Video of life without gas (oil)

[Buck]

Life is just like the video shows it when the pump goes dry.

How could America get so addicted?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U01djSaI9c

This fella is riding a bike past a looooooooooooooooong line of cars waiting
to gas up. America's gotta get smart or grind to a collapse.

(Hint: You might not like the music playing but the video is worth it.)

[walls0stone]

ya know, we should go back to killing whales and using that oil for lights ;D

[gregabob]

ya know, we should go back to killing whales and using that oil for lights ;D
Whale oil was THE lubricant for industry until ol' Mr. Drake drilled that well in PA....those who love whales should be thankful we found another way to lube things and light our homes. Although now that certain species have made a comeback, how 'bout an old-time whaling excursion, using sailing ships, rowboats and hand-thrown spears? Now THAT would take some guts.... ;D

[kawalekm]

Just to rip off this thread with a remotely related tangent, "automatic transmission fluid" today is the synthetic substitute for whale oil. When engineers were first developing automatic transmissions in the 1940's they used real whale oil in them. As cars with automatic transmissions became more common in the 50's they came up with the synthetic equivelent to replace it. I learned this when looking for the recipe for making "Ed's Red" bore cleaner.

[walls0stone]

before that it was also common to use it for light. but when oil was found in Pa, the common man could afford to say up later and light the lamps.

Aparently part of the big deal at christmas, when whale oil was used... was the ablity to stay up past dark, light a ton of lamps and party...since they didn't burn many lamps other times of the year due to expence..but with Kerosene, you could have more light and afford it like the rich folks did.

[silvergramma]

well that was challenging...
can i tell you about life up here.. yes we are depending on oil.. can you name the reasons we need it what does it help us do...
transportation..of goods and us..
well as for my lifestyle i'm trying to change that.. and ask yourself this much are the amish and mennonites gonna suffer...not one lil bit..
if i can get a milk cow.. do i need oil to feed it.. nope.. they actually dont have to have grain in winter,,just hay..
if i can get chickens for eggs and meat do i need oil
no i can raise enough corn to feed them
if i can get some dairy and meat goats do i need oil to feed them..nope.. they are weed munches to say the least and would do my pasture much good as far as maintenance
yah i have a shotgun a mossberg 12 gage that takes all three sizes of shells.. do ineed oil for that.. yup
i have a rifle a 30-06 do i need oil for that,,yup
but give me a good compound bow and enough arrows ,, i'll do nicely thanks..
fishing... pretty much same thing cept i dont fish..
i live in a house that is heated by two wood burning stoves.. in the winter i'm lucky especially in january february march sometimes in december to keep it just above 40 degrees in here due to deep freeze temps and god awfull winds
but did i get sick,,,, nope.. its colder outside... not supposed to have that much difference like 60--70 degrees when its that cold from inside to outside temps.. i drink a lot of water,, make soups and stews.. and i'm layering with wool socks felt or fleece hats,,, good clothing and keep a kettle on the stove for humidity
was it hard the first year doing this,, yup
but lets keep our own money where it belongs,, in our pockets
see what happens when saudi princes only accept euros for their oil and we dont have it...who's gonna freak,,,not me

[ozarksnick]

Boy, silvergramma, I thought I was the only one who thought like that. ;D

[walls0stone]

Great way to think, but ponder this...I bet some Amish will be cry'n like mad when they can't have the stuff they were use'n with out the rest of the world knowing. * everyone thinks all Amish are with out power whatever..and some still do it as we perseve. However, I know many Amish who moved in here to live with one Foot in OUR world. *Why? they don't like Churn'n buter any more than we do. Sure they have a great work ethic....but like one of them said to me..why waste it when I could work just as hard at a skill that pays big. He sells wood stoves and wood/oil combo stoves. Now imagine you went from no luxury and a strict life, to a more relaxing one...and then back to the hard life..that would stink!


* The oil is not going to just dry up, disspite what fear salesmen have to offer us (to make a profit) *Western Pa has tons of oil wells and some refineries. The trouble is no one will work hard enough or responcibly enough to run them full tilt. *I am around them a great deal with my work. The trouble is it's to easy to just collect gov' money and not work hard in a factory. *and if the only men who come to work and work hard demand $30 Per H, then who will run the pumps full tilt at that cost?

In the mean time, my vote is for Natural Gas. *40 new gas Drilling rigs just came to my area PA from texas. Fellow in the gas fields ask me were he could rent 30 furnished apartments in town. 3 men to an apartment. So we got tons of natural gas. Now convert cars to that and you will fix the oil worries. *

[DavidOH]

Just think of the manure pile if all the cars in NYC were replaced with horses! :o

[Rimfire_Red]

Wow gramma! I slept out in a snow shelter in N. MN when I was in college. It got down to -32F. Did I sleep? Yes. Was I reasonably warm yes! Good equipment and knowledge goes a long way! Would these old bones do it 30 years later....probably - but I would be a lot more stiff! You live in cold country. We didn't see the wind in MN and trees kept us protected. Are you pretty wooded at your place? We are mostly wide open to wind here and the poor old farm house is a little drafty. We hit -44F here this year on my mom's 80th birthday - Jan 15. (She is in Bottineau.) They were -40 there, but you would have been colder than that in the hills. Hopefully spring is about here now! Cheers!