The Fast & The Frugal - Memphis Drift

So, I'm trying an experiment, and I figured I'd share with the rest of OD, and see if anyone else is doing the same thing.

I drive a stick (o, how I love the stick) and one of the cooler things that I've always 'heard' but never done was drift/coast in the car - to save on gas.

So. What I started doing last week was drifting. As much as I could - slipping the car into neutral, and letting the inertia carry me down the hill/to the stoplight/off the exit ramp/etc..... just doing it off an on, for a week, upped my MPG from 32 to 34. I know, I know, a measley two miles per gallon, but still - considering gas (when I filled my tank last night) has crept up to the lovely price of 2.79 (member year before last when gas didn't get this expenisve until AFTER Katrina took out the oil refineries in LA? WTF, ya'll? ) I figure that anything I can do to save fuel is - wise, on so MANY different levels.

So far - I've gotten 37 miles, and the needle hasn't even shifted from 'over-full'. I usually only got 25 miles before it started drifting into the actual gauge range.

I keep safety in mind - I simply CANNOT do this on the highway - drifting doesn't give me enough power to go safely fast enough to stay in the flow - and we don't have many hills on the route I drive home/to work. On the city streets - every hill is an opportunity, every stoplight/stopsign is DEFINITELY an opportunity - if I HAVE to brake, I'm in neutral - period. I can switch lanes easily, and I can pop right back into 3rd/4th if need be.

*evilgrin* It's like having a hybrid, without the plug. *LOL*

Superstitious?

It's interesting. I don't consider myself superstitious, so to speak - but I do believe that there is something/someone's else all out there. I do believe that the ancients may have known things that we've forgotten, and I do believe in race memory. Ask me to prove any of those things, and it's like - phhhft. But - they FEEL right to me, and considering the deeply, throughly anally logical creature that I am, that's rather - important.

Anyhow! The reason I bring this up, is just to give myself a little shiver. Not sure how many of ya'll know this, but I do believe that the world as we know it is winding down to a lovely big ole booming end. From economics, to energy, to war, to disease, to debt, to climate, to water, to oil - it's all going - haywire. Loopy, and looping in a distinctly downhill direction. I don't think that there are many people who would disagree with that list - but I think that MOST people believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I think that light is a train. Hey, I'm a pessimist! What can I say?

So! I was wandering about online, looking for something to catch my interest, and stumbled across the whole 2012 thingy.  Now, I've always had a good deal of respect for the Mayans - they were some bloody well advanced people, blood sacrifices none the less. And really, what is war but a blood sacrifice to the twin gods of Money and Power? Humph, at least they kept the shit meaningful and personal.  So, anyhow, was checking that out. I've already made it a personal goal of mine to be as well set up on the homestead by 2012 - with animals and gardens and the like. I also want to be able to shoot well by then - I don't LIKE guns in the least, but they can be some damn useful things. At the very least, I want a good crossbow. Largely because a) I think that shit is going to cost - ungodly amounts of money, and as I plan on being WELL into frentic babymaking by then so I'm going to have to contribute to the house in SOME shape or form, and because b) mofo's are rude and shady as hell now, what's it going to be like once things REALLLY get hard and there is a woman, with kids, whose husband is at work, and who appears to be kinda prosperous?? I WILL shoot a mofo.

Then, there is a personal - superstition, that I have. Friday the 13th is usually considered a bad luck day - and my birthday is January 13th. In my own personal twisting of the 'doom and gloom' of Friday the 13th, (as well as based on purely personal historical evidence) I've noticed that any year in which my birthday falls on the 13th is an - well, it's an interesting year. Interestingly enough, in the 29 years I've been around, I've had 5 Friday birthdays - one was my 1st (1978), one was my 7th (1984),  one was my 12th (1989), one was my 18th (1995), one was my 29th (2006), and the next one will be my 35th (2012).  Considering that I have little to no memory of my childhood (everything before 12-13ish is a blur - I can remember some significant incidents, but otherwise *shrugs* - sometimes I think that is why I don't FEEL as old as I am - I don't really HAVE 29 years worth of memories - I really only have 18) the years that I DO remember (which really, only leaves two) were definitely intensely - life chaning and significant to ME.

And, just in general, I think that the birthdays that those years fell on were rather - significant. Let's see - the first birthday, important. 7th birthday, important in a mystical kinda way. 12th birthday - last birthday I was really a 'child', and then -  I mean really - 1995? I went to college, chopped my hair off, got stalked, got laid, lost a BUNCH of fake ass friends, met my father for the first time, came out as bi, *thinks* Shit, what ELSE did I do that year? besides the whole moving 1200 miles away from home, and that general freshman year type stuff.....
And this year - so far it's been - interesting. We got a house (which really, trumps everything else) I'm reclaiming faith, losing weight, making LOADS of friends, went to my first birth, and, the year is BARELY halfway over. Soo... I think that 2012 will be - interesting. Not sure if that'll be interesting in the GOOD way, or interesting in the Chinese curse kinda way, but definitely - interesting.

So - wasn't REALLY going anywhere with that one - just wanted to write something out to waste some time (only 4pm!! Wahwahwahaaaaaa) and also to record some of the odd thoughts that drift through my head.

Preoccupated

Is that a word? Preoccupated? I know that preoccupied is a word, but is preoccupated the past tense?? Anyhow.

Howdy Ya'll!!!! I've been drifting through diaries occasionally, leaving the very infrequent note - largely because I've been preoccupated - preoccupied. Whatever. Um.

Went to Atlanta, for the book conference - was very odd, as 95% of the attendees were authors, and I felt soooo outside of their little cliques - esp. considering I don't read most of them. I'm not into 'drama' books - I'm allergic to drama, and therefore it isn't very entertaining to me. Umph. Let's see - what else? Met a couple of friends while I was there, got utterly stanking drunk one night (just the MEMORY makes my head hurt) but generally had a shiteload of fun.

Umm....went to a Pagan Pride Festival a weekend or two ago, sprained the dogshit out of my ankle there, still had a buttload of fun.

(Why does all of my fun involve ass somehow?)

So, anyhow - the preoccupation. Nope, not pregnant - just. *sigh* I - don't know how to put it into words that anyone else would understand. Well.... that everyone else would understand I suppose is really how I want to say it. I've - I've always been a little out of step with the world, ya know, and it's always been right. And - I don't trust my deep gut feeling of utterly paranoid worry enough to worry others - but at the same time, I trust it enough that I feel like I would be totally - totally - unlike me to keep it to myself. So....I'll break it down for ya'll the same way I broke it down for my husband.......and give ya'll some links.

Hey, I might be crazy. It might never happen....but so much of what is going on today would make sense, if it WAS going to happen.

 

 

All finite resources follow a bell curve path of availability.  When they are first discovered, only a little is able to be accessed - and as time goes on, it becomes easier and easier to access the resource, so that every year - you are getting more and more of it. But - it's a bell curve, so at a certain point, you'll reach a peak - you're getting as much of it, as you will EVER get. The resource is still there, it's just harder to get, it's more expensive, and there is less of it available.
Oil - is approaching its peak. *smiles* Even the petroleum industry has acknowledged that we have gone through about half of the oil that is expected to be found on earth - and the demand for oil is rising at it's fastest rate ever, helped by our friends in the Indo-Asian part of the world, at the same time that the supply is diminishing.
So what, you might say? Gas prices will go up - I'll just drive less.
I wish it was that simple.  EVERYTHING that you do, EVERYDAY uses oil somehow. Think about the trucks that got it to you, the machines that built it, the packaging it was wrapped in, the car you drove to get it, the utilities at the store that sold it to you - EVERYTHING we do, from food to fucking, involves oil.
It's not that the world is running OUT of oil - nah, we've got a couple of decades before that happens - but the world is running out of CHEAP oil. The world is running out of oil that can be easily refined. The world is running out of oil that can be easily pumped.
And without a net worth around Bill Gates - if you live in the 'standard' American world, you'll be affected. It's not that there won't BE any gas, it'll just be unaffordable - at least if you want to pay your rent and keep the lights on too. It's not that there won't be ANY food (did you know it takes 10 calories of oil to produce ONE calorie of food?) it'll just be outrageously expensive. It's not that utilities will stop working - they'll just charge exorbiant amounts.
So - that's been what's been preoccupying me. I was dirt poor once, and I have no intentions of going there again. So - I've been making plans. We've been making plans - the previous entry about our budget was about as close as I could get to - talking about it. *sigh*  We're actually looking to buy a house - someplace near the city, but with enough dirt under/around it that we can grow/produce a good bit of our own food. We're saving gigamounts of money so that we can buy a house and have it PAID off, as fast as possible. Everything I do - suddenly has a single focus - is it sustainable? Will it help me prepare for my future? Is it really needed? And nah - this single minded focus won't last forever - just until we are 'stable'. Just until we AREN'T living from paycheck to paycheck. Just until we can actually depend mostly on ourselves, and don't HAVE to have a huge amount of money to just LIVE.

Gah. I might be UTTERLY crazy. This might be another Y2K. But - it makes way too much sense - esp. considering what is going on ALL around us - to simply brush off.

Wolf At the Door
LATOC

 

 

 

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In Other, More Cheerful News:

It's officially been a month since I quit smoking. I've smoked *thinks* twice? since then - once in Atlanta (I think that is why I got so damn sick) and I smoked a clove at the Pagan Pride Festival. Both times, Bleh. It was like - and WHY the hell did I used to do this daily, multiple times a day? It's actually been easier than I thought it would be - I do still crave a cig occasionally - but that's all it is. A hmm - I'd love to have a smoke, but *shrugs* oh well.

It's still odd to only have one cat. G has become MUCH more affectionate and talkative, and I think he's finally accepted the fact that Nikki is gone. *sigh* I still the occasionally free kitten offer, and I consider it, but rather like the cig, I decide against it.

My job is duller than a box of rocks, and most of the time is twice as slow, and my coworkers - well, they are different. But, ya know what? I'm making good money, doing what I'm good at - I've got time to write, I've got time to look at houses, and I'm doing well. Life ain't never perfect, right?

C is still enjoying his job - though he is running into some personality conflicts as well. I swear, I WILL break down in tears if he loses yet another job. Seriously.

Haven't come to a conclusion on Birth control - we owe the doctors money somehow (weird ass health insurance) and I reufse to go back until I've paid her. But in the meantime, I want to talk to C about the Billings method, where you keep an eye on your cervical mucus. Seems - interesting, and easy, and doesn't reuqire you to wake up at the same time every day.

I've fallen in love with my DayTimer plamner thingy. My life is in there - seriously . I keep track of all KINDS of stuff - and it's roomy enough that I've got more than enough room to write - but small enough that it cuddles into my pocketbook nicely.

I'm starting to do budget grocery shopping using a pricebook, but I want/need an electronic one that can be held on my palmpilot. I stopped using it a while ago - shortly after the last diet debacle if I remember right, and - I'm trying to charge it now, and hoping that the thing isn't TOTALLY dead. Ah! Just came on - must have needed a certain level of charge.

But, speaking of dead technolgy, my personal damn laptop has died AGAIN.  This time, I think the backlight of the screen has gone out. What I might do is what I threatened to do last time, and just get a damn monitor to hook up to it, and detach the screen alltogether. I don't know. I haven't decided yet.

I think I'll be around a little more, now that I've gotten that off of my chest. Gah, I've got a shitload of catching up to do.

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I've always been.....

a not so material person. A simple person, almost.  Which may be a side effect of me being amazingly cheap, but I think that it serves me well. We usually have enough to live on - a little extra for fun.  And of course, I could have much, much, much more extra to live on if I wasn't quite so enourmously anal about escaping the little bit of debt I've incurred as rapidly as possible. And - that actually makes me feel better about not living a life of luxury - because I'm choosing it, I suppose. But - there's always been a - deep grinding feeling in me that living with a high amount of debt is dangerous. Not foolhardy, not risky, but simply dangerous. That - incurring debt for a newer car, or a designer pair of shoes goes far beyond fiscal foolishness and starts to waver close to the edge of out and out fiscal suicide.
Of course, it might be how  I grew up - living off of welfare, and WIC, and the occasional odd job my stepfather deemed worthy, and that briefly adventourously terrifying episode of homelessness. So - living ABOVE my means - esp. as I've gotten older - has become - instinctively scary. Ya'll all remember the long tirades I went on as I was 'debating' buying an Ipod. And - mind you - that was EXTRA money. Basically gift money, and I had a very hard time 'gifting' myself.
Gah. I'm rambly, because I've been thrown a little off kilter (and a little on track) by this.  It's about a phenomenom called 'Peak Oil'. The basic concept is that oil production - like most things - operates on a bell curve. Currently, we (as a world) are hitting the downslope of oil production all over the world - and - it's not renweable - and we are too far away from having REAL,  CHEAP, TRANSPORTABLE alternative fuel sources to carry us through. The really - creepy part (which I never even thought about) is that everything - Everything - EVERYTHING - that we use to LIVE on uses oil to be produced. EVERYTHING ya'll.
It's scary enough to be nutty, and logical enough to make perfect sense, esp. considering the swiftly sliding increases in gas prices. I mean - hm. Those alone have - shook me up. I'm not THAT old, and I remember gas being 99 cents a gallon. I'd be suprised if gas was UNDER 3.00 a gallon by Thanksgiving.
So. I'm thankful that I'm not a material person. I'm thankful that I'm training to be a midwife because two things will reamin constant - no matter what.  People will be born, and people will die. I'm thankful that I'm crazy about paying off my debts so that I can start to BUILD a true nest egg. I'm thankful that my fear of debt has held me back from buying a house. I'm - rather relieved actually.

And I'm nervous as hell. It might not happen while I'm alive (for which I would be throughly thankful - though guilty about leaving that kind of mess in the hands of my kids) but it's going to happen.

*shudder*