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Title: Contingencies
Date: April 19, 2025
Listening To: Quantum Radio[0]
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(Note: I'm mostly writing this for myself, in hopes that I
remember to post things I find for on my site and
gopherhole[1] as I go along.)
Yesterday was a thing. Had to send my uncle to the
hospital in fairly rough shape, and as he finished doing
his last chemotherapy treatment this previous Tuesday, I'd
been very worried something was going to happen. It was
enough for me to go into "boss mode" and start planning for
what I can do if we suddenly lose him, since he's been
keeping me and my partner afloat for several years while
the job market has been bad.
I actually started writing up lists of things that need
to be done to the house, researching some DIY solutions to
a number of those issues, and as dire as it may sound, I
started drafting a potential GoFundMe page to possibly find
some help with crowndfunding to get us back on our feet if
shit hits the fan. Budgeting, figuring out what can be done
to cut the bills as much as possible, drafting out plans to
make things from what I've learned in the green living and
tiny house communities, all going into text and files to do
anything I can to help.
I know I can't account for everything. As an NPC says in
Star Trek Online[^0]:
> "Backups for your backups, but emergency power always
> fails in an emergency."
Solar power is great when you can get it, but we live in
stormy Tornado Alley. Rainwater collection is great, as
long as you know how to use and filter it properly. Growing
food is awesome, as long as you take care of your garden.
Repairing things is great, so long as you can do it right.
Things might get a little dicy for a bit, but I'm going
to do what I can to survive and keep things going for more
self-sustainable additions in my life. The less I need to
pay out in general, the better our options become. And the
more open I am to various options, the better our chances
become.
Yeah, political climate and all that, but if I dwell on
everything, I get nothing done. Better to look at what I
/can/ do, than let what I /can't/ do distract me from doing
anything at all. I need fewer distractions in my life with
how the last year or so has gone.
Hell, if nothing else, maybe I can pivot from fiction[^1]
to writing DIY and self-reliance guides that aren't AI
hallucinations. Those look like they'll become valuable in
the near future as search results get buried in slop, at
least on the surface web. Wiby, Curlie, and other retroweb
search/directory sites would be better for that sort of
information at this point, along with the smolnet.
And yeah, moving to Linux or a BSD might help some of the
future-proofing issues still. I'm looking into some more
solutions for my own hardware problems on that point. It's
just slow, plus I have Linux VMs and FOSS tools on my
MacBook Pro that I can use for now. Still want an RPi 500
and eInk or low-power display for a writerDeck[2], even
though I already own an AlphaSmart 3000. But that's for
later, when financial stability happens.
For now, I have more research to do, and more anxiety to
quell. I'm just happy my partner made some of his amazing
beef veggie stew, because that'll keep us going food-wise
for about 2 weeks or so.[^2]
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[0]:
https://www.erb.pw/projects/quantum-radio/
[1]:
gopher://gopher.prismdragon.net/1/writings
[2]:
https://www.writerdeck.org/
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[^0]: This was said during a Delta Quadrant mission about
how Starfleet plans for everything but the obvious.
[^1]: Admittedly, this is driving me to want to work on my
solarpunk project ideas even more. Maybe I'll finally
get started on Project Solon... Maybe.
[^2]: He always makes it in large batches, and it freezes
and reheats /really/ well. Its a mood-saver, too.
