Retail gasoline sales down 50% since 2007

“When people do without, they learn new habits, a lot of them are going to figure that they’d just as soon keep that money they used to spend on car payments, insurance, gasoline, oil changes, repairs...”

I do agree, it’s not difficult to learn new habits..... especially when you don’t have a job that would pay for the things you mentioned.

Personally, I like a simplified life, as long as it’s voluntary. And I think it’s great that you can walk everywhere and don’t depend on anyone. But do you realized that most aren’t able to do that for one reason or another ...they have small kids, they take care of elderly parents, they live off the beaten path, etc.

As I said, if it’s of your own desire to have a more simplified life, that’s one thing. But you do realize this is a path we’re being forced down due to a regime believing it knows what’s best, don’t you?

I quit my gasoline addiction in 2002, and became a dedicated walker. I haven’t had any kind of emergency where I needed public transportation or a ride from a friend in at least 2 years.

I know I'm a couple of days late to this thread, but I would love to hear an expanded version of this. Perhaps in a separate thread or as part of one of the "preppers" posts. How big is your community? How far to the places you go? And when you need public transportation, how far to the station / stop?

I'm just being nosy, but this intrigues me. I guess growing up on the plains where the closest grocery store was 35 miles and the movie theater was 75 miles away has me thinking that walking everywhere is impossible, even though those days are 30 years in the past.

All I know is that I enjoy it. As a matter of fact I just got back from hiking with a really heavy batch of groceries on my 5 mile tour, there is a bakery that’s in 8 mile round trip that I sometimes go to, but that’s a light load carrying back. 10 miles unloaded is probably my limit speed walking, and still getting home feeling frisky... more than that, and my dogs start barking.

I always walk from time to time, but I made a total transition one day not long after 9/11, I was having trouble getting the car started, I was only going 3 blocks to the post office in the first place, and I realized how stupid that action was. So I walked, and when I got back from my walk, I took the battery out of the car to see how long I would keep walking. Eleven years, so far.

By the way, I am self employed, I have an internet business, but I take manual labor or moving jobs from time to time just because I feel that it’s like getting paid 100 dollars to go to the gym.

I’m just 52 years old, I see people that are less than 5 years older than me, they look 20 years older, and there decrepit already. I’m not going there.

Another angle to the walking, is that some of the things I’ve learned from being involved in martial arts most of my life, has turned my walks into a combination meditation and total back readjustment exercise. It’s like my daily therapy now.

Finally because I live on a boat, and I intend to be a long distance cruiser when I finally fully retire, I need to be physically fit for the long haul in order to enjoy that life, plus I can’t carry a car on my boat, my boat’s too small.

And at least in my eyes, I noticed a lot of people out there who are fearful about what’s going on outside, on spending any time there, and allowing the demographic they fear the pretty much dominate that environment. When I walk down the street, everybody notices me, I’m representative of my demographic, plus I’m big, I appear physically capable, And I’m the friendliest guy to anybody who doesn’t spit at my feet.

From the martial arts standpoint, while I’m doing my walking meditation, I’m also engaged in a constant awareness exercise. Where I live is a jungle somewhat, and I get out in it at least in the day light. At night, I have to have a good reason to be going anywhere, and then it’s usually people taking me to a friends house or party, so I do accept a ride in the car, I figure I’m accompanying them...Lol. Half the time I think it is because they want a big guy with someone they go out at night. Well, they make sure it comes around.

The couple of my neighbors have these cheap scooters, as I mentioned, and they tried to talk me into getting one. But now that my general fitness is up a level, and it’s already becoming an ingrained habit, to me it would be like getting a hover round, I would probably just stop walking all together. I don’t like the idea of a bicycle either, I wouldn’t get the hip rotation from the special way that I walk to do my so called “therapy”.

After years of doing it, I tend to interact with people they get used to seeing me around. You can tell when some people are opening up, when some people just want to shutdown common want some people just want to be hating. I slow with the moment, even if that moment is a moment of conflict, though it doesn’t happen very often, it happens.

So, the walking part I recommend to everybody... the rest of my life, I recommend only to myself.

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