R.E.A.L. Survivability

Getting Buzzed in the New Year

2011-01-06T20:42:00.004-05:00

If I hadn't already been on every federal watch list before, then my latest online search made certain of my place. I mean that if searching for Russian Nuc's for sale on craigslist doesn't light up some Homeland Security computer, then nothing will.

If you followed the right link and didn't get lost down the rabbit hole, you would realize that I'm finally getting started in apiculture. According to UPS, my first hive will arrive tomorrow and by May or April, I will need some bees to call it home. A nuc hive seamed the best way for a beginner to get off to a good start. Wish me luck!

REAL

Part of the "Problem"

2010-12-16T05:06:00.002-05:00

"Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists." - The Uses of Diversity, 1921 - G.K. Chesterton

If you are waiting for the so-called "recovery" to bring jobs your way, I would advise against holding your breath. Let me list a few thoughts to ponder.

Inflation - Forget the "official" rate, its a lie and a joke. Rising commodity costs combined with a reduction in shipping indicate that inflation rather than demand is causing prices to rise. The continues to devalue the dollar in an effort to increase exports, unfortunately most of the basic machine tool equipment is priced in the Yen or the Euro. Yep, a lot of the items we need to grow industry cost more. It's not as bad if your job description includes saying "You want fries with that", but the type of post-WWII prosperity requires manufacturing and that requires capital. Capital that we buy in non-dollars and pay for with less valuable dollars.

A jobless recovery is a oxymoron and anyone touting this as a good thing evidently doesn't work for a living. This is a large corporate view point. Warren Buffet and Chinamar t both are doing fine in this so-called recovery, but I bet you are not. Large companies automate rather than hire people, a lot of jobs disappeared to robots and computers and they aren't coming back. The company I work for would rather spend a half-million dollars on robots then hire more people, so I know what I'm talking about.

There is more to this thought, but it's snowing and I have to head out, so maybe later.

R.E.A.L

The "Ben Bernank" Cartoon Video

2010-11-17T19:20:00.001-05:00

This explains a lot. Enjoy this carton that was on Gary North's web site

Getting My Fix

2010-01-20T21:25:00.006-05:00

It's not that I'm a gun nut, rather I'm an engineer needing a tool fix. And contrary to some peoples opinion, a gun is just another tool. No magic voodoo changes this collection of steel and composite from a tool to some evil phallic symbol that corrupts the mind and changes a peaceful, law-abiding person into a ravening mass murderer. If you can't grasp that concept, please go back to playing with your yourself and let the adults get back to their discussion.

I'm going through trying to buy a house right now, driving 900 miles every weekend, and working 50 to 60 hours, and moving out of an apartment. I tell you that so that you might understand that my posting is going to be a bit sporadic for a while. Sorry, but real life has to take precedence over blogging.

Part of that real life involves setting up a water filter system and as soon as I have the actual experience under my belt, I'll pass it on. I will also be building a lightweight, high volume, and portable water filter for under $70. As always, I want to get that actual experience in hand before telling you how to do something. As I always say, "Reality is the ultimate test of any theory." Till then hang tight and keep your powder dry.

R.E.A.L.

Even a Manic-Depressive has His Up Days

2010-01-06T21:48:00.004-05:00

I know that I'm supposed to be all doom and gloom, but even a manic-depressive has his up days. This is one of my better days. In fact, it's been nothing short of incredibly good. My personal experience with corporate America has always been less than pleasant, so I've come to expect the worse and I've rarely been disappointed.

This year started off with me losing my job of eight years. I've always worked hard and had never been fired or laid-off. Until April 3, the longest that I had been unemployed in the past 15 years was 4 days. Financially it wasn't too bad because I never carried more debt than was in my bank account. Between my food storage and gardening, there was never any doubt about being able to put food on the table. I don't have a problem buying used and haggling about prices is fun, so I was OK money wise. The problem was emotional. Why me and those fucking bastards were two very common thoughts.

As the saying goes, " living well is the best revenge", and this is very true. I ended up getting a contract engineering job one state over. It paid enough to make having and apartment and driving 850 miles every weekend worthwhile. Still I am 425 miles from my wife and son and only get to see them on the weekend. Sucks, but a man does what he has to in order to take care of his family.

Well, today I got a permanent offer from the company I was working for. I went into the meeting to review my offer expecting to get a low offer. I mean they were paying me "X" with no benefits, so I assumed that I would get a lower number with benefits and at best it wold balance out. Imagine my surprise when the offers was significantly larger. When I say significantly larger, I mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% more than I was making.

I signed the offer before they could change their mind.

R.E.A.L. happy

New Decade, Same Idiots

2010-01-01T09:48:00.004-05:00

At the start of a new year, I have less reason for optimism for this country. The lesson of the last decade was to never underestimate the damage a heard of thundering idiots can cause. Wars for empire, bailouts for billionaires, stratospheric debt, and now government run health insurance.

Enough! I've burnt out my outrage and there is nothing left but apathy as far as what is happening to this country. I'll still vote, but it's past time when I'll worry if it will do any good. I'm going to dig in deeper, do more to shelter my family from the shit storm that surrounds us. With that in mind, here is a list of my new years resolutions.

1. Become a better secret squirrel - I'm moving to another state and changed jobs. This gives me a chance to undo some of the mistakes I've made as far as keeping my preps secret. I made the mistake of letting people I worked with know about this blog and many of the preps I made. Not this time. As far as the people I work with goes, I'm just another Joe Consumer living in la la-land.

I'll keep blogging, because there is not much I can do about Big Brother watching me now. Nothing on the Internet is private, and the damage is already done. What I won't do is allow people in my local area know what I'm doing. If I ever need my emergency supplies, those will be the greatest danger.

2. Loose weight and get in shape - I've really let my self go these past 6 months. Living in an apartment and falling into that work-couch potato cycle has been hard on me. I've gained fat and lost muscle to an alarming degree. As I near 40, my body goes to hell rather quickly now and I've got to get the decent under control. But more than losing weight, I've got to build up muscle tone and improve my overall fitness.

It takes more than a low-whatever diet and exercise to reach this goal. I've got to make changes that help me to stay on track. One of the first things is to get out of that apartment. I am working on that as we speak. Found a nice place out in the country that needs work, for a price I could afford. Hopefully, I can close by Feb. 1 and since it's a foreclosure, there is no shortage of work to do. You can expect me to blog a lot more about this in the future.

The second is motivation. Seven years ago I quit smoking and one very valuable lesson I learned form that is that no one can do it for you and you have to want to do it for yourself. No amount of bitching or preaching by others will work, it has to be something you decide to do for yourself. I reached that point when I realised I couldn't manage a 10 mile hike without feeling like I was dieing. I feel the same way about my physical shape now.

3. Learn new skills - I have a short list of three new skills that I'm determined to start learning in the upcoming year. Bee keeping, a martial art, and masonry. I can do a little bit of each of these right now, the goal is to become more proficient than the average person. Mastering these skills will take years, but for now it's time to start focusing on improving.

I'll finish up by wishing you and yours a happy and prosperous new year. 2010 and beyond looks like we will all be living in "interesting times" as the old adage goes, so take care of yourself, cause no one else is going to do it for you.

R.E.A.L.

Go Help Someone Else

2009-12-06T07:47:00.004-05:00

Part of why I started this blog is to record my mistakes. I know that most people don't like to be reminded of their errors, but learning from your mistakes when they are minor, is the key to avoiding major ones later on. So here goes.

I of all people with my anti-government and libertarian beliefs should know better than to trust any of my money to a government program, and that failure on my part just cost me $900. When I was with my previous employer, I had been using a Medical Savings Accounts program to save money for deductibles and other medical expenses that were not covered by my insurance. It seemed like a smart play at the time. I knew it was a use it or lose it proposition, so I didn't put any more into it that I though I would need.

Up till this point everything is fine. Then, back in April, I lost my job. That's when I found that I could not turn any expenses in after April 3, my last working day at Flowserve. Before April, I didn't have much, after April, I had several thousands in medical expenses. More than enough to get reimbursed the full $900 I had put into it. Short of committing fraud, I now have no way of getting that money back now.

Well, paint my face red and spank my but I'll not make that mistake again! I'm not talking about just MSAs, but anything were the government wants to "help" me out by holding my money for a while. No MSAs, 401ks, IRAs, and as much as I can manage it, no income tax refunds. I can't get away from paying taxes, but I'll minimize how much they withhold from my check.

With the national debt rising faster than even the printing presses can keep up with, I'll not trust anymore of my hard earned money to Uncle Sam then I have to. It's an awful lot like trusting your wallet to a meth head. Nothing good is going to come of it.

I can save money on my own, thank you very much. Go "help" someone else.

R.E.A.L.

FREDS

2009-10-11T18:42:00.005-05:00

All around the cobbler's house,
The monkey chased the people.
And after them in double haste,
Pop! goes the weasel

I just couldn't resist.

I ran across this article and the only though that came to mind was "what a FREDS (Fucking Retarded Explosive Delivery System)."

We are supposed to be afraid of people dumb enough to
1. Shove a bomb up their ass and
2. Use a bomb only powerful enough to to kill themselves.

Can we repeal the PATRIOT ACT now?

R.E.A.L.

C-A-T = CAT

2009-10-10T14:03:00.005-06:00

I'm a capitalist. For the uneducated that means I believe in the free exchange of goods and services. In today's world, that generally means exchanging money for stuff I want. I'm not going to get into why our currency needs to be backed by a tangible asset, that's for another day. Today I'm just dealing with the C-A-T is CAT definition of capitalism. It's a simple equation, a buyer on one side and a seller on the other with both sides agreeing on the exchange without force or fraud. Until the exchange happens, both sides are free to walk away.

It's a straight forward system that has proven itself over time. I know of no other economic system that works better in real life. Oh yeah, I know there are a lot of Utopian ideas out there, but none of them work better in real life. You want to get all hopey-changey on me, show me where your system is actually working outside of your head.

Now, if you want to compare your pet theory to our current system, you need to understand one thing. Our current system has been extremely successful despite the force and fraud interjected by our government. Taxes are a great example of both force and fraud. Try not paying your taxes if you don't believe that the Government uses force. If you try that, all I can say is "don't drop the soap." As far as the fraud goes, why do think that the tax code went from 400 pages in 1913 to 54,846 by 2003. It's hard to pull the wool over peoples eyes if they could actually read and understand the rules. Any tax that is designed to do anything other than raise income, is fraud and corruption. It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the goal, it's still fraud.

Now that you have read my lecture, here is a cartoon from the Scotland Press that I wanted to share.

R.E.A.L.

400 Miles of Boredom (revised )

2009-08-23T18:42:00.003-06:00

The new reality for me is that I'm 400 miles away from where I want to be. That's how far I had to travel to find a good paying job. Now I spend the week working in Mebane, NC through the week and fourteen hours driving on the weekend just to spend a day with my family. It's a contract job, so my wife and son stays at our house in Tennessee. We don't want to take on a mortgage until I'm an actual employee of the company I'm working for. That's just the facts. I'm a husband, a father, and a man. That means I do what I have to do to take care of my family. If I got to explain it, you wouldn't understand.

I normally don't edit my posts after I publish. I'll make an exception to this due to how far afield I strayed and apply the delete key.

REAL

Obamanomics Explained

2009-07-09T15:51:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine sent me the following, I hope you enjoy and understand.

R.E.A.L.

If somebody is unable to understand THIS explanation, I have serious doubts about their ability to even function in society, much less run our country!

As the late Adrian Rogers said, "you cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Professor is a Genius

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before,
but had once failed an entire class.

--------------------------------------------

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK,
we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D!
No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering,
blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Long Distance Survival

2009-06-28T03:31:00.002-06:00

Strangely enough, I'm not talking about my usual survival topics today. My focus has always been prepping to survive at my home in Tennessee, the hold'em off till the crops come in outlook. A long term outlook. I have a bug out bag, but had planned to supplement it from caches hidden on the farm. That was nice and I hope to get back to that some day, but changing circumstances have forced a change of plans.

Back in April, the company I worked for eliminated my position. I don't have to tell most people that this is not a good time to be out job hunting, but thankfully I didn't have much debt to burden me. I started planning for the long haul expecting to be unemployed for quite some time, but after 3 months I'm back in the rat race. More on that later.

I declared a ceasefire and truce with the inlaws. This helped to ease my wife's stress level and allowed me to work with them. I helped them plant twelve 120 ft. rows of pole beans and nine more of bush beans. At $22 for a 5 gallon bucket, it's more profitable over the whole season than corn for the given area used. I also started reselling furniture and other stuff. The deal was simple in concept. Go to auctions, yard sales, and estate sales, buy furniture and anything else I thought I could turn a profit on, clean it up and resale it using adds on GoLSN. Cash flow sucked, but the profit was great. I was doing pretty good at it, making about $200 cash profit per week to go along with $300 in unemployment. Yep, that's against the rules and breaks a few laws, but until uncle Sam goes back to the constitution, screw'em.

That's when I landed my new job. It's 400 miles away from home in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. I have to admit that the pay is very good, more than enough to cover the added taxes and increased cost of living in the area. One of the many changes to my mindset is that the modicum of trust that I had in my employer has been washed away, so I'm not going to move there permanently just yet. I'm going to be renting an apartment and driving back to Tn to be with my family as much as possible. Oh eventually I'll either buy a place and move them down or say to hell with this and move back, but right now I don't want to uproot them until we are sure that this is the right move to make. Welcome to the NEW ECONOMY .

So now I'm working on a G.O.O.D. plan that covers traveling over 400 miles if I stick to I-40, or a lot more if I have to detour. It's a daunting task and I've just got started. Baby steps first. I'm working on a basic kit to deal with basic auto emergencies, one for dealing with a Mad Max situation will come later. First is basic tools to cover the repairs I can do on the road and some spare parts like belts and fuses. Things to get me back going if there are simple problems. If the problems are not simple, well I have a few items to help hold me over. A serious medical kit, sleeping bag, a gallon of water and water purification tabs, fire starters, a couple of MRE's and a case of Ensure, and my .45 with an extra box of ammo. Throw in the knives that I normally carry and that should take care of me in most situations short of TEOWAWKI.

That's what I could throw together in a short period of time. I'll add to it and make changes as I go along. I can't help but think I'm still more prepared than most, but that's not saying much.

R.E.A.L.

If you can't go out, go up.

2009-05-12T17:21:00.004-06:00

To start off with, I would like to thank Dave and Maggie for the garden seeds they sent me back in March. The dry-shell beans and the Indian corn in particular was very nice. I reserved space in my raised beds for those just to make sure I could give them all the best and have plenty of seed for next year.

I hope that you like what I sent back. The red-seeded asparagus beans are great in stir-fry and I'm guessing that the Loofah that you sent me was the "dishcloth" variety, so I sent you some Thia Angled. Anyway, enjoy and god bless.

My pink-slip vacation has lead me to run out of garden space. Well, at least for every thing I started. Lets just say that this fall there shouldn't be any shortage of tomatoes or peppers or squash or .... well you get the picture.

So here I was with a bunch of extra tomato plants and my garden was full. Well the only thing to do was to go up and into containers. I got inspired by my brother growing tomatoes upside down in buckets, so I thought I would try it myself. In addition to that, I'm filling any every container with dirt. I only need room for 35 more pepper plants. It's a great problem to have.

R.E.A.L.

Wild Turkey Tonight

2009-05-04T19:02:00.003-06:00

I really meant to write a post on gardening, but I just lacked the motivation to get out in the rain and take pictures. So you can expect that post as soon as the sun returns.

The only remarkable thing that has happened today is that I was given a wild turkey. Not the liquid kind, although that would be welcome. An actual turkey that my father-in-law shot today. He's squeamish and didn't want anything to do with it beyond the killing. I on the other hand have no trouble at all with fresh killed meat.

I had never dressed a turkey before, but I treated it just like a big chicken and it seemed to work out all right. It's in the fridge, soaking in a brine solution of salt, whole peppercorns, and candided ginger as we speak.

Tomorrow it's deep fried turkey and mashed potatoes for supper.

R.E.A.L.

GoLSN got bitched by Google

2009-05-02T08:43:00.004-06:00

I thought that today I would talk about gardening or short term survival instead of going off on a rant. I honestly intended to until, I ran across this bit of info when checking on some items I had listed for sale with GoLSN ( a local swap and shop type site ). It turns out that they have been EBayed.

4-29-2009: We regret to inform our users that the "Firearms" category has been removed from LSN to comply with Google Advertising policies. read more

We understand this will displease a portion of the LSN community. Realize this action was absolutely required to maintain LSN operating revenue. The Local Sales Network is a FREE service; the majority of financial support is earned through our 3rd party [banner advertisers].

As a result, you may no longer place any Ads in any category advertising the sale of guns, rifles, firearms, ammo, or promoting any website that advocate the sale of the above.

Gun enthusiasts, contact us for important info.

Thank you for your continued support, LSN is proud to serve your community!

I wonder if saying "Fuck Google" will get me kicked off of Blogger? Or maybe this instead?

I have an old Winchester single shot 20 Ga. shotgun an a box of ammo for sale, no paperwork involved for Tennessee residents. $125 is my rock bottom price, any less and I would just as soon keep it. Pickup in Cookeville, Tn area only. If you are interested leave me a message in the comments section with a way to contact you and I'll send pictures or answer questions.

If it stops raining, I'll go out and take some pictures of my gardens for a post tomorrow. I'll also tell you about the help I got from my two friends in Georgia, Dave and Maggie, and the motivation that I got from my brother.

R.E.A.L.

Going the Distance

2009-04-18T07:22:00.004-06:00

After being downsized from work, I spent a couple of days getting everything back under control and starting the Job search thing. I have an interview coming up Monday, so it's not all gloom and doom on the financial front. In fact if this job works out, I'll stand to be making a lot more money than I was at my last job.

I will have to move out of state and that means I'll be paying state income taxes again, higher cost of living, being close to a major nuclear bulls eye and within range of hurricanes. But sometimes those are the prices you pay to make sure your family doesn't do without. More on that later, assuming that the interview goes well.

I went to my local Tea Party rally on the 15th. Did you? I don't expect it to have done much good, but if I'm going to to be considered a radical because I believe in the second amendment, less government and fewer taxes and because I vote for third party candidates that actually support the constitution, I might as well go the distance. We are all losing our liberty anyway, might as well bitch about it while you still can.

Speaking of rights and freedoms, I've started exercising one of mine. I've started practicing open-carry here on the farm. The Constitution IS my carry permit. If that makes you nervous or afraid, then stay away.

One of the greatest dangers to freedom in this country are people who don't have guns. These are the people that put their lives in the hands of the government and expect it to protect them. It doesn't take long before they start saying "there ought to be a law against" what ever they don't like. The next thing you know, you are a criminal because you don't want to depend on others for you safety. To all of the sheeple out there I say "Fuck You and the horse you rode in on", and to those bunch of lying cocksuckers known as Congress, "I'm Pissed and I Vote." Pray that you never fuck with that cause it wouldn't be pretty.

R.E.A.L.

Going into Survival Mode

2009-04-03T18:40:00.002-06:00

I guess I'm not as unique as I thought. As of today, I'm one of the 13.5 million unemployed.

It's not fun. It's not easy.

I'm trying to take a shit happens approach to the whole thing, but it's a lot easier to do that when you are single and don't have kids.

As soon as I get my head screwed back on straight, I'll write some more.

R.E.A.L. into survival mode.

Bring on the Apocalypse

2009-03-23T08:00:00.007-06:00

I normally avoid government conspiracy theories because they usually require a level of competency that our government just can’t seem to reach. However, I will make an exception in this case and share one that I thought of yesterday.

Senator Dodd receives a call from the Treasury Dept. asking him to water down a provision in the “stimulus” plan that would limit bonuses going to recipients of bailout money. I can imagine the call going something like this.

TREASURY: “ Senator, we need you to make some changes to the bill that would allow AIG to pay out bonuses, phrase it however you need to.

SENATOR DODD: That’s going to piss off a lot of my voters when they find out. You sure you want that?

TREASURY: Relax, if Murtha can flat out call his people rednecks and racists right before the election and get re-elected, you got nothing to worry about from this. Besides, we got a hundred grand from them [AIG] and they expect something back. It’ll be fine, just do it.

Fast forward to the present. The press starts squawking about the AIG bonuses and everybody is outraged at $163 million. While you we were all distracted by that, nobody was screaming about the 1.2 TRILLION dollars that was printed in one day. A trillion dollars added to the money supply in one day. I don’t know by how much that reduced the value of the dollar, but I do know that the Laws of Supply and Demand still work. The more dollars produced, the less the demand (value) of each individual dollar. So increasing the money supply is a classic prescription for inflation, and this was a big increase.

The reason I go ballistic about inflation is that it is in effect a hidden tax. If you are like me and need a paycheck to pay the bills, this is extra hard. If I was a trust-fund baby, then I could shift my money to TIPS or gold and ride the inflation out. I’m not, so every dollar I get is going to be worth less.

But it doesn’t stop there. In amongst the outrage over AIG, congress has passed a retroactive, punitive tax aimed at a small group of people. Notice the way I wrote that last phrase. I’m probably more pissed at AIG than most people, but the solution should not be a punitive tax aimed at a small group of people. That is a very dangerous path to take. It would be far better to just shoot the bastards, in this case I’m talking about AIG although I would be willing to include congress, that to do what congress is trying to do. The important question is “who’s next” ; gun owners, market gardeners, the Amish, people who call “congressmen a bunch of cock sucking leaches” on their blog? You see how dangerous that could be.

Not to let a bad situation go to waste, the man that signed the stimulus bill that allowed the AIG bonuses wants to have oversight over executive pay of all publicly traded companies, not just those that are taking taxpayer money. If you don’t think that wouldn’t be the same as giving the government a veto over any corporate decision, then I recommend that you learn a little about human nature. If I was a CEO and my income was subject to government “oversight”, I damn sure wouldn’t want to piss them off and it would be very important to contribute the maximum to their campaign coffers. The Mafia are pikers compared to the government when it comes to "protection" rackets

We are giving control of our economy to a group of people that couldn’t make a profit running a business selling pussy and whiskey. As a country we have went from sheeple to lemmings and the cliff is just ahead. I’ve finally reached the point of FUCK IT ALL, I hope the ship sinks and the economy crashes. I’ll take my chances with the chaos if it means that the government is destroyed in the process. I can’t see anyway that our two party system will ever return to a system of more liberty and that same two party system will keep the deck stacked against any third party. So yeah, bring on the apocalypse.

R.E.A.L.

Living on "New Math"

2009-02-22T09:46:00.004-05:00

I wanted to hang the last President when they purposed TARP at a tune on $700 Billion. Veins popped out on my forehead when congress kicked it up over $800 Billion with added pork to buy votes. I won't even describe the physical reaction I had when they passed the $789 Billion 'Porkzilla." You might be eating while reading this and I don't want to cause you to throw up. At that point I really lost track.

The numbers are racking up faster than I can keep up with, so I just resigned my self to hunkering down and watching the economic disaster, beyond the one we now have, that is heading our way. I'm just going to try and keep my family ok, while the rest of the country goes to hell in a hand basket. That's about all I can do.

Raise a bigger garden, arrange our fiances so that we can make it on my wife's income in case I lose my job. I work in a factory, she is a nurse, so I'm betting that her job is the most secure one. Keep increasing my emergency stores while I can and save a little cash if at all possible. Standard survivalist stuff.

Then just as I get my emotional calmness in place. I read this piece. It seams that Obama is going to be financially responsible by reducing the deficit to $533 billion in four years. Excuse me, wasn't the deficit smaller than that before we decide to subsidize failure, banks, automakers, and irresponsible home buyers. I'm sure that list will grow as others step up to the trough.

You just got to love that "New Math" they are using. I'll make things better by reducing the rate that I increase the debt.

R.E.A.L.

Let's Do An Experiment

2009-02-16T09:03:00.003-05:00

It's important to test your assumptions from time to time. It could be that my natural aversion to liberal, statist, enviro-weenie thugs like Al Gore clouds my decision making process when it come to "Global Warming." I'm willing to admit that that is a possibility. OK, lets do an experiment.

1.Take 1 large jar and fill 2/3 of the way to the top with a salt brine.

2. Place ice cubes in the jar until the water level is just to the top of the rim. The ice floats above the rim by the way, when you do this.

3. Let set until all the ice melts and observe the results.

What happened? The water level dropped when the ice melted.

Now tell me again how when the Polar Ice Pack melts, the oceans will rise. You can argue that my model is too simplistic and that the global climate is to complex to be measure by a lab experiment. You can then explain what scientific method you are using to determine that I'm wrong.

Hey I just want someone to explain to me how solar output is not the major factor in determining the Earths temperature. I need a good laugh right now.

I have lots of reasons to want to conserve natures beauty. I firmly believe that we must work to reach a sustainable lifestyle, but I'm just not willing to pay the human price to reach some Sylvan Paradise that the "environmentalist" want. That's six billion of us dead by the way.

I've had my fill of liberal fools who want me to pay the price for their ideas.

R.E.A.L.

Gun Fever Was Actualy Pneumonia

2009-02-09T04:37:00.004-05:00

I thought I had gun fever, but it turned out to be pneumonia instead. I found a decent deal on a new Springfield XD45, so I stretched my budge a lot and plunked down $561 for it at a Gun Show. I'm pleased with the gun on several levels, but it didn't solve my problem. By the time I finaly got home the predisone and Mucenex had run down and I went from feeling fine to flat on my back unable to breathe with out a burning in my chest. I'm going to continue to self medicate (predisone, clyndimicin, and expectorants) for a couple more days just to see if I can avoid the trip to the doctor.

R.E.A.L.

A Good Investment

2009-01-27T12:37:00.007-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I had been canning everything I could. That's true and if you have been reading my stuff all along, you know that I'm big on home canning. Well I've now taken that big thing to new heights. I got on Greedbay and purchased "the Big Kahuna", a 41qt. pressure canner. Technically it's a portable autoclave by D.A. Kadan, but don't let that fool you. The only difference I can tell between it and the All-American 941 pressure canner is two manual vents instead of a single weight.

My test run with it used a batch of 19 quarts of beef stew. From the picture you can see that I used two burners on a glass top stove, which is a no-no according to the stove manufacture. The weight of the canner is supposed to be too much for the glass top. I've never had any problems canning on a glass top stove, but your mileage may vary.
Since it has manual steam vents rather than a weight, you have to be very careful to completely vent the canner one time when it first reaches pressure. Supposedly, this allows the entire volume to reach the temperature of the steam, IE no cool spots in the top of the canner. Not something that I get wound up about with a weighted release valve, but with the manual, I could see how it could be a real issue.

The second thing is that it is a MANUAL steam release. If you don't relieve the pressure when it gets too high, there is a real danger of turning the canner into a bomb. The nice thing is that you can order the parts to convert it from manual to automatic. I just haven't wanted to part with the extra cash just yet to do that.

The long and the short of it is that instead of it taking me 6+ hours to can that batch of stew, I only needed just under two hours. I'll call that a good investment.

R.E.A.L.

A Mundane Post

2009-01-26T11:04:00.003-05:00

Although I have been flying my flag at half staff since the 20th, I haven't been in hiding from the "Obama thugs" as one person put it. The day I run and hide from a bunch of liberals, is the day I check my balls and my pistol in at the door.

The truth of my long absence from blogging is much more mundane. I have been selling everything I can think to sell, canning everything I can, and reloading a lot of ammo. This blog which makes me no money, and does nothing to make me more secure, has been a real low priority. That's all. The why and how of it all is for future posts.

R.E.A.L.

My Type

2008-11-26T11:17:00.003-05:00

A rare second post today.

I just ran across a site that analyse a blog to determine the authors personality.

My result:

INTJ - The Scientists

The long-range thinking and individualistic type.
They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it - often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be pshysically hesitant to try new things. The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they often have a problem communcating their visions to other people and need to learn patience and use concrete examples. Since they are extremly good at concentrating they often have no trouble working alone.

Not to bad and I think my wife would agree. BTW, I plugged a few others sites in as well. Maggie, if you read this post, check out Dave's result. In particular, scroll down to the chart at the bottom and compare it to yours.

R.E.A.L.

Killing Norman one Turkey at a Time

2008-11-26T08:58:00.009-05:00

I'm not a Holiday kind of guy. Most years I just want to get through to January with a little bit of sanity left. I'm not a scrooge per se, it's just that most people seem to stress out over the holidays and want to take me along for the ride. Thanksgiving is bad and Christmas is worst. Too many people try to have some Norman Rockwell fantasy and when that delusion falls apart, they take it out on the rest of us. The worst two in my family is my brother's wife and mine . You see me and my brother have had years of a dysfunctional family life to learn that family get togethers are not always pleasant or peaceful, and they are never that idealistic.

Having said that, this Thanksgiving is working out to be a great Holiday. My wife has to work Thanksgiving Day and the day after, so I am going to stay at home for the holidays. This get even better. This year I'm not going to have to go to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. Hallelujah! I can stay at the house with my son and relax and I don't have to waste a couple of hours of my life spending time with people that I don't want to speak with, much less "celebrate".

I do understand that my wife is despondent about not having a big Thanksgiving Holiday with her parents and that part of her family. I decided to help out. I'm fixing a huge Thanksgiving Dinner and will have it ready and waiting for her when she gets home from work. I'm cooking a classic Thanksgiving dinner mostly from scratch. To give you an idea how much from scratch I'm working, last night I made vegetable stock to go in the brine for the turkey. I'm roasting a whole 23lb turkey, two different turkey dressing, two giblet gravies, creamed corn, green peas, fried apples, mashed potatoes, a sweet potato dish, crescent rolls, yeast rolls, and cranberry sauce. I'm also fixing Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry-Acorn squash pie, and a caramel pie for desert.

Now this sounds like a lot of work and it is. It's just that I enjoy cooking and this is a challenge that I'm looking forward to. Ok, I have to admit that I'm in a pretty good mood because I don't have to go to the in-laws. So today and tomorrow I will be cooking up a storm and Friday I'll turn around and be canning up a lot of the leftovers. Waste not want not.

R.E.A.L.

Happy Ammo Day

2008-11-19T13:22:00.004-05:00

Happy Ammo Day, Merry Bullets and a good day on the firing range to all. Here is one holiday that I can get behind and avoid my normal holiday gloom. In the spirit of the day, I helped a friend to buy some ammo by buying a rifle from him. It was a win-win situation, he got cash to buy ammo with and I got another Mosin Nagant 91/30. I swear those old Russian rifles are addictive. The guns themselves are cheap and the ammo isn't bad either. I found a place where I can get 1200 rounds for $300.

Now at that price, it's hard to justify "rolling your own" on a cost basis. It was the vision of not being able to buy any "military" ammo that convinced me to buy a Lee classic loader and a case trimmer. I have about 300 rounds of box primed ammo to provide brass and I bought 1000 bullets. Next stop is primers,powder, and a powder scale and I'm ready to get started.

It's been 30 years since I first did any reloading and that was mostly shotgun shells. I was eight and my dad put me work reloading. I reloaded ammo for eight years and nobody got killed and I still have all my fingers. It's all a matter of being very careful and not being stupid. I've loaded "hot" loads for my dad's .41 Magnum ( yes there is such a critter), but that was in a fairly new Ruger Blackhawk, not a WWII era rifle. I will not try that with the 7.62x54r that I'm shooting.

Now before I sign off and get back to work, let me mention that this day is special for me for other reasons as well. On this day four years ago, I got down on one knee and asked my future wife to marry me. She said yes and made me a very happy man. Four years later I would still ask her to marry me and she says that she would still say yes. Love you baby.

R.E.A.L.

I Get What You Deserve

2008-11-18T17:00:00.004-05:00

In addition to being the anniversary of when I asked to my wife to marry me, tomorrow is the National Ammo Day BUYacott. That's right, if you own a gun, you need to go out and buy 100 rounds. .22 or .50 BMG, it doesn't matter as long as you buy some. From reading the blogs and watching the news, it seems a lot of people have started early this year.

Could it be because a most of you voted for either the Democrat gun grabber or the Republican one. If I hear one more person whine about wasting their vote if they voted third party, I'm going to puke. I voted for candidates that supported all of the constitution. When I didn't have a choice, I wrote in a candidate. My vote went for something. It went for freedom and liberty. That is not wasting my vote.

So if you voted for the "lesser of evils", then FUCK YOU, you are part of the problem and I don't want to hear your whiny ass bitching about it now. If you ain't got the guts to pull the lever for somebody that might not win, then you deserve what you get. I'm just pissed that I get what you deserve as well. If you want to read a more eloquent post on the subject, I recommend visit to Greenhell and read The Man Who Shot Liberty.

R.E.A.L.

I Got a Vote

2008-11-06T12:11:00.006-05:00

As far as the national elections went, all I can say is that it was unfortunate that somebody won and it wasn't liberty. If there is any good to be had out of the recent election it might be that the Republican party will decide to kick the neocons to the curb and move back to a true conservative position. If they did, I would consider voting for them again. I'm not holding my breath on that happening, but there is a possibility.

The local elections here in Tennessee were a little bit better. The county voted down a wheel tax and voted in liquor stores. The Democrats no longer control either the State Senate or the House of Representatives. And to top it all off, yours truly got exactly one vote for State Representative. It was an uncontested seat and I wrote my own name in.

The end result of all of this? I'm buying more ammo, reloading supplies and now I won't have to drive as far to get some booze to drown my sorrows.

R.E.A.L.

A maintenance note:
The address http://www.realsurvivability.com/ after Jan. 01 will stop working, however you can still find this blog at http://realsurvivalability.blogspot.com/. At this point time my finances require me to cut back and I'm not going to be spending the money for the IP address when I can still have the free one from Blogger.

Nov. 4 2008 - A Pox on Both

2008-11-04T09:58:00.005-05:00

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

It's election day and I'm off to vote. As I have said before, I will be voting for Chuck Baldwin for president. As far as the rest go, I don't have much to choose from, so I guess I'll vote against the incumbents. I do this knowing that the winners in this election will not be anyone I would want elected. Since I don't have high hopes, I'm not going to be too disappointed by the outcome. A pox on both their houses I say.

Times like this make me think that the best advice to follow is "buy guns and whiskey"

R.E.A.L.

Pellagra,Rickets, and Scurvy

2008-10-22T07:41:00.005-05:00

If you are still prepping, there are a two items that you might have overlooked. The first is pickling lime and the second is multi-vitamins. Both of these are important to maintaining your health, easy to store, and relatively cheap. Those last items two are big pluses for me right now.

When I say a multi-vitamin, I'm talking about a basic generic brand kind. For about $20, you can get a six months supply for one person. My thinking here is that if your food storage is not nutritionally complete, the vitamin supplement will help you to stay healthy. I recommend a multi-vitamin simply because it saves space and is simpler that having the whole alphabet soup of vitamins and minerals. If nothing else call it insurance against Pellagra, Rickets and Scurvy.

If you thick I'm recommending pickling lime just because I like pickles, then you would be very wrong. That is only one of many reasons to stock up on pickling lime. The main reason I recommend having plenty of lime on hand is corn and potatoes.

First of all you need to understand that pickling lime or Calcium Hydroxide has two properties that make it important for food storage. The first property is that is very hygroscopic. This means that is readily absorbs moisture. This becomes very important for storing potatoes in high humidity areas like the southeastern U.S. When you are forced to store potatoes in less than idea conditions, you can coat them in lime to reduce the amount of rot you experience. The hygroscopic nature of lime cuts down on the moisture on the surface of the potato which makes it harder for rot to get started.

The second property of lime that is important is that when mixed with water, "slaked", it forms an alkaline solution sort of like a mild form of lye. This makes for an easy way to make hominy, grits, and masa. South of the border they call it nixtamal and here is a link to a recipe that I have used. The whole process seems to be a lot easier that the old southern method using wood ashes. I make mine from Hickory Cane Dent that I grow, but you could use this to make cheap feed store grade corn better. In addition to increasing the taste variety of your food storage, the reaction of the lime with the corn releases niacin and makes it available for your body to use. Niacin deficiency in your diet will cause pellagra, so unless you like the idea of redness and swelling of the mouth and tongue, diarrhea, skin rash, and abnormal mental functioning, including memory loss, it's important to treat some of your corn with lime.

R.E.A.L.

Local Odds

2008-10-12T07:14:00.004-05:00

In my last post I said I didn't have a shortage of ideas, only that it hurt to type. That's true, but I now find myself wondering if I'm writing about the right stuff. If current events haven't convinced you to dig in and get ready for hard times, I'm not going to be able to convince you. My political forecasting seems to be full of shit, so why would listen to me on that either. If you want rants, well there are thousands of blogs that can do it better than me.

Maybe it's just nervousness on my part. You know the kind of butterflies in your stomach that a bench warmer gets when he gets ready to go into the big game. I look around and see that the odds are in favor of everything going to hell real soon. It's no longer a case of sometime off in the distant future and I can keep getting ready, but in the next year or two.

The current crisis has brought a few of my fears to the forefront. The biggest one is that the sheeple are going to wake up. I don't mean in a "lets come to our senses" kind of way, but in a shock of cold water way. I'm afraid of being trampled by the panicking heard as they rush off the cliff. I'm not talking about "the Golden Horde" or MZB's, rather a panicked people that will beg to give up their freedom in exchange for the illusion of protection.

Here is one final thought I want to leave with you. It's not the overall odds, but the odds at your point of the stick that determine your fate. Gun owners may outnumber the B.A.T.F.E. by a 1000 to one, but that won't help when it's just you and there are 50 of them or busting down your door in the middle of the night. The local odds don't look good. You need to keep that in mind when making your plans.

R.E.A.L.

Back at IT

2008-10-09T05:17:00.004-06:00

What a ride the past few weeks have been. No I'm not talking about the stock market just yet. My RA ,( I'm 38 so I'm one of those lucky ones who gets to spend a long time dealing with the effects) has flared up over the past four weeks and it's been hard on me and this blog. I haven't had any shortages of ideas, buy they have all stayed inside my head.

I blog cause it makes me feel better, but when it's painful to type it has to be a very pressing issue for me to sit down and write it out. I finally went to see my doctor yesterday and he put me back on steroids for two weeks to get things under control and then reevaluate my normal medication.

If you have never had steroid shots and taken prednisone, my advice is to avoid it if at all possible. Yes it relieves the inflammation and thus the pain where nothing else will, but the side effects suck shit. It starts off with breaking out in sweats and a racing heart beat followed by upset stomach. It screws up your sleep and sex drive. Nothing like being wound up all night and Mister Happy not wanting to play. Oh, yeah it also reduces your immune system making you more susceptible to getting ill. That's just the short term effects. I'm not even going into the problems with long term use. Anyway the gist of all of this is that I hope to be blogging a lot more over the next few weeks.

R.E.A.L.

Happy Birthday

2008-10-01T05:52:00.002-06:00

Just a quick Happy Birthday message for my OLDER brother from me and my family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

R.E.A.L.

You Got to Shoot the Engineers and Begin Production Sometime

2008-09-29T07:47:00.011-06:00

The idea of being able to survive a total collapse of civilization is nice. The reality is much different. Have you ever thought of everything you need to have or make to continue living? It's a big task and most people who think about it become overwhelmed and shut down. I keep plugging away at it and try to not let it all drive me any crazier than I'm already are.

At a former employer, I had two signs on my office wall. One said "Water is wet, rocks are hard, and life is not fair. Get over it", and the other one said "There comes a time in every project when you must shoot the engineers and begin production." Strangely enough I find that both of those ideas apply to survivalism.

There are somethings beyond my control, but I'm not letting that stop me. Unless my wife picks the right six numbers, I just don't have the money to buy everything I think I'm going to need. In fact, I'm not going to be able to buy most of what I think I need. That sucks, but you can't let that keep you from getting started. Get over it and get on with it. Do something. Make a mistake. At least that proves your human like the rest of us. Then learn from your mistakes, make corrections and continue on. If you don't get started, you will never get anywhere.Planning is important, but I try not to plan my way into total inaction.

I try to think, plan, and act long term, but it isn't always practical or prudent. I try to base everything on 80% long term and 20% short term thinking. That let's me set goals for down the road while still doing stuff to cover the here and now. I don't see how a person can make it to the long term if they don't pay some attention to the short term. That 80/20 rule is not set in stone either. As my viewpoint gets more pessimistic, the more I shift the the 80 to the 20. The economic events that are just now coming to a head have shifted me to a 20/80 ratio. I've shifted my horizon from 20 years to next harvest. There is a chance we will make it 20 more years without the wheels falling off, but the odds have shifted against it.

For years I have been buying wheat and packaging it for long term storage. Properly stored, that wheat will still be good in 30 years as it is now so I have always considered it a long term investment. Around here wheat is more often grown as cover crop rather that as a crop in and of itself. That means most of my wheat was grown half a continent away and shipped here. Over time that has reached the point were it costs more in shipping than the wheat does. The last time I bought high quality, cleaned wheat it cost me $1.00 lb.

At those prices getting a years worth of wheat in long term storage is cost prohibitive. I'm not saying that you should have none, only that cheaper alternatives need to have a higher priority right now. Now I don't have any idea when I might need my food storage. I don't claim to have some crystal ball view into the future. I just keep looking around and seeing things getting worse and worse, so my short term alliterative to storage wheat is...... Drum roll please. Popcorn and beans. Yep you heard me right.

I can buy a 50lb bag of popcorn for $17 at a local wholesale store. At 1/3 the cost I can store a lot more popcorn than I can wheat. Besides the price, popcorn has a low moisture content which makes it good for storage and grinding into cornmeal. The storage life is at least a year and with proper storage could be much longer. This is part of my "making it till the next harvest" strategy. If the world doesn't end, I'll just grind it up and cut down on my purchases of corn meal.

Beans are another storage item with a shorter storage life than wheat. In fact the main drawback to storing a lot of beans is that after about three years in storage, they never really get soft no matter how much you cook them. The same goes for storing them with a desiccant or oxygen absorbers like you would wheat. At that point they can be ground into a type of flour and made into refried beans or as a thicker in some recipes. It's the main reason why I haven't stored several years worth of them. The advantage of dried beans, beyond their nutritional value, is the ease and cost of buying them. If every time you go to the store you by a pound or five, you will build up a lot of beans in storage without breaking your budget. The final reason to increase these two is that when corn and beans are eaten in that same meal they form a complete protein.

R.E.A.L.

Bob Obama?

2008-09-24T08:15:00.004-06:00

Am I the only one to have noticed the Obama's slogan "Yes we can" is also Bob the Builder's?

I guess Joe ain't the only one who can Plagiarise.

A Long Leap off of a Short Pier

2008-09-24T05:55:00.005-06:00

I have been suffering from a disconnect from reality. At least the reality that I see on the news and read on the Internet. I'm covered up at work, business is booming and at the moment I have more job security than I have had in years. I look around and while I'm not seeing a lot of houses selling, prices are still way too high for me. On the surface things look good, yet I can't help but hear the theme from 'Jaws" playing in the background.

I have this theory that I've done just enough to shelter myself from the early rumblings of disaster, but not enough to make it through the home stretch. I'm running with very little debt and back in April I pulled a lot of money out of my 401k. If I look at my situation in isolation, I'm doing pretty good.

The problem is that out of the corner of my eye, I'm seeing forces beyond my control barreling down. The hidden tax of inflation is robbing me blind. Forget the numbers that the government publishes about inflation, because they have little to do with reality. Even if you accept their math, they make decisions based on the "core" rate of inflation that excludes food and energy. Food and energy are two things that are hard to do with out, so rising prices in that area has a very direct impact on everyday life.

I harp on inflation and the value of the dollar because I believe that it is at the heart of our economic troubles. The dropping value of the dollar has added about $80 to the price of a barrel of oil. Since the basis of our civilization is cheap oil, a devaluing dollar is a long destructive leap off of a short pier of stability. Take a step back and you can watch it happen before your very eyes. A rising national and personal debt that reaches into the Trillions of dollars would be enough in and of itself, but throw in the unfunded liabilities that the Government uses to buy votes and the time of reckoning rushes toward us.

Look at it this way. If the Government was forced to use the same accounting rules that the business world uses, it's balance sheet would look worse than the Wall Street firms it's bailing out. The only way that they can keep their ship of lies afloat is to monetise their debt as fast as they can. It's a neat trick, borrow $100 and repay it with paper that is worth 1/10 it's original value. As the national debt grows, the value of the dollar falls.

While this is good for the government and those on its teat, it's bad for you and me. It causes all of the things that we buy to become more expensive. At the same time, the phony CPI and core rate of inflation helps to suppress the wages that we need to pay for those goods.

We are caught is a viscous meat grinder until this merry-go-round collapses and there is not much that we can do about it. As an answer to Claire Wolfe, it is past time, unfortunately it wouldn't do much good now. To continue with the literary references, the best I can suggest is that as much as possible, we pull a John Gault.

R.E.A.L.

Take a Deep Breath

2008-09-15T06:34:00.002-06:00

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear... And when it is gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear is gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
Frank Herbert- Dune

You might expect a panic monger like me to be screaming that the sky is falling and we are heading for economic collapse, but I'm not. Merrill and Lehman bit the dust, (guess nobody with JP Morgans government connections wanted to buy them), and gas shooting up $1.00 a gallon would make that just too easy. Instead I want you to be calm and relaxed. That will let you make rational decisions and at least have the illusion that your life is under your control.

If you are just now waking up to what is going on in the world, then get ready for a reality check to be cashed. Life is about to get a lot tougher for most people. I an not exempting myself when I say that shocks and disruptions to life are coming. Now that I'm responsible for more than just myself, I get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about loosing my job. How am I going to make sure that my family is taken care of if I'm not earning a paycheck? I can do without, but the thought of my wife having to pay the bills fills me with shame. Sexist? Probably, but I was raised to believe that there is a difference between being a boy and being a man, and it has nothing to do with age. A man takes responsibility for his actions and provides and cares for his family.

The thought of my son doing without causes a tiger to claw up my insides up. It's a thought that pushes the primitive part of my brain into a screaming panic rage. I watched "The Pursuit of Happiness" and the scenes where Gardner (Will Smith) and his son ended up homeless tore me up. I have a very good imagination, so I can visualize scenarios where that might happen to us. Scream, rant, rave, and panic. I'm not immune and I don't expect anyone else to be either.

What's my point? It's that panicked reactions will do more damage than the event itself. The easy life that we have had in this country for the past 60 years is going to make the fall that much worse. Being able to push the fear and panic aside and make smart decisions and act on them will be the difference between success and failure. So take a deep breath, calm down, and use your brain. Every person that manages this, will be one more solution and one less problem.

R.E.A.L.

To paraphrase a quote I read last week (sorry, I don't have the attribution).

"Modern Americans are like their founding fathers, the same way that Italians are like the Romans, nice people, but somehow lacking."

A Prediction - "We're Screwed"

2008-08-28T12:00:00.005-06:00

“History doesn't repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes”
-Mark Twain

In the interests of full disclosure, I'll say that I'm voting for Chuck. The current silly season is merely a spectator sport for me, but as a political junkie, it's great theater. It doesn't really matter wither the demoblicans or the republicrats win the presidential election, cause the only change we are going to get is for the worse.

It's a choice between a Neo-con or Liberal and I can't figure out which is worse for the country. Both of them will increase the size of the government and continue to trash the constitution. Neither of them will undo the governments infringements on our liberties. Can you see either McCain or Obama giving up any power? I can't.

Oh, and you can forget anything you see or hear on the election trail. These two give a whole new meaning to the term lying politician. Obama is hiding his ultra-liberal nature and running toward the center and McCain once thought about switching to be a Democrat. We are screwed either way.

I'm going to close with a prediction.

In a squeaker reminiscent of 2000, John McCain is going to win the the electoral, but not the popular vote. The Democrats will blame America as racist because white people voted for a white person and not for their anointed one. Anyone pointing out that black people voting for a person because they are black is also racist, will be called a racist. The worst of the Bush policies will continue and congress will continue to doing the same old stuff.

If I'm right, I need to build a fallout shelter. If I'm wrong, I need to speed up my ammo purchases. In the words of my brother " My paranoia and my government are not a good fit"

R.E.A.L.

The Deer Slayer or "Don't Mess with Momma's Garden"

2008-07-31T09:14:00.005-06:00

The day is finally here. She has been waiting on this day for 48 years. My Mom is retiring today. She started working when she was 14 and now she has time for herself. I wish I could say that she will be drawing a nice pension, but I can’t. She's worked in garment factories and drove a fork truck in a factory. Cooked in restaurants, made brakes and this last job she worked as a screen printer. In every case, I can guarantee you that she worked people half her age into the ground. She has worked for a lot of different employers over the years and for the last 12 or so years for places that don’t offer much in the way of benefits.

Having said that, don’t get all sad because mom has done what few people seem capable of doing. She planned for the future and saved her own money. She has a house and 40 good acres with no mortgage. She has a 4x4 that is paid for as well. The story of why she doesn’t have another car as well will have to wait for another day.

She raises a garden and preserves everything she can. She has some good neighbors and the rest are family. The nearest town’s one claim to fame is that its name is the same as where the “Beverly Hillbillies” were supposed to have come from. One ignored stop sign, a grocery store, and a barbecue shack is all there is. The kind of place where “you can’t get there from here, you got to go someplace else first.”

My mom has no credit record whatsoever. In 62 years, she has never borrowed money and I don’t expect her to start now. If you think that’s flying below the radar, try this on for size. Until she applied for Social Security, I didn’t even know her real name. Everybody knows Ludy, but who knew Luda? It seems that there was an error on her birth certificate that Grandma and Grandpa never bothered to fix. Paying property taxes, insurance, and utilities are it. Between her savings and Social Security, she will do just fine and if anything happened to any of that, my brother and I would take care of her.

So in honor of this day, it’s time to tell a story on her.

My Mom has been battling deer and raccoons over her garden for years. She has tried everything from electric fences to scarecrows and everything in between to keep them out. I loaned her my copy of “Carrots Love Tomatoes” and she read where vines will help to keep raccoons out of the corn. So off she goes and plants cucumber and acorn squash in between the rows of corn. I gave her half my green striped cushaw seed and she planted 14 hills, that’s about 10 more than she really needed, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She rigged up motion detecting lights to go off if any deer came near her garden, tied pie pans on strings. It was an all out war and up until this week, the critters have been winning.

Just as wars escalate, this did too. Mom started firing warning shots with her .22 to scare the deer away. Well, Sunday it got to be too much. She went out and fired two shots over their heads. They just looked at her and went back to topping her pea plants. She went back in the house and got another cartridge. Now to properly understand the rest of this, you have to know that the porch is about 60 yards from the garden. She comes back out and this time it’s no warning shot. A single shot from a .22 and she hit’s one of the deer in the neck and drops it like a rock. A .22, one shot, 60 yards and there is a dead deer. I don’t reckon the deer have been back since.

Now, me and my brother could have told them deer not to mess with Momma. People who know her now think of her as a sweet little lady, but we grew up with her. Five foot even and maybe 110 soaking wet, you are much better off sticking your hand in a blender, as to pissing her off. The blender might stop, but she won’t until she is done. I still remember the last time she whipped me and that was 24 years ago.

Besides the point of don’t mess with my Mom, this story should teach you a few very good survival lessons.

1. Don’t owe money. It's real simple, "The more money you owe, the less you have."

2. Bullet placement, bullet placement, and bullet placement are the three most important actors in determining the lethality of a round. A persons hide is not as tough as a deer, so I don’t want to hear any bullshit about “it’s just a .22, it will only make them mad”.

3. Appearances are deceiving. Little old ladies can “pop a cap in your ass” just as easily as some camouflage wearing he-man.

4. Don’t mess with Mom. Even if you think you can take her, there will be couple of heavily, armed pissed off rednecks you have to worry about. A further explanation requires the story of what happened to Mom’s car and I don’t have time for that today.

R.E.A.L.

Environmental Genocide

2008-07-24T06:38:00.002-06:00

Everything is too calm, with the sun that is. The sun produces sunspots in a 11 year cycle. The previous 3 cycles dating back to the mid 1960's produced more sunspots than normal. This just happens to coincide with the earth warming up and the panic over "global warming." If you think back to the early seventies, the fear was that we we entering a new Ice Age.

Remember that 11 year cycle I mentioned, well it seems that the current cycle is off to a very slow start. Like six years or so behind schedule. This new cycle was supposed to have started around 2001 with a peak around about now. So far not much has been going on. Want to know what happened the last time the sun spot activity stayed dormant for a long period of time? It was called the Maunder minimum and it just happened to occur during a period of time called the Little Ice Age. Now just in-case you think I using one atypical example to prove a point, let me list a few more for you.

Maunder minimum - 1645 to 1715 the Little Ice Age
Dalton Minimum - 1790 to 1830
Spörer Minimum -1490 to 1570

I want to quote a very important part of an article in the American Thinker and I urge you to read the entire piece.

Superimposed on this latest 100,000-year peak have been 6 secondary warming periods, each coincident with additional surges of carbon dioxide and methane, lasting about 200 years and then subsiding. Each of these previous warming periods was warmer than the current warming period, and current temperatures are below the median for the last 3000 years. Most remarkably, civilization first emerged in the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile River Valleys about 3400 B.C. in that period of great warming, and even more remarkably, each of these secondary surges of greenhouse gasses (none of human origin), has also been coincident with the rise of a major civilization.

After you absorb the above information, I want you to think about this.

The periods of Global warming have always coincided with the growth and development of the human species and global cooling and Ice Ages have coincided with famine and death for humans and in the case of the Ice Ages, a lot of other species as well.

Now look at the "natural" sustainability of this planet in regards to the human race, about 500 million, and compare it to the current population of 6.5 billion.

Who gets to decide which six billion of us has to die to make the world a better place?

I'm voting for Al and Tipper Gore to "walk the walk" and go first. The liberal elites that are pushing this shit off on us are trying to become the greatest mass murders in history.

R.E.A.L.

39 With Experience

2008-07-22T05:46:00.004-06:00

My wife just turned "39 with experience." In honor of that occasion, I would like to share some of the reasons why I love her and brag about how she is a keeper to my friends.

Two weeks ago she went to a yard sale and bought me two Winchester shotguns, a 16 and 20 gauge, because she thought we needed more undocumented guns in the house.

On the day after her birthday she was going to go out with one of her friends so I took her to the bank to get some cash. I was going to get her $200, but she talked me down to $80. To top that off, she took $65 of that amount and bought me a .50 cal black powder rifle.

She tells me that she loves me every day.

The son she gave me is another reason even though a toddler sleeping in the bed with us interferes with another reason I love her.

She puts money in my wallet cause she doesn't like for me to not have cash on hand.

She is also my best friend and I couldn't think of anyone I would want to hang out with more.

When I leave to go to work, she tells me to not kill anybody, but if I do, hide the bodies real good.

I met her in October , purposed in November, and married her in February. I knew then and I know now that she is my soul-mate. It didn't take me long to realise that she was the one I couldn't live without. It took me 35 years to find her and I wasn't about to let her get away.

Her smile.

She tolerates my shit. That is no small task. I know I'm not the easiest person to be with and I have my fair share of bad habits and yet she still loves me.

Oh, and did I mention that she loves to mow the yard.

R.E.A.L. - happy to be married.

A Question and a Recomendation

2008-07-14T14:46:00.006-06:00

Today, I just wanted to recommend a blog that is worth your taking a look.
Stealth Survival - Staying Above the Waterline. I've added his site to my Links of Note section as well. It's well written and informative and doesn't go off on paranoid rants like I do.

Ok, there is one other thing. I have a question and would appreciate if anybody could tell me the answer. What has happened to the Japanese Beatles this year? I'm not complaining, but I've only seen 4 instead of the usual 4000 or so that plague my garden.

R.E.A.L.

P.S. If you work for a valve company in Texas, my asshole ex-boss (Joel Watson ) is now yours. Sorry about that, but better you than me.

George, Max, and the Idiot Box

2008-07-09T05:48:00.008-06:00

I've been doing something dangerous of late called thinking. It happens every time I go a while without watching TV, which is something else I recommend everybody try. I'm usually trying to justify my paranoia and tyring to find reasons to continue prepping. It usually takes talking to my friends and family to make me feel less paranoid. By saying less, I don't mean that my level of paranoia is smaller, just that compared to them I'm not as paranoid. It helps to keep me motivated when people I know and respect are getting me to think I'm not paranoid enough.

Today's example starts with a message my brother sent me.

On Feb. 17, 2009 all TVs have to be digital or have a digital
tuner box attached to receive a signal. How far are we, from George
Orwell where the TV looks back, or max headroom where it was illegal to turn the
TV off,( the tuner box had an alarm that told the government that the TV was
off).

I have one word for you V-Chip. How far is from parental control to having government control? Suppose that new TVs have a nice backdoor built into them for the government to use. It might be a while before TVs could actively monitor you, but monitoring what you watch and adding that to a database would be fairly easy. The push to move people to satellite or cable provides the hardware to allow feedback to the database. I guess the converter boxes would be able to cover the rest.

Here is the real problem, we sell ourselves down the river in the name of passive entertainment and convenience. First the TV is the babysitter, then we want an easy way of making sure they don't see the "wrong" things with out us actually knowing what they are watching or doing. As parents, we make it too easy for our children to grow up as sheeple and to accept 24-7 monitoring. Home drug tests, implantable RIFD chips, and all of the other invasive ways of monitoring help to get them used to being constantly monitored. This sets each future generation a little closer to the day fiction becomes reality. If you want to see a preview of what that will be like, check out what the British have done to themselves.

R.E.A.L.

Cooking, Canning, and Codine

2008-06-26T05:30:00.004-06:00

On Monday the 16th, I had surgery on my sinus. I seem to have survived the experience, but I definitely not eager to repeat it. Everything was fine and dandy as long as I was mixing pain pills and beer. That's not something I recommend for the average person, but I've lived a wicked life in the past and my tolerance for such things is high. Ah, the wages of sin tend to be fun and educational if you can survive them. The drawback is that I tend to forget that I should be taking it easy and healing. Pain has a purpose and it's usually to tell you that you have fucked up and to stop. Well, I wasn't listening on Wednesday and my body educated me to that on Thursday.

I got up on Wednesday and saw my wife off to work and took my son to daycare. When I got back home I decided to "enjoy" my time off. Once everything started to kick in, the urge hit. I wanted to try out the pressure canner my wife got me at a yard sale. It was an old Presto 21-B in good shape. I replaced the gaskets and got a weight for it. The rebuild brought the total cost up to $32 for the whole thing.

The second part of this is that the week before, I had to search through the pantry to find a jar of chili. I hadn't realised that I let things get that low, so chili it was going to be. One thing led to another and the next thing you know, I had eleven gallons of it cooking on the stove. I would share the recipe with you, but all I have is a list of the ingredients. I just cooked and mixed till it tasted right. Here is what I do remember.

6 lbs of Vinson burger
4-6 lbs of ground beef, both were so lean I added some Crisco to get it to cook right.

By dry weight I added

3 lbs Chick peas
3-4 lbs pinto
1 lb of red kidney beans
over a qt of Cumin
salt
2 qt of store bought chili powder
3/4 qt of hot homemade chili powder

8 onions and 10 cloves of garlic

Normally I like to add a bit of sage to my chili, but sage tends to get bitter when canned. So if you consume enough beer and hydrocodone, with a dash of Demerol and get a zen moment you might be able to recreate this recipe. To make it up to you at the end of this post, I will share my recipe for strawberry squash desert.

Using two canners allowed me to put this batch up a lot easier. The math is simple 3 rounds of canning at 14 quarts with 2 left over for eating on vs 6 at 7 quarts. I'm a firm believer in redundancy, but just the time savings is enough to just having more than one pressure canner.

I served up some of it up to my wife with my normal admonishment of " I hope you like it, cause we got a bunch of it." I was worried because I know that getting high makes you think you can do things better than you relay can and I had 42 quarts of this stuff. After little over a week, my new concern is I didn't make enough.

OK, now for an actual recipe and don't worry this is both delicious and easy to make.

Strawberry Squash Desert

2 acorn squash
1 cap of strawberry flavoring
2 tablespoons of sugar or Splenda ( more or less to suit your taste)
1 cup of corn grits (Polenta for those non-hillbilly types)
2 cups of water

Pierce the skin of the squash in several places and microwave them for about 10 min. Let set and cool.

Carefully cut in two the squash and scoop out and discard seeds and stringy parts. Take a spoon and scoop out the squash from the shell into a bowl. Set the shells aside.

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil and add the corn grits. Cook till almost done.
Add the squash to the grits and mix thoroughly.
Then remove from heat and mix in the flavoring and sweetener.
Take the mixture and fill the shells you set aside earlier. You can serve as is if you want, but I like to bake the filled shells in the oven for 15 or 20 min. at 350 degrees.

Happy eating

R.E.A.L.

A First Aid Followup

2008-06-10T13:34:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to post a quick followup to Poison Ivy First Aid. I spent this weekend weed-eating the hillsides around home. The banks were getting covered in Poison Ivy and Honeysuckle vines. Since my wife is highly allergic to both, she wanted me to do something about it. I also thought it would be nice to clear out an area for my hammock and to make room for more fruit-bearing plants.

So off I go, weed-eating those banks and pulling vines out of the trees. Did I mention that I wasn't wearing gloves. Not the brightest thing I ever did, but it does help to illustrate my point.

After I finished, I sat down on a rock overlooking the bank while I drank a beer to cool off. My hands started itching and looked like they were covered in little red dots. I finished my beer and went in the house and wiped down with alcohol, twice. A few minutes later the itching stopped. That was Friday and today the bumps are all gone and I didn't itch any more after the alcohol rubdown. Now, if I could find a magical cure for sunburn, I would be ecstatic.

R.E.A.L.

Plant Once, Eat Often

2008-06-02T12:51:00.007-06:00

Last year's late freeze followed by a hard drought wiped out a lot of the landscaping around the house. The storms this spring finished off the last big tree in the front yard. It's bad to loose all of the shade, but it does give us a chance to start over and make improvements. It's a chance to plant more "useful" instead of "pretty" landscaping.

I hate to plant anything that does not have some purpose and intrinsic value. Used to be, if it didn't produce food, I wasn't interested. In the interest of maintaining a happy marriage however, I added "it makes my wife happy" as a purpose and in my intrinsic value. In return, she is open to planting more fruiting plants in the yard as long as they look pretty. The way this works out, is that I am willing to plant Yoshino Cherry trees for her and she is willing to let me plant Bing Cherry trees as well. Instead of flowering plum's, I planted fruiting plum tree's. I even went so far as to buy her a Fowering Crabapple tree and a Clumping River Birch. The things you do for love.

All in all, we have been expanding the "edible landscaping" to more of the yard while increasing the visual appeal that my wife loves. Which brings me to today's purchase of two Shad bush or Serviceberry trees. I was reading about using native plants in landscaping when I ran across a section on the Serviceberry. My interest was peaked when they mentioned that it produced fruit and was used to flavor pemmican. I got online and started doing my research. I went to a local nursery and found out that they had a couple of them. The clincher was that those plants had berries on them and I tried one. It was one of the best tasting berries I ever had. I guess I'll be buying bird netting, since there are over 35 different species of birds that are attracted to it.

It turns out that the Serviceberry is a small tree or large bush depending on how its pruned. It blooms just before the Dogwoods followed by red fruit in June. It is moderately drought tolerant and can withstand partial shade although it grows best in full sun. I believe I can provide those requirements and with care produce another fine addition to the yard.

Fruit and nut trees are a great addition to any homestead. You plant them once and they produce food for years. There are several Walnut, Chestnut, and Oak( for acorns) trees nearby if the need arises, so I'm not likely to plant any nut trees. I am trying to plant as many fruit trees as possible.

Now I need to mention one of the most important things about planting Fruit and Nut trees. In most cases, you are going to get many years of harvests and only have to plant one time. It also is going to be awhile before you are able to harvest anything. So take your time and plan carefully before buying or planting any trees. Dig a hole at least four times as wide as the pot or root ball. I try to dig at least a foot deeper that it needs to be and then back fill so the tap root has room to grow. Trust me on this, the extra sweat and effort in digging a big wide hole is worth it. Mixing in compost with the back fill helps a great deal as well. Be prepared to help Mother Nature out with the watering as well during the first year, especialy if you plant late in spring or during the summer. You want to get them off to the best start possible for that first year and most people fertilize too much and water not enough. Most trees do fine with very little help after that, but the first year is critical.

Here is a list of the fruit that grows in my yard.

Muscadine Grapes

Bing Cherry

Kiefer Pear

Peach

Nectarine

Plums

Several different cultivars of Blueberry

Raspberry

Blackberry

Serviceberry (after today)

This fall I want to add some Elderberry bushes.

Next year I'm hoping to add a couple of Chickasaw plums and a Kentucky Coffee Tree to the list ( yes, we have a big yard).

R.E.A.L.

Poison Ivy First Aid

2008-05-22T09:31:00.006-06:00

What I'm about to tell you is based on personal experience and works for me. I did some research online and the chemistry of it all seams to make sense, however, your results may vary.

I got into a bunch of Poison Ivy last week. It was on my hands, arms, and legs and eating me up. At work, I used some Purcell hand cleaner and noticed that the itching stopped. Since the main ingredient in Purcell is alcohol, I went home and applied rubbing alcohol on all of the affected areas and rinsed with water. Immediate relief. It took two more days of treatment to clear the whole mess up.

The chemical irritant in Poison Ivy is urushiol, and it is partially soluble in alcohol and not at all in water. Isopropyl alcohol is fully miscible in water. The urushiol mixes with the rubbing alcohol and then the water rinse helps to remove the dissolved mixture. I'm assuming that the mixture of urushiol and alcohol is miscible in water and is washed away. Or it could be a reaction between the the two that changes the chemical structure of the urushiol to a less irritable form. Either way, I stopped itching.

R.E.A.L.

One Down ...

2008-05-22T09:12:00.005-06:00

Well, just in time for Memorial Day, I finished the flagpole project. It turned out different than my initial plans mainly due to cost. I ended up using twenty feet of 2 inch conduit, so it only ended up being 17 feet tall.

Although I'm flying a Gadsden Flag right now, I will be raising Old Glory starting Friday and going through Tuesday. I may be permanently pissed at the government, but Memorial Day is about those brave souls who died for this country. There was a time when this was a free country with a free government and in memory of that I show respect to the old girl.

Here is to hoping that one day things will be different.

R.E.A.L.

Potatoe Pictures

2008-05-19T05:49:00.003-06:00

The promised updated pictures of potatoes growing in barrels.

R.E.A.L.

Friday 13th Projects

2008-05-16T11:46:00.009-06:00

I'm covered up in projects and trying to get as much done as possible between now and June 13th. On Friday 13th, I go in for sinus surgery. My wife asked me if I was apprehensive about it, and I said no. After seven months of sinus infection after sinus infection I am eager for anything that holds out the promise of relief. Let's get this done and over with. Now on to the projects.

I have started on what some people call a Bubba rifle. No that's not a gun that shoots Bill Clinton, but rather taking a Mosin Nagant and adding all new furniture to make a more modern looking rifle. It seems a little silly to spend more money on accessories for a rifle than you did for the rifle itself, but I have an extra one and it's fun.

I just put the stock on and I have a scout style mounted scope (the pistol scope I have sucks and the mount isn't as solid as I would like). I'm going to change the scope mount to a Rock Solid mount. I like the three point mounting design and the overall look. I'm going to add a swivel mount bi-pod, a decent scope to round out the package.

The fun part comes next. I'm going to mount a second swivel so that I can use a sling with the strap. Then I'm going to shorten the barrel by about three inches to reach good rifling and re-crown the end. I have a few more things that I want to try, but that will have to wait till after June.

Another ongoing project is my flag day project. I bought a nice 3' x 5' Gadsden flag and I need a proper way to display it. It didn't take me long looking at flagpoles and kits online to decide to build my own. I got all the hardware except the poles themselves at Lowes last week. For the poles I'm going to to take a 16' 3" steel pipe with a 3"-2" reducer and 16' 2" pipe with a cap on the end, combine and sink about 4' in the ground with concrete to give me a 26' flag pole. And yes, I do plan on putting the hardware (pulleys, clips, rope, ect) on and trying out before putting it up. Flying big rebellious flags has a long tradition in my family, but that is a story for a different day.

And at last there is the garden. Nothing major to do there except watch it grow, but gardening is my obsession, so it's hard to let it go. Lots of little things to do to keep everything happy and on track. Speaking of which, I got to tell you about my potatoes. I started growing potatoes in barrels and boxes this year. I'm amazed that the potatoes I planted in the bottom of those barrels are now well over the tops of them. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see what kind of yield I get from them. Here are some pictures I took earlier, ( I'll post newer pictures this weekend).

Drainage holes that I drilled in the bottoms.

It's a waste to use a whole potato, but I had to buy 10 lb bags at the CO-OP, so I had plenty left over.

And finally a side view. Notice the gravel, stumps, and poured concrete in my new garden spot and that's the level part, the rest is on a hillside with too much shade. I love a good challenge.

Goodbye Casey

2008-05-14T07:34:00.002-06:00

Friday was not a pleasant day. Casey ,our oldest dog, a 14 year old English Shepard had to be put to down. We knew this day was coming for some time, but it was still difficult. She had got to where she could no longer walk without pain. You see she wasn't supposed to live past three years, according to the vet. She was born with malformed hip sockets and the breeder was going to euthanize her. My wife bought her to keep them from doing it and never regretted it since.

Casey never let her problems hold her back. She just hopped with her back legs and didn't let anything stop her. I've seen her turn a 1000 lb bull when the other dogs turned and ran. She just went straight ahead barking and biting until that bull decided he didn't want any part of her. She was pure alpha female with the rest of our pack too. When I first moved in with my wife, she quickly taught my dog, an wolf-shepard mix, that she was the boss.

That was Casey, a bulldozer with teeth, pure determination and a heart as big as all the world. She was a loving dog as well and adopted me quickly. She also was extremely protective of my son. She would put herself between us and him if she thought we were going to spank him. I don't think you wanted to try and hurt him with her around. Loving, loyal, faithful to the very end. We were not going to let her suffer, she was just too good a dog to let that happen.

We had the vet come out to the house so she would be able to stay at the home she loved. So on the front porch, we petted and loved on her as the drugs took effect. When her heart stopped and her tongue turned cold, I went down to the spot we picked out for her grave. With tears in my eyes, I finished digging the hole. I needed a few moments to catch my breath and choke back the tears. My breaking down and crying would only make this worse for my wife. I went back to the porch and got Casey and took her to her final resting place. We picked a spot on a point overlooking the river, in a small grove of ceder trees.

Goodbye Casey, you will be missed.

R.E.A.L.

Dogwood Winter

2008-04-30T08:07:00.004-06:00

So much for the last frost date of April 15. Once again I got a late frost on the garden and there was even ice on the windows of my truck this morning. This afternoon it's supposed to be in the seventies. Typical weather in Tennessee, if you don't like it, wait around a few hours and it'll change. I guess I should pay more attention to NOAA' 10% probability.

Now I could wait till mid-May to put out the cold sensitive plants and avoid all of the problems, but then I would have to wait an extra month to eat fresh peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. That's something I can work around right now, but I always try to think about what happens in the worst case. So, I have three ways of working around mother nature's late spring frosts that I'm going to share with you.

The first is simply to wait till there is little chance of a frost or freeze. The advantage of this strategy is that it takes the least effort and is reasonably effective. If you don't know the date of when to plant, look around at the plants and trees.

My mom taught me about all the little winters, Cherry, Dogwood, Blackberry, etc, until I thought that everything that bloomed had a winter. In general, when the dogwoods loose their blooms, it's safe to plant cold sensitive plants. According to Tisquantum "The time for planting (corn) is when the leaves of the white oak are as large as a mouse's ear" There is a ton of folklore out there that is based on years of experience and it tends to be right. If you are playing the percentages or planting a large crop, this is defiantly the way to go.

The second route is to fight mother nature. I've covered rows with plastic, put buckets and paper bags over plants, or covered them up in mulch or straw to keep the frost off them. I've even used water to spray the frost off before the sun hit them ( folklore again, but it seemed to work). This is a lot of work and is only moderately effective. It doesn't deal with cold damage, but it can keep your plants alive. This is OK for a mid size or small crop, but it's going to be a lot of work and sometimes mother nature beats your ass.

The third route is to use Wall 'o Waters. Last year I set out tomatoes in mid-March using Wall' 0 Waters and they all did fine. That hard killing freeze that nailed my first year maple trees, didn't even faze my tomatoes. The disadvantage to them is the cost and filling them up with water is a pain. I would hate to think how hard it would be if I had to carry buckets of water from the river, instead of using a garden hose. I have thirty of them and that is the limit on the number of plants I can protect.

In any situation, you are going to have to choose which combination of strategies will work best for you. I normally use the last two for tomatoes, and the first for eggplant, okra, and cucumbers and the rest of the warm season crops.

R.E.A.L.

Ain't Got No Pantyhose

2008-04-25T13:18:00.002-06:00

I've always read that the best way to store garlic and onions is drop one in a pantyhose leg, tie a knot and repeat. This keeps them separated and allows you to hang them up to increase air flow. The problem I've always had is no pantyhose. When I was single, there was no way I was going to buy them and then I married a woman that wears jeans and socks instead.

The answer to this problem came from my Mom. No, she didn't give me any of her pantyhose. She took one of those bath scrubbie things apart and it was nothing but a long mesh tube. Tie a knot in one end and then use rubber bands instead of knots. Problem solved and it should be reusable for several years.

R.E.A.L.

Homemade Desiccant Packs

2008-04-22T13:58:00.007-06:00

Since moisture is one of the biggest enemies of stored goods, knowing how to make your own desiccant packs is a bit of handy information. I make my own for storing food and ammunition using a few locally available items.

1. Silica gel- I get mine from a local hobby store. They sell it for drying flowers and it comes in 5 lb bags for $13.00.

2. A container with plastic lid- I use drink mix containers, but just about anything will work as long as you can put holes in the lid.

3. Coffee filter- A Coffee filter will allow moisture to reach the silica, while keeping it away from the items you're storing.

4. tape - My wife is nurse, so we have lots of surgical tape and that is what I use. Any tape will work, so use what you have available. Depending on your container lid, you might not even need any tape.

The rest is simple.

1. Put the silica gel in the container.
2. Place a coffee filter over the opening.
3. Put on the lid with holes or opening cut in it.
4. Secure with tape.

Now go store some wheat or ammo.

R.E.A.L.

Women, Wine, and Weapons

2008-04-14T07:51:00.005-06:00

Any man that says he's part of the Master Race, is a fool or single. I consider myself a smart man, but I'm married. This isn't me complaining about my wife, just expressing amazement at how easily she runs circles around me. She buys me tools so I can do more work :-) Do I need to say anymore? Love you Baby!

I used inflation and my birthday as an excuse to buy a another Mosin-Nagaiant 91/30 and eighty rounds of Sellier & Bellot 7.62 x 54r for $140 at a gun show this weekend. The 91/30 that I picked up was in the best shape of the bunch and I plan on not modifying it. I mounted a scope on my other one in a scout configuration and the more I shoot it, the less I like it. The recoil is just too much for the mount and after about 30 rounds I'm several inches off. I may decide to "sporterize" it and mount a scope in a more standard configuration instead. The parts to do that would more than double the cost of the rifle to $240 not counting the scope. That's still dirt cheap compared to anything in a similar size caliber.

I went to the gun show ready to put down some serious cash for a FPK Dragunov Sniper Rifle. The last time I saw a price on one, it was $800 which doesn't fit my description of cheap. Now I could by a modern .308 rifle in that price range and except for one sticking point, I would. Compare the cost of .308 ammo to 7.62 x 54r along with adding another caliber to stock up on and it just doesn't work for me. I doubt that I'll ever need to shoot at anything father than 300 yards and I would need a lot of luck to hit anything past that. I'm all for have capability in excess of my ability, but the cost needs to be reasonable.

Decided to make another batch of wine, so I went to Wal-Mart to pick up out of season ingredients. This is going to be a lower alcohol summer drinking wine rather than the anti-freeze winter wine I've been brewing.

4 gallons Sam's choice concord grape juice
table sugar
yeast
1 gallon of water
tartaric acid

Total cost for 5 gallons of wine, $24 dollars not including equipment. If you need fancy, this ain't the wine for you, but if the idea of sitting on the front porch swing sipping on a mason jar full of chilled wine is to your tastes, it is.

R.E.A.L.

Dave over at Green Hell has a good piece on cutting your grocery bills that I recommend.

Bailing Out...Of the Market Anyway

2008-04-10T07:21:00.009-06:00

My brother once told me that "Uncle Ted was crazy as a shit house rat, but he wasn't completely wrong," in reference to Ted Kaczynski. I always take a little bit of hope from that because I might be crazy but not completely wrong as well. So with that in mind, along with that screaming paranoia in my brain, let me share with you some of my strategies for dealing with the upcoming financial troubles we are facing.

This has been an expensive year from the standpoint of medical bills for me. I'm already $14,000 out of pocket with more to follow. Since I'm not rich, I had to borrow the money to pay most of that amount. In shaky economic times, that is a real sword of Damocles hanging over a working mans life, so something had to be done. Throw in my expectation that the stock market, and thus my 401k, is going to tank over the next few years and my choice was pretty easy. I borrowed every penny from my 401k plan that I could.

I know that this is often and loudly touted as a bad idea. Normally I would agree with that as long as I was making more than the interest on my debt. However when the expected gains of the market over the period of the debt is less than the interest on the 401k loan, it makes sense to take the loan. I could either pay myself 6.25% or make 3.5% while paying 8.99% to 11.2%. Keep in mind that the people that are advising you to just ride out the markets fluctuations are not doing that with their portfolios and that they have a vested interest in keeping your money in the game. If 1.5+ million Americans pulled their 1.9+ TRILLION dollars out of the market, the big boys would lose their ass. Think about the recent Pension Protection Act passed by congress that allows employers to automatically enroll employees in their 401k plan. Its "for their own good" dont'ch know.

I borrowed more against my 401k, than my current debt for two reasons. One is that I expect a long period of decline in the stock market and my repayment in effect allows me to buy over time as prices are falling. If there is a recovery in three to five years, I'm going to be I'm much better shape than if I tried to just ride it out. This also allows me to have enough extra cash to replenish my savings, buy more silver coins for my son, re-insulate the house, increase my wheat storage, buy more ammo and just maybe a new rifle for me.

There is one more thing in all this that I took into consideration. If I loose my job, then I can choose to not pay back the balance and it becomes added income for tax purposes. In that situation, I can stand that kind of hit. Some of you might point out that in effect I'm also changing to after-tax rather than pre-tax, but concerns about inflation and the falling dollar over ride that concideration for me.

Have you bought gas or groceries lately? Well then you have experienced price inflation and currency devaluation first hand. In this type of economic climate, I'm not trying to save too many dollars. The more dollars I can convert to commodities that hold their intrinsic value while eliminating debt, the better off I will be.

When it become obvious that the rate of inflation is much higher then the stated rate, the standard plan of action is to raise interest rates, aka Paul Volcker. If you are carrying a load of non-fixed rate debt when this happens, well let's just say the music has stopped and you don't have a chair. Avoiding this situation along with freeing up cash for other purchases, is the main reason I'm paying down debt during an inflationary period.

I am going to keep enough cash in savings to cover some emergencies, but I'm not going to have my future tied up in a bank account. It might take more to start a panic run on commercial banks, but Bear Stearn's showed it could happen quicker than you think. A body blow is better than a head shot kind of approach to savings.

R.E.A.L.

Rope, Tree, Politician,........

2008-04-03T08:05:00.004-06:00

When I read this AP piece this morning, all hope of avoiding a rant went out the window. Let me share with you a few jewels from it .

The $15 billion measure, announced Wednesday by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, contains a $6 billion emergency tax break that would let companies use losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset profits earned over the previous four years, instead of the usual
two-year time frame.

Mighty nice of them to help those poor corporations reduce their tax bill. I really wasn't all that upset when I read that part cause I'm all for avoiding pay taxes myself. Didn't want to seem jealous you know.

Wait for it.
Wait for it.

Then as I was reading on, I got to this part.

Jerry Howard, chief executive of the National Association of Home Builders, said in an interview that the tax break is "very important to the building community." It will keep many small homebuilders out of bankruptcy, he said, and will prevent large builders from having to liquidate assets.

Homeowners facing bankruptcy, however, won't find relief in the proposal.

Now I don't have sympathy for people who bought more house than they could afford. That didn't understand that having an ARM's can cause your payments to go up. If you can't grasp the concept of markets go down as well as up, then you have no business borrowing that much money. But it really, really pisses me off to see people left to hang, while corporations get bailed out.

I don't want anybody bailed out by the government cause I understand a concept called "moral hazard." There is also that little thing called the Constitution that doesn't say anything about the government having the authority to spend public money to help out private entities. Oh, I forgot that the ninth and tenth amendments are like the second and don't really mean what they say. Right. Yeah.

Almost there.
Wait for it.
Here it comes.

The mortgage industry fought fiercely to spike a provision to let bankruptcy judges rewrite the terms of distressed mortgages. It won that battle; the provision was left out.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said it would have hurt more borrowers in the long run by requiring higher interest rates and larger down payments to offset the risk of bankruptcy court intervention.

Steve O'Connor, senior vice president of government affairs at the trade group, praised the deal. "If bankruptcy reform were included, it would destroy the nature of the compromise," O'Connor said.

Feel that now! That's the light pole, splinters and all your getting, and no barrel of KY available. An in your face, "fuck you we're rich and can get what ever we want" moment. I see the nature of your compromise you low-life cocksuckers.

Take a deep breath and repeat after me.

"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"
"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"
"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"
"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"
"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"
"rope, tree, politician, some assembly required"

R.E.A.L.

We are getting closer every day.

Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition

WTF???

2008-03-27T13:14:00.002-05:00

I'm glad I'm a libertarian minded person but not a member of the LP. The national party keeps abandoning it's principals and is becoming more like the Republicrats and the Demopublicans all the time. They welcomed Mike Gravel to the party and compared him to Bob Barr. He's leaving the Dem's because they are not the party of FDR anymore and going to the LP. And they post an announcement welcoming him? What the fuck are they smoking? Party of principal my ass.

R.E.A.L.

http://www.bobbarr.org/

http://www.gravel2008.us/

A Good Start

2008-03-27T08:25:00.004-05:00

After I was pulled over by the State Trooper this morning, I decided that I was having a good day. That's not the normal reaction that I have to any kind of traffic stop, but this was a start to a different kind of day.

Normally, cops seem to want to lay it to me whenever they get the chance. Georgia's finest seem to have a particular affinity for me and even less sense of humor than their counterparts in Tennessee. There's a section of I-75 just south of Dalton that I call the Road of Doom. Seven trips to Atlanta with six tickets and one wreck. But to get back on track, I was saying that I don't have much luck with the police. You can count on whatever the maximum is, I'm going to get it.

I don't know if it's my bumper sticker that says "You can't have my rights, I'm still using them" or the fact that I'm generally pissed off looking. My wife says that it's my smart ass attitude. She might be right, I don't know.

R.E.A.L.

An Apology to Patrick J. Buchanan

2008-03-25T09:44:00.005-05:00

I owe an apology to a man that I'll probably never meet. In my mind, I placed him in a bad light and wrote off his opinions. I wouldn't have voted for him and was glad when he seamed marginalised. Labeled a racist and bigot, a right-wing extremest that even the right wing rejected and I believed them. I never bothered to actually read his writings and accepted at face value the characterizations of others. I failed in the most basic requirement of a free individual, thinking for myself. I had a closed mind to a different and sometimes uncomfortable viewpoint. As I began to start reading his actual words, I realized that his thinking was more representative of the founders of this country then mine.

It is easy for me to agree with his opinion on immigration, but he has others that were harder for me to accept. I have always been and will continue to be a supporter of Israel, but I no longer think that it should be at the cost of American treasure or lives. If they can't manage for themselves after nearly 60, then it's a failed experiment. America needs to take care of itself first.

He has better defenders than myself and truly doesn't need my affirmation. His thoughts and writings stand on their own grounded in logic, common sense , and the true principals of conservative thought. This is my most humble apology to Patrick J. Buchanan.

R.E.A.L.

Snowing in Tenneesee

2008-03-24T06:56:00.003-05:00

It's snowing this morning, but it should be back up in the seventys by the middle of the week. Got to love the weather in the highlands of Tenneesee. If you don't, wait around a little bit and it'll change. The good part to it snowing is that I don't feel as bad that my garden is not ready yet.

R.E.A.L.

The Basics

2008-03-20T09:53:00.007-05:00

Have you ever wondered what my declaration of "To never be a looter,or parasite and not willing to be looted, preyed upon, or become a refugee" really means? At face value it's very clear and direct, but there is quite a bit self-evaluation behind it. It's easy to be principled when you only have yourself to worry about. You can be "pure of heart" and starve yourself to death standing on your righteousness. That's easy. Try it when it's your kid going hungry or your wife. It don't work. I'm honest enough to admit that to myself and you.

If I didn't prepare and have fallback plans and the like, then I would be setting myself up to be a looter and a parasite. If the choice is you or my son, then you're shit out of luck partner. I might loose sleep later on, but in the meantime you would be pushing up daisy's. It is that self-honestly that forces me to try my best to make sure that neither of us is put into that position.

Food, water, and shelter are the basics, everything else is optional. I try to make sure that I can provide them for my family even in the worst of times. I write this blog because I hope to convince and educate you to make the same preparations. Call it my personal looter prevention program. The sad truth is that most people, even if they agree with me, won't do anything until it's too late. Now that I've been preaching at you, let's talk a little bit about food, water, and shelter.

The main shelter for most people is their home. Unfortunately, most people have a mortgage and don't own their home outright. This puts you at the mercy of the economy. Got to have that job to maintain cash flow and pay the mortgage. If you have one of those "I'm Stupid" loans that you got at the height of the housing bubble, then your just screwed. Sorry, just being honest. Look around at who the Fed and the Government are bailing out, it's the banks, not individual people like you. For everyone else the best advice is to pay down your debts as much as possible. If you don't have credit card or car payments, it will be a lot easier to make the mortgage payments.

Now as for myself, I'm in a unique position. I moved in with my wife when we got married. Her house does not have a mortgage, but she built it on land her parents own. She trusts her parents to not screw us over, I don't. We wouldn't know if our "home" was used as collateral or if the taxes went unpaid, until we got the eviction notice. It's something that grinds at the back of my head and drives me a little bit crazier. No lease or deed equals no security. I have a backup plan if that worst comes to worst moment ever arrives, but I don't want to have to use it.

Anybody that has read much of my blog knows that I focus heavily on food security. If the shit hits the fan, I want to be able to focus on all the other problems rather than starvation. I even expect to need to provide for a larger group than just my wife, son, and myself. I plan to expand my food storage quite a bit over the next few years. A ton of bills have prevented me from doing much so far, but I have made some progress.

I bought Mylar bags and Oxygen absorbers for long term wheat storage. Instead of using buckets, I'm going to use larger, square, stack able containers. This will protect the bags from physical damage and allow me to use fewer containers. Today I bought the wheat to go into them.

I had several choices, all of them bad, when it came to buying wheat. I could have ordered online from Walton Feed, but with shipping it was going to run me $1.48 Lb. A local store could order me some for $0.90+ per Lb plus tax, and in both cases there would be as much as a two month back order. My third choice , and the one I when with, is to buy bags of untreated wheat from the local feed store today. The price worked out to be $0.32 including tax, but the quality is a lot lower. I'll have to screen and clean all of it. Before packing it, I'll put it in one of my freezers for a while, then to kill any weevils. Only then will I purge the bags with CO2, pack with the Oxygen absorbers, and my homemade desiccant packs.

If you want something extra to worry about, be very concerned that I could only get 200 lbs. To get the other 300 lbs I wanted, they were going to have to give me "floor sweepings." There is a good possibility that my pitifully inadequate wheat storage exceeds that of the feed stores in this county. If there is any interruption to the JIT supply system, this town is screwed.

The last, but not least item is water. I always figure that my "survival time" is limited by the amount of available water. Like a lot of people, I've spent a lot of time and money on food storage and very little on water. Stupid and something I need to correct. I just got through cleaning three 55 gallon drums. I plan on using two of them for water and one for homemade vinegar. In addition to storage, I have several gallons of bleach and chlorine tablets for water purification. All of that will go a long way and just leaves one more thing on my to buy/do list. I want to buy several of the Black Berkley filters. I can use them with two five gallon buckets to make a very capable gravity fed filtration system.

R.E.A.L.

So Little Time

2008-03-17T22:03:00.005-05:00

So much to write about, so little time. I hope to be able to add some details to this list later.

Wife has the flu. So far, my son and I don't, however we do have scrips for Tamiflu just in case.
Cleaned up all the brush and dug up some of the stumps in the new garden spot. Planted potatoes in barrels and boxes and took pictures.
I put new flooring in the kitchen, which made my Wife happy but my back sore. Hey, I found my six word description for Maggie's Blog.
Economy continues to go to hell; rising prices and falling dollars with the government making things worse.
Europe wants to use Global Warming as an excuse to add tariffs to US goods.
Why I think China is about to start a war in the near future.
Why I'm thinking "screw planning for retirement, I'm bailing out of my 401K while I still can," to pay off debts.
Somewhere along the way, I want to tell you about my Mom.

Till I get a little bit of free time, I say "hope for the best, plan for the worst and let everything else go to hell."

R.E.A.L.

A Follow Up

2008-03-15T00:34:00.005-05:00

I got to remember to not force a post. See the previous one as a good example. Bad grammar and incoherent. I even managed to not have a single point to miss. Oh, well shit happens.

If you read the comment left by my big brother, you will see that he does have a point about it being hard to overestimate the competence of the government. I'm sure that S.1959 will include a large amount of pork just like the Homeland Security Act of 2002 did. I'm positive as well that there will be a large amount of bureaucratic nonsense and inaction as well. The problem lie not in what S.1959 would do now, but what it opens the door for. Those committees, run by C.Y.A. bureaucrats, will recommend laws to congress. That wouldn't be so bad except most congressmen don't read what they are voting on and just vote the way their staffs tell them to.

R.E.A.L.

Another Reason to Go Organic

2008-03-14T12:49:00.004-05:00

I just got another another reason to go organic in my gardening. I stopped at the CO-OP to get fertilizer and had to show my Drivers License before they would sell me Ammonia Nitrate. I guess I'm going to be on another list. As soon as S. 1959 passes, I'll probably be on several more.

Here is something else to think about. Organic and sustainable are not always compatible, especially as the size of the farm/garden grows. Trucking in manure to use as fertilizer might be organic, but it's not sustainable. That means all those yuppies and leftover hippies that insist on buying only organic are also harming the environment. Fucking hypocrites!

Speaking of which, the whole carbon credits deal is another middle class screw over. Let me get this straight, I can use all the electricity I want, fly around on private jet, and emit CO2, and as long as I got the money for carbon credits, I'm green. I guess the if you can afford to fly in a private jet, you can afford to buy off your "Eco-conscience", but that leaves a lot of the rest of us just screwed. It's not that I give a shit how these elitist bastards spend their money, it's that they will ram new laws down our throats that they can live with, but the rest of us can't.

R.E.A.L.

80 or 20

2008-03-11T09:52:00.008-05:00

I'm not 100% paranoid, only about 80%. It's that last 20% of un-paranoia that keeps me anchored. If it were not for that last little bit, I'd be cashing in that savings and buying guns and whiskey. I'm worried about the effects of inflation and the falling dollar, two intertwined effects, so the logical thing to do is convert dollars to tangibles.

It's just that nagging last 20% that keeps telling me that I might be wrong. That after a while, the dollar will start to strengthen in value and inflation will come under control. Maybe the housing market will recover in a year or two and the sub-prime mess will be remembered like the S&L crisis from the 80's and 90's*. It's that nagging little bit that keeps me from going all out.

If the 80% is right and I stick with the 20%, then I've short changed my families survival. I could be sitting in a lot better position come the collapse of western civilization. Take my 401k and all of our savings and I could buy a lot of survival preps. If on the other hand the 20% is right and I go with the 80%, then I've wasted our savings, including my son's collage fund. I also would put a huge strain on my marriage and made my son's life more difficult.

I'm taking a middle road right now of not saving as much and paying down debt. I've always been frugal with my prepping, so I 'll keep going on track with that. I'll be watching and adjusting my plans as needed.

One thing that I'm thinking about doing is generally considered a bad idea, at least if you believe that the stock market will always go up in the long run. Borrowing against my 401k and then use the cash to pay off debts.

Cons:

You loose any earnings those mutual funds would earn till you pay the
loan back.
If you loose or change your job, the balance is owed or becomes
income with tax consequences.

Pros:

You don't have any losses from
those funds until you pay the loan back.
You are paying your self back with
interest, currently 7% for me.
Because you are paying yourself back over
time, it reduces losses if the market tanks for the next couple of years. In effect, you are buying on the long term dip.

Of course they make medication for my condition. All I'd have to do is trust the bastards enough to take it. Then I could be a sheeple and buy useless crap and run up debt cause "bad things never happen."

R.E.A.L.

* If you remember the S&L crisis, then you will remember the "Keating Five." One of them is on the news a lot these days as the Republican Presidential nominee.

It's Not a Phallic Symbol, Honest

2008-03-08T13:02:00.000-05:00

I badly need some 7.62 therapy. I've said before that ammo was cheaper than therapy and that's still true. I have plenty of logical reasons to go shooting, but the fact of the matter is that it just makes me feel better. It's not phallic, but more like a Zen moment compressed into a split second. I focus, aim, and fire.

The longer I shoot, the less I seem angry. Being pissed at the universe in general and at various individuals and corporations in particular gets to be a burden. And before anybody pipes up and tells me to "just let it go", I would like to be able to do that. Ignorance may be bliss, but I can't do that either. Well, maybe with enough drugs , but otherwise no.

Is it the act of shooting or the moment the gun fires that does it? I like things that go boom, but explosions are not the same. Technical disclaimer; gunpowder combusts and forms a rapidly expanding gas that propels the bullet, but in a macro senses it explodes. Hmm, I wonder. This sounds like the beginning of a fun experiment.

Sounds like a good justification for buying a new weapon to me. In the back of my mind, I have been thinking about getting an air rifle. Not your average BB or pellet gun, but one of the new high powered ones made for hunting. While my big brother can "personally" attest to the power and range of my old Daisy, I'm looking for something a bit more powerful. It is only an idea floating around in my head right now. I'll need to do a lot of research to find one that is right for me before I spend any money.

Here are my requirements:

1. Able to kill a rabbit or squirrel at 30 ft.
2. Does not use CO2 or any other consumable propellant.
3. I need to be able to get or make a mold to form the projectile it uses.
4. Costs less than an SKS. If it costs more, I might as well buy a couple 1000 rd. cases and have a lot of tried and true therapy.

In addition to any therapeutic value it might have, I'm working on other self-justifying reasons to spend the money. I could shoot at targets from the deck without disturbing the dogs or having to worry about killing any livestock. I thought about the in-laws, but saying "its only a BB gun, I didn't think it would hurt anyone from that distance" probably isn't a legal defense so I can't use that. It didn't work with my parents 25 yeas ago and I doubt a judge would be any more understanding today.

R.E.A.L.

Don't try his at home kids

2008-03-06T20:07:00.005-05:00

Damn those ancient Egyptians. Every time I get in a bind when I'm working on something physically difficult, I think about the Egyptians building pyramids out of 20 ton stone blocks using basic physics and slave labor. Where I get into trouble is that I forget that I don't have the slave labor to do the work.

Today I was cutting down the last of the trees for my new garden spot. Everything was going good and I was planning on writing a post about how to properly cut down trees with a chainsaw. I was going to say something like this.

"First you make a horizontal cut followed by an angled cut to notch the tree. It should be on the side you want the tree to fall. Then, from the side opposite the notch, make a horizontal cut toward it leaving enough material to form a hinge. The weight of the tree will cause it to fall in the desired direction."

And then I was going to elaborate on the whole process, when I fucked up.

On the biggest tree that I had to cut down, a 12" diameter Bradford Pear, my cut toward the notch was a bit off and gravity took over. The tree rocked back and pinned the chainsaw bar. You might get away with violating the laws of man, but those that try to violate the laws of physics come to a very bad end.

This is where the Egyptians come in. It's getting dark and I have a half-sawed into tree and a trapped chainsaw. I can't leave it for two very important reasons. The first is that it's about to come a storm and I couldn't be sure that it would fall the right way and miss the greenhouse or one of my dogs. The other reason is that my in-laws might see it, and I was not about to give them the satisfaction of seeing how I fucked up. Even worse is that they might decide to help just to be able to bitch about having to do it. Come hell or high water that was not going to happen. If the Egyptians can build pyramids, I can free my chainsaw.

So I grabbed my biggest pry bar and tried to free the saw. I managed rock the tree back and forth enough to get the bar free, but the chain was still pinned. I went to the garage and got my axe. I managed to cut enough of the tree away to free the chain. I also manage to hit the chain twice and the bar once. The chainsaw was free, but both the bar and the chain were in bad shape, and that damn tree was still standing. I didn't have to worry about the embarrassment part now, but there was still a the safety issue.

I went at the chainsaw with a hammer and flat head screwdriver. Managed to get it where the chain would fit into the guide. I cranked the saw up and the chain wouldn't move. Not willing to give up, I loosened the chain up and tried again. After a few times I finally got the chain to move, but it looked like a light show from all the sparks. Yep the bar and chain are shot, but I though I could get one last cut out of it to get that damn tree down.

It worked and I managed to drop it without killing any critters, greenhouses, or myself. I did decide that I had best not try to teach anybody how to use a chainsaw until I learned to not fuck up. Rocking the tree back and forth with a pry bar was a bit much for me and I'll pay a price for that tonight and tomorrow. Now all I have to do is get the muscles in my back and neck to loosen up so I can load the brush up and get that carried off.

R.E.A.L. tired and sore

P.S. If you're are wondering why I'm not worrying about my in-laws reading this story, here is why.

When I first got married and we were combining our stuff to make a new household, we had an extra computer. My wife wanted to give it to her parents so that they could look stuff up on the Internet. I set the computer up for them and told them that would have to sign up with an Internet provider. I started to explain about DSL, cable modems , and dial-up, when my mother-in-law said, " But I only want to check local stuff, I don't have to pay do I." I just shut up and let my wife take over from there.

And We Didn't Even Get A Kiss

2008-03-04T15:44:00.003-05:00

Government's only legitimate reason for existence is to protect innocent life and property from aggression, foreign or domestic. When it deliberately destroys the money, government is acting perversely,by harming innocent life and property. Short of intentional war, inflation is the most immoral act political leaders can commit.
Ron Paul - Gold, Peace,and Prosperity

“Free trade is essential to the creation of high-paying quality jobs,” said Bush on Thursday. But if exports create jobs (and they do), imports displace them. And if we import half a trillion dollars more in manufactures than we export, is not Bush trade policy literally slaughtering industrial jobs?
Patrick J. Buchanan

I'm getting ready for hard times, but not the end of civilization. While I'll grant you the possibility that times could be bad enough to cause our civilization to collapse, I suspect that it won't. It's more likely that we are headed for a severe economic recession or depression. So I'm adjusting my survival preps accordingly. I figure that applying a 80/20 rule, 80% economic /20% TEOTWAWKI, should be right for the short term.

I'll grant you that unless you're an economist for the Federal Reserve, it doesn't take much of a prophet to make that kind of prediction. I could rant on about the stupidity and greed that is wrecking our economy, but I think I'll see if I got this straight.

It starts with a basic understanding of the difference between paper currency and real money. We use Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs ) as a fiat paper currency. Paper currency simply means that its value is backed by faith in the issuer because it is not redeemable in a tangible substance like gold. The fiat part just means that the government uses the force of law to back it up rather than following the Constitution.

Real money is simply an agreed upon medium of exchange that has an intrinsic value its own. We mostly think of gold and silver, but any commodity can be used. A favorite example of mine is Roman solders getting paid in salt. Where do you think the phrase " not worth his salt" comes from.

The Federal Reserve, a group of private institutions, is allowed to issue notes in the name of the government. The government then borrows from the Federal Reserve to pay for everything it does. As long as the people, institutions, and governments that hold those dollars have faith in both the solvency of the Fed and the government, everything is just peachy. When the market for FRNs drops, that is market forces expressing their faith in our government. In case you haven't been paying attention, the dollar has been on a steep decline.

This downward spiral in the value of FRN leads to the next problem, price inflation. As long as we as a nation continue to import more than we export, the falling dollar makes everything more expensive. The falling value of the dollar has a huge impact on the cost of one of our most valuable imports, Oil. Oil and the products and energy produced from it, are what make our way of life possible. Along with oil, the falling dollar will cause every other imported item it cost more.

As inflation destroys the purchasing power of your paycheck, limits on wage growth will prevent any amelioration of this effect. As more and more of our basic manufacturing is shipped overseas or across the border, the remaining companies have little incentive to pay their employee's fairly. My personal experience has shown this to be true. A record year for profits, ( $115 million, a number that is up 872% since 2005), with a good evaluation and they screwed me on a raise. I don't think the average service sector employee does any better.

So we have a situation where wages are stagnant, inflation is increasingly painful, and the few FRNs that we get paid with are losing value. The effects of this are mild compared to what they will be in a couple of years. Throw in the Government being unable or unwilling to control its spending, and you have all the incentive the need to add monetary inflation into the mix. If raising taxes and/or cutting spending is going to cost you votes, why not print enough paper to cover the bills? If you don't think that would happen then ask yourself why the government quit publishing the M3 report.

Want to see the difference between real and paper money? If in 1975 you had an ounce of gold and a stack of dollars and used each to buy a barrel of oil, you would use .063 oz of gold and $11.16. Today if you did the same, it would take .104 oz and $102.42. If you do the math it comes out that oil compared to gold has shot up 165% , but compared to the dollar, oil went up 1,568% in the same time period.

And just to show that the problems we face are manifold.......

1. There is the end of cheap energy and how it causes Uncle Sam to have to maintain an Empire that we can't afford. You don't think we have troops in 130+ countries in order to spread democracy do you.

2. The destruction of the industrial base that allowed America to become a superpower in the first place. It's not the loss of assembly jobs that hurts the most, it's the loss of foundries, tooling and machine manufacturers. It's those basic industries that made it possible for the USA win in two world wars and outlast the USSR.

3. A trade deficit with nations that probably be our enemies in the near future. Nothing like arming your enemies while weakening yourself. Whose brilliant idea was it to give Communist China MFN anyway? Explain to me just how a so called "Free trade" agreement with a third world country like Mexico or Columbia benefits the average American?

4. You can't tell me that a country that can put a man on the moon and monitor most of the worlds phone calls can't control it's own borders. I don't want to hear any bullshit about needing a police state to deport illegals. Eisenhower managed to do it with "Operation Wetback." McCain, Obama, and Hillary need to repeat after me "remove the incentives and self-deportation works." Unfortunately that isn't going to happen.

And the list goes on. There is so much to be angry about and so little time to address them. Get ready cause we are about to learn a lot about self-reinforcing cycles in the near future.

R.E.A.L.

A New Start

2008-03-04T10:30:00.003-05:00

After much discussion, that being the polite description of what happened, my wife convinced me to set aside my open warfare with her parents. I still think the best thing for all of us is to move away and start over fresh, but she doesn't agree. Because I love her so very much, I'll set my anger aside and try to be willing to invest time, labor, and money in the house and yard. Try being the operative word.

In order to stay sane living there, I need a garden. However I am not going share a garden space with my In-laws. Since my previous garden was part of their garden, I'm starting over elsewhere.

My raised beds are destroyed. The asparagus is plowed under along with the strawberry patch. I left nothing of value behind. I even took the bottomless pots that kept my different mints and horseradish contained. It was like watching a good friend die.

Yep, I took a burnt earth approach to the whole process. Yes, I will always be bitter and pissed off at them and although I find it distasteful and somewhat dishonorable that I'm now waiting for them to die, but that's how it goes. I don't trust them,I'll never turn my back to them, and I still want nothing to do with them, but I'll back off of the open warfare.

That's done and over with now. Its time to start over and see just how good my gardening skills are. I picked a spot that has the house blocking a view of their farm that happens to be next to my greenhouse. The problem is that I'm having to cut down trees to get a sunny spot and there is no point in trying to plant directly in that red and grey clay. I still have three 0r four more trees to go and a lot of limb trimming to go before I start on the stump removal part. Picture this " a crazed redneck with large chainsaw, (24" bar), going at 6in trees while singing the lumberjack song

Once I get a reasonable amount of sunshine, although it will never be great, it will be time to start building the garden. I'm not going to be able to do the type of garden that I wanted to. I have neither the time nor money to invest in this garden that I might have if we were living somewhere else. I'm going to start with raised beads and other structures that will combine low cost and the ability to move them at a later date.

I'm starting with growing potatoes in barrels. The idea is to take a barrel and cut it in half. Then drill drainage holes in the bottom and add a small amount of dirt. You plant the potato and cover it with enough dirt to keep the sun off. As the plant grow, you keep covering it up in dirt until it reaches the top of the barrel half. This gives about two and a half feet of growing space for the tubers.

Everything else is going to be on an as is basis. Like I said earlier, I'm removing trees and stumps. Lots of work left to do before the last frost free date here on April 15th. The old saying around here is go pay your taxes and then plant your garden. It works, but I hate to ruin my garden by thinking of taxes.

R.E.A.L.

I Fell off the Wagon

2008-03-03T11:02:00.002-05:00

I hate to admit it, but as they say "I fell off the wagon." Here I was a recovering workaholic, three years into recovery and I slipped up. I actually started caring about doing better at work, working longer hours and in general putting in extra effort. Fortunately I was brought back to my senses with my last annual review.

I work for a company that has had a record year for the third straight year. I got a good evaluation. There are three possible scores; exceeds,meets, or fails to meet expectations. Overall, nobody makes an exceeds, and you get fired before get a fail. In each category and goal I made a meets expectation, yet they gave me half the raise I got the year before.

Now I know that there are a lot of people who don't get raises. I guess I should be glad that I got something. It's just that they urge us to do more and more to help the company do better and tell us that we will share in the benefits. I fucking don't like being lied to. This ain't a game I'm playing, this is how I take care of my family, you bunch of greedy cocksuckers. I read the annual reports, so I know how big a bonus you pay yourselves. I tell you what, you give me your bonus, and I'll work for free until I retire.

Ok, I know that I'm not going to be able to change anything without changing jobs, and then it would probably be the same there as well. Fuckit. I can play this game. I'll not give you a reason to fire me. I'll do EXACTLY what you tell me to do, no argument. I'll not get in your way when you want to do something stupid. I'll do what I need to keep getting a decent review, but if you forget to tell me to do something don't expect me to remember for you.

After all, you are the MBA fucking geniuses running this company, what the hell do I know. It's your board meetings, not the people making and shipping the products that cause a profit to happen, right? You got yours, so it's fuck everybody else, they can get their own.

R.E.A.L.. - Pissed On and Off

Nursery Rhymes and Cheese

2008-02-28T22:52:00.008-05:00

Little Miss Muffet , sat on her Tuffet, eating her curds and whey. At least that's how I remember it going. Nope,I haven't went off the deep end yet. And I haven't started on nursery rhymes as a survival training tool for toddlers, although that is an idea.

On the roof sat Bess
aiming her SKS
By her side little Tip
handed her a another stripper clip
Tweedle dee, tweedle dum
Watch the government men run.

Not as good as "two by two, hands of blue", but it's a start.

Wait a minute. Let me get back on track with this post. I started off with that nursery rhyme, because I've been eating cheese curds. Free association can be a strange trip for me.

I got inspired to try my hand at making cheese and I ended up with more curds than I had cheese press. Since I hate to waste, I sprinkled ground chipotle, little bit of salt, and dug in.

While learning a new skills is a good survivalist trait, there is an additional benefit to making cheese and yogurt. It's a good way to rotate your stored dairy products

It's hard to justify storing very much dairy items due to their short storage life. Dry milk and canned milk are about your only choices. Even if I stored much of either one, I would be hard pressed to use them up before they went bad. As long as I can buy a gallon of milk, I'll avoid drinking reconstituted dry milk. Mixing water back into a can of evaporated milk doesn't appeal to me either.

I have made yogurt from evaporated goat's milk and I found recipes that use dry milk to make both cheese and yogurt. Since I love yogurt and cheese this makes for an easy way to use up and rotate my stored dairy products.

R.E.A.L.

P.S. I plan on including more details on yogurt and cheese making later, along with some more Anarchy / Survivalist Nursery Rhymes :-)

Frame of Mind

2008-02-28T01:33:00.003-05:00

Writing for me depends a lot on my frame of mind and each post tends to be a reflection of what is bouncing around in my skull at the time. This works for me since I write for myself first and for everybody else's entertainment second. The bad part of it is that my mood swings can stop a good post in mid-stride. Today for example, I was writing about cheese and nursery rhymes when a phone call knocked me off my emotional balance. Sometime, when I can stand to, I'll have to tell you about Misty. Just when you think that it's scar tissue, someone pulls the scab off.

Right now it's 1:00 am and I've dug into the pharmacy, (Flexeril ,Loritab, caffeine, and Toradol) , for the mother of all sinus infections. Yes, I know that none of those actually help your sinus, but they do make the whole mess a lot easier to deal with. It's funny that the older I get and the better my insurance, the more that doctors are willing to prescribe. I knew there had to be some benefit to getting older.

R.E.A.L.

A Change of Mood and Some Technobabble

2008-02-20T14:32:00.005-05:00

Here I was all ready to vent my spleen with a heavy, pissed off attitude post and my better half goes and ruins it for me. Amazing what having someone to brighten up your day can do. The funny thing is that she probably dosen't even realize what she did. I guess I'll just save that other post for another day, maybe even do a little bit of editing on it.

Now for a little technobabble.

As an Engineer, I get a kick out of finding better ways of doing something. In my case I work with CNC machines ,metal cutting and programs for said machines. Well one of the tricker types of machining is using live tooling to mill with a lathe.

Most lathes have 2 axis of movement, X across and Z toward the spindle. Machines with live tooling tend to have a third axis called C, which is made using the spindle. To make a square requires the X and C axis to move simutaniusly in small increments to generate a line perpendicular to the X axis. The more increments the straighter the line. If you write out all of the code for that movement, a simple small square can equal 6000 lines of code. That quickly becomes a limiting factor. I finaly figure out how to us polar cordinate rotation to reduce the number of lines of code to 12. Slicker than snot as the old saying goes.

I promise to get back on track tommorow, maybe a little bit about defending your survival retreat. I had a few thoughts on that subject today after a near miss involving a large, fast moving truck, a narrow road, and a bluff.

R.E.A.L.

Welcome to America

2008-02-18T17:53:00.003-05:00

It's no surprise to learn that many of the new laws passed in the aftermath of 9/11 had been proposed long before that date. The attacks merely provided an excuse to do many things previously proposed by dedicated statists.

- Ron Paul 1/26/2005

I'm reading "A Foreign Policy of Freedom" by Mr. Paul, so expect more quotes from him over time. The book is a collection of his speeches from 1976 to 2006 and is a very good read. When I look at what kind of government we could have if he was president. Money based on real wealth, lower taxes, and troops stationed in 129 fewer countries could be a possibility. Unfortunately for us all, Mr. Paul will not make it through the two-party system to reach the general election.

Instead, most people will think that there are only two choices and that a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote. Somehow they have been convinced that the Republican caricatures of Rush, Hanity, and Ann are true conservatives. Through some method of perversion the neo-cons assumed the mantle of conservatism and we all have paid the price. Are you so afraid that you're willing to give up your liberties in exchange for the illusion of security and the neo-con liberal policies? I'm not, but I'll bet that a lot of you are.

I suspect that the Democrats will win in the general election in November. The end result is that all that will change is that the conservative veneer that the neo-cons use will be stripped away. The Dems choices are between neo-liberal Hillary, kind of like neo-con lite, and Obama who is more liberal than Ted Kennedy. All I can say is get ready for a flash back to the Carter years.

Up is down, left is right. Somewhere along the way, we crossed a threshold were lies become the truth and I don't know if there is any going back. Ask yourself "What can I do without the government's permission?" Can you build a home, travel, or open a bank account? What isn't forbidden is mandatory. Welcome to America.

I keep voting for the same reason my wife buys lottery tickets. The odds of anything good happening from either action is astronomical, but hope springs eternal. Just as my wife has her numbers that she plays, I won't vote for either of the two major parties. I don't figure there is enough difference between the two to matter.

R.E.A.L.

Fighting the Common Cold

2008-02-17T23:15:00.002-05:00

I've been dealing with a sinus infection for about four months. Every time I think I've kicked it, it comes back worse. A prime exhibit is this weekend. Not only did it screw with my plans, it's hard to be romantic with snot coming out of your nose, it came back worse than ever. Only one thing to do; break out the hot toddies and relax. There are many drinks that go by that name, but only one that fits the bill for me.

1. packet of theraflu night time
2. bolling water
3. 5 teaspoons of Tang
4. Jim Beam Which now comes in backpack friendly plastic bottles by the way.

Just fill a coffee cup half full of boiling hot water, add theraflu and tang. Top off with Jim and enjoy.

R.E.A.L.

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T23:41:00.003-05:00

I was going to write a post expressing how much I love my wife. I thought it would be a nice guesture to testify to the whole world just how wonderful she is. After writing the post, we decided that it was a love letter, not a blog entry and should remain private.

I will say that she is wonderful and special and there are a lot of very good reasons why I married her and before you ask, I did NOT forget about Valentines Day.

One of the many great things about my wife is that she is not about "bling". Words and deeds that show love and kindness are what she values most. Don't get me wrong, she likes diamonds too, but really understands when finances don't permit.

As I told Maggie I get her live flowers, ( daffodils are her favorite) , so that I can plant the bulbs. This way she can see the flowers from all the past Valentine's Days and remember each of those occasions. I hope my actions are what reminds her of my love for her.

R.E.A.L.

A Bit of Frugal Survivalism

2008-02-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

I'm tempted to start another political rant today. I just got through watching "America: Freedom to Fascism" and if that DVD doesn't fire you up, you really don't need to be reading my blog. However, I will spare you that and get down off the political soapbox and talk about survival. I've mentioned before that luck and some mental elasticity are the major factors determining your survival. That having been said, you can improve your odds with some relatively low cost food preps.

Unless you have plenty of money or no taste buds, I recommend against MRE'S and prepackaged survivalist foods in those #10 cans and go straight to normal store bought goods. Items that you can buy at Wal-Mart, Kroger, or any local grocery store and that you buy anyway. The trick to building up your storage, is to buy a few extra every time you go to the store. For example, if you normally buy two cans of green beans, buying two extra cans every time you go shopping would only increase your grocery bill by a dollar or so. The same principle applies to dried goods, seasonings, ect.

There are a few guidelines that I recommend you follow.

First is to pick only those foods you and your family will eat now. Don't count on hunger to change those "picky eaters." It might work, but do you want to add that stress on top of everything else? Besides if you store foods that you eat on a regular basis, it's much easier to rotate your stock.

Good packaging and proper storage is critical. It's not going to do you any good to have spoiled food in your food storage. Most canned goods are fine as is, as long as they are kept cool and dry. Food canned in glass jars need to be kept in the dark for best results. Dry goods like beans and rice need to be repackaged into rodent and insect resistant containers. You might be tempted to get fancy and add desiccants or oxygen absorbers like you would use with long-term wheat storage. Resist that urge unless you plan on grinding it up to make bean flour. Sealed and dry is all you need.

A balanced diet is key and variety is the spice of life. Don't stock up on just a few items. Not only will you have problem with taste fatigue, nutritional deficits can be a real killer.

As an addendum to number 2, it's a good idea to buy some items in bulk and then repackage them into meal size containers. This reduces your costs and wastage. A good example of this is margarine. I can buy a five-gallon bucket fairly cheap and then can it into pint jars. The smaller size is easier to use and canned margarine and butter are shelf stable.

Keep in mind the storage life of the extra stuff you're buying. If it's canned goods, then I ignore the expiration date as mainly a marketing ploy to get you to buy more stuff. There are some storage foods, properly stored like hard red wheat, which will last virtually forever. Dry beans are not in this category. Even with the best storage methods, after about three years they just won't soften up much when you cook them. They are salvageable by grinding into flour and then cooking them. This is the reason that I don't store much more than a couple of months worth.

I could go on for a while longer, but if I don't get this posted tonight, it will show up on Valentine's Day. That would mess up part of my plans for that special holiday.

R.E.A.L.

The Storage Life of Foods

Prudent Food Storage: Questions and Answers by Alan T Hagan

7 Mistakes of Food Storage by Vickie Tate

A R.E.A.L. Update

2008-02-12T21:39:00.002-05:00

It's time for me to explain what has been going on and in particular why I haven't been posting much lately. I wish that I could say that I have been too busy, but that's not the case. I have just gone through a period of time where my RA made it painful to type or write.

It still is painful to type much, but I've managed to find a work around. This post and the last one were written on my wife's PDA. It's easier on my hands and wrists to tap on this screen with a stylus than to type on a keyboard. Go figure.

In addition to that, I write about survivalism from a practical and experienced point of view. To do that it requires me to actually do something that would be of use to anybody else. Surviving is a good description of what I have been doing, but it is not something that's going help you deal with societal collapse. My wife had Pneumonia and major dental work that included bone grafts and a root canal. My son has had ear infections that cumulated in having drainage tubes put in his ears. I had my own set of problems, but as always the family comes first. I hope to be back posting on a regular basis soon.

R.E.A.L.

How would you do?

2008-02-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

If you have been watching CNN lately, you probably have seen my old stomping grounds. I grew up in Macon county and my mom works in Lafayette.

She lives north east of there and had one of the tornadoes come fairly close to her. She made it ok with only minor damage to her house and a lot of broken tree limbs in the yard. Telling you this isn't the point of this entry; it is just some background information.

What I want to tell you about is what happened afterwards. As you might expect, the electricity was off for a couple of days. For most people, this is a disaster. They can't manage without TV, electric stoves, and all the other gizmo's that most people take for granted. My mom however just broke out the grill and fixed "beans and tators" kinds of meals using her home canning. And as she said, "Of course I made my coffee as well." She lit a candle for a little bit of light, and kicked back and relaxed. I asked her how she stayed warm and found out that her gas heater didn't need electricity to work. For her, not having electricity was simply an inconvenience. She told me that she was just grateful to still have her life and home. I couldn't even get her to stay the night at our house. When it gets dark, she wants to be at her house. Other than the concern that another storm might hit, she was worrying that she might have to start "canning up the freezer" if the power stayed off much longer.

My mom is 62 and is getting ready to retire. Unlike her youngest son, she is not an anti-social survivalist. I've been taller than her since the fifth grade and she might weigh 120 pounds soaking wet. She is still tougher than most people I know that are half her age.

My question to you is, do you think you could handle the same situation as well as her? I've learned a lot about how to take care of myself from my Mom. Maybe you can too.

R.E.A.L.

A hope or a dream

2008-01-26T08:49:00.000-05:00

On Robert E Lee Day, I had a dream.

I was sitting on an airplane in first class. All of a sudden everybody but me got down on their knees and placed their face in the seat. I was the only person wearing clothes.

I looked around and by my shoulder there was a man in a uniform. The uniform was blurry, but his face was crystal clear. He had a hard, cold look about him. He looked down at me with an expression that asked "why aren't you like them?"

I turned to him with a terrible fear in my heart and said " I just wanted you to know that there was one real American here. A citizen of the United States with certain unalienable rights enumerated, but not granted, by the constitution."

Then I woke up. I guess you don't have to be Sigmund to figure that one out.

R.E.A.L.

The Answer

2008-01-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

If you are reading "survivalist" writings and making plans, then the most important question you have is "what do I need to survive?" You can find a hundred lists and five hundred people willing to sell you THE ANSWER. They might tell you that it's a $5000 battle rifle or a $300 British army surplus bolt action and a lot of ammo. It might be an EMP proof vehicle, Fallout shelter, or two years supply of prepackaged food. Living the nomadic life, hunkering down in a bunker or sustainable farming.

And they are all full of shit. I'm going to tell you the answer and it's a real bitch, because it means that some of you ain't going to make it. You see, it's not "survival of the strongest" , it's "survival of the fittest to the situation." You have to be lucky enough to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time, be able to think on your feet, learn from your mistakes and experiences.

Don't get me wrong, all of that other stuff helps to increase your odds, but it's the stuff between your ears that's more important. That and enough luck to not be on ground zero. The upside of this is that we all got a chance. That's also the downside.

R.E.A.L.

National Ammo Day

2007-11-19T15:11:00.000-05:00

Happy National Ammo Day!
Make certain to go out and buy some extra ammo today. Go ahead, you know that you want to. Let your dollars support the 2nd ammendment, it may be the only kind of voting that counts anymore.

R.E.A.L.

NEWS RELEASE:

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

CCRKBA SAYS BUY AMMO, SUPPORT THOSE WHO ENABLE EXERCISE OF SECOND AMENDMENT

Second Amendment supporters should buy ammunition November 19th to support freedom, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. Monday, November 19th is National Ammo Day, described as a BUYcott of ammunition. The goal of National Ammo Day is to empty the ammunition from the shelves of your local gun store, sporting goods, or hardware store and put that ammunition in the hands of law-abiding citizens. According to the National Ammo Day website, each law-abiding supporter of the right to keep and bear arms is encouraged to buy 100 rounds of their favorite ammunition. Supporters are exhorted to “Make your support of the Second Amendment known--by voting with your dollars!” “Gun stores, ranges, and ammunition manufacturers across the country are under constant attack by a barrage of federal, state, and local regulations, frivolous lawsuits, and protests,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “If every gun owner bought 100 rounds of ammunition, that would put an estimated 7.5 billion rounds of ammunition into the hands of law-abiding gun owners dedicated to defending our constitutionally-protected individual right to keep and bear arms.” Mark A. Taff, CCRKBA Executive Director, went one step further and encouraged gun owners to not only buy 100 rounds of their favorite ammunition, but to fire those rounds on their local gun range. “I can’t think of a better way to spend a Monday evening than putting some rounds down-range to improve our marksmanship skills. Hitting what you aim at is crucial to responsible armed self-defense.” Taff also stated that it was important to not only support your local firearms & ammunition dealers and ranges with money, but also with moral support. “The number of licensed gun dealers has plummeted, in part due to harassment by the BATFE, so it is important that firearms dealers know that gun owners appreciate the sacrifices they make and the abuse they endure to ensure that we have the practical ability to exercise our rights.” Visit http://www.ammoday.com/ for more information about the 2007 National Ammo Day.
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the internet at http://www.ccrkba.org/ or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.

There Are Going To Be Some Fuckups

2007-11-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

I haven’t been preparing for the end of the world lately, so I though I would pass on some advice for dealing with health issues. In particular, dealing with doctors.

In every human endeavor, there are going to be some fuckups. If you are flipping burgers, it’s no big deal. However, if you are a doctor, it is. Medical fuckups are bad for all concerned. The best advise I can offer is to ask questions and if you don’t feel comfortable with the answers, get second opinion. If a doctor is so arrogant that they get pissed, switch doctors permanently. Let me give you a couple of examples from my life.

When my son was born, his parathyroid gland was not working properly and as a result he had convulsions. When his pediatrician, saw him have one, he sent us on to Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital. When we got there, he had 3 teams of doctors trying to find out what was wrong. Now these are all top notch doctors in the pediatric field, but problems will always happen when separate groups of people work on the same problem. We started having different doctors making conflicting statements. To resolve the problems, we made them coordinate and put one person in charge. It wasn’t long before we got an answer and a solution.

A second example is also with my son. He had a TB skin test come back positive. While we were sitting in the room with his pediatrician, he looked up TB in one of his books and then set out a treatment plan. This was not a move to inspire confidence. We took him to two other doctors who ended up referring us to Vanderbilt’s Infectious Disease Center.

Just so you know, my son is fine now. He outgrew the problems with his parathyroid gland and the final diagnoses was that he didn’t have TB after all. But the point of these two example is that by asking questions and not accepting blindly what we were told, we made sure our son got the right treatments and avoided a lot of problems.

R.E.A.L.

As a final note, we finally paid off all of the hospitals and doctors from my son’s birth. He is almost two and we finally got him paid for.

Maybe

2007-10-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I sometimes worry that I’m going to screw up my kid. Normal is not a description of me and I probably will pass some of my strangeness on to him. Take the selection of books that I’m reading to him. “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Sandworms of Dune”, and next I plan on “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

Since before he was born, I’ve been getting copies of books that I want him to have. Most of the top 50 books that have been banned from school libraries are already in his collection. I have also made sure that he will have easy access to Kipling and Twain as well as Asimov, Heinlein, Jordan. In addition to a lot of great fiction, he has chemistry and physics textbooks, geometry, trigonometry and history texts. Oh, as a special note, the history texts I get him are from the early 1930’s so the PC crap hasn’t infiltrated it yet.

Maybe just maybe, one day he will read my blog and not be too embarrassed of his old man as well.

R.E.A.L.

Where Is My Cheap Oil?

2007-10-09T12:53:00.000-06:00

I lack the certitude of the righteous, so I’m in a bit of a pickle when it comes to the Iraq war. I have never served in the military, so does wanting something other than immediate withdrawal make me a chicken hawk? I’m still American enough to hate to see my team loose, but I think fighting in Iraq is a mistake. We are left without any good answers, the best we can hope for is to pick the least worst.

The war has been politically miss-managed and I don’t see that improving much no matter who wins the next election. We broke it, so do we have the responsibility to fix it? Putting the moral issues aside, where is my cheap oil? We took control of about 10% of the world’s oil reserves and oil is still above $75 a barrel*. If you assume that wasn’t the plan to begin with, what a bunch of rank amateurs we have running the government. Evidently, they are only good at stealing from us.

R.E.A.L.

* I discount any conspiracy theory that depends on the government being hyper-competent. I see a herd being stupid where some see evil.

Help, Anyone?

2007-10-08T13:15:00.000-06:00

I don’t have time to research the topic I wanted to blog about today, so I thought I would throw out a few questions and comments.

Is Wal-Mart evil or just the ultimate extension of capitalism?

I have three viewpoints on this subject. My libertarian side says that they are simply a successful business model and any resentment is just jealousy at their success. My Educated Redneck side says “Hell Yeah. By offering low cost items to the masses, they are fighting inflation and helping poor people to save money. Too bad about them buying all that commie crap.” Lastly, my for a lack of a better description, populist side says that they are shifting the burden of healthcare for their employees on to the taxpayers, and they destroy local economic diversity and do not pay a “living wage” which reinforces the poverty that they profit from.

If we are in a credit crunch caused by sub-prime loans, why am I bombarded by ads from mortgage and credit card lenders?

I tend to think that it’s a case of lenders trying to keep playing musical chairs by snaring just a few more suckers. It could be a case of me being paranoid; thinking the world is going to collapse when we are in a ”new” type of economy and the “old” rules don’t apply.

All the farmers I know are old, where are the new young farmers?

Between corporate farms and the developers, I don’t see how anyone can afford to buy a couple of hundred or thousand acres to farm. How can a person start out farming for a living when to get started you need a huge amount of capital and resulting debt just to maybe compete? If you don’t inherit the land and equipment, I don’t see many people being able to make a living farming. Most of the small farms I know are growing houses rather than corn.

Ok, I’ve said my piece. It’s your turn to take the stage. Feel free to comment, rant, rave, or hell if you got one, offer an answer.

R.E.A.L.

Living the Sheeple Life

2007-10-05T08:23:00.000-06:00

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting lately. I’ve been living the “sheeple life” lately and it’s been hard to think or write. I actually came home from work, sat down on the couch and watched TV. How do people stand that shit? 24-7, fourteen channels of Law and Order makes me want to scream. CSI: Miami, NY, Las Vegas, Podunk, ect. is the most mind numbing shit I’ve ever seen. If being a depressive, paranoid, (true right) wing maniac means I never have to see that shit again, it’s a deal! Sign me up.

I’ve also been watching the opinion pieces they call political news as well. If my buddy Dave makes it on the ballet, I’m voting for him. Otherwise, I have a hard decision to make. For the first time in a long while, I feel a need to vote for the lesser of evils, rather than my conscience. Normally elections are easy for me, I vote Libertarian or against the incumbent. In the Republican primaries, I’ll vote for Ron Paul. That’s a very easy choice, but I don’t really expect him to be the nominee; it will be probably be another neo-con. The problem comes in the general election when I expect Hillary to be the demon-critic nominee.

Let’s see if I have this shit strait. You want to force everybody to buy health insurance and then force us all to contribute five grand for every child born in this country. You voted for the war in Iraq and want to continue it at least four more years so that you don’t look “soft on terrorism.” I just went to her website to double check her stands on the issues and ran across this little gem.
“When Hillary is in the White House, no American will be invisible to the president of the United States.”
Granted, I took that line out of context, but it was just too perfect. Expect to loose even more privacy and freedom in the quest for “equality of results” rather than “equality of opportunity,” and it will all be sold as “for the children.”

You got to hand it to the demo-idiots, they are likely to nominate the one candidate that would unite republicans and convince them to hold their nose and vote for “anybody but Hillary.”

R.E.A.L

Love at First Shot

2007-09-20T08:52:00.000-06:00

I couldn’t resist. Had to have it and justifications to follow, as they are needed.

What is it that got this tightwad to release a few dollars? A Mosin-Nagant 91/30 in excellent shape for $99. It came with a cleaning kit, bayonet and strap. The bore was clean and rust free without pits. The only thing wrong with it was that the stock had the metal inserts for the strap missing. I can live with that.

When I got home with it, I broke it down and cleaned off the Cosmoline. After reassembling and checking for function, I loaded and cycled a few rounds. The bolt felt a little stiff, but smoothed out after I lubed it. A second wipe down and cleaning and I was ready to see how it shot. I set up a water-filled bucket at the end of the driveway, took aim and squeezed the trigger. It was love at first shot. I have bought more expensive rifles with less “out of the box” accuracy than this one.

A second round confirmed that I am going to need some time on the range to get it sighted in properly, but I very happy with it. I gave it another go with a bore snake, fired three more rounds and then a final cleaning before putting it up for the night. In case you haven’t figure it out by now, I’m real big on getting and keeping my weapons clean, especially during a break-in period. Once I get everything broke-in, I drop down to just cleaning after each time I shoot or twice a month, whichever comes first.

Ok, now time for the self-justifications beyond just “I want it.” Based on my belief that 95% of all survival shooting would be within 75 yards, I have always concentrated on the close in us weapons. 7.62 x 39, 12 gauge, .38 and .357, and .22 calibers are well suited to this range. However they are somewhat lacking in the “Ma Bell” category of having something to reach out and touch someone. This rifle with the 7.62 x 54 should help to remedy that situation.

In addition to its ballistic performance, this rifle has several very redeeming characteristics for both the frugal and the survivalist-minded person. The first is that it’s a tough and rugged rifle that was made to withstand abuse and neglect and still shoot. It has a long proven track record of being tough and accurate as many dead Nazi’s could attest. I already mentioned that it didn’t cost much, about the same as three tank-full of gas for my truck.

A low cost gun doesn’t do much good if the ammunition is priced out of sight. It works in that category as well. I can buy a 1000 round case of surplus ammo for $180 plus shipping. That is berdan primed, corrosive primed, older ammo which has it’s drawbacks, but wouldn’t be bad for plinking as long as you make sure to clean your rifle immediately after shooting. The next step up is berdan primed, non-corrosive primed for $305 per case. This is the lacquer-finished ammo of recent Russian manufacture. Some people avoid the lacquered finish, but I have not had problems with it myself in semi-automatics, so I don’t anticipate any with a bolt-action. Lastly for those who plan to re-load, there is boxer primed, non-corrosive ammo that costs much more.

The upshot of all of this is that 7.62 x 54 ammo is affordable and available. With the war in Iraq, you can expect 5.56 and 7.63 x 39 to be scarce and more expensive in the US civilian market for some time. Being a bolt action with a fixed 5-round magazine, it might be less of a target for the gun banners in government than your ugly back rifles. I wouldn’t count too heavily on that, but it might be an advantage down the road.

A final humorous thought. If Americans ever decide to take back their liberties by force of arms, it will probably be with communist made guns.

R.E.A.L.

Saying Goodby to Old Friends

2007-09-18T07:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a one-two blow. In quick secession I learned that Claire Wolfe was ending her blog and more importantly the Hardyville Stories. Hardyville played a big part in forming my political views and I will miss it.

Just as this was sinking in, I learned that my all-time favorite fantasy author, Robert Jordan, died. Robert Jordan is best known for the Wheel of Time series. Eleven of the books have been finished and the story was not finished. The quality and quality of his work have set new standards that will be hard for anyone to match. It's selfish I know, but I'm mostly upset that the story will never be finished. That's the best tribute I can give any author, "His story is larger than the person."

R.E.A.L.

Stupid Tactical

2007-09-17T09:54:00.000-06:00

Is it just me or is putting a flashlight on a gun the same as hanging a sign that says, “Just shoot me.”

This though was prompted by my latest Brownells catalog. Every built up AR-15 they showed had a “tactical flashlight” mounted. Like this was some indispensable part of the rifle. Given what they were charging for a flashlight, I’m sure they want to convince you of that. If you believe that this gives you an edge then you need to put down that copy of Soldier of Fortune magazine and get your head out of your ass.

I am sure there are gadgets and gizmo’s that will give you the edge in a firefight, but you need the basics first. Get yourself down to the range and start trying to hit a target. Forget all of the add on toys and use the steel sights. When you get where you can hit what you are aiming at that away, then you are ready to play with the toys. A sharpshooter with a .22 is far more dangerous than an amateur with a .50 cal.

If you need some guidelines for a gunfight, here they are.

The best way to survive a gunfight is to not be hit and it’s hard to hit what you can’t see.
A flashlight in the dark makes a very easy target, especially if it is mounted to some idiot’s gun. The same applies to visible light laser pointers.

The only shots that count are the ones that hit. Close only counts with hand grenades and horseshoes.

Only on TV are people bullet proof, body armor is good for stopping shrapnel and some pistols. Most rifle rounds will penetrate any armor that you can carry.

If you end up in a firefight, you have already screwed up. You’re trying to be a survivalist, not a Marine storming a beach.

There is a difference between concealment and cover. There is only concealment if you piss off a buffalo hunter. Don’t believe me, check out THE BOX O’ TRUTH.

If any of what I have said isn’t obvious to you, then you have problems. Read and learn. Get some training and practice with your weapon. Use your big head rather than the small one and be realistic.

R.E.A.L

Frugal Prepping Pt. 1 –Dried Goods.

2007-09-14T09:09:00.000-06:00

I love saving money while at the same time improving my readiness for disaster. Given the way inflation is increasing much faster than my income, it’s quickly becoming a necessity. You have probably heard this one before, but here it is again. Buy food in bulk and repackage for daily use. Simple huh. Today I’m going to talk about dried goods like salt, flour, corn meal, sugar, rice, and beans. I’ll cover other types of food later.

If you just want to save money, then this group is not going to directly help you. You would save a lot of money by avoiding buying processed foods that cost a lot more, and probably save money on medical bills to boot. However, the cost of properly storing these items in bulk along with their low cost means it would take a long time to save any money based on purchased price. A 50-pound bag of flour costs about 10 cents a lb, while a 5 lb bag runs about 23 cents per lb. That’s $1.30 for a 50 lb bag, so when you figure in storage costs, which I’ll cover in a moment, it’s going to take a long time to break even. The point with these items is more to increase your food storage cheaply, rather than just saving money.

For daily use, I have a canister sets that I keep in the pantry. I don’t have the one in the link, I use a cheap set that I bought at the Dollar store for $8.00. When they get low, I go down to the basement, open a 5-gallon bucket and refill them. If you do this right, the goods will keep for at least a year, if not longer. Here is how I store items like flour for easy access and long term storage.

I use a five-gallon bucket with a Gamma Seal lid and lined with a large Ziploc bag. The total cost is about $11.00. See what I mean about taking a long time to break even. I use a 10-gallon Ziploc bag as a inner liner for the bucket, fill it with the flour, and attach the Gamma Seal lid. I like this because the screw on and off nature of Gamma seals is easier on my arthritic wrists that the much cheaper pop on lids. I keep other buckets, where I do use the pop on lids, but only on those items I’m not going to open very often.

When I first get the flour or any dried good that might be a problem with bug infestation, I put the container in my freezer for 3 weeks. This should kill any insects or insect eggs. I don’t have any data to support this other than I’ve never had any problems with long-term storage, when I have done this.

R.E.A.L.

If You Can’t Kill’em, Annoy’em

2007-09-13T07:30:00.000-06:00

The world if full of people that piss me off and lots of penalties that are worse than the satisfaction I would get from killing them. It often puts me in a bind because it’s not in my nature to just keep taking other peoples bullshit. This often leads me to be a prankster with my enemies, rather just killing them. I know that it is a small consolation, but sometimes it’s all I got. So for today, I want to show you how to play a simple, yet effective practical joke.

The Mail Bombardment Joke

In a world full of spam, it’s difficult enough to avoid junk email and snail mail. Rather than fighting this, make it work for you. All you need is the targets mailing address and phone number. Secondly, set up a fake email account. I prefer Yahoo for this myself, but there are other choices out there.

I like to start with catalogs. A good first step is to go to Catalogs.com and sign the person up for a catalog of a product they would not ever order. Remember to use the fake email address. This makes it that much harder for them to stop getting mail. After the first one, the site remembers the information and automatically fills in the blanks each following application. This makes it easy to sign someone up for hundreds of catalogs from just this one site.

The next thing to do is to sign them up on every mailing list you can. Be creative. It’s easy to do, just click on every one of those pop-up banners and submit the targets information. If you dedicate just five hours to this, you can put them on just about every mailing list in the known universe.

Like all practical jokes, you can take this one too far by signing them up for anything that would cause physical harm. The idea is to annoy and piss them off, not cause harm or legal problems for yourself. If you want to do that, be direct and go get them. This is about letting off a little bit of steam.

R.E.A.L.

So Unmotivated, I’m Unable To Fuck-Off

2007-09-12T07:18:00.000-06:00

“I’m so unmotivated; I can’t bring myself to fuck-off.” When I told this to one of my coworkers yesterday, I was able to put my finger on what should be obvious to myself and everyone around me. I am starting to feel depression again. Headaches, lack of motivation, general malaise, and a complete denial of what is happening are my signs and symptoms. It’s that last one that is really the bitch, because it is what keeps me from fixing the problem. If I don’t catch myself and start fighting back, this shit just keeps going on and on. It becomes a self-reinforcing circle that in the end requires medication to break. That is if I let it go on.

I’ve been at the bottom with this before and made my way back. Yes, it took large doses of Zoloft and then Paxil along with a strong desire to get away from people in therapy, but I got better. Since then I get the occasional dips into that territory, but as long as I can admit where I’m heading, I have been able to pull out of the nosedive.

The fact that I am writing and posting something is my sign that I’m past the bottom. I have to force myself to write, but still I’m managing. It goes back to the mantra they teach in therapy, “Fake it till you can make it.” I have to make myself do things because it’s too easy to just vegetate and feel bad.

For those of you, who have never had clinical depression, count your blessings. You should know that while being sad is part of it, it is a very different thing. Sad usually has an obvious cause, something bad happened, ect. Depression isn’t that simple. I hate when people ask me “why are you depressed.” The root cause is a chemical imbalance in the brain caused by a breakdown of too many monoamine neurotransmitters. Too many of these and you get a manic stage, too few and you get depressed. I don’t know why I have problems regulating this balance, but that’s the facts. It is not a very satisfying answer for the people who have to deal with me, but it’s the only one I got.

If it’s just a chemical imbalance, why don’t you take medication and “solve” the problem? It would be so much easier than trying to deal with it yourself. That is true, but until I find a doctor to prescribe the meds without trying to send me to therapy, I’ll pass. Maybe I’ll go have some harmless redneck fun that might include using a lot of ammo and making a few loud booms. I know that I have to keep writing, even if I don’t feel like it. Keep posting, keep working on the survival writing, keep just keeping on.

R.E.A.L.

Another Bill Bites the Dust

2007-08-30T12:13:00.000-06:00

When my son was born 21 months ago, he was 11 pounds 5 ounces and was 22.5 inches long and two weeks early. Fortunately, for my wife and me, the delivery was via cesarean section. He was a difficult pregnancy for my wife and she still says that her body has not fully recovered from the experience. Among the many changes that this event brought to my life, the only unpleasant one was debt. Having a baby is not cheap, especially when there are complications.

When I added up the total bills from all the doctors and hospitals, it topped a little over $85,000. Thankfully, I had insurance that brought the total that I was responsible for down to $17,000. Throw in a little bit on negotiating with creditors and the amount we owed dropped to just under $9000. By wiping out our savings, we got that paid down to $5350. This left us making payments to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and their doctors for $100 each per month.

Well today, I mailed a payment for the remaining amount to the doctors leaving just $900 that I owe the hospital. I plan to double up on the remaining payment and finish that bill off in four months.

Why am I telling you this? One is to show that if you work hard at it, you can pay off debts that seem insurmountable. Two, I’m happy to be one day closer to debt free and thirdly I’m setting the stage for a future post about my son.

R.E.A.L.

An English Garden Meets Organic/Redneck Survivalist

2007-08-22T14:11:00.000-06:00

My garden is going to have a radical makeover by spring. It all starts from a stupid decision that seemed like a good idea at the time. I made my garden on the farm. The farm that is next to our house, but owned by my wife’s parents. To compound problems, I was then convinced to sell the land that I owned, where I had my previous garden.

Since I don't get along with the in-laws, this has turned into a big issue for me. I'm slashing and burning the garden (literally) rather than letting them have something to hold over me. The upside of starting over is that you get to try new things and avoid old mistakes. The downside to all of this is the cost and I may have to start over again in a year or two anyway.

Since I’m moving everything into the yard, my wife insists on everything being neat and easy to mow around. Given that our division of labor around the house puts mowing the yard in her column, I though this was a reasonable request. As I have to do all of the trimming, I want to minimize any of that as well. Throw in the reduction from 4800 to 1800 sq. ft., and careful planning is going to be a necessity.

My initial plan is make a rectangle border of raised beds on three sides with a three sister’s mound in the middle. An herb-lined walkway would go all the way around the mound. In the front would be an arbor, email me and I’ll send you the plans and material list (pdf), and fence for climbing vines. Think formal English Garden meets organic/redneck survivalist. I might even create a formal hedge border on three of the sides if I can figure out how to keep from shading the vegetables.

In this garden, companion planting and intercropping will be a paramount consideration. I’ve been playing at this for a while and now it’s time to get serious. I’ll be planting more flowers as well as dedicating at least one raised bed to edible “weeds.” I will continue to grow heirloom vegetables as a primary, although a few hybrid varieties might be in order in some places.

I feel that it’s time to start pushing my gardening boundaries and see just how green my thumb is. I know that with Square Foot and French Intensive methods I can grow a tremendous amount of food in this small an area, I just don’t consider it a survivalist level garden. To make up the shortfall and to continue building up my food storage program, I’ll be visiting farmer markets and market growers. Expect a few posts on frugal food purchasing down the road.

R.E.A.L.

Pea Sheller Review

2007-08-21T08:07:00.000-06:00

A few posts back, I mention that I was buying a pea sheller and hoped that it would help me to process the huge quantity of Black Crowder peas that I grew. I've had a chance to work out how the gizmo works and have formulated an opinion. Here it is.

I'm glad I bought one on eBay ($12 including shipping) instead of paying $44 for a new one. That way it doesn't feel like so much of a ripoff. The long and short of it is that this is not much faster or easier than shelling them by hand. I found that the only peas that worked were almost dry and fairly easy to shell anyway. If I didn't feed the pea pods in a certain way and they were not dry, I ended up with mashed peas. In short, it's a toy. I'm going to try and re-engineer it to work better and if I succeed, I'll post the plans and results.

R.E.A.L.

Who Knows?

2007-08-16T14:18:00.000-06:00

Since I write about what I’m actually doing or have done, there are days when it’s hard to come up with survival related posts. Throw in my deciding to give you a break on the food storage thing for a few days and the cupboard gets bare. Other than editing a CD and perserving everthing I can from the garden , there is not much I’m doing to improve my family’s long term survivability right now.

I am watching the financial news close right now. This may just be a much needed correction and a return to classical economic business cycles, or it could be the beginning of the end. Who knows? My advice is to avoid adding any debt right now and to pay down as much as you can. That’s good advice for any time by the way.

I’m going to hang tight on most things right now. However, I am planning on buying a house in next year or so.

Say what. Are you crazy?

Well, there are those that say I am, but in this case I don’t think so. I got a plan on how to make all of the bad news work in my favor. If on the other hand, this is the beginning of an economic collapse, then none of this will matter. So while you are waiting on The REAL guide to getting a mortgage without losing your shirt , I’ll direct you to a few interesting places.

From Revolution to Reconstruction – American Documents

LewRockwell.com Blog – Ominous Signs of Complacency

WSJ – U.S. to Expand Domestic Use of Spy Satellites Let’s Moon the Sky!

In the category of “I’m glad my ancestors got kicked out”

Police recruit 16-year-old support officers

They have your number

And just so we don’t feel left out

Smile, You’re on Capital Hill

US doles out millions for street cameras

New York plans London-style camera network

Video Surveillance Guide

R.E.A.L.

A Great Moment Turned to Shit

2007-08-14T09:24:00.000-06:00

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
….from This Is Spinal Tap

Do you remember having a great moment? A brief moment of fun where everything is just right, the stars and the planets have aligned and everything is just works. A moment when you just let go and have a blast. I was having one of those moments last night.

I wasn’t doing anything spectacular, just jamming to some good rock n roll with my son. We were just letting go, dancing, screaming for the hell of it, and laughing. He is 20 months old, so running around in circles screaming is fun. Part of the time I chased baby, and part of the time he chased me. We had an absolute blast.

During a break in the action while I caught my breath, my wife called from work. She asked if we were playing music too loud. He parents had called her because they could hear it. They were up at the garden which is close to my house. Yeah, I was playing loud music, but I wasn’t vibrating the walls or anything. God dammit. I’m 37 years old and I don’t need anyone checking up on me or prying into my life. I’m not talking about my wife, it’s her parents.

Thanks for fucking up a good moment for me.

As much as I would like to respond violently, it is her parents and I don't need that kind of strain on our marriage. However, I'm not going to let this one just lay. Y'all want to pry into my business and bitch to my wife about what I'm doing in the so called privacy of my house. Well I'm going to give you something to talk about.

Years ago, I used to edit video on my computer. Although I got tired of that, I still have an old copy of Adobe Premiere. It is perfect for pulling the audio track off of an movie. I'm going to find me a good porno and rip the audio from it. You know a good moaning and meat slapping scene. Make a long loop out of it and burn it on CD.

Then the next time the in laws are around, I'm going to slap that CD in and move the speakers over to the window. I'm going to crank the volume up to 11. Here let me entertain you. Maybe next time you'll piss off and mind your own business.

R.E.A.L.

A Stinky Situation

2007-08-10T13:01:00.000-06:00

The cholera had broken out at the post, and five or six men were dying daily. - Buffalo Bill

After eating a meal from my storage foods, I was sitting around, relaxing and congratulating myself on practicing my survival skills, when it happened. I let loose a big room clearing fart. As I was sitting out in the open, I though “no harm, no foul.” However, it did get me thinking about an unpleasant problem and a CRITICAL survival skill. Sanitation.

So here are R.E.A.L.’s Rules for shitting in the woods

1. Go down wind of your campsite and at least 100 feet. Don’t turn open water into an open sewer.

2. Leaves of three, leave them be. If you are using leaves to wipe with, make sure it’s from a safe plant. Know what Poison Ivy, Oak, Sumac looks like.

3. Carefully survey the area. You don’t want to have to deal with snakes ,wasps , or other critters when in an exposed position.

4. One time bury shallow, two times bury deep. Burying shallow allows for faster composting, if you plan to reuse the same spot, dig deeper to help control the smell. Sprinkling ashes from the campfire on top also helps with the smell.

Due to the plumbing involved, men have an easier time taking a piss outdoors, but I suspect that women have the advantage when it comes to taking a dump. Squatting down just doesn’t feel natural to me. For this reason, I’m going to explain one method that I use to deal with that problem. First, find a hillside and a sapling just big enough to hold on to with one hand. Place your feet shoulder width apart close to the base of the tree. Grab hold and lean back until you are in a squatting position. This puts you in a comfortable position and your pants are out of the firing line. After you finish, pull yourself upright and finish.

Long term sanitation in a fixed location requires a bit more knowledge that I can fit into a bog entry so here are some links.

Human Waste and Disposal
Options for a Community Sanitation System
The Outhouse
Shitting In the Woods
Things You Should Know about Sewage Systems
Privies, Old & New

R.E.A.L