NNEMA

Let's talk disasters.
There are some over which we have no control. The sun going nova, a giant killer meteor from outer space, space aliens (as opposed to illegal), nuclear war, volcanos, or even ultra-conservatives running our government.
There are some things over which we have little control. The dam at Stampede Reservoir collapsing due to an earthquake, and flooding Washoe County. If you're in the path of that wall of water, there's not much you can do. However if you're not in that path, a little preparedness might be wise, or at least prudent.
And then there are the things we can prepare for. A collapse of the economy, an interrrupted supply of oil, Global Heating coming on in fury. A fire in your neighborhood. Whatever.

The things required for our survival appear to be in this order: atmospheric pressure, air to breathe, a narrow temperature range, water, food, and light.
If we suddenly lose our atmosphere, well, we'll all explode quickly and no big deal. Not a lot can be done about that.
If we lose breathable air, then it'll be slower. We can only hoard so many tanks of oxygen, so that is not a practical solution to this dilemma. We can however do some things to stop the quality of the air from degrading further. In Nevada, we can oppose the new $4.7 billion coal power plant to be built in Eastern Nevada. Incidentally, you may ask, why is it being built out there, when it will need rail, water, and electric transmission lines built first? The dirty little rumor is that is will be a dirty little plant, and being built there negates the need for higher air quality standards. Something to work on?
Water will be a growing problem. Not only clean drinking water, but for other things like washing, growing our food, etc.
You should have a stash of clean water in your emergency kit. Consider a gallon per day per person. Consider a bottle of chlorine bleach to purify water that you must disinfect in the field (or a bottle of vodka?). Consider a small solar still. I built one with a piece of glass and a black plastic mortar mixing tray. It put out about a quart of distilled water a day in good sunlight. A solar oven will disinfect a couple of gallons a day, or more. But anyway, this site is for you to input YOUR preparedness plans. Let us work together, and share our ideas.

Do you know how to turn off your gas/electric/water services if there is a disaster?
Does all of your family know how to do that, and your neighbors?
Do you have a pre-arranged meeting place for your family? Is it on high ground? Do you have a secondary meeting place farther away?

It's a darned good thing we're problem solving creatures, because we surely do have a lot of problems.
Are you worried about the economy, and your retirement program? My personal feelings are that within 5 years, very few of us will have any retirement tools. Basing your life on pie in the sky future money or support when you get older or injured may be a tragic mistake.

As Donald Rumsfeld said once, there are things we know we know, things we know we don't know, and things we don't know we don't know.
But he forgot to finish that thought. There are things we don't know we know. We don't know when we are going to run out of cheap oil, but we know we will. We don't know how soon Global Warming is going to effect our crop raising capabilities, but we know it will. Most of us know that, some of us are in denial....


As a grandfather and concerned citizen, of all the threats facing our civilization, I consider Peak Oil to be the gravest. We are absolutely dependent on cheap energy to fuel our society.
You really should read some of the books available from this site. "The Long Emergency", "The Empty Tank", and "Plan B" are essential reading for anyone of conscience. They are very important, and help answer that question of the things we don't know we know.

It's time to triage. Plain and simple.
Regarding Peak Oil, there are two camps. One is the late toppers, who think we will have enough time and advance warning to prepare alternatives to cheap energy. Let's hope so.
The other camp, the early toppers, believe that it will come upon us suddenly, without warning. One scenario is that terrorists take out the Saudi oil fields and infrastructure. Another is that some type of natural disaster happens which cuts off our flow.
The late toppers' world will be kind of like the movie, Soylent Green.
The early toppers' world will be more like Mad Max meets the Donner Party. As I've said repeatedly, magic elves do not mysteriously restock our supermarkets, it's all done by oil.
Let me point out that we will never run out of oil. We will run out of cheap oil. Have you thought about $10 a gallon gas? How will our culture sustain itself at $150, or more a barrel oil?
Read those books.

NNEMA is all about survival techniques. (Hu)Man(kind) is a tool using creature. Even better, we are tool makers. We excell at that, using our brains instead of our claws and teeth.
Let's all of us, collectively, create and maintain a survival tool. One where we can share our ideas. And while we don't have to adhere to and embrace every bolt and nut of this endeavor, certainly there are many sane things we can all do to lessen our impact on the future generations.

This is a big task. It requires much organization and thought.
It will benefit us all, present and future, in myriad ways: freedomwise, energy wise, monetarily, and with minor adjustments to our quality of life.
From soybeans, to electric bicycles, to lifeboats, to satellite cities, to wherever our imaginations take us, there we will go.
While you may eat meat, and dismiss vegetarianism, it is certainly more efficient to eat less or no meat, and save. Save not only healthwise (less heart attacks, cholesterol, OVERWEIGHT, etc.), but budgetwise (16lbs of soybeans make 1 of beef- Two week's worth of supper versus one day's dinner...go figure?)
And, for those of you who eat a lot of meat, consider that 1 square meter of your yard growing alfalfa will produce a pound of rabbit meat a year. Or consider that in Caracas, the government is assisting those in the barrios to grow 1-meter gardens which will produce up to 28 lbs. of tomatoes a year, or over 200 heads of cabbage.
Instead, in America, our Caesar salad often travels over 1500 miles to our table. Fresh and tasty!
Those of us living in the first world are going to have a much harder time adapting to POP than those living lower on the 'food chain' economically.
POP suggests that we've got a lot harder to fall, and that most of our time will be spent trying to get food. Manual labor will come in force again as oil gets more and more expensive.
If we have the insight to prepare for this eventuality, before oil becomes too expensive, then life will be much finer.
If we don't.
It won't.

Here's a concept, which includes neighborhoods. Get your friends to go in with you on a grain grinder. I bought one several years ago, and it allows me to make FRESH breads, cereal grains (good toasted), and different flours for kitchen use. As I write this, I am in the NNEMAvehicle#1, heating it with presto-logs and scrap wood, toasting the following grains for breakfast: barley, whole wheat, rice, and sesame and Amaranth. Amaranth is what sustained the central Americans through much of their culture.. (Amaranth might really be the seed corn of the future...the seed to square foot ratio is pretty awesome.)
I'm making a lot of extra to share with friends. Also, tonight I'm putting on 2 cups of soybeans to make soymilk with tomorrow. The toasted cereal cooked in sweetened soymilk makes a most excellent breakfast. AND it is fresh. The Chi is there, since the grains were living shortly before eating. Most of the stuff you get in the supermarket has little Chi.
I guess it's all about quality of life.

How about lessening our transportation costs?
I've certainly bored you to death with exploits on the trusty gas-saving moped. At 90 miles per gallon, it paid for itself after 4,000 miles. And, since I sold my car years ago, I do ride it all seasons. In the winter when it snows, I just drive slower and put my feet out. Sure, I fall down once in awhile, but I get back up and keep going. No biggie.

Do you have a bicycle? Perhaps you don't ride it much because it's too much exercise? Well, visit your local bike shop and ask them to order you a electric retrofit kit. At $350, and only a few pennies per charge, if you use it much at all it should pay for itself in short order. And even quicker when gas prices rise. The electric bike has a reputed gasoline equivalent of 1000 MPG. That's pretty hard to beat.

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