This SDSAB article, along with a few other threads say that, no, nuclear plants aren’t going go into meltdown if left unattended.
And…I think if I got hungry enough, I could probably kill, butcher, and eat an animal. Hell, if was I desperate enough, I could probably kill and eat a person. (Depending on the person, of course. A family member? No. Charles Manson? I’d eat him before I ate my dog.)
Ranchoth
(Reeeeeally hoping I didn’t kill the thread with that last paragraph.)
I would most likely drive out to my sister’s ranch and take the place over. They raise cattle, so they have beef on the hoof and horses, and she maintains a sizable garden. If I remember correctly they are off grid and they have a well for water. The only thing I would probably need to do, is put up some solar panels because the fuel for the generator’s wouldn’t last long or be to damn hard to get to their place to refuel.
I would stock up on vegetable and grass seeds; ammo for my guns (shotgun and hunting rifle) and probably also pick up a cam bow with plenty of arrows. Once I finished hauling in can goods and firewood, I would go to the library and pick up very useful “how to” books, like leather tanning, solar power. I would also need plenty of lightbulbs. I would also need to bring in some chickens and build a nice coop for them, perhaps bring in a few goats as well.
I would also find some type of big hunting dogs, like a lab or golden retriever, making sure I had both male and female, along with a breeding pair of maine coon cats to keep the vermin down. I am pretty sure this city girl could adapt to life on the farm pretty easy.
Another thing to add about diesel:
Diesel engines are very forgiving in the combustion of a wide variety of fuels, given the proper adaptions.
You can run a diesel on a mixture of ATF and charcoal lighter fluid. Just break into the local 7-11 or other mimi-mart for the stuff as you steal the cigarettes and candy bars.
Also, on vegetable oil and used deep fryer grease, provided you preheat the oil to bring down the viscosity.
You’re gonna need to carry a lot of stuff in your vehicles, so since you have no passengers, get rid of the passenger and rear seats to maximize interior cargo room.
If the power was still on, I’d look up a solar-powered house and head south toward New mexico live in something like this guy’s house in Colorado, or Greenwood Ranch in Arizona (a whole community of 500 solar-houses, so there would be spare parts nearby). As long as the the solar-house was in a good region that wasn’t too nasty in the winter and had a decent supply of springwater, I could probably manage (clean water would be my biggest worry).
I’d would be very conservative with power anyway (only really needing it to run a fridge to keep anti-biotics, vitamins, and other medical necessities for as long as they would last.) I know solar-powered houses aren’t perfect (and if nothing goes wrong last 25 years or so), but it would keep me in power long enough to prepare for not having it.
And the reason I’d aim for a state like AZ or NM is because the climate is fairly temperate (winters aren’t horrendous, and north enough that the summers aren’t too severe.) Too far inland for Florida hurricanes and far enough away from California quakes.
I’d stock one room (or the basement or garage or naighbours whol house) with canned foods and unperishables, and I’d set up the yard for subsistance farming – enough produce to get by.
Most dairy cows have been bred to be milked twice a day, that most of them have to be milked once a day. Most would be dead from udder infections (sorry to all the kind-hearted folks who released the from their paddocks, they’d likely die within a couple weeks). So I’d get a few goats – good for both fresh milk and meat.
I’d probably live a humble existance, rising with the sun and going to bed shortly after dusk. I think I’d be so busy tending to the farmlet, vermin proofing everything, washing clothes with an antique washer with the hand cranked wringer, that I don’t think I’d be all that bored. I’d plunder the library and occasionally treat myself to a DVD or video. Learn to ride a horse so I wouldn’t have to rely on gas powered vehicles.
Ha, my response was going to be “I’d celebrate finally having time enough at last to read.”