With only four days standing between us and the predicted doomsday, time is being dedicated to planning our transition to chaos. I am paying very close attention to daily habits. Things I do that make my life better. Things I don't want to live without. Things that, with careful planning, I don't NEED to live without.
Our worst-case scenario involves a complete breakdown of infrastructure where things we take for granted gradually cease to exist. While I feel pretty comfortable that I could survive life without daily Facebook visits, I am already mourning the loss of radio and power. I wake every day to a radio station that offers non-stop music with periodic, concise 2-1/2 minute summaries of local and national news. There are occasions I shake my head and think..."This is news?"...but realize that, for me, it is not the material that is important so much as the idea that it conveys....a sense of community. I guess, then that it's not the loss of radio that saddens me but rather the loss of community. (And this coming from a passive member of her own.)
It's not my nature to focus on things I can't control so I'm turning my thoughts to things I can and will preserve so it's decided...I'm loading up my IPhone.
While cellular communications are likely to fail within days/weeks of doomsday, I plan on using my IPhone to safeguard digital versions of what I consider to be hallmarks of our society. Yeah, yeah, it will be completely subjective but just think…how cool would it be to bump into other like-minded planners in the post-apocalyptic meeting and compare our selections. We could make it a whole "coffee house" thing. Besides, appointing myself as a one-woman travelling archive of digital media gives me purpose…a divine (?) mission of sorts.
According to my IPhone, I already have a vast selection of music genres -- alternative, punk, blues, classic rock, country, folk, grunge, hard rock, hip hop, jazz, metal, pop, R & B, and reggae. That said, Apple and I are worlds apart on cataloguing music. For instance, under Showtunes, my IPhone lists Nickelback's “Leader of Men” and that is just not going to do. No, no, no, Apple! Nickleback does not record showtunes! Be forewarned, however, I have decided not to download opera music so… sorry if you’re a big opera fan but I’m not changing my mind. You’ll have to pin your hopes on someone else, or take up the torch for opera lovers everywhere. I will, however, be downloading a few Christmas tunes because -- with or without structured civilization -- we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour on December 25th and I want music.
I will be downloading Podcasts, audiobooks, e-books and a few useful apps. I’m not a big follower of podcasts OR audiobooks so my approach will be a “people’s choice” method where I rely entirely upon the insights and opinions of others. The benefit of this process is that I will get to enjoy the sense of discovery as I listen to these selections for the very first time while I waste time in burned out buildings or perched in a tree waiting out the zombies. (It just hit me that I am going to need a portable device to charge this bad boy on the fly. Hmmmm….homework.)
E-books is an entirely different matter. More than anything else in the world, I love books and I think maybe it would be a simpler task to set up defenses at a library than to select which books live or die. There are so many literary pieces that deserve to be preserved because they are insightful or inspiring or thought-provoking; testaments to the strength of human character, chronicles of greed and corruption, tales of tragedy and triumph. Man! I hope someone has already built a bunker for the books. I’ll travel with Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, To Kill a Mockingbird, Three Times Carlin and a copy of The Holy Bible…maybe more…definitely more.
I checked and there is actually a Doomsday app. Whatever! I need the one that will turn my IPhone into a flashlight. I will also need the GPS app and the Dark Sky weather app. I have Boggle and Hangman but I still have to download Spider Solitaire. My daughter claims I’m addicted but I’m not convinced…though if she’s right, I’m going to need a fix within days of the apocalypse. Better safe than sorry. (Like you haven't already figured out that this is my personal motto.)
It’s settled then! With only 4 days left before the arrival of the horsemen, I am hereby appointing myself as keeper of the collective social conscience.
2 comments:
NOTHING is going to happen.. Its a request to media to STOP PANIC across the city, so that everyone can lead a NORMAL life the way they feel like
Thanks for your comment New Year, I agree entirely...NOTHING is going to happen. That said, the topic presents an opportunity to explore the idea while others exploit it. That is my NORMAL life and that's how I plan to spend it...observing life.
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