Cutting off electronic tethers, etc.

[OakLeaf]

I recently received an offer ot be part of an electric co-op but they could only guarantee rates for 2 years. I don't know how much of a difference there was in KW hours but there were four of us discussing it and I left it to the others (all pretty well versed in these things) and ended up dismissing the offer.

I don't think our rates are much different from the IOU's. Where the co-op really shines is in the service.

We've been in this house almost 12 years and the longest we've been without power was a little over two days after the hurricane last year. A tree came down across our lane and took the power lines with it. Lots of people with the IOUs had no power for a week or longer. With the ice storms about every other year, we might lose power for a few hours, people on the IOUs are out for days. Before the hurricane last fall, the longest we'd ever been without power was 18 hours, once.

It took about two hours after I called yesterday morning, for the guy to get out here, throw the dead raccoon into the woods , and install a new fuse. It was cool, he didn't even have to climb up to the transformer, did it all with a telescoping fiberglass pole with a hook on the end.

It seems weird to me that co-ops are competing with IOUs in your area post-deregulation. I think of utility co-ops as a holdover from their origins (the REAs, when it wasn't profitable for IOUs to run electricity to less densely populated areas).

[wannaduacentury]

Could you really cut yourself off from outside contact via any computer, tv, cell phone, ipod, radio and simply live with sounds of the environment around you (man-made or natural sounds) and be by yourself or with just your family/housemate(s)? Cut yourself off from all these devices..

And how long?

If you give me a pile of books and a bike that fits me, I would be happy for a few weeks. But then someone might phone us...on the land line.

I have a collection of CDs which I haven't listened to anything since Christmas (I forget), don't have ipod nor do we turn on radio. So the audio thing is not big for me. Don't have a cell phone, Blackberry, not yet on facebook nor twitter. We have tv but then I've lived without tv prior for many years.

It's the computer and no access to the Internet that might bug me after a few wks.

I could probably do it. When we go on our road trip every december I only have my cell phone w/ me but that is a safety phone anyhow. I really don't use it much. I can forego emails and facebook too. It will all be there when I return. I think we allow ourselves to get hooked to these devices, in that meaning if we use them for work, we can train ourselves to use it within reason. The one's that stay hooked/addicted will have a hard time at first, but they'll adjust. I don't think job performance should be justified or measured on how available we are. You can be 100% dedicated to your career and set boundaries for your family time and hobbies. Just my opinion. Jenn

[OakLeaf]

Two of my club members, men in their 70s (or perhaps one of them is in his late 60s, no one seems to know except that he's been retired for over 20 years), are in their second week of the Great Divide ride.

They took cell phones - which will work for an estimated 15% of the route - and no satellite communications. No SPOT (very inexpensive) and no satphone (which can be rented for a small % of the total cost of their trip).

Honestly, I consider that extremely irresponsible. If I were one of their wives or children, I wouldn't have stood for it.

Why would someone intentionally refuse safety equipment? It's like saying, "up until the 1970s, people rode in leather helmets or no helmet at all, so there's no reason for me to wear a helmet now."

[shootingstar]

Two of my club members, men in their 70s (or perhaps one of them is in his late 60s, no one seems to know except that he's been retired for over 20 years), are in their second week of the Great Divide ride.

They took cell phones - which will work for an estimated 15% of the route - and no satellite communications. No SPOT (very inexpensive) and no satphone (which can be rented for a small % of the total cost of their trip).

Honestly, I consider that extremely irresponsible.

Maybe they didn't know about problems of working cell phones and better technological solutions. Sounds like a useful short newletter article for any bike club to inform the membership.

[OakLeaf]

No, they knew. I asked them about it myself. These guys did the Lewis & Clark trail three or four years ago. They got their maps for both trips from Adventure Cycling, who I know provides lots of great planning information. This is a more challenging trip than they've done before (and the latest report is that they're doing fine but behind schedule, and already shipped a bunch of stuff back that suddenly seemed unnecessary when they had to pull it on rough trails ) - but they're not in the least inexperienced.

They just wanted to "cut off electronic tethers." Or save a little money, honestly I don't know what their motivation was for foregoing satellite communications, but I just think it's very irresponsible.

[HappyTexasMom]

I rely on my computer and internet for a job (I'm a software developer who works from home). I also have plenty of electronic vices: I play world of warcraft, play on here and facebook a lot, and I do watch TV probably a couple of nights a week (some weeks more, some less). I hate the phone so would be glad never to have to talk on it again, but I wouldn't really want to lose complete contact with my family (who live in another state). I have a dear friend in Canada who I text or IM regularly (our phone plans don't allow us to talk without charges). The one really useful thing I use the internet for is to learn things I need to look up (cooking mostly; lately a lot of stuff about riding and my bike).

My dream is to live in a remote forest location. I would gladly give up most of this if it meant I could give up the negative parts (basically the grind of working and living in a place that I hate) as well. I could live without the internet for research purposes (I've used libraries before, I could do it again). I guess the thing that would really be tough is contact with my family and my Canadian friend. I suppose we could go back to old fashioned letter writing.