Water is life

ast month our government formally advised people to prepare for climate problems (natural or man-made disasters) and/or war. I think it meant the latter, but officials tried to avoid causing panic or panic-buying. It basically urged stockpiling, focusing on things like water, canned food, maybe essential (life-sustaining) medicine.

Putting aside food and the NHS, let’s focus on water today.

In the UK, rain-catching barrels (or very large plastic containers) are unlawful. I didn’t check why, but I think it’s for sanitary reasons (people drinking from it, getting ill, asking NHS to intervene, i.e. becoming a burden on the state’s capacity/budget).

Suppose a war broke out, water supplies got disrupted, and people here would rather die than recycle and drink urine (a feasible survival strategy by the way).

In a country like ours, for two adults, you can assume 1) no tap water, no sewer, but waste can be managed another way/s (liquid absorbed by soil if you’re not in a high-floor apartment); 2) about 5 litres per day for a couple or 150 litres consumed per month; 3) water is preferable (over other liquids); 4) insulation needed (for all liquids). Boiling not an option if power is out.

For a typical household, water usually runs out first; food is less critical than water because we’re about 80% water. People tend to underestimate how much water they consume (digested, not washing/bathing related usage) and people can consume their own muscle and fats (the body metabolise its own mass). It’s all OK, except for water…

No doubt water is essential.

I am not saying we’ll 1) have a war soon and 2) it will disrupt the water supply.

I am only describing a scenario where people stockpile the wrong thing/s. Or prioritise (weight-wise) what’s more expensive and less critical.

All-in-one

s an argumentative and relatively opinionated person who loves to write a lot and who prefers to write very often, proofreading and sometimes ghost-reading – alas, never ghost-writing – is routine and mostly dull (but nonetheless necessary).

This year I experiment with a new approach of proofreading from the text editor while I feed the birds from jars^* (if not fed from jars, there’s growing risk that seeds on the ground will attract large flocks and cause chaos). Sometimes I feed one, sometimes two from the same jar (couples mostly), and today I held two jars to feed two birds that were not a couple and would likely fight one another using their beaks and wings. When Bot and Bot’s Friend (partner) eat from the same jar we call it “double room”, inspired by the double rooms in spas and treatments where the couple is in the same large room (“Double Room” or “Twin Room” – the latter also refers to room arrangements in hotels). Feeding two birds, a couple, with one hand can save time. At one point I discovered that with sufficient distancing I can also feed Sweepy and Bot’s Friend from the same jar. If they get aggressive, I will stop. They’ve learned from experience to cooperate and get along or lose the access to seeds.

Sweepy and Edwin are still being trained for ‘table manners’.

_____

^* This post was checked while feeding Sweepy.

Death came

ur next-door neighbour died this weekend. She was almost 80. We didn’t get along (almost nobody got along with her, both past and present), but at times like these we must all be human beings and compassionate towards grieving relatives. This was not shocking or surprising because this past year the ambulance came here a lot and there was gradual deterioration, often very loud screaming and doors being slammed.

My thoughts about this situation are very complicated. I don’t believe people suddenly become saints or impermissible to criticise because they die. But common sense or popular sayings urge us to keep quiet if we have nothing positive to say.

Rianne will pray for her. We hope her husband can cope.

“The researchers were particularly interested in three psychological needs identified by self-determination theory: relatedness, or having meaningful relationships; competence, or feeling capable and effective; and autonomy, meaning that our actions feel voluntarily chosen rather than forced on us.” -“Not Money or Pleasure: Scientists Say They’ve Found The True Key to Happiness” (5 September 2026)

n capitalism, people are meant to conflate accumulation of capital (or material assets) with “success” and that sort of success is interchangeable with happiness. But this is a gross oversimplification as pursuit of capital is not in its own right joyful or pleasant. Many people derive pleasure from social things because they are, after all, “social animals”.

Those who seek improvement in their lives by working hard to gain more money may find that it’s easier for them to purchase more things or better things. But at what cost?

Also, more personal belongings can one day became liabilities or burdens. This is why many people, especially late in their lives, give things away and move into smaller, simpler places/spaces.

4 hours ago by Sarah Rainsford:

rowing uncertainty and worries due to tensions with Russia are felt here, as our government openly encourages citizens to ‘stockpile’ food under the assumption of lack of power (to cook good). As if there is recognition of threats to the power grid, which is unlikely to happen due to bad weather but it likely to happen during conflict (as Russians and Ukrainians learned).

Stockpiling was not encouraged but discouraged during COVID-19 lockdowns (e.g. toilet paper).

Humans don’t have this

OME of the birds have begun moulting, as inevitably they will, and it is never pleasant to look at, even if it’s beneficial to animals especially in places that transition between seasons with sharp differences temperature- and precipitation-wise.

Bot (Bottle) seems to be the first with visible moulting this year. I’ve just given her as many seeds as she wanted (until she felt full and flew away). She is a mother now and winter this year might get very cold due to climate breakdown. The chicks must have grown by now (but unable to fly).

No animal can eat datacentres

ears ago we used to buy sacks of seed like these, but later we chose premium (vastly better) seeds at a local market. Months ago the government asked people to lessen or altogether stop the feeding of birds, saying there was no need during summer. This was immediately refuted by some NGOs. I had this theory about grain shortages leading to that advice. Are we prioritising humans over all other living beings?

It’s no secret the planet is overpopulated (by humans mostly).

Anyway, months ago I noticed that many stores no longer stocked large bags of seeds for birds. Last month not even the largest stores stocked them. Was this a business decision or something else?

I still have my sources for sacks of seeds, but they’re not cheap, even if they’re better and less “official”.

There are already press reports about how the oil shortages, the wars, and the drought lead to a grain shortage, potentially driving hunger/famine.

The demand grows, so do the prices. Poor countries are not prioritised for exports and the weather leads to crop (agra) failures.

And they tell us we need more energy-hungry datacentres that drive climate change!