I Can Only do the Little Things
This week I have been working on an essay that I published yesterday. It had grand ideas by which we could possibly save ourselves from the clutches of the establishment.
Upon further reflection I realized . . . the truth is I can't do any of those things.
- I can't organize a clothing swap.
- I can't organize a community potluck.
- I can't build a container home commune.
- I can't organize a boycot.
- I can't move to a new location.
I was sort of driving myself nuts by contemplating those things. There are various reasons why I can't do them ranging from age to personal situations.
But . . . I can do these things.
- Make a new batch of laundry soap (I just did).
- Give a dozen eggs to a friend.
- Give garden veggies to friends and family.
- Take used clothing to the Salvation Army.
- Sew patches on pants.
- Prepare food for my family.
- Continue my gardening efforts.
To stay sane, I have to think small. One day at a time.
Yesterday's essay with the grand plans did generate excellent discussion, however. Thanks to all who contributed. I hope we can follow through with efforts to continue to document all of our individual areas of expertise for the benefit of us all. It would be nice to organize, document, and be able to easily reference this information.
Comments
A note on shipping containers . . .
Yes, we did turn a shipping container into living space. But if you plan to do this yourself, you need to consider condensation. Wow . . . was that horrible. When the temperatures dropped, condensation appeared everywhere inside. It was like it was raining. Fortunately, installing a dehumidifier that drains outside solved it. It heats and cools pretty well inside, but ultimately we will insulate the outside with a roof and siding. Insulating paint is not enough.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I was considering getting a container to use as a garage
But the logistics of my driveway curves through the tree would not allow it. The propane truck is about the limits!
After breaking facial bones, I have not fallen until 2 days ago. I did a wobbly sit-down on stairs going up, and hit my lower back. Then yesterday I fell twice, backward down a half-flight on the same small area of tile that did in my face. Probably hampered by the back injury. Bleeding the second fall was licked up by my vampire dog. But I spent way too much time on the floor. I called no one. I also learned that the dog (who is on food restriction) would surely eat me if I was unable to yell at her.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Riverlover
You can buy 20' containers. I know in Florida there is big market for rentals even,
I want a Pony!
Good Morning RiverLover
I wish for you a safe day with no injuries!
Like Arrow mentioned, maybe a 20' container with a door and window?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Easy enough to cut
a window or two (or three). Have torch, will travel. Some 20 footers open up the entire side of the unit. Open during a nice summer day, close at night. Can also cut out a "real" door, as well. 20 Footers make for a nice kitchen /bath combo. Wall separating the two, natch. Use another 20 footer, side-by-side, for bedroom / living room. Separate the two 20' units about 4' apart, and open the living room /kitchen sections so that they're now a more open 19' x 9'section - closed in by 4 x 8 x 1/2" plywood (on the sides and roof). The extra 4 feet makes the bedroom a cozy 11' x 9'. Got yourself a nice little very livable place for under $20,000.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Morning mhagle
I still like the container thing. You can get 1" roof nsulatig panels in 4×8 sheets. Don't get the white styrofoam ones. They are crap. The ones you want are brown in the middle. Nice 'R' value too.
So ends another episode of 'This Old Shipping Container'. Next week 'Norm' shows us how to build walls and frame windows. That's next time on 'This Old Shipping Container'.
I want a Pony!
Good Morning Arrow
Thanks for the insulation info.
More and more folks are using them for housing. They are sturdier and cheaper than mobile homes after all.
Hope you have a great day!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
pot lucks are easy to organize
Prepare a main dish and invite over like minded neighbors...they fill in the sides.
The clothing swap here happens twice a year at the same person's house. Usually April and October. They send out an email. It is word of mouth and anyone can come. As people arrive they turn over the clothes they want to thin out. A couple of people sort the clothes into shirts, dresses, pants, hats, and so on. Then everyone goes through picking what they want. Often the same items will reappear. What is left over goes to the Goodwill.
There's also a clothes swap at the Florida Folk Festival. They spread out a big tarp everyone dumps their clothes on it. Then it is a free for all.
World peace is beyond our ability to organize, but a potluck or clothes swap isn't too difficult.
All the best on your journey mhagle. As Bucky said "think global act local". We had our roof spray foamed a few years back, and we've been pleased. You might look into foamers in your area and at least get a price.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the encouragement . . .
Hmmm . . . sounds simple enough.
I like that.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
pot luck
And here in Colorado, you might even get some pot to help matters along!
[ducking!]
Seriously: sometimes the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Lucky you, legal pot . . .
I have never tried it, but if it were legal in Texas I would be growing it. Arthritis!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I can't do much to help my fellow 99%ers
either. The people who would most benefit from a pot luck meal couldn't contribute anything to it, unless you count Ramen Noodles and Mac and Cheese, and baloney contributions.
I do give my clothing to a charity for resale. I pay from $10 to $15 per hour to my office cleaning and yard maintenance personnel.
I could organize something, if I didn't work full time.
Locally, we have restrictions that mandate expensive aerobic sewer systems. The nearest installer and repair service is 40 miles away, and they charge extra for travel. We have 1 electric company, water company, and phone company. The cost of connecting these utilities is very high. I notice unimproved lots stay that way for years, finally get sold in property tax sales.
The situation is bleak.
The last year I had a garden, a drought occurred. My water bill jumped from $50 to $250 a month for about 5 months. There was simply no way vegetable production exceeded that cost.
I am at a loss at how to achieve utopia.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I don't think we're trying
to achieve utopia. I think we are just trying to figure out how to get by. If Naomi Klein is right, then we are in for a shock. I think many are anticipating that. Lewis Lapham draws parallels to our era when he says in his introduction to Walter Karp's book The Politics of War, people (in the 1920's) were noticing that the system was being organized..."in a manner convenient to the ease and comfort of mendacious oligarchy". The rest of us know we will have neither ease nor comfort.
@randtntx I am not certain I can
I am not certain I can do much to help us get by, either. The roadblocks to utopia are the same ones blocking chances for survival.
I expect we are in for a shock. I do not foresee sharing and cooperation.
The preppers are all armed. And dangerous. I know people with food storage to last them a couple of years, and enough ammo to last for 20. They also store fuel. They have their money in safes.
They are neighbors, and they are numerous.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I know, OnTC.
It does look bleak, you won't find much of an argument with me there. I suspect we agree on a bit.
I will always though, applaud the efforts of those who try to make things better and I will try to do the same. When we post of our efforts about one home-grown vegetable or one successful DYI project, it's not in the spirit of self-congratulations it is more in the spirit of trying to recognize and inspire alternative actions in response to the forces aligned against us.
@randtntx Exactly. It is the
Exactly. It is the "try" of it that inspires more "try".
It is hard to just give up.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Amen.
And, now that I think about it, I need to go back and take a look at the tv show, Walking Dead a little closer. Seems there are some good survival tips there, and Not just about offing zombies. Might be a modern Reference of sorts. Could be that Show hit the airwaves at just the right time.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Exactly. It's less about
creature comforts (to say nothing of utopia), and more about hanging on by our fingernails. We've all seen this coming for years now. When a Dem president ignores DAPL and Net Neutrality, while practically cheering on the TPP, well... well, the handwriting's been on the wall for more than a few years now. It don't take a 4.0 college grad to figure that out. And, now that Trump is in... (although Hillary wouldn't have been any better)... well, if we don't act soon Trump will be picking out our living quarters. Likely won't require curtains.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
utopia
Sounds like Step 1 for you involves -- shudder! -- a move to someplace less hostile!
And I know about gardening drought. I live west of Limon in Colorado (Colorado Springs). It's my understanding that Limon is where Limon is because there and points east (and north), dryland farming is possible; whereas to the south and west, one must irrigate to grow anything.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
@thanatokephaloides I have to stay put due
I have to stay put due to work.
If I were more financially secure, I would leave the country.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
mhagel,
I found your essay yesterday very inspiring. While none of us can save the world, we each can try to contribute toward lessening our footprint, not only on the earth, but on one another.
I have been cleaning out closets, my clothing only. And I am appalled at how much I have. It is obscene and it actually has caused me to feel depressed over it. I went through one purge and I am going back for a second and possibly s third round. All will be donated to a local charity for abused women and their families. What shocked me was how long I had kept many things that I never wear and probably will never wear in the future.
I read a lot about tiny houses and alternative dwellings and fantasize about severely downsizing. Maybe not a tiny house but a small cottage. However my other half is not into that idea. My walking partner and her husband downsized from 2,000 sq ft to a little over 1,000 sq ft and she said that she could not be happier. I have also read some about the transition movement which focuses upon thinking local as much as possible.
I hope you will continue to write on this subject. You are an inspiration.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Thank you for your kind words . . .
Hey . . . I happen to be working on cleaning out my closet today. Lots of "teacher clothes" I never wear anymore.
And you bring up another good point. We have to flow with wills and wishes of our family members. I have my husband and kids and an extra kid I need to consider. I want us to melt together into whatever we choose to do. Yes?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I love this
It brought a tear to my eye for its sheer poetry. Thank you again for posting this essay.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
:)
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Most of us
can only do little things. A good chunk of Gandhi's followers lived in poverty and he had them spinning their own cloth. It sounds pretty inconsequential but it was in fact brilliant.
We did the same thing with our $27 donations this last campaign. Not much, right? Wrong.
So the Sander's thing didn't go our way. We knew from the outset it wouldn't but we did it anyway. It shook things up big time. Things are still shaking.
Mhagle, all the little things you are doing are laudable. They are commendable, important, crucial. In the end, things may not go our way, but that's beside the point.
Oh wow . . . thank you randtntx . . .
I love that story about spinning their own cloth. A modern day version could be making our own clothes? I have seen YouTube videos of young women designing and sewing their own clothes.
And thanks for reminding me about the $27.
And I think making Nina Turner head of Our Revolution was genius. That gives me hope.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Making your own clothes isn't so intimidating
I've done it for years. Even learned to make (or adapt) my own patterns, when necessary (it often isn't - lots of things don't really need patterns).
Best starter book I know of, to jolt your mind out of commercial ruts: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/illustrated-hassle-free-make-your-own-c... (you may also be able to find a copy on eBay, overstock, alibris, etc., maybe even local brick-and-mortar store if you're lucky).
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Thanks for the link!
Looks good.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Yes!
We not be able to save the world in a macro way, but when each of us becomes a better person, we do save a part of our small corner of the world. Great comment.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy