No one’s coming, it’s up to us [350]

Greetings from the shed...

Welcome new subscribers check out the archive if you want to see how things were in less crazy times.

---

#TheAction

What a week eh? And another ‘hottest year so far’. I wonder how long civilisation as we know it has left. Twenty to thirty years perhaps?

Some are predicting empty shelves as crops fail, ever increasing inflation, collapsing systems, wild fires, the totalitarian tiptoe, life threatening levels of heat and the other extremes of weather that follow.

But we’ve got each other right? Shall we pool our resources, buy some land, or an island and settle in?

Between us we might have all the skills needed. Bartering, blacksmithing, foraging, farming, medicine, hunting, carpentry, chemistry, sewing, welding, building, power generation, fishing, preserving, beekeeping, radio communication and so on. I can definatly put my hand to a few of these. Let me know in the (open to all) comments if you have something to offer. Just for a bit of fun for now. Till things get real.

We might not have that long to wait though. My friends down the road are currently off grid. A wild fire this week was caused by melting power lines that drooped, snapped, set fire to the fields behind their house and now a number of houses are fed by a generator. Exciting times.

---

#ThePictures

This says a lot.

---

A touching Twitter thread and some lost photos. Click to read the story.

Jen Rose Smith @jenrosesmithvt

A day after we took this 2 years ago, my dad fell to his death in the Olympic Mountains. I miss him terribly. After he died, though, an astonishing thing happened that still fills me with gratitude and hope — here's how 3 strangers saved this photo from being lost forever🧵

---

#TheWords

Thanks to Thack for making me aware of Time on Rock: A Climber's Route into the Mountains by Anna Flemming. I bought the hardback. Her beautiful writing highlights her connection to the landscape. As if a part of it. Which she is, both on and off the rock face.

---

#TheSound

Next week, a career change sees both our electric lease cars go back to where they came from and I cannot tell you how much i’ll miss them. Even with the limited miles I’ve been doing, the iD3 has been a joy. I must say I’m looking forward to cycling more though. The first electric car I got to drive was the Nissan Leaf. That was 10 years ago. Here is the audio of me reflecting after my test drive.

---

#TheConsumed

I never knew we had a cherry plum tree. We’ve only lived here for about 12 years. And yet I was sat under its red leaves recently and spotted a couple of cherries hanging there. The tree is very popular with the birds and now I know why. They must strip it clean every year. Before we get to even see them. I found the last three left.

They are thought of as cooking fruits. And native to Europe and Asia they have been cultivated since ancient times. We ate the fruit straight off the tree and they were sweeter than I expected.

---

Nearly all of my meals have been salads this week.

As i’ve been on my own I’ve been chucking stuff in a plastic bowl, throwing in some tinned fish and adding salt, olive oil and a splash of vinegar. My Nonna (from the north of Italy) always made this simple dressing and occasionally added a spot of lemon juice as well. She’d not see a salad as a main course though. It was always on the side. If I remember right, the insalatone (big salad) was a thing of the south. It’s now popping up everywhere though and I for one am a fan. Fresh and colourful equals healthy in my book and I never tire of the combinations. Also, her tomatoes were always kept in the pantry and never in the fridge. I stuck mine outside in the hot sun as although tomatoes in the fridge might last longer, cold tomatoes taste meh.

I disagree with the premise that you cannot survive on salad alone. Maybe they meant just lettuce? With a variety of leafy veg, fruits like tomatoes, olives and avocado, seeds, plus fish and seasoning, I feel I could eat just this and not only survive, but thrive.

---

#TheBody

What kind of benefit do you think you might experience from a little meditation every day? Just 10 minutes sitting still, present and aware of your breath, but not judging anything, just breathing and letting everything wash over you?

Try it. You may be surprised.

As we all form health habits differently, I’ve made a helpful habit forming downloadable tick sheet so you can practice a little meditation on a daily basis. And it is about practise. One session won’t do any more than one jog will. But start to make it a daily practice and amazing things can happen. Start here if you need some tips.

---

#TheThings

I must be one of the last people to succumb to a smart speaker. But I do believe this to be the best smart speaker ever made. It’s the older, larger, Apple HomePod.

It was in a sweaty Texas bar, a few cocktails into the evening when @DarrellWhitelaw told me to take a closer look at it. They can fetch crazy prices on eBay in the U.S.

Thankfully, although still not cheap they are much more affordable in the UK. Here is a What Hifi review from a couple of years ago.

I bought mine purely for the audio quality and as I rarely use my Thorens TD321 to play records in the shed, I think soon be put it on eBay (£500). I’ll be sad to see it go, but I have other record decks and this will free up some much needed space. Between my studio monitors on the laptop, the HomePod and a pair of Dali speakers plugged into my cassette deck and amp, I’ll have more then enough to keep me going.

But what about the privacy implications of having a smart speaker in the shed? Although not always recording, smart speakers are always listening. Trigger it on purpose or by accident and then it records. In some cases it sends that data to the cloud. I feel Apple is the best of a bad bunch when it comes to privacy and security. I have dug into the settings and turned off all the data sharing tabs I can. According to some of the research I scanned before my purchase, Apple have also ditched any third party companies that might have had access to user data.

Although there is no physical button to turn off the microphones, I have more control over the HomePod than I do over all my other devices as I can just turn it off at the wall or tell Siri to stop listening. A feature also available in the app. (More info here -Use the reader view to avoid cookies). These devices are regularly tested to see what they are sharing and I’d choose the HomePod over the Amazon or Google offerings any day. Plus, I just now asked Siri if she was spying on me and she firmly told me she respects my privacy. ;-) Must be true. [turns it off at the wall]

---

This table is amazing. I can watch it open all day.

Massimo @Rainmaker1973

The mechanics behind this wooden expanding table is fascinating: Scott Rumschlag of Mechanical Lumber walks you through his DIY creation [source, full video: bit.ly/2og9aLD]

---

#TheThanks

I must thank the paying subscribers that pay $5/month to get all the content I share into this feed. If you are able, please upgrade to become a paid supporter. Or if you prefer, buy me a coffee. ;-) Paying supporters also get access to ‘The Sanctuary’. Which at the moment is just a mad idea. But it could be more than just a hope for a better future. It could be an actual thing if the right people got involved.

---

#TheWeb

• 10 science backed benefits of meditation.

• When looking for resources on ‘How to prepare for societal collapse’ it’s hard to find links that are not sensationalist, hyper-American and anti-government. So when I share things like this, I share them in the hope you’ll glean a different perspective and perhaps garner some inspiration. I hope you don’t suddenly sell everything and go live in a bunker. We are after all tribal and we need each other right? ;-)

• How internet sleuths exposed a celebrity “volunteer soldier” in Ukraine as a fraud.

• Do you live in any of the spaces on the Documentally community map?

• Imaginary numbers are real.

• If you are into radio comms I write a radio themed email here.

• Ten years ago I made a list. I have done a bunch of stuff that was on it but I’d like to get some more done. Plus perhaps add some more things to at least make it to 50. Want to help me complete it or have any ideas?

---

#TheEnd

Thanks for reading. And subscribing. Let me know if you have an island, or any land. Preferably on a hill and easily defendable. Somewhere an off grid, low impact sustainable future skills school and retreat could be built. ;-) This idea is only an hour old but I like it. I’ll await your comments and mull over this a little more.

Have a great week and try not to watch too much news.

---

“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive.”
― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

---

Meditate,

See you out there.

... . -. -.. .. -. --. / .-.. --- ...- .

Over…