07:36 – This can’t be good. With less than one week to go until it crashes out of the euro, Greece is on the edge of the precipice. Greece draws up drachma plans, prepares to miss IMF payment
Here’s what I did to prep this week:
- I ordered another case of 12-count 28-ounce cans (21 pounds total) of Keystone Meats canned ground beef. Including shipping, it costs less than $5/pound, versus $4/pound for fresh ground beef at Costco. That’s not much of a premium for shelf-stable meat. Keystone gives a best-by date five years out, but as usual that’s a gross understatement. We don’t like it as well as fresh ground Costco beef, which is probably a higher grade of meat and definitely contains less fat, but the canned stuff is fine for spaghetti and casseroles.
- I ordered a case of 24-count 11-ounce cans (16.5 pounds total) of Crider Chicken Bologna, which is basically ground white-meat chicken with some spices added. It can be sliced as lunch meat or diced for use in chicken casseroles and other recipes. I wanted to order one case to try. If Barbara and I both like it, great. We’ll order more. If she doesn’t, I’ll eat it with crackers for lunch. At $32/case, it’s not much of a risk. The best-by date is listed as two years out, but again that’s completely imaginary.
- I ordered more Augason Farms dehydrated foods, including two more #10 cans each of Chicken Bouillon Powdered Extract, Cheese Blend Powder, Butter Powder, and Dehydrated Diced Red and Green Bell Peppers Mix. I would also have ordered two or three more #10 cans of Egg Powder, but they were out of stock. Note that all of these are “meal extenders”, things that can be used to make bulk dry staples like rice, flour, and instant mashed potatoes palatable.
- I added about 20 liters (5 gallons) of Costco bottled water, which is about a 5 person-day emergency supply, and another 20 liters in recycled bottles.
- I put in another couple days’ work on the non-fiction prepping book. I’m up to about 400 manuscript pages and I’m nowhere near finished. I’ve already decided to make it two volumes, with the first covering through the end of one year and the second covering long-term preparation. I wish I could put in more time on it, but doing taxes will occupy a lot of my time for the next couple weeks and keeping the kit business running and getting ready for the summer/autumn rush is already a full-time job.
At this point, I’m reasonably comfortable with our level of preparedness. We can keep the five of us–Barbara, me, Frances, Al, and Colin–in food and water for several months, and would be able to help friends and neighbors in a shorter term emergency. From this point on, it’ll be replacing what we’ve consumed and making incremental additions to our longer-term stores. With the weather getting better, we’ll also spend some time making day trips to several small towns to the northwest of us to see what they’re like.
So, what precisely did you do to prepare this week? Tell me about it in the comments.
Limited to research mainly this week and next couple of weeks, most likely. I’ll probably lay in some more canned goods and work on firearms mods, ham radio study, and the FFL paperwork. Plus the heads-down online course work on web dev and IT security. IT-wise, I’m also looking into mesh networking for possible future use during any kind of widespread disasters.
I’m also feeling out fellow veterans on this stuff during my weekly VA commitments and will be doing the same up the road at the firing range HQ this month.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the ham radio test, at least for Technician. That test has been passed by 5- and 6-year-old kids, literally. If you understand Ohm’s Law, you’re probably good to go.
Where E = voltage in Volts, I = current in Amps, and R = resistance in Ohms:
E = I times R
I = E divided by R
R = E divided by I
and, for purely resistive circuits (no capacitance or inductance)
Watts = Volts times Amps (which is also specified in VA for other than resistive circuits)
I’ll include last week since I didn’t comment on it previously.
Received some more shiny metal. We are ‘dollar cost averaging’ by buying a fixed amount every month automatically.
Garden work continues. Got the new bigger raised bed in yesterday. Will get it planted this weekend. Turnips and radishes finally look like they are growing. Broccoli hasn’t been eaten by pests yet, we’ll see if I can get any to completion this year. All of the onions got eaten or died from cold. If you are not gardening, even in containers, you are not really long term prepping. It is an art as well as science, and like most preps takes practice and time to learn. I arrogantly thought it wouldn’t be hard to expand my garden to more than peppers and tomatoes. I was wrong. Get practicing.
Continue adding to food stores, mainly by buying extra every trip. Need to organize bulk (purchased quickly and a bit willy nilly during the first Ebola outbreak) and ready to eat. I’m almost to the point of just buying replacement as we use it. I have some of site as backup too.
Sold a bunch of unneeded stuff at the local Hamfest last weekend. Traded for a nice older portable short wave receiver. It really pulls in the signals. And it runs on batteries for a long time. It is bigger, but that is a plus in a desktop unit. Not much on the air except religious broadcasters, Alex Jones, and INFOwars. But again, you can’t just stockpile ‘stuff’, you have to use it. Scanning around the bands is easier with the analog dial, and the reception is almost exactly the same as my ham xceiver.
Ordered the DTV dongle and antenna for digital radio on my PC. I’m looking forward to exploring SDR with that.
Picked up a slightly out of date trunk tracking scanner at a pawn shop for a good deal. Works well, has some of my local cops on it already. Got the programming software, and will get it set up completely soon.
Took a ‘tactical’ shooting class, which mainly got us out from behind the counter at the firing line, and worked on draw, controlled double, reholster. Need more work on that!
Continue picking up ‘this and that’ at estate and yard sales. I got a nice shoe box full of medical and first aid stuff, mostly non-stick dressings, wrap, kerlix, and gauze pads for a buck or two. I think I’m finally up to major wound care for one or two patients. It takes a LOT of disposable supplies to keep a big burn or cut covered.
Got 6 name brand FRS/GMRS walkies for $5, and one matching charger. I pick these up whenever I see them cheap. People seem to forget that they paid $30-60 a pair since they are small. At this point I could equip a fair sized neighborhood team.
Got a couple of reference books, the NatGeo Survival Guide, and a Scoutmaster’s Guide, circa 1964 for a dollar. I have several Scouting books, Field Guides, Scoutmasters guides, and the guides for the boys in my reference library. The older ones are especially useful, coming from a pre-lawsuit era. The material is presented clearly, and covers just about everything from land navigation, to cooking over a fire. Scored a couple of the surveying books from this list too. http://zerogov.com/?p=3846 He’s got some redundancy but it is a good looking list for a comprehensive tech library.
Did some annual maintenance on the vehicles. Are you storing vehicle supplies? Do you at least have one oil change including filter, and wiper blades? What about an air filter? That will get you another year of use without a trip to the store, and doesn’t take up much room. When times are tight, you need to take better care of your machines to prevent major damage. Having one each of the cars light bulbs will save you a trip, and protect you from a nuisance stop which can get you killed or charged with a felony. Just look at this week’s news for examples.
Selling the stuff at the hamfest helped, but I have lots of stuff in the garage that needs selling too. Why is cleaning the garage a prep? Well, I need the money for preps, I need the space to store them, and I need the indulgence of my spouse! So the garage clean up continues.
I’ve added stuff, money, skills, and knowledge this week. Feels good, but still so far to go.
nick
One other place some of you will be interested in is- http://griddownmed.com/ –The Hogwarts School of Grid-Down Medicine and Wizardry. Despite the name, these are some serious folks.
I’ve been prepping for 40 years. I never considered it as a destination or something that could be completed, but more as a worldview and way of thinking.
WRT to the ham test, for technician, if you know Ohm’s Law, and can apply it, you will pass all the math. The regulatory questions might trip you up, but really all you need to do is take the online test until you can consistently pass it. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of electronics will just see it as a refresher.
For mesh radio, http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/ is the ham effort. It is widely supported. There have been several recent deployments and it uses really cheap gear (old linksys wifi routers) as well as current modern gear. http://www.arrl.org/news/utah-group-puts-broadband-hamnet-to-work-for-food-project
I’ve been stockpiling routers when I see them at yard sales, but I haven’t had time to load them up and give them a try.
nick
Does spending an hour at the range shooting my 9mm Sig at silhouettes count as prepping?
@JLP, for certain scenarios, yes. Although it isn’t as good as a shoot house….
nick
Um, “20 liters (20 gallons) ” ?
I’m not so sure, unless you’re on a SWAT team. The one thing I learned going through a funhouse more than 35 years ago was He Who Moves Dies.
I’ve told Barbara that if she’s ever in that situation she should remain in one place, behind any available cover, with her weapons pointed at the door. If anyone comes through it, shoot until he’s no longer a threat.
@Paul
It was Costco dehydrated water. You can turn one liter of it into four liters of water just by adding three liters of water.
Fixed.
I would also have ordered two or three more #10 cans of Egg Powder, but they were out of stock.
Sorry dude, I bought several cans of it. Great price! Arrived yesterday and I snuck them into the closet without the wife seeing them.
The one thing I learned going through a funhouse more than 35 years ago was He Who Moves Dies.
And he who looks like a bad guy, dies. Don’t look like a bad guy, blend in.
http://247wallst.com/economy/2015/04/03/us-growth-forecast-chopped-to-zero/
Now this is what I have been expecting. The oil and gas industry has publicly laid off 30,000 people in the last six months. That means that in reality, probably 150,000 people got laid off all over the USA in oil and gas. The rest of the country should be responding to $2 gasoline but it seems not to be. Oh wait, the EPA and about a dozen other governmental agencies have to approve all building projects. I’m sure that they are working speedily on those and cranking them out.
Looks like Obola is gonna finish his career with a nice little recession. Just like his idol Jimmy C. Meanwhile the rest of us are going to take it in the shorts.
Bob,
Regarding Greece and the EU/IMF, you’ve been talking about them exiting the Euro for quite awhile and nothing has happened so far. I think you underestimate the real intentions of the EU/IMF bureaucrats and politicians. This silly dance is going to go on forever and I can assure you there won’t be any exit of Greece from the Euro. It’s just kabuki theatre for the proles. The elites intend to keep the EU together at whatever cost, and the Greeks know it.
We’ll see. Merkel’s patience has its limits and, more importantly, her voters’ patience is well past exhausted.
I have to confess I no longer understand money on a scale larger than my own personal finances. Pundits with seemingly identical levels of credentials give completely opposite statements: that the Greek exit is inevitable or that it is impossible. That it will be good for the Euro or it will be disastrous.
Even in the US. A few months ago on a radio show two university economists had completely divergent ideas on the national debt; the debt is good because we owe it to ourselves and it stabilizes the economy, the debt is bad because it can only be inflated away and that will cause an economic collapse.
Are we entering a phase of great prosperity or another dark ages? Well, a basement full of canned food does seem like a good hedge.
I agree with the “don’t look like a bad guy” and “blend in” advice; not sure about the move-don’t move. It depends on circumstances, and the location and movements of the assailants. If you stick to one spot, they can pour fire on that. Then again, if you’re under siege and behind solid cover, sure, stay put and let them come to you to be shot. Unless they decide to burn your ass outta there.
Or fire in stun grenades, tear gas, incendiaries, etc.
In which case you might be hosed. Likewise with sustained multiple fire team assaults, any crew-served weapons employed against you, armored vehicles and aircraft.
Yeah, I got email from several people who apologized for ordering multiple cans. Just a coincidence, I suspect. Walmart sells a boatload of Augason Farms foods to preppers. Several people have told me that it’s even stocked in variety at some Walmart stores. I’m not sure why the stuff is more expensive at Sam’s Club than it is at Walmart, but I do wish Costco would start carrying the stuff, even if it’s just on their web site.
I probably have enough of the powdered eggs for now anyway. As I said, we wouldn’t plan on using them to make scrambled eggs or omelets, but one or two eggs at a time to do stuff like pancake batter or baked goods. For that purpose, you can substitute gelatin, which I buy in multi-kilo lots for science kits anyway.
I’m not sure why the stuff is more expensive at Sam’s Club than it is at Walmart, but I do wish Costco would start carrying the stuff, even if it’s just on their web site.
My Sam’s Club had the Augason Farm’s 30 day food pail on their shelves last weekend. First time that I have ever seen prepper food on their shelves.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/augason-farms-30-day-food-storage-emergency-all-in-one-pail/prod5610448.ip
Saw a 14 or 15 year old home-schooled girl doing her homework in the waiting room at the dentist today. Her textbook caught my eye, it was God’s Gift of Language. Then I noticed the lack of make-up, ankle-length skirt, and realized she was probably Mennonite or something very close to it. Then it occurred to me that between the textbook title and this girl’s obvious conservative Christian appearance that she was the poster child for most people’s stereotype of home-schooled kids.
Most people would probably be shocked at how terribly NON-bulletproof residential interior (and most-exterior) walls are. I blame Hollywood.
Back to the Christian homeschooling thing. I was browsing their other books and saw this description on their 12th grade Physics text:
@ Chad on Physics
Sounds like it should be a reasonable treatment. A bit biased towards the fundamentalist side, but certainly no more bias than we see regularly against religion. Science has (or reveals) certain inexorable, unarguable laws built into the universe we live in, and physics shows that in its purest form. There are people who’ve found their way to religion, despite propaganda to the contrary; and people who have become agnostics, likewise despite indoctrination against. Of course, outright atheism is a leap of blind faith in the face of an utter lack of supporting evidence, but there are people who take comfort in nihilism for some reason.
“Most people would probably be shocked at how terribly NON-bulletproof residential interior (and most-exterior) walls are.”
True, that. Bullets and shotgun pellets can just zing right through most walls. Our exterior walls are brick here but the thing to fear is a firebombing attack through the windows anyway. Thus, recommendations for external mesh screening and ballistic glass coating stuff. Still, a heavy machine gun can blow through the brick walls, too.
We can’t protect against disciplined fire team assaults with heavy weapons here; just undisciplined rag-tag zombies and local goblins at present.
I don’t have any problems with that description of the physics text. Neither would the Pope. I’d go further and mention that modern science would not have been possible without the support of the Church in medieval and later times, notwithstanding the constant harping about the supposed Galileo horror story, mean to frighten children, mainly, it would seem, as any reasonable historical inquiry shows it to be silly. I know some disagree with this assessment and would rather claim that if anything the Church was a terrible adversary to Science and Reason but I believe the evidence shows far otherwise. And we most certainly wouldn’t have a LOT of things without all those Christian monks toiling away in the monasteries, though a lot more was lost.
Add on ballistic panels, one maker:
http://www.actionbullet.com/products/armoredpanels.aspx
another:
http://www.bulletprooffiberglass.com/
Couple thousand dollars to do the walls in you master bedroom closet, less if you only do the lower half, and the side common to your bedroom.
Much cheaper DIY version:
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/gravel-wall-bulletproofing-test/
Some actual tests on common walls:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-14-rifles-shotguns-and-walls/
more:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/03/ryan-finn/sheetrock-penetration-testing-take-1/
Personal armor, cheap and good:
http://www.bulletsafe.com/
Outfit your family for the cost of a couple of 1911’s.
And at the risk of an OPSEC violation, some relatives of mine were living in a condo apartment with a shared wall. The shared wall is much thicker by code than a normal wall as it is a fire wall. Their next door neighbors were brutally murdered with a pistol and a knife. At least one stray round penetrated into my relatives’ apartment. [By the grace of God, they had stepped out to attend Mass when the murders happened, something that was out of character for them. They were the last people to see the neighbors alive, barring the murderers. They occasionally appear before the parole board whenever one of the murderers is due for a review. They haven’t been released yet.]
Understand the difference between cover and concealment. It’s the difference between life and death.
nick
I think three links is the limit for needing moderation.
Is it possible to lift the limit on number of links for regulars?
I just boosted it to four links, so anything with three or fewer should pass automatically.
But, what if I want to give you two dozen hyperlinks to sites where you can purchase discount Cialis, Viagra, and Levitra? Not to mention great investment links to sites run by my friends in Nigeria.
And Mr. Chad wins the innernet for today!