Sometimes it is too much

[EX121]

So I have been serious about being prepared for a long term disruption of services & etc for a couple of years. I feel that I have a fairly good grasp mentally of what may happen after a large scale disaster, but the other day while eating a hunk of cheese, I realized that in a SHTF scenario there may not be any more cheese in my neck of the woods.
I had got my head around the fact that there wouldn't be bannas and other tropical fruit or things that needed long range transportation. I think the cheese was just a symbol of all of the "things" that would no longer be available.
I live in a rural area in eastern Washington, where there are lots of ranches but no dairies.
Just the shear volume of physical work necessary to grow food, gather fire wood, etc is daunting.
So sometimes I get the feeling of 'why bother' I'll never be self-sufficient even with the help of like minded friends.
When some of my friends that think I a bit nutty for even trying to prepare, I ask them if they have Life & Car Insurance, I equate my preps to food insurance.
Sorry if this post is too much of a 'downer' as I used to say in younger days.
But for now I'll continue to do what I can to prepare.

[Rmplstlskn]

Yeah, I hope and pray that our "insurance" nevers needs to be accessed for real... As many things we now take for granted will be gone and it will be major suckage...

Rmpl

[Hawkeye]

Just remember, folks used to grow/farm their own food and were self sufficient for hundreds of years. It can be done. Lots of work, and perseverance, but it can be done. I know what your saying though. Every time I have a nice cold glass of milk, I think of how bad I am going to miss it, and all the other things I'll miss, like ice cubes for example, if things ever really go bad.

[EX121]

You make a good point Hawkeye about growing their own food. But I don't think many small farms really supplied all of their own needs. I try not to get negative and say ok my goal is to have XX number of months of stored food & supplies on hand. Thinking that during that time 'new' supply situations can develop to replace what we have now. This new system probably won't be able to replicate all of the things we take for granted now, but will hopefully supply items that I can't get locally.

[610Alpha]

Rome was not built in a day. Translation you don't have to gather all the wood you will ever need in one day nor does the garden come due on that same day. There are some things that will have to be done every day and others weekly and others monthly. Just like now in some sense. It might be helpful to go through the mental exercise of creating a schedule of when you would do certain things. You clean out the out house pit once every month or whatever. You split wood once a week. You get water every day. You check battery bank every other day. Feed/water livestock every day. Then put it on a calendar a.k.a. duty roster if you have the luxury of a group.

Cast the "why bother" thought as far from you as the "East is from the West".

[arcangel911]

Ex121- Also remember, that you will have the supplies many will not. This puts you in many ways, up above the norm. Ice cubes and other things can be re-made in time and you will be able to see it again after everything falls apart, unlike the un-prepared.

[Hawkeye]

You make a good point Hawkeye about growing their own food. But I don't think many small farms really supplied all of their own needs. I try not to get negative and say ok my goal is to have XX number of months of stored food & supplies on hand. Thinking that during that time 'new' supply situations can develop to replace what we have now. This new system probably won't be able to replicate all of the things we take for granted now, but will hopefully supply items that I can't get locally.

This is true. They bartered for and bought some items they needed. Your right, thats where our stored supplies come in. Hopefully, we have enough of those things on hand that we cant make, grow, or hunt, to last us until some form of trade/barter/supply system can be brought back and re-established. It will be done though, by the folks who have prepared... ;)

[crossbow]

You make a good point Hawkeye about growing their own food. But I don't think many small farms really supplied all of their own needs. I try not to get negative and say ok my goal is to have XX number of months of stored food & supplies on hand. Thinking that during that time 'new' supply situations can develop to replace what we have now. This new system probably won't be able to replicate all of the things we take for granted now, but will hopefully supply items that I can't get locally.

when I was a kid back in the early 40s, everything that we needed to survive(not live high on the hog) was grown or made like butter on the farm except,sugar,coffee,tea,salt,pepper. we really didn't need the sugar as we had bees for the honey. You couldn't rely on neighbors to grow something so you could trade with them because if they had a bad yr, you would go without til the following yr.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I think we all face this. I know I have over the years several times. As hard as it is, one must accept that they may not be able to make it on their own. We need each other, history shows that. No ruler and no people no matter who made it far without someone else.
Even with insurance, fire extenguishers, guns, tornando shelters etc you may not survive the event. The however to this is if you don't have what is needed at the time of need you will not survive. We can't prepare for everything but we can try to best guees it.
I will miss everything post SHTF and have before in my travels with the green machine. When I got back I wanted the dumbest things like a bacon double cheeseburger at midnight, just because.
Take a break, remember to enjoy life as you go, do something fun, recharge the (me) batteries, then see what direction you are led.

[Mikeg175]

I know the exact feeling , I have been prepping for over a year now and have stockpiled quite a few goodies . I am probably GTG for about a year , give or take . I want it a lot more . I have been working the last few weeks with a Realtor and the bank to finally settle on my retreat , when I get a nasty letter from the IRS last Thursday stating I owe over 100k for the last 5 yrs . I call my accountant and he is now blowing me off , so looks like my savings for my retreat area are about to go bye bye and I have a nasty pit in my stomach . I was supposed to take the wife to Keys in May for our 5th anniversary and now that looks like it will have to change . I can't sit down with my lawyer and his guys till Monday , so I am in limbo and hating it . I guess all I can do is wade through the BS and hope that nothing happens till next year when I have the money to get my retreat area set up .

I catch grief from friends and family because I refuse to buy another house in the area where I live and was about to purchase a house with land and a decent setup back in the hills . I caught grief when I gave up the sports car for a used Excursion . The only praise from anyone other then my wife ( who is a rock for me , even though I dont tell her enough ) is about me finally getting back in to the gym . It is hard , I had a bad year 7 yrs ago and put on about 90lbs from basically losing the ability to work out . Now I am going to probably have to live in the gym , since all my cash will be either depleted or being put back into savings hehe . So I am using that as motivation , since I will have to cut back on fun ( and wasteful stuff ) I will just make it drive me to the gym !!!

[EX121]

Thanks for all of your input. I realize that I can't do it all myself & I have never been one to just sit beside the road a whine. I can only do what I have skills for and hopefully have enough of the basics put away to last until I can make contact with others for trade.
Not to be down on you Mikeg175 but I can say WOW glad I'm not you. But seriously good luck with all of the B.S.
Again thanks all I keep plugging away.

[Knobster]

Yes, there are many luxuries that will not be around for awhile once TSHTF. However, there are plenty of very smart folks out there who are prepping. I'm willing to bet that one could barter for cheese at the first trading post that is built after TEOTWAWKI. If and when the balloon goes up, most of the folks who depend on the fed.gov are going to drop, not the intelligent and resourceful folks. I've been prepping for nearly three years and have rubbed elbows with a number of like-minded people and it is amazing what they are able to provide for themselves. One guy built his own forge and can make any hand-held tool you could think of! Obviously, that PS3 and HD flatscreen TV may go by the wayside...