Crappy world economy = rebirth of grass roots mentality

I drove my hot rod to work on earth day. I'm doing my part for global awareness!LOL

 

There you go.



Hot rodders are the ultimate recyclers,
conservation AND style!

 

Yeah, I gotta agree. When one of my group of pals is pulling an engine, or doing heavy work, we get together and help. The wives and girlfriends cook a group feast and sometimes we pick a little music after. Subs***ute "Build Barn" for "pull engine" and you have an old time Barn Raising. I'd call that gr***roots.

 

Livin within your means. Now there's a concept. I've always done my own ****. I was looking into hiring an electrician to do my garage when I moved out here. I opened the main box at the house and called myself an ***hole for even thinking it. How easy it was. I also think it's time we all support ourselves in this craft of real hotrods n kustoms. I have no issue with the well-healed. I make my living from many of them. I always liked their independant spirit and personal drive. I can relate. The ones a few of you are dissin' above aren't them. They're wannabes. They're the ones that lease high end stuff to make an impression.

Back to supporting ourselves, I plan to buy as much as I can from our for sale board and swap meets to keep my projects alive. No Summit/Jegs for me. I'll pay more from a local shop and talk to a person. Keep them going too. **** the gov't mentality. We're free to what works best for us.

 

Amen Brother! You know the ranch where that body came from was close to being a Superfund site with all the Iron Oxide being deposited?! I think it was a very green thing to save it

Green, poor, survival............who cares!? My folks had gardens my whole life. It is the same as building a HOT ROD, gardening is doing **** with your hands, from scratch. This winter I did peppers and lettuce in the south window, way betterr than any Supermarket BS. and it was fun to watch grow.

 

I make do with what I got. Up here, ya have to.

 

Well, times must be gettin' hard...the Atlanta Braves and Talladega Motor Speedway are both discounting tickets.

 

Hey, you know what.....at one time I couldn't tell you the difference between a pair of pliers and a screwdriver. That was a bunch of years ago...............Them looking down their nose at me??????...........when they run outta fuel for their new Lexuses........I'll have a still makin' alcohol, putting it in my tank of my hotrod cause I know that float to change to, how to rejet it, etc.....etc......I'll ride past them.....with my sun gl***es on, my white tee on with my short sleeves rolled up, smokin' the tires, shiftin the gears and flippin them the bird......all exactly in that order..................

 

That's funny, they just started running ads for "Unhybridized Seeds" to use as money when the civilized world disintegrates. Claims to be as valuable as gold in the post-Obama era economy.

 

Story of my life. Broke at payday! Never looked at that as a hardship, thought it was supposed to be that way. Spend the first part of the grocery bill on what will keep the family eating(flour, lard, brown and green beans and taters), then if there's anything left, make a list. Got a vasectomy when I had two kids, lest I screw myself away from the dinner table! (learned that line frm my uncle D.) I've never bought any item, car, tv, micowave, comprehnsive insurance, clothes, food, etc on credit. House? yes it's on a mortgage.

It was worse about 1980-something when the local Safeway Store started accepting credit card for groceries, with high interest rates, high unemployment, with double-digit inflation, all going on at the same time, big paycheck wouldn't buy diddly-squat. Told my wife then, things are going downhill A recession is just the opposite, levels the playing field, gets rid of the fluff, when going to the store, the grandkids start asking for an apple or an orange instead of a plastic toy!

Recession? The current one isn't near as bad as some I've seen. Very few people going hungry yet, and I've seen times when many more (than now) were.

Life is Good (L.G.!), always has been, as long as my health is good.

The future(sooner the better!) is bright
.
As far as the political point of view, I see the people that applauded the Obama victory frowning a lot lately. They won't come right out and admit it, but I sense they will be waiting for the CHANGE they were promised for a long, long, long time.

 

Nothing's really changed for me, but it's been amusing watching the playing field get leveled (down to my level!). Kind of nice.
And very amusing watching the locals build their kit gardens and plant thier first crops. The garden thing is the biggest business around here now!
Good to see people rediscovering their neighbors, their skills and their comp***ion in general. I hope this will ultimately be a good thing for our nation...

 

That's the spirit, Young Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My wife and I grew up on farms we have always had to make - improvise - invent etc. I've also been self employed for 30 plus years I've had to teach my self how to be a home builder, furniture maker, book keeper, computer fixer, etc. Can't afford to hire some one else to do it for me.
Right now my wife and I are going to the jalopy school of upholstery ( anybody got a welting foot for a singer )
And when I get off here I got to get my Chev 350 to the engine re builder to get our 93 Suburban running like new.
And then hopefully I can get back this week to the jalopy school of metal working and finish the box for my 54f100 project ( subject to new orders in the furniture shop).

 

Tell them to stick their collective heads up their collective ***es - they'll probably fit.

***holes.

Rat

 

That says it all. SoCal has always been its own planet. I've got relatives there, so I'll feel free to slam SoCal all day long. Great place to visit. Wouldn't even think to live there!

I've always been pretty independent, and farm out only the things I know I can not do (paint and body, for example).

 

Like others have said, in many ways it's always a good thing. We've always had a large garden, bought used furniture, cars, electronics, etc., done my own maintenance and canned my own food.

We do more than ever now since I want my son (now 3) to understand where stuff comes from and how it works. We go to a farm to get our meat so there is some connection between the animals and what's on your plate, pick strawberries to make jam and I get him to hand me tools while we do maintenance on the cars and tools. He loves helping cook and fix anything. Too many kids today are glued to their IPOD and computer.

But in terms of the new gr*** roots and environmental movement, its really amusing to see my former SUV driving, ueber consumption neighbors buying smaller cars and reel mowers. They used to think I was a nut for cutting an over a 1/4 acre lot with my manual reel mower, laughed at my 45MPG VW Golf diesel and walking or biking to the grocery store 1/2 mile a way with two cloth bags in the basket. Was I an early environmentalist? Maybe. But it had more to do with the fact a 55HP car that gets 45MPG was cheap to own for a student and since I have a tendency to put on weight, I try to excercise as much as I can.

 

Gardens are a lot like old cars, you do them for love not for money. And once you've been doing them a while, if you're paying attention along the way and generally willing to bust ***, you can grow it to something marginally profitable. Profitable in this case meaning it costs less than buying by the bushel direct during harvest season.

The real opportunity here is selling stuff to people with survival gardens I need an infomercial with a ****** beating salesperson yelling about how you just roll the seeded carpet out and hook up a garden hose to the sprinkler port. Cha-Ching! Instant fleet of deuces and unlimited blow. America is the greatest country.

49 Coupe has hit an excellent point. Doing a lot of necessity-type things encourages fitness and maybe it can be a turning point for the nation's health.

 

Living her in central Nebraska you wouldn't know that there was a recession if it weren't for the TV and news paper. The stores are all packed as usual. Walmart, Menards, cant hardy find a parking spot. But people here are pretty conservitive like my self. I don't buy anything if I cant pay cash for it including my cars and trucks. We do a garden every year and this year it tripled in size for one reason only, to give some stuff away to some body who might need it. sure its alot of work but anthing worth having is alot of work. I do everything myself. I haven't work for anyone for five years and rely on what I know and can do to make a living.

 

Growing up in a small town we've lived on the barter system for a long time, and I'm really thankful for that. My grandparents always had a large garden despite how busy their lives were. When I was in middle school my grandma helped me start my own victory garden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden a nice hot rod WWII reference ) which I plan to reinstate this year since I've recently inherited their home. I can't wait to grow my own green beans again, they're the best!

Like I said above, I recently inherited a new home. Since I'm away a lot (and I'm cheap! ) I chose not to get any cable or satellite tv. It is absolutely amazing the things I can get done without tv ****ing me in every evening. It's also great to entertain without the distraction of tv--- we play cards, do puzzles or just sit on the enclosed porch and talk. I've got a XM radio and a couple turn tables with lots of old records, that's all the entertainment I need.

I realize the economy ****s and a lot of people are losing their jobs and having to adjust their standard of living but I think it is a good thing. People are getting back to the basics, turning back to the things they enjoy. I see people making lemonade out of lemons and I like it!

 

If you are a true "do it yourselfer" this type of seed is the only way to do it. The store bought seeds have had the reproduction capability genetically removed from them years ago. This means the seeds you get from the fruit and veggies of store bought seeds will not produce fruit or veggiies next year. This keeps you, the do it yourselfer, relying on the manufacturers because in order to have a garden next year you have to buy new seeds. if you have your own garden, do your research on where the seeds you buy come from and will you be able to reproduce next year. The radio ads sound like a joke, but there are some serious things going on with our food supply and how science has ****ed with it.

We've raised and grown our own food for years, and to do it old school - you shouldn't have to buy anything from anyone if it's done right.

 

These things we refer to are the silver lining on the dark cloud of the economy. I find it refreshing and challenging.

 

I live in Oakland, and people have been kind of taking off with the self-sufficiency thing. There have been articles in the local news about how to raise chickens in your yard, for instance.

The only annoying thing (I moved here from Oklahoma about 10 years ago) is that they're so pleased with themselves you'd think they invented the concept!

 

I just hope people don't stop getting rid of there old stuff, there be less stuff for me to buy second hand. Nothin like buying something that was made better a few years ago.
maybe people will finally get why we rave over an old car and not the piece of plastic sitting on new car lots now.

 

Well, I tell ya what, it seems to me the swaps I have been to so far this year have been the best I have seen in years! Lots more vendors, lots more parts, and lots of really good prices. Don is happy.

 

Rock on! My wife and I just gave up our TV as well, after Dish Network raised our rates AGAIN and gave us nothing new. We said screw it and canceled. We signed up for Netflix, and now we get all the shows we used to watch delivered to our house, without commercials. I have been getting way more done in the garage instead of watching TV, and if I don't mind sayin' so, it also stands to make for some more plentiful, ahem, marital relations.

 

You mean like reading?

 

What the hell does this have to do with traditional rods and customs?

 

Thge way I see it a lot--You wont be seeing near as many as some will have to sell to survive.Its the wave of the future and from reading all the post many here are making preperations for tough times. I am ready for what ever comes. Been my own boss since I was 17 and never looked back. Got plenty of game-ammo-garden area so let it come on with it's bad *** self!

 

You're right, I was trying to be positive for some of the growing number of HAMB'rs facing, increasingly difficult times, thinking the whole "do it yourself, a hot rodder can survive" type of thing.
I was wrong.
We now have swine flu, I take it back.....we're all screwed!!!

 

yeah..lol ..like jeem said...the sky is falling

(im just messin with ya jeem)
I feel this thread has alot to do with our way of life..times are tuff..hot rodders can still get it done and can make it happen..because were not afraid to get in there and get our hands dirty to make it work..