THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

thriftwizard

That's an interesting idea, Nargleblast. Off to ponder - I do buy quite a bit online, but mostly that's to save myself time. Perhaps more to the point, I usually sell quite a bit online too...

[Deleted User]

Being a bit of a dinosaur I don't really use 'online' except here, certainly not for shopping for food and only occasionally online auction sites if I find a specific item that's worth trying for. The internet is very useful for us in a limited way as a source of information on occasion, I don't do the 'social media' thing either, face book etc. leave me yawning I much prefer people to phone screens although having said that the ability to text and keep in touch with folks is worth a great deal. Wean yourselves off 'electronic life', buy books (second hand is best), develop some hobbies that don't need anything other than your hands and a skill set, learn how to play an instrument, play card games, sing even or entertain in some way perhaps something like story telling? and if the internet and our familiar high tech world do ever disappear, even temporarily you will be able to keep yourselves and hopefully others entertained and free from boredom!

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Being a bit of a dinosaur I don't really use 'online' except here, certainly not for shopping for food and only occasionally online auction sites if I find a specific item that's worth trying for. The internet is very useful for us in a limited way as a source of information on occasion, I don't do the 'social media' thing either, face book etc. leave me yawning I much prefer people to phone screens although having said that the ability to text and keep in touch with folks is worth a great deal. Wean yourselves off 'electronic life', buy books (second hand is best), develop some hobbies that don't need anything other than your hands and a skill set, learn how to play an instrument, play card games, sing even or entertain in some way perhaps something like story telling? and if the internet and our familiar high tech world do ever disappear, even temporarily you will be able to keep yourselves and hopefully others entertained and free from boredom!

I'm reading one of my regular fave websites right now and just finished this (and its comments); http://www.raptitude.com/2017/11/the-danger-of-convenience/

moneyistooshorttomention

My main use for the Internet is researching for information (and though I came late to having a home computer) I do find it invaluable for that.

I was pretty stuck just at the time I needed it most (ie after moving here) - trying to find out the info. I needed about tradespeople to use/how jobs "should" be done (rather than the way they were being done a lot of the time:cool:). My internet access was just one of the (many) problems the house had.

So I do indeed wonder just how we would manage without it. We would need our libraries "back to normal" and vastly improved basically to get the information. Without such ready access to information too - we would have bigger problems than we currently face "driving up standards" of provision by tradespeople/health care providers/providers of goods generally. The internet does give us quite a helping hand in driving up standards. We don't have to rely on what Mrs Jones-down-the-road is or isnt telling us about things - who may have lower standards than ourselves/vested interest in promoting a cowboy (because they're a relative of theirs), etc.

I also find Facebook pretty useful. I barely notice the "personal boasting - nice holidays/nice evenings out/etc" that goes on there. I do find it very useful for groups with common interests - and have gleaned all sorts of useful information from there and am much better able to find out re local social events and the like. Again - sounds like another argument for "get libraries back to normal":cool:

[Deleted User]

Fab article GQ and horribly accurate! we've gotten so bored by the TV, all the channels (yes we have sky) are jaw crackingly yawn making with the exception of the odd history, wildlife or sports programme so we've taken the radical step of learning to turn the darned thing OFF!!! we both read, we listen to the silence and the crackling of the woodstove from our comfortable armchairs inside a good book and count ourselves lucky to have the electric light in the evenings to do so, no boredom here!

GreyQueen

When I was a child, if I professed to be bored, I was told by parents that only boring people get bored.

I also recall a 1970s kids' TV prog called Why Don't You...... switch off the television and do something more interesting instead?

Can you imagine how radical such a concept would be now?! I used to start watching Why Don't You........... and quickly turn it off and find something more interesting to do. Like flint-knapping, wild-flower spotting, building dens and bows and crafts and.....

Two days ago I was on a bus. 95% of travellers were bowed over their phones and their tablets. No one spoke - and the kicker is that there is a generation of adults now who have no clue that this is peculiar.

I met someone who became a good friend via a random convo on a bus stop - nowadays we'd be so busy being engrossed in our tech we'd never speak. Sad, mad, and dangerous IMO.

Hokay, off to the salt mine. Laters, GQ x

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

Hi Karmakat; word to the wise - if cutting up MDF please use a face mask, the stuff produces hazardous dust when cut into.

Good point, GQ, I'd forgotten that.

Nargleblast wrote: »

It got me thinking, how scary it is that we have become so dependant on the internet. How do you prep for an internet shutdown? I suppose you make sure mobile phones are charged up so people can communicate by text, and make sure you have food etc in store so you can manage without online shopping. Getting some books to read or DVDs to watch, instead of mindless net surfing. Talking to people in real life instead of via social media. Businesses would have a problem, though, especially if all their trade was online.

I use the internet for all sorts of things - buying and selling, yes, and chatting on here and on another forum, yes, but also all my bill payments - the banks can't send DDs if they don't have the interweb! The trains wouldn't run .... you could only buy in the shops if you had cash ... it would get quite bad quite quickly. Making sure your mobiles are charged up is a good idea, as is keeping an old fashioned landline phone in case the 'leccy was next - it's computers that run the National Grid too, after all.

Doomsayer, moi?

culpepper

Am I wrong to kind of wish it (no internet)would happen for a while to see how we would all adapt?
I remember a program about living in the past (back in time for tea I think it was called) in which the children discovered playing games and talking .

In this house we use the internet for almost everything .
For me it is the new library, bigger and better than any I ever accessed offline.
OH uses it as a TV (amazon prime /catchup)
DS uses it for gaming .
We all use it for communicating but there are alternative ways to do all those things.
Maybe the businesses which rely on it, should keep their alternative means of functioning dusted off and ready to go .

Shropshirelass

Businesses which want to sell, will always find a way.

We use internet shopping a lot, because we can't easily get things at the local shops e.g. a heavy load of groceries, certain size nails, screw or spanner, a particular kind of button, ribbon or yarn, book or DVD.

Even if we go back to delivery vans, and stores which actually stock every kind of hardware, or haberdashery, even local markets, bet your life enterprising businesses will find a way to separate us from our money.

culpepper

Shropshirelass wrote: »

Businesses which want to sell, will always find a way.

Even if we go back to delivery vans, and stores which actually stock every kind of hardware, or haberdashery, even local markets, bet your life enterprising businesses will find a way to separate us from our money.

Catalogue shopping springs to mind and in the USA TV shopping channels.
Even in the 1920s there were vast catalogues of clothing/ materials/toys etc
I remember spending a long time going through the embassy catalogues with my sister when we were children , commenting on and mentally listing all the things we would buy from it if we could..