09:37 – Lots of interesting responses to the preparedness level thought experiment I posed yesterday, both in the comments here and via email. The typical level was about what I expected, somewhere between a couple weeks and a couple months. Some longer. Some much longer. The limiting items crossed all categories, from water to food to shelter to power. Interestingly, very few people answered my question about how comfortable they were with their level of preparedness and what, if anything, they were actually going to do about it. If you haven’t answered or would like to amplify your answer, leave a comment or send me an email.
Two of my shiest readers, Jen and Brittany, were among those who replied via email. As I expected, Jen’s answer was that her family of six is prepared pretty much across the board for one year plus, with backups to their backups. Brittany says her family of four is good at this point for probably two or three months, with food the limiting factor. They haven’t received the foil-laminate gallon bags from the LDS on-line store yet, so they have lots of bulk staples sitting in bags awaiting repackaging, and plan to buy still more of those this week, along with a lot of canned goods. Her guess is that they’ll be up to six months by the end of July and a year by the end of August.
Brittany brought up powdered eggs, which are kind of an odd situation. Back when I bought our initial supply (about 84 dozen worth), I paid about $17 per 33-ounce #10 can for Augason Farms whole egg powder from Walmart. With the chicken plague last year, that price shot up to ridiculous levels, over $50/can for a while. Meanwhile, the chicken population has recovered to the extent that eggs are a drug on the market. From a high of nearly $3/dozen wholesale last year, the price bottomed out at $0.55/dozen wholesale a couple months ago. It’s now recovered to just under $1/dozen, but that should still make powdered eggs pretty cheap. When I looked several days ago, Walmart was still charging over $30/can for Augason Farms eggs, when they should be about half that. (It’s not Walmart; the retail price on the AF site is still very high.) Brittany asked about Walton/Rainy Day powdered eggs. Their #10 cans hold 48 ounces rather than 33, which is pretty odd in itself, and their retail price is about $30/can. Resellers list it at $22/can or so, which is actually cheaper per ounce than I paid at Walmart before the chicken plague. But both the Rainy Day website and reseller websites list it as out of stock. Not sure why that is, unless preppers are stocking up in bulk. And I note that the Rainy Days website lists a 10-pack of #10 cans of powdered eggs at $150, or $15 per three pound can. Also out of stock, of course.
Brittany is also concerned about cooking/baking in a long-term emergency, so she was considering ordering a solar oven. There are several popular models out there, most of which sell in the $250 to $400 range. I told Brittany that in my opinion that’s a lot of money for not much product, and I thought she’d be better off making her own. She can make a functional solar oven from cardboard boxes, shredded newspaper, and a sheet of glass or plastic. If she wants a more durable solar oven and is willing to spend a little money on it, she can get her husband to knock something together with some boards, plywood, black spray paint, and aluminum foil.
In my research on solar ovens, I learned something I’d never considered. I always thought a solar oven used a transparent cover made of glass or Plexiglas, but many solar ovens just use simple plastic sheeting (like a disposable drop cloth). I recently ordered a 10-pack of True Liberty Goose Bags. They’re US-made, 18×24 inches (46×61 cm), food-safe, and rated for use up to 400F. The double layer of plastic with an air gap provides excellent insulation, and should allow a box oven with reflectors to get up over 200F even in cold weather. The Goose Bags are large enough to make a good size solar oven, cost under a buck apiece, and I’d rather use them in an emergency than be pulling windows off the house.
One of our upcoming minor projects will be to knock together a solar oven from boards and Masonite that I can use to test temperatures. I’m told that one can even bake bread in a solar oven, although it may take several hours and may not brown well. A solar oven also gets hot enough to kill microorganisms in water, so it’s a good option for water purification.
“Interestingly, very few people answered my question about how comfortable they were with their level of preparedness and what, if anything, they were actually going to do about it.”
1.) Not real comfortable. Worried, in fact.
2.) We’ll be ordering more firewood and topping off the oil tank anyway, just part of the regular seasonal task list. And I plan to get more food in here and organize it via the shelving in the cellar. Because we’re certainly NOT gonna be getting any substantial quantities of food from our tiny garden and containers here.
I also want to keep a decent amount of cash on hand and I’m still concerned about our front and back doors, which is not that much of a concern for Mrs. OFD. It’s a constant battle, trying to get some preparations accomplished in the face of spousal apathy and/or opposition, along with a constant hassle from state and Fed tax asswipes. (we pay them a grand every month toward back taxes, allegedly, and then last week we get a letter telling us we owe them ANOTHER $40k, while the state chimes in with a $10k claim). So I’m the point man here again and I gotta sit with the Tax Advocate and a lawyer pretty soon, while also juggling VA appointments.
Meanwhile Mrs. OFD is back from NC and we’re working on outside stuff while the weather is still good.
I told Barbara at one point that it was my hobby, and that she should be happy that my hobby was a lot cheaper than others I could have chosen. Some people collect Star Wars action figures or Hummel figurines. I collect #10 cans of stuff.
One of my readers told his wife that he was debating between buying a new boat or spending a few thousand bucks on emergency supplies. She fell all over herself in support of buying the emergency supplies.
Water is my limiting factor, and I am worried about it. I have been thinking in terms of Hurricanes and I will have days to prepare. I guess I have to rethink that. Other than that we should be good for a month.
“…he was debating between buying a new boat or spending a few thousand bucks on emergency supplies.”
I’m pretty sure mine would tell me to get the new boat. She’s been talking about sailboats and sailing lessons lately.
“Some people collect Star Wars action figures or Hummel figurines. I collect #10 cans of stuff.”
I collect ammo and radios and these probably don’t qualify here.
I’m gonna have to start leaving the scanner on where she can hear it and also brief her more often on the local AO threats, because she doesn’t wanna hear about the national and international stuff. I’m a suspect source, of course, being a “far-right” wack job who inexplicably thinks bad chit is gonna happen.
Pahtly sunny so fah and very windy again.
WRT feeling comfortable with your prepping: Be careful with that “comfortable” feeling. It means you are letting your guard down and some seemingly insignificant omission can cascade into a real problem.
WRT dried/freeze-dried foods: be sure you are comparing eggs to eggs, milk to milk. All too often there are additives to the eggs, milk, butter, etc. to bulk them up. Be a label reader.
I haven’t seen a reputable LTS vendor who does that. In fact, any vendor who would is by definition not reputable, and won’t be in business long.
Sure, there are milk alternatives like Morning Moos, and many vendors carry dried whole eggs, dried egg whites, etc. in addition to dried “scrambled eggs” which already have milk powder added. But any decent vendor who offers dried eggs or milk or butter or whatever is providing 100% of the nominal product, less very small percentages for stuff like anti-caking agents or preservatives.
Certainly AF and Walton Feed/Rainy Days are reputable vendors. They’re up-front about pure foods versus mixtures and what the mixtures contain.
It’s not long term storage food, but Kraft 100% Parmesan Cheese is 3.8% cellulose.
Obola says it the cops fault that they are being assasinated:
http://www.mrctv.org/blog/obama-police-can-make-job-being-cop-lot-safer-admitting-their-failures
Can we get rid of Obola early ?
Which recent encounters between police and blacks represent failures of the police?
Similarly, it’s women’s fault they get raped, old people’s fault they get mugged on the street, and young black men’s fault they disproportionately die of gun violence. Oh, wait, that last one is true.
According to Rachel Madcow, it’s still Buuuush’s fault Obuttwad can’t get out of Iraq/Afgan. The MSM defend Obuttwad like he’s the Messiah. His entire term is a “failure.”
RE: Level of preparedness. (medium to low)
Our big issue is that we plan to move house when I retire in 600 days so I am reluctant to do things that would modify the house (solar / water) or purchase more heavy stuff. My current house is a nice place but is terrible for food storage. Tiny inside pantry, garage and attic get 100f plus in Mississippi summers, so I have boxes of food stuffed in bottom of closets and under every bed. I guess we have about 6 months of food for two (but it would get really boring after about 3 months). No flat arable land for a garden. Backyard is 20degree slope and so shaded it can’t grow grass. I suppose we could use the small front yard if SHTF and the HOA dissolved. But knowing our HOA they would just pass new rules in a Zombie apocalypse about how many undead you can have on your lawn. We live next to a natural lake where we could get water for our Berkey without too much work. I have small solar panels to keep batteries charged for car and radio / flashlights. Only about 30 gallons of propane for the 2 burner Coleman stove. Lots of things I need and want to do but am putting it off for 600 days betting that the S wont hit the F before that. Once we move we will be living near my son, who is very handy with construction and auto repair. We have 2 pre-computer era trucks just in case of EMP, plus they were dirt cheap and even I can twist a wrench on them.
lol! Another loss for Mosby in the Freddie Gray case. She probably got her job based on skin color. 4-0 proves how dumb she was bring that case forward. PC anybody? Promote me anybody?
“She probably got her job based on skin color.”
And that she identifies as a “woman”. She got bonus points for being “ignant” too.
Affirmative action has done way more to harm than good. In my many “careers” over my 60+ years I have never seen a case where a person who had a good work ethic, reasonable moral values, and the proper qualifications was denied a job or promotion. I have seen 100% of the time that a person who was given (I repeat given) a job through affirmative action that they have failed and continued to fail and in too many cases destroyed businesses, or at least department. Now days this incompetence is just accepted and the affirmative action employee is just given minimal responsibilities so as not to destroy the business.
Regarding HOAs as mentioned by @H. Combs: you will be hard pressed to find any area not ruled by an HOA these days. HOAs are just another symptom of our slide to the “progressive”. So have fun trying to find a new home, or even land, without one. Yes, HOAs have even found their way into the countryside, areas where “lots” are acreages. In these areas they dictate what your “farm” looks like and what/how many animals you may keep. HOAs are reasonable zoning run amuck.
WRT “reputable vendors”: Trust but Verify.
When I looked several days ago, Walmart was still charging over $30/can for Augason Farms eggs, when they should be about half that.
Possibly a lag effect based on when the eggs were bought. Also, companies don’t want to cut prices to retailers without giving them a chance to clear out the higher priced stock. Especially true of the 4000 lb gorilla that is Walmart.
Eh? How the hell could that be? HOAs are voluntary when they start up. No current property owner can have his property forcibly included in an HOA. Someone typically subdivides a parcel, builds homes on it, and creates an HOA in the covenants. An HOA can’t spontaneously generate and roll over and annex existing properties that were never a part of the original HOA. Hitler tried that with Poland, and look where it got him.
“WRT “reputable vendors”: Trust but Verify.”
How do you do that? The vast majority of people have no choice but to trust what the label says, and there are pretty strict laws and regulations to prevent fraudulent labeling on or advertising of food products.
Many vendors offer sample-size #2.5 cans of their various products. AF does for some and not for others, which isn’t a major problem. I just order and open a #10 can before I order in quantity. I’ll probably order a #2.5 can of Rainy Days powdered eggs to try out, but if they’re acceptable I expect my next order would be for the 10-pack of #10 cans.
Walmart doesn’t really stock AF products except in a few stores, mostly in Utah and the west. They don’t stock them at all in their on-line warehouses, at least from my experience. I’ve ordered AF products from Walmart on-line probably a dozen times, and they always come directly from AF in Utah. Walmart never sees them.
“The MSM defend Obuttwad like he’s the Messiah.”
As they always have and still do for the Klinton crime family. I wonder, since most of them, if not all, are college and university graduates, mostly in the humanities and social “sciences,” I’d guess, if any of them ever ruminate on the fact they are essentially cheerleaders and professional liars for a huge criminal enterprise, much bigger than the Mafia or Yakuza or the narcotrafficantes. And that this crime family regularly shits on the Constitution and Bill of Rights and murders not only innocents in foreign lands but its own citizens with utter impunity.
The only difference, and it’s a very slim one, between our rulers and the Nazis and former Soviet regime is that we aren’t yet overtly loading people by the hundreds of thousands into trucks and boxcars in the middle of the night. We do have, however, a massive industrial prison gulag, and they have been using the technologies and media to thoroughly bamboozle the general population for decades now. And every once in a blue moon they crucify one of their one, so as to make it look like a fair and just system.
But make no mistake: we are the Dirt People and they are the Cloud People. Even ancient and medieval royalty were closer to their subjects than these bastards.
Eeeeeeek! Gresham’s Law! Gresham’s Law! Er, no, that’s not right. Gibson’s Law! Gibson’s Law! No, wait, Gibson made guitars. Someone’s Law! Someone’s Law! You’re committing microaggressions and violating safe spaces!!!!!!! And Athropogenic Global Climate Discouragement is real!!!!!
Here is an alternative to Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards for electronics tinkering, the Beagle Board. https://beagleboard.org/
It’s capable of running Linux (at least 9 variants), FreeBSD, QNX, and Android. One wrinkle is that it has a TI DSP chip onboard – a 32 bit fixed point unit. Another is that the ARM CPU also has two onboard programmable IO controllers. The IO controllers remind me of the IBM mainframe architecture, where the channel controllers that ran the peripherals were computers in their own right. Looks like they cost $45-50 for the bare bones units.
Which recent encounters between police and blacks represent failures of the police?
The Sandra Bland incident was shameful. But the TX DPS officer was fired and is being prosecuted.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ex-texas-charged-sandra-bland-death-court-article-1.2573954
There are doubtless others as we have 800,000 police officers in thousands of agencies in the USA. But, the vast majority of police officers are kind and go out of their way to help people.
We do not want National Guard troops policing our nation. Nor Federal Police with brown shirts and black epaulets.
Unfortunately, more and more local and state gooberments are ignoring property rights, particularly in blue states/counties/cities.
While it is more difficult creating an HOA in an existing built-up area, it can and is being done (attempted in my subdivision, failed 90% against). Yes, it requires a “vote” of existing property owners, usually just a simple majority but sometimes two-thirds. In far too many cases you don’t have to “join” the HOA but you still have to pay the dues and they still have a lien on your property. This is justified by the precedent set by the many states that “require” union membership, but allow a person not to join but they then have to pay a “fee” equivalent to the union dues since they are receiving the benefit of the union wages and benefits.
Not right and not fair, but it is the new state of affairs. The Federal and State Constitutions are documents to be ignored.
Okay, so I didn’t go in to detail about what I meant by “trust but verify”. It means different things to different people and people are entitled to define their own due diligence. If you just want to trust the label, fine. If you also want to try samples, fine. If you want to research the company, fine. Do what you want to do, but don’t give any company your blind loyalty.
This is justified by the precedent set by the many states that “require” union membership, but allow a person not to join but they then have to pay a “fee” equivalent to the union dues since they are receiving the benefit of the union wages and benefits.
Hey! Just like Islam. The HOA Religion of Peace.
gravity:
http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2016/07/17
While it is more difficult creating an HOA in an existing built-up area, it can and is being done (attempted in my subdivision, failed 90% against). Yes, it requires a “vote” of existing property owners, usually just a simple majority but sometimes two-thirds. In far too many cases you don’t have to “join” the HOA but you still have to pay the dues and they still have a lien on your property. This is justified by the precedent set by the many states that “require” union membership, but allow a person not to join but they then have to pay a “fee” equivalent to the union dues since they are receiving the benefit of the union wages and benefits.
I have never heard of this happening. Luckily, The Great State of Texas is a “right to work” state and you cannot be forced to join a union nor pay any fees toward same. The rest of the states need to get a life and stop this nonsense.
Well, if an existing group of 1,000 homes has 999 of the owners voting to create an HOA, that’s fine with me, but I’m not obligated to pay any attention to any of their rules. I don’t care if my house is smack in the middle of the other 999 homes. They can’t do that. The government can do that, via eminent domain, but a group of private individuals cannot. Even in California and the rest of the left coast, I’d be shocked if this has ever actually happened. A 67% vote isn’t good enough. It has to be 100%.
Knee-Vada is a RTW State. No thanks to Dirty Harry Reid. I can’t wait for him to croak.
Well, DadCooks, sounds to me like you need a couple of shovel handles to bar some doors shut, then take out your knives and cut the throats of everyone in the HOA organizing meeting. Repeat as needed until the busybodies get the point.
I have seen 100% of the time that a person who was given (I repeat given) a job through affirmative action that they have failed and continued to fail and in too many cases destroyed businesses, or at least department
Sounds exactly like Obuttwad.
So does anyone have thoughts on storage sheds? Preferences for wood, metal or perish the thought, plastic? Am I paranoid to think that a storage cabinet for flammable liquids like nick bought should be in a detached shed instead of a garage?
I have seen 100% of the time that a person who was given (I repeat given) a job through affirmative action that they have failed and continued to fail and in too many cases destroyed businesses, or at least department
That’s why most of them work for government.
“Am I paranoid to think that a storage cabinet for flammable liquids like nick bought should be in a detached shed instead of a garage?”
Probably, but remember: Just because you are paranoid, it doesn’t mean the aren’t out to get you!
If it really is a flammable liquids cabinet it should be safe to store in the garage. They are meant for storage indoors. I would not store LP bottles in them, however.
“Am I paranoid to think that a storage cabinet for flammable liquids like nick bought should be in a detached shed instead of a garage?”
Probably, but remember: Just because you are paranoid, it doesn’t mean the aren’t out to get you!
If it really is a flammable liquids cabinet it should be safe to store in the garage. They are meant for storage indoors. I would not store LP bottles in them, however.
Where would you store LP bottles then ? I’ve got three 20 lb propane tanks in the detached garage and am a little nervous about that. I would like to have ten of them.
“”A PayPal Mystery”
http://www.cringely.com/2016/07/18/a-paypal-mystery/
“A loyal reader of this column has come to me with a problem that I, in turn, am submitting to all of you. He sells downloadable software over the Internet but lately some customers have been ordering, paying, downloading, yet not requesting the required unlocking key to use their software. Money is piling-up in the reader’s PayPal account and he is starting to worry this is some kind of scam. But if it is, it’s a scam that’s new to me.”
Water is my limiting factor, and I am worried about it. I have been thinking in terms of Hurricanes and I will have days to prepare. I guess I have to rethink that. Other than that we should be good for a month.
Any mention of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and all of the bottled water in the Houston area goes away that day! If you want to buy bottled water then the time is NOW.
The wife and the daughter make fun of my 120 case equivalents of 24 bottle cases. They sure do guzzle it though. Ozarka water is good stuff and I am glad that the plant is fully back on line after the tornado last spring.
BTW, we are now using the 40 bottle cases that I bought back in January. The plastic film wrap on these 40 bottle cases is a general failure. By the time I throw a couple of cases on my little dolly (you do have a little dolly and a big dolly, don’t you ?) to bring in the house from the garage, bottles are exiting the packaging front and back. The wife was following me last night picking up scattered bottles.
I really, really prefer the 24 bottle cases. More compact storage for my racks and better for my bum shoulder. And the wife can handle them easier.
“That’s why most of them work for government.”
I saw a stat a while back somewhere that said the percentage in Fed gummint in Mordor was around 80+. Almost all female, too.
Just got a pile of topsoil spread out so we can replant it with new grass, and also started a semi-enclosed pile for kindling and dry compost. We are finding that the “grow bags” are showing significantly better growth for our tomatoes and summer squash so far, than the plants in the raised beds. We also found that a “farm stand” out in the sticks where wife’s horse is now, to our east, is selling veggies and berries that they bought elsewhere, wholesale, we presume, like berries from Quebec, thus not grown on their farm. Annoying. Probably too late this season now, but I’ll look into it again; local CSA’s for veggies and meat.
We also decided, after dealing with our stationary compost bin, to go for the tumblers we can turn, and retrieve compost while standing up instead of kneeling or squatting.
“Why SoftBank is paying $32 billion for ARM Holdings”
http://www.cringely.com/2016/07/18/softbank-paying-32-billion-arm-holdings/#comment-673997
Wow, Intel is dead. Avram Miller was right.
https://twothirdsdone.com/2016/04/24/intel-how-a-vain-of-gold-turns-into-a-big-hole/
This does not bode well for Windows Desktop on Intel.
And the wife can handle them easier.
This needs more consideration than most people give it. No matter the prep, if you are the only one who can use something, that’s a fail. Suppose needs to be able to fuel the gennie, move the food and water, short the ammo.
Even if they are not CURRENTLY interested in learning or doing, you need them once shtf. You might be injured. You might be dead. They need to be able, if they become willing.
Nick
Just got a pile of topsoil spread out so we can replant it with new grass, and also started a semi-enclosed pile for kindling and dry compost. We are finding that the “grow bags” are showing significantly better growth for our tomatoes and summer squash so far, than the plants in the raised beds.
BTW, be sure to leave room for a LARGE vacuum truck to get in your backyard should you need to get your septic system pumped out. My septic system at the office requires pumping every three to ??? years. Those honey bucket trucks are big, about the size of a cement mixer truck (and the same weight when full).
“No matter the prep, if you are the only one who can use something, that’s a fail.”
There it is. That also goes for all the financial data and passwords and sites for doing any of that online.
“This does not bode well for Windows Desktop on Intel.”
Good riddance. I use Linux but am holding out for OpenVMS on x86 in the next couple of years.
“BTW, be sure to leave room for a LARGE vacuum truck to get in your backyard should you need to get your septic system pumped out.”
No problemo, hermano; they just park ’em in the street here and run a hose back there; saw them do it twice at our neighbor’s; took about fifteen minutes IIRC.
“Any mention of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and all of the bottled water in the Houston area goes away that day! If you want to buy bottled water then the time is NOW.”
I have collapsible bottles for storing some water. 20 Gallons. That will get me past any hurricane. I will do more.
ANY hurricane? After Katrina, Sandy, or the like I’d think having only 20 gallons (is that for one person?) would be grossly inadequate. I’d think 100 gallons per person would be prudent.
I have collapsible bottles for storing some water. 20 Gallons. That will get me past any hurricane. I will do more.
I budget one 24 bottle case (3 gallons) of water per person per day. I got that figure from my former USMC son whose 1,600 man battalion ran out of water four months into a seven month tour in Iraq. Their planned budget was one 24 bottle case (3 gallons) of water per person per TWO days. Their real life experience was one 24 bottle case (3 gallons) of water per person per day. Cooking, cleaning, drinking, showering, etc …. All of the water in Iraq is non-potable, especially the Euphrates river that Syria throws untreated poo into.
The Sergeant Major of the Battalion got 100+ Marines, their 10+ ??? extended chassis Peterbuilt trucks, and drove 100 ? 200 ? miles to the big Army (10,000 soldiers) base in Iraq. For a few cigars, the supply guards let them in and they stuffed the trucks full of pallets of water (just like you see at Sams or Costco). Apparently 20 Marines can lift a pallet of water if you do not have a forklift. Unfortunately, we won’t have a big Army base we can go steal XXXXX borrow stuff from after a Cat 5 hurricane.
My water backup is several Sawyer filters. I would prefer not to do this. I think RBT recommends this nowadays. I even carry a case of water in my truck at all times and a filter kit.
https://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP128-Filtration-System/dp/B00FA2RLX2/
“BTW, be sure to leave room for a LARGE vacuum truck to get in your backyard should you need to get your septic system pumped out.”
No problemo, hermano; they just park ’em in the street here and run a hose back there; saw them do it twice at our neighbor’s; took about fifteen minutes IIRC.
Cool! I did not know that they could run a hose very far. My septic tank is just 30 ft away from one of gravel roads and they drive up next to it. That is a nasty, nasty, nasty job and I have no idea where they dump it.
On Obama’s ancestral homeland, if there’s any justice. More likely, it goes down the same deep, dark hole that the IRS hard drives and Crooked Hillary’s financial information get thrown down.
In the Euphrates?
Speaking of the Tigris and Euphrates; history nutjobs like me and some others here know that there was once an ACTUAL civilization between them, that was in many respects BETTER than the clusterfuck that sits there now with multiple “countries.”
Their downfall was that they drank the water 😉
Incidentally, for emergencies (like hurricanes) where the water may be polluted by pathogenic viruses, I actually recommend the $120 Sawyer SP-191 PointZeroTwo filter rather than the $20 SP-128 Mini. The latter is the best inexpensive filter available. I bought several for emergency kits. It filters everything but viruses, so if they’re a threat you need something else or something additional.
The gross thing was that the Marines initial camp was a half mile away from the Euphrates river which is almost the size of the Mississippi river. After a couple of weeks there, the river flooded and they had two feet of water in their main camp, including their hootches. So they moved the entire camp out of that horribly nasty chunky water in 100+ F weather. It hit 136 F (58 C) in the summer during his first tour in Iraq.
I purchased this Survivor Filter PRO when I was supposed to go to Belize (had to cancel to help my Mom). Does anybody else have experience with one or have any comments?
Appreciated.
That is known as damning with faint praise.
Babylon had a lot to commend it. A lot to condemn it, too, but that goes with the territory of an agricultural society and the inevitable rulers. I much prefer a hunter-gatherer society, with every member pretty well able to subsist on his own, in extremis, and so the ability of strongmen to control other members is limited.
The Sergeant Major of the Battalion got 100+ Marines, their 10+ ??? extended chassis Peterbuilt trucks, and drove 100 ? 200 ? miles to the big Army (10,000 soldiers) base in Iraq.
The US Army comes through, again.* I remember the giant RO units during my REFORGER trips. Quite impressive.
*Alright, let me have it USMC, Navy, AF.
The Religion of Peace hacks again. How will Merkel spin this one? Let some more single Moosloids in?
An axe-man who stormed a passenger train and hacked at terrified passengers while shouting “Allahu Akbar” has been identified as a 17-year-old Afghan who entered Germany as a lone refugee.
The attacker was identified by stunned government officials after a huge investigation was launched just hours after the bloody attack exploded.
The horror began at around 9mpm local time when the teenager stormed a train that was travelling close to Wurzburg in southern Germany.
He then shouted “Allahu Akbar” – which means God is greatest – before launching into the terrifying attack on innocent passengers and then attempted to flee.
The Sergeant Major of the Battalion got 100+ Marines, their 10+ ??? extended chassis Peterbuilt trucks, and drove 100 ? 200 ? miles to the big Army (10,000 soldiers) base in Iraq.
The US Army comes through, again.* I remember the giant RO units during my REFORGER trips. Quite impressive.
They “borrowed” pallets of 24 bottle Nestles cases from the Army, same as the Marines had. My son did not see the big RO trailers until his second tour of duty in Iraq. During his second tour they also had Caterpillar gen sets with 8,000 gallon JP8 fuel bladders. And air conditioning.
In fact, some hotshot pilot set a Blackhawk down on one of those 8,000 gallon bladders at 3 am in the morning. My son said it was a wall of diesel fuel running across the camp, soaking everything. His Lt. Col. thought about shooting the pilot for a while and then calmed down.
In fact, some hotshot pilot set a Blackhawk down on one of those 8,000 gallon bladders at 3 am in the morning.
Army Aviation Rules the Night! ™ Except when we don’t. lol! I’d love to have been on that safety investigation.
“The US Army comes through, again.*”
Not to start a big thing here, but: at vets groups over the years, invariably somebody finds out I was AF and I get to hear how soft we had it, blah, blah, blah. Well, sure, maybe the REMF pogie-bait capons they ran across, but not most pilots/aircrew or the security police/forces or special operations aircrew. And there are REMFs in all the branches anyway. I tell them that the Army and Marine units were always EXTREMELY glad to see us rolling in….”Make it rain!” And picking their asses up outta the chit. I also tell them that I was in the fucking Army, TOO, and how they like them apples?
“How will Merkel spin this one? Let some more single Moosloids in?”
I asked my wife on this nooz how many musloid refugees Commissar Merkel has personally taken in so far. We agreed that the chit never falls on the people who make these kinds of rotten decisions, i.e., invite a billion or so musloids to move to the Western nations.
Just had a two-hour power outage due to a series of t-storms that rolled in across the lake from the Vampire State. This was a good opportunity for me to bring up the need for a generator to run the well pump. “What if this lasted for a couple of weeks, or a month???” I think it made an impression. We spent $3,000 on the wood stove so I can see us spending similar on a dual-fuel genny. Maybe this fall.
MrAtoZ, I am shocked and disappointed at and with you! What you meant to write was “The hacks of the Religion of Pieces strike again! Native Germans axe Merkel to resign.”
I have long stored water in re-used juice and pop bottles and such.
Stacked (on their sides, mostly) in an otherwise pretty useless corner
of my cellar, these jugs of ordinary tap water have held up quite well,
at least for flushing and such purposes. (Inspection pending! Some
might have been there for 20 or more years; I have noted a few that
had strange black stuff growing.)
I have a septic tank. Lotsa luck for those of you who are on sewerage
systems, since it’s very likely that in any significant power outage, the
“lift” stations will fail and your neighbors’ wastewater will come down
on you if you happen to be in a lower altitude area of the system, if
the neighbors have any flushing water… though I reckon there are
check valves and such in the system that might keep working.
I guess the trade-off might be that folks in relative valleys will have
water pressure for a little longer, assuming elevated tanks (for
gravity storage), as required by state regs, for example.
Of course, the lift stations and wastewater treatment plants will
eventually have to release untreated wastewater to the local creek —
upon which you might be depending for a water source.
I think their emergency plan is to release the raw sewage into the Euphrates.
We got the well and the septic tank, but the former currently needs juice to run the pump and the later prevents us from using half our back yard to plant garden stuff. And a Grid down thang messing up those with town and city sewer systems would probably also foul up the rest of us anyway, in a variety of scenarios.
I guess we should have a better way of describing/distinguishing local or regional power outages of a temporary or long-term nature from those that could happen nationwide or worldwide. And Grid would seem to fit that if capitalized; “grid” could mean the local and regional stuff. And naturally either usage would include not only electrical power but also the internet and radio and tee-vee, obviously, and most telephones.
We should have a bit of half-serious fun to rate Normality Bias on a 1 to 10 scale, based on severity of the affliction, 1 being in a state of Condition Yellow all the time with Situational Awareness and cognizant of the various local AO and national and worldwide threat vectors. 10 being blissfully oblivious and pretty much totally unfocused on anything other than the immediate, right in front of one’s eyes and ears and nose, period. And zero interest in finding out anything and being actively hostile to anyone with a lower rating on the scale.
10 is playing Pokemon Go outside at late night, walking down the middle of the street.
I think their emergency plan is to release the raw sewage into the Euphrates.
I think their emergency plan is to release the raw sewage into the Brazos River.
FTFY.
Has happened many, many times.
We got the well and the septic tank, but the former currently needs juice to run the pump and the later prevents us from using half our back yard to plant garden stuff.
I am very tempted to put solar panels on the well house roof (if I had the spare cash right now, gotta save my Benjamins to pay taxes in the fall), but I know that they would last less than a month. Since I don’t have a gate, and cannot put one up due to my neighbors, people visit my office property all hours of the day. I imagine anything left out there will walk away quickly.
Today’s BC had a great line: “Bless me Father for I have sinned”:
http://www.gocomics.com/bc/2016/07/18
And this comment was very interesting, “Proof again that B.C. is post-apocalyptic not prehistoric.”
You just can’t make stuff like this up:
Libturd Sally Kohn: Of course #Benghazi was a horrible, tragic accident. Saying it’s anything more is not only pure partisanship but also untrue.
Please, Lord Above, let tRump/pEnce win. The Dumbocrat Party and libturds in general would implode.
An accident. Woof.
You know what statements like that call for? Lifting a page from classic Saturday Night Live: “Sally, you ignorant slut.”
Another can’t make this stuff up: New Pentagon Sex Change Manual.
Wait a minute. What was that again? A sex change manual for the military? Turns out there’s now one of those too. (Washington Times)
I feel better knowing Mr. DadCooks’ taxes pay for this. Wieners to buns, and, buns to wieners? Lordy B Gordy!
The Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is…42! 42 condoms, that is.
I lived in an HOA in Florida from 2000-2010. Never again. The state laws currently favor the management companies, HOA boards, and property lawyers. If you live in the state or are thinking of purchasing a house there, make sure you completely understand FS 720 cover to cover.
Condo? Fuggedaboudit. Don’t even go there.
In other states, as they say, “Your mileage may vary, *especially* in California”. (Google for “Mello Roos”, the stealth HOA)
And, believe it or not, among the ruling class, the most tightly puckered sphincters belonged to the active duty and retired military folks on my street who were in over their heads in debt thanks to sweetheart loans from Pentagon Federal Credit Union. The special forces and psy ops types at the local commands seemed to have a hard time finding the “off” switch at the end of the day.
“10 is playing Pokemon Go outside at late night, walking down the middle of the street.”
Every night up here lately. Morons.
““Sally, you ignorant slut.””
She is either ignorant, in fact, or knows full fucking well it wasn’t any kind of accident and tries to retail this blather to the masses of truly ignorant, which are Legion. Especially among True Believer dems, progs and SJWs now having had to give up on feeling the Bern, more morons.
“I feel better knowing Mr. DadCooks’ taxes pay for this.”
And ours, too. I have to actively, mentally, determine not to think about chit like this for more than a couple of seconds or my head will explode with no outlet for murderous rage.
“… 42 condoms, that is.”
I don’t see much of a big step in evolution here from masturbating monkeys in a cage at the zoo to the alleged humans. Phrases like self-control and words like “morality” are as dead as our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Monkeys in a fucking cage.
” the most tightly puckered sphincters belonged to the active duty and retired military folks on my street who were in over their heads in debt thanks to sweetheart loans from Pentagon Federal Credit Union. The special forces and psy ops types at the local commands seemed to have a hard time finding the “off” switch at the end of the day.”
I have zero trouble believing this at all.
“I feel better knowing Mr. DadCooks’ taxes pay for this. Wieners to buns, and, buns to wieners? Lordy B Gordy!”
Well, I don’t feel better about it.