With skyrocketing costs for everything involved with vehicle ownership today, I do not see "clear sailing ahead" for the auto industry. Oh speaking about higher costs, what with gas prices hovering at between $3.80 and $4.50 per gallon, depending on where you live in the United States. I can remember buying gas at $0.25 per gallon, back in the 1960's. Of course that was before that fake oil embargo of the early 1970's. When the American oil companies showed the world how easy that it was, to strangle the American economy.
Well I'm here to say that having lived through it and other economic crisis's, that there really is a way to survive and prosper in hard economical times. We all have had to do it at some point in our lives, so it should come as no surprise to anyone. Quite basically we simply downsize and painfully tighten our belts. As to the downsizing, well that is usually the hardest part. When we start looking at what we have, and start thinking of how we can get by on less or with less. As I said, the hardest part.
I have personally given up quite a bit in my life. As I do not own or rent a house or an apartment anymore, either option is way to expensive to even consider. However I do own a 30' camp trailer, that I live in full-time. It is set up in a friends backyard, as campground fees and/or monthly rents can also strangle my finances. Now as I have already stated here and in other posts, a 50cc Honda Elite Scooter is my personal transportation 365 days of the year. No matter what the weather throws my way. However they both will soon be on the "once had list", as I am getting ready to downsize yet again. I no longer own a television or a big table top computer ~ a laptop serves me as both. Also going to a movie theater is a expense, that would be classified as luxury for me.
Am working at designing several transportation possibilities for myself, that will be mainly pedal powered. Some are tricycles with two wheels in the front and a power wheel in the back, this style is called a tadpole tricycle. Now the one wheel in front and two wheels in back is called a delta tricycle. Should anyone encase either style with a "skin" of some kind, then what you have is a velomobile. Basically a pedal powered vehicle. My reason for explaining this is because my designs are following both styles of tricycles, right down to the velomobile. Am also working on some velomobile camper designs, as well as a few bicycle camp trailer ideas. Each design could be set up in a single parking space, that would be hard pressed to hold some modern day cars and trucks. How is that for efficiency?
As I get closer to building each, I will be posting loose designs here for all to see and comment on. Also my builds will be documented here as well. So yes, this blog will become my personal apocalyptic wheels documentation location. Then as I travel around, a place to keep a travel log on. About my new found freedom hopefully, from the gas pump nipples. While also being free of tags, insurance, and licenses or fees. Then I feel that I should find not only freedom of the open road, but also a far less expensive life style.
Until that time I will continue to post queries, possibilities, probabilities, theories, ideas, personal facts, and dreams that follow my outline for this blog. Not that I will let up on my quest as I push forward towards self sufficiency ~ both in living and travel. Yes I am on a quest of sorts, looking for true freedom, while keeping my head down and out of the sight of big and bigger government. A political quagmire that we all could live better lives with out. Oops, politics is creeping into the conversation again, sorry about that.
Yes it is hard to escape big government and its' agencies or "tendrils of the beast" as I see them. But as the powers in power get ever bigger and bigger, then slipping between the cracks seems to get a little easier. So by keeping our heads down and not drawing to much attention to ourselves, now when that happens ~ freedom. Then my friends, we can all breath a sigh of relief.
I almost forgot ... when I build my personal pedal powered transportations, I'll be adding an electrical battery back up engine to each, as a power assist unit for hills and such. The reasons that I want an electrical engine are simple really, first it is a lot quieter that a gas engine. Second, is its' battery can be recharged in several ways. Like a wind turbine, or solar panels, an electrical outlet, or maybe even from a dynamo ~ creating power off of my own wheels as I travel on down the road. Maybe a combination of all of the above.
So my friends, since we know from whence we came,
I say let us make a better showing of how to move farther on ...
No comments:
Post a Comment