Planning for the Future

From here on in, these posts will start with my observations from last week, and how well I accomplished what I set out to do. Then a note on what, if anything, they suggest to me about both my personal and the world's future, and then a note on what I intend to do this week. The odd seeming decision to post on Thursday actually has a goal: rather than start my "Collapse-now" week at the start of a week, it starts at an odd time, to ensure that I'm forced to think about it during the week, as well as the start by other standards, since I don't want to have a "bad week" to start the week off.

An observation I have made is that I am already well ahead of most people. My preferred transportation method is by foot, and for longer distances I use public transit. This lack of dependence on a car already helps me stay in better shape than most people, and more importantly also means I have the skills to live in a post-car world. I also have a low cost, low energy system of entertainment: RPGs.

RPGs are quite easy to set up: all you need is people, dice, and paper. The last two points are iffy, it is possible to get a game going without either of those, however it would, in my opinion anyway, be an impoverished game. The only real expense is the books. However, if you pick a system and stick to it, that cost is negligible. The upfront costs of buying a sourcebook easily pay for themselves over time in enjoyment had with the groups.

Now, for my goals for this past week: reduce processed food, and start making sake. I will begin with the second one for now, because it is easier to say: I did not start the process. I lack the materials. While I went looking for it, I could not find the necessary yeast balls. I will spend a little more time looking soon. However, I am going to be fairly busy, and the large Asian grocery store around here is a little ways away, so I don't know when I will get the chance to get them.

On the second point: almost complete success. I failed on this point, but simple success would be less enlightening than this failure was. What I have determined is that I need to plan each day's meal in advance, and where possible cook the meal in advance. All preparation needs to be done not the day of, but at least the day before. Otherwise, holding out until I can make something is impractical at best. Skipping lunch most days strikes me as a bad idea, as does not eating breakfast because I forgot to make something the night before and I overslept.

So, both goals for last week failed for lack of proper planning. This is a very good lesson to learn, and so it leads to a broader point: large inputs of energy or resources can make up for a lack of planning. Since planning is a skill, it follows then that it is something that improves with use. Since energy and resources can make up for a lack of planning, I think it's quite likely I, and indeed most people living in industrial lifestyles, will be awful at planning.

It's not something we've had to do. It's something we will have to learn quickly once things start coming unraveled, and our standards of living, in material terms, plummet. Considering it is a skill that is essential for nearly all aspects of life without the inputs of industrial society available for our use, it is a very important skill. As such, it makes sense to learn well in advance.

Thus this self-imposed challenge to learn to live the lifestyle I will need to adopt later anyway now. Had I made the mistake of not preparing my food in advance when it mattered, I wouldn't have had the option to grab something to eat. I would have had to wait.

If my garden (once I get enough space to get one) fails, and there are still fruits and vegetables to be had in stores, it's no big deal. If it fails once this stops being true, or they are priced so high I can't afford them, then I risk nutritional deficiency. It's better to fail now, while the costs are low, and learn, than when it becomes a matter of greater importance.

Finally,  goals for next week: succeed at eating only food people I know have made, and organize my things, at least a little bit, finding things I don't use and never will, and get rid of them. I've also made a change I will see what effects it has: I've put a restriction code on my phone, and turned my smart phone into a dumb phone. Since I don't know the code, I can't "fix" it, short of restoring my phone.