Fundie or Not?

[Little_Eyes]

My mother always told me that you never go to someone's house empty handed. So, to contribute to the conversation, I wanted to ask your opinions on this blog.... I looked on both boards but found nothing.

okprairiemom.blogspot.com

Does she ping your fundie radar the way she does mine? Or am I so attune to fundiness that I have begun to see it everywhere? During my digging, I haven't found any connections to Gothard or VF. She seems to be taking a proactive stance with her son's care, on the plus side. But I still have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that more is going on here than a simple agrarian lifestyle. She recently mentioned having other children, or at least a daughter, so is there more to the story? The whole simple living thing, especially with a son who is disabled worries me. Maybe it's due to my own experiences with disability or simply my growing level of paranoia. :eusa-think:

Have any of you ever heard of her before? Thoughts? Opinions?

[browngrl]

I'd never heard of her but I took a look at her blog and read a few posts. I think she IS fundie but not the screaming harpy ZsuZsu style fundie - more of a kinder gentler fundie (I've not read all her posts so I could be wrong about this). :)

[Little_Eyes]

Aw, thanks for replying Browngirl. That's pretty much my assumption as well. It's rather refreshing to read about a fundie that isn't a Gothardite or VF, or at least outwardly. I myself have never been able to read Zsu Zsu. There's just *too* much squick there, even for me...

[ophelia]

I am woman who enjoys living the "old fashioned" non-electric lifestyle.

but how do you manage to have a blog???

[Little_Eyes]

I know, right?! Well, I think, from what I can glean, she has a netbook that runs on solar power, or a generator of some kind. But isn't solar power really, really, expensive? For people that seem to be very into the anti-stuff and buy used mantra, why not just use the power grid?

[nuri]

I know, right?! Well, I think, from what I can glean, she has a netbook that runs on solar power, or a generator of some kind. But isn't solar power really, really, expensive? For people that seem to be very into the anti-stuff and buy used mantra, why not just use the power grid?

The reason is usually self-sufficency. If you power yourself, you aren't on the grid to begin with.

[browngrl]

I know, right?! Well, I think, from what I can glean, she has a netbook that runs on solar power, or a generator of some kind. But isn't solar power really, really, expensive? For people that seem to be very into the anti-stuff and buy used mantra, why not just use the power grid?

Solar power net books? - I was not aware of this (but my experience is limited to best buy and future shop). We are thinking of installing solar panels (because in Ontario you can sell the power you generate back to the grid for one price and then buy back the power you need at a lower price - so perhaps a profit). We are still in the research stages so no idea how expensive solar power/solar powered stuff is.

[Kaylee]

I know, right?! Well, I think, from what I can glean, she has a netbook that runs on solar power, or a generator of some kind. But isn't solar power really, really, expensive? For people that seem to be very into the anti-stuff and buy used mantra, why not just use the power grid?

You can do solar power reasonably cheap, if you set up your own system (prices went up a few years ago and tend to every time either disaster preparedness or off-grid living becomes popular in the mainstream). Many people also sell the excess power back to their local power company.

For someone dead set on self-sufficiency, or someone who believes there's a coming Armageddon situation or mass chaos of some kind, or thinks the government will soon require the "mark of the beast" to pay your power bill, it would be worth it. Long-term, it takes about 20 years for the system to pay for itself, but I can also see people choosing to install solar if they built somewhere way out in the sticks where the cost to hook a new home up to the grid can be pretty high.

We don't have everything on solar, because we live in a doublewide and didn't want to install panels on the roof, and it is not really efficient or affordable for us to use it with a heatpump and electric water heater (and it would be dumb to spend loads of cash on a home that we'll be luck to resale for $40-50k). I did set up our well pump on solar, so we don't lose water when the power goes out, and have a system to power our outbuilding and freezer/refrigerator that will support the lights and a few extras in the house (computers, radio, etc) in a power outage. The well-pump setup cost about $400 and the outbuilding/partial power ran a little over $1600 using panels I got on sale at Harbor Freight, deep cycle marine batteries, and buss bars welded at home.

Most solar power setups cost $20-30k+ if you want the whole house powered and pay someone to come install it, but someone who's comfortable with DIY stuff and really shops around could power a 1500-2000 sf home for around $8-10,000, maybe less if they can get used panels or participate in a bulk buy. I have a friend who spent around $6k to do his whole house, but he got a great deal on the panels and got all his batteries free from someone who worked from the phone company (they replace the battery banks on a set schedule, and the batteries are usually still good for several years past that date)

[lilwriter85]

My prediction is fundie lite.

[Little_Eyes]

Thanks for your perspectives on solar power, ladies. It's really cool Raine that you have experience with solar energy as the only places I've seen with solar panels is the university, but they're for the STEM kids. I hadn't thought of Self-sufficiency as a reason, nor had I thought about it in the sense of end time/end of the world preparations.

But really, talk about a possible paradox. in green living (that is generally taken up out of a more liberal mindset) and preparing for end times/mark of the beast ideas (that is usually very conservative in nature).