Do you make anything? Personally, I mean 75/25

reply to post by trusername


I make Homemade guitar's.
Some say there the best in Kentucky.

And i have a luxury i live in Kentucky...yes there is a good side to it all
We have kentucky Agate ..
I can find them in a matter of minute's..and red and black agate can only be found in kentucky...no other place in the world..
People buy them for jewelry.
www.uky.edu...

Self sufficiency is something I preach non-stop.

I'm 22 and have been learning various web programming languages for about 10 years. So far I'm fluent with Windows and Linux based languages including ASP, .NET and PHP, as well as the basic such as HTML, CSS and Javascripting.

I'm self employed, make more than either one of my college educated parents and enjoy a worry-free, fulfilling, creative, happy life.

But really, I think what drives me is my fear of being someone else's employee. I just hate the idea of someone else managing MY time (cash for time is always a bad deal).

I make wood-core, scabbards for daggers, knives and swords. I work at a Renaissance Faire where 90% of the items for sale are made in the U.S.A.
Good quality crafted items everywhere you look at Ren Faire.

Some of my work:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3e5bfb485e3f.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9c4759d7919d.jpg[/atsimg]

Cuhail

Awesome thread! It's always good to reiterate (even just to yourself) what you are capable of and some things that you should work on.

I work in IT, so programming and anything having to do w/computers is my specialty.

But as many others I can hunt (rifle), fish, perform basic first aid including cpr, cook (especially over an open fire ) and garden / grow.

I think many people underestimate what they are capable of doing if need be. Sometimes I try to figure out some of the skills that would be a NECESSITY in a survival situation and hone in on them a bit more.

reply to post by trusername


I love goats too. The poor man,s cow. The Latinos are bring them, chickens and gardening into the cities like LA!

I can build shelters for my animals, hubby sheers the sheep and I can grow plants. I stick to herbs and fruit. All the neighbors have veggie gardens and give away lots of stuff when it is in season so I grow something different. We do most of our marketing on the weekends at a farmers market (me) and a flea market (hubby) where we are vendors.

Unfortunately all our wealth has been stripped from us by the Banking/corporate cartels and now they are after our land.

Unfortunately we have traded our "wealth" for their worthless fiat currency. We might be able to make a come back if we can keep the banking/corporate cartel from taking our land. The bill to do it passed the House and is headed for the Senate it is under the guise of "Food Safety" and the "harmonized" laws worked great in the EU see my comment at this thread

I am now beginning to wish I married "redneck" instead of a physicist who reminds me of the "mad doctor" in Back to the future. I mention the resemblance to friends and they nod vigourously.

I started a thread a while back about skills people should have for making things.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Personally I make furniture, cheese, pickles, pasta (by hand), ammo, and I built my own house by hand. My wife makes bread, preserves, clothes and the best lemon poppy seed cake around.

I have close friends who make furniture, do metal smithing, one friend made all her own dishes with clay she threw herself and hybredize plants. In college I had a good friend who made his own guitar out of scraps of veneer from the schools cabinet making program and I have converted a stove into an autoclave for composite curring. Of course I also have friends and a sister who have a hard time feeding themselves if the instructions are not printed on a box and involve more than a micorwave.

That all being said I believe that everyone should learn a trade skill as a fall back. In our small rural community we all practice barter, a neighbour who's wife passed away this last winter told me to pick all of his rasberries because he can't use them all. I gave him a portion of the jam I made, he kept what he needs for the next year and traded some jars with another neighbour for some fresh fish. I traded some jars of pickles to a neigbour for a couple of plastic jerry cans (they bought a pallet at an auction cheap).

as a designer, "i don't make the product, i make it better". what i do for them helps sell their product. i've been fortunate enough to be asked to work on projects that start with no "life", and end up "best of show" at CES in vegas.

it sounds obscure, but i'm finding there is a real need for what i do.