Time's Up.

Dig This:

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/no-jobs-no-hope-no-future-27-signs-that-americas-poverty-class-is-rapidly-be

coming-larger-than-americas-middle-class


What are the practical options that can be applied to mitigate this situation?
Since my disability, we have been a One Income Bunch.I am a Cripple....and have found myself contributing in many unorthodox, nonmonetary ways.
Wife is in Public Ed, as well as various and sundry part time adventures.
This is Texas, and they've suddenly discovered a gigantic Hole in the State Budget.
In Texas, the fill for such a Hole is usually to be found in the Poor, and in anything "Public"....which usually includes

Schools.
What are we gonna do if the one, major job goes the way of the buffalo?

I shall herein set out what I have been doing, and what I plan to do....as well as certain , Normative, Hypothetical things I would Like to see....to meet this challenge....


First, what we Are Doing.

I cook...mostly from Scratch...
I keep much raw material in Bulk Storage.
My Pantry, that used to be the Garage is larger than my Bedroom.
I keep chickens, geese and ducks...I rarely buy eggs...and we're almost to the point in Infrastructure where we can be at
least somewhat "Meat Independent"....
I also endeavor to keep a large Garden....this is a work in progress,necessarily...we've only been here a year and a
half. By next year, we can foresee being almost Food Independent...less things like Flour and Sugar.
I can...everything I that fits in a Mason Jar.

I am a Master N***er Rigger ( I know, I know)....I inherited from my Pop an abilty to "Walk by, and Get It Done"...often
with found materials. I have learned, through the years, how to Rig things in many fields...electric, gas, etc. We have
become very good at being Poor.
I try to have Triple Redundancy...but I will gladly settle for Double Redundancy.
As an example, we get City Water...real cheap (which I expect to change, at some point).
There are 3 existing wells on the property, as well. I have "capped" 2 of them, and the third has a Hand Pump ready to
go (waiting on a part). I also have 300 gallons of rainwater storage capacity (a 1" rain) and the gutters to fill it from the roof over one room.
I heat with wood and propane....(the cost of the latter is a good enough reason to get up off one's butt to try new things.)
By necessity (No Jack) we must do for ourselves.

What I intend to do:

I'd like to install more gutters, and more storage for rain....
Ideally, we could get the empty lot next door. The birds need more pasture, and I'd like to have enough room to keep a Burro...(transportation...I wanna build a wagon)
I also reckon I need a Commercial Kitchen, as i have all the equipment....
Not only would this afford me more room, and wider capability in our own things...I could, conceivably, sell some of
what I make. The Market is not there, right now....but I expect it to be at some not too distant time.(see the link)
An attached Abattoir, and a Smokehouse....perhaps a Drying Room...
Also, there is room for more perennial food plants, like fruit trees, and a proper herb garden.(it;s scattered and
haphazard, now.)I have had in my head, for a long time, a Gas Digester. An Outhouse, of sorts, would hafta be constructed to feed
it...remember Shit= Methane="Natural Gas"....an almost universally wasted Resource.
A working Digester would lead me to consider a Generator....I haven't figured out how to run a fridge/freezer without the City.
Solar is still ridiculously expensive...and , as I'm in Town, now, Wind has regulatory entanglements.
If the power went away, today...we could get by, pretty well....but it would be damned uncomfortable.I call it a plus, that we could do it a lot easier than anyone I know.

What I'd like to see...

A Local Economy.....not the current Facsimile, of jewelry, saddles, Bed/Breakfast,Hunting, and Furniture....all that is dependent on Outside Markets...that can't be counted on to continue.
I'm talking about Important Things....like Toilet Paper, Food, Light/Heat...1000 Cattle come through this town in any given week....and not an ounce of that meat stays here.
I have learned, at least Theoretically, how do do most of the things a little Town actually Needs.(like toilet paper!)
Very few see the remotest need for such silliness...
BAU.
It is my contention that these types of things need to be put in place Now....even though there is no Profit in them....when there is profit, it will be too late.
By then, the Emergency will be in full swing.
For me, this is the most difficult thing...