The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

I've met lots of folks along my journey who are just now finding out what a computer, more specifically, a laptop can mean for the minimalist.

I have Netflix now. For 7.95 a month, I can stream movies, comedies and documentaries. I can pause them, play a portion, back it up and see a favorite part again. I no longer have to carry DVDs around in my car, rent them, or put up with commercials on other free websites. They remember the types of things I like and offer suggestions, too.

I can call out from my gmail account, which is really good because you can talk for hours free and the save numbers in a history list, making redial simple. My Verizon cell phone doesn't work up here at Lake Yellowstone, but the WIFI has been boosted so that calling out doesn't cost a dime.

I have music on my hard drive, but I also use Pandora for listening pleasure. It has one commercial per hour or so, which is tolerable considering all the music available. I've heard artists I wasn't even aware of because they will add "similar" artists to your specified playlist.

I do online banking, can shop at various stores online, comparing prices, getting the best deals then have them ship whatever I order to this location. This saves gas and lots of agravation looking for something specific.

Of course there is e-mail for staying in touch with family and friends, sending them photos and videos, having a record of what you talked about.

You can apply for jobs online. Its amazing how many employers are going this route, rather than paper applications. Craigslist offers free ads for everything under the sun, including jobs. That's how I landed this great job at the Man Camp. I answered an online add on Craigslist, emailed my resume, then had a phone interview.

I love the researching capabilities for anything you can think of. Simply put what you're looking for, like "Snickerdoodle Recipe", "Free music" or "parts of a pistol" in the search engine and you'll have tons of information at your fingertips. It can take the place of dictionaries and libraries.

Speaking of books, you can download books at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com for next to nothing. There is a free application that allows you to access thousands of e-books. You don't have to own a kindle or nook to buy these books.

I use my word program all the time. Right now I'm working hard on book four in The River Survival Series. This is a perfect way to write and produce all sorts of written material. You can write it in one format, easily reformat it to print in a full size page, with smaller font or margins. I printed my new horor story for the boss by first reformating it to an 8 x 11 inch page. It saved about 80 sheets of paper by doing this rather than printing it from the original document.

I know some people have tablets and I-phones, but I prefer the wide screen on this Toshiba for viewing and work space. If you can only afford one techincal piece, consider the laptop.

My Laptop is used for entertainment, education, work, staying in touch, shopping, and banking. It offers so many possibilities if there is WIFI that its nearly essential.

I'm getting it all together, my purchases from Cabella, my free box finds and my personal gear. I've got six months of toothpaste, laundry soap and shampoo, etc. Use your imagination. What would a gal need for six months up in Yellowstone, snowed in?

I probably will be able to catch a ride up to Snow lodge by snowmobile, enjoy the Winter Olympics there with friends also wintering in Yellowstone.
This is a life time dream, winter in Yellowstone.
The bucket list must be respected, before it's too late.

At breakfast I heard a young girl telling her traveling companions she dreamt they died on the bus. They immediately started berating her for negativity. I kept reading my book, The Fear Index, by Robert Harris. It deals with market manipulation and the fear driven profits. Its a novel, I'm on page 100. Published in 2012, it tells of an ultra-rich genius being attacked by an intruder in his own fortified home, bringing on a "waking nightmare of violence and paranoia".

Out here in the desert climes, its either water, water and more water, or go the Rock way. My sister's home sits on a corner lot, quite lovely and spacious. She's tired of pulling the hose around couple times a week just to make the thing stay green. We embarked on the minimalist-no maintenance approach.


Using material she already owned, with an eye toward beauty, theme and frugality, we began rearranging everything. She has two lovely trees. They shed leaves every fall. What if she could let some of those leaves lay as a ground cover? Now, local flora is utilized when possible, stuff she can dig up from a friend's mountain property and transplant in her yard. We used well worn logs, gathered at some previous date for firewood, not yet cut into sections. These logs provide borders, set the theme for natural, organic movement through out the yard.

The black tarp was used instead of storing it for some unforeseen purpose. I always ask, if you already have the item, why go out and buy one just like it, storing the first one indefinitely. Minimize! Hell yeah.

In the future, my sister will only have a few trees to water, a few plants, surrounded by beautiful natural stone and rock.

I moved in with my "little" sister and we're so much alike its almost scary. We love to dance, meet new people, have fun, walk two wonderfully obnoxious female dogs. One is a huge 90 pound black lab, the other a bird dog, both still in puppy stage.

So, 4 females in one big house, loving the casino tours. I go in, look around, see everyone playing games, hoping to make that big killing. Me? I watch her play the nickel keno (I think that's what she called it). We should have cashed out when we were 75 cents ahead. Instead we lost 3.25 cents.

Seriously, then she's downsizing her wardrobe, and I am benefiting because she has great taste and I am fine with Hand Me Downs!

Staying a minimalist, though, now that's the key, cause I'll still be working in National Parks, seasonally, and traveling, doing all the fun stuff. Minimalists know the less you have the less trouble you find.

Three cubic feet of flesh, give or take, is what Thoreau recommended for personal cultivation. Speaking of which, we're putting in a garden. Stay tuned for Tomatoes R Us!