Modern Life

As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of days, it's been
interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of amenities that
didn't even exist when I was a boy.

- Guests at the hotel, deprived of cable TV, have been grudgingly
understanding -- but only because we offer DVD movies, free for the
borrowing. Without that, we'd be facing demands of refunds, I'm
certain.

- My kids, deprived of both internet and TV (danged cable modem), were
befuddled, and took refuge in reading and DVDs (once the power came
back on)...

- I found myself frustrated, knowing full-well that my 60 to 70 emails
per day were still coming in, even though I was unable to clear them
from home. (Luckily, our DSL lines at the hotel never faltered...)
And, of course, I couldn't get my daily dose of rec.aviation.

As we sat in the dark, by the light of dynamo-crank-LED lights
(something else that was science-fiction when I was a kid), I tried to
explain to my kids that this was life as my grandparents knew it
growing up -- EVERY DAY. No electricity, no phones, no TV, no radio.
This was NORMAL.

What's really amazing is how unprepared people are for these kinds of
disruptions. Mary and I have all sorts of survival and camping gear,
a good supply of drinking water and food, and enough fire wood to heat
the house for several days. Both of our primary vehicles are 4-wheel
drive, and kept in good working order.

In short, we're ready for the crap that Mother Nature throws at us
here in the Midwest.

We saw people driving sports cars into the hotel parking lots, wearing
SHORTS and sweatshirts. They had no winter gear, no warm clothing,
and were absolutely astounded to hear that Interstate 80 was closed.
They were abadoning their homes, because the power was out, and
heading to any available hotel room.

These people would literally DIE if their cars broke down, or at the
very least would have to be rescued by the State Patrol. What the
hell are they *thinking*? The Governor declares a state of
emergency, and these folks are out driving in shorts and a
sweatshirt?

And it's not just dumb people, not to that extreme. What our kids
regard as "basic living" -- computers, cell phones, internet, instant
messaging, FaceBook, XM satellite radio, Nexrad radar, 500-channels of
crap on TV -- only existed in Isaac Asimov novels when I was growing
up. To watch as they come face-to-face with the reality of life
*without* these creature comforts -- even for just a couple of days --
was enlightening, and more than a little scary.

Sure, my kids go camping, and we "rough it" for a week or so each year
-- but their daily societal expectations are so high, and the distance
those expectations fall when the power grid fails is so great -- that
I really wonder what we're doing to our kids.

This is a generation that has never seen hardship, never seen high
unemployment, never seen high interest rates, never seen wide-spread
poverty, never (despite Iraq) seen war. And their electronic
"information age" creature comforts are so entirely energy dependent,
and so ingrained in their lifestyle, that they are rendered helpless
when the power fails. Between "global warming" and soaring energy
prices, can this type of lifestyle be long sustained?

Worse, my kids have grown accustomed to being whisked across the
country in an airplane, at a moment's notice, and simply *expect*
everything to work, every day, dammit. Mary and I are trying to
instill a self-sufficient work ethic in them that will allow them to
survive in "the real world" -- but their "real world" has changed so
much in the last 20 years that it would not even be recognizable to my
grand-parents, dead only since the 1970s...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

need to keep some checker boards, decks of cards, backgammon, and other
games handy
BT

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of days, it's been
interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of amenities that
didn't even exist when I was a boy.

- Guests at the hotel, deprived of cable TV, have been grudgingly
understanding -- but only because we offer DVD movies, free for the
borrowing. Without that, we'd be facing demands of refunds, I'm
certain.

- My kids, deprived of both internet and TV (danged cable modem), were
befuddled, and took refuge in reading and DVDs (once the power came
back on)...

- I found myself frustrated, knowing full-well that my 60 to 70 emails
per day were still coming in, even though I was unable to clear them
from home. (Luckily, our DSL lines at the hotel never faltered...)
And, of course, I couldn't get my daily dose of rec.aviation.

As we sat in the dark, by the light of dynamo-crank-LED lights
(something else that was science-fiction when I was a kid), I tried to
explain to my kids that this was life as my grandparents knew it
growing up -- EVERY DAY. No electricity, no phones, no TV, no radio.
This was NORMAL.

What's really amazing is how unprepared people are for these kinds of
disruptions. Mary and I have all sorts of survival and camping gear,
a good supply of drinking water and food, and enough fire wood to heat
the house for several days. Both of our primary vehicles are 4-wheel
drive, and kept in good working order.

In short, we're ready for the crap that Mother Nature throws at us
here in the Midwest.

We saw people driving sports cars into the hotel parking lots, wearing
SHORTS and sweatshirts. They had no winter gear, no warm clothing,
and were absolutely astounded to hear that Interstate 80 was closed.
They were abadoning their homes, because the power was out, and
heading to any available hotel room.

These people would literally DIE if their cars broke down, or at the
very least would have to be rescued by the State Patrol. What the
hell are they *thinking*? The Governor declares a state of
emergency, and these folks are out driving in shorts and a
sweatshirt?

And it's not just dumb people, not to that extreme. What our kids
regard as "basic living" -- computers, cell phones, internet, instant
messaging, FaceBook, XM satellite radio, Nexrad radar, 500-channels of
crap on TV -- only existed in Isaac Asimov novels when I was growing
up. To watch as they come face-to-face with the reality of life
*without* these creature comforts -- even for just a couple of days --
was enlightening, and more than a little scary.

Sure, my kids go camping, and we "rough it" for a week or so each year
-- but their daily societal expectations are so high, and the distance
those expectations fall when the power grid fails is so great -- that
I really wonder what we're doing to our kids.

This is a generation that has never seen hardship, never seen high
unemployment, never seen high interest rates, never seen wide-spread
poverty, never (despite Iraq) seen war. And their electronic
"information age" creature comforts are so entirely energy dependent,
and so ingrained in their lifestyle, that they are rendered helpless
when the power fails. Between "global warming" and soaring energy
prices, can this type of lifestyle be long sustained?

Worse, my kids have grown accustomed to being whisked across the
country in an airplane, at a moment's notice, and simply *expect*
everything to work, every day, dammit. Mary and I are trying to
instill a self-sufficient work ethic in them that will allow them to
survive in "the real world" -- but their "real world" has changed so
much in the last 20 years that it would not even be recognizable to my
grand-parents, dead only since the 1970s...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Open an exercise room, with shovels. It is good exercise.

Yep, most of these people would die in a heart beat, and
that includes the pilots who go x-c without basic survival
supplies, summer or winter; you need clothes, boots, water
and maybe food.
But they are expecting the government to save them from the
mountain, the river or the blizzard.

They are shocked that diseases kill people, AIDS ruined the
sexual revolution for them.


"BT" wrote in message
...
| need to keep some checker boards, decks of cards,
backgammon, and other
| games handy
| BT
|
| "Jay Honeck" wrote in message
|
oups.com...
| As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of
days, it's been
| interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of
amenities that
| didn't even exist when I was a boy.
|
| - Guests at the hotel, deprived of cable TV, have been
grudgingly
| understanding -- but only because we offer DVD movies,
free for the
| borrowing. Without that, we'd be facing demands of
refunds, I'm
| certain.
|
| - My kids, deprived of both internet and TV (danged
cable modem), were
| befuddled, and took refuge in reading and DVDs (once the
power came
| back on)...
|
| - I found myself frustrated, knowing full-well that my
60 to 70 emails
| per day were still coming in, even though I was unable
to clear them
| from home. (Luckily, our DSL lines at the hotel never
faltered...)
| And, of course, I couldn't get my daily dose of
rec.aviation.
|
| As we sat in the dark, by the light of dynamo-crank-LED
lights
| (something else that was science-fiction when I was a
kid), I tried to
| explain to my kids that this was life as my grandparents
knew it
| growing up -- EVERY DAY. No electricity, no phones, no
TV, no radio.
| This was NORMAL.
|
| What's really amazing is how unprepared people are for
these kinds of
| disruptions. Mary and I have all sorts of survival and
camping gear,
| a good supply of drinking water and food, and enough
fire wood to heat
| the house for several days. Both of our primary
vehicles are 4-wheel
| drive, and kept in good working order.
|
| In short, we're ready for the crap that Mother Nature
throws at us
| here in the Midwest.
|
| We saw people driving sports cars into the hotel parking
lots, wearing
| SHORTS and sweatshirts. They had no winter gear, no
warm clothing,
| and were absolutely astounded to hear that Interstate 80
was closed.
| They were abadoning their homes, because the power was
out, and
| heading to any available hotel room.
|
| These people would literally DIE if their cars broke
down, or at the
| very least would have to be rescued by the State Patrol.
What the
| hell are they *thinking*? The Governor declares a
state of
| emergency, and these folks are out driving in shorts and
a
| sweatshirt?
|
| And it's not just dumb people, not to that extreme. What
our kids
| regard as "basic living" -- computers, cell phones,
internet, instant
| messaging, FaceBook, XM satellite radio, Nexrad radar,
500-channels of
| crap on TV -- only existed in Isaac Asimov novels when I
was growing
| up. To watch as they come face-to-face with the reality
of life
| *without* these creature comforts -- even for just a
couple of days --
| was enlightening, and more than a little scary.
|
| Sure, my kids go camping, and we "rough it" for a week
or so each year
| -- but their daily societal expectations are so high,
and the distance
| those expectations fall when the power grid fails is so
great -- that
| I really wonder what we're doing to our kids.
|
| This is a generation that has never seen hardship, never
seen high
| unemployment, never seen high interest rates, never seen
wide-spread
| poverty, never (despite Iraq) seen war. And their
electronic
| "information age" creature comforts are so entirely
energy dependent,
| and so ingrained in their lifestyle, that they are
rendered helpless
| when the power fails. Between "global warming" and
soaring energy
| prices, can this type of lifestyle be long sustained?
|
| Worse, my kids have grown accustomed to being whisked
across the
| country in an airplane, at a moment's notice, and simply
*expect*
| everything to work, every day, dammit. Mary and I are
trying to
| instill a self-sufficient work ethic in them that will
allow them to
| survive in "the real world" -- but their "real world"
has changed so
| much in the last 20 years that it would not even be
recognizable to my
| grand-parents, dead only since the 1970s...
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|
|
|

As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of days, it's been
interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of amenities that
didn't even exist when I was a boy...

Apropos of this... (required aviation content, we flew there in the
Dakota, and the friend's house we were visiting was just off the
approach end of the runway)

We took a trip down South, and toured the plantations and such. Now we
live in a house, but it's "just" a house. There's some land, but not a
lot of it. These people lived on acres and acres, and had ten or twenty
=buildings= on their property. This is wealth - a style of living to
which I am unaccustomed.

Or is it?

One of the buildings is basically a very cleverly designed earth
refrigerator. Another is to hold the sheep shearings until they can be
made into cloth. Another is... it goes on and on like this. These
people were self-sufficient, whereas we depend on electricity to run our
refrigerators, we go to the store to buy milk pre-packaged in boxes,
clothing that has already been made and fitted (let alone cloth that
doesn't have to be woven), drive to the gas station to fill up our cars
(which we need to go to the store to buy soap, which we need to buy
because we don't raise our own pigs...) and so forth. Yes, they were
self-sufficient, but they needed acres and acres to do it, and they
needed a staff, composed of slaves or not, but still a rather
significant staff to run the household.

Civilization and its infrastructure has allowed us to do the same thing
with far less land, and far less labor. The result is that we depend on
the infrastructure in ways that would be unthinkable years ago.

Consider that a snowfall can paralyze a city and bring intercontenental
travel to a halt. In the seventeen hundreds, people just walked in the
snow. But we have built an infrastructure of incredible efficiency
(compared to the 1700s), which depends on their not being snow (which is
the case, most of the time).

No electricity, no phones, no TV, no radio.
This was NORMAL.

.... and the expectations were built around this. Civilization,
technology, and infrastructure are a house of cards. They allow many
more people to live well, when everything goes well. But it takes far
less to disrupt it than it did in the past.

One earthquake in the right spot could destroy a modern city. Ten
people running naked backwards through airport security could shut down
international travel. This would not have happened three hundred years
ago. The city would be rebuilt in about two weeks, and there was no
international travel to speak of.

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:23:41 +0000, Jose wrote:

Consider that a snowfall can paralyze a city and bring intercontenental
travel to a halt. In the seventeen hundreds, people just walked in the
snow.

Thanks; I love the irony of these two sentences together. In centuries
past, people did travel between continents. But it was not the triviality
it's become today (even including the claimed security at our commercial
airports {8^).

Sure we've a lot more to lose from infrastructure failures today, but
that's only because our infrastructure provides so much more than it did
in centuries past.

All in all, I'm glad for that. It's rather like GA, if you look at it
from the proper perspective (and perhaps squint a bit {8^). I have to
prepare for various failure modes (from engine failure to a closed
airport) that are non-issues for our ground-bound kin. But we still
choose to fly.

It's wealth. We've more to lose by having it, but I'm still happy to have
it.

[...]
The city would be rebuilt in about two weeks

I'm trying to picture this, and I cannot quite. Two weeks to rebuild 1707
NYC or Philadelphia or London?

- Andrew

It's wealth. We've more to lose by having it, but I'm still happy to have
it.

Well put. But I worry that all this wealth has made our kids so soft
that they'll never survive the hardships to come. Between soaring
energy prices, and believers in "global warming" advocating
deconstruction of our economies -- by force, if necessary -- I worry
for our kids' future.

There are so many ironies here. Just think...who would *ever* have
believed that President Jimmy Carter's decision to come out against
building more nuclear power plants would have the long-ranging
ramifications we (and our children) must now face? Who would *ever*
have guessed that one of our most "green" presidents -- a nuclear
engineer, by trade -- would bear the lion's share of blame for "global
warming", if it truly exists?

History, and the interpretation of history in the years after an
event, always has a way of surprising us...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:03:43 -0800, Jay Honeck wrote:

It's wealth. We've more to lose by having it, but I'm still happy to
have it.

Well put. But I worry that all this wealth has made our kids so soft that
they'll never survive the hardships to come. Between soaring energy
prices, and believers in "global warming" advocating deconstruction of our
economies -- by force, if necessary -- I worry for our kids' future.

Don't forget about Apophis, with whom we've a possible date in 2036.

- Andrew

On Feb 26, 4:47 pm, Andrew Gideon wrote:

Well put. But I worry that all this wealth has made our kids so soft that
they'll never survive the hardships to come. Between soaring energy
prices, and believers in "global warming" advocating deconstruction of our
economies -- by force, if necessary -- I worry for our kids' future.

Don't forget about Apophis, with whom we've a possible date in 2036.


And the Apocalypse.. What's the latest date for that again?? And the
Rapture, and the End Times, and SkyNet coming online...

Geez, a guy could get really bummed out with all this stuff supposed
to happen - but I can go peacefully now that Scorcese finally won his
Oscar G

I'm trying to picture this, and I cannot quite. Two weeks to rebuild 1707
NYC or Philadelphia or London?

Ok, maybe three weeks. My point is that there was much less city to
re-build.

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:22:35 +0000, Jose wrote:

I'm trying to picture this, and I cannot quite. Two weeks to rebuild
1707 NYC or Philadelphia or London?

Ok, maybe three weeks.

Oh, su Three weeks. Okay, then. But not two.

Laugh

My point is that there was much less city to
re-build.

True, but we've also better tools for building. Nail guns and power saws
vs. hand tools and such, not to mention cranes, bulldozers, etc.

But cities were definitely smaller (and lower) Back Then.

- Andrew