OT - Basic Skills in Today's World

[Lobby Dosser]

The Inca and the Maya were very technologically advanced. Both collapsed in a lifetime.

[George E. Cawthon]

Thanks. You buying? I'd prefer to BBQ them. But soups are good, pork and beans, all sorts of things you can do with scraps (I suppose he meant little pieces). Of course bacon even a 10" strip is just one bite when compressed. Not to belabor the point, but I can't imagine anyone cutting up a whole hog into scraps, way too much work. OTOH, if I had to do it, I would debone the whole thing.

[George E. Cawthon]

What kind of words do you use when you scold the hog? I've heard of people using words that would burn your hide when scolding kids, but never with hogs.

[Gunner]

LITTLE BOXES

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky.

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same.

There's a pink one and a green one and a blue one and a yellow one,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university

Where they were put in boxes, and they came out all the same.

And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives

And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martinis dry,

And they all have pretty children and the children go to school.

And the children go to summer camp and then to the university

Where they are put in boxes and they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family

In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

There?s a pink one and a green one and a blue one and a yellow one,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

Pete Seeger

*******************************

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

[Robert Sturgeon]

Yes, but that spending went on for 44 years, as did their WWII spending for 4 years before that. But yes, you are right that it did help ruin them.

Yes we are. And we will be even closer 10 years from now, regardless of which party wins. Both parties favor ever increasing spending. The only difference is in what they want to spend the money on.

-- Robert Sturgeon Summum ius summa inuria.

[Leon]

That sounds like a set of rules that meet your aproval.

[Jeff McCann]

No, they were not technologically advanced. They had some skill at celestial observation, and a very rich culture, but they barely even used the wheel or any other form of technology more advanced than that commonly found in the Western world of thousands of years ago.

Jeff

Jeff

[Bart Bailey]

Actually, Pete Seeger only sang it, credit to Malvina Reynolds for writing it.

[J. Clarke]

More like they get sick of riding around in something that looks like it has

100,000 miles on it. Simple fact is that when something goes wrong with a modern car it's generally an expensive piece of non-field-repairable electronics or something that requires a lift and a well equipped shop.

Life is finite. If you want to spend it learning how to fix cars that's your privilege. I'd rather spend it learning to do things that I like to do or things that get me the income to do things that I like to do.

[J. Clarke]

[Jeff McCann]

All of which is backed up, off site, routinely, at least as to the more important stuff, and all of which tends to have a rather extensive paper trail (an auditing requirement), allowing fairly easy restoration in many cases.

The banks outside the affected zones, and even in them, may well be open much sooner than you think. One neat innovation is portable banking centers built on mobile trucks or vans, specifically for use in disasters. Have you seen them? Most major banks seem to have them lately.

Most of which have either backup arrangments or ownership interest in various other exchanges, so that they are capable of continuing their essential activities.

See, e.g., Disaster planning saves Wall Street, and Corporate Governance, Business Continuity Planning, and Disaster Recovery, below, and especially: Policy Statement: Business Continuity Planning for Trading Markets Securities and Exchange Commission [Release No. 34-48545; File No. S7-17-03]

No way to maintain the electrical

Don't underestimate the willingness of these people to work for deferred pay in an emergency. Also, there are interagency agreements for utility companies to provide essential labor and expertise to each other in emergencies.

There is no reason that they need to give the money out in an inflationary manner. They will simply exchange other obligations for cash, as necessary, though.

Extremely unlikely that there will be that sort of currency devaluation.

There may be a series of civil disturbances, but nothing that can't be handled. We've had that before.

True.

Has the Russian society and economy actually collapsed, even with a revolutionary change in government as well as all the other problems you mentioned? In other words, in most places for most people, does the mail get delivered? Do most people go to work each day and buy shelter, food and other necessities with their earnings? Do their kids get go to school? Does the electricity still come on when you flip a light switch? Does water flow from the tap when you open the valve? Can decent people walk the streets of their neighborhood without being killed and eaten by spiky haired mutants?

To a greater or lesser degree in most places for most people. But will that be a permanent condition, or deteriorate even further? Or will things soon begin to get better and problems get sorted out as a recovery begins within, say, months?

Jeff

[Ron Moore]

[Morris Dovey]

| With a little study and planning, they could do it with a couple

Are your sure that you really want to continue this subthread?

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[jack]

My Daughter is at College away from home and has a car of mine. I remind her every few months to change the oil and have the fluids looked at. She even has a credit card of mine to cover maintenance. I have told her many times that the Jiffy Lube guys sometimes are not all that smart, but they often get things right... Daughters boyfriend decided that he could do it better, so he climbed under the car, drained into a gallon milk container with a small funnel (spilled all over the street), cleaned up with kitty litter, and added 4 quarts of oil (no filter change). Daughter called me a half hour later and told me the car starts and the engine runs well, but the car won't move. I had her verbally repeat the maintenance efforts boyfriend attempted. You guessed it... he drained the automatic transmission.

Boyfriend thinks it is better for me to call him by his current nickname "Dipstick" than the other one "dips&%t"

Jack

[Marc]

Modat22 wrote: "doing all the work on a Prious" Not a chance in hell dude

[Gunner]

Why not? You think the tangos are going to learn something from reading these particular newsgroups? The same tangos who have been to Terrorist Training Camp 202?

Its better to know what you could be up against, and be proactive..then to blithely and blindly fumble around waiting for the sledge hammer to fall.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

[Mark & Juanita]

.. snip

... snip

Just find a former sailor. :-)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Lobby Dosser]

Their agriculture was extremely well advanced and both controlled watr to their benefit. Both lived in areas which could not support their populations without intesive agriculture. They lived on the edge. A decade or two of drought put them over the edge.

We live Over the edge in our use fossil fuels. Imagine our suppliers cutting us off. 100% of the food eaten by the average American is fossil fuel based. From putting it into the ground, growing it, harvesting it, to getting it to the table. Now cut the availability of oil by 60%.

[George E. Cawthon]

Could call that a failure of parenting. But quite often, it's failure of the kid's brain. No experience with daughters, but one son was enough.

[Peter]

I've built 3 houses including one 3 storey one of 5400 sq ft. That taught me not to build houses. Unfortunately I found a lovely piece of land on waterfront. I could afford the land and some building materials. I couldn't afford to pay for labour unless I sold one of my other properties, which I wasn't going to do. So, I built another house. At least I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. Finished the house then started on the shop (I built a small temporary shop first, of course).

I did contract out the slab for the big workshop, tho. There's 20 cubic metres of concrete in the slab on top of the 16 cubic metres in the footings. The rest I'm doing myself.

People like us *can* do it if we have to or want to. Others - can't. I've gotten a great deal of amusement watching the architect g/f of a friend of mine realise just how limited her knowledge base was when it came to actually building a place. She & he have managed to build a 24' x 20' shed in the same time I built a house. I had to lend them some tools, teach them how to use others and explain why, sometimes, 'near enough' is ok if 'perfect' is going to take 10X as long.

Also that hand sanding boards with 400 wet & dry isn't a real productive activity :-) Better to go 80 grit, 120, 180 etc. And use a power sander, or better still, paint it & forget it. It was only a facia board after all....

My 3 kids have no real interest in the skills I have, and I've never barred them from the workshop. Rather play computer games. Of my siblings, I was the only one to have an interest in this sort of stuff. Lots of tools about. Shrug. I forsee an interesting retirement fixing stuff for my daughters in the years to come, assuming that their eventual partners turn oout as useless as the majority these days.

If they can find me when they need me, that is.

PDW