Typewriter

I have been given a new typewriter recently as a birthday/Christmas present from my father. Very cool except...I broke it. In my excitement and haste to unpack it I forced the carriage which no longer advances on its own. Grrr. Now I feel quite stupid and instead of just buying a new ribbon I have to get it fixed.

Sadly I live in Australia (a couple of hours from Sydney) and thanks to Australia being classified as Mars to most people, particularly the US postal service, I now have the fun challenge of finding someone who can either teach me how to fix it or fix it for me. Any helpers?

My idiocy aside I love owning a typewriter and can't wait to get it working. Don't get me wrong I love my laptop and I really love going online to browse for new tips and information but I'm always afraid my computer is going to crash and I'm going to lose everything. I like to write stories and though I am a pure coward in that I have only ever let people read one short one-shot of Harry Potter fanfiction I would be utterly devestated if anything I wrote were to be lost. Hence my wish for a typewriter. With a typewriter I can type everything straight onto paper and put it in a folder to be found even if we get one of our many blackouts or grab during Australia's super-fun bushfires (seriously I hate bushfires). Typewriters may have their downsides (no backspace for example) but stuff doesn't get corrupted or crash like with a laptop. It's there, safe and sound, until I throw it out. Now I just have to fix mine so I can actually use it.

Oh...it's a Brother Deluxe 760TR if anyone can help.

New Journey

Wow post number 1. I have no idea how far this will go but I figured this was good to document. Long ramble short I'm on a new road to try and become more self sufficient. There are many reasons why I want to do this but the key ones are:

1. I think we're too reliant on supermarkets and stores.
2. I think we produce too much waste
3. I think we're all too removed from what it actually takes to produce the things we use.

Simply put I don't like being ignorant. I prefer to be more aware of what it is I use, the impact it as on my life and the environment and I finally I really like being creative. In this case I don't mean imaginative but literally creative. I am someone who likes to make things and I actually do know how to make candles and journals but want to learn more.

I also have to admit that I have a bit of a prepping streak but that's not all of why I want to do this. It is partially a prepping thing and partially an environmental thing but it's also a logic thing. I doubt I will ever be one of those people who has zero waste or one bag of garbage a year but I hate unnecessary waste. It seems ridiculous to me, for example, to buy a razor every single time when you can just replace or sharpen the blade on a razor. Why replace the entire thing each time? I doubt I'll stop buying toothpaste (though I'm willing to try out new things) but there is no reason for me to buy popcorn when I can get it in a jar without the waste and make my own in 2 minutes.

Finally I like the option to do things differently if I ever need to. For many this is a SHTF scenario (prepping) but it can also be useful during ordinary blackouts, which we get a lot of in my town, or even just during a camping trip. For example why would I take plain and self-raising flour on a camping trip when I can take a little baking powder to make self-raising flour if I want it. Saves me some space and still gives me what I want.

So that's what this is going to be. A place to document all the things I come across that I consider interesting and useful. I doubt I will post everyday but hopefully I will post things others like too. Sometimes I may not post for a few weeks and sometimes I may post 5 things I've found which I think are cool and other times I may just post a challenge I'm experiencing. Either way it will be interesting to document what I find here and if it helps others then it's bonus.

Let the journey of 2015 begin. :)