An Age Of Forgotten Infrastructure
Posted by freedomforall 3 days, 3 hours ago to Technology
Excerpt:
"We are living in the most materially abundant moment in all of human history, yet most of us move through life unaware of it.
We turn on a faucet and clean water appears. We flip a switch and light fills a room. With the tap of a finger, we can access the sum total of human knowledge, entertainment, and communication. We not only expect these things, we consider them normal. But none of this is normal. It is extraordinary.
Here in the United States, nearly every home has running water, electricity, paved roads, refrigeration, sewage systems, and buildings engineered to withstand storms and time. Our daily lives operate inside a lattice of infrastructure so reliable we forget it exists. We drive across bridges without a single thought for the men who hung from steel beams suspended high above rivers to construct them. We rely on power lines without remembering that someone once risked freezing temperatures or electrical burns so that power could flow uninterrupted to our homes. We flush toilets without considering the generations of engineers and laborers who built systems to prevent disease and contamination.
Civilization did not happen by accident. It was built piece by piece by millions of people, many with blistered hands, injured bodies, and some who never made it home again."
"We are living in the most materially abundant moment in all of human history, yet most of us move through life unaware of it.
We turn on a faucet and clean water appears. We flip a switch and light fills a room. With the tap of a finger, we can access the sum total of human knowledge, entertainment, and communication. We not only expect these things, we consider them normal. But none of this is normal. It is extraordinary.
Here in the United States, nearly every home has running water, electricity, paved roads, refrigeration, sewage systems, and buildings engineered to withstand storms and time. Our daily lives operate inside a lattice of infrastructure so reliable we forget it exists. We drive across bridges without a single thought for the men who hung from steel beams suspended high above rivers to construct them. We rely on power lines without remembering that someone once risked freezing temperatures or electrical burns so that power could flow uninterrupted to our homes. We flush toilets without considering the generations of engineers and laborers who built systems to prevent disease and contamination.
Civilization did not happen by accident. It was built piece by piece by millions of people, many with blistered hands, injured bodies, and some who never made it home again."
OMG, everyone is sick from the smoked meat.
I know the meat was good.
Friend: "What wood did you smoke it with?"
Me: "Some Hemlock tree we cut down, because those are dangerous!"
LOL
Been using a lot of oak lately from 2 trees that came down on the property. One was over 100 years old.
I bought a bag of Jack Daniels oak chips, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. Looking forward to the day. I figure on a pork loin. Have you done it?
I build the fire with oak and add a log of aromatic wood after the smoker
is up to temp and the meat/fowl/fish is in the smoker. If it's a longer smoke
I add another stick of aromatic wood to the oak later, too. This has given
tasty results for me: pork shoulder, pork loin, beef rib roast, salmon/catfish
fillets, turkey, chicken. I plan to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving using this
method.
Cooked a whole turkey on a spit over a wood campfire some time back. Awesome. I plan on building a fire pit in my yard next spring so maybe I'll give that another go. You have to have the patience of a saint, though, as it takes a long time to roast it over a fire without burning the outside to a crisp, LOL. Had a great campfire cook with me the last time and he knew all the tricks on cooking big meats over a fire the right way. He's passed on now - RIP, Tom, my friend.
Want to try this for yourself? Find someone who owns a good pair that he drives to an ample wagon. Choose an ill-paved country road and a restored old inn that has facilities for tying horses. Select a day with sleet or snow. Dress warmly and use a good carriage robe or two. Wear gloves.
Horses have been part of "building civilization" for perhaps 10,000 years, but undoubtedly for 5000.
Sometimes things work out extremely well. A boy from Texas refused to ride. I told him that if word ever got back to Texas that he had refused to ride a horse, they would take away his Texas Membership Card. He then rode.
If children claim to know how to ride we watch their feet. Usually incorrectly positioned. We immediately say, "Heels down! Sit up straight! Look where you're going!" Kid realizes, oops, she's inside a riding lesson.