Disaster Movie

Been watching a few of these lately ... Yesterday it was 2012, today it's The Day After Tomorrow. I may watch The Core again at some point soon as I find that movie to be huge fun.

Kinda wondering - how would I do if a disaster struck ? I'm thinking of the big ones like asteroid strikes or alien invasion. Hollywood type stuff. Theories say that even if the big asteroid strike was on the other side of the world, there would be an electromagnetic pulse that would disable most of the world's technology. So for my disaster scenario, I'm going to assume that most of the technology we take for granted would be denied us.

Physically, I think I'd be ok. I'm roughly at an ideal weight (with a little ballast that I could draw on) and while I carry the long term injuries, I'm blessed with a kind of natural fitness that let me do the 26 miles + mountain in a day for Snowdon without any preparation. So while I'd need to work up fitness and conditioning to run any significant distance, I can walk forever.

Hell, I could play a full part in a cricket match tomorrow if there was one going. (And then I'd be solid stiff for the next 3 days while my muscles whinged at me)

Injury wise, while they can slow me down, there's nothing needing medication. And I can ignore them when I need to. I can go into a kind of survival mode where I keep myself going despite hurting myself. That's when things happen like Day 1 of a 5 day thing in Brecon Beacons where I slipped on ice and twisted my knee. I was able to keep up with the rest of the people. It was a point of pride for me that I'd carry my own gear instead of inflicting it on the others.

(I think that was lost on the people running the course, same as they didn't believe I could navigate.)

So I don't need any special medications to keep going, although I'd have severe trouble without my glasses.

Navigation without tech isn't an issue - I can read a contour map and translate it into a 3d visual inside my head. I'll then manipulate that visual into seeing where we are. Same with most things really, I'll see something mechanical and visualise it in my head. I can then usually figure out how and why it works. Especially if there's books to work from. One book I have has a person preparing for the end of the world by collecting books on how to do things. If technology goes, there's no internet to look things up on ...

I think I may read Lucifer's Hammer again some day ...

So yeah - I think I'd be able to keep myself going and I think I could figure out how to build things again (given those books). I'd probably be better than I am now, as one of the reasons for my back being stiff is that I don't use it enough.

That's not enough though. Surviving the aftermath of an apocalypse needs a bit more than the physical stuff. It needs courage but not enough that you take daft chances. Because without tech or hospitals, you don't have the backup in case those daft chances end badly. I have a lot of curiosity and that curiosity would bring zombies ...

I'd need to be around other people, mainly to give me the motivation but also as a "you're planning to do what - you're kidding right ?". I'm also more footsoldier than leader.

So yeah :
I think I'd handle it physically,
I could hunt the information I'd need to do stuff out of books,
I can figure things out on my own when I have to,
(did most of the maintenance on my Astra & Fiesta)
But I'd need to be around other people.

Because it's other people that give me the motivation I need to get me doing useful things, instead of just listening to music, watching stuff or gaming. And because I worry about people too, my World View depends on people I care about being happy. So that World View is a little shaky at the moment because two of the people I care deeply about are currently not happy at all ...

Yep - with the right people cheering me on, depending on me or just giving me a smile, I feel I can take on the world.