Welcome to another installment of the be prepared channel. Today is a quick update on what is happening and a reminder of some things we have talked about in the past. For those that are wondering what happened to the podcast I had pretty much suspended the podcast while I was in the farmstead/homestead search and the time I had available to do the podcast vanished.
Well the latest update is that we have decided to suspend our search for a farmstead/homestead. A couple of things have influenced this decision. The jobs market for both my wife and I have suddenly gotten very unstable and we don't know what is happening with either one of our jobs at the moment and probably won't have clarification until April so we are putting everything on hold until we know what is happening.
The next thing I wanted to tackle was that I still had lots of unfinished business to resolve with our home in CO. With the housing market still in decline and home values falling the valuation of my home has pretty much wiped out what equity I had in the place. I wanted at the very least to be able to have enough equity in the place that if we were forced to sell the home that we would be able to do so and cover realtors and closing costs and possibly have a little bit of money to work with. That situation just continues to decay so now there is pressure to get the balance paid down on the home so that we have that buffer once again. It was my mistake a few years ago to do what everyone else was doing and taking money out of the house to payoff other debts. This left me with a home loan that was maxing out the actual value of the home. So I started paying that back down over the last two years since I lost my mind and did that. I thought I had paid it down enough that I had some equity once again in the house, but the housing market has erased any equity I managed to restore. So it is crunch time. I tell you this story because I am sure there are others out there like me that went crazy and have been kicking yourself in the backside ever since. I know I have. It was about the same time that I woke up again and started back on this Be Prepared lifestyle. Sometimes it just takes a reality check to wake me up and I need to make sure I get my own "checkup from the neck up" on a frequent basis to make sure I am on the right track. While I really wanted to get this farmstead and homestead off the ground I now realize that I needed to finish this business first. Sadly I spent a bunch of money in the farmstead and planning that hasn't panned out which is money that could have very easily have put me back where I needed to be with the house in CO. As they say hindsight is 20/20. So now it is regroup time and time to get the basics in place for whatever is coming with the job market.
Next thing I wanted to touch on is low interest rates. If your lucky and smart enough to have already paid off your home and own it out right congratulations. If you have not and still have a home loan it may be worth your while to consider refinancing at these low rates. We don't know how long the money masters can continue to fool the world into buying our debt and keeping the rates at incredible low rates so if your considering refinancing you should get that done. You can lower your monthly payments significantly which will allow you to put that additional money to work either as extra principal in your mortgage, or building up your emergency cash reserves. Do waste time, just go get it done if it is right for you and your financial situation. If you don't owe that much more on your mortgage it might not be a great idea to throw the money in closing costs and fees down the drain for the lower rate and payment. If your balance is high and your time horizon is much longer then it probably makes good sense for you to look at refi. I am starting the refi process now so I can lock in those lower rates and payments. I want to make sure that even if I end up with a job mowing lawns, flipping burgers, and walking dogs that I will be able to keep the house payments made and lower monthly payments are all part of that equation.
So with all this restructuring and prioritizing this means that I plan to resume the podcast in December as I bring my focus back to preparing our home here in suburbia for what is unraveling at this point with our economy. I will share with you some of the steps I will be taking to convert our little home and lawn into our own mini homestead. So I hope you will tune into the podcast as I work to get back on track with regular podcast episodes.
Lindsey William predictions:
Early in the year I talked about a gentleman Lindsey Williams and the predictions this man was making based on information he was being given by those insiders in the know, the money masters, the elite. Most of what Lindsey told us about devaluation of the dollar was right, the activities in Iran and middle east have come true, pretty much all that Lindsey said has come to pass. Our currency has in fact been devalued over 40%. A couple years ago Lindsey told us that oil was going to $150 back when it was $30 a barrel. Then when oil hit 150 he told us that they would drive the price down to 50. It happened. Now Lindsey says that the game is on and that we are going back to 150-200 barrel in 2011. He says there will be some sort of middle east crisis and other circuses to keep us entertained while deals are being struck by China and Russia. Russia is now the worlds largest energy producer and they have struck deals with China now and the world powers are aligning and the global power structure is shifting. The only reason you and I don't see it even more price inflation than we are seeing now is that the Chinese have a peg to our dollar and since most of our items on the shelf. If you buy groceries, or energy you are starting to feel the pain at the grocery store and gas station. But be forewarned that won't continue. So we will keep you posted on some of the specific predictions from Lindsey, but one of the alarming things he stated was about a lady who was offered a job in the Obama administration working for Janet Napolitano who was told to go home and make sure they have 6 mths of food and water in their home for their family. This is a very ominous piece of guidance that I would strongly urge you to pay attention to and get busy if you haven't already.
The Wall Street Casino:
Well I think Jesse Ventura is a little cheesy, and sometimes a little over dramatic, but this episode of his show Conspiracy Theory has a lot of factual information in it and may be an eye opener for those of you who have not been following the non-mains stream media, or my blog. If you haven't taken anything I have said seriously maybe it is time to give it some thought. The time is running out. So sit back and enjoy this episode of Conspiracy Theory:
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Update on our Homestead and getting into shape
Welcome to another episode of the Be Prepared Channel. Well it has been a while since we talked about our homestead plan and our progress. Back in June we thought we had found a place that we were going to setup as our homestead. We made an offer on it in July and have been working with the banks ever since to get the loan closed. Well it seems to us that there must be far more issues in the banking system then they are letting on. First attempt to get the farm financed was with a conventional home loan. 90 days passed and the banks report that they cannot finance the home because there is too much land and it violates some formula they have for the loans and that they cannot get the loan underwritten. Next we inquired about using my VA benefits to get the loan since this is underwritten by the US government we felt we should be able to get the loan under this program. Once again we blow through another 90 days only to be informed by the VA that the barns and outbuildings on the property have lead paint and that unless that is fixed they cannot underwrite the loan. Estimates to get those buildings fixed was $30,000! It appears that there is an entire cottage industry that has cropped up to fight this evil lead paint problem. Talk about a complete waste. What this tells me is that the VA is not writing any loans on old farms because there isn't a old barn in this country that hasn't had lead paint on it at some point. Neither the seller or we could come up with that kind of cash to remedy the situation with the lead paint. I did pay a company to come out and test the buildings that were reported to have lead on them and only 2 of the 4 buildings that were identified by the VA as having lead did actually have lead. But that didn't change the situation with the cost too much because there was no way we could come up with the funds to fix it. So there appears there is no way we can get this loan on this old farm house that we were attempting to buy. It really is a terrible shame as it was probably the best compromise we had found that came closest to meeting our basic requirements for our homestead. So we are once again back on the market searching for homes. It is really sad and disheartening to be back searching for a homestead again since we found it was very difficult finding the first place. We spent from Nov 2009 to Jun 2009 just trying to find the first place. So who knows how long this process is going to take to find something that is workable. So the search continues I went looking at properties last weekend and again today. At this point we are keeping the realtor out of the conversation until we do a drive by and find that the land is farmable and the place looks to be in decent shape. Now with the lead paint issue with the VA we need to find something that either doesn't have the old wooden outbuildings or basically has no outbuildings and we have to basically build from scratch. This complicates matters significantly. So we will keep you posted as new things develop.
Being Prepared - getting in shape
Well guys this is a topic I have been reluctant to talk about because frankly I am not in great shape. I am a computer/IT guy that has let myself go over the years. Long hours, odd hours, and sedentary type work is very hard on the body especially if you don't take action to make sure that you squeeze in time to work out, and look for ways to eat better. I have been talking about genetically modified foods, and the garbage that is pushed on us that they call food today in the stores. It really is mind boggling the chemical, genetically modified, processed garbage that we call food in the US. It is frankly quite scarey. We have an FDA that is basically owned by the major agribusinesses and food processors and by the medical/health care industry. The entire food pyramid is built based on these special interests lobbying efforts and self serving interests. We have entire industries that have cropped up around weight loss, diabetes, and the multitude of other illnesses that have sprouted up around this agribusiness/healthcare nightmare that just feeds itself. So if you want to take control of your life and get your health back on track you need to start by looking at your diet. If your food is in a box, or some other fancy packaging it isn't food. So let's start with what you need to look for in your food:
1. Fresh fruit
2. Fresh veggies
3. Fresh meats
4. Naturally occurring fats and oils
5. If you buying something packaged look at the ingredients. You should not see a long list of chemical soup, additives that are GMO or should not be in your food.
You should understand that there are ingredients that are put in our foods that should not be there. Wheat and soy are processed and put in foods everywhere. These ingredients are not healthy contrary to what your told.
The basis for healthy living is to get back to natural foods that are healthy and can be eaten raw with no processing. If the item your trying to eat could not or should not be eaten when raw then I would question if that food should be in your diet. Many foods that people eat today are not safe to eat when raw and must be cooked before eating them. These foods even after processing and cooking still have low levels of toxins in them that have been found to be linked to cancer, MS, diabetes, Lupus, high blood pressure, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, and the list goes on and on. These foods like rice, wheat, potatoes are actually killing us. I would highly encourage you to investigate this yourself. I recently started reading about a diet called the Paleo Diet or Caveman Diet. It frankly makes too much sense and explains a lot of what is going on with people today.
I started this Paleo way of eating a few weeks ago and I am reluctantly going to admit here in front of God and everyone how overweight I have become and my progress in trying to get my own weight back under control. In the process I hope that my bouts with arthritis in my knees, hands, and neck will be addressed as has been reported. I will admit this is a difficult change to eliminate things that I had come to accept as normal and healthy foods from my diet, but I also have to report that in the few weeks I have been doing this I feel pretty good so far and the weight is slowly coming off without any exercise or additional effort at this point. I am planning on correcting that portion of this health quest next by starting an exercise program in my home.
Let's point out what the Paleo Diet says to avoid:
- Grains(wheat, rice, corn, etc)
- Legumes (peas, beans)
- Dairy (milk, cheese, cream etc)
So tracking my progress so far:
My height: 6'2.5"
Starting weight:
257.8 lbs
Weight at my last weigh in on the Oct 28th:
245.4 lbs
I have decided I will try to keep myself off of the scale and only track my weight once a week. My diet is focusing on carbohydrate content and not on calories. I am sure that my weight loss will pick up speed and become even more consistent as I start to focus on doing some basic exercises and get my butt out on my bicycle. I have to admit I am a fan of the TV program called The Biggest Loser, and decided that it was time to get a handle on this issue that has been plaguing me for decades now with my weight. I feel pretty confident now that I understand the roles of foods better and eating those things that only a caveman would have found and eaten raw. Understanding what is truly edible and healthy is the foundation of understanding what foods we should be consuming. Once we understand that it should be possible to maintain a healthy weight while eating a healthy diet by avoiding those "foods" we know are responsible for most of the health issues that we face today.
I can say I thought it would be a really hard adjustment to quit eating grains, potatoes, dairy, legumes, and any food that wouldn't have been considered caveman friendly. So far I can say it seems overwhelming at first, but it hasn't been that hard once I started focusing on what I am allowed to eat instead of what I am not allowed to eat. As a byproduct of this diet change one of the first things I noticed was my acid reflux and heart burn was gone! I have suffered for years with this and cannot tell you what a relief it is that I am no longer up a good portion of the night battling a volcano in my stomach. This has been amazing and such a welcome relief. I can only hope that any damage to my esophagus can recover from all the acid reflux I have been battling. Two of my tools for battling my acid reflux has been calcium supplements and a glass of milk. This sorta gave me temporary relief, but it appears now that I may have been doing just as much harm as good. So by eliminating grains, legumes, potatoes, dairy, sugar my acid reflux is gone. So try it for yourself. you might be surprised at what you find out for yourself.
So as I add an exercise program to my weight loss project I will keep you posted for those interested in my weight loss and how this diet and exercise program has helped. If your thinking about being prepared but sound like me huffing and puffing after a short trip up the stairs or a brisk walk then maybe it is time we all start working on this one together. This is not something that can wait until TSHTF for you to get in shape and be ready to handle the tasks that we may be force to tackle. Your health is important and is all part of the sustainable lifestyle that we as preppers are working for. The way we eat and live is crucial to understanding what we need to do and be prepared for.
Now some of you might be thinking to yourself. BUT a lot of my prepper supplies are all the things that you just eliminated from your diet!!!! Your right and I am struggling with how to best handle this situation. I think I will follow up in another post about how this shifts my storage foods and food plan. In a critical emergency any foods will be difficult to come by so we may be forced to eat what we have available to us. However knowing that these foods are not part of a normal healthy diet should play part in our food rotation plan and how we address keeping this food storage viable. Normally we would follow the advise of eat what you store, but in this case that might not be great advise. Most of the foods I have just described as healthy are not the types of foods that will store well and are best eaten fresh. So this is going to mean a shift for my own personal food storage plan and how we rotate our supplies. I will keep you posted as I sort this out and think through the implications of health and healthy eating as part of our food storage.
Well I hope I haven't bored you to tears. Here is some reference materials that I have been reading as part of this Paleo diet. I already had materials on the Atkins diet that I pulled out and have been reviewing with this to see where there is synergy.
The Paleo Diet by Dr Cordain (note he has an updated version of this book coming out in Dec that you might want to get instead of this one).
The Paleo Solution Diet by Robb Wolfe
Robb's easy to read writing style is very informative as he explains anti-nutrients found in grains, lugumes, dairy, and many other foods. It is a pretty good read. I found some of the recipies in the book to be conflicting with some of the foods we should be avoiding so pay close attention to these.
Well that is it for this installment. I hope I haven't bored you to tears. If you have any questions about the various diet plans I have mentioned briefly here or what I am eating myself feel free to ask. So far it seems counter intuitive because of bad information we have been force fed about our food over the years, but I am eating foods that people say you should avoid and are not healthy for you and I have never felt better. So what does that say about what the so called experts know? Question everything, assume nothing, and always ask why...
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Being Prepared - getting in shape
Well guys this is a topic I have been reluctant to talk about because frankly I am not in great shape. I am a computer/IT guy that has let myself go over the years. Long hours, odd hours, and sedentary type work is very hard on the body especially if you don't take action to make sure that you squeeze in time to work out, and look for ways to eat better. I have been talking about genetically modified foods, and the garbage that is pushed on us that they call food today in the stores. It really is mind boggling the chemical, genetically modified, processed garbage that we call food in the US. It is frankly quite scarey. We have an FDA that is basically owned by the major agribusinesses and food processors and by the medical/health care industry. The entire food pyramid is built based on these special interests lobbying efforts and self serving interests. We have entire industries that have cropped up around weight loss, diabetes, and the multitude of other illnesses that have sprouted up around this agribusiness/healthcare nightmare that just feeds itself. So if you want to take control of your life and get your health back on track you need to start by looking at your diet. If your food is in a box, or some other fancy packaging it isn't food. So let's start with what you need to look for in your food:
1. Fresh fruit
2. Fresh veggies
3. Fresh meats
4. Naturally occurring fats and oils
5. If you buying something packaged look at the ingredients. You should not see a long list of chemical soup, additives that are GMO or should not be in your food.
You should understand that there are ingredients that are put in our foods that should not be there. Wheat and soy are processed and put in foods everywhere. These ingredients are not healthy contrary to what your told.
The basis for healthy living is to get back to natural foods that are healthy and can be eaten raw with no processing. If the item your trying to eat could not or should not be eaten when raw then I would question if that food should be in your diet. Many foods that people eat today are not safe to eat when raw and must be cooked before eating them. These foods even after processing and cooking still have low levels of toxins in them that have been found to be linked to cancer, MS, diabetes, Lupus, high blood pressure, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, and the list goes on and on. These foods like rice, wheat, potatoes are actually killing us. I would highly encourage you to investigate this yourself. I recently started reading about a diet called the Paleo Diet or Caveman Diet. It frankly makes too much sense and explains a lot of what is going on with people today.
I started this Paleo way of eating a few weeks ago and I am reluctantly going to admit here in front of God and everyone how overweight I have become and my progress in trying to get my own weight back under control. In the process I hope that my bouts with arthritis in my knees, hands, and neck will be addressed as has been reported. I will admit this is a difficult change to eliminate things that I had come to accept as normal and healthy foods from my diet, but I also have to report that in the few weeks I have been doing this I feel pretty good so far and the weight is slowly coming off without any exercise or additional effort at this point. I am planning on correcting that portion of this health quest next by starting an exercise program in my home.
Let's point out what the Paleo Diet says to avoid:
- Grains(wheat, rice, corn, etc)
- Legumes (peas, beans)
- Dairy (milk, cheese, cream etc)
So tracking my progress so far:
My height: 6'2.5"
Starting weight:
257.8 lbs
Weight at my last weigh in on the Oct 28th:
245.4 lbs
I have decided I will try to keep myself off of the scale and only track my weight once a week. My diet is focusing on carbohydrate content and not on calories. I am sure that my weight loss will pick up speed and become even more consistent as I start to focus on doing some basic exercises and get my butt out on my bicycle. I have to admit I am a fan of the TV program called The Biggest Loser, and decided that it was time to get a handle on this issue that has been plaguing me for decades now with my weight. I feel pretty confident now that I understand the roles of foods better and eating those things that only a caveman would have found and eaten raw. Understanding what is truly edible and healthy is the foundation of understanding what foods we should be consuming. Once we understand that it should be possible to maintain a healthy weight while eating a healthy diet by avoiding those "foods" we know are responsible for most of the health issues that we face today.
I can say I thought it would be a really hard adjustment to quit eating grains, potatoes, dairy, legumes, and any food that wouldn't have been considered caveman friendly. So far I can say it seems overwhelming at first, but it hasn't been that hard once I started focusing on what I am allowed to eat instead of what I am not allowed to eat. As a byproduct of this diet change one of the first things I noticed was my acid reflux and heart burn was gone! I have suffered for years with this and cannot tell you what a relief it is that I am no longer up a good portion of the night battling a volcano in my stomach. This has been amazing and such a welcome relief. I can only hope that any damage to my esophagus can recover from all the acid reflux I have been battling. Two of my tools for battling my acid reflux has been calcium supplements and a glass of milk. This sorta gave me temporary relief, but it appears now that I may have been doing just as much harm as good. So by eliminating grains, legumes, potatoes, dairy, sugar my acid reflux is gone. So try it for yourself. you might be surprised at what you find out for yourself.
So as I add an exercise program to my weight loss project I will keep you posted for those interested in my weight loss and how this diet and exercise program has helped. If your thinking about being prepared but sound like me huffing and puffing after a short trip up the stairs or a brisk walk then maybe it is time we all start working on this one together. This is not something that can wait until TSHTF for you to get in shape and be ready to handle the tasks that we may be force to tackle. Your health is important and is all part of the sustainable lifestyle that we as preppers are working for. The way we eat and live is crucial to understanding what we need to do and be prepared for.
Now some of you might be thinking to yourself. BUT a lot of my prepper supplies are all the things that you just eliminated from your diet!!!! Your right and I am struggling with how to best handle this situation. I think I will follow up in another post about how this shifts my storage foods and food plan. In a critical emergency any foods will be difficult to come by so we may be forced to eat what we have available to us. However knowing that these foods are not part of a normal healthy diet should play part in our food rotation plan and how we address keeping this food storage viable. Normally we would follow the advise of eat what you store, but in this case that might not be great advise. Most of the foods I have just described as healthy are not the types of foods that will store well and are best eaten fresh. So this is going to mean a shift for my own personal food storage plan and how we rotate our supplies. I will keep you posted as I sort this out and think through the implications of health and healthy eating as part of our food storage.
Well I hope I haven't bored you to tears. Here is some reference materials that I have been reading as part of this Paleo diet. I already had materials on the Atkins diet that I pulled out and have been reviewing with this to see where there is synergy.
The Paleo Diet by Dr Cordain (note he has an updated version of this book coming out in Dec that you might want to get instead of this one).
The Paleo Solution Diet by Robb Wolfe
Robb's easy to read writing style is very informative as he explains anti-nutrients found in grains, lugumes, dairy, and many other foods. It is a pretty good read. I found some of the recipies in the book to be conflicting with some of the foods we should be avoiding so pay close attention to these.
Well that is it for this installment. I hope I haven't bored you to tears. If you have any questions about the various diet plans I have mentioned briefly here or what I am eating myself feel free to ask. So far it seems counter intuitive because of bad information we have been force fed about our food over the years, but I am eating foods that people say you should avoid and are not healthy for you and I have never felt better. So what does that say about what the so called experts know? Question everything, assume nothing, and always ask why...
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Foreclosure nightmare, and currency wars
Welcome to another installment of the Be Prepared Channel blog. Well this past couple of weeks has been interesting. We see the major banks getting called on the carpet on foreclosures. It appears that they don't have a clear title to many of these loans. They were in such a hurry to create these securitized products for the derivatives orgy that they didn't consider the idea that they wouldn't be able to produce or show a clear title or even a real legal claim. Some states are trying to stop the foreclosures on a technicality regarding reading the paperwork before filing the paperwork to foreclose. So the plot thickens. Banks are still bellying up to the 0% interest money and investing it in treasuries, and stocks pushing the markets higher. Now we hear that the Federal Reserve wants to turn on the pumps to dump more money into circulation.
Some are saying that this puts the banks right back in a bigger mess than what we started with 2 years ago. I frankly don't know if the rumors are true, but it would appear that if the banks were required to buy back these mortgages they wouldn't have the cash and they will be bankrupt once again and we will once again be told we have to bail them out... I say we man the pitch forks, tar, and feathers just in case this happens.
Currency War
Well folks it appears a full fledged currency war is under way with everyone fighting on a race to the bottom. Everyone trying to make sure their currency is weaker than the other nations. China says they plant to revalue the Yuan, but they want it done slow and gradually. Well of course they do! They are milking everyone else and are in the top dog position. So it appears we have the makings of a full fledged currency crisis globally. Our dollar is falling in value fast, and if the Chinese are force to make changes faster than they want you can expect everything you buy to go up in price dramatically. Commodities such as food and energy are already on the climb. I suggest that if you don't already have your food storage plan in full swing and have a fair amount of food stored you may want to think about it. Costs are only going up from here. This is going to be a long slow emergency. We used to say our kids and our kids kids will have to face the messes that have been made, but it looks like we were wrong. It looks it we will get to pay the piper.
Prepping basics:
Just remember that being prepared starts with the basics. You should have the following in your basic plan and build from there:
1. 90 days emergency cash on hand and in your possession.
2. 90 days food storage
3. 1 week of water storage
Once you get to that point then you can start to worry about the other stuff that is important. There are a million things that need to be done, but start by keeping it simple. Once you have the basics in place the rest will fall into place as you start looking at other pressing issues. These are the minimums we should have in place. We can then shift to things like precious metals, energy security, and disaster planning. If you don't have the basics in place then it is time to get busy! Our time is running out to get these things done.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Some are saying that this puts the banks right back in a bigger mess than what we started with 2 years ago. I frankly don't know if the rumors are true, but it would appear that if the banks were required to buy back these mortgages they wouldn't have the cash and they will be bankrupt once again and we will once again be told we have to bail them out... I say we man the pitch forks, tar, and feathers just in case this happens.
Currency War
Well folks it appears a full fledged currency war is under way with everyone fighting on a race to the bottom. Everyone trying to make sure their currency is weaker than the other nations. China says they plant to revalue the Yuan, but they want it done slow and gradually. Well of course they do! They are milking everyone else and are in the top dog position. So it appears we have the makings of a full fledged currency crisis globally. Our dollar is falling in value fast, and if the Chinese are force to make changes faster than they want you can expect everything you buy to go up in price dramatically. Commodities such as food and energy are already on the climb. I suggest that if you don't already have your food storage plan in full swing and have a fair amount of food stored you may want to think about it. Costs are only going up from here. This is going to be a long slow emergency. We used to say our kids and our kids kids will have to face the messes that have been made, but it looks like we were wrong. It looks it we will get to pay the piper.
Prepping basics:
Just remember that being prepared starts with the basics. You should have the following in your basic plan and build from there:
1. 90 days emergency cash on hand and in your possession.
2. 90 days food storage
3. 1 week of water storage
Once you get to that point then you can start to worry about the other stuff that is important. There are a million things that need to be done, but start by keeping it simple. Once you have the basics in place the rest will fall into place as you start looking at other pressing issues. These are the minimums we should have in place. We can then shift to things like precious metals, energy security, and disaster planning. If you don't have the basics in place then it is time to get busy! Our time is running out to get these things done.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Monday, September 27, 2010
Next Years Disaster Planning?
Just a quick post regarding your preparedness plan for next year. I know everyone out there on the planet wants to sell you something. However our goal is to become more self sufficient. One way we can be more self sufficient is to plant a garden. Hopefully you got a chance to plant a garden this year. Better yet I hope you purchased heirloom variety seeds. Why heirloom varieties? Many seeds on the store shelves are hybrids. If you choose to save seed from these hybrids many times the plants you will get from those saved seeds will not be the same as what you planted the first time and saved seeds for.
So the best insurance you can get is to save seeds from this years garden. This will be your garden next year. This is part of our disaster plan and part of our being prepared and sustainable. This isn't about what you can go out and buy, but about our taking actions to allow some plants to go to seed and save it. It is about selecting the best fruits and veggies and saving seeds from those best examples. This insures your saving the best genetics and hardiest varieties.
By using heirloom varieties of seeds you have the ability to save seed from season to season. By having your own seed and ensuring that you have a good seed store your taking probably one of the biggest insurance policies out you possibly can. Many times when you see a disaster take place people will just say, but they can just grow a garden for food. Nice thought, but where will they get the seeds for that garden? And what do they eat while they wait for that garden to grow?
Food security is probably even more important now than during an emergency. Your planning and action while things are amply available ensures that you will not be one of those people caught off guard no matter the circumstance. Of course we can buy food at stores, we can copy can each trip and make sure we have supplies, but ultimately we are still relying on the food system to keep delivering food. Now is the time to diversify.
It doesn't matter if you live in an apartment, a house, a condo, townhouse, or on a farm. You can grow some of your own food even if in a window, on a patio, a deck, a small yard. We are now in the fall crop planting time frame and you can still be planting. You will need to know your growing zone on a map so you know what and when you can plant specific items. You can be planting cold hardy plants, lettuce, spinach and those that can handle the colder temps. If you use row covers or simple hoops you can cover and protect your plants even from those early frosts.
So how do you save seeds? Well here is a cool video on how to save tomato seeds:
Gardening for the Survivalist explained:
Survivalist Seed saving:
If you haven't checked out survivalistboards.com hop over there and check it out. It is an active forum with lots of great information and experts there on just about any topic imaginable. Saving seeds isn't complicated and it is one of those skills we all should know how to do. I want you to think about something maybe a little broader than your plan, but what about those around us? Saving seed and having extra seed could be one of the biggest gifts you could give someone in these hard times and those times that are approaching on the horizon. Have seed to give to your neighbors, friends, relatives. Show them how to save seed themselves. These skills are sought after today. Your not as odd or unique as you think you are anymore. More and more people are coming around and starting to realize what is going on and they will be looking to anyone who has the ability to help. Growing a garden and saving seed is a life preserving and life saving skill. Having the ability to give a gift this important could mean a world of difference for how your community, neighborhood, and family takes on the challenges ahead. Food will be either a destabilizing factor or a stabilizing one. Having emergency packs of food to help your neighbors, and seed packs to make sure that they have the ability to grow food could be the game changer for you and your family. Remember we get back what we give!
So if you grew a garden this year I hope you chose heirloom seeds. You can start your disaster planning for next year by saving seed this year. If you didn't get started with your garden this year it isn't too late to do a square foot garden with simple raised beds that can be put anywhere. Get started in your quest for self sufficiency now by starting that fall garden. Your action now with a garden is one of the best things you can do in your disaster planning right behind securing your water supply. Saving seed is not hard and it will save you a lot of money. Besides what could be better than knowing your fruits and veggies are taken care of as long as you do your part to collect and keep those seeds and make sure they are stored and kept fresh? And since you know where the seed came from you don't have to worry about pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers that can contaminate your food. Keep your garden organic and it will pay you back many fold. I recently purchased a few videos on farming and gardening that I will share my take on those in a future installment of the blog. There are few things that are more liberating than having your own renewable sustainable food supply. So get started today!
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
So the best insurance you can get is to save seeds from this years garden. This will be your garden next year. This is part of our disaster plan and part of our being prepared and sustainable. This isn't about what you can go out and buy, but about our taking actions to allow some plants to go to seed and save it. It is about selecting the best fruits and veggies and saving seeds from those best examples. This insures your saving the best genetics and hardiest varieties.
By using heirloom varieties of seeds you have the ability to save seed from season to season. By having your own seed and ensuring that you have a good seed store your taking probably one of the biggest insurance policies out you possibly can. Many times when you see a disaster take place people will just say, but they can just grow a garden for food. Nice thought, but where will they get the seeds for that garden? And what do they eat while they wait for that garden to grow?
Food security is probably even more important now than during an emergency. Your planning and action while things are amply available ensures that you will not be one of those people caught off guard no matter the circumstance. Of course we can buy food at stores, we can copy can each trip and make sure we have supplies, but ultimately we are still relying on the food system to keep delivering food. Now is the time to diversify.
It doesn't matter if you live in an apartment, a house, a condo, townhouse, or on a farm. You can grow some of your own food even if in a window, on a patio, a deck, a small yard. We are now in the fall crop planting time frame and you can still be planting. You will need to know your growing zone on a map so you know what and when you can plant specific items. You can be planting cold hardy plants, lettuce, spinach and those that can handle the colder temps. If you use row covers or simple hoops you can cover and protect your plants even from those early frosts.
So how do you save seeds? Well here is a cool video on how to save tomato seeds:
Gardening for the Survivalist explained:
Survivalist Seed saving:
If you haven't checked out survivalistboards.com hop over there and check it out. It is an active forum with lots of great information and experts there on just about any topic imaginable. Saving seeds isn't complicated and it is one of those skills we all should know how to do. I want you to think about something maybe a little broader than your plan, but what about those around us? Saving seed and having extra seed could be one of the biggest gifts you could give someone in these hard times and those times that are approaching on the horizon. Have seed to give to your neighbors, friends, relatives. Show them how to save seed themselves. These skills are sought after today. Your not as odd or unique as you think you are anymore. More and more people are coming around and starting to realize what is going on and they will be looking to anyone who has the ability to help. Growing a garden and saving seed is a life preserving and life saving skill. Having the ability to give a gift this important could mean a world of difference for how your community, neighborhood, and family takes on the challenges ahead. Food will be either a destabilizing factor or a stabilizing one. Having emergency packs of food to help your neighbors, and seed packs to make sure that they have the ability to grow food could be the game changer for you and your family. Remember we get back what we give!
So if you grew a garden this year I hope you chose heirloom seeds. You can start your disaster planning for next year by saving seed this year. If you didn't get started with your garden this year it isn't too late to do a square foot garden with simple raised beds that can be put anywhere. Get started in your quest for self sufficiency now by starting that fall garden. Your action now with a garden is one of the best things you can do in your disaster planning right behind securing your water supply. Saving seed is not hard and it will save you a lot of money. Besides what could be better than knowing your fruits and veggies are taken care of as long as you do your part to collect and keep those seeds and make sure they are stored and kept fresh? And since you know where the seed came from you don't have to worry about pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers that can contaminate your food. Keep your garden organic and it will pay you back many fold. I recently purchased a few videos on farming and gardening that I will share my take on those in a future installment of the blog. There are few things that are more liberating than having your own renewable sustainable food supply. So get started today!
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Quantitative Easing - What it means for you
Welcome to another episode of the Be Prepared Channel. Today we do a quick post on the state of things in the prepper world and some of the things you might want to consider doing in your own prepper plan.
Economy Slowing from Sugar High
Once again the economy is slowing. The sugar high from all the stimulus and government spending is wearing off. The housing markets across most of the country are still collapsing, foreclosures are up, and most of the news if you dig through the spin machine headlines is negative. The Federal Reserve is talking about quantitative easing by buying US debt outright so that we can float more funny money in the economy. Everyone knows that the more cash they dump in the markets the weaker the dollar gets and the more expensive things are for the consumer to buy. So the Fed is preparing to step in with more funny money so that we can continue our spending insanity.
Well in case you have been asleep for the last couple of decades and are unaware of the fact that most everything has been exported overseas to include the clothing industry. This means the price of most items including clothing are subject to pressures as the dollar falls. Now at the moment the Chinese are still participating in economic warfare on the world by pegging their currency to the dollar which means even as the dollar falls in value around the globe the Chinese currency goes down in value with us. For the time being this means we shouldn't see a lot of cost pressures in the price of Chinese imported goods. This is a temporary situation of course. Everyone fully expects as the dollar continues it's decline the Chinese will finally decide they are getting the short end of the stick and diversify their investments and break this peg. They promised to break this peg earlier this year, but it has not happened. What this means if they do finally decide to break the peg is that goods that are imported from China will climb in cost dramatically.
Now the clothing industry doesn't appear to be all in China as I still notice clothing coming from other countries and as that is the case we can expect to see the cost of those goods climb. This inflation is going to put serious pressure on the US consumer, and of course on our prepping plans since so much is imported. One of the things that my best friend reminded me of last year was just how hard things have gotten for him and his family with the lack of work and no income. A couple of things that stood out to me when he was talking was the fact he mentioned he hadn't had money for a couple of years to buy clothes at all. Of those clothing items he missed most was underwear and socks. These are the items that seem to wear out the fastest and need replaced the most often. So when he made mention of this I made a mental note. I went to look and see where these items are made and see if any of them are still make in the US. Sadly I didn't find anything on the local store shelves that indicated they were still made in the US. Times are hard enough, but when the cost of things are going to see 20-50% price increases in a year due to devaluation of our money maybe it is time to think about where the things you buy come from, and think about the frequency you replace them. Those items might be just the sort of thing you should be putting in your prepper plan. As funny as it might sound to recommend buying socks and underwear I think it is an important thing to mention that we are very exposed and vulnerable on so many levels. Don't make something as simple as a daily use item something we forgot to put in our emergency plans.
Fake left right paradigm
Well the big promises are pouring in from the politicians trying to get your votes. It is really sad for those who are interested in the content and depth of the real proposals beyond the sound bites. Sadly both the left and right are making the list of promises that sound all to familiar, but never get done. Some of them point blank shouldn't get done if we have even one or two firing braincells. So what is in the deal for us and will any of it make any difference to the outcome that many of us see coming?
From the Right:
The Republicans are talking big smack this year. They are talking repealing the Healthcare. I say this is fat chance as they won't have the votes to get it done. The only real chance of getting this repealed is if the courts overturn portions of the bill as unconstitutional and render huge portions of it illegal. That could happen, but electing a Republican won't get it done. They are talking about cuts to 2008 levels. Well I hate to break it to you but running a 560 billion dollar a year deficit like we did in 2008 is not going to save this country from the financial demise of the country. I know it sounds refreshing compared to the last couple of years of 1.6 trillion dollar deficits and 1.3 trillion dollar deficits, but it is still deficit spending. The repubs want to talk about tax cuts and spending cuts, but rarely do they ever pay for these things. They decided to exempt huge portions of the budget from cuts like military spending, security, and the whole big brother system while they continue to ramble on about the evil Muslims that supposedly are the cause of all evil in the world. Considering the portion of the budget that make up the military spending and that which is social security there is not much left on the table you can cut. So the numbers just don't add up. Again the Republicans talk smack, dance around facts, and are still in the camp of bigger government and we are all suppose to applaud and clamor to vote for them.
The left wing spin:
Well the left is out there trying to say that voting for evil Republicans is a vote for things that didn't work in the past. Who am I to argue with that!? To counter that argument? The dems seem to think you can tax, spend, and use debt to dig your way out of a hole and into prosperity. Now as stupid and disconnected as the Republicans are on reality I have to say the democrats really have outdone themselves in looking like absolute morons. The economic reality is that we cannot afford 90% of the government we have and until someone finally does the math and figures out the way this is going to play out we are forced to see that this is a train wreck in progress. The dems are out talking about how they are going to keep jobs from going overseas... Well that all sounds good until you open your eyes and look at the job market of the places that are getting these jobs. You look at an auto worker in China who makes transmissions for Honda who is making 170 Yuan a month, and a Yuan exchange rate today is .1492 Yuan to the dollar. That autoworker in China is making $25.36 a MONTH! Now the only way your going to stop jobs from leaving the US is if our wages are competitive with the competition. Oh, let's dispel another myth. In China these workers do not have free housing, free medical, and all the freebies we are told that they have. So this isn't a case of they worker makes 25 bucks a month and has all of his/her big bills items paid for by the government. So there it is folks we can continue to bury our heads in the sand or wake up to the economic reality that our country is not economically competitive and that unless our standard of living, wages, and lifestyles were to collapse there is very little that the dems are going to do that will change the nature of this global economy. As long as the large multinational corps are allowed to just shop for the cheapest labor and materials around the globe and there are no tarrifs or common sense measures taken to protect your local economy from those that would dump on local markets to crush the competition and own everything in sight we will continue on this race to the bottom. So what is the dems plan? Well tax, spend, tax, spend, regulate, and have the government run everything... oh and debt, deficits, and economic collapse well that is just stuff that crazy conservatives talk about.
What is the answer?
Well until we start looking for independents and 3rd parties to inject some reality into this conversation we are on a glide path to collapse. I don't see much so far to change that trajectory yet. The Tea Parties appear to be co-opted by the Republican spin machine. I hope I am wrong, but there is little coming out of the Tea Party "candidates" that gives me reason to believe much if anything will come out of all of this. I am a supporter of Ron Paul's son Rand Paul in the KY senate race. There are a few other bright spots around the country, but not enough at this juncture to turn the tide toward freedom, and abolishing the out of control and insane government we are dealing with or the monster corporations that have grown out of the massive lobbying and live and grow fat on market controls and government subsidies and protection as they exploit these global markets. So when you see a bright spot and someone doing it right please support them. The momentum is finally building in a few places around the country for real change. As the country gets more angry with the trajectory of this mess there is a real chance that more positive change will happen. Sadly it will mean that the state of our affairs will be a disaster and that appears to be what it will take to get the sleeping masses off their butts to finally get involved. I just hope it happens before the people who created this crisis can spin doctor some fake solution and get our politicians to pass more bills or ratify new treaties basically giving our country over to the world government crowd. If that happens then I seriously have my doubts that we can get out of this mess without it turning seriously ugly.
Wheat crisis?
Well all kinds of crazy is going on in the global wheat market. Sadly our farmers didn't get to profit from it as they sell their crops early in the spring with wheat. The announcements from Russia that they were banning wheat exports didn't happen until much later in the year and the world grain supplies are at very low levels. This combination has sent wheat skyrocketing in price. Everyone is very aware if you have been paying attention that world grain supplies have been low for a while now and we have seen shortages in many markets causing fear and panic. Some of this I think it is speculation and manipulation, but some of it is very real and the threats to our food supply are very real. The US is a net importer of food so we are just as vulnerable as everyone else in this regard. Those who buy and store wheat in their food plan know that you can keep these grains if properly stored for 30+ years. Food price inflation is a fact and it is these spikes due to shortages, and to devalued currency are going to play a key role in our standard of eating and living going forward. If you don't grow it yourself you can expect to pay a lot more for it going forward. The Russian wheat story is important, and how the market reacts to these stories is an important indicator of some of the things we may see shortly as a daily problem. In our planning it is a good idea to think about what your going to grow, what others are growing and how you might be able to barter, and trade with each other as things become even more crazy. Do be caught flat footed. Since you know that grains like wheat, rice, beans, lentils keep for a very long time we have no excuse not to be buying and storing these items while they are still affordable.
Well enough rambling for now. Our thoughts and prayers are with you that you may prosper and have abundance even in these hard times.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Economy Slowing from Sugar High
Once again the economy is slowing. The sugar high from all the stimulus and government spending is wearing off. The housing markets across most of the country are still collapsing, foreclosures are up, and most of the news if you dig through the spin machine headlines is negative. The Federal Reserve is talking about quantitative easing by buying US debt outright so that we can float more funny money in the economy. Everyone knows that the more cash they dump in the markets the weaker the dollar gets and the more expensive things are for the consumer to buy. So the Fed is preparing to step in with more funny money so that we can continue our spending insanity.
Well in case you have been asleep for the last couple of decades and are unaware of the fact that most everything has been exported overseas to include the clothing industry. This means the price of most items including clothing are subject to pressures as the dollar falls. Now at the moment the Chinese are still participating in economic warfare on the world by pegging their currency to the dollar which means even as the dollar falls in value around the globe the Chinese currency goes down in value with us. For the time being this means we shouldn't see a lot of cost pressures in the price of Chinese imported goods. This is a temporary situation of course. Everyone fully expects as the dollar continues it's decline the Chinese will finally decide they are getting the short end of the stick and diversify their investments and break this peg. They promised to break this peg earlier this year, but it has not happened. What this means if they do finally decide to break the peg is that goods that are imported from China will climb in cost dramatically.
Now the clothing industry doesn't appear to be all in China as I still notice clothing coming from other countries and as that is the case we can expect to see the cost of those goods climb. This inflation is going to put serious pressure on the US consumer, and of course on our prepping plans since so much is imported. One of the things that my best friend reminded me of last year was just how hard things have gotten for him and his family with the lack of work and no income. A couple of things that stood out to me when he was talking was the fact he mentioned he hadn't had money for a couple of years to buy clothes at all. Of those clothing items he missed most was underwear and socks. These are the items that seem to wear out the fastest and need replaced the most often. So when he made mention of this I made a mental note. I went to look and see where these items are made and see if any of them are still make in the US. Sadly I didn't find anything on the local store shelves that indicated they were still made in the US. Times are hard enough, but when the cost of things are going to see 20-50% price increases in a year due to devaluation of our money maybe it is time to think about where the things you buy come from, and think about the frequency you replace them. Those items might be just the sort of thing you should be putting in your prepper plan. As funny as it might sound to recommend buying socks and underwear I think it is an important thing to mention that we are very exposed and vulnerable on so many levels. Don't make something as simple as a daily use item something we forgot to put in our emergency plans.
Fake left right paradigm
Well the big promises are pouring in from the politicians trying to get your votes. It is really sad for those who are interested in the content and depth of the real proposals beyond the sound bites. Sadly both the left and right are making the list of promises that sound all to familiar, but never get done. Some of them point blank shouldn't get done if we have even one or two firing braincells. So what is in the deal for us and will any of it make any difference to the outcome that many of us see coming?
From the Right:
The Republicans are talking big smack this year. They are talking repealing the Healthcare. I say this is fat chance as they won't have the votes to get it done. The only real chance of getting this repealed is if the courts overturn portions of the bill as unconstitutional and render huge portions of it illegal. That could happen, but electing a Republican won't get it done. They are talking about cuts to 2008 levels. Well I hate to break it to you but running a 560 billion dollar a year deficit like we did in 2008 is not going to save this country from the financial demise of the country. I know it sounds refreshing compared to the last couple of years of 1.6 trillion dollar deficits and 1.3 trillion dollar deficits, but it is still deficit spending. The repubs want to talk about tax cuts and spending cuts, but rarely do they ever pay for these things. They decided to exempt huge portions of the budget from cuts like military spending, security, and the whole big brother system while they continue to ramble on about the evil Muslims that supposedly are the cause of all evil in the world. Considering the portion of the budget that make up the military spending and that which is social security there is not much left on the table you can cut. So the numbers just don't add up. Again the Republicans talk smack, dance around facts, and are still in the camp of bigger government and we are all suppose to applaud and clamor to vote for them.
The left wing spin:
Well the left is out there trying to say that voting for evil Republicans is a vote for things that didn't work in the past. Who am I to argue with that!? To counter that argument? The dems seem to think you can tax, spend, and use debt to dig your way out of a hole and into prosperity. Now as stupid and disconnected as the Republicans are on reality I have to say the democrats really have outdone themselves in looking like absolute morons. The economic reality is that we cannot afford 90% of the government we have and until someone finally does the math and figures out the way this is going to play out we are forced to see that this is a train wreck in progress. The dems are out talking about how they are going to keep jobs from going overseas... Well that all sounds good until you open your eyes and look at the job market of the places that are getting these jobs. You look at an auto worker in China who makes transmissions for Honda who is making 170 Yuan a month, and a Yuan exchange rate today is .1492 Yuan to the dollar. That autoworker in China is making $25.36 a MONTH! Now the only way your going to stop jobs from leaving the US is if our wages are competitive with the competition. Oh, let's dispel another myth. In China these workers do not have free housing, free medical, and all the freebies we are told that they have. So this isn't a case of they worker makes 25 bucks a month and has all of his/her big bills items paid for by the government. So there it is folks we can continue to bury our heads in the sand or wake up to the economic reality that our country is not economically competitive and that unless our standard of living, wages, and lifestyles were to collapse there is very little that the dems are going to do that will change the nature of this global economy. As long as the large multinational corps are allowed to just shop for the cheapest labor and materials around the globe and there are no tarrifs or common sense measures taken to protect your local economy from those that would dump on local markets to crush the competition and own everything in sight we will continue on this race to the bottom. So what is the dems plan? Well tax, spend, tax, spend, regulate, and have the government run everything... oh and debt, deficits, and economic collapse well that is just stuff that crazy conservatives talk about.
What is the answer?
Well until we start looking for independents and 3rd parties to inject some reality into this conversation we are on a glide path to collapse. I don't see much so far to change that trajectory yet. The Tea Parties appear to be co-opted by the Republican spin machine. I hope I am wrong, but there is little coming out of the Tea Party "candidates" that gives me reason to believe much if anything will come out of all of this. I am a supporter of Ron Paul's son Rand Paul in the KY senate race. There are a few other bright spots around the country, but not enough at this juncture to turn the tide toward freedom, and abolishing the out of control and insane government we are dealing with or the monster corporations that have grown out of the massive lobbying and live and grow fat on market controls and government subsidies and protection as they exploit these global markets. So when you see a bright spot and someone doing it right please support them. The momentum is finally building in a few places around the country for real change. As the country gets more angry with the trajectory of this mess there is a real chance that more positive change will happen. Sadly it will mean that the state of our affairs will be a disaster and that appears to be what it will take to get the sleeping masses off their butts to finally get involved. I just hope it happens before the people who created this crisis can spin doctor some fake solution and get our politicians to pass more bills or ratify new treaties basically giving our country over to the world government crowd. If that happens then I seriously have my doubts that we can get out of this mess without it turning seriously ugly.
Wheat crisis?
Well all kinds of crazy is going on in the global wheat market. Sadly our farmers didn't get to profit from it as they sell their crops early in the spring with wheat. The announcements from Russia that they were banning wheat exports didn't happen until much later in the year and the world grain supplies are at very low levels. This combination has sent wheat skyrocketing in price. Everyone is very aware if you have been paying attention that world grain supplies have been low for a while now and we have seen shortages in many markets causing fear and panic. Some of this I think it is speculation and manipulation, but some of it is very real and the threats to our food supply are very real. The US is a net importer of food so we are just as vulnerable as everyone else in this regard. Those who buy and store wheat in their food plan know that you can keep these grains if properly stored for 30+ years. Food price inflation is a fact and it is these spikes due to shortages, and to devalued currency are going to play a key role in our standard of eating and living going forward. If you don't grow it yourself you can expect to pay a lot more for it going forward. The Russian wheat story is important, and how the market reacts to these stories is an important indicator of some of the things we may see shortly as a daily problem. In our planning it is a good idea to think about what your going to grow, what others are growing and how you might be able to barter, and trade with each other as things become even more crazy. Do be caught flat footed. Since you know that grains like wheat, rice, beans, lentils keep for a very long time we have no excuse not to be buying and storing these items while they are still affordable.
Well enough rambling for now. Our thoughts and prayers are with you that you may prosper and have abundance even in these hard times.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Friday, September 10, 2010
Quick Movie Review - and some things to be aware of
Welcome to another episode of the Be Prepared Channel. Today I just want to mention a few things that have come up and things to be aware of. Also a quick movie review that you might enjoy.
Prepping can be expensive
One of the things that everyone is probably all to aware of is the fact that prepping can get expensive very very fast. It doesn't take long to sink a pile of money into this "hobby" of ours. For many this can be a source of great frustration and maybe even a few arguments with spouses and family members when your talking about putting your vacation money, or even some savings into supplies and preps. Trust me I think we have all been there and done that. So I thought now would be a good time to mention a tool that can help you if you live in an area where this tool is useful to you. The tool is called Craigslist. Craigslist is a free classified type advertisement web site. You can advertise something for sale, post that you want to buy something, and there is even a section called free where people have stuff to just give away. Of course there is the typical news paper classified ads you can check as well. But these online resources are an excellent way to find stuff you need for your preps, or even good stuff that you can barter for or get at a good price and sell it or barter with it. So if you haven't checked out Craigslist go to www.craigslist.org. Find your state, and look to see if there is a posting for a town or area that your nearby or in that can help you.
Don't forget to check out garage sales, flea markets, Goodwill Stores, estate sales, and storage facility seizure sales. There is no reason to spend a fortune if you don't have to. Use all the tools at your disposal.
Movie Review - The Book of Eli
I watched the movie called "The book of Eli". It is a end of the world as we know it flick with Denzel Washington. I am not a fan of Denzel, but I have to say I thought he did a good job in this movie. It is about a world after some major solar event has fried the planet. The main character is Eli(Denzel Washington) who has a mission to go west. The encounters in this movie are fairly realistic. The typical Capital One hoards raping, killing, stealing everything in sight. Overall fairly well done. There are a few things that make you scratch your head and ask just how that would be possible, but luckily the movie has an interesting story and the story sticks together fairly well. Overall I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. It is certainly worth seeing if your a survivalist, or prepper. Some stuff to make you think, and some good entertainment value. Here is the trailer for the movie:
Current state of the economy
Fortunately it appears that the fraudsters and tricksters have managed to keep this sinking ship floating longer than many people would have thought possible. The funny money from the massive stimulus and debt is running out and big business is sitting on a pile of cash. They aren't willing to spend it because there is no demand. Last weekend I went out to eat for the first time in I don't know how long. I cannot recall the last time we actually went somewhere and ate. Well we did last weekend and the restaurant was practically empty, no waiting to be seated, only 4 or 5 tables busy and the waiter was hovering over our table. So things don't look so rosey. The economic indicators are clearly showing an economy that is slowing, and of course the talking heads are saying we won't see a double dip. Well they seem to have a creative definition of double dip. You see to get a double dip you would have to first recovered from the first dip by getting back to where we were when this all started and we have not even done that. So by the very definition we are still in the first recession. So the dishonesty continues by the talking heads and the media outlets. Really I would love to see the film and news papers of the day during the great depression. I bet they told the same filthy lies while trying to cheerlead the economy and markets. Never fails that those with the most to lose and are largely tied to or are responsible for these types of events are the ones to rush out there to spin their web of deceit.
Overall the economy continues to slow. Housing sales and values continue to fall. The stock market is still as rigged as a Vegas Casino and the poor poor president is out today saying "The poor economy might affect Democrats this November!". OMG this guy is either dense or so disconnected from reality that he must from Mars or some far away land where they don't habla. It appears the Greeks lied about the amount of debt and massively raising taxes has brought in a small fraction of what they expected. Looks like Ireland is in the same boat. So it is just a matter of time for the roosters to come home to roost.
The good news out of all of this is we still have some time to get our preps together. Hopefully you have worked on your garden this year, found your local farmers market, or have gotten involved with a CSA and are establishing a relationship with a local farmer. Hopefully you have been thinking about your water situation, water capture, filtering, storage, and treatment. Hopefully your thinking about your energy needs, transportation needs, fuel needs. And of course there is always the security needs. So each day that the fraudsters push the ends of the economic string even an inch they are buying us time that we all need. So don't waste a day without getting something done, learn something, acquire something, make something that gets your basic supplies and needs together. Of course this is yet another day you can tell a friend or family member what they need to do.
We will make it through this, and those that are preparing will fare the best out of this mess. Hopefully we will be able to build community locally, but also we can hope that this internet community will stay online. It is such an incredible resource. Don't take it for granted. Any time you can buy, or barter for good reference books you should get them. If we lose this resource called the internet our sources of information will be word of mouth, things you know, and whatever reference material you have or can find. Books could once again become a hot commodity. So don't overlook the obvious. Movies, computers, cdroms all require electricity. Books don't have this constraint so don't overlook books.
Take care,
Longsnowsm
Prepping can be expensive
One of the things that everyone is probably all to aware of is the fact that prepping can get expensive very very fast. It doesn't take long to sink a pile of money into this "hobby" of ours. For many this can be a source of great frustration and maybe even a few arguments with spouses and family members when your talking about putting your vacation money, or even some savings into supplies and preps. Trust me I think we have all been there and done that. So I thought now would be a good time to mention a tool that can help you if you live in an area where this tool is useful to you. The tool is called Craigslist. Craigslist is a free classified type advertisement web site. You can advertise something for sale, post that you want to buy something, and there is even a section called free where people have stuff to just give away. Of course there is the typical news paper classified ads you can check as well. But these online resources are an excellent way to find stuff you need for your preps, or even good stuff that you can barter for or get at a good price and sell it or barter with it. So if you haven't checked out Craigslist go to www.craigslist.org. Find your state, and look to see if there is a posting for a town or area that your nearby or in that can help you.
Don't forget to check out garage sales, flea markets, Goodwill Stores, estate sales, and storage facility seizure sales. There is no reason to spend a fortune if you don't have to. Use all the tools at your disposal.
Movie Review - The Book of Eli
I watched the movie called "The book of Eli". It is a end of the world as we know it flick with Denzel Washington. I am not a fan of Denzel, but I have to say I thought he did a good job in this movie. It is about a world after some major solar event has fried the planet. The main character is Eli(Denzel Washington) who has a mission to go west. The encounters in this movie are fairly realistic. The typical Capital One hoards raping, killing, stealing everything in sight. Overall fairly well done. There are a few things that make you scratch your head and ask just how that would be possible, but luckily the movie has an interesting story and the story sticks together fairly well. Overall I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. It is certainly worth seeing if your a survivalist, or prepper. Some stuff to make you think, and some good entertainment value. Here is the trailer for the movie:
Current state of the economy
Fortunately it appears that the fraudsters and tricksters have managed to keep this sinking ship floating longer than many people would have thought possible. The funny money from the massive stimulus and debt is running out and big business is sitting on a pile of cash. They aren't willing to spend it because there is no demand. Last weekend I went out to eat for the first time in I don't know how long. I cannot recall the last time we actually went somewhere and ate. Well we did last weekend and the restaurant was practically empty, no waiting to be seated, only 4 or 5 tables busy and the waiter was hovering over our table. So things don't look so rosey. The economic indicators are clearly showing an economy that is slowing, and of course the talking heads are saying we won't see a double dip. Well they seem to have a creative definition of double dip. You see to get a double dip you would have to first recovered from the first dip by getting back to where we were when this all started and we have not even done that. So by the very definition we are still in the first recession. So the dishonesty continues by the talking heads and the media outlets. Really I would love to see the film and news papers of the day during the great depression. I bet they told the same filthy lies while trying to cheerlead the economy and markets. Never fails that those with the most to lose and are largely tied to or are responsible for these types of events are the ones to rush out there to spin their web of deceit.
Overall the economy continues to slow. Housing sales and values continue to fall. The stock market is still as rigged as a Vegas Casino and the poor poor president is out today saying "The poor economy might affect Democrats this November!". OMG this guy is either dense or so disconnected from reality that he must from Mars or some far away land where they don't habla. It appears the Greeks lied about the amount of debt and massively raising taxes has brought in a small fraction of what they expected. Looks like Ireland is in the same boat. So it is just a matter of time for the roosters to come home to roost.
The good news out of all of this is we still have some time to get our preps together. Hopefully you have worked on your garden this year, found your local farmers market, or have gotten involved with a CSA and are establishing a relationship with a local farmer. Hopefully you have been thinking about your water situation, water capture, filtering, storage, and treatment. Hopefully your thinking about your energy needs, transportation needs, fuel needs. And of course there is always the security needs. So each day that the fraudsters push the ends of the economic string even an inch they are buying us time that we all need. So don't waste a day without getting something done, learn something, acquire something, make something that gets your basic supplies and needs together. Of course this is yet another day you can tell a friend or family member what they need to do.
We will make it through this, and those that are preparing will fare the best out of this mess. Hopefully we will be able to build community locally, but also we can hope that this internet community will stay online. It is such an incredible resource. Don't take it for granted. Any time you can buy, or barter for good reference books you should get them. If we lose this resource called the internet our sources of information will be word of mouth, things you know, and whatever reference material you have or can find. Books could once again become a hot commodity. So don't overlook the obvious. Movies, computers, cdroms all require electricity. Books don't have this constraint so don't overlook books.
Take care,
Longsnowsm
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Emergency water access
Well folks I have been talking with a plumber out on the farm regarding some things that I would like to see done as soon as we finally get this loan closed with the bank.... I wish these guys would hurry up and get this scheduled to close so we can get busy. Of course there seems to be a run around about info they should have collected in the prequalification stage of a home loan. Well they are asking for it now so we are trying to fill in gaps that shouldn't even exist at this point which makes me wonder what is going on over at the bank... But I digress... Today we are talking about water...
Getting access to water in an emergency:
We have talked about having water storage in the past. So I am not going to cover these specifics in this post. This is more of a post about something I have learned so far in the process of thinking about being prepared. So I asked the plumber about installing a hand pump to install on the well casing so that we could pump water by hand in the even of a power outage. I found the following pumps to be available for this purpose:
Bison Pumps
With the Bison Pumps they advertise the fact that you can mount on a well that has a submersible electric pump in it. So I called up the plumber and asked them how deep the water is in the well on the property we want to buy. Of course the response was that they weren't certain that we do mount a pump. So I provided them the URL and they called Bison. Sure enough you can mount a hand pump on a well.... But here is the catch... You have to have a casing that is 6" in diameter. It appears that the people who sunk this well on the farm only used a 4" casing. I was informed that all of the wells they have done in the area are all 4" casing. Now I don't know if that is a fact, but I have seen the top of the well casing and it does appear to be only 4". So my plan to attempt to install a hand pump on this well has been thwarted for the time being. So unless I had a new casing put in or I drill a new well I am stuck.
The purpose of the hand pump is that you can still get access to water in your well if the power goes out. Now I can try to work around this with a generator. However that is still something that would rely on energy inputs. So I will have to give this some thought as time and money permits a way to work around limitation. With the Bison Pump you will need to know the depth of the water in your well to determine which pump you would need or if it would even work for you in your well. Here is the advertisement for Bison Pumps:
So I thought I should share with you this limitation on the hand pump. If your having a well dug then make sure that it has a large enough casing so that you can install a hand pump. If your looking at a home/homestead/farmstead this might be something you will want to look at as something to know going into the purchase or if your looking at renting a place with a well and considering something like this as an option. This would give you some options if you plan for it in advance.
So that is the water access installment on hand pumps and what I am learning so far. I hope you find this info helpful.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
Getting access to water in an emergency:
We have talked about having water storage in the past. So I am not going to cover these specifics in this post. This is more of a post about something I have learned so far in the process of thinking about being prepared. So I asked the plumber about installing a hand pump to install on the well casing so that we could pump water by hand in the even of a power outage. I found the following pumps to be available for this purpose:
Bison Pumps
With the Bison Pumps they advertise the fact that you can mount on a well that has a submersible electric pump in it. So I called up the plumber and asked them how deep the water is in the well on the property we want to buy. Of course the response was that they weren't certain that we do mount a pump. So I provided them the URL and they called Bison. Sure enough you can mount a hand pump on a well.... But here is the catch... You have to have a casing that is 6" in diameter. It appears that the people who sunk this well on the farm only used a 4" casing. I was informed that all of the wells they have done in the area are all 4" casing. Now I don't know if that is a fact, but I have seen the top of the well casing and it does appear to be only 4". So my plan to attempt to install a hand pump on this well has been thwarted for the time being. So unless I had a new casing put in or I drill a new well I am stuck.
The purpose of the hand pump is that you can still get access to water in your well if the power goes out. Now I can try to work around this with a generator. However that is still something that would rely on energy inputs. So I will have to give this some thought as time and money permits a way to work around limitation. With the Bison Pump you will need to know the depth of the water in your well to determine which pump you would need or if it would even work for you in your well. Here is the advertisement for Bison Pumps:
So I thought I should share with you this limitation on the hand pump. If your having a well dug then make sure that it has a large enough casing so that you can install a hand pump. If your looking at a home/homestead/farmstead this might be something you will want to look at as something to know going into the purchase or if your looking at renting a place with a well and considering something like this as an option. This would give you some options if you plan for it in advance.
So that is the water access installment on hand pumps and what I am learning so far. I hope you find this info helpful.
God Bless,
Longsnowsm
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