#And what do I get from the weather? I don't even have a solar battery to charge my phone

[a-silent-observer]

Everything is so bad ngl. Except for the weather. The weather is good

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know, van lifer family vloggers are a scourge on society already. but i've got a new one lately: boat life family vloggers. so over the last week on facebook watch/video, i've started to get a young aussie couple, say in their early 30s, trying to convince people that living on a catamaran, sailing around the world is the peak of living sustainably and "beating the housing crisis" and "living the life they want" etc etc etc, all the usual mantras of van lifer family vloggers.

i don't really know how old most of the videos in my feed are, but in a couple of the latest ones that i've watched, they have a toddler (say about 2 years old) and a 6 month old or something. I've been thinking, along side of a parody series of van lifer family videos that I watch on YT shorts, about how incredibly cramped this life is. just how much control these parents want over their kids. how lonely and isolating it will be for those kids once they're older, and need actual kids their age- not just their sibling (or siblings if these people want more kids that the two they've got)- to interact with outside of and away from their parents (and their brother rn- or sister/s if they have more kids). at one stage, right after they have their second kid, they're straight back on the boat like a week after the kid is born.

in one of the videos, they show you around a new boat that's about $1.5 million to buy. they show you all the rooms in it: the galley, the two bedrooms, the kitchen etc and the navigation deck. but in what i suppose is meant to be the master bedroom (it's a queen bed stuffed between 2 walls and a door, with two small overhead fans when it's hot)..... and there's a funny thing down the end of the bed for storage. the woman of the couple, who shows the viewers the room, goes "oh i could probs fit in here!!! *feet stick out as she tries to squeeze herself into a STORAGE UNIT* oh wait. no i can't fit in it. it really is storage. or y'know. you could fit a child in there, i suppose." like. kelsey or whatever your name is. why the fuck would you put a kid in there??? other than maybe you're nursing them and want them close. but still. it's A FUCKING STORAGE UNIT?????

but i digress. you're being "environmentally conscious". you're living off of solar power and "teaching our kids about the r E a L w O r L d!!!!! giving them a real education!!! letting them live a life that they'd NEVER have on the mainland of australia!!! look! we've sailed to the bahamas to meet another youtube travel couple!! look! our boat broke down in bali so now kelsey has a much needed break from the kids on the mainland of indonesia bc we've invited our family over to the conutry bc it's closer (and cheaper) than Hawaii, where we were a month ago!!!"

like. have you considered that maybe this isn't really healthy for your kids??? like you have the tiniest fucking shower "or if the weather's good, our shower is mother nature :).... using the crystal clear waters of barbados to wash ourselves!!!! isn't that just awesome and cool and unique!!!???" and "oh our boat batteries have died so now we HAVE to shack up at a marina to charge :(! this sucks, bc it's so much better to be right next to dolphins in the atlantic oceans for our little boys!!!! we hate being on any mainland really bc we're not being self-sufficient!!! but half the time we have to moor and go to the mainland of anywhere, to make sure we stock up on locally sourced, grass fed farmer's market stock and also long life food!!!"

anyway. you get my point. i don't think this channel is good for starters, considering that what if you have a massive fight, in which you need time to cool off AWAY from your partner??? even more esp when you have the two kids now??? you really have NO private space on this catamaran, even though they sell it as if they do. again, obvs they're not filming EVERYTHING so you don't know what goes on when the camera isn't on. but still. i think this lifestyle is all fun and games..... until you get kids in the picture.

i dont think it matters if your son atlas (the 2 year old) and your son ashwaganda (the baby) really see dolphins up close in the atlantic ocean vs an aqaurium or on a doplhin cruise back in australia. they do NOT need "real world living" at goddamned 2 YEARS OLD AND 6 MONTHS OLD!!!! they are CHILDREN. they need other kids to be around.... and in their immediate family back in australia...... not just with their parents..... and random kids that they might meet in whatever country you've sailed to.... for like a week. before you claim "it's been too long since we've had our sea legs and we're so restless to get back on the water to BE FREE and away from the hustle and bustle of *insert city here*.... even if it WAS a welcoming break for mummy and daddy. since daddy had the boys over in bali and mummy shoved you off on grandma while we had a retreat in bali."

it's just beyond me that they're selling themselves as an aspirational couple and how "to break free of the mainland of your country and trust your gut for family!!! be self-sufficient today and live the free-roaming, real world, carefree catamaran adventurer/vagabond life today with your kids in tow!!!!" NO!!! i can just imagine how much your kids will hate you if you continue to live this life when they're older than 2 years old and 6 months old.

[lifewithchronicpain]

That evacuation guide is helpful. Honestly, as global warming continues to cause more devastating storms, there are a few things everyone should to deal with a potential loss of power and resources to get you through at least 78 hours, a week is better.

If you can afford, build up a cache of food that can last at least week if possible. My mom has used the basement counter area to create a secondary pantry for an emergency food supply. It's stable food items, and she regularly cycles through it to keep expiration dates current. It includes some water and juices too. Obviously if you're food insecure that can be difficult. But if you can store a few cans of soup for an emergency, the worst days after a storm are those first 3 days. When a storm is coming and you know it could be bad, fill you fridge and bathtub with water. Bathtub water change vital for cleaning and toilet waste. Boil it for drinking water if you must.

Get a dynamic flashlight radio. My family has this one. It can be charged by an outlet, hand crank, solar, or batteries. It has the ability to charge phones via USB and has two kinds of flashlights. Plus of course a vital am/fm radio to hear emergency alerts. I live in a city with good infrastructure and we haven't had a blackout last more than a few minutes for a long time. Still we could get a storm that knocks it out and I'd rather have it than not.

Lastly refer to the post evacuation post I reblog and talk to your family and roommates about what should be done in an emergency. Where do you go if you have to? Where are important documents so you can grab them quickly? Things like this can make a difference.

I'm no expert on survival, but you don't have to be a prepper to do a few simple things so you're not shit out of luck if a completely unexpected tornado cuts you off from food and electricity for a couple of days. Even if you live in an area that hasn't experienced extreme weather events, you can't take anything for granted as the temperature continues to rise. More heat means our air can hold more water and that's why these devastating floods are happening.

[pbandjesse]

I just somehow flicked water into my eyeball. What.

Besides just flushing my eyeball, today was a much better day then I worried. Like yeah. It wasn't perfect. But it was very good overall.

I slept okay. I woke up a lot, that weird fear I somehow have where I am sure I'm going to miss my alarm so I wake up a few times to check the time and am relieved every time. But still. I stress myself out.

I woke up and felt alright. I gave myself enough time to get dress and take my time and still have time to have my leftover omelet from yesterday. Which was very good.

I felt cute. I was excited to wear this dress and not have tights on. But when I put it on I realized it actually touched the ground in the back. It was much more high-low then I expected.

So I took off the dress and chopped off the bottom. Was it perfect? No. Did I hem it? Also no. But honestly there was something cool about the aesthetic of the prairie dress, frayed hem and heavy boots. I felt very cool. I did wear a sweater at first but it got very warm today. So I wouldn't have it on much.

I was nervous about being with the babies all day. But it actually was great. I'm slightly worried about not being helpful but I also don't exactly know where to jump in all the time. But overall today was great.

It was the same group of kids from Fridays. And they warmed up to me a lot. Lots of hugs and climbing on me. I would read the same books over and over. Not that I minded. They would pick them out and I would read and sometimes we would read the same again but it was fun.

It was a beautiful day even if it would get rainy later. I enjoyed the kids company. We went to the yard. And I was a little more tired so there was no running around for me. But I played with Legos with them and pushed them on some of the carts and it was just night being in the sunshine.

After lunch I helped them get to sleep. One child would not calm down so the teacher asked me to sit with him for a while. But it did not work and he kicked me. So she took over once everyone else was asleep and I went on my break.

Which was very needed. I was starting to get a headache from being hungry. I enjoyed my break. Watched a video. Texted with Jess and James. We had watched a video about nuclear fallout earlier and it suggested getting a radio. And none of us own a radio. So I spent my lunch doing research about emergency radios. I ended up choosing one that is also a flashlight, reading light, and will charge your phone. Plus it can run off a charge, a hand crank, batteries, or solar powered. So that is cool. I also think it would be nice to be have for camping. Next thing on the list is to get small fire extinguishers.

The afternoon was more reading and play. Snack and then going outside. It started to rain a bit. But the temperature was still so lovely. We went out and hung out in the side yard. I had fun kicking a ball with the littles. Climbing on the okay structure. I had my umbrella but it wasn't raining much. I was really just having a good time.

But I was ready to go home. My back always hurts from crouching and bending over and tiny chairs at this job. So I said goodbye and walked home.

I got back here and James was not. They were at their parents cooking Tucker birthday dinner. I would head over closer to 6. So I spent an hour chilling on my own.

I rested. Played Pokemon. Cuddled Sweetp. I got a weather emergency alert on my phone so I would close the windows before I left.

I drove over to James's parents. And it was a lovely time.

James made great dinner. Some family friends came over and I enjoy their company too and do I had a great time. Lots of story telling and laughing. Some talk about the wedding. Showing pictures, both ours and Anne and Tucker's. It was great. I really had a wonderful time.

We were there a few hours but it didn't feel like it was to much. Dinner was great. Conversations were great. I told them about this blog and how I've been doing it for 10 years and they were really shocked and that is always fun to share some quick math says I've written over 2 Millon words?? If we go off my average 500 to a thousand words a night. And I'm always close to that. Sometimes less, sometimes more I'm sure. But it's wild that I have written so much over time.

As we were getting ready to go the wind kicked up and the front door flew open. All the porch furniture flew away and James ran after it. So we gave hugs all around and headed home.

When we got back here it was hard to park but we got a spot and a dress I ordered was delivered.

It was a weird length though so I could chop off the bottom within moments of opening the package. I am nothing but consistent. But this time I did actually sew a proper hem. And it looks so much better.

And now I am in bed. Showered and cozy. My body is sore but it's not to bad. I am nervous about tomorrow. Leading the cannery again. But it is fine. I am going to do better. It will only get better.

Wish me luck. Good night!

[bopinion]

2021 / 34

Aperçu of the Week:

"Rock and roll has probably given more than it's taken."

Charlie Watts, eternal drummer of The Rolling Stones, died at the age of 80 last Tuesday. RIP!

Bad News of the Week:

The closer the German federal elections at the end of September get, the more desperate I become. Normally, I'm the one who is asked among my acquaintances who is the right choice for which position or objective. And I'm never at a loss for an answer. And if I only - in order to avoid foreseeable unpleasant discussions - refer to a coherent analysis, with the help of which one can compare one's own opinions with the party programs in a few minutes (Wahl-o-mat). This time, I don't have an answer.

Only one thing is certain with the looming results: there will (have to) be a coalition of three parties. The votes for the right-wing as well as left-wing populists fall out of the equation, as do those for a handful of smaller parties. The former are not capable of forming a coalition, the latter fail the 5% hurdle and don't count at all. In addition, I know people who deliberately want to cast an invalid vote, since the potential vote of a non-voter is mathematically more likely to benefit the election winners. Of the remaining classic parties, the conservative CDU/CSU, the social democrats SPD, the liberal FDP and the Greens, no two-party constellation has the necessary majority.

The political orientation of the resulting three-party coalition - the party colors are often compared with the national flags of Jamaica, Kenya and Germany and with traffic lights - is negotiated and defined in the so-called coalition agreement between the party leaders involved. But since there is no constellation with positions that are reasonably harmonious in terms of content, it will inevitably boil down to a minimum consensus. Or to put it another way: gridlock. And Germany can afford this less than ever over the next four years. Climate change, Europe, education, digitization, sustainability, the refugee crisis, Economy 4.0, social inequality, globalization and much more are burning issues that call for spirited active policies - not status quo administration. We just don't have a solution to this arithmetic problem. And we don't have time to waste (anymore). Fuck.

Good News of the Week:

You have to look specifically for them, but they do exist: positive news about the environment. Here's a small selection from the last few days.

In Florida (of all places), the world's largest solar-powered battery energy storage system will go into operation this year. The "Manatee Energy Storage Center" will be able to supply 330,000 households with electricity in the medium term, regardless of the weather. And thus prove that solar power does not have to be or remain a fair-weather event.

The environmental protection organization WWF (World Wildlife Fund) wants to fundamentally reform financial policy to align it with climate protection goals. The five concrete aspects of this are: further developing CO2 pricing, making government financing more sustainable, reducing subsidies that are harmful to the climate, increasing public investment and mobilizing private investment. That doesn't sound so impossible.

The Llevant Marine Reserve has been in existence on the east coast of Mallorca since 2007. A current study now shows that this is not only beautiful to look at, but also makes a positive contribution to the local economy: every euro invested is said to come back 10-fold. So: environmental protection pays off!

Up to now, there has been a lack of an international framework to protect climate policy pioneers from disadvantages for energy-intensive industries, according to a key issues paper of the current German government. For this reason, it wants to establish a cooperative and open climate club with the USA and China, among others, which is to develop an international pull towards more sustainable economic activity with WTO-compliant regulations. Good luck!

Peatlands are even better stores of emissions than forests. But many are threatened by drying out - and consequent emissions - due to climate change. The EU has now published the guide "Peatlands across Europe: Innovation and Inspiration", which shows that it is not all that complicated to preserve peatlands. Or even revitalize them.

Plus: Germany overtook the U.S. and China in electric car sales last year. Ikea now sells green power subscriptions in Sweden. The "Circular Futures" project shows what tomorrow's circular economy could look like. The "Green ICT" innovation competition awards prizes to projects that reduce the carbon footprint of digital technology. Developments in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) indicate that the phase-out of coal-fired power generation is likely to come much sooner than planned. And I drove three electric cars full of recyclables to the recycling center during the last two weeks of vacation. Maybe everything will be okay after all...

Personal happy moment of the week:

In these summer vacations even going swimming with the kids is complicated. It's too cold for an outdoor pool, so the indoor pools are pretty full. First reserve and take the daily test, then show proof on site and check in digitally. Fortunately, be early enough not to have to wait in line. Waiting half an hour for a free couch, even less than usual because of the spacing rules, because the predecessors - that's so typically German! - occupy these contrary to the current rules with their towels even if they are not there. Discussion with the pool attendant, who finally organizes an extra lounger for me, because he does not dare to remove others towels. My highlight was finally 10 minutes in the Jacuzzi. Sometimes it's the little things that make you happy...

I couldn't care less...

...who got blamed for what and when in Afghanistan. Terrorist attacks are always to be condemned. And the so much praised "West", which likes to think of itself as the ideal of democracy and freedom, has failed all along the line. Completely. All of them.

As I write this...

...I listen to The Rolling Stones songbook - of course.

[wildtrail]

Camping tips (Part II)

It’s been a while since the first article about camping, today we are going to talk about what you need to carry in your backpack when you’re camping.

First of all you need to consider the weight, this is a critical factor because every single extra pound you carry you’ll regret it.

As general rule, your backpack shouldn’t weight more than 20% of your weight, keeping in mind that the longer your trip is, more clothes, food,water, etc you’ll need to carry, so be extremely careful about what are you putting in your backpack. A good way of doing it is placing the backpack on the floor and then around it all the things you are going to carry.

Backpack: https://amzn.to/2Ne0sZF

Once you do it, remove everything you won't really use in base of your personal experience. Or if it's your first time try to avoid carry “luxuries”, for luxuries I mean carrying a pillow, maybe at the first sight its sound like a good idea and it’s almost weightless but you’ll cope a good amount of space in your backpack and you can easily achieve the same level of comfortless just rolling a jacket and using it as a pillow. This kind of logic can be applied for everything.

Summing up, the first step you need to accomplish when you are filling the backpack is covering the essentials. This is my quick list of essentials that I’ll always carry with myself, use it as a reference and doesn’t mean it's perfect and you can always add thing in order to fill your preferences.

First aid kit

You need to carry one of these, no matter what, you are doing outdoor activities and you can easily cut yourself,  get hit by a branch, slip and a million of other possibilities of get hurt, so you need it to heal yourself or someone else.

First Aid: https://amzn.to/2GObnIs

A torch

At the end of the day you’ll need it, it doesn't really matters if you choose a headlight, a torch, flashlight. But you’ll need one to check your surrounding, to help you and your group to set the tents if they night caught you before you assemble the camp. Or just as a S.O.S signal in case of emergency.

LED Torch Flashlight: https://amzn.to/2NeJ9Ia

Matches/magnesium fire starters

Okey, so you set your tent and everything else, what is next? Start a fire, and the best way to do it effortless is using dry wood and matches or a magnesium fire starter. I do recommend in the case of matches, buy the one that are waterproof.

Tarp

We talked about them in the last article, as a way to go and do some camping using them as a tent, since you can give it the shape you need for the weather condition, and they are so lightweight that they are a great choice for people that don’t want to go with a big tent in their backs. In this case I recommend carrying one of those, to use it as the floor of your tent, or as a windbreaker, to give you shadow and so on, the number of possibilities are endless, and for the size and weight and a must to carry.

Tarp: https://amzn.to/2V4dZFV

Rope

You need to carry ropes in order to properly set the tarp, also in camping ropes are your best ally to do infinite of task, the best kind from my point of view are the paracord ones, they are cheap, not too heavy and can hold a really good amount of weight.

Paracord: https://amzn.to/2T0txNr

Solar charger

As long as you are carrying your smartphone, gps, smartwatch etc, your batteries eventually will die, so the best way (and i think the only) to bringing them back to life is with one of these solar charger.

A powerbank

It doesn't matter if you are already carrying a solar charger that can also have a powerbank, having a second powerback (10000mah or more) will give you the safety of knowing that even you have a rainy day/cloudy day, or just in case the other powerback doesn’t work or get broken in the journey, you have a backup one.

Powerbank: https://amzn.to/2NdGxtY

Food, snacks and others

This is pretty obvious, but you need to make sure that you have enough food to cover the minimum amount of daily calories. And a good way to achieve this minimum is having seeds, and nuts, they are a great snack and a awesome source of kcal. Furthermore, I always carry a daily multivitamin, and purification tablets.

Water

No, i didn't forget the most valuable resource, you need to carry water as you do with the food, more days more water. As I mentioned before, i do recommend to carry purification tablets, so if you have a emergency problem with water you can just go the closet river and purify it, and lastly I do recommend to buy one of the lifestraw, they  said that the microfilter can clean up to 4000 liters (1000 gallons), so it's a good inversion, so it doesn’t matter if you think you have enough water or that also you are carrying purification tablets, if you have the lifestraw with you, it’ll give you the safety that you have multiples choices to clean water in case of emergency.

Lifestraw: https://amzn.to/2GQsWaO

Purification tablets: https://amzn.to/2Eh2fKQ

Map/Gps

You need to know where you are all the time so having a gps (could be your smartphone too) it's the good way to go, but even if you have a phone with gps sometimes you don't get signal connection so it's always a good idea go back to the old times and have a map and a compass to help you and your group don't lose the north.

Compass: https://amzn.to/2XcBYo7

Knife

This is the most useful tool when you are camping, you can use it almost for everything so pick the one you feel comfortable with.

Raincoat

As we said in the last article you better check weather two times, three times, one hundred of times and depending of the zone you can suffer from an expontaneous rain, so it's always useful to have a portable raincoat to keep yourself dry, its better have it and don’t use it than need it and don’t have it.

Emergency raincoat: https://amzn.to/2TV8ERg

Regular raincoat:https://amzn.to/2BFWSDk

Well this is all for now, we hope we don’t leave behind any essential and you get inspired by this and improve it or adapt it to your style.

If you have any doubt or suggestion, feel free to comment below or contact us by DM. We’re open to hear your opinions, to make our content better.

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