You know you're a permie, but...

...what are your guilty pleasures? Or non-permie things that you're still (secretly?) doing?

I love driving my car. I didn't have one for two years or so, and I got my current one a year ago. The pandemic was one of the reasons, another is looking for land (tentatively). But I also choose the car when I don't have to, because I like it. Even when the fuel gets expensive. I'm not one of those people who drive around in a car "for a walk", but I like to go somewhere just to enjoy the ride. Sometimes I drive too slow for that reason, which drives other drivers mad ;) (but I'm a hypermiler, you know).

Another is sushi. I hope that not all the ingredients in my sushi are hauled from afar. Shrimps are, for sure. I would actually love to try sushi made (mostly) of local ingredients, but most restaurants are trying to be as "original" as possible. At least the single use chopsticks are made of raw wood... and I recently used them in my terrarium as a "fence"! Springtails are excited.

Cheap potato chips. I eat all this wonderful healthy food.... and cheap potato chips :)

Flora: I make what I call sushi stuff out of veggies, sometimes cooked fish (I don't trust the local fish raw) works for me, depends on what you are looking for in sushi :)  
I don't believe in the concept of single use chopsticks, I wash them and reuse them to eat with, or use as a tool. I generally have a set with me. Useful things!

I think my biggest guilty sin is my dependence on electronic devices. I use my car for work and when I need it, but I won't miss it if I couldn't ride it anymore. However, I would very much miss my computer.
AC in the midst of summer is also a guilty pleasure.

Ah, the guilty pleaser of plowing a couple small patches of soil up to plant corn and sorghum.  The smell of the living earth and balls of worms all over the place is a bittersweet to me.  The robins love me and follow me for the smorgasbord.  I am fond of old antique engines.  I used a 1929 engine this year to grind the sorghum stalks for syrup making.  When we get behind boiling maple syrup it sure is nice to throw a little lump of coal in the boiler to speed up the process.  The smell of the smoke takes me back to my childhood when things were so simple.  Maybe I am not a permie, but I don't fit in anywhere else.  

The dandelion seed I got from the west is growing well on our food forest paths.

Going on drives to look at Christmas lights. It was a tradition in my family as a kid and even though I'm not a Christian now, I still love going and looking at all those lights whilst listening to the Nutcracker Suite and the soundtrack of The Muppet Christmas Carol. That and my strong distaste for LED Christmas lights. The incandescent ones are just so much prettier to me!
Also, chocolate and coffee.  

This phone and social media. Its my one thing I can't see giving up!

Christopher Shepherd wrote

Maybe I am not a permie, but I don't fit in anywhere else.

Love that!

Apart from running a shop that caters for very mainstream requirements (as well as trying to give some better alternatives) I drink a lot of black tea that has mainly come from the Asian subcontinent.  I've tried growing my own (Camellia sinensis sinensis), but haven't managed to keep it growing more than a few years yet.  Maybe in my new blueberry patch, or in the polytunnel they may do better.  I'll have to try again....

I have always seen myself as a homesteader rather than a Permie. I certainly engage in enough Permie practices.   Probably my biggest Permie sin is my love for my fireplace.  There is nothing like a roaring fire in a wood burning fireplace to lift the spirits.

But...

1. Taco Bell, Mt Dew, Popeyes = 😋

2. I am forever enthralled by the experience of walking into modern American and western European grocery stores, and all the varieties of flavors and smells and calories and colors and world-wide foods contained within.  It's amazing to me, even if many of the calories are empty, never since the beginning of this world has more quantity and variety of food been within the grasp of a group of people.  That said, I think permaculture systems can make it even better and available to everyone!

3. I am unashamed of (crony-free) capitalism. Specifically, the ability of people to willingly and freely lend fruits of their labor to others, so that others can take greater risks and (hopefully) add more value to the world, and then return the surplus.  Basically like a kickstarter.

4. Nuclear power.  Having travelled emission-free halfway around the world under nuclear power for six months, I'm just about speechless.  Dangerous, but powerful.

Some cider press territory there, so please don't throw rocks at me for being honest with you!

Cola.

Caffeinated cola in the mornings, decaf after. Gotta have it nearby at all times.

In my defense, cola is medicinal for me. Among my many medical problems is one that causes nausea and vomiting, pretty much all the time. I was on a prescription anti-nausea that was very expensive, had unpleasant side-effects, and had to be taken every 8 hours religiously. There were times the pharmacy ran into a delay, or I'd lose track of my bottle of pills, and I'd start puking uncontrollably to the point where it messed with my heartbeat. (Did you know you can vomit yourself into arrhythmia?)

Cola works about 95% as well, is a lot cheaper, has less severe side-effects, and I can get it anywhere that sells beverages. Is it bad for my health? Yes. But not nearly as bad as the alternatives.

I've tried some recipes for homemade cola using natural ingredients, but haven't found one that works yet.