Well, not everyone knows my Situation, and yeah, me and my girl would give it all up. i'd even stop with the photos, move out to the country, go totally nature boy and keep it simple, off the grid.
Delete your account to TFW2K5. If you are like me, you've practically disappeared from the grid, lol.
Positives: Feeling manly, only taking what you need... Negatives: Being dead at 35 from a minor infection that leads to trench food, gange green and then blood poisoning... I'd recommend at least being partly on the grid for health care.
Build a secret basement, and fill it with chicks No stairs , you'll slide down into it on the firehouse/stripper pole
Man, I know you have been through some stuff lately but IMO please really think about doing anything drastic. Surely things will rebound soon, and I am afraid you would live with too many regrets.
The problem with "being off the grid" is that the cons essentially outway the pros. You are in a way giving up your legal rights, and all beneficiary systems like social security, health care, insurance, etc. To do it, you'd need to move, give up all forms of identification, take no job that requires a social security number/be paid under the table, and have no services in your name (Home ownership, car, etc.) You'll stop paying or reporting income tax as well. You also can't use any credit cards, ever; it's all cash or you don't buy/use it, nor use any services after the point that you gave up "The Grid" again, even e-mail. After that, you can float about as desired, but be aware that you can still be located if you are arrested and can still be prosecuted if you did something illegally. You said you have a van. If that van is in your name, it's a connection to your "grid identity". To go through all that just to stop getting junk mail and phone calls is a bit extreme IMHO. I throw away/shred undesired mail, and I gave up my home phone for my cell phone, a number which I seldomly give out.
Advice: Get a prepaid phone. Then when the inevitable solicitation calls come in, be as rude and irate as possible and demand that they reimburse you for wasting your precious time, as well as wasting your minutes on your phone. Talk to their superior if necessary. As far as junk mail and the like. get the return address (if available) and start mailing them stuff. Like write them a letter saying: "Dear Annoyance I do not, nor will I ever be interested in you or any product or service you have to offer. Cease any and all communication with me in any way and delete my information from any and all of your records immediately. Refusal to do so will result in my hopping in a box, mailing myself to you, and kicking you right square in the ass. Hugs and Kisses, wheeljaxx" Rule of thumb, if you're act like a total ass, they'll leave you alone.
Actually, that's not true. If you act like a jerk to telemarketers, you actually increase your chances of getting more calls. See, telemarketers can be evil bastards too, and they'll schedule you for more callbacks. If you want them off your phone, cut them off and ask them to place you on their "do not call" list. (Whatever you do, do NOT say "take me off your list." That is NOT the same.) The calls should stop. Your cell phone actually puts you more on the grid. As I'm sure you know, all cell phones are BY LAW required to be equipped with GPS. Ostensibly that's so if you call 911, your position can be triangulated. But we all know what else it can be used for. You can be tracked by your cell phone even when it's not in use, since the phone is always connecting and can be passively pinged without your knowledge. Whereas with a home phone, you can just leave the house and people who want to find you can fuck off. Given that if you step outside your house your picture can be taken in full resolution by a satellite in space, there's relatively few places to actually truly hide. Just live with it.
I recommend the TV special " Survivorman: Off the Grid " to see a more rational " self removal " than what you were basically asking about..
'Off the grid' doesn't mean you disappear or anything like that. It just means that you live without being tied into any city, county, or state utilities. You can have a generator or solar panels or a windmill for electricity and still be living 'off the grid', and even have satellite for internet when you have the generator running. If you really want to do it, tho, look up resources on homesteading, do-it-yourself, and organic living. There's tons of information on the 'net. --Moony
Unfortunately there's nowhere to hide as you can always be located by the chip the government puts in everyone's head at birth. Think how hard it'll be to get along off the grid once all cash is electronic. No 'cash in hand' there. I suppose you could do work in exchange for food and board and stuff and just cut out the cash 'middleman'. I wonder how people begging on streets will make their living then.
