07:58 – There’s usually no actual news in our morning paper, other than local stuff. But this morning I did read a new-to-me article about a 100% effective Ebola vaccine being rolled out in Africa. That’s very good news. There’s apparently some question about its long-term effectiveness, but that doesn’t really matter. Even if it’s effective for only six months, that’s more than sufficient to break the chain and prevent Ebola from spreading. There’s also apparently some question about the vaccine’s “safety” in children, which is obviously a non-issue compared to the alternative. If the US government and other first-world governments have any sense, they’ll require proof of recent inoculation for anyone attempting to enter the country after having been in Africa.
There was also an article about an unfortunate bakery owner in Denver who refused to bake a cake with an anti-gay message, as is that business owner’s right, and has now been sued for discrimination. A business owner has the absolute right to refuse service to anyone for any reason or for no reason at all. Laws that attempt to force business owners to comply with the progressive agenda are unconstitutional on the face of them, and should be strongly opposed regardless of one’s own political beliefs or those of the business owners whose rights are being trampled.
And there was a front-page article about a business owner downtown who discovered in his basement a large cache of Civil Defense food that was packaged in 1963. At that time, Winston-Salem was thought to be a high-priority target for Soviet nukes, and there were more than 50 public CD fallout shelters in Winston-Salem, not counting the hundreds more shelters in private homes and businesses. The food discovered in the basement was standard-issue CD hardtack biscuits and candy, and I’d bet that the food in the undamaged cans is still as good as it was the day it was packaged. The business owner discarded the damaged cans and restacked the good ones on shelves elsewhere in his basement.
Today I’ll be shipping science kits and building more. Lather, rinse, and repeat for the next couple of months.
10:47 – Another email from someone who wants to remain anonymous. He’s dipping his toe in the water as far as prepping, which is a good start. Few people make it further than just thinking about it.
I finally made two small steps in prepping. I now have a shelf for the basement, so I have someplace to store the food I buy on my first trip to Sam’s Club. I also bought a backpack to use as a bug out bag, and spent a couple of days at Gencon carrying ten to fifteen pounds of stuff with me. After a few miles of walking, I completely agree with your criticism of the book with the 260 pound thirty something carrying a 60 pound pack for 250 miles. I am taller and lighter than the fictional character, and I wouldn’t try 2.5 miles with a 60 pound pack. Although it has been a while since I was a 30 something.
I have decided to do a little bit every weekend to be more prepared.
For the next two weekends, I’m going to make runs to Sam’s Club for food and water.
The following weekend I’m going to make a bug out bag for my car.
The following weekend I’ll make a bug out bag for my wife’s car.
In four weeks I will be more prepared than 90 percent of the population. Which is really just a starting point.
I also need to keep developing my mind. More importantly, I need to develop the habit of regular exercise, because I’m carrying some weight that I don’t need to carry.
I agree with your premise that we are headed toward a dystopia. I suspect life will be filled with lots of little problems. The one potential big problem is that with all of President Obama’s forcing the electricity generation industry to quickly switch from coal to natural gas, we could have a natural gas shortage. Actually I think we would be in the midst of a natural gas shortage if not for hydraulic fracturing. If the environmentalists can figure out how to kill fracking, we’ll have a terrible natural gas (and electricity) shortage.