After The Math

[curt]

....or, how to deal with the inevitable aftermath of the approaching collapse of the US and with it, the World economy. We had a thread like this going good over at the first RBC...remember, the one we all moved to from other cyber places like The Smirking Chimp and Project for the Old American Century ?? Those were the days. We were hot on convincing people the USA is fascist. Life was rough. Nobody listened. We screamed our lungs out, some of us. Still, nobody listened. The Bush bashing took the front seat of most every discussion. No time for reality. No "Blick in die Zukunft" (view in the future). Tough titty, too late, the train is gone and now we have to look around for "a place to sleep". (after a personal experience as a young GI in Frankfurt. Life sucks when you realize you blew it big time by not listening to people's warnings)

Quoting Bo......(from a mini crusade he was on today);

"Well, here's your future discussion topic: The USA is dead.

The body's been burned to a crisp, hung from a bridge, and the limbs are falling off.

The RBC is now making plans to survive the aftermath. That's the reality we need to prepare for now."

So bring 'em on, those survival techniques. Copy & Patse from the other other RBC too. What good will it do us o'er there when the damn place (TribeNet) collapses ?

[curt]

Garlic under the fruit trees and inbetween the strawberry plants is said to serve the purpose of warding off any unwanted guests. Not all! Any....or some. Many are airborne and must be handpicked on a daily basis. NO chemical pesticides are used in these two gardens. None at all. Come to think of it, I don't know anyone that uses chemicals in their garden. Not in this neighborhood.

I hope you enjoyed these. If you have any questions, please pose them. I'll do my bestest to work my way around them....

;-)

even bikers have gardens.

[BO]

Hey Curt, thanks for posting the pix. I enjoyed them a lot.

My sense is, the folks in your hood live a relaxed existence, void of pretense--which is very different from the US, where even the poor try to project a certain level of opulence. And, of course, everyone in the US is too busy making money to bother with gardening and our abodes are investments first and homes second. Bad juju.

I like all your brickwork too. Something I'd like to spend all summer doing on my own place. But work keeps me from enjoying those more-enjoyable projects. I gots to start saying no more often.

Anyway, thanks. It's great fun seeing how my peeps on this board live.

BTW, are all the houses in your neighborhood, white? All that white stucco is calling out for some pastels. A little too dutch-like, perhaps.

[curt]

Most of these houses are white, yes. We've just done a refresher on two sides of ours, white again despite the fact we want to paint it purple. White is the main colour. You get shades of beige here and there, a few colours down the street. A bit sterile indeed.

Which brickwork are you referring to, Bo? The bigger bricks all over the place? It's a shambles and in dire need of revamping. I hardly ever can find the time to work on or around the house with commuting and all. Worked too many Saturdays last year too. All work, no play. Batter than no work and no play cause no can pay.

Idaho it is. I'm happy for Pan & Mrs. Pan. Idaho. Damn. Do people live there?

[waldopaper]

These pics are wonderful! I really miss Deutschland. Sensible houses... people... gardens. Garlic, you say? 'twill keep the buns away? we got a serious rabbit problem... and i found out we got a drainage problem where we put the plot. got some chickenwire... gotta dig a small trench.
Curt... get ready fur a serious eyefull o ugly when you get to the US. After being where you are for 2 months it nearly made me barf. after 30 years... only knowing that you don't have to stay here will keep you sane. i'm talkin GRIM fukkin ugly... wherever people are. go to where people AREN'T... and it aint too bad.

[curt]

our 417 square meters are on a slight slope. When it poors like it did yesterday, all water collects in the lower corner. That's why we have no edibles planted there....this year. Too wet. Potatoes planted there rotted away before harvest time. Corn planted there didn't grow very high. Onions didn't make it.

Garlic. Prolly wont scare Christopher Robins away but there's gota be a Kraut that will. One Kraut they recently put on the Markt here makes dogs & cats think twice about pissing on your car tyre. Could work on Wabbits, done tscha thank!

[waldopaper]

wal... this HERE kraut wood use the shoosgun if it didnt scare all de whitefolks.
You mean cabbage? or the actual stuff in jars we all love to eat?

[curt]

I means a Kraut dat makes de dogs n cats go runnin fer cover. The opposite of catnip. Dey hatez the stuff. Mebbe Wabbit do too. Dem Wabbits er just other breeds o cats anyway. Cat on the roof is called "Dachhase" oer hier.

[pan]

Just got back from a house-hunting trip. The Mrs. got a job in Pocatello, Idaho and, given our current economic situation, we had no choice but to take it. We were successful and found a house that fits us and have an oral agreement from the owner (he's on vacation in Africa so he has to get somewhere to sign paperwork and fax it).

We will have amazing views of mountains from our decks. The back yard is huge but is a steep slope so we will have to terrace it. The climate is arid there - 15 inches of rain a year - so we are going to have to research drought tolerant plants that deal well with 4500 ft altitude. I want to explore water capture from the eaves to catch the little rain we get. It's a two hour drive to the Grand Tetons which are my favorite place in the world.

Big move. I won't have a job though there are possibilities that they will have some adjunct work in Spring Semester which could possibly grow. Meantime, I will look to add some more initials behind my name (hence my mumbling about an MBA - which seems like a better "union card" and less onerous than a EdD.)

It's too bad that we couldn't make the Studio make financial sense - we have created a wonderful community of other aliens and the funders have been giving us support (just not enough). If I were 20 years younger I would probably gut it out and try to make it work but, at 51 years, I only have so many employable years left. The impending recession/depression/crash makes trying to make it with a small business in the arts and a half-time petty bureaucrat position absurd.

[BO]

Sounds great, man. A small historic college town surrounded by mountains. And the climate sounds pretty good. A good move, methinks.

And Hey, you already have the skin head! ba da bing...crash.

Actually, I can't wait to hear about your experiences as you transition to your new digs. Personally, I think it'll be great. And it must be a great relief for you two to put the Tacoma gig behind you.

A fresh start is always healthy.

When does the move happen?

[Cal]

Moves seem to be in the air. I go into hospital for a week on Tuesday for 'reconstruction' of missing breast and as soon as I've recovered from that it's packing for a place called Piet Retief .... a little rural town about 3 hours away from any shopping, hospitals etc. Bit of a wrench to have to pack my belongings into boxes .... oh boy do I have a LOT of books. I keep telling myself 'change is good' ... pleased to hear you're also going through the migration routine Pan - hope it works out well for you. I'm so reclusive I could live in a lighthouse tower, but I hope I can find a nice enough place with a yard for the four doggy friends.

[pan]

Cal - much success on the reconstruction - this sounds like a "happy" hospital visit with positive outcomes.

The move will be relatively easy as we kept most of our books/LPs/china, etc. in boxes from the previous move - we knew we weren't going to stay in the house we are renting. I want to get a better van than U-Haul this time - I really don't want to be stranded on the side of the road.

Impressions of Pocatello: houses with pantries filled with one year's supply of canned food in preparation for the Tribulation. Pictures of stocked pantries featured prominently in MLS listings photo galleries - I'm thinking there is more than a little LDS status strutting going on there. Most of the houses had many bedrooms Go forth and multiply

Hmmm, it's interesting that I included a Brigham Young reference in the monologue I wrote for Migrant....and I wrote that before Ms. Medusa applied for the job.

Hunting is a major way of life there. Gun lockers and taxidermy. The hunting doesn't weird me out - the mounting of animal carcasses on the wall does - a little too much like Bates Hotel..

The speed limit on the freeway is 75 mph and Idahoans are impatient with those who are in their way. If you are in the fast lane and aren't exceeding the speed limit as much as the person behind you they typically will tailgate at less than a car length's distance until you pull over.

We are moving to a foreign country and will need to suppress our expressive sides - especially in conversations about religion and politics - until we get our bearings.

[littleoldme]

Loved all the pics, you're very organized.

Hope your move works out, after moving around so much when the hubby was in service, I kind of miss it.

"Hunting is a major way of life there. Gun lockers and taxidermy. The hunting doesn't weird me out - the mounting of animal carcasses on the wall does - a little too much like Bates Hotel.." this cracked my ass up. I too have a problem with people who decorate with stuffed dead critters. What wall paper goes with that?

Cal, I hope all goes well.