselves and committing to "relocalizing" food, energy, transport and their economies.
"The idea of transition towns has caught people's imagination," Hopkins said.
"All we have been able to do before is protest, lobby or campaign for change. Now we want to give people the tools to be self-sufficient and withstand the kind of shock that a reduction in oil would bring. We don't have all the answers, but the amount of momentum and energy created by the project is amazing," he said.
It all sounds great in theory, but what do you actually do if your town is keen to embrace this transition? Since its "unleashing" (the term that transition townies use for the public launch of the project) in front of 350 people at Totnes civic hall, the movement has screened films and given talks to raise awareness, worked with the town council to develop long-term projects, introduced its own "Totnes pounds" that can only be spent in local shops, and conducted "oil vulnerability auditing workshops" with local businesses to see how they can reduce their reliance on oil. Meanwhile, they have also been working on re-skilling the local community, running workshops on growing fruit and vegetables, bread-baking and sock-darning.
Now, if this all sounds a little 1940s, that's because it is. Some of the inspiration for transition towns comes from the World War II, when the UK was experiencing a prolonged fuel shortage. However, people were more self-sufficient then, with good local food networks, less energy consumption per head and strong practical skills, and so were better equipped to deal with the change.
Like Totnes, Lewes in East Sussex is keen to embrace some of the "old" way of life and even has plans to create an oral-history archive, interviewing older residents to record their experiences. Andi Mindel is one of the volunteers for Transition Town Lewes and explains that they are gearing up for their "unleashing" today.
"There is a sense that people are ready for this in Lewes. Everybody is welcome to get involved and it is an all-inclusive process. We have had great progress with the town council agreeing to let us use four pieces of land for allotments and we are looking at bulk-buying solar panels as a cooperative. We have been into schools and made a short film [available to view on YouTube] that the local cinema showed before each of its screenings about the concept of peak oil," Mindel said.
It is this feeling of achievement that lies at the heart of the transition towns movement. Duncan Law, volunteer for the Brixton project, said he was attracted to the concept because the community could pull together and make a difference quickly.
"I've found that climate change deals with the invisible and has very little positivity about it, whereas this is all about positivity. Everybody can get stuck in and design the change -- it is very much a bottom-up initiative," he said.
And it isn't just people in the UK who are committing to change without the support of their governments. In the US, 400 mayors have signed up to the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, which pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet the goals of the Kyoto protocol.
Austin, Texas, has a climate protection plan that aims to make city buildings reliant on renewable energy by 2012, and Woodstock, New York -- made world famous by its 1969 festival -- is aiming to erase its carbon footprint within a decade.
Hopkins believes that to motivate people to change you have to present an attractive alternative.
"A future without oil could be better than the present if we use our imagination and think creatively," he said.
The challenge for the transition townies is replicating the success of market towns such as Totnes and Lewes in cities such as Bristol and London.
"I think we have a bigger hill to climb in Brixton than other places. There is not one community here -- it is incredibly diverse and it can be difficult to reach people," Law said.
Hopkins believes the only way the model can work in cities is if they split it into neighborhoods and have one networking body overseeing them all. He admits that as the movement grows, fledgling transition towns, such as Lampeter in Wales, which held its first meeting earlier this month, will need more help to put their ideas into practice.
This should be made easier by recent funding for a Transition Towns Network, which will be based in Totnes and will offer support to new groups, and link up with other organizations such as Friends of the Earth.
"Most people are aware that something is up and they want to take action," Mindel said. "We can do something and this seems to be the way forward. Change is not coming from above, so we will just have to show government the way." "
I found this such an interesting concept. I found some more links for you:
This is quite a new site, so some things are still 'comming soon' but its definatley worth watching:
http://transitiontowns.org/
Another Article:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energ
Transition Town of Falmouth
http://www.transitionfalmouth.org.u
Heres a forum for London:
http://www.transitioncitylondon.co.uk/i
http://www.transitiontownbrixton.or
Unfortunatly, It seems to be a real 'down south' thing. I wish Manchester had something like this :(
A Message from Rose :D
"Updates from New York:
I will send cissmiace photos of the solar oven in action, but I want to wait until Monday. I am getting a new digital camera for Mother's Day on Sunday and I want to use that camera. I will file a full report on Monday. It is very overcast today and possibly rainy. Not the best day for my oven.
Anyone who wants to make a pizza box oven here is a good link:
http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm
Note: the food cooks faster if you put it in one of those oven cooking bags they sell for roasting Thanksgiving turkeys. They are a little hard to find right now, but I did find one that was part of a kit to make meat loaf. I'm using the bag and saving the meat loaf mix for some other time. Also, you can use a dark colored pan, cover i, put it inside the bag and then put it inside the box. The pan should be dark and the walls should be thin. I read somewhere that putting the pan up on a wire mess stand can help it cook faster. I have a cooling rack that I use for cookies that I am going to use. I also am adding some additional reflective sides to this oven.
It isn't hard to make and it works well. As I said, a full report on Monday - stay tuned.
I've learned a bit about solar cooking. I didn't know that a solar oven can get hot enough to make drinking water safe. So in parts of the world, that don't have safe drinking water but have lots of sunny days, an oven can not only cook food but produce safe water. I'm definitely going to support organizations that supply solar ovens to communities that need them.
Here in New York, I have been pleasantly surprised that a Peak Oil meet-up exists and is active. Meet-ups are a great way to learn information, make new friends and find like-minded people. I am going to post the World Without Oil website there. I tried to make the meeting last night, but I had a meeting for work that I couldn't miss.
Maybe other people would like to look for meet-ups in their area? Using this link you can find the closest meet-up to you:
http://oilawareness.meetup.com/
I found some great information through them:
1. New York is focused on a plan for PlaNY 2030- the goals of where the city should be in 2030. (I support this planning process much more than the 2012 Olympic effort. Most New Yorkers were opposed to that plan, which is one of the reasons the Olympic Committee didn't pick the city. I mention this as proof that actions by citizens matter in political decision making.) The Peak Oil group members and the Sierra Club wrote a 50 page report about sustainable energy in New York for 2030. They have good ideas on planning ahead to protect the city from oil ups and downs.
You can read the pdf report:
here . A news article about the report is found here with a summary
2. I also found this great resource of energy bulletin.net through the Peak Oil group. Energy bulletin net is a newswire for Peak Oil information and oil in general. Other people may have found this earlier, but it is the first time I've seen it. http://www.energybulletin.net/
3. One major concern about the city is running out of food. On the meet-up message board, I found an article about a barge that is growing food. It didn't take long to set up either. Barge food
4. I'm going to post a message about World Without Oil on the meet-up forum. Anyone can join a meet-up and post, so this is another way to spread the word about World Without Oil.
More later. "
Isnt Rose great? Again its amazing how someone from over the pound is helping me out so much but in my own village, well. Its getting wierd you know? Like Wicker Man Wierd. You can feel people looking at you from the corners of their eyes, straining to see if you have something they dont. Hell most of them dont even need anything, but that doesnt seem to matter anymore. Every man for himself.
I got a lovely email from![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
yuckymuck. They said they have been worried over at the World Without Oil HQ because I haddnt posted for a while.
Well I bust my finger!! Just when you dont need anything to go wrong, it inevitabley does. Of course there was no point going to Casualty (A&E) for it, their already over worked with everything thats going on right now. I dont think little old me with a sore finger was going to help them any. Fortunatly I knew what to do. My Joints arnt as strong as they were when I was well so they get injured quite alot. I bandaged my finger to the ajoining finger to use it as a splint, and its getting much better now ^_^ I think it was just a very nasty sprain.
I think I've been working to hard!!
OH! Before I forget, Rose sent me some more links for you guys.
She told me that this is a great report on Scientists researching on Peak Oil
http://www.aspo-global.org/newsletter/A
There is also a US Group:
http://www.aspo-usa.com/
And they are planning a Meeting in Houston if anyone is interestng in going!
http://www.aspousa.org/aspousa3/index.c
Where would we be without Rose!
"Updates from New York:
I will send cissmiace photos of the solar oven in action, but I want to wait until Monday. I am getting a new digital camera for Mother's Day on Sunday and I want to use that camera. I will file a full report on Monday. It is very overcast today and possibly rainy. Not the best day for my oven.
Anyone who wants to make a pizza box oven here is a good link:
http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm
Note: the food cooks faster if you put it in one of those oven cooking bags they sell for roasting Thanksgiving turkeys. They are a little hard to find right now, but I did find one that was part of a kit to make meat loaf. I'm using the bag and saving the meat loaf mix for some other time. Also, you can use a dark colored pan, cover i, put it inside the bag and then put it inside the box. The pan should be dark and the walls should be thin. I read somewhere that putting the pan up on a wire mess stand can help it cook faster. I have a cooling rack that I use for cookies that I am going to use. I also am adding some additional reflective sides to this oven.
It isn't hard to make and it works well. As I said, a full report on Monday - stay tuned.
I've learned a bit about solar cooking. I didn't know that a solar oven can get hot enough to make drinking water safe. So in parts of the world, that don't have safe drinking water but have lots of sunny days, an oven can not only cook food but produce safe water. I'm definitely going to support organizations that supply solar ovens to communities that need them.
Here in New York, I have been pleasantly surprised that a Peak Oil meet-up exists and is active. Meet-ups are a great way to learn information, make new friends and find like-minded people. I am going to post the World Without Oil website there. I tried to make the meeting last night, but I had a meeting for work that I couldn't miss.
Maybe other people would like to look for meet-ups in their area? Using this link you can find the closest meet-up to you:
http://oilawareness.meetup.com/
I found some great information through them:
1. New York is focused on a plan for PlaNY 2030- the goals of where the city should be in 2030. (I support this planning process much more than the 2012 Olympic effort. Most New Yorkers were opposed to that plan, which is one of the reasons the Olympic Committee didn't pick the city. I mention this as proof that actions by citizens matter in political decision making.) The Peak Oil group members and the Sierra Club wrote a 50 page report about sustainable energy in New York for 2030. They have good ideas on planning ahead to protect the city from oil ups and downs.
You can read the pdf report:
here . A news article about the report is found here with a summary
2. I also found this great resource of energy bulletin.net through the Peak Oil group. Energy bulletin net is a newswire for Peak Oil information and oil in general. Other people may have found this earlier, but it is the first time I've seen it. http://www.energybulletin.net/
3. One major concern about the city is running out of food. On the meet-up message board, I found an article about a barge that is growing food. It didn't take long to set up either. Barge food
4. I'm going to post a message about World Without Oil on the meet-up forum. Anyone can join a meet-up and post, so this is another way to spread the word about World Without Oil.
More later. "
Isnt Rose great? Again its amazing how someone from over the pound is helping me out so much but in my own village, well. Its getting wierd you know? Like Wicker Man Wierd. You can feel people looking at you from the corners of their eyes, straining to see if you have something they dont. Hell most of them dont even need anything, but that doesnt seem to matter anymore. Every man for himself.
I got a lovely email from
yuckymuck. They said they have been worried over at the World Without Oil HQ because I haddnt posted for a while.Well I bust my finger!! Just when you dont need anything to go wrong, it inevitabley does. Of course there was no point going to Casualty (A&E) for it, their already over worked with everything thats going on right now. I dont think little old me with a sore finger was going to help them any. Fortunatly I knew what to do. My Joints arnt as strong as they were when I was well so they get injured quite alot. I bandaged my finger to the ajoining finger to use it as a splint, and its getting much better now ^_^ I think it was just a very nasty sprain.
I think I've been working to hard!!
OH! Before I forget, Rose sent me some more links for you guys.
She told me that this is a great report on Scientists researching on Peak Oil
http://www.aspo-global.org/newsletter/A
There is also a US Group:
http://www.aspo-usa.com/
And they are planning a Meeting in Houston if anyone is interestng in going!
http://www.aspousa.org/aspousa3/index.c
Where would we be without Rose!
I got another email from Rose today, as promised, here it is:
"I guess everyone is talking about how expensive gas is and how it has gone up on average $.19 a gallon across the country in the past two weeks. I have to say it is hard for me to relate to this because I don't have a car. My sister though, took a part-time job at a greenhouse near her hous for not very much money just to earn enough extra to make sure she could cover her gas costs for her main job ( she also gets a discount on plants for her garden so that was part of it too.)
I'm still working away on my solar oven plans. Luckily I have found plans that are idiot proof. They actually say " solar oven does not work on cloudy days or after dark." Heh - now these are people who are down to the basics.
Two problems I have: the balcony where I live just doesn't get enough sun. I'm going to try it out anyway. But I think I solved that one. Another great benefit of living in New York is that the buildings have roof spaces that are usable. My building has a garden of sorts on the roof. My son's elementary school has a beautiful playground on it. His country cousins could never relate to him having "roof" as a part of his day. But the roof is usable space. A neighboring building has a pool that we can use in the summer.
So, I plan to take the solar oven up to the roof and cook. I'm planning to make some corn on the cob ( you can leave them in the husks and cook them in black socks -not kidding) and some shish kabobs. Having stuff in smaller pieces makes it easier to cook.
Second problem: wind. Wind is a major factor, the past few days have been crazy windy, so I had to postpone my experiment. The next fews days and the rest of the week looks good though.
Today I am getting some pizza boxes from the pizza place up the street and will start assembling the oven. "
"I guess everyone is talking about how expensive gas is and how it has gone up on average $.19 a gallon across the country in the past two weeks. I have to say it is hard for me to relate to this because I don't have a car. My sister though, took a part-time job at a greenhouse near her hous for not very much money just to earn enough extra to make sure she could cover her gas costs for her main job ( she also gets a discount on plants for her garden so that was part of it too.)
I'm still working away on my solar oven plans. Luckily I have found plans that are idiot proof. They actually say " solar oven does not work on cloudy days or after dark." Heh - now these are people who are down to the basics.
Two problems I have: the balcony where I live just doesn't get enough sun. I'm going to try it out anyway. But I think I solved that one. Another great benefit of living in New York is that the buildings have roof spaces that are usable. My building has a garden of sorts on the roof. My son's elementary school has a beautiful playground on it. His country cousins could never relate to him having "roof" as a part of his day. But the roof is usable space. A neighboring building has a pool that we can use in the summer.
So, I plan to take the solar oven up to the roof and cook. I'm planning to make some corn on the cob ( you can leave them in the husks and cook them in black socks -not kidding) and some shish kabobs. Having stuff in smaller pieces makes it easier to cook.
Second problem: wind. Wind is a major factor, the past few days have been crazy windy, so I had to postpone my experiment. The next fews days and the rest of the week looks good though.
Today I am getting some pizza boxes from the pizza place up the street and will start assembling the oven. "
I promised my friend Rose I would post her thoughts and ideas here in my journal as she doesnt have one:
"In any crises situation, keeping a cool head and a sense of humor can save your sanity. Panic is the worse thing - it is bad for the people who panic and it is contagious- panic can spread and situations can seem worse than they really are. I'm trying to remember to take things just one day at a time. Trying to plan too far ahead in an ambiguous, shifty environment can be frustrating. You have to deal with problems as they arise.
Things can't all be unremittingly grim and desolate can they?
What I want to know -- besides everyone's bright ideas on saving oil --who has some amusing anecdotes (as the Reader's Digest used to say) they would like to share?
Anything like running up 9 flights of stairs only to realize you don't have your key with you? Then going back down, running back up and remembering you need something from the store. You have to laugh, otherwise it just gets too tedious.
I remember during the blackout here a few years ago - not the same thing as this I know- many restaurants in my neighborhood just started giving away or selling food cheaply. They were making drinks with the last of the ice and some people were grilling the food from their freezer on the street. The phone company rigged up lines so everyone could call home.
See, that is what I like, neighbors helping neighbors.
If you need comic relief, I'm sure my efforts to set up and use a solar oven will be entertaining. It isn't sunny or hot here. My balcony is mostly in shade. No idea how this is going to work, but I'm going to try it. Cissmiace agreed to post this for me because I don't have a blog. So check back later this week to see how far I've gotten or if you need a laugh.
So far:
I've found a good general website on solar cooking.
http://www.solarcooking.org/
Directions to make several different cookers from the same site (note: directions are not just in English:
http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/defau
Simple plans to make a pizza box solar oven:
http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm
A solar oven with an outstanding design for $125 - but I think I will try making mine first. http://www.solarovens.org/
And, even, an article from Gourmet Magazine on solar cooking. They made Tuna Provencale - I'm thinking about S'mores. :D "
I think Rose has hit it right on the head. Keeping cool and having a sense of humour is important. I wouldnt of survived this long through my illness without a sense of humour.
So come on! Lets hear your funnys!
"In any crises situation, keeping a cool head and a sense of humor can save your sanity. Panic is the worse thing - it is bad for the people who panic and it is contagious- panic can spread and situations can seem worse than they really are. I'm trying to remember to take things just one day at a time. Trying to plan too far ahead in an ambiguous, shifty environment can be frustrating. You have to deal with problems as they arise.
Things can't all be unremittingly grim and desolate can they?
What I want to know -- besides everyone's bright ideas on saving oil --who has some amusing anecdotes (as the Reader's Digest used to say) they would like to share?
Anything like running up 9 flights of stairs only to realize you don't have your key with you? Then going back down, running back up and remembering you need something from the store. You have to laugh, otherwise it just gets too tedious.
I remember during the blackout here a few years ago - not the same thing as this I know- many restaurants in my neighborhood just started giving away or selling food cheaply. They were making drinks with the last of the ice and some people were grilling the food from their freezer on the street. The phone company rigged up lines so everyone could call home.
See, that is what I like, neighbors helping neighbors.
If you need comic relief, I'm sure my efforts to set up and use a solar oven will be entertaining. It isn't sunny or hot here. My balcony is mostly in shade. No idea how this is going to work, but I'm going to try it. Cissmiace agreed to post this for me because I don't have a blog. So check back later this week to see how far I've gotten or if you need a laugh.
So far:
I've found a good general website on solar cooking.
http://www.solarcooking.org/
Directions to make several different cookers from the same site (note: directions are not just in English:
http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/defau
Simple plans to make a pizza box solar oven:
http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm
A solar oven with an outstanding design for $125 - but I think I will try making mine first. http://www.solarovens.org/
And, even, an article from Gourmet Magazine on solar cooking. They made Tuna Provencale - I'm thinking about S'mores. :D "
I think Rose has hit it right on the head. Keeping cool and having a sense of humour is important. I wouldnt of survived this long through my illness without a sense of humour.
So come on! Lets hear your funnys!
- Mood:
thoughtful
I recieved an email from my friend Rose today:
" Rising oil prices definitely affect the cost of goods, mostly groceries, being delivered in Manhattan. All of the food we eat, or the ingredients to make it, are transported into Manhattan, the cost for the gas to move it just keeps increasing the cost of living.
I was looking at some old photographs of Manhattan and it struck me that we are very lucky. We have easy river transportation and huge barges here. I see no reason why we can't work out a different kind of delivery system with barges instead of individual trucks. If that still uses too much fuel, in a pinch, sailboats will work.
Goods were delivered into Manhattan in many ways before the invention of the automobile. The port was used as were horse-drawn carts. At the speed of traffic in most of the city, a horse drawn cart wouldn't be much slower. Manhattan was able to be supported using these methods of transportation.
We just need to work out a better, more efficient system. I feel sorry for the people who live way out in the middle of nowhere without access to other means of transportation.
I also feel sorry for anyone who is experiencing violence because of oil-related problems. Maybe because of our experience in September 11th and with the blackout a few years ago, but New Yorkers don't turn on each other. Also, we have a huge police force. And owning any unlicensed hand-gun is an automatic jail sentence here, so we don't have people trying to take things into their own hands as it seems some other people are saying might be happening in their town.
While looking through images on the new york times website I found this one, a photo of Manhattan at sunset during the blackout.
"
I have to say, Ive always been impressed by the New Yorkers attitude, I read somewhere that when the blackout occured, most people had block parties, and took advantage of the situation. I love the way they come together in a crisis. The same thought blew me over when I was seeing 9/11 on the telly.
If something like that happend where I live, in Stockport - I wouldnt like to get my hopes on anyone helping. In fact most of them would probably step over you if you were wasting away on the street.
" Rising oil prices definitely affect the cost of goods, mostly groceries, being delivered in Manhattan. All of the food we eat, or the ingredients to make it, are transported into Manhattan, the cost for the gas to move it just keeps increasing the cost of living.
I was looking at some old photographs of Manhattan and it struck me that we are very lucky. We have easy river transportation and huge barges here. I see no reason why we can't work out a different kind of delivery system with barges instead of individual trucks. If that still uses too much fuel, in a pinch, sailboats will work.
Goods were delivered into Manhattan in many ways before the invention of the automobile. The port was used as were horse-drawn carts. At the speed of traffic in most of the city, a horse drawn cart wouldn't be much slower. Manhattan was able to be supported using these methods of transportation.
We just need to work out a better, more efficient system. I feel sorry for the people who live way out in the middle of nowhere without access to other means of transportation.
I also feel sorry for anyone who is experiencing violence because of oil-related problems. Maybe because of our experience in September 11th and with the blackout a few years ago, but New Yorkers don't turn on each other. Also, we have a huge police force. And owning any unlicensed hand-gun is an automatic jail sentence here, so we don't have people trying to take things into their own hands as it seems some other people are saying might be happening in their town.
While looking through images on the new york times website I found this one, a photo of Manhattan at sunset during the blackout.
"I have to say, Ive always been impressed by the New Yorkers attitude, I read somewhere that when the blackout occured, most people had block parties, and took advantage of the situation. I love the way they come together in a crisis. The same thought blew me over when I was seeing 9/11 on the telly.
If something like that happend where I live, in Stockport - I wouldnt like to get my hopes on anyone helping. In fact most of them would probably step over you if you were wasting away on the street.
- Mood:
hungry
I was watching a TV program recently about cheaper ways to run your car, as fuel prices are shooting up by what feels like, the second.
It cost him about £500 for a conversion kit, and now it only costs him something like 20-30p a litre to run his car. Which is a huge difference to the current fuel prices.
I thought it would be a good thing to post, as this means that theres a greater possibility that we can still use our cars - we dont have to rely on oil!!!
You must be aware however, that using vegetable oil, and not informing the tax man is illegal.
Man drives from Land's End to John O'Groats on Vegetable Oil
Biodiesel From Used Vegetable Oil Recipie
There are other ways of keeping 'on the move'. For example LPG - which is a Gas, and conversion kits, although pricey at approx £2000, do pay for themselfs, and obviously keep you with transport.
LPG a greener alternitive to Petrol
And also, Electric:
Electric Vehicle campaign and Information
Wiki
How stuff works article
And a great site about all Alterative fuel / eco friendly transport:
EVWORLD
You may also be interested in some flyers I created. I thought it was important to inform others, so I made some flyers that you can customise yourself.
You can find them here at flickr
It cost him about £500 for a conversion kit, and now it only costs him something like 20-30p a litre to run his car. Which is a huge difference to the current fuel prices.
I thought it would be a good thing to post, as this means that theres a greater possibility that we can still use our cars - we dont have to rely on oil!!!
You must be aware however, that using vegetable oil, and not informing the tax man is illegal.
Man drives from Land's End to John O'Groats on Vegetable Oil
Biodiesel From Used Vegetable Oil Recipie
There are other ways of keeping 'on the move'. For example LPG - which is a Gas, and conversion kits, although pricey at approx £2000, do pay for themselfs, and obviously keep you with transport.
LPG a greener alternitive to Petrol
And also, Electric:
Electric Vehicle campaign and Information
Wiki
How stuff works article
And a great site about all Alterative fuel / eco friendly transport:
EVWORLD
You may also be interested in some flyers I created. I thought it was important to inform others, so I made some flyers that you can customise yourself.
You can find them here at flickr
After reading mpathytest's recent entry in the community, I now realise this thing is here to stay. I just hope I'm prepared enough.
The first few months will be hard, waiting for everything to get growing. I just hope I have enough supplies already to keep me sane.
The problem I have with people panic buying things like water, food, candles etc is that they panic. And they buy too much. So then other people cant buy what they really need because some greedy person has grabbed it all for himself.
Im ranting.. What my point is, is this: People should just buy what they need and not what they want. By the time rationing is in place its too late.
So this looks like its going to be a way of life for some time. Ive been trying to imagine every worst case scenario I can think of, for example no power, unable to charge mobile phones, no radios, no batterys, no lighting etc. I thought I'd post some useful links that will help people get by.
Theres some wonderful gadgets you can pick up, self sufficiant some people call them, I call them wind ups. Basically you generate your own power by winding a little handle. Nifty huh?
So heres some things I think will be very useful, their expensive, but they will pay for themselfs in usefulness:
Everything below can be found here which I just found today, but looks wonderful!
Wind Up Radio's:
Cheapest: Basic Radio
More Expensive: DAB Radio
Wind Up Lights / Torches:
Cheapest: Wind up torch
More Expensive: Light Center
Mobile Phone Chargers:
Wind Up Charger
Solar Chargers:
Personal Solar Charger
Power Supply:
Rechargeable Power Supply
Again, just the basics, but as always I'll do more research on them, see if I can find something perhaps more powerful?
mpathytest's recent entry in the community, I now realise this thing is here to stay. I just hope I'm prepared enough.The first few months will be hard, waiting for everything to get growing. I just hope I have enough supplies already to keep me sane.
The problem I have with people panic buying things like water, food, candles etc is that they panic. And they buy too much. So then other people cant buy what they really need because some greedy person has grabbed it all for himself.
Im ranting.. What my point is, is this: People should just buy what they need and not what they want. By the time rationing is in place its too late.
So this looks like its going to be a way of life for some time. Ive been trying to imagine every worst case scenario I can think of, for example no power, unable to charge mobile phones, no radios, no batterys, no lighting etc. I thought I'd post some useful links that will help people get by.
Theres some wonderful gadgets you can pick up, self sufficiant some people call them, I call them wind ups. Basically you generate your own power by winding a little handle. Nifty huh?
So heres some things I think will be very useful, their expensive, but they will pay for themselfs in usefulness:
Everything below can be found here which I just found today, but looks wonderful!
Wind Up Radio's:
Cheapest: Basic Radio
More Expensive: DAB Radio
Wind Up Lights / Torches:
Cheapest: Wind up torch
More Expensive: Light Center
Mobile Phone Chargers:
Wind Up Charger
Solar Chargers:
Personal Solar Charger
Power Supply:
Rechargeable Power Supply
Again, just the basics, but as always I'll do more research on them, see if I can find something perhaps more powerful?
- Mood:
nervous
So, after my last 'omg everyone is going to die' panic post, I thought I'd post something helpful for a change. Well, I'm hoping it will be helpful, it sure as hell is helpful to me;
Being stuck at home housebound, with the possible outcome of not being able to order food..urgh it just doesnt bare thinking about...so I decided I would start to grow some vegys, its better than having no food at all right?
I'll let you know how it goes, as I seam to have a 'hand of death' with most things, but here are a few links, if anyone else is interested in being productive.
This was just advertised on the telly, I thought it would be really useful, especailly as you get constant emails informing you of new info...(Only trouble with that is, ive read somewhere that there could be a possible electrical blackout if things get bad)
UK TV Gardens Grow Your On Veg
BBC Growing Veg
Heres some basics you need to start growing vegetables:
· Spade
· Fork
· Hoe
· Rake
· Hand Cultivator (Being 'disabled' I find these really useful, very easy to use)
· Trowel
· Watering Can
· Gloves
· Wheelbarrow
· Secateurs (Cutting dead parts off plants is highly benificial!)
· Water butt (this is really useful, its much better than using tap water, saves lots of money!)
On a personal level, from the pain I have, I find a small fold up chair, a stool, or even those padded kneelers or knee pads are a god send when your in the Garden!!
Also, there are seeds you can get for kids, grow your own vegatables etc, I know their only kids seeds, but they are VERY easy to plant (more often than not, a case of just throwing the seeds on the ground!) and their pretty much gaurenteed to grow.
I'll post some more if anyones interested, their just basic ones. I think the UK TV one is pretty good though.
Im fortunate enough to have some room in my garden thats perfect for planting. I was clearing it to plant some roses, but this is obviously far more important - better safe than sorry right?
In regards to my last post well,wwoksg was right when they said all that was just from someone protesting outside a gate somewhere.
So if a couple of people can cause nationwide chaos like that, imagine the scale that this crisis will effect us all.
Being stuck at home housebound, with the possible outcome of not being able to order food..urgh it just doesnt bare thinking about...so I decided I would start to grow some vegys, its better than having no food at all right?
I'll let you know how it goes, as I seam to have a 'hand of death' with most things, but here are a few links, if anyone else is interested in being productive.
This was just advertised on the telly, I thought it would be really useful, especailly as you get constant emails informing you of new info...(Only trouble with that is, ive read somewhere that there could be a possible electrical blackout if things get bad)
UK TV Gardens Grow Your On Veg
BBC Growing Veg
Heres some basics you need to start growing vegetables:
· Spade
· Fork
· Hoe
· Rake
· Hand Cultivator (Being 'disabled' I find these really useful, very easy to use)
· Trowel
· Watering Can
· Gloves
· Wheelbarrow
· Secateurs (Cutting dead parts off plants is highly benificial!)
· Water butt (this is really useful, its much better than using tap water, saves lots of money!)
On a personal level, from the pain I have, I find a small fold up chair, a stool, or even those padded kneelers or knee pads are a god send when your in the Garden!!
Also, there are seeds you can get for kids, grow your own vegatables etc, I know their only kids seeds, but they are VERY easy to plant (more often than not, a case of just throwing the seeds on the ground!) and their pretty much gaurenteed to grow.
I'll post some more if anyones interested, their just basic ones. I think the UK TV one is pretty good though.
Im fortunate enough to have some room in my garden thats perfect for planting. I was clearing it to plant some roses, but this is obviously far more important - better safe than sorry right?
In regards to my last post well,
wwoksg was right when they said all that was just from someone protesting outside a gate somewhere.So if a couple of people can cause nationwide chaos like that, imagine the scale that this crisis will effect us all.
- Mood:
determined
Ive not been able to stop thinking about how all this will effect me, being ill and all. So today I did a little research. I think this could be a horrifying situation...
(from http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/portal/ind
Health Care
The National Health Service (NHS) was principally impacted by its reliance on the transportation of staff, patients and supplies.
The disruptions in fuel supply affected the ability of some medical staff to use their usual means of transport to get to work, which resulted in some medical staff shortages.
Hundreds of petrol stations across the country set up piecemeal local rationing schemes, often supervised by the police, and tried to conserve limited fuel supplies for medical personnel.
These measures were ineffective and several hospitals around the country were forced to cancel routine operations and to limit admissions to emergency cases only.
By Wednesday 13th/ Thursday14th September the following had been reported.
Ambulance services were disrupted by shortages of fuel and limited to calls from patients in need of serious assistance. One media report noted that ambulance services in Surrey could not respond to emergency 999 calls while they waited to receive extra supplies of petrol.
It was also reported that some hospitals were unable to remove hazardous clinical waste from their facilities, creating a public health risk, and that the Royal Hull Hospital had run out of stitches for operations.
In the south-east of England, hospitals said patients were cancelling appointments because of transport difficulties. Hospitals in Portsmouth were running short of drugs, particularly for renal dialysis.
In the south-west, hospitals reported increased numbers of 12-hour trolley waits for patients and some trusts said they had only two days supplies of linen left.
Cornwall health authority said it had three days of food left, 36 hours of laundry and oxygen was becoming scarce.
United Bristol healthcare trust cancelled cardiac operations because staff could not get in to work. Across the region, beds were not becoming free because patients were not being discharged.
In the West Midlands, Hereford, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Staffordshire declared the situation a "major incident".
North of the border, the Scottish ambulance service was preparing to refuse to respond to all non-emergency calls.
North Mersey warned that community nursing would not be available by the end of the week.
Across London, non-urgent outpatient appointments were cancelled. Guy's and St Thomas's stopped discharging patients living outside the capital.
In the north-west, Wigan ambulance service ran out of fuel.
You really should read the whole article, its frightening. People are just going to be left to die.
(from http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/portal/ind
Health Care
The National Health Service (NHS) was principally impacted by its reliance on the transportation of staff, patients and supplies.
The disruptions in fuel supply affected the ability of some medical staff to use their usual means of transport to get to work, which resulted in some medical staff shortages.
Hundreds of petrol stations across the country set up piecemeal local rationing schemes, often supervised by the police, and tried to conserve limited fuel supplies for medical personnel.
These measures were ineffective and several hospitals around the country were forced to cancel routine operations and to limit admissions to emergency cases only.
By Wednesday 13th/ Thursday14th September the following had been reported.
Ambulance services were disrupted by shortages of fuel and limited to calls from patients in need of serious assistance. One media report noted that ambulance services in Surrey could not respond to emergency 999 calls while they waited to receive extra supplies of petrol.
It was also reported that some hospitals were unable to remove hazardous clinical waste from their facilities, creating a public health risk, and that the Royal Hull Hospital had run out of stitches for operations.
In the south-east of England, hospitals said patients were cancelling appointments because of transport difficulties. Hospitals in Portsmouth were running short of drugs, particularly for renal dialysis.
In the south-west, hospitals reported increased numbers of 12-hour trolley waits for patients and some trusts said they had only two days supplies of linen left.
Cornwall health authority said it had three days of food left, 36 hours of laundry and oxygen was becoming scarce.
United Bristol healthcare trust cancelled cardiac operations because staff could not get in to work. Across the region, beds were not becoming free because patients were not being discharged.
In the West Midlands, Hereford, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Staffordshire declared the situation a "major incident".
North of the border, the Scottish ambulance service was preparing to refuse to respond to all non-emergency calls.
North Mersey warned that community nursing would not be available by the end of the week.
Across London, non-urgent outpatient appointments were cancelled. Guy's and St Thomas's stopped discharging patients living outside the capital.
In the north-west, Wigan ambulance service ran out of fuel.
You really should read the whole article, its frightening. People are just going to be left to die.
- Mood:
shocked
Firstly, I want to inform all my friends on here that I was origionally operation_filth
With all the talk recently of Oil Crisis, I have been doing some research on links provided to me bympathytest .
Theres something that worries be ALOT. You see, I'm very ill. Im housebound due to my illness, and these are some things that are really bothering me:
I depend on mail order to survive. How will it effect me when theres the possibility of no transport? No deliveries?!!!!
I know that might sound really trivial to some people, but imagine you cant go outside, you cant buy food, you cant get clothes, or bits and bobs to help with everyday living...
Not only that but what about my medication?! How will this be dispatched to Dr's and pharmacys. Will I run out of much needed medication?!!
God, I just, dont want to even THINK about that. But what if it gets that bad?
What am I going to do?!
operation_filth With all the talk recently of Oil Crisis, I have been doing some research on links provided to me by
mpathytest .Theres something that worries be ALOT. You see, I'm very ill. Im housebound due to my illness, and these are some things that are really bothering me:
I depend on mail order to survive. How will it effect me when theres the possibility of no transport? No deliveries?!!!!
I know that might sound really trivial to some people, but imagine you cant go outside, you cant buy food, you cant get clothes, or bits and bobs to help with everyday living...
Not only that but what about my medication?! How will this be dispatched to Dr's and pharmacys. Will I run out of much needed medication?!!
God, I just, dont want to even THINK about that. But what if it gets that bad?
What am I going to do?!
- Mood: worried
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