Cortisol
Cortisol is the "stress hormone". Stress in moderate doses is not a bad thing as long as there are recovery periods.
Stress, and cortisol in high doses or without breaks is a bad thing. Chronic stress can result in weight gain, anxiety, heart disease, metabolic issues like diabetes.
There is a good article HERE with action-items that are well presented.
Looting
There is a hierarchy of "things" that are most attractive to thieves and looters.
- Cash, credit cards, drugs, firearms, jewelry
- Vehicles, electronic gadgets, booze, ammo
- Anything else on wheels, copper, aluminum, fuel, designer apparel, fashionable footwear, tobacco
- Food in freezers, tools, tires
If things go pear-shaped, some things like credit cards, designer apparel and vehicles might drop down the list while things like food and fuel will move up the list.
If things go really pear-shaped, items that are not even on the list become significant: Bars of soap, toothbrushes, seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, window screens, and durable clothing for example.
MOST people who are into looting are cunning rather than bright. They will be behind the curve on values because they will still be weighing everything with respect to how easy it is to transport, pawn and if it is fungible/anonymous.
Calves
It looks like calf-poop!
No, I didn't see any of the missing calves. But it got me to thinking.
Motorcycles
Motorcycles are very big sellers in third-world countries.
The biggest sellers in Mexico and India are between 99cc and 150cc. They top-out at 65 mph, down-hill with a tail-wind.
People living on the edge don't commute daily to jobs 90 miles away. They might toddle over to a job 6 miles away...2 hours walking, one way.
See, now I lose weight when I am under stress. Odd
ReplyDeleteERJ, Robert Sapolsky in Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers talks a lot about the poor impact of Cortisol as well (the book is good if you can get it through a library loan for information; he does spend most of the time setting up a very short ending solution chapter). Bottom line: Cortisol is bad for you and causes all kinds of bad things. Lower your stress level.
ReplyDeleteLooters: As demonstrated in most recent events of the nature in the US, the first things to go are electronics, jewelry, and alcohol. Were things to be truly pear shaped, this might hold for a bit of time until the real nature of the situation sets in. Finding ways to exploit that gap would be useful. Disguising one's self as less than remarkable and one's visible possessions as no better than anyone else's may go a long way.
Most Americans only think of "looting" as an inner city phenomenon seen as part of localized rioting. They don't
ReplyDeletethink it could ever happen to them where they live. It's a TV only phenomenon. And they refuse to believe that if things are bad looters will not wait till the goods they seek are unguarded. They will kill anyone in the way and then proceed to loot.
Most Americans really don't understand what a thin veneer civilization really is and how easily it can vanish.
Alot of people in those third world countries make a living with those 125cc bikes, motorcycle taxis or adding a sidecar and hauling up to 4-5 passengers, or about anything else that will fit. From what I have seen, the 125 with a 2 passenger sidecar will top out at 25-30mph. In the Philippines I.ve seen whole families riding on a 125-Dad driving, 1-2 kids on the tank, Mom behind holding a baby.
ReplyDeleteIn Mexico, those smaller motorcycles are everywhere. The cartels use them for their lookouts to keep tabs on where the police or army forces are. Legit uses - delivery services, taxis, you name it. Not much parking spaces inside residential city space so street parking is often the rule. Having a two wheel vehicle that can go through the gates and inside the more protected courtyards is a plus.
ReplyDeleteThe calf poop might be coyote if about a diameter of a quarter - I can't see the scale of it.
Thank you ERJ for this post.
I troubles me to write this but in much of the world, girls and young women are trade fodder. If things go really pear shaped dragging off the women is quite likely
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have a Honda PCX150. Great for short trips, gets 90-100 MPG. We bought it to rack on the back of our RV. With 300 lbs of passengers it will do 70 mph on level ground. With the trunk I added and under seat storage it will carry a lot gear or a week's worth of groceries. A two wheeled utility vehicle that will run a long time on a NATO jerry can of fuel.
ReplyDelete