DomAviator
Posts: 1253
Joined: 4/22/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aynne
Dom I know some of that is valid. Some of us are quite capable of foraging, hunting, bartering, etc. I hunt ( passably ) and my garden is huge, and I understand that benefit of all of that. But I live where that is pretty much the norm, as well as coastal waters and fishing being abundant.
However...now pay tenshun k? A lot of people do not have nature's bounty at their doorsteps nor are they equipped to even engage in such activities. I am a strong believer in accountability and work ethic, but when you already are just barely getting by, with kids to feed ( another thing you and I don't have to address ) gas prices are truly financially crippling.
Aynne, I realize that gas prices are high which is why I say supplement the income. Im not trying to be an asshole here or to piss on anyones parade - but if they are truly in danger of not having heat this winter, or not having food on their kids tables etc then they don't need to be posting on this forum. Instead, their "in front of the computer time" should be spent:
a) Trying to get freelance work on a site like elance.com or guru.com
b) Searching monster.com for a better paying job
c) Listing things on Ebay or some other online marketplace.
d) Taking a free course to get some credential such as CompTia's A+ or Microsoft MSCE or Cisco CCNA that will get them a lucrative position or the abilities to freelance for extra cash.
e) Going online in search of the knowledge needed for some other marketable skill whether it is web design, herbal soap making, etc. For christs sake on my side business, I have a client who literally works from her home and grosses $10,000+ a month selling reusable cloth maxipads! (No Im not kidding, she makes cloth maxipads and sells them to the green crowd online!)
f) Posting ads for some service on Craigslist - regardless of whether that service is typing term papers, painting rooms, cleaning out garages, tutoring students, or rendering the services I joked about earlier.
or
g) Filling out the online applications for Walgreens, Home Depot, or anyplace else you can pick up a part time job to make some money to bridge the defecit.
All of those things will help. All of the above is a proactive step towards solving the problem. I am here and post a lot because I have the time to kill between other things as I wait for call backs, or for an appointment or whatever. I consider the time spent here "wasted" it is a diversion to kill time between other things. However, I know my light bill is paid so the power will be on when I get home, I know where my next meal is coming from, and I know that when I stick the card in the pump its gonna turn on and my gas tank will be filled no matter how much the total is. If someone doesnt have that security, then respectfully instead of whining about it here, they should help themselves by using one of the suggestions above...
As for the part about natures bounty... Even in an urban environment there is plenty to eat. You would be amazed what you can find in an urban dumpster. You would be amazed at what grocery stores throw out. You would be amazed the goodies that can be found on the curb, just waiting to be picked up and taken to the scrap metal dealer for cash or to be fixed and sold. I know because I did it once on a bet. Myself and an equally conservative buddy had a "discussion with a bleeding heart" which resulted in a $500 bet... The bet was that we could make $1000 in one weekend starting with $20. Just from the things people had thrown out we made over $1600 IN ONE NIGHT and part of the next day... We hit the "free" section of craigslist and picked up whatever was worth picking up and then sold it through an auction house or pawned it. We drove through a nearby community that was having a "clean up day" and picked up an entertainment center that brought $75 at the auction, a fairly ratty couch that brought $50, a lawn mower that needed 10 minutes of tinkering to get running that brought $20, boxes of micellanious and assorted household junk, you name it.... We took various metal scrap in, basically anything metal from the lawnmowers not worth fixing, to old bicycles and bedframes, to wire and pipe scrap, appliances, etc (the real money is in aluminum, copper, and brass though) and we took in two loads worth to the tune of $300 some dollars. We even hit the HEB dumpster where we found a case of perfectly good strawberry jam that needed only to be wiped off with a damp sponge because one jar had broken and the store people apparently didnt want to fuck with it, cases and cases of various canned goods with missing or soiled labels or dents , perfectly good meat that was still in its expiration date, etc...
Dumpster diving may not be glamourous but neither is watching your kids starve. In any event, the net haul from our little experiment -between friday night and Saturday afternoon - over $800 each plus a shitload of free groceries, and the payoff from the $500 bet from the bleeding heart... 
If anyone doesnt believe me, try it yourself sometime. If you have a crisis of conscious about taking the free stuff etc and then selling it, donate the money to a charity and donate the food to a pantry. We didnt, I actually used the money I made to buy a purse for my gf and a romantic little weekend in Galveston. Dale stuffed most of his take down a strippers panties for blowjobs in the champagne room but hey to each their own... If you wnat to try it and donate the money do so... You will be surprised though at whats out there free for the taking....
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RE: Are you ready to pay $7-$8 for a gallon of gas real... - 
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Profile
. I think it was more than $7 or $8 a gallon, but then again, "people today know the price of everything, and the value of nothing" (Oscar Wild). I win 
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