When you have it and are USING it, you feel awesome and alive. It helps you through your day. It entertains you. It helps you organize and be more efficient. It connects you to the things you care about. In short, it helps you cope with the world around you. But like any drug, if you take it often enough and long enough, you become addicted, and it is no longer a WANT, it is a NEED. For most people, being addicted to technology is not something they really think about. Like most addicts, each day blurs into the rest so long as technology is there to help them through it.
Where trouble comes into paradise is when these same people transfer this “tech addict” mentality into the prepping world. I think you know what I am talking about, but let me expound a bit further. I once saw this article in some hipster magazine while waiting on a haircut. It talked about “Prepping” and What things you should have in your “SHTF” Bag. Now I quickly realized that most of the people who read these rags would not know a “SHTF” Bag or “Bug-Out” Bag if it slapped them in the face and winked at them, but being the consummate pessimist that I am, I continued on with the article, mostly to amuse myself, if the truth be told.
This one guy from the Northwest had a fairly respectable laundry list of items; waterproof matches, water filtration straws, small trauma kit, protein bars, etc… The other cat was from some crime ridden Eastern Seaboard metropolis. His kit contained two items: a Lantern that ran on (4) D Batteries that could “recharge his cell phone” and a windproof lighter. That was it. When asked why so few things in his kit the guy responded “If I can recharge my cell phone I have apps on there like a flashlight and GPS, plus I can just Google some DIY website to find out how to do the rest….” The guy was friggin’ serious. I actually flipped to the end of the article to see if this was some kind of joke, but NO, it was no joke! It was a real article! I let out a hearty laugh right there in the barber shop; this was just too much!
There are so many things wrong with this guy’s thinking I honestly would not know where to start, and I am not going to waste your time listing them anyway. The essence of it is this: People that are addicted to technology think the solution when confronted with a problem (any problem) is to simply get the technology “working again.” Re-charge the cell phone but never mind the cell towers and internet are DOWN. What good is a GPS without access to the GPS Satellites? What good is Googling “How to build a Spindle Rod” without DSL or a cell signal? What good is calling 911 when the cell towers are down and the Cops are too overloaded to answer anyway? Yeah I could open up the whole EMP can of worms, but I won’t for sake of brevity.
The Long and short of it is this: WE ALL, regardless of our Geographic location or State of Prepper Readiness need to find ways in our everyday lives to lessen our dependence on technology one step at a time.
One of the ways I have found is what I call the “Ice Cube Tray Mentality”. Why do I call it that? The first time it came to me was when I was filling up ice trays. Yes, Ice Trays. Those things you can buy 4 for a Dollar at the you guessed it, the “Dollar Store” (Just be sure and wash them before use). Why Ice Trays? Because some time ago me and the better half decided to simplify our lives and we started with the basics. Why buy a $3,000 “Smart” refrigerator that may be able to tell you when you are low on eggs but can also act of both a locator beacon and audio bug for whoever wants to take the time to hack it?
Add to this that when the thing breaks down (typically 1 month after the warranty goes out) you basically have to have a computer tech that works for $300 bucks an hour come fix it because the thing runs off a CPU. Why not just go with a simple bare bones $300 Refrigerator? No it has no “Smart” Chip and the color scheme is limited to Black, White or Stainless if you are lucky. The one we got does not even have an ice maker. But the beauty of it is this: The Less Moving Parts means Less Chance of the thing breaking down! We bought this one over 10 years ago and it is still humming today. We did have to buy a few more ice trays though. That set me back all of $2.00. I have found 6 ice trays are the perfect number for my house, if you fill them up each time you use them you will always have a nice, cold big bucket of ice waiting on you! Simple. Easy. Practical.
So there it is, The Ice Cube Tray Mentality.
Apply it to Every area of your Life and take it in steps. Go at a pace that you find comfortable and you will start confronting NOW one of the biggest hurdles 21st Century man will ever have to face once the lights go out in Georgia For Good.
