Crosshatching
While most people I know are into the latest high-tech gadgets and gizmos, I prefer to take the U-turn. For some reasons, I am more attracted to old technology, where everything works without electronics, easy to repair and built to last. Knowing that such gadgets may disappear soon, I try to get some that I find handy in case I finally get to live off the grid.
Among my recent acquisitions were a hand-cranked drill, cast-iron pan and a hand-cranked cast-iron meat mincer. When I took out the latter from its box to assemble it in the office, my colleagues asked: “What is that?” They only began to recognize it when I finally put all the parts together.
“I’m going to be a butcher,” I said as I cranked the grinder with an evil laugh. “I’m gonna sell you ground meat for your meatballs.”
I was actually looking for a bigger cast-iron coffee grinder when I saw the meat mincer instead at the store that sells mostly China-made products. I plan to return there for more cast iron or cast aluminum stuff: a wood stove, waffle-maker and a flat iron. The last two items remind me of my childhood: those greasy yellow waffles made of margarine and flour; and the heavy flat iron fed with burning charcoal that you used to press your uniforms.
Those indeed were simpler times when you had little use for electricity. My mother baked her cakes in a tin oven over a gas stove. It had a small analog thermometer above the small glass window. But most of the cooking was done on a makeshift wood stove in the smoky abuhan or “dirty kitchen.”
For fuel, my father would simply chop scrap wood with an ax or machete. But most of the time, we just bought firewood from the sari-sari store, where we also bought tuba for my lola (who loved drinking tuba and smoking tobacco that she rolled herself).
Food was always fresh. Some of the vegetables were picked from our garden. We raised native chickens and ducks that roamed freely around the neighborhood and always managed to come home for feeding time.
We always kept a couple of pigs reserved for the fiesta and other special occasions. My father would slaughter it with the help of neighbors or friends or they would roast it into a tasty lechon.
You needed to learn to do things on your own. This required that you develop some very basic skills to be able to get by. Yet being able to make or fix things on your own gave some satisfaction, a sense of independence.
How different it is now in our world of digital wizardry. Soon most of us will be living in “smart homes” where technology will have to do most of the house chores.
With increasing connectivity, even appliances now “talk” to each other or could be programmed to perform specific tasks.
So, you can rest assured that when you wake up to the sound of the alarm clock, the aircon automatically shuts down, the coffee-maker grinds and brews coffee, the microwave heats the leftover pizza and the heater turns on for your hot shower. The fridge scans the barcodes of your milk and food items for expiry dates and alerts the grocery for resupply.
The talking fridge may even comment about your unhealthy stocks, like the can of ice cream or the six pack of beer.
Even the toilet is now designed to do some medical analysis and may automatically report the results to your doctor. The bathroom mirror can double as a screen to flash recent e-mails or the day’s appointments. You may also check Facebook while you are brushing your teeth or have a chat via Skype. Just make sure you are at least covered with a towel.
But what happens when the grid suddenly breaks down? Everything will also just fail to function. You won’t be able to have breakfast because the coffee-maker and the stove won’t work. Running water, which now relies on the grid, will also stop. So no shower and no instant stool analysis as the high-tech toilet won’t even flush.
That is the other side of high-tech connectivity. As we become increasingly dependent on digital and electronic technology, we no longer know how to make do with “dumb” tools, like cooking rice on a wood stove, doing carpentry without power tools, or ironing with hot coals without burning your clothes.
I fear for today’s kids when they are suddenly left alone without electricity, as in during disasters or, worse, a war. And in today’s age of climate change, global terrorism, and increasing arms race, future adversities could be worse.
But it’s not just doomsday that makes you want to start living off the grid; it’s also the nostalgia for our former life of simplicity and self-reliance. That explains why a lot of people in my generation are looking forward to early retirement and try their hand at farming or the food business.
As for me, being a butcher may still not be an option for a career move. But I wouldn’t mind grinding meat for the meatball spaghetti that I proudly cook in my dumb kitchen.
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