The Prepared Mind [567]

Greetings from The Borders...

Mar 20, 2026

Me sat by our pond with the caravan almost hidden in the trees

I’m Christian Payne, flâneur, photographer and writer. In this weekly dispatch I explore connection, community and the tools that shape how we share.

Thanks for joining in.

#TheAction

I won’t reiterate the news. You either are or aren’t already clued up. I will say though that current affairs like these are exactly the sort of thing we’ve been casually prepping for. Not fast enough, but it helps to be in the right headspace.

I’m not talking paranoid, gun-hoarding, bunker-digging prepping. More like a resilience against power cuts, food shortages, communication outages and rising fuel costs. It’s that last one that’s really been on my mind this week.

The house runs on oil, (paraffin/kerosene). With the level of insulation we have, used sparingly we could probably heat the whole place on around 500 litres a year. Still getting used to the system, we’ve likely used 750 to 1000 litres since moving in. Not bad for a large four-bed.

In the last week, the cost of doing that has doubled. Thankfully we’re heading into the time of year where the heating will soon go off.

We do have backups. Three fireplaces, a growing pile of wood, and some portable electric radiators. The radiators can run off solar during the day and, in an emergency, portable batteries at night. We can also switch the hot water tank to solar during daylight hours.

We’re a long way from covering everything, but I bought a caravan this week. More on that below. A useful side effect is that we now have an off-grid kitchen and bathroom if the water supply falters again.

So, the basics are in place:

Seven days of food and water

Torches, batteries, power banks and off-grid solar

Backup heating

Medical supplies

A way to cook without mains power

Radios. (Plenty of those.)

We’re still enjoying dried fruit, preserves and cider from last year... and that was just dabbling. When this year’s produce comes in, the aim is to fill the shelves properly. Shop less, store more and build a bit more food resilience.

“Dig the well before you are thirsty” — Chinese Proverb

This is, of course, a long-term project. It’s slowly saving us money, teaching us new skills, and acting as a pleasant distraction from current events. But I’ve also found this kind of thing fun.

I’ve carried survival kits and EDC pouches since I was 8 years old and had a brief stint in the cubs. “Be prepared” was advice I could really get behind. It also gave me the confidence to travel to some very interesting places.

But this new level of ‘be prepared’, while still fun, carries an increasing sense of urgency.

#TheSeen

I watched Louis Theroux’s documentary entitled Toxic Masculinity where he takes a look at the online phenomenon known as the “manosphere”. Louis tracks down some ‘influencers’ in this sphere and does more listening over arguing as he teases out the views of his subjects.

In my mind he’s letting them damn themselves, but I wish he was a little more probing. There’s certainly a battle in the subjects minds between insecurity, control and identity, yet the whole thing is frustratingly hands-off.

But that restraint might be the point. I think this was meant to be short, calm and disturbing. The think is, I was left with the feeling these people are everywhere.

This week I finished series 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. I do not identify as a Trekki as i’ve always been into Star Wars, but I looked forward to and enjoyed every episode of this. Lots of fun. I’ll certainly be watching the second series.

The closest I have come to being a Trekki was when a friend working in a petrol station saved all of the loyalty vouchers people didn’t want and gave them to me. I traded them for the most interesting ‘free gift’ on offer… the entire series of Star Trek Voyager on VHS.

I think it was that single deep dive and sporadic dipping in to the Star Trek universe that has just got me my 80% score in this ‘are you a true Trekkie’ test.

I have Star Wars and Firefly in the bag, have watched a little Buck Rogers, V, Battlestar, DR Who, and some Kirk, Picard and Way in action… as well as Star Trek academy S1 and a little DS9. I’m wondering where in space to go next. What do you recommend?

I was looking at how to best extract and grow the seeds from my favourite tomatoes and spotted this guy growing tomatoes from the seeds in his quarter pounder.

This is one of those videos that could have been recorded in a quarter of the time, but I stuck it out and learned a few interesting/useful things.

#TheWords

Margaret Atwood meets Claude.

The five best books on daily life in medieval England.

Finally finished ‘The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity’…

It’s a provocative rethink of human history that challenges the idea society evolved in a straight line from ‘primitive’ to ‘civilised.’

It’s dense, argumentative and at times tough going, but I stuck with it. Graeber and Wengrow argue that early humans experimented with a wide range of social structures, often choosing equality or hierarchy rather than being locked into one path.

It’s less about agreeing with everything and more about contemplating possible pasts. There are plenty of mind-blowing ideas you may not have considered before. As much as I’d have liked a neat conclusion, this is a field where questions tend to outnumber answers. 3.5/5

…And I have just started reading ‘The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game’.

I’m not far in but I’m already able to reframe my day to day after reading a section on the subtle values in activity that really resonated. As a result I’m getting even more out of daily chores.

There can be a lot of repetition in my day-to-day and it’s easy to lose focus on the main goals and values in what I’m doing. But there’s also so much subtle value outside the expected, so I’m always reframing. Trying to see the minutiae as well as the bigger picture. The side effects of certain actions, the health of individual plants, the symbiosis happening all around.

The real danger, of course, is getting sidetracked. My hyper focus can flit from clearing an area, to identifying mushrooms, to digging a trench, to fixing a fence, then back again, to the first half done task.

I’m never bored though.

One pleasant side effect is reduced screen time. Partly because there are more interesting things happening, but also because when I do pick up a phone for anything beyond communication or research, I see a web still filled with what feels like a superficial version of value.

It doesn’t mean I’ve escaped distraction. I’ve just traded one kind for another. These metrics are measured in sweat and growth and at least for me, feels more tangible. More useful.

So reading the book is mostly read, digest, read digest. I’ve just hit a particularly mundane section on metrics. But even that has some nuggets.

#TheHeard

I’m Gen X.

I grew up letting myself into an empty house, figuring things out without google and learning early that consequences were real and nobody was coming to save me. I guess it left me self-reliant, skeptical of authority and wired to always think a few steps ahead.

I don’t relate all the traits explored in the following audio but I certainly value competence over titles, am fiercely independent, but loyal to those I feel are ‘my people’. Then there’s the planning for the worst while hoping for the best.

Sound like you?

This is an interesting psychological analysis of the GenX mindset.

0:00

-11:10

I used en.loader.to to scrape the audio from this video as I felt the imagery was AI generated and didn’t really add much to the essay.

#TheConsumed

Life isn’t all homemade sourdough toast (baked by me) with home made raspberry and cherry jam (made by my Mother in law with our fruit), although it could quickly become an elevenses ritual if i’m not carful.

No, life is also the kids suddenly wanting hotdogs and me cooking up some hotdog-adjacent-sausages and sticking them on a slice of bread with cheese, mustard, ketchup and spring onions.

They enjoyed them. I just got to craving some remembered treats found at Berlin bratwurst stalls.

#TheFound

If like me you have a habit of packing your pockets with tools that might be needed through the day… only to occasionally lose something… I recommend not trying to retrace your steps in the day. Wait till night and search with a torch.

I forgot this technique and walked around for ages before worrying it would rust if left there. Heading back out after dark I found it in the orchard.

I think searching at night is easier because a head torch throws directional light, creating shadows and contrast that make objects stand out against grass or ground. Things catch the beam and reflect straight back. Plus the narrow focus stops my eyes wandering.

I’ve found a radio, sunglasses, keys, a tape measure and this knife at night after missing them in the day. Likely down to rough ground and a bouncy ride-on mower.

The knife is my Morakniv 120 wood carving knife. I use for smoothing off the end of any branch that has been trimmed. This protects the tree from rot and infection. It’s also great for a quick whittle if i’m outside waiting for a delivery, or in need of a wooden peg or hiking stick.

#TheThings

Having checked with Andrew of Readers Sheds on the cost of an insulated shed with electrics and lighting that will survive a Scottish winter, he confirmed it was way above my budget. A decent shed/garden office can cost between £3K for a pod or £12K+ for what I left behind at out old house.

So instead I invested in a caravan and put it at the bottom of the plumbery near the pond. (Also pictured at the top of this dispatch.)

Should you be interested in caravans, it’s a 6.8m Sterling Eccles Emerald 4-berth touring caravan (5.23m internal length) with a motor mover fitted. Inside, it features an L-shaped lounge that converts into a double bed and can double as a desk space, along with a side dining area that transforms into bunk beds. To the rear, there’s a washroom with a cassette toilet, vanity sink, separate shower, cupboards and mirror, plus wardrobes for storage. The kitchen area is equipped with a four-ring hob (gas and electric), grill/oven, sink with mixer tap, fridge and gas fire. It also comes with a waste water container, microwave, kettle, step, gas bottle and other bits.

All for £1500.

Obviously it’s well used but most importantly it’s dry inside and I really hope it will last a good few years as a radio shack and writing den. I just need to figure out how to get the electrics sorted as it’s too far from the house to run a hook up and will need to be off grid.

#TheLinks

Tributes paid to Chuck Norris.
Meta is turning off end to end encryption on Instagram DMs. Your ‘private’ conversations are worth too much to them.
Some countries are a little more prepared for an oil crisis.
Thank you Dongzhi for adding yourself to the Documentally community map. I do accept your greeting and send you greetings back. 隔着遥远的距离，向你送上问候。感谢你的阅读。
Glasgow is known at Tinderbox city for a reason.
This is an interesting article, ‘The Greatest Role of Philosophy,’ but it overstates philosophy’s exclusivity. I feel philosophy is one of several tools for understanding how evil operates, especially when hidden or normalised, plus it works best alongside history, psychology and lived experience.
A sealed corridor is found after 4500 years.
Some of my other places include these… I’m also G5DOC should you be a licensed Ham. Supporting subscribers also get access to a Discord server. Message me for a link. it’s getting busy there. 👍🏽
Recreating the smells of the past.
The man who made the front page twice.

#TheThanks

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The next few weeks, will be experimental (and perhaps mostly be for supporting subscribers) as I plan to do something different to… a) celebrate of me doing this weekly for over 10 years and b) fit in this dispatch around spring/summer shenanigans.

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