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(12,860 posts)lapfog_1
(29,205 posts)Glorfindel
(9,730 posts)That talent might come in handy in a world with no electricity. Otherwise, I'm pretty useless.
I'm faster on a keyboard
rzemanfl
(29,565 posts)Glorfindel
(9,730 posts)Also, a pre-existing top-secret clearance. It's a shame that shorthand is a dead (or dying) art.
Laffy Kat
(16,383 posts)I started practising again and it's coming back. There is a real beauty to it, IMO.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,492 posts)KY.........
BComplex
(8,053 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
htuttle
(23,738 posts)Yet somehow, I'm really terrible at plumbing and carpentry.
lastlib
(23,244 posts)That would be a logical conclusion.
"City On The Edge Of Forever"--my favorite ST episode!
Mosby
(16,319 posts)I can solder a pipe.
I'm good with a drill.
wnylib
(21,486 posts)LakeArenal
(28,820 posts)33taw
(2,444 posts)stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)Marthe48
(16,975 posts)any tribe!
lark
(23,105 posts)Wish you were my neighbor.
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)NRaleighLiberal
(60,015 posts)also coffee roasting, beer making, writing, food preservation, seed saving and music (though rusty)
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)My greenhouse is filled with starts, and whenever I have to go to town I come back with a truckload of compost.
lark
(23,105 posts)I do love to grow things and this would definitely lengthen the growing season.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)Remember, love is fleeting, but stone tools last forever!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,732 posts)sl8
(13,787 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,732 posts)sl8
(13,787 posts)I say, that's totally unfair to me. You bein' erudite and all.
3catwoman3
(24,006 posts)...very clever.
Nay
(12,051 posts)because I used to be poor. But I'm old, and I'll probably die of this shit before I can help anybody.
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)or leave instructions I'm worried about that too, plunging into Dark Ages because of a break in the continuity of generations
Zoonart
(11,869 posts)lark
(23,105 posts)Wish I had kept up with my knitting and crocheting. When I was pregnant with my son I learned how to knit to make him blankets, then my mom taught me how to crochet when I had my daughter a few years later. Unfortunately, once I had them, I didn't keep up with the crafts, and now wish I had.
Being poor is a great learning tool, I made all my clothes (except shoes and jeans) and grew most of my food except meat for years. I need a new sewing machine because my old bobbin just produces tangled threads now, and then I could practice up and be making clothes again shortly. Hopefully you won't die soon and can contribute your skills. Be safe!
yellowdogintexas
(22,264 posts)I wanted to make something for my new granddaughter so went to Pinterest and found everything I needed to help me learn again. Since then I have made 3 afghans and am ready to start on another one.
You can definitely learn it again
MissB
(15,810 posts)Starting plants from seed.
Sewing.
Baking.
Cooking in general, from scratch.
Canning.
I can do math too. Not sure my engineering career will do much for me, post apocalypse.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Thanks!
Laelth
(32,017 posts)We dont think that theres anything wrong with killing a wild hog, btw. They are a menace. Theyre naturally mean, and they are more dangerous than anything else that you can find in our woods and swamps (including cottonmouths, rattlers, bears, and gators). Wild hog is the worst.
So, heres what you do. You dig a hole about 4 feet deep. You wrap up the hog in chicken wire (so as it doesn't explode), and then you lob the hog in the hole. You cover it with dirt. You collect all the loose wood you can, build a bonfire, and, at sundown, you light that bad boy up. Then, you sit around the fire with your friends and drink beer while somebody is blasting country music (or southern rock) from the truck that they have parked nearby. You get a little drunk and have a good time imagining what that hog is gonna taste like when you dig it up.
Next day, in the afternoon, you dig up the hog. Then you skin it, save the brains, eyeballs, and all the tender innards for Brunswick Stew (I dont eat Brunswick Stew, btw), and then you separate all the meat from the bones. That hog meat is normally tough as shoe leather, but it will fall off the bone if its cooked properlyslow, high heat, with 2-3 feet of dirt between it and the fire, so the hog doesnt burn.
Then you eat ithowever you want to. Right now, I could go for a barbecue sandwich which, as any civilized person knows, is made from pork, not beef.
I have other skills, but this one might prove to be most useful in an apocalypse.
-Laelth
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)Which might be a better ability than cooking it I read that in Tx you don't need a license to hunt and kill feral/wild hogs. I told my son-in-law in case he and his relatives wanted to take a hunting trip.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)And yes, I can kill them, but it takes a pretty powerful weapon to do it. A little .22 shot is just going to tick it off.
-Laelth
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)You don't want to piss 'em off, just drop him.
They can get big and are very destructive.
yellowdogintexas
(22,264 posts)I am from KY so I prefer the thin hot vinegar sauce.
There must be slaw on the sandwich.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)But the thin, vinegar/mustard-based sauce is a must.
-Laelth
Cirque du So-What
(25,941 posts)Also, chemistry and electrical / electronic troubleshooting.
getagrip_already
(14,764 posts)Skills pay the bills.
drray23
(7,633 posts)My hobby is unplugged woodworking. I have an extensive toolkit of 19th century tools (saws, chisels, planes, etc..) that I use almost daily. If we lose power, I can barter making stools, chairs, beds, etc.. for whomever needs it.
kysrsoze
(6,022 posts)handmade34
(22,756 posts)so I figure they will come in handy someday
I can keep a sourdough going
made a batch of soap this morning... I have enough here for a lifetime (or two)
my son is in my sewing room making bike bags
my partner loves to tell tall tales and keep everyone entertained
Response to Marthe48 (Original post)
democratisphere This message was self-deleted by its author.
fierywoman
(7,685 posts)Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Harker
(14,024 posts)I've spent most of my working life in bookshops.
Maybe someone with some administrative experience and greater drive would be better for the top job.
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)I was also a Boy Scout.
LastDemocratInSC
(3,647 posts)Harker
(14,024 posts)The more the... mopier!
Laelth
(32,017 posts)It worked on me.
-Laelth
Midnight Writer
(21,768 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,492 posts)There's going to be a massive surge of stuff that needs fixing after this disaster.
Now if I can just figure out how to put some lead in this fancy pencil.......
Evergreen Emerald
(13,069 posts)...oh wait. I thought you said apoplectic talent.
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)lol
Faux pas
(14,681 posts)it's also my only survival skill.
Mountain Mule
(1,002 posts)And I'm the best campfire cook you've ever met. I can even bake bread on the coals from a campfire.
Sneederbunk
(14,291 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,732 posts)Bev54
(10,053 posts)Reading all the posts here had me laughing out loud and we need that right now.
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)darn socks
NBachers
(17,120 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)I can cook, can, garden, make fire, scavenge for food
My valuable accounting/computer skills become worthless I suppose
Im also good at organizing everyone, maybe a community cooperative of some sort, heh 😏
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)No end of talent on DU
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)Im good at lists
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Know how to use a stove top and/or camp fire pressure cooker and have a binder full of recipes.
Know gardening.
Have a bunch of "How to" books from building a chicken coop to making bricks.
Have three bee hives and the equipment to process the honey.
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)DIY books would be valuable, camping equipment and skills
ihaveaquestion
(2,545 posts)I can also cook and type. I may be hampered by bad eyesight when eyeglasses become scarce, because I need reading glasses.
marble falls
(57,102 posts)ChazInAz
(2,569 posts)Besides being an actor, I can make any number of necessary, useful items.
I do blacksmithing, and make high-quality knives. Before you ask about steel...I have smelted it using primitive methods and local materials.
Need shoes and clothing? This Hungarian will kit you out! Tan hides, too.
Where to get a hunting rifle to obtain those hides? Right over here, flintlock coming right up! Oh, yeah, and when the gun humpers burn through all their modern ammunition? Your Humble can whomp up some smelly old black powder.I
Start a fire, build shelter, cool a meal, make soap?
Heck, I'd be voivode in no time!
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)If any of my neighbors has the skills and equipment to shoot turkeys, theyre plentiful around here
ChazInAz
(2,569 posts)But they're dangerously wily. Just ask one of our coyotes.
40RatRod
(532 posts)ironflange
(7,781 posts)reACTIONary
(5,770 posts)...cautionary tale.
Skittles
(153,169 posts)when I took stuff from work to work from home, upon opening the trunk to stash them I found a 9 roll pack of TP, along with tissues and paper towels......they must have been in there from last year
doc03
(35,345 posts)will be in short supply.
WheelWalker
(8,955 posts)On Edit... Outdoor, natural light, under shelter house, controlled photoperiod, with established facility in place.
procon
(15,805 posts)weaving and dying using natural plants and other organic materials. I can also do large batch canning to preserve meats and produce. I can also make rope. All learned during my "hippy" years of off the grid minimalism.
tblue37
(65,403 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,264 posts)She says she always knew if I was really ticked when I gave her "The Look"
I can do it with both eyebrows, but the left is much better than the right
FM123
(10,053 posts)Oh no, darn social distancing!!!
sakabatou
(42,152 posts)StatGirl
(518 posts)I figure post-apocalypse, someone still has to do the accounting. Debits on the left, credits on the right.
(Old enough to remember when a "spreadsheet" was made of paper.)
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)I learned the old fashioned way on column pads
Lotus123 was like a miracle right?
StatGirl
(518 posts)Excel is still my second favorite program (after SAS). It is so flexible, I use it for a zillion things.
CottonBear
(21,596 posts)Ukulele player and kazoo player too!
Im a Cub Scout leader, so Ive got outdoor cooking, camping and survival skills.
I can start fires, build emergency shelters and provide basic first aid.
I can kayak and I have a kayak. I can canoe as well.
cate94
(2,811 posts)I dont need a recipe, usually I can make a decent meal out of whatever is available. I was a nurses aide while in college, so I can take care of people if they need help with basic skills. I can clean. I can drywall and tape and I can paint. I can make a fire and cook on a campfire. Oh and I took a wild edibles class once, although I only remember a few of them, they are fairly ubiquitous. I can make art, in case anyone has a desire to look at it. Otherwise I think my later life skills wont be needed. Spec writing and purchasing will be so yesterday.
Marthe48
(16,975 posts)We have so many talents in common
I thought I was unique, but maybe I have a twin out there! 😉
Throckmorton
(3,579 posts)Using a recipe handed down to me by my grandfather. He was a lumber camp cook from around 1902 until after WWII.
Snellius
(6,881 posts)And other old backpacking and military tricks. Humanity went through many centuries before 2-ply was invented. Even older than the Sears catalog. When you have to, amazing what you can figure out. Will leave the solution up to you.
mercuryblues
(14,532 posts)Child labor laws be damned.
DFW
(54,404 posts)I'm sure EVERYBODY wants to hear them, right?
If not, I can play a pretty mean Leo Kottke style 12 string guitar, too.
NewEnglandAutumn
(184 posts)yea yarn
lark
(23,105 posts)But thats only helpful after shit has calmed down. During a revolution or zombie apocalypse I'd be toast, I have terrible eyesight, am old and overweight and am slow. I do have perseverance & patience and can walk quite a ways, so maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I fear.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Really most of us will just end up part of a decorative skull tower somewhere.
Polly Hennessey
(6,799 posts)Reading, preferably with my two dogs beside me and either a cup of tea or iced coffee, depending on the weather.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Can also do PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents, along w/ a number of other computer apps.
yellowdogintexas
(22,264 posts)I actually did that. It was an actual kitchen but somewhat rudimentary. Over the years I cooked many a meal in that old place, usually for at least 30 hungry cavers. Some of the most fun I have ever had was hanging out with those folks.
Besides that, I can cook both with and without recipes, bake a damn fine cake, cookies or brownies, grow a garden if I need to, crochet, teach English, history or biology (and probably civics).
I have canned vegetables, made Kraut from scratch, as well as jam, jelly, preserves and pickles. I thank my grandmothers, aunts and mother for teaching me all these things when I was growing up in the country.
I suck at housekeeping so I need to be paired up with a clean freak. When I did that field kitchen, my partner came right behind me and cleaned up the mess.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)Seriously.