TOXIC BUCKETS
Before we start today, a heads up if you need some wool blankets. www.sportsmansguide.com has a great deal, four blankets of 100% wool for $18 plus shipping, or 16 for $60. I’m not going to order any as I bought a dozen years ago plus I have been picking them up one at a time as I find them. I’m sure I have at least sixteen of them already. They measure five by six ( actually 5 1/3 by 6 ¾ ). Don’t wait to order, they are limited quantity. Search under order # lx9m-48395 or lx9m-86812.
*
We’ve talked about Wal-Mart plastic poly buckets for grain storage, but I think it’s been awhile and a reminder is always nice. I was reminded as I was reading Rawles Preparedness Course I was given by a minion. No way I would have dropped over a hundred bucks on a course on how to shop at Costco. A good thing too, because the course is only suitable for newbies. If you are new to the field of preparedness, and if you plan to stockpile food by duplicating your everyday grocery items, and if you have a huge family, then this course will pay for itself. Otherwise, it is way overpriced. But I don’t want you to think I’m trying to kill you by giving you bad advice. I’m all about helping a brother out by being able to shop on an extremely limited budget, but that doesn’t include advice that is dangerous ( yes, I know advising you to arm yourself with anything other than semi automatic weapons is endangering you, but other than that…[that was sarcasm by the way] ). I think that worrying about toxic buckets is overblown, personally. I’m not saying there isn’t a risk. Perhaps there is. I’m not a chemist, and I don’t play one on TV. This is one of those things you need to decide on your own. Just like with semi’s. Do you want to be able to saturate the air with lead for a few firefights before you run out of ammo, or do you want to conserve your rounds by using a bolt action? Either strategy can get you killed, you have to decide which is better ( and don’t tell me about fire discipline- 99% of survivalists don’t have the training for that ).
*
I certainly wouldn’t fault you for taking Rawles advice on using Wal-Mart buckets ( I would fault you on taking some of his other advice but it isn’t personal- he is just the current epitome of Yuppie Survivalist Guru ). If in doubt, don’t try to poison yourself. I still think it is better to store your grain in paint buckets if that is all you afford than not get the grain in the first place. To remind you, the Wal-Mart paint buckets are labeled as food grade plastic. Rawles is warning you that the cheaper chemicals added to the plastic are toxic, turning food grade plastic dangerous. I still use them, both to store post Apocalypse food in and as water buckets I fill up each week for my water supply. I look at it this way. The plastic may or may not be as bad as warned. It is like aluminum verses stainless steel cooking pots. Aluminum most likely isn’t as bad as they are warning about, but just in case over time I switched completely over to stainless. I’ll do the same with the plastic buckets. For now, I’m not panicking. But to be on the safe side I’ll try to avoid buying anymore buckets not made specifically for food ( which might be another plus when buying the Wal-Mart wheat-in-buckets from the Preparedness aisle- you know for sure the bucket is OK verses do-it-yourself ).
*
If you don’t have two or three years of wheat per person ( 400 pounds a year each ) as a Deep Crap Food Store, I would hurry up and buy your wheat, regardless of whether it is store bought, feed store, food grade or paint bucket. The risk of not having the wheat is far higher than having buckets that may or may not have crap leaking from them. If you listened to every panic attack about our food containers you wouldn’t be drinking bottled water or giving your infant a plastic bottle to suck out of. Let alone the “edible” items from them. We live in a world of pollution. I’m not saying to go out of your way to ingest them, but I am saying to weigh risks rationally. Just don’t do it talking on a cell phone or standing near a microwave oven. You might be irradiated! ( again with the sarcasm ).
END
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
This is another post from preppernation.com
*Today I want to share an account of a young man that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. This is a specific young man that I’m going to refer to but I think he is representative of most any young man starting out in life, at least for the majority of the timeline we will be examining. *With wide eyes and a healthy sense of immortality this young man leaves the security of the life he has know. Properly prepared to move forward in life having been trained by well meaning, loving parents to always make the right and moral choices.
*Our young man was faced almost immediately with a life changing decision. What would he do to provide himself a living? It seemed that there was two main options for him to weigh as he made this critical determination. One, he could move directly into the work force, taking an entry level position and advance slowly as he obtained his skills on the job. Or two, he could continue his education for the next several years and secure a college degree, allowing him to achieve the higher level employment positions later in life.
*Our boy decided to make the right choice and continue with his education. After enrolling himself in a 4 year program at the local State University, he threw himself into his studies. His diligence paid off and 4 years later he was awarded the degree he sought, graduating with honors. Atta Boy!
*With his degree in hand, he set out to locate a firm looking to employ an honorable hardworking man such as himself. It would take a bit of time to secure the right position with the upward mobility opportunities he was after. That was alright as this was an important decision and those student loan payments could be deferred for a while yet, at least until that perfect position opened up. So our guy, always up to the task, made the right decision and took his time looking for the sweet spot.
*OK! Now, he had arrived. A large corporation swept him off his feet, offering him a rare position in a department that had plenty of ladder climbing capacity! They were giving him the recognition that a talented graduate deserved. He would be working with some of the big boys and be expected to keep up with the team. A real high power crowd, expensive suits and spendy automobiles would be required to make the right impression on the clients. No problem, gotta dress for success! Our newly employed young man, found that the car dealers and mens furnishings store credit departments had nothing but confidence in him and his blossoming career years ahead. They laid out the trimmings he would need for a successful appearance. They even offered him the option to hold the costs over for 90 days. This would allow him the time he needed to find his groove without the payment pressures to distract him!
*As we all would expect him to… He made the right decision! It took no time at all for our rising star to begin to make his mark on his new company. Sunshine and roses, it was all falling into place, just as he had planned.
*Our young man, like most that will answer honestly, was looking forward to finding the perfect little gal to make his wife. That was the next item to be checked on his to-do list. Wouldn’t even consider it until he had the means of supporting her but that box was now checked! Like a smart fella he knew he wanted to find a wife that would be his equal, intellectually. What better place to begin his search but back at his almamoder. There was a lot of bright, beautiful and eligible young ladies back in those stacks!
*Once Prince Charming began the search, it didn’t take long to identify his choice. A wonderful girl that could not have been better suited to our guy. They had similar upbringing and views on family matters, even attended the same church denomination. Like “Mr. Right”, our gal had nearly completed her degree and would be graduating with honors in a month or two. Of course the addition of a second debt for her college degree would accompany “Ms. Right” into their new marriage.
*It was a whirlwind romance and the “Rights” would be married early the next fall. These were the best and brightest, real smart kids and they wanted it all to be perfect. Why wouldn’t they? They had played by the rules and made the right choices and worked hard to achieve each accomplishment they had! They deserved their happiness! They had the world by the tail and the blessings of everyone…
*The wedding was straight out of the brides dreams, not to big but at the same time couldn’t leave anyone out. The costs did mount as the “Rights” made all the final arrangements. The brides family did what they could financially and the kids made up the difference for the overages. It wasn’t lavish but did leave them a credit card bill for over 15K, once the romantic tropical honeymoon was factored in. They thought that it had all been pretty reasonable, considering they each had known friends to spend much more on their weddings! All said and done they had shown exceptional maturity and restraint in their spending, everyone said so! *They setup housekeeping in the responsibly located condominium that our good fellow had rented to be near his office. The work load and sales appointments could keep him well into the evening during the weeknights. It was for a good cause and would pay dividends down the road with the big bosses. Mrs. Right was ready to begin the search for her career entry point now that the wedding was wrapped up and they had her settled in her new home. The weeks seemed to roll right on past and our young wife was thoroughly enjoying her new role as wife and homemaker to her fine hardworking husband. It was the right thing for her to want, to take good care of her husband. She did spent time regularly looking into what her employment opportunities were but her heart just wasn’t really in it. She was married now and that was after all one of her life’s big dreams too? A husband and some children of her own, eventually.
*Our happy couple had a great relationship and our guy was really enjoying the benefits of having a loving wife waiting for him when he walked through the door each evening! He was doing well at the firm and was making more sales as his experience grew. Seeing his wife bloom in her new found happiness and with children to come, not to far into the future. He thought it would be the right thing to do offering to have her stay home full time, if that was what she wanted.
*They had agreed that she would just take her time making up her mind about the career. They really were enjoying these traditional roles and having a great time together. Neither of them could believe that it would go so quickly but they rounded the corner on their first anniversary in no time flat. Since a career choice hadn’t made it to the top of the list for his bride, it seemed apparent that she was going to be content being his wife, full time. This wasn’t a problem as she was far exceeding his expectations and making him very happy.
*As they entered their second year of wedded bliss, they decided that they wanted to open the discussions of their future family. They agreed prior to marrying that they both did indeed want to have children but it was the timing that was still up in the air. Since she had decided to make marriage her career. They felt it would be the right choice to move forward with the plans to start adding children to the family.
*They agreed that the condo wasn’t the right place to be raising children, so they began the search for a home that would meet the needs of a growing family. They talked with their parents and examined two possibilities. Either they could rent a home or go ahead and make a home purchase. All parties agreed that a purchase would be the right choice. In the long run they would regret making rent payments and having nothing to show for it. The monthly expense would be a bit higher but they would be gaining equity!
*In the city where our couple currently lived, homes were appreciating rapidly. Many trendy areas and it was common for the home sellers to receive multiple offers as soon as they put their homes on the market. Our young family wanted to continue living in the area, it was close to Mr. Rights office and seemed like the right thing to do.
*A few short months past and our kids found out they were indeed expecting a delivery very close to their second wedding anniversary. That was wonderful news, the home they had selected was on an extended closing and the time period would work perfectly to have them moved in before the baby’s arrival. Everything was working out just right…
*The happy couple had decided to save every penny they could and put them into a special savings account. They would then use this small fortune as their down payment on the house. There goal was to have a full 10% as a down payment, they had always heard from their parents that this was the right approach to home ownership… However, this required that only the minimum payments got made on all of their debts. They didn’t feel like this would be a great set back as they had only thoughtfully made credit purchases and always for the right reasons. In their two years of marriage they had accrued only a relatively small amount of credit debt including the wedding expenses, honeymoon. Take those few things away and all they had was the student loans and Mr. Rights “work” car… They felt a degree of pride as they continued to make all the right decisions, even though they had many friends from school and the office that were living far beyond there means…
*Their home purchase closed and the family to be completed their move from the condo in plenty of time to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Their friends and family had been incredibly generous at the baby showers and they had most of the things the book said they would need. Just a few odds and ends to pull it all together, this added only a small additional balance to the credit card. No big deal as that total would have been a much larger amount if they hadn’t been blessed with generous friends.
*Baby arrived “Right” on time as expected. They were the perfect family, enjoying a new home and all paths appeared to be leading to green pastures. The next several years went smoothly and according to plan. The “Rights” added a second child and Mr. Right was upwardly moving at the office. Life would always have the unknowns and they would field a curve ball from time to time, like most families. A replacement car would be required for their growing brood. The occasional upgrade of work related expenses, the usual office dress attire or newer model automobile. These were acceptable expenses as it takes money to make money or so the theory goes. A second set of this or that, now that there was two children… We all know the drill, always something to keep a young family busy and often broke! No, not broke in the traditional sense but more monthly expenses than ideally planned for and seldom that extra payment per year toward the mortgage that was suppose to happen.
*Mr Right was very happy with his life and family, overall! He did however begin to grow weary of the long hours that the company and clients demanded. He began to find his mind wandering to other activities that he would do if he only had the time. Being the good husband and father, he put his personal longings for a change of pace down into the deepest parts of his soul. Better he keep these desires to himself and not risk appearing to have lost track of the right priorities. *The family continued to grow, as the years went by… The happy couple had welcomed a third and final baby to their home. Mr. Right knew in his heart that he had made all the right choices and wouldn’t consider doing anything to upset the delicate balance of their happy home. He had successfully denied the feelings he had been having for years, even his wife wasn’t fully aware of the quite desperation her husband felt.
*Things at the “Right” household were sustainable as long as Mr. Right continued to run through his life at the breakneck pace he set for himself nearly a decade ago. In the beginning, it was all new and fun climbing that ladder to success. Our boy climbed, year after year and right choice after right choice. *He realized that he would have to keep this up, want to or not! He had three little mouths to feed, all under the age of 8, a wonderful wife that didn’t ask for much for herself but wanted good things for their children. That, of course, was understandable and the right thing to do, as well! Amazingly, the careful credit usage habits that had been a source of pride only a few years ago, had none the less mounted into what came to well over a 100K dollars of debt. Largely this was due to the student loans for his and Mrs. Right’s education. They had both believed these debts a cornerstone of their career investment strategy. Two car payments and a 30 year house note with 25 years of payments still to go. His having made the right choice and kept only one credit card in the house might have been a comfort, except that ONE had a balance of nearly 10K on it… Sales continued at the office but it seemed that other than keeping up with the standard demands on his income, our young go getter wasn’t making alot of head way. At about the time a good run of sales commissions would come through he would find that it was time to purchase a this or put a deposit on a that. Always for a reason and as ALWAYS the right thing to do.
*A short time has passed and this brings us near the end of this story about the “Rights”… We now find our eager young man in quite a position. He awoke one day and looked around at his unfamiliar almost puzzling surroundings. There was no one with him but he also was not alone? He had a peculiar feeling that he new where he was and he tried to focus his eyes on a strange pattern in front of him. It was a grid of bars, a long row of vertical slats that he was staring at that gray day… How had he gotten to this place of despair, trapped inside this cell? He closed his eyes again and allowed his mind to find its equilibrium.
*He began to regain his bearings, recognizing that he was indeed in a cell. The cell was the one he had built himself, one right choice at a time. Brick by brick those walls went up, willingly up and up they went. So high had these walls gone that now he had no choice, he was trapped. Trapped in a cell behind these bars, the bars also of his own making! This time in an even more literal sense, the bars he saw before him weren’t made of steel, they were of cedar. The bars were indeed the white picket fence in front of the house where our young man lives with his family. He had somehow fallen as he left the house for another evening at work, away from that family! Sadly, he picked himself up and continued on as this wasn’t just a dream – It was much worse, it was the – AMERICAN DREAM!
Submitted for your consideration!
Prepper
This is another post from preppernation.com
*Today I want to share an account of a young man that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. This is a specific young man that I’m going to refer to but I think he is representative of most any young man starting out in life, at least for the majority of the timeline we will be examining. *With wide eyes and a healthy sense of immortality this young man leaves the security of the life he has know. Properly prepared to move forward in life having been trained by well meaning, loving parents to always make the right and moral choices.
*Our young man was faced almost immediately with a life changing decision. What would he do to provide himself a living? It seemed that there was two main options for him to weigh as he made this critical determination. One, he could move directly into the work force, taking an entry level position and advance slowly as he obtained his skills on the job. Or two, he could continue his education for the next several years and secure a college degree, allowing him to achieve the higher level employment positions later in life.
*Our boy decided to make the right choice and continue with his education. After enrolling himself in a 4 year program at the local State University, he threw himself into his studies. His diligence paid off and 4 years later he was awarded the degree he sought, graduating with honors. Atta Boy!
*With his degree in hand, he set out to locate a firm looking to employ an honorable hardworking man such as himself. It would take a bit of time to secure the right position with the upward mobility opportunities he was after. That was alright as this was an important decision and those student loan payments could be deferred for a while yet, at least until that perfect position opened up. So our guy, always up to the task, made the right decision and took his time looking for the sweet spot.
*OK! Now, he had arrived. A large corporation swept him off his feet, offering him a rare position in a department that had plenty of ladder climbing capacity! They were giving him the recognition that a talented graduate deserved. He would be working with some of the big boys and be expected to keep up with the team. A real high power crowd, expensive suits and spendy automobiles would be required to make the right impression on the clients. No problem, gotta dress for success! Our newly employed young man, found that the car dealers and mens furnishings store credit departments had nothing but confidence in him and his blossoming career years ahead. They laid out the trimmings he would need for a successful appearance. They even offered him the option to hold the costs over for 90 days. This would allow him the time he needed to find his groove without the payment pressures to distract him!
*As we all would expect him to… He made the right decision! It took no time at all for our rising star to begin to make his mark on his new company. Sunshine and roses, it was all falling into place, just as he had planned.
*Our young man, like most that will answer honestly, was looking forward to finding the perfect little gal to make his wife. That was the next item to be checked on his to-do list. Wouldn’t even consider it until he had the means of supporting her but that box was now checked! Like a smart fella he knew he wanted to find a wife that would be his equal, intellectually. What better place to begin his search but back at his almamoder. There was a lot of bright, beautiful and eligible young ladies back in those stacks!
*Once Prince Charming began the search, it didn’t take long to identify his choice. A wonderful girl that could not have been better suited to our guy. They had similar upbringing and views on family matters, even attended the same church denomination. Like “Mr. Right”, our gal had nearly completed her degree and would be graduating with honors in a month or two. Of course the addition of a second debt for her college degree would accompany “Ms. Right” into their new marriage.
*It was a whirlwind romance and the “Rights” would be married early the next fall. These were the best and brightest, real smart kids and they wanted it all to be perfect. Why wouldn’t they? They had played by the rules and made the right choices and worked hard to achieve each accomplishment they had! They deserved their happiness! They had the world by the tail and the blessings of everyone…
*The wedding was straight out of the brides dreams, not to big but at the same time couldn’t leave anyone out. The costs did mount as the “Rights” made all the final arrangements. The brides family did what they could financially and the kids made up the difference for the overages. It wasn’t lavish but did leave them a credit card bill for over 15K, once the romantic tropical honeymoon was factored in. They thought that it had all been pretty reasonable, considering they each had known friends to spend much more on their weddings! All said and done they had shown exceptional maturity and restraint in their spending, everyone said so! *They setup housekeeping in the responsibly located condominium that our good fellow had rented to be near his office. The work load and sales appointments could keep him well into the evening during the weeknights. It was for a good cause and would pay dividends down the road with the big bosses. Mrs. Right was ready to begin the search for her career entry point now that the wedding was wrapped up and they had her settled in her new home. The weeks seemed to roll right on past and our young wife was thoroughly enjoying her new role as wife and homemaker to her fine hardworking husband. It was the right thing for her to want, to take good care of her husband. She did spent time regularly looking into what her employment opportunities were but her heart just wasn’t really in it. She was married now and that was after all one of her life’s big dreams too? A husband and some children of her own, eventually.
*Our happy couple had a great relationship and our guy was really enjoying the benefits of having a loving wife waiting for him when he walked through the door each evening! He was doing well at the firm and was making more sales as his experience grew. Seeing his wife bloom in her new found happiness and with children to come, not to far into the future. He thought it would be the right thing to do offering to have her stay home full time, if that was what she wanted.
*They had agreed that she would just take her time making up her mind about the career. They really were enjoying these traditional roles and having a great time together. Neither of them could believe that it would go so quickly but they rounded the corner on their first anniversary in no time flat. Since a career choice hadn’t made it to the top of the list for his bride, it seemed apparent that she was going to be content being his wife, full time. This wasn’t a problem as she was far exceeding his expectations and making him very happy.
*As they entered their second year of wedded bliss, they decided that they wanted to open the discussions of their future family. They agreed prior to marrying that they both did indeed want to have children but it was the timing that was still up in the air. Since she had decided to make marriage her career. They felt it would be the right choice to move forward with the plans to start adding children to the family.
*They agreed that the condo wasn’t the right place to be raising children, so they began the search for a home that would meet the needs of a growing family. They talked with their parents and examined two possibilities. Either they could rent a home or go ahead and make a home purchase. All parties agreed that a purchase would be the right choice. In the long run they would regret making rent payments and having nothing to show for it. The monthly expense would be a bit higher but they would be gaining equity!
*In the city where our couple currently lived, homes were appreciating rapidly. Many trendy areas and it was common for the home sellers to receive multiple offers as soon as they put their homes on the market. Our young family wanted to continue living in the area, it was close to Mr. Rights office and seemed like the right thing to do.
*A few short months past and our kids found out they were indeed expecting a delivery very close to their second wedding anniversary. That was wonderful news, the home they had selected was on an extended closing and the time period would work perfectly to have them moved in before the baby’s arrival. Everything was working out just right…
*The happy couple had decided to save every penny they could and put them into a special savings account. They would then use this small fortune as their down payment on the house. There goal was to have a full 10% as a down payment, they had always heard from their parents that this was the right approach to home ownership… However, this required that only the minimum payments got made on all of their debts. They didn’t feel like this would be a great set back as they had only thoughtfully made credit purchases and always for the right reasons. In their two years of marriage they had accrued only a relatively small amount of credit debt including the wedding expenses, honeymoon. Take those few things away and all they had was the student loans and Mr. Rights “work” car… They felt a degree of pride as they continued to make all the right decisions, even though they had many friends from school and the office that were living far beyond there means…
*Their home purchase closed and the family to be completed their move from the condo in plenty of time to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Their friends and family had been incredibly generous at the baby showers and they had most of the things the book said they would need. Just a few odds and ends to pull it all together, this added only a small additional balance to the credit card. No big deal as that total would have been a much larger amount if they hadn’t been blessed with generous friends.
*Baby arrived “Right” on time as expected. They were the perfect family, enjoying a new home and all paths appeared to be leading to green pastures. The next several years went smoothly and according to plan. The “Rights” added a second child and Mr. Right was upwardly moving at the office. Life would always have the unknowns and they would field a curve ball from time to time, like most families. A replacement car would be required for their growing brood. The occasional upgrade of work related expenses, the usual office dress attire or newer model automobile. These were acceptable expenses as it takes money to make money or so the theory goes. A second set of this or that, now that there was two children… We all know the drill, always something to keep a young family busy and often broke! No, not broke in the traditional sense but more monthly expenses than ideally planned for and seldom that extra payment per year toward the mortgage that was suppose to happen.
*Mr Right was very happy with his life and family, overall! He did however begin to grow weary of the long hours that the company and clients demanded. He began to find his mind wandering to other activities that he would do if he only had the time. Being the good husband and father, he put his personal longings for a change of pace down into the deepest parts of his soul. Better he keep these desires to himself and not risk appearing to have lost track of the right priorities. *The family continued to grow, as the years went by… The happy couple had welcomed a third and final baby to their home. Mr. Right knew in his heart that he had made all the right choices and wouldn’t consider doing anything to upset the delicate balance of their happy home. He had successfully denied the feelings he had been having for years, even his wife wasn’t fully aware of the quite desperation her husband felt.
*Things at the “Right” household were sustainable as long as Mr. Right continued to run through his life at the breakneck pace he set for himself nearly a decade ago. In the beginning, it was all new and fun climbing that ladder to success. Our boy climbed, year after year and right choice after right choice. *He realized that he would have to keep this up, want to or not! He had three little mouths to feed, all under the age of 8, a wonderful wife that didn’t ask for much for herself but wanted good things for their children. That, of course, was understandable and the right thing to do, as well! Amazingly, the careful credit usage habits that had been a source of pride only a few years ago, had none the less mounted into what came to well over a 100K dollars of debt. Largely this was due to the student loans for his and Mrs. Right’s education. They had both believed these debts a cornerstone of their career investment strategy. Two car payments and a 30 year house note with 25 years of payments still to go. His having made the right choice and kept only one credit card in the house might have been a comfort, except that ONE had a balance of nearly 10K on it… Sales continued at the office but it seemed that other than keeping up with the standard demands on his income, our young go getter wasn’t making alot of head way. At about the time a good run of sales commissions would come through he would find that it was time to purchase a this or put a deposit on a that. Always for a reason and as ALWAYS the right thing to do.
*A short time has passed and this brings us near the end of this story about the “Rights”… We now find our eager young man in quite a position. He awoke one day and looked around at his unfamiliar almost puzzling surroundings. There was no one with him but he also was not alone? He had a peculiar feeling that he new where he was and he tried to focus his eyes on a strange pattern in front of him. It was a grid of bars, a long row of vertical slats that he was staring at that gray day… How had he gotten to this place of despair, trapped inside this cell? He closed his eyes again and allowed his mind to find its equilibrium.
*He began to regain his bearings, recognizing that he was indeed in a cell. The cell was the one he had built himself, one right choice at a time. Brick by brick those walls went up, willingly up and up they went. So high had these walls gone that now he had no choice, he was trapped. Trapped in a cell behind these bars, the bars also of his own making! This time in an even more literal sense, the bars he saw before him weren’t made of steel, they were of cedar. The bars were indeed the white picket fence in front of the house where our young man lives with his family. He had somehow fallen as he left the house for another evening at work, away from that family! Sadly, he picked himself up and continued on as this wasn’t just a dream – It was much worse, it was the – AMERICAN DREAM!
Submitted for your consideration!
Prepper
Thursday, November 26, 2009
your life sucks ass
YOUR LIFE SUCKS ASS
A valid charge usually brought up by non-preppers against survivalists is that their life sucks blue monkey scrotum and the only way they cope is to fantasize about being king of the mountain after the Apocalypse. It might be a reasonable charge, but begs the question if that invalidates the concern behind it. In other words, are we fantasizing because we’re bored or are we fantasizing because we know its coming and can’t wait? Is it escapism or is it anticipation? Are we looking for facts to support our dreams, or looking at facts and dreaming? I think it is an important question. Of course, you already know which way I’m leaning, if for no other reason than I’m prejudiced. And I’m preaching to the choir. But perhaps, just maybe, I might argue enough to push a fence sitter into our nightmarish reality.
*
I will readily admit that in certain ways I can’t wait until I have license to shoot everyone I don’t like in the outsiders group. I’ve got a lot of pent up hostility. But I also know that life is simply going to just keep on sucking more and more. Things will continue their inevitable decline. You admire and worship me, the ladies swoon at my mention, my lifestyle off grid held in awe by all. But as I’ve bragged on before, I’m just building up what will one day be a luxurious existence. I do think things will keep declining past the point where my grubbing in the weeds will one day be looked on in envy ( the velocity of course is in question ). I know things are going to continue to get worse, despite my future palace. So what makes me think the collapse will be an improvement in my lifestyle? The accusation that I fantasize over the Apocalypse could only be made by someone that is only scratching the surface of survivalism. Serious students know the reality. So, sure, I can shoot people rather than let them stress me. If I don’t get killed right away and can bring value to a post collapse group, perhaps I’ll own enough livestock to pick and choose a bedmate. Retirement will be simple- when I loose all my teeth and can’t eat jerky I won’t make it through the winter. Things will be simpler, I’ll get a pair of Biguns to sleep on, I can kill some idiots. But I also have to worry about disease and starvation. All in all, I’d rather have a minimum wage job and order books from Amazon and lead a boring life.
*
Looking forward to the collapse is not because it will be an improvement. It is because we know it is inevitable and so we try to look on the bright side of things. Boobs and guns. And you thought I was pessimistic and gloomy.
END
A valid charge usually brought up by non-preppers against survivalists is that their life sucks blue monkey scrotum and the only way they cope is to fantasize about being king of the mountain after the Apocalypse. It might be a reasonable charge, but begs the question if that invalidates the concern behind it. In other words, are we fantasizing because we’re bored or are we fantasizing because we know its coming and can’t wait? Is it escapism or is it anticipation? Are we looking for facts to support our dreams, or looking at facts and dreaming? I think it is an important question. Of course, you already know which way I’m leaning, if for no other reason than I’m prejudiced. And I’m preaching to the choir. But perhaps, just maybe, I might argue enough to push a fence sitter into our nightmarish reality.
*
I will readily admit that in certain ways I can’t wait until I have license to shoot everyone I don’t like in the outsiders group. I’ve got a lot of pent up hostility. But I also know that life is simply going to just keep on sucking more and more. Things will continue their inevitable decline. You admire and worship me, the ladies swoon at my mention, my lifestyle off grid held in awe by all. But as I’ve bragged on before, I’m just building up what will one day be a luxurious existence. I do think things will keep declining past the point where my grubbing in the weeds will one day be looked on in envy ( the velocity of course is in question ). I know things are going to continue to get worse, despite my future palace. So what makes me think the collapse will be an improvement in my lifestyle? The accusation that I fantasize over the Apocalypse could only be made by someone that is only scratching the surface of survivalism. Serious students know the reality. So, sure, I can shoot people rather than let them stress me. If I don’t get killed right away and can bring value to a post collapse group, perhaps I’ll own enough livestock to pick and choose a bedmate. Retirement will be simple- when I loose all my teeth and can’t eat jerky I won’t make it through the winter. Things will be simpler, I’ll get a pair of Biguns to sleep on, I can kill some idiots. But I also have to worry about disease and starvation. All in all, I’d rather have a minimum wage job and order books from Amazon and lead a boring life.
*
Looking forward to the collapse is not because it will be an improvement. It is because we know it is inevitable and so we try to look on the bright side of things. Boobs and guns. And you thought I was pessimistic and gloomy.
END
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
transporting organic
TRANSPORTING ORGANIC
Okay, today you get a token article. Tomorrow you get a short article. Friday you get another long guest article. Right now it looks like you are on your own for the weekend. Yesterday I limped into work on a slowly leaking tire, the Green Goo trying valiantly but failing to completely stop the leak. If I am right and the whole world is indeed out to get me ( because, after all, it is ALL about me ), I would swear someone is spiking the road. Here they are in a warm interior shooting down the road, and I’m the asshole for making them slow down to the speed limit and swerve around. Anyway, I had a Near Monday Day From Hell, compounded by knowing I would have to walk home afterwards. And when I just now took the bike down to the shop he was closed down tighter than a whore house the day before payday during a credit contraction. Hence, I don’t have the time for a whole lot of writing. If you’re smart you are already skipping out of work early to go visit family and could care less anyway.
*
First, just to warn you, this will be another whiney article on how wrong the slow collapse people are and how wonderful and correct I am. Hey, if you don’t like it suggest some different topics for me. And after a thousand articles you know what topics I cover. I’m not going to talk about crap I have no idea about. You already think I do that with the subject matter I do cover. The fact that recently farmers are adjusting to increased artificial fertilizer prices ( along with other costs ) by going organic ( millions of acres a year according to the Druid Dude in his latest book which I loved and will review shortly ) prompts more happy joy orgasmic optimism amongst the slow collapse crowd. Okay. Great. We are already transitioning to organic. This will be a needed step towards the solar economy that will grow up after PODA. But my question is this. Now that more and more farmers are getting more sustainable, how are they going to get all that to market? A few locations will be favored by the proximities of those farms, but our entire nation is dependent on crops grown far away. Our transportation system cannot be transformed. We lack the energy, the money, and the political will to do so. City cores are no longer ringed by a green belt of farmers. They are ringed by Yuppie suburbs full of SUV’s. Food comes from hundreds and thousands of miles away. In an energy decline, you don’t build up new infrastructure.
*
On an individual basis, the move to organic is relatively easy. As is the use of solar/wind/micro water. It is when you try to turn the nation to these sources that things fall apart. Too many people are in too many huge concentrations to grow organically and locally. With a huge project, perhaps a metro area could grow their own salads. But certainly not all their own food. And the surrounding land in poisoned and infertile from asphalt and lawns. There isn’t enough material they can import to transform the soil. Not quick enough anyway. Now, I’m talking about a collapse here. During a collapse, we see disruptions. One systematic failure after another. Negative feedback loops. We won’t have enough energy for long distance transport after a certain point. In the transition from global trade to local sustainability, a lot of people can’t get all the food they need. That isn’t as much of a slow collapse as it is a local die-off. Let’s look at it from another view. In ten years, the collapse of the Soviet Union saw life expectancies fall by decades. We all called that a slow collapse. Life went on for a lot of people. Yet, a lot of people died off from untreated health problems, increased diseases, alcoholism, etc. We are arguing semantics at this point, if you are more than likely to die from a fall from a First World to a Third World infrastructure rather than marauding bandits. For that matter, we don’t even look at ethnic massacres in Africa as a sudden collapse, or a die off. We just call it more of the same, the place going to hell. Perhaps the slow collapse crowd is right. Technically we won’t see a collapse. But it won’t matter to you because you are dead from street violence or an untreated heart condition.
*
I’m not trying to win an argument by changing definitions ( mainly it is sarcasm ). I still think in a very short period of time a very large number of people will die. And the biggest cause will be that while we still produce a lot of food, it won’t reach far away locations. Plan accordingly. Or just ignore me since I don’t garden organically.
END
Okay, today you get a token article. Tomorrow you get a short article. Friday you get another long guest article. Right now it looks like you are on your own for the weekend. Yesterday I limped into work on a slowly leaking tire, the Green Goo trying valiantly but failing to completely stop the leak. If I am right and the whole world is indeed out to get me ( because, after all, it is ALL about me ), I would swear someone is spiking the road. Here they are in a warm interior shooting down the road, and I’m the asshole for making them slow down to the speed limit and swerve around. Anyway, I had a Near Monday Day From Hell, compounded by knowing I would have to walk home afterwards. And when I just now took the bike down to the shop he was closed down tighter than a whore house the day before payday during a credit contraction. Hence, I don’t have the time for a whole lot of writing. If you’re smart you are already skipping out of work early to go visit family and could care less anyway.
*
First, just to warn you, this will be another whiney article on how wrong the slow collapse people are and how wonderful and correct I am. Hey, if you don’t like it suggest some different topics for me. And after a thousand articles you know what topics I cover. I’m not going to talk about crap I have no idea about. You already think I do that with the subject matter I do cover. The fact that recently farmers are adjusting to increased artificial fertilizer prices ( along with other costs ) by going organic ( millions of acres a year according to the Druid Dude in his latest book which I loved and will review shortly ) prompts more happy joy orgasmic optimism amongst the slow collapse crowd. Okay. Great. We are already transitioning to organic. This will be a needed step towards the solar economy that will grow up after PODA. But my question is this. Now that more and more farmers are getting more sustainable, how are they going to get all that to market? A few locations will be favored by the proximities of those farms, but our entire nation is dependent on crops grown far away. Our transportation system cannot be transformed. We lack the energy, the money, and the political will to do so. City cores are no longer ringed by a green belt of farmers. They are ringed by Yuppie suburbs full of SUV’s. Food comes from hundreds and thousands of miles away. In an energy decline, you don’t build up new infrastructure.
*
On an individual basis, the move to organic is relatively easy. As is the use of solar/wind/micro water. It is when you try to turn the nation to these sources that things fall apart. Too many people are in too many huge concentrations to grow organically and locally. With a huge project, perhaps a metro area could grow their own salads. But certainly not all their own food. And the surrounding land in poisoned and infertile from asphalt and lawns. There isn’t enough material they can import to transform the soil. Not quick enough anyway. Now, I’m talking about a collapse here. During a collapse, we see disruptions. One systematic failure after another. Negative feedback loops. We won’t have enough energy for long distance transport after a certain point. In the transition from global trade to local sustainability, a lot of people can’t get all the food they need. That isn’t as much of a slow collapse as it is a local die-off. Let’s look at it from another view. In ten years, the collapse of the Soviet Union saw life expectancies fall by decades. We all called that a slow collapse. Life went on for a lot of people. Yet, a lot of people died off from untreated health problems, increased diseases, alcoholism, etc. We are arguing semantics at this point, if you are more than likely to die from a fall from a First World to a Third World infrastructure rather than marauding bandits. For that matter, we don’t even look at ethnic massacres in Africa as a sudden collapse, or a die off. We just call it more of the same, the place going to hell. Perhaps the slow collapse crowd is right. Technically we won’t see a collapse. But it won’t matter to you because you are dead from street violence or an untreated heart condition.
*
I’m not trying to win an argument by changing definitions ( mainly it is sarcasm ). I still think in a very short period of time a very large number of people will die. And the biggest cause will be that while we still produce a lot of food, it won’t reach far away locations. Plan accordingly. Or just ignore me since I don’t garden organically.
END
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
stuck without a die-off
STUCK WITHOUT A DIE-OFF
To tie up a few loose ends before we start. The wheat buckets in Wal-Mart are in the food side, about half way down the aisles. I think the holiday isle but I could be wrong. It has a big banner, something preparedness. Sorry I can’t provide more info but when I shop it is early Saturday and I haven’t had my coffee yet. They carry other items, mostly in #10 cans. I don’t have any price comparisons to give you as a $20 can of freeze fried fruit is not in my budget ( vitamin C tabs and sprouts are ). I know how much wheat goes for in various forms and from different sources so that is why I shared that information. The other thing I did Saturday was to stop at Home Despot and got a few feet of rigid foam insulation. Two, 2x4 foot sections were about five bucks total. I yanked out the one layer of living room insulation and put them down along the couch and my reading chair. Much more effective in cutting down the cold from the floor. We’ve been having a steady stream of ten degree mornings and sitting for any period of time chills you eventually. The new ghetto insulation has been doing a bang up job so far. Lastly, I ordered two more LED bulbs from www.superbrightleds.com since I had a few extra bucks. I could have fleshed out the propane fund ( only half a tank for the whole month of usage so far ) but really have been worried about all the cloudy days. I even changed my NetFlix account from three at a time to one at a time DVD’s so I wouldn’t use as much juice. I was worried about using the 18 watt bulb in the bathroom. Now, I only need to use the LED’s. All my bulbs are now converted. I’ll most likely buy more as back-ups. The main reason I’m telling you is that this time it only took three days to deliver. So, if you use the cheapest $5 shipping, it could get there earlier than the $10 UPS or take twice as long. The post office has been more inconsistent than usual.
*
I know a lot of you are losing sleep, wondering why I’m so consumed with the question of if we will see a die off or a slow decline. I kept coming back to the subject the last year. At first it started as I was writing the Life After The Collapse book. I was looking for answers. Curiosity got the cat. It was a mental challenge. Then, it was because I was feeling combative and had to argue with other authors. Next it was pride over being ignored. But it suddenly hit me. It was a very important question for another reason. If I’m wrong, I’ve put myself in a rather precarious position. If we suffer a die-off, I increase my odds of survival at my present location. There are a lot less people trying to kill me. Tens of thousands rather than millions ( take your location and draw a two hundred mile circle around it- the average American with a surplus of body fat to eat off of can walk that before they get too hungry- and figure out how many people surround you ). If I’m wrong, I’m beyond the ass end of an energy decline supply chain.
*
As the supply of energy declines ( coal and natural gas will quickly follow oil as they are more rapidly consumed as a substitute for petroleum- Peak Coal 2030 and Peak Gas 2020 are holy optimist masturbatory fantasies ), vast stretches of area are going to be abandoned from the supply chain. Since we switched from canal and rail to interstate, once diesel goes, so goes groceries to the boonies. Our area has rail, but that is a frail lifeline with no guarantee of future service. Even if the peons are granted supplies, what is the cost going to be? I can justly fear a very short time where we are seeing Alaska/Hawaii style prices. By that time, corporate closures will have forced prices higher anyway as food chains go bankrupt. Inflation will have packed a wallop. Then, factor in downward pressure on wages as unemployment soars. The last price increase due to transport costs could make living here in the middle of nowhere too expensive for a lot of folks. Perhaps myself included. And that is just Depression effects, not from anything more serious. And from only the very basic survival costs such as food. Can we afford heat? Wouldn’t it be a bitch if we don’t see a collapse but I’m living off stored wheat and poached rabbit anyway?
END
I haven't bugged in for awhile to BUY MY CRAP!! www.bisonpress.com
To tie up a few loose ends before we start. The wheat buckets in Wal-Mart are in the food side, about half way down the aisles. I think the holiday isle but I could be wrong. It has a big banner, something preparedness. Sorry I can’t provide more info but when I shop it is early Saturday and I haven’t had my coffee yet. They carry other items, mostly in #10 cans. I don’t have any price comparisons to give you as a $20 can of freeze fried fruit is not in my budget ( vitamin C tabs and sprouts are ). I know how much wheat goes for in various forms and from different sources so that is why I shared that information. The other thing I did Saturday was to stop at Home Despot and got a few feet of rigid foam insulation. Two, 2x4 foot sections were about five bucks total. I yanked out the one layer of living room insulation and put them down along the couch and my reading chair. Much more effective in cutting down the cold from the floor. We’ve been having a steady stream of ten degree mornings and sitting for any period of time chills you eventually. The new ghetto insulation has been doing a bang up job so far. Lastly, I ordered two more LED bulbs from www.superbrightleds.com since I had a few extra bucks. I could have fleshed out the propane fund ( only half a tank for the whole month of usage so far ) but really have been worried about all the cloudy days. I even changed my NetFlix account from three at a time to one at a time DVD’s so I wouldn’t use as much juice. I was worried about using the 18 watt bulb in the bathroom. Now, I only need to use the LED’s. All my bulbs are now converted. I’ll most likely buy more as back-ups. The main reason I’m telling you is that this time it only took three days to deliver. So, if you use the cheapest $5 shipping, it could get there earlier than the $10 UPS or take twice as long. The post office has been more inconsistent than usual.
*
I know a lot of you are losing sleep, wondering why I’m so consumed with the question of if we will see a die off or a slow decline. I kept coming back to the subject the last year. At first it started as I was writing the Life After The Collapse book. I was looking for answers. Curiosity got the cat. It was a mental challenge. Then, it was because I was feeling combative and had to argue with other authors. Next it was pride over being ignored. But it suddenly hit me. It was a very important question for another reason. If I’m wrong, I’ve put myself in a rather precarious position. If we suffer a die-off, I increase my odds of survival at my present location. There are a lot less people trying to kill me. Tens of thousands rather than millions ( take your location and draw a two hundred mile circle around it- the average American with a surplus of body fat to eat off of can walk that before they get too hungry- and figure out how many people surround you ). If I’m wrong, I’m beyond the ass end of an energy decline supply chain.
*
As the supply of energy declines ( coal and natural gas will quickly follow oil as they are more rapidly consumed as a substitute for petroleum- Peak Coal 2030 and Peak Gas 2020 are holy optimist masturbatory fantasies ), vast stretches of area are going to be abandoned from the supply chain. Since we switched from canal and rail to interstate, once diesel goes, so goes groceries to the boonies. Our area has rail, but that is a frail lifeline with no guarantee of future service. Even if the peons are granted supplies, what is the cost going to be? I can justly fear a very short time where we are seeing Alaska/Hawaii style prices. By that time, corporate closures will have forced prices higher anyway as food chains go bankrupt. Inflation will have packed a wallop. Then, factor in downward pressure on wages as unemployment soars. The last price increase due to transport costs could make living here in the middle of nowhere too expensive for a lot of folks. Perhaps myself included. And that is just Depression effects, not from anything more serious. And from only the very basic survival costs such as food. Can we afford heat? Wouldn’t it be a bitch if we don’t see a collapse but I’m living off stored wheat and poached rabbit anyway?
END
I haven't bugged in for awhile to BUY MY CRAP!! www.bisonpress.com
Monday, November 23, 2009
wal-mart wheat
WAL-MART WHEAT
I know that most of you came into work today, a mixture of worry and anticipation clouding your Zen like state of corporate concentration, wondering how my weekend went. While, don’t worry about that just yet. You need to concentrate more on your job. You won’t have it too much longer, but you need to do all you can to keep it until they lock the doors. We are all capable of increased work performance because, let’s face the facts, our jobs are meaningless make-work of absolutely no redeeming value. Even if they used to be mostly about helping other people ( why you got into it in the first place ), the position/job/company/industry has been co-opted by the money people and corrupted. So, we do just enough to get by. My ratio has always been “10% better than the least of the idiots that did this prior to my arrival”. I’ve always been popular due to my productivity combined with low pay requirements. But even I’ve been able to increase my output. You can never have enough Brownie Points built up, because they attitude which used to be “we can replace you with a button” has now been replaced with “we can replace you with someone cheaper”. So, on behalf of all bankers and CEO’s out there that are under increasing pressure to pay off the swimming pool at the vacation home or buy another semester at an Ivy League school ( they have to keep the wife happy-imagine what their alimony payments would look like ), please work harder and work faster.
*
My weekend started out pretty normal. Cloudy and cold. It never seems to fail that all winter long my days off are usually miserable. But, no worries. Free coffee awaits at the Laundromat. Then, after we got home I got food poisoning and the day turned to hell. I don’t think I’ve been as sick since self induced alcohol poisoning decades ago. But, all of that is a mere footnote. A mere triviality. Because what did I see in Wal-Mart? A new preparedness section! Wal-Mart wheat is here!!! Wal-Mart wheat is here!!! Wal-Mart, which has gone to great lengths to hack me off over the last six months or so with cost increases, has partially redeemed itself by selling buckets of wheat. Oh, I’ve never stopped shopping there. Some items such as dry beans and vitamin C are no where near as cheap anywhere else. What made me so darn mad is that they were no longer the one stop shopping experience I had come to expect. I can buy eighty eight cent generic Saltines at Smiths, where Wal-Mart is $1.19. They are no longer the low price leader. They are in fact the Screw Jim Leader ( well, third place after the government and wife #2 ). Now I have to shop at nearly a half dozen places to keep all of my food prices low.
*
Let’s do the math. A super pail of wheat is $21. 45 pounds in a six gallon bucket. Fifty pounds of wheat at the feed store in my area is $15, and I doubt if I could find the bucket that cheap. Wal-Mart paint buckets are $6 for the five gallon size with lid. So it is actually cheaper to buy the wheat at Wal-Mart than put it together myself. Okay, there is no Mylar bag inside. But I’m sure the thing was put together under controlled conditions. I can’t see it being infested. And the wheat will be much cleaner than the feed store wheat, even if that is only a cosmetic concern. Now, let’s say I found used buckets for a buck and bought a new lid for it. Thirty cents a pound for the wheat, three buckets per hundred pounds ( assuming you found five gallon rather than six ). So thirty six cents a pound, or $16.20 for the same amount as the Wal-Mart pail. Now it is no longer a great deal. But if you can’t find used buckets, or there is not a feed store in a reasonable driving distance, then going with the Wally World wheat is a blessing. Certainly it is cheaper than buying through the mail. If you are comparing the cost of buying at, say, Walton, keep in mind the above cost. 36 cents a pound with used buckets and feed store wheat. 47 cents a pound at Wal-Mart.
*
While I am happy, and I did buy a bucket even though it played havoc with my dollar store budget ( which is okay, last week I got three large tubes of generic Shoe Goo for a buck each so skipping this week was tolerable ), it is still a shame considering the same wheat ten years ago. One third the price. Feed store wheat was $5 a sack ( and that was at the only one around for fifty miles and certainly overpriced ). And buckets were going begging for a buyer, there was so much slop going out of so many food joints. Of course, oil was a lot cheaper then, too. Wheat prices have consistently gone up the last ten years. As has everything else. Do not wait. Buy yours now. It will only get more expensive. And the same, more than likely, with ammunition. I think it has been long enough that we can’t just blame politics or production bottlenecks. At the price it is now commanding, any capacity lying idle should have already gone into increasing the supply. I think it is a permanent supply problem of its components. Or, just keep thinking happy thoughts and put off buying your preps. Let’s see how far that gets you.
END
I know that most of you came into work today, a mixture of worry and anticipation clouding your Zen like state of corporate concentration, wondering how my weekend went. While, don’t worry about that just yet. You need to concentrate more on your job. You won’t have it too much longer, but you need to do all you can to keep it until they lock the doors. We are all capable of increased work performance because, let’s face the facts, our jobs are meaningless make-work of absolutely no redeeming value. Even if they used to be mostly about helping other people ( why you got into it in the first place ), the position/job/company/industry has been co-opted by the money people and corrupted. So, we do just enough to get by. My ratio has always been “10% better than the least of the idiots that did this prior to my arrival”. I’ve always been popular due to my productivity combined with low pay requirements. But even I’ve been able to increase my output. You can never have enough Brownie Points built up, because they attitude which used to be “we can replace you with a button” has now been replaced with “we can replace you with someone cheaper”. So, on behalf of all bankers and CEO’s out there that are under increasing pressure to pay off the swimming pool at the vacation home or buy another semester at an Ivy League school ( they have to keep the wife happy-imagine what their alimony payments would look like ), please work harder and work faster.
*
My weekend started out pretty normal. Cloudy and cold. It never seems to fail that all winter long my days off are usually miserable. But, no worries. Free coffee awaits at the Laundromat. Then, after we got home I got food poisoning and the day turned to hell. I don’t think I’ve been as sick since self induced alcohol poisoning decades ago. But, all of that is a mere footnote. A mere triviality. Because what did I see in Wal-Mart? A new preparedness section! Wal-Mart wheat is here!!! Wal-Mart wheat is here!!! Wal-Mart, which has gone to great lengths to hack me off over the last six months or so with cost increases, has partially redeemed itself by selling buckets of wheat. Oh, I’ve never stopped shopping there. Some items such as dry beans and vitamin C are no where near as cheap anywhere else. What made me so darn mad is that they were no longer the one stop shopping experience I had come to expect. I can buy eighty eight cent generic Saltines at Smiths, where Wal-Mart is $1.19. They are no longer the low price leader. They are in fact the Screw Jim Leader ( well, third place after the government and wife #2 ). Now I have to shop at nearly a half dozen places to keep all of my food prices low.
*
Let’s do the math. A super pail of wheat is $21. 45 pounds in a six gallon bucket. Fifty pounds of wheat at the feed store in my area is $15, and I doubt if I could find the bucket that cheap. Wal-Mart paint buckets are $6 for the five gallon size with lid. So it is actually cheaper to buy the wheat at Wal-Mart than put it together myself. Okay, there is no Mylar bag inside. But I’m sure the thing was put together under controlled conditions. I can’t see it being infested. And the wheat will be much cleaner than the feed store wheat, even if that is only a cosmetic concern. Now, let’s say I found used buckets for a buck and bought a new lid for it. Thirty cents a pound for the wheat, three buckets per hundred pounds ( assuming you found five gallon rather than six ). So thirty six cents a pound, or $16.20 for the same amount as the Wal-Mart pail. Now it is no longer a great deal. But if you can’t find used buckets, or there is not a feed store in a reasonable driving distance, then going with the Wally World wheat is a blessing. Certainly it is cheaper than buying through the mail. If you are comparing the cost of buying at, say, Walton, keep in mind the above cost. 36 cents a pound with used buckets and feed store wheat. 47 cents a pound at Wal-Mart.
*
While I am happy, and I did buy a bucket even though it played havoc with my dollar store budget ( which is okay, last week I got three large tubes of generic Shoe Goo for a buck each so skipping this week was tolerable ), it is still a shame considering the same wheat ten years ago. One third the price. Feed store wheat was $5 a sack ( and that was at the only one around for fifty miles and certainly overpriced ). And buckets were going begging for a buyer, there was so much slop going out of so many food joints. Of course, oil was a lot cheaper then, too. Wheat prices have consistently gone up the last ten years. As has everything else. Do not wait. Buy yours now. It will only get more expensive. And the same, more than likely, with ammunition. I think it has been long enough that we can’t just blame politics or production bottlenecks. At the price it is now commanding, any capacity lying idle should have already gone into increasing the supply. I think it is a permanent supply problem of its components. Or, just keep thinking happy thoughts and put off buying your preps. Let’s see how far that gets you.
END
Sunday, November 22, 2009
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
Hello again, I've taken Jim up on his generous offer to publish another guest article from me! This was a "food for thought" post I published this week over at my website…
www.preppernation.com
_____________________________________________________
I digress, I wanted to share a story about my Aunt Jane with you today.
Aunt Jane is in her early sixties now and has been a widow for the last couple of years. She and Uncle Joe had been married for just shy of 40 years when he died of a heart attack suddenly. This was a shock but Aunt Jane always says she’s glad he didn’t suffer.
Aunt Jane had always been a stay at home mother and had never worked outside the home. Wait, I take that back she did do some part time work early in their marriage but nothing really to speak of! Her and Uncle Joe had lived in the same home on the outer edges of a small town, population 7-8000, for almost their entire married life. The house was a smaller 3 bedroom, 1 bath rambler with a detached garage out back. It sits on an acre of land. She still has her own well and septic system, even though the town has always intended to bring public utilities down her street, it hasn’t happen yet.
When Uncle Joe died, he left Aunt Jane a small life insurance policy. She explained to me that they had the home nearly paid off, I think she said less than 5 years to go on the mortgage. It was always their plan to have it paid before Uncle Joe retired… He never made it but he still took care of that for his widow. Aunt Jane used the insurance money to clear the mortgage note and make a few repairs that they had put off the last couple years, new roof, some fencing, etc. She said she still has a small nest egg, not much mind you but a little put away, just in case.
It was kind of expected in the family that Aunt Jane would need to go find a job somewhere to make ends meet, now that Uncle Joe was gone. She surprised everyone by continuing on much as if he was still around. She never lived in a showy way at all anyway but there is still things that have to be provided for, right?
Uncle Joe and Aunt Jane had a pretty large flower and vegetable garden, also some fruit trees here and there on the property. They had always had a flock of chickens running around the yard over the years as well, still do! We all knew she canned alot of her produce and spend a lot of time at the local farmers market on the weekends when it was open, which is about 8 months of the year in that town.
After her two children were grown and gone, it was kind of assumed that she had her booth at the market as a social outlet and hobby. I guess it was those things primarily but she had a clientele for her extra vegetables and eggs. She was handy with a needle too, she would sew items over the winter and then put them out at her stand during the months the market was open.
As I was pondering the way Aunt Jane was living and how some family members seemed to believe she was on the rim edge of poverty, I decided to take a drive over to see what she was up to…
This was over a month ago and the weather was still a bit warmer. I found her outside working on the small patch of green she still had cultivated in her garden area. When I arrived, I noticed the house looked like it was in good repair. I saw her chicken coop was still standing over in the corner beside the garage where I had remembered it always being located, chickens coming and going around the yard as if on their own schedule of activities.
She greeted me and we went inside the house to have that talk I had called about. The home was as warm and inviting as ever. Just about how I’m sure you can all imagine it being for yourselves, pictures of the family, grand kids, that sort of thing. The place seemed alot quieter than it used to but then again its just her there now. She poured us coffee and we got comfortable.
I started by asking how she was getting along without Uncle Joe and got the standard as good as can be expected, still miss him, that sort of thing. After just a few minutes I got down to business.
I started by asking her how she’s able to make ends meet without having a job? Did Uncle Joe leave her a pension that nobody knew about? It felt kind of funny to ask such personal financial questions but there was a bit of curiosity in the family. I should say a bit of concern, she is well loved and her children never really let on much on these details either…
She began by saying that she doesn’t really need much, you know, kind of humble. She explained that she has her garden and chickens, so she always has plenty to eat. I could see she wasn’t going to just give up her information. We have good OPSEC, in our family! I pushed her a little more and asked how she could afford to keep the lights on and gas in the car, that sort of expense is ongoing and can’t come from the garden out back?
As it turns out she is able to qualify for Uncle Joe’s social security now but is choosing to wait until she’s 65 to get a bigger monthly check. She explained that she doesn’t even need that money and can survive without it so it made sense to just wait a few more years. How can this be, I asked. She further explained that the only assistance she is on is for a medical program she qualified for when she turned 62. She said that she has a $100 payment each month for something to do with this but other than that she is on her own.
This sounded to good to be true? She went on to remind me about the apartment she rents out… Wait, what apartment? She explained that she and Uncle Joe had converted the detached garage to a “Mother-in-law” apartment years ago when they thought his mother would need to come and stay with them in her later years. They had never ended up using it for the intended purpose but it was there waiting, just in case! She said that the son of a friend from church had been renting it since shortly after Uncle Joe died. She said it just worked out fine, he pays her cash on the first of each month and is a quiet man. Uses the place as mostly just a place to sleep.
I asked her how much rent she is able to get? She explained that she started asking for $350 a month and that included the electric. They had upped the amount to $400 last year and both parties are content with the arrangement! Sounds like a good situation but that isn’t enough to pay the bills? She said she has her market stand that brings in some money too! Oh, alright, now the truth comes out – she must be a shrewd business woman… How much do you bring in at the stand, I asked? I waited as she went through some silent thought process in her head… She finally says that she can usually clear a $110-120 a weekend when the market is open!
This caught me off guard and I tried to quickly tally up what the number I had just heard meant in dollars and cents. $400 a month for the apartment came to $4800 a year. The market stand at $110 x 4 weeks a month, 8 months a year. his came to $3520 a year, staying on her low estimated figure. This only comes to $8320 annually, not exactly a living wage! I asked again if there is anything else she can count on for income, are your kids helping you? She said that she didn’t need any help and puts money in savings every month in case her kids need help from her! Whoops, I apologized for any offense.
It got quiet for a minute and then she said she watches dogs on occasion as well. Dogs, I said, what dogs? She explained that years ago her and Uncle Joe had a couple of dogs themselves and always enjoyed them. Word got around at church and from time to time friends would ask if they could watch their dogs over a weekend. They had that big fenced yard and all. She doesn’t remember how they had arrived at $10 dollars a day but it was half of what a local kennel charged and they didn’t mind the extra playmates around for their dogs to play with. It kinda became a habit and she still has 2 dogs that come from time to time. I asked what she might get on a regular basis from that? She thought may be 2-3 times in a month, so $30 bucks a month…
Now, we were getting somewhere, that added an extra… $360 per year. She claims that that’s it, nothing else but she’s doing just fine. Check my numbers if you want but that means she has only an annual income of $8680.00! I tried to convince her that there was no way a person could live on so little income!
She got out her checkbook and went through the columns for me to see if there was something she missed.
She read me these numbers -
$100 – power company, she has this cost averaged by the utility company
$100 – medical insurance payment, medicare/medicaid, I didn’t get it?
$67.50 – property tax, I helped her figure this out from her county statement
$33 – Insurance for the house
$39 – Auto insurance, I confirmed that this is only liability coverage
$81 – telephone, cable TV and internet package
$50 – gas for the car, we looked at 3 months worth of checks and averaged it…
$160 – grocery store, she said that $40 bucks a week is typical, it checked out…
She went through it a couple of times and said that there is the out of the ordinary cost from time to time but this is what she typically pays. She was quite proud of the fact she was able to have about a hundred dollars left at the end of the month as well! I’m proud of her too! I asked her if she had to pay any income taxes? She said that her friend the CPA had told her that the standard deduction was high enough and her income low enough that she didn’t need to pay any. OK with me!
I asked her what she was doing differently now that Uncle Joe was gone? She said that they didn’t really do it much different before but they put alot of money into paying off the mortgage whenever they could. She said that they would usually take a trip once a year but she hasn’t gone much of anyplace since she’s been on her own. Uncle Joe didn’t make a real large salary, worked for a small local company and didn’t have a pension. They had decided that they would have the house paid off and then they could both work on their projects and maybe he’d work some little part time job to help out after he retired.
She said that she spends as much time with the grand kids as she can but they’re getting older now too and not as interested in hanging out with granny, like they did when they were younger. Her children and their families both live in a larger town about 30 minutes away. She said that she sees one or the other of them almost weekly. As much as she misses Uncle Joe, she doesn’t feel alone. She has friends from town that she has know for nearly a lifetime and is active at her church still as well! I was repeatedly warned that I didn’t need to be worried about her!
I explained to her a little about the families concerns and how they were apparently unfounded, she was doing better than a few folks I could think of that had 2 paychecks coming in! I got her permission to talk about what she and I had disclosed… “It’s not exactly a secret”, she told me. I thanked her and got myself back on the road to home.
Over the next couple of weeks I pondered these figures often. $8680 annual income. Almost unbelievable, but it was all there to be examined. A woman in her 60’s, homeowner, living on her own and no paycheck? She has income from a couple of creative outlets and a small nest egg in the bank, with more going in slowly each month. Not bad, not bad at all! She said that she would take the social security check and it would be nice to see more money being put away for a rainy day but she could make it without any help! I have to agree…
Could any of us do this? What’s her secret? Is this possible because she’s a widow or an older woman? Is society going easy on her because she’s a little simple minded? I don’t think so, the family was even concerned that she might not be eating enough. She eats better food than the rest of us, she grows alot of it and has fresh eggs from her back yard. Her days are filled with activities that she enjoys and she still chooses what she wants to do each morning.
Is her standard of living lacking in some area I missed? Her house is older but not that old, I think it was built in the 50’s… Is she dressed in rags and living in her own filth? Hardly, she looked just like any other older woman that you might see working in her yard. So, what did it take for her to achieve this magic feat of living far below the poverty line?
Well, lets see, she owns her house free and clear! She’s creative and has productive hobbies! You did catch that she needs to make a whopping $110 dollar profit each weekend, 8 months out of the year. I bet anyone of you or I could find a way to come up with that same $110 per week. Maybe not at the farmers market but somehow… That’s only $3520 a year. Oh yeah, the shrewd old gal has that rental property, see she is way ahead of the rest of us now that we consider her real estate investment portfolio! Right, a 2 car detached garage converted over to a small apartment. Yeah, if you didn’t have that you would have to find some other creative way to come up with the $4800 in rent she collects…
Hello, anyone see what I’m getting at here. My “Poor” old Aunt Jane! So poor she lives better than many who work at jobs they hate 40 hours a week. Let’s not rock the boat and try to get our house paid off, just keep shoving the extra money into the company 401K and someday, unless we die first, we might be able to retire and do the same things “Poor” Aunt Jane gets to do everyday on that homestead she has!
Yep, that’s right this is another one of those thought exercises that I want you to mull over this week and see what your brain spits back out at ya! I bet you think of my ”Poor” Aunt Jane this week when your sitting in traffic waiting to get home from that job you work to keep the payments current on the new house, new cars and vacation fund full of dreams. You are going to take the family to Hawaii this year on your 2 week reprieve from reality, right.
All I ask is that you think it over and see who’s situation could best be described as “Poor”, I doubt you come to the conclusion that it’s my Aunt Jane’s!
Prepper
Hello again, I've taken Jim up on his generous offer to publish another guest article from me! This was a "food for thought" post I published this week over at my website…
www.preppernation.com
_____________________________________________________
I digress, I wanted to share a story about my Aunt Jane with you today.
Aunt Jane is in her early sixties now and has been a widow for the last couple of years. She and Uncle Joe had been married for just shy of 40 years when he died of a heart attack suddenly. This was a shock but Aunt Jane always says she’s glad he didn’t suffer.
Aunt Jane had always been a stay at home mother and had never worked outside the home. Wait, I take that back she did do some part time work early in their marriage but nothing really to speak of! Her and Uncle Joe had lived in the same home on the outer edges of a small town, population 7-8000, for almost their entire married life. The house was a smaller 3 bedroom, 1 bath rambler with a detached garage out back. It sits on an acre of land. She still has her own well and septic system, even though the town has always intended to bring public utilities down her street, it hasn’t happen yet.
When Uncle Joe died, he left Aunt Jane a small life insurance policy. She explained to me that they had the home nearly paid off, I think she said less than 5 years to go on the mortgage. It was always their plan to have it paid before Uncle Joe retired… He never made it but he still took care of that for his widow. Aunt Jane used the insurance money to clear the mortgage note and make a few repairs that they had put off the last couple years, new roof, some fencing, etc. She said she still has a small nest egg, not much mind you but a little put away, just in case.
It was kind of expected in the family that Aunt Jane would need to go find a job somewhere to make ends meet, now that Uncle Joe was gone. She surprised everyone by continuing on much as if he was still around. She never lived in a showy way at all anyway but there is still things that have to be provided for, right?
Uncle Joe and Aunt Jane had a pretty large flower and vegetable garden, also some fruit trees here and there on the property. They had always had a flock of chickens running around the yard over the years as well, still do! We all knew she canned alot of her produce and spend a lot of time at the local farmers market on the weekends when it was open, which is about 8 months of the year in that town.
After her two children were grown and gone, it was kind of assumed that she had her booth at the market as a social outlet and hobby. I guess it was those things primarily but she had a clientele for her extra vegetables and eggs. She was handy with a needle too, she would sew items over the winter and then put them out at her stand during the months the market was open.
As I was pondering the way Aunt Jane was living and how some family members seemed to believe she was on the rim edge of poverty, I decided to take a drive over to see what she was up to…
This was over a month ago and the weather was still a bit warmer. I found her outside working on the small patch of green she still had cultivated in her garden area. When I arrived, I noticed the house looked like it was in good repair. I saw her chicken coop was still standing over in the corner beside the garage where I had remembered it always being located, chickens coming and going around the yard as if on their own schedule of activities.
She greeted me and we went inside the house to have that talk I had called about. The home was as warm and inviting as ever. Just about how I’m sure you can all imagine it being for yourselves, pictures of the family, grand kids, that sort of thing. The place seemed alot quieter than it used to but then again its just her there now. She poured us coffee and we got comfortable.
I started by asking how she was getting along without Uncle Joe and got the standard as good as can be expected, still miss him, that sort of thing. After just a few minutes I got down to business.
I started by asking her how she’s able to make ends meet without having a job? Did Uncle Joe leave her a pension that nobody knew about? It felt kind of funny to ask such personal financial questions but there was a bit of curiosity in the family. I should say a bit of concern, she is well loved and her children never really let on much on these details either…
She began by saying that she doesn’t really need much, you know, kind of humble. She explained that she has her garden and chickens, so she always has plenty to eat. I could see she wasn’t going to just give up her information. We have good OPSEC, in our family! I pushed her a little more and asked how she could afford to keep the lights on and gas in the car, that sort of expense is ongoing and can’t come from the garden out back?
As it turns out she is able to qualify for Uncle Joe’s social security now but is choosing to wait until she’s 65 to get a bigger monthly check. She explained that she doesn’t even need that money and can survive without it so it made sense to just wait a few more years. How can this be, I asked. She further explained that the only assistance she is on is for a medical program she qualified for when she turned 62. She said that she has a $100 payment each month for something to do with this but other than that she is on her own.
This sounded to good to be true? She went on to remind me about the apartment she rents out… Wait, what apartment? She explained that she and Uncle Joe had converted the detached garage to a “Mother-in-law” apartment years ago when they thought his mother would need to come and stay with them in her later years. They had never ended up using it for the intended purpose but it was there waiting, just in case! She said that the son of a friend from church had been renting it since shortly after Uncle Joe died. She said it just worked out fine, he pays her cash on the first of each month and is a quiet man. Uses the place as mostly just a place to sleep.
I asked her how much rent she is able to get? She explained that she started asking for $350 a month and that included the electric. They had upped the amount to $400 last year and both parties are content with the arrangement! Sounds like a good situation but that isn’t enough to pay the bills? She said she has her market stand that brings in some money too! Oh, alright, now the truth comes out – she must be a shrewd business woman… How much do you bring in at the stand, I asked? I waited as she went through some silent thought process in her head… She finally says that she can usually clear a $110-120 a weekend when the market is open!
This caught me off guard and I tried to quickly tally up what the number I had just heard meant in dollars and cents. $400 a month for the apartment came to $4800 a year. The market stand at $110 x 4 weeks a month, 8 months a year. his came to $3520 a year, staying on her low estimated figure. This only comes to $8320 annually, not exactly a living wage! I asked again if there is anything else she can count on for income, are your kids helping you? She said that she didn’t need any help and puts money in savings every month in case her kids need help from her! Whoops, I apologized for any offense.
It got quiet for a minute and then she said she watches dogs on occasion as well. Dogs, I said, what dogs? She explained that years ago her and Uncle Joe had a couple of dogs themselves and always enjoyed them. Word got around at church and from time to time friends would ask if they could watch their dogs over a weekend. They had that big fenced yard and all. She doesn’t remember how they had arrived at $10 dollars a day but it was half of what a local kennel charged and they didn’t mind the extra playmates around for their dogs to play with. It kinda became a habit and she still has 2 dogs that come from time to time. I asked what she might get on a regular basis from that? She thought may be 2-3 times in a month, so $30 bucks a month…
Now, we were getting somewhere, that added an extra… $360 per year. She claims that that’s it, nothing else but she’s doing just fine. Check my numbers if you want but that means she has only an annual income of $8680.00! I tried to convince her that there was no way a person could live on so little income!
She got out her checkbook and went through the columns for me to see if there was something she missed.
She read me these numbers -
$100 – power company, she has this cost averaged by the utility company
$100 – medical insurance payment, medicare/medicaid, I didn’t get it?
$67.50 – property tax, I helped her figure this out from her county statement
$33 – Insurance for the house
$39 – Auto insurance, I confirmed that this is only liability coverage
$81 – telephone, cable TV and internet package
$50 – gas for the car, we looked at 3 months worth of checks and averaged it…
$160 – grocery store, she said that $40 bucks a week is typical, it checked out…
She went through it a couple of times and said that there is the out of the ordinary cost from time to time but this is what she typically pays. She was quite proud of the fact she was able to have about a hundred dollars left at the end of the month as well! I’m proud of her too! I asked her if she had to pay any income taxes? She said that her friend the CPA had told her that the standard deduction was high enough and her income low enough that she didn’t need to pay any. OK with me!
I asked her what she was doing differently now that Uncle Joe was gone? She said that they didn’t really do it much different before but they put alot of money into paying off the mortgage whenever they could. She said that they would usually take a trip once a year but she hasn’t gone much of anyplace since she’s been on her own. Uncle Joe didn’t make a real large salary, worked for a small local company and didn’t have a pension. They had decided that they would have the house paid off and then they could both work on their projects and maybe he’d work some little part time job to help out after he retired.
She said that she spends as much time with the grand kids as she can but they’re getting older now too and not as interested in hanging out with granny, like they did when they were younger. Her children and their families both live in a larger town about 30 minutes away. She said that she sees one or the other of them almost weekly. As much as she misses Uncle Joe, she doesn’t feel alone. She has friends from town that she has know for nearly a lifetime and is active at her church still as well! I was repeatedly warned that I didn’t need to be worried about her!
I explained to her a little about the families concerns and how they were apparently unfounded, she was doing better than a few folks I could think of that had 2 paychecks coming in! I got her permission to talk about what she and I had disclosed… “It’s not exactly a secret”, she told me. I thanked her and got myself back on the road to home.
Over the next couple of weeks I pondered these figures often. $8680 annual income. Almost unbelievable, but it was all there to be examined. A woman in her 60’s, homeowner, living on her own and no paycheck? She has income from a couple of creative outlets and a small nest egg in the bank, with more going in slowly each month. Not bad, not bad at all! She said that she would take the social security check and it would be nice to see more money being put away for a rainy day but she could make it without any help! I have to agree…
Could any of us do this? What’s her secret? Is this possible because she’s a widow or an older woman? Is society going easy on her because she’s a little simple minded? I don’t think so, the family was even concerned that she might not be eating enough. She eats better food than the rest of us, she grows alot of it and has fresh eggs from her back yard. Her days are filled with activities that she enjoys and she still chooses what she wants to do each morning.
Is her standard of living lacking in some area I missed? Her house is older but not that old, I think it was built in the 50’s… Is she dressed in rags and living in her own filth? Hardly, she looked just like any other older woman that you might see working in her yard. So, what did it take for her to achieve this magic feat of living far below the poverty line?
Well, lets see, she owns her house free and clear! She’s creative and has productive hobbies! You did catch that she needs to make a whopping $110 dollar profit each weekend, 8 months out of the year. I bet anyone of you or I could find a way to come up with that same $110 per week. Maybe not at the farmers market but somehow… That’s only $3520 a year. Oh yeah, the shrewd old gal has that rental property, see she is way ahead of the rest of us now that we consider her real estate investment portfolio! Right, a 2 car detached garage converted over to a small apartment. Yeah, if you didn’t have that you would have to find some other creative way to come up with the $4800 in rent she collects…
Hello, anyone see what I’m getting at here. My “Poor” old Aunt Jane! So poor she lives better than many who work at jobs they hate 40 hours a week. Let’s not rock the boat and try to get our house paid off, just keep shoving the extra money into the company 401K and someday, unless we die first, we might be able to retire and do the same things “Poor” Aunt Jane gets to do everyday on that homestead she has!
Yep, that’s right this is another one of those thought exercises that I want you to mull over this week and see what your brain spits back out at ya! I bet you think of my ”Poor” Aunt Jane this week when your sitting in traffic waiting to get home from that job you work to keep the payments current on the new house, new cars and vacation fund full of dreams. You are going to take the family to Hawaii this year on your 2 week reprieve from reality, right.
All I ask is that you think it over and see who’s situation could best be described as “Poor”, I doubt you come to the conclusion that it’s my Aunt Jane’s!
Prepper
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
