09:14 – Barbara called last night to let me know she was doing fine and looking forward to coming home this morning. I didn’t want to call her for fear I’d wake her up. Al is going to pick her up at the hospital and bring her home this morning.
I just closed out July, which was our best July ever by about 15% for kit sales revenues. Unfortunately, January and June of this year sucked month-on-month, so we’re still down about 11% on YTD revenues this year versus last year. Still, August is starting out well–there are seven kits sitting awaiting pickup this morning–so I suspect things will even out before year-end.
Email from Brittany. She and her husband had a Marathon repackaging session over the weekend, and they now have a huge pile of LDS foil-laminate Mylar bags filled with bulk staples and sealed. Britanny says her feeling of relief is immense when she looks at all that LTS food, knowing that no matter what happens she’ll be able to feed her family.
They’re in pretty good shape now, not just in terms of having a year’s food but in terms of water, shelter, heat, power, defense, and so on. Brittany says they’re going to take a short break from prepping, but not because they’re out of money or time. They used all 250 of the foil-laminate Mylar bags from LDS as well as all their oxygen absorbers. She’s going to re-order those supplies and keep going. Her family and in-laws are all local. None of them are into prepping, at least no more than most rural families are, so Brittany and her husband are going to extend their preps to cover their families as well, at least to the extent they can afford to do so and that they have space to store the stuff. As her husband said, this stuff is cheap now and may be invaluable later. It lasts essentially forever and he’d rather have it safely at home than sitting in a warehouse if things ever get really bad.
With everything else that’s been going on, I haven’t had much time to prep lately. FedEx did show up the other day with several #10 cans of Augason Farms stuff and a 4-pound plastic bucket of lard. This is the first time that Walmart has actually shipped me the AF products rather than having them drop-shipped direct from AF. Once things settle down a bit, we’ll make a Costco run and stock up on bulk staples as well as restock the canned and bottled goods we’ve been using for the last several months without replacing them.
@brittany (NHRN)
Maybe now that you have met a milestone, the next bunch of stuff could be located off-site? The whole “eggs in one basket” thing was driven home for me by pictures of the OK tornadoes. Your preps don’t do you any good if they are scattered across 2 counties.
Everyone should have the basics offsite too, fuel and a cooking method, pans, water, utensils, paper plates and cups, sanitation. . . light, clothes.
I think of my offsite as a storage area for backups. It’s not a retreat location or a stocked bug out location. It’s somewhere to keep some things to get by if my main area (house) was destroyed.
nick
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about renting a storage place. My problem is that most of them, at least up here, are not climate-controlled. That makes them a terrible place to store LTS food.
If I were Brittany, I’d talk to my relatives about storing some of their stuff in family basements, root cellars, etc. The issue with that is that a lot of people’s basements are already crammed full of stuff.
With the acquisition of the rototiller, Barbara recognizes that we need an outbuilding of some sort. She was thinking one of those pre-fab things. I told her Sunday evening that I’m thinking more of a poured concrete/filled concrete block building, which would also serve us as a storm shelter. I’m thinking one with a basement that’s fully underground and an above-ground story that’s made of filled concrete block, with the floor of that above-ground part being at least a three- or four-foot thickness of reinforced concrete and soil. Obviously, I’d want the above-ground part to be literally bullet-proof and the below-ground part to offer at least a 1,000 PF against nuclear radiation.
I figure we’ll store gardening equipment and supplies in the above-ground part and use the underground part for storing food and other supplies. I think I’ll go dig out my 1962 copy of BOSDEC: The Concrete Curtain. IIRC correctly, the copyright on it has expired and it’s freely downloadable in PDF form.
Unless SHTF when they’re 100 miles aways doing some recreational family activity. I guess that’s the one real weak spot in prepping. Preppers assume they (and their loved ones) are going to be home when the SHTF.
Not to downplay her prepping. Kudos to her and I wish I was in as good a shape from an LTS food perspective. Just thinking aloud here…
In my early exchanges with Brittany, I did mention get-home bags for her and her family. She said that was a non-issue. She’s a stay-at-home mom and homeschools the kids. Her husband’s job is an easy walk from their house. They don’t take vacations or travel far from home. Obviously, that could change, particularly as the kids get older.
I’m almost always home or at least within 30 miles in this AO and at worst might have to hump that 30 miles back here, which, currently, depending on weather and any hostiles roaming around, would normally take me 10-15 hours, with a probable overnight rest stop. When I was working, I had a fairly decent get-home-bag in the car; I’d revisit what’s in that.
My main worry is obviously Mrs. OFD, who travels via air all over the country, and usually stays at Air B&B places. She has family in VA and PA sometimes FL in the winter, but that’s about it.
Sunny and mid-80s today, looks like. Back the house and yard stuff.
I can say from experience that travel and vacation when you are an active prepper is much more stressful than when you are blissfully unaware.
The amount and type of countermeasures you can carry/use are greatly limited, and I have to just accept that I’m not really going to be able to do what I’d like.
That means NOT carrying a GHB, sometimes not having access to a firearm, being far from your preps, etc. The only way I can do it is to compartmentalize and accept that there are times and events that I can’t prep adequately.
That said, there are things you can do.
Whenever possible, travel with at least a pistol and an extra mag. Arm up as soon as you can after arrival. (Or don’t travel by air. This is high on my list as the kids get older.) If you can’t carry, add another knife.
My blow out kit moves to my carryon bag for air travel.
I’ve changed to a backpack for carryon. Hands free is critical.
Carry a nice metal flashlight that can work as a weapon.
Think about a tactical pen or whatever alternative weapons you can carry and use.
My boo boo kit (altoids tin everyday survival kit) goes with me everywhere the kids go.
My toiletries kit includes a good multitool, spare knives, antibiotics and anti-diarrheal meds, as well as normal OTC meds.
Having a couple of energy bars in your carryon is smart. Having a couple more in your bag is even smarter.
Keep your eyes open, and your threat condition up.
Look at a map, know where you are and have at least a basic idea of where you might go.
Look at where you are staying, identify exits, look at the structure, look around when arriving to see the area and neighborhood.
If you are going to be someplace longer than a day or two, see if you have friends or relations nearby. Or friends of friends. This is where meatspace comes in. I have a 2 deg of separation contact for LMI in Florida if I need it while there. I’ll admit I looked at possible routes to OFD’s area while on Cape Cod…. I make a note if someone here mentions loved ones passing thru my area, in case they need help… Yes, just showing up somewhere is WAY less than optimal for all involved, but it’s better than NOT having a plan or a (possibly) friendly face at the end of the trip.
The preceding paragraph points up a couple of things. OPSEC being one, and the reality that SOMEONE will probably knock on your door no matter how good your OPSEC, even if it’s just a neighbor or the sheriff’s office. I like to think that I’m not without resources and would bring useful knowledge and skills to the situation, but I admit that with my family along, I’m bringing liabilities too.
Some online folks claim to assemble a GHB at their destination whenever they are away from home for any length of time. Some of the articles were very interesting in what you could get quickly from stores or from yardsales. It’s worth thinking about. What would you grab and where from if you had to equip yourself in a hurry?
nick
(what I can put together just from stuff in my bags- pocket knives, multitool, energy bars, bottled water, pretty good first aid kit, drug bag, water resistant outerwear-long pants and a pullover, several flashlights, extra batteries, ham radio HT with listen only on public service bands, ereaders, ziplok baggies, cable ties, chargers, extension cord, entertainment and distraction for the kids)
(what to grab from the hotel- lightweight blankets, pillow cases, bottled water, anything from the mini-bar, any electrical cords and string from blinds, small hand towels, plastic bags from trash cans, soap, improvised weapons from chair legs, ironing board, or other furniture, etc)
I’m like Brittany (and Jen). I mostly don’t go anywhere, and if I do it’ll be just down to Winston-Salem. I could walk that if I had to, although realistically it’d take me at least a week. Just by coincidence, the duffels I toss in the vehicle contain a week’s food for two people.
For Brittany, the closest town large enough to have a Costco or Sam’s is about 150 miles away, so her family doesn’t spend much time in population centers. Their town is large enough to have two or three supermarkets where they can get a lot of what they need in bulk staples. Then there’s Walmart on-line, which carries the rest of what they need.
I forgot the most important travel prep– cash and other convertibles…
CASH is king. 9-11 took out pretty much all landline comms in the area. As I watched the towers fall, I went to the lobby cash machine and max withdrew on every card in my wallet. Screw the fees for cash advancing from a credit card, you will need the cash. If you are accustom to using cards for everything, at a minimum be sure you have cash advance activated on your cards and know how to use them.
Then, after leaving the venue to return to our hotel, we topped up the gas tank on the rental car, and stopped at a grocery store and bought a weeks worth of shelf stable food for each person. Sitting in the hotel room, 2000 miles from home, watching the aftermath on the ONE tv station that was still up, I took some comfort in having food and water there with me.
CASH is king. Have some on you. At least a hundred in $20s, several hundreds if you can afford it. Distribute it thru your stuff, so you can’t lose it all at once if you have a ‘misadventure.’
While cash is king, having some other easily convertible valuables on you is a good idea. This is what that stainless steel Rolex watch if for. Apparently, no one serious goes to Africa without a Rolex. It’s your border crossing bribe, your last seat on the last flight out, your taxi ride to the border, your ‘get out of dodge’ money. A genuine rolex is widely recognized and widely exchangeable for cash. Even in America, any pawnshop in the country will give you cash for a rolex.
Since I don’t have a rolex, I have a few small gold coins. They are a bit harder to convert, but if you have any time at all, there are LOTS of places to do so. As part of prepping, and USING your preps, take some time and go to a pawn shop, or ‘cash for gold’ place and see what it’s all about. At least read about it online. You’ve already got PMs as part of your preps, carry a few with you when traveling.
nick
“Whenever possible, travel with at least a pistol and an extra mag. Arm up as soon as you can after arrival.”
Hey kids! What Mr. nick means by this is that you can CHECK your pistol/s and/or rifle/s when you arrive at the airport; this is done all the time and is not rocket science, but you need really secure lockable containers and it may be smart to partially disassemble it. Also make CERTAIN it’s not loaded. This, then, leaves the question of whether or not you can legally carry, open or concealed, at your destination, eh? Probably not in Maffachufetts or France. And if it makes you feel any better, yes, musloid terrorists and criminals can carry but they’re BREAKING THE LAW and really skating on THIN ICE.
“I’ll admit I looked at possible routes to OFD’s area while on Cape Cod….”
You’d be welcome here and not to blow you off but Mr. JLP and Mr. SteveF would have been significantly closer. By hundreds of miles.
“Some online folks claim to assemble a GHB at their destination whenever they are away from home for any length of time.”
I’d bring the the minimal basics with me, depending on mode of travel, and then stock up on arrival, and would have obviously scoped out the possibilities for that in advance. This is why it’s called PREPPING. Short for “preparation,” like the old Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” and the Coast Guard’s “Semper Paratus.” I try to think several moves ahead, like in checkers (I don’t grok chess).
“Apparently, no one serious goes to Africa without a Rolex.”
Apparently no one serious goes to Africa.
FIFY.
Ah, you’d think that, but that would be wrong.
A whole lot of oil and gas workers have little choice where they are sent.
I know people who have gone when sent, sh!tting bricks the whole time, but it’s go or quit.
I’ve got one former co-worker who DID go to Islamabad once they told him the security setup. I wouldn’t have gone, but his kids are grown and he fancies himself a citizen of the world and is unimpressed by the threat from wogs….
nick
Being in Houston, I’m very aware of how much traffic there is between here and Africa. That’s one of the reasons I took Ebola so seriously.
“Mr. JLP and Mr. SteveF would have been significantly closer.”
-but I’ve never looked at satellite photos of their houses….
and I was mainly looking for someplace AWAY from population centers, and in a direction that would bypass Boston and the rest of that eastern seaboard mess…..
nick
(not really a stalker, and it was so low contingency as to be in the realm of fantasy, as I really just looked at it from a “10000 foot level” of which direction could I head if the zombie apocalypse happened. It was lower on my list than stealing a boat and sailing south, possibly all the way around FL to the gulf….)
“What Mr. nick means by this is that you can CHECK your pistol/s and/or rifle/s when you arrive at the airport; ”
yes. It’s easy, but you need to read the policy for your airline. I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/Gunvault-MV500-STD-Microvault-Pistol-Safe/dp/B000TG9RCC
in a laptop sleeve, locked inside my luggage.
You just ask for a firearms declaration form at the baggage check in counter. At least here in TX, that doesn’t even get you a second look.
It pays to research your destination online of course.
nick
I always travel with a non-metallic money belt with $200 in $20’s. It’s nondescript in dark stripes and looks like any other belt. I usually wear my shirt out so you can’t even see it. The x-ray at TSA is no problem, but if I get the scanner, I take it off and put in my murse. My gold is in 10th ounce or less chunks, silver 1 ounce or less. I keep about $5k of each for grins. I do collect silver novelty coins and give them out at Christmas, etc (dino’s, turtles, insect impressions). The Grandkids each got a 10th ounce gold coin last Christmas. No toys from Grumpy Grandpa.
I use this:
I use the same one.
“most of them, at least up here, are not climate-controlled. That makes them a terrible place to store LTS food.”
Yep, but even more terrible to not have it if you need it.
My garage isn’t climate controlled. I’ve just accepted that I’ll have more ‘breakage’ than if it was in a cool basement. The food breaks down faster (I can see the peaches in water are darker for example) and there is a small amount of spoilage due to failed containers. I also have food go out of date that might have been fine if stored properly that is not edible.
I’m keeping an eye on what doesn’t hold up, and how much it costs me, but so far it’s minimal and far less than the cost of cooling the garage in summertime….
(one of my regrets is that I didn’t insulate the garage when we moved in. It was empty, with open stud walls. I could have insulated for a couple of hundred bucks. Now, I’ve added plywood wall sheathing and the garage is FULL. Not gonna get insulated unless from the outside when it gets new siding.)
nick
Oh, yeah, I wouldn’t risk flying anywhere near NY with my handgun in checked bags. If you get stranded there, you could go to jail. I’m sure NY cops have tapped into every airline to see if “guns, guns, guns” are coming their way and are prepared to screw you.
Media watch.
Couple of interesting items.
@OFD, New Bedford Man! only interesting because of last weeks discussion of small towns in common…. and it ended WITHOUT shooting the suspect.
@RBT – winston salem crime and probably illegals
‘Just two good ol’ boys, wouldn’t change if they could, fightin’ and robbin’ like two little thugs in the ‘hood.’ – cue “Dukes of Hazzard” theme music
Crime, it’s everywhere you don’t want to be….
This one has a couple of meta aspects worth noting.
Of particular note is the repeated assertion that he was “accused of stockpiling.” Which is not a crime, and wasn’t what got him busted. He was busted for buying an explosive device. Also of note is this quote “Other purchases included tactical training items, including handguns and dummy rounds. ‘The purchase of training versions of these weapons makes it unlikely that the weapons were purchased for recreational use, such as hunting,’ the complaint states. So now it appears that having TRAINING AIDS makes you suspect. Own a blue gun or snap caps? Own a DVD or book with tactical training methods? FUCK YOU TERRORIST YOU’RE GOING DOWN!! This is an insidious attempt to criminalize normal behavior and shouldn’t go unchallenged. Oh, and he got dimed by someone to the FBI, who then seem to have led him on and set him up, like almost every other ‘terrorist bust’ the FBI has done in the last few years. Where’s BATFEIEIO in this? Aren’t they the ones in charge of ‘explosive devices?’
And a cautionary tale for the younger players, or anyone who has younger relatives…
A handful of tweets from 3 years ago, when she was 15yo. Social media will bite your ass. Also, F the racist hypocritical scum attacking her for this. When you can’t listen to 45 seconds of hip hop (if you have XM try it) before you hear the “N WORD” [oh the horror, Kunta Kinte would WEEP at how delicate his decedents have become] they can just shut the F up. And work your way thru this literary masterpiece “Kamie Crawford, a former Miss Teen USA, quickly called her out, writing: ‘If u win any pageant – first things first. Clean up ur page. Cus if ur under 21 u shouldn’t b drinking & if ur WHITE the n word ain’t yo word!’ ”
Got that cracker? It ‘ain’t yo word!’
nick
“https://www.amazon.com/Gunvault-MV500-STD-Microvault-Pistol-Safe/dp/B000TG9RCC”
Several five-star reviews but also several reporting electronic button problems; if you can’t open it, you’re kinda screwed, aintcha?
Also, bear in mind that there are around 30-plus states now that have varying degrees of CCW reciprocity, so that is worth looking into, with desirable licenses available from Virginia and Utah. NY, NJ, MA, CT, CA, etc., not among the Annointed, of course. In those places you take your chances, maybe; YMMV.
I don’t have any problem with any of the Gun Vault products I use. I’ve got several minis and the micro. If the battery gets low, you can have issues with the solenoid not working every time, but the first time it happens, change the battery. There is a key override for when you wait too long.
As a travel case, you don’t need instant access, so entering the code shouldn’t be an issue.
I use one of my minis several times a day as I come and go, and I can’t remember the last time I changed the battery, maybe a year ago? Another gets opened once a month at most, and that battery is even older…
nick
added- read the review- complaining about a pinched wire causing a problem? Ok, if you know the problem, you know how to avoid it.
“Hard Drive Stats for Q2 2016”
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-failure-rates-q2-2016/
“Q2 2016 saw Backblaze: introduce 8TB drives into our drive mix, kickoff a pod-to-vault migration of over 6.5 Petabytes of data, cross over 250 Petabytes of data stored, and deploy another 7,290 drives into the data center for a total of 68,813 spinning hard drives under management. With all the ins-and-outs let’s take a look at how our hard drives fared in Q2 2016.”
I am continuing to stay away from Seagates for now. WDC are beginning to worry me also. Of course, Backblaze is a very harsh environment.
The HGST drives are looking freaking awesome. Aren’t those the old IBM drives that had glass platters with the magic pixie dust for a while ?
“Hatchet-waving man, 50, douses himself with lighter fluid and leads police on 20-mile chase in Massachusetts”
That Daily Mail story had better pics, but the New Beffa Standard Times one had more details on the locations during the chase, all towns I am familiar with, of course, most of them small, but in a larger urban setting that saw better days, much better days, in fact, when I was a kid taking summer vacations there with my grandparents and aunts and uncles, and there was no hurricane barrier and they hadn’t cut the historic downtown in half with Route 6. The suspect with the obvious surname is being treated at St. Luke’s, where I and my next-younger brother were born, in the smell of harbor salt air.
Things started getting worse fast in the mid-60s, with riot spinoff from the larger city underclasses; a favorite trick then was to toss highway flares into citizens’ parked cars and at 2,000 degrees Farenheit they’d gut the insides in minutes. My grandparents and aunt had to move out of their house to North Dartmouth.
“Got that cracker? It ‘ain’t yo word!’”
Whatever. They have long been their own worst enemies. A lot of us by now have been succumbing to N-Fatigue and no longer care much what they say or think. Compared to their cousins in Africa they live like royalty here and their cousins know it full well and rarely want anything to do with them. The late Eldridge Cleaver wore out his welcome very quickly there.
Yes, Ebonics, remember that? That one PhD Black woman in CA or somewhere thought it would be a great idea for all Black chillin’ to learn Ebonics as their primary language. Again, the less than 12+% dictating to the nation thanks to SJW fukstiks.
@Nick if you find yourself in MA when the SHTF you would be welcome. Someone with knowledge, skills and who can shoot straight is always an asset. If you have roots in New England then we are probably related somehow, anyway. We should come up with a Daynotes meat space code word to identify us forum folks. Suggestions?
According to Google Maps I’m 42 miles (as the seagull flies) from the Bourne Bridge. A well prepared household is better than any hotel room. Yes, I’m sandwiched between Providence and Boston, but real world situations of work and family are going to keep me here for some time. Plainville is, well, plain. A pleasant homogeneous community that doesn’t really stand out. Sort of the gray man of towns.
“Plainville is, well, plain. A pleasant homogeneous community that doesn’t really stand out. Sort of the gray man of towns.”
Indeed. Formerly known as Slackville. And served as the border between Ye Ancient Maffachufetts Bay Colony and Ye Ancient and Honorable Plymouth Colony.
We passed through there and Lakeville and Assonet back and forth visiting grandparents in New Beffa and Fairhaven when I was a kid. My grandfather was a Grand Master Mason with Quittacas Lodge, named after Great Quittacas Pond.
While cash is king, having some other easily convertible valuables on you is a good idea. This is what that stainless steel Rolex watch is for.
Keep in mind that high end mechanical wind up and automatic watches will require periodic overhaul, even if they sit in a drawer, every five years or so. Like everything else, the charge for this service has increased significantly in the last few years, and the last time I had my wind-up serviced, the bill was half of what the watch cost new.
I’m overdue for a rebuild now, but I’m crossing my fingers that moving to a drier climate and replacing the watch with a Casio Edifice (GREAT personal timepiece BTW) for daily wear will let me get away with postponing the watch maintenance until my financial situation is better.
lol! “War Hero” Obuttwad disses tRump on “Gold Star” family Mooslims, says he is unfit for office. If tRump wins, libturd heads are going to explode. I want tRump to win just for that reason. And for Cankles to die.
@jlp,
Thanks! Wish I’d known where you were, at least generally. Part of me was anxious about it, even though I know the chances of anything bad on any particular day are slim. When my wife does the eye roll, I just ask her if she thinks there might have been people on vacation, and at Disneyworld on 9-11. And I ask her to think about what it might have been like trying to get home with the kids or sheltering in place, especially if the hits just kept on coming.
Fortunately, I was traveling alone (well with a crew of guys, but no family) on 9-11. After shutting down our thing, we ended up driving to St Louis, where I got a plane to Chicago to be with family for a few days before returning to Cali. Getting my bag in a completely empty Ohare airport will probably always be one of the most surreal moments of my life. I think I was the only non-airline employee on my flight. Ohare was EMPTY. No one was visibly at work, no one else was in baggage claim, no one was outside waiting for rides. Those next few months were also very strange and vexing for frequent travelers.
My roots are in the Chicago area, but my wife’s roots are in those small towns previously discussed, New Bedford, Fairhaven, Tiverdon (sp?), etc. No portagee in her blood, but plenty of culinary influence on her family 🙂 A clam boil isn’t right without the right sausage… I’m sure that there is some 2-3 deg of separation with folks from the area. Her uncles were quite the hell raisers so might have been locally notorious too.
One of the reasons we both live far from family was to escape that tangled web and get away from 40 year old grudges, and relationships that are stuck in the past. Hard to be who you are now, if everyone you run into thinks of you as the loudmouth who got in trouble for doing xyz…
nick
(and oddly (not) trying to get to any of her family was WAY down my list….)
@greg norman,
I know that periodic maintenance is one of the downsides, but many people put it off much longer than that, if the watch is still keeping time. There are a lot of well trained alternatives to the authorized dealer too, that cost less.
If you like mechanical watches, this guy works on some beauties, his videography is great, and he explains what he’s doing in one of the most soothing voices on youtube…
https://www.youtube.com/user/jewldood –autoplay warning.
I’m practicing on a couple of old timex mechanicals. They were only a few bucks each, and were good running watches when new. I kid myself that it’s a post collapse skill, but really it’s just that I find it fascinating…. and relaxing.
nick
(from watching the videos, most of the “service” is clean and replace sticky lube)
Any of you guys would be welcome here, assuming you were carrying along a year’s supply of food or had prepositioned it. 😉
You just shot down my bug out plan. Two adults and a child in a mid size SUV travelling 500 miles post SHTF is one thing. I don’t think we could fit a year’s supply of food in there too. A supply of food for a month or two would be pushing it.
“What’s a wristwatch?” – Every person under the age of 30. 🙂
http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/08/01/worlds-greatest-gun-salesman-celebrates-new-july-record/?utm_source=badaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
THANKS, Barry!!!
Where is Chuck ? Rush Limbaugh just signed another four year contract with iHeartMedia and I wanted to rub it in.
http://www.premierenetworks.com/Press/Pages/iHeartMedia-Extends-Partnership-with-Rush-Limbaugh.aspx
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/08/02/why_i_decided_to_keep_doing_this_show
Mr. Chuck is weeping over his beloved Germany.
Dadgum it, I cannot get my Augason Farms White Granulated Sugar, 28 lbs into my offsite storage shelves. That plastic pail is too big! The #10 cans works just fine and I have plenty of room for them.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Emergency-Food-White-Granulated-Sugar-30-lb/22001475
I wanted to buy a couple of the white wheat plastic pails but I guess I need to rethink this. I guess I could buy some more of the wheat bread and roll mix:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Emergency-Food-Honey-Wheat-Bread-Roll-Mix-58-oz/22985151
“What’s a wristwatch?” – Every person under the age of 30.”
Ah, but! A wristwatch is a critical item, and a differentiator for the prepared. When you rush up to the accident and stop the bleeding, you can glance at your watch. When you do any number of things, you can discreetly check the time. When SHTF, and the phones go down, how long will yours keep accurate time? Do you want to light up your whole face and head when you check??
I didn’t wear a watch for years, but I wear one whenever I leave the house now. Like my carry items, I feel naked without it on. I made the choice when I started learning about first aid. You need a sweep second hand. It is common across soldiers/cops/first responders.
Since then I’ve noticed something. If you want to ‘make’ someone else who might be a LMI, what are the ‘tells’? Sports watch (paracord band optional), clip knife, cargo pants (or tactical pants!), sensible shoes, untucked shirt. EDC flashlight is a good indicator. Paracord bracelet is like flying a flag. Ditto for the ‘operator look’ beard and ball cap. Bonus for stealthier versions of each of these or more than one visible knife…
nick
(of course the converse it true too, these ‘tells’ will identify you to your enemies too.)
Here is a nifty summary of the Incumbent’s rolling disaster over just the last FOUR years, in case it ever comes up in conversations you might have with normality bias people and those who willfully put on blinders and ear plugs when it comes to the Current Situation:
https://eatgrueldog.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/from-the-idiot-that-brought-you-isis/
“I didn’t wear a watch for years, but I wear one whenever I leave the house now. Like my carry items, I feel naked without it on. I made the choice when I started learning about first aid. You need a sweep second hand. It is common across soldiers/cops/first responders.”
Ditto.
“Sports watch (paracord band optional), clip knife, cargo pants (or tactical pants!), sensible shoes, untucked shirt. EDC flashlight is a good indicator. Paracord bracelet is like flying a flag. Ditto for the ‘operator look’ beard and ball cap.”
Guilty as charged. Multitool another indicator, plus the telltale spare mags, maybe. But I figure the 18-inch ponytail may throw off the “operator” scent and give off a hippie farmer image.
Sometimes I like to play with this when I visit my local ‘toy’ store.
I will wear shorts, sandals, an untucked golf shirt, and a dressier watch.
Just little old midwestern goober me, nothing to see here….
Still got my edc though, shield, reload, flashlight, benchmade clip, cold steel bird and trout. You have to look close to see the pocket clip, the neck chain, the leatherman sheath, the belt clip. In fact you have to look under my shirt to see most of it….
nick
@dave h,
or you could go for the black ‘never forget’ ball cap, the copper bracelet, and shined leather shoes… that would work with the pony tail and send an appropriate, but misleading message.
I like to give them something to see, so they just checkbox me based on whatever stereotype that triggers, and don’t look any closer.
I’m often the ‘goofy dad’ with a hawaiian shirt and aussie bush hat. Very few look past the shirt and hat combo….
nick
I went with regular ol’ blue jeans this week and untucked shirt; pretty much the same deal; Shield w/spare mag; Fenix E21 FLASHLIGHT; Benchmade clip; Leatherman Micra; Bic lighter; written to-do list in my back pocket or else I forget chit (too used to this method and have mostly given up on the smartypants phone and Evernote for it). If I have my wallet, it has my cards, some cash, Enhanced driver’s license, VA ID card, credit card knife and lock-pick set. I may add a tourniquet to this whole deal soon.
I’m fairly large and have a lot of clothing real estate I can hide chit in, and also most peeps probably ain’t gonna wanna look under my shirt.
Conversely there was the guy that caught my eye at Costco.
“Shoot me first” photographer’s vest caught my eye, which led to spotting the heavy pocket pulling down one side of the vest, and the worn dirt marks from the sharp edges of the spares in that pocket. Which said “1911 guy” to me, which led to spotting the print from the pistol.
Or the guy in the Costco customer service line, slightly bent forward to the counter, fidgeting with his T shirt over his right hip. Honestly if he hadn’t kept tugging it down, it was providing good coverage, and not really printing. A looser T shirt, and learning not to lean forward like that would help him…
nick
“I’m often the ‘goofy dad’ with a hawaiian shirt and aussie bush hat. Very few look past the shirt and hat combo….”
I’ve heard that’s a good one for buying burner phones and suchlike capers.
Sometimes I do the college English prof look; pretty easy for me to pull off, and if pressed, I can certainly parlez-vous the lingo with the worst of them.
When I go to the vets group meetings, I am the stereotypical pissed-off ‘Nam vet, complete with mil-spec hat and pins. But I took all that stuff off my ride.
“Conversely there was the guy that caught my eye at Costco.”
Yeah, there’s always some guys haven’t got the word. Those vests are almost as big a tipoff as the fanny packs now.
One habit I can’t shake, and it would be a tipoff to the cognoscenti; I have my head on a 360 degree swivel when I’m out and about and I’m always checking out peeps and their vehicles and activities around me. I don’t do it TOO obviously but I do it.
Well I use the multitool sheath for my spare mag. Out in plain sight, but people see it and dismiss it since they “know” what it is.
If I’m out with the kids, add my boo boo kit, which actually has a micra in it (the micra has a scissor instead of a pliers.)
and a money clip, useful as a surrender item, wallet and smartypants phone…. sometimes a flat notebook in a back pocket, sometimes kleenex in that pocket. No lighter. There are matches in the boo boo kit though.
nick
black pants, black golf shirt (polo), and a walkie talkie lets you move around freely in almost any hotel in the US (av guys wear this uniform, the bigger the hotel, the more this works…)
Speaking of staying in hotels, everyone should find the service elevator. It’s usually behind a plain or ‘staff’ door, behind the public elevator. If there are multiple elevator banks, it’s usually behind the one furthest from the front desk. I’ve never run into one that needed a special key or key card to operate and it just might get you down and out in a hurry if needed.
nick
“Well I use the multitool sheath for my spare mag.”
Excellent idea.
“(the micra has a scissor instead of a pliers.)”
Yup, which weirdly I use a lot over the years.
“sometimes a flat notebook in a back pocket”
Another good idea; I keep forgetting I have several of those “rite in the rain” notebooks and the waterproof “space” pen.
“Speaking of staying in hotels, everyone should find the service elevator.”
Yes indeed. And locate the stairs, too.
I’ll note in general that ‘grey man’ can mean different things in different places.
In Bugtussle OK, full camo might actually blend in better on your ‘last shopping trip’ than a dark shirt and khaki pants.
If you need to move around in an office building, khaki dockers, and a tucked in golf shirt with a high tech company logo, with a laptop bag in hand, will not attract attention.
Some places, a suit and tie might be your best choice.
Look around and notice what people are wearing. Find something similar.
Oh, and if you get caught in some strife overseas or outside your normal culture, you really need to buy some clothes locally. They are just enough different that yours WILL stand out and mark you as ‘not from around here.’ I can always spot the Euros here in Houston, even in an office environment. The pants are cut different, and the SOCKS, o lordy the socks!
Get in the habit of noticing those things too. Spend some time people watching. See if you can tell yourself a little story about them based on what they are wearing and carrying. Seeing what’s normal will help you spot when something ISN’T normal. In some cases it could save your life.
nick
(having spent a significant amount of time on business travel, I spent a lot of time people watching in the airport, hotel bars, and other public venues. You’d be surprised how good your subconscious is at spotting the difference once you are looking at things.)
I also carry a cuff key. I use a mechanics screw shut cable to put a lot of widgets on. There are enough that I carry it in my murse now. It’s getting too bulky for my pocket. Fisher Space Pen in the back pocket. I find my Leatherman charge adequate for most everything. Clipped on my right front pocket. I also carry an ASP Talon baton in the murse.
I’m practicing on a couple of old timex mechanicals. They were only a few bucks each, and were good running watches when new.
Seiko makes a really good line of mechanical automatics for ~$100 if you want to practice overhauling a self winding mechanism and can justify the expense.
I went to a highly regarded independent shop for an overhaul once, but the end result was six months of return trips when the rebuilt mechanism would randomly freeze. A big portion of the cost of the last rebuild at the manufacturer was undoing the damage from the independent shop. I’m guessing that the guy had never seen the 60s-era mechanism before, but he never admitted it.
I’ve never run into one that needed a special key or key card to operate…
Hotels in Vegas are starting to require your key card to operate. If you don’t use it, and are on any floor but 1, it’ll just take you all the way to 1. Many also restrict the upper floors where suites are located.
Our hotel in Dallas several weeks ago also required the key card to operate.
I’ve ridden in the service elevator several times with the Bell, but many moons ago. Mr. Nick’s right, they are usually behind an unlocked service door. That may change soon just like requiring a key card.
I had my Breitling Airwolf serviced last year. There are a couple of Breitling dealers in Vegas (of course, gotta spend those big winnings on sumpin’). The first one is free, recommended every 5 years. I found out Breitling Dealers (at least here) send all their watches out for service. Aviators, even retired ones, have to have a big watch to match their big…egos. Not that quiche eating pussy Army helo pilots have big egos.
A couple more media things I found interesting, mainly for what they say about the zeitgeist…
How Not to Die Hungry: Turn Your 401(k) Into a Pension
The golden age of retirement is coming to an end. Now it gets complicated.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-02/how-not-to-die-hungry-turn-your-401-k-into-a-pension
and this related article
How to Protect Your Portfolio From the Looming ‘War on Inequality’
Favor real assets over financial ones as the focus shifts to fiscal stimulus, Bank of America Merrill Lynch recommends.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-02/how-to-protect-your-portfolio-from-the-looming-war-on-inequality
So people are waking up to the reality that there won’t be enough money for them. Huh. Guess gloom and doom is fashionable at the moment. And who knew that there was going to be a war on inequality?
I’m no financial wizard, but I can’t fault their advice…
I’ll add some definitions this time:
“Looser fiscal policy [more central bank shenanigans and .gov messing around], trade protectionism [like China restricting our access to their markets, so as to protect their own] and wealth redistribution in developed countries [ tax the rich schemes- with ‘rich’ being defined well below median income] represent a game-changer for global investment strategies over the next year [you won’t get rich on google stock or buying the dip].
Investors wishing to protect their financial portfolios would do well to snap up real economy assets [get out now! sell to the retail suckers who always buy high and sell low] — as commodities, collectible items, and real estate —[you don’t own it unless you can put your hands on it] as a fiscal fillip is set to unleash inflationary pressure [govts are going to start spending a lot of money, that they’ll get by printing it, so yours will be worth less].
That’s the big-picture call from Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists led by Michael Hartnett” [sum dood who gets paid no matter what happens]
” it’s not hard to see real-economy assets outperforming financial assets as the former is coming off a historically low base.” [and financial assets are soon coming off their historically HIGH, and unsupported by any reality base]
nick
One funny thing about access control, often the lowest person on the totem pole has the most access. It’s like the CEO carrying one key, and the janitor carrying a big ring.
Working in several big office towers, I often got more access than my customers had. I needed after hours, service elevator, loading dock, etc, but they came in the front door and only went to their offices. In at least one building, there was a semi-secret button combo that would get you access to any floor from the service elevator, regardless of your key card access. The other contractors and in building contractors may clue you in. In this case, they would call for someone with the correct access, UNLESS they were being pushed in a hurry, or the guy would take too long. Then they just used the 3finger salute.
In most public elevators, there is a key combo that will take you straight down to ground, without stopping to pick up on intermediate floors. It’s there for EMS, so they can get someone out of the building quickly. It can get YOU out quickly too…
In hotels, public elevators usually need a key card for the ‘special’ floors, but the service elevator counts on obscurity. The service elevator will also either go to lower floors or open the back door to access utility spaces. They are usually not crowded, and may be a faster way out than the front exit. The maids will also prop doors and violate access controls to the point that they are ignored completely or shut off in the ‘back of house’ areas.
Casinos are a special case, and my knowledge of working in them is 15 years out of date. Generally, casinos take access control and security VERY seriously. Don’t mess about in a casino.
nick
“Breitling Airwolf” – NICE! but how thick is the manual for that thing??
nick
lol! One of those little manuals about an inch thick. No one had a pdf, so I ripped it open and scanned it in. Blows up real nice on my iPad. I carry every manual for my stuff on the iPad, iPhone.
@greg n
“I went to a highly regarded independent shop for an overhaul once, but the end result was six months of return trips”– that is really too bad. Sorry that it happened to you and the watch, and I hope it ended up fixed right.
You are probably right that it was mainly a guy exceeding his knowledge, with too much ego, and it’s always a risk whether it’s firearms, a car, or a nice watch. Good service people are a treasure worth protecting and supporting.
I looked at service on a mid 40s Omega and the factory wanted $1200 and would likely have destroyed the originality of the watch. I ended up selling it to an estate jeweler with his own service and restoration shop. He could take the time, and had the skill and desire to restore it to running (really just a clean and adjust from what I could see.) He had a cabinet full of classics and wasn’t interested in selling new, so hopefully, one more saved from the crucible.
I’ve always liked mechanical things, well made things, and suddenly watches are filling that niche for me 🙂 Must be an age thing.
nick
I’ve given up wearing anything on my hands or arms except for my wedding ring and Aggie ring (TAMU). Any kind of watch gets my minor carpal tunnel inflamed and painful.
I almost never wear my wedding ring. My hands swell and I can’t get it off. I don’t want to lose a finger, so I have to take it off while doing work with my hands, and then I can’t easily get it back on. I do wear it on vacation, but usually icewater and soap are involved.
nick
Perhaps you should have it enlarged a half size?
Difficult due to the style.
My wife is pretty understanding about it.
n
It’s not tungsten carbide, they wouldn’t sell me one of those when they found out I worked with my hands. (can’t cut them off in an emergency)
But it would take time, money and skill to do a good job.
n
added, and I’m still harboring the fantasy that I’ll lose a bit of the ‘puffiness’ and then it will be too big.
I do wear it on vacation, but usually icewater and soap are involved.
My last experience with the above on vacation best remains to myself. 😉
I’ve considered getting wearing mine on a chain around my neck when I am using power tools.
I know lots of tradesmen who do exactly this.
And one guy we called “Nine Finger Bob(NHRN)” because he didn’t. Well, he didn’t until AFTER the accident.
n
One of my fellow engineers used to like to slide down vertical stairways on steam boilers when I worked at TU Electric. One day his Aggie ring caught a large burr on the vertical stairway. His Aggie ring stayed there and peeled off his skin on his right ring finger. They tried to reattach the skin but it keep on getting infected so they amputated his right ring finger. Workers Comp gave him a check for $6,000 ???? but that was not worth it.
After that, I never wear my rings around machinery or vertical stairways. Unless I forget. Don’t wear anything that can catch and de-skin or hang you. That includes the neck. Especially back when I was using a twelve ??? fifteen ??? foot lathe with a 48 ??? inch swing.
You could just have your finger ground down enough to make the ring a looser fit.
I only take my rings off when I’m working with meats and poultry and I’m always scrubbing my hands during those capers. Mrs. OFD broke her ring finger a few years ago and her wedding ring had to be cut off; she hasn’t worn one since, and so is probably whooping it up all over the country on all those alleged business trips.
Just picked up the five-by-eight-foot bay windows from a guy’s farm up the road in Swanton for wife’s studio; me and two contractor guys needed to move each one in and outta the pickup trucks. Heavy, awkward and fragile. Got ’em back here OK, though, and they’ll install them sometime in the next coupla weeks, I guess. This took precedence over the rest of our house windows and shutters, the electrical and plumbing work needed, and the replacement of the front and back doors/frames and locksets. But she makes most of the money by far and works her butt off and the online jewelry biz might stretch our revenue when she finally retires. As will some of the stuff I’m working on.
The two contractor guys are in the building trades and do a lot of windows and roofing jobs, etc., and they’re good for hands-on stuff that most peeps don’t know how to do, but how will they live once SS and Medicare go kaput when they’re older? You can’t keep doing roofs when you hit your 70s and 80s, or wiring up electrical panels, or installing a sink and toilet.
“You could just have your finger ground down enough to make the ring a looser fit.”
IIRC, Mr. SteveF does this kind of work on the side, although it’s usually to extract valuable information from work colleagues who’ve pissed him off.
For some reason, the thingy that scrolls you back to the top of the page turned to a box from a check mark. Chrome on a Mac.
Now it’s back to the arrow. WTF, Chrome?
For “blend in” clothes I wear
– Michael Jordon high-tops, unlaced
– An off-white Bedouin robe
– A tiger-stripe bikini top over the robe
– A sombrero
It’s not so much “blend in” attire as “they look and then look again and then look away in embarrassment” attire. Hey, whatever works.
re watches and rings, I won’t tolerate anything on my wrists or hands. This is partly because I work on cars and houses and partly because I punch and partly because I just don’t want anything on them. If it weren’t that I can’t stand my wife, I’d get a wedding ring tattoo. OTOH, she doesn’t wear her wedding ring, either, though in her case it’s because she’d lose or destroy it within a month.
So you moonlight at the quickie mart on Harwin Dr in Houston??
n
The ‘fixture’ homeless guy that lives a couple of blocks from me USUALLY wears khaki pants a shirt and a sport coat. Year round. In Houston. He’s got a big grocery cart full of odd and ends, usually recyclables and lately small electronics and household appliances. Sometimes he has a pc, it all looks like it comes off the curb. For a week, he wore a full set of motorcycle racing leathers, over his normal pants and shirt. In over 100F temps. Where the F did he find a full set of racing leathers? That mostly fit him? (He’s a big guy, most racers are small.) And why the F wear them over your pants in 100 degree heat? There’s a reason most of these guys are homeless, and it ain’t the dastardly landlord…
So SteveF’s gray man would work just fine, next to that guy.
nick
Just re-capped a psu board for a flat panel tv. Hope I can figure out WHICH tv it came out of…
n
(it’s been sitting on the bench for a while.)
There’s a homeless guy (his sign says so) that begs on a corner near me at the 7-11. It’s been so hot, he parks a stolen shopping cart from Walmart with a sign “Put $$ in cart, two hot” while he sits in the 7-11 at the slots. Yes, he spelled it “two”. I may swing by tomorrow and through my trash into his stolen cart.
Republicans and RINOs are really out to get tRump after his Khaaaaaan! gaffe.* Even after nominating him as their party rep, I believe they are really in the tank for Cankles.
Game over, man, game over.
*Star Trek reference.
tRump 2016! “Please let Cankles die of an aneurysm or sumpin’, I keep screwing up”
BLM, SJW, libturd fukstik students in action at the University of Houston.
Rohini Sethi not only was suspended from all student government events for 50 days; she was also sentenced to attend a unicorn-tear tasting event called the Libra Project Workshop, attend a minimum number of cultural events on campus, write a “letter of reflection” detailing the impact of her Facebook post on the university, and give a presentation “detailing the knowledge she has gained about cultural issues facing our society.”
I’m surprised the admin and faculty didn’t get involved and suspend her. After the firing squad, of course.
Don’t wear a ring as it was too tight. Wife’s got too tight also so she wears mine. Have worn a gold necklace for years that the wife bought me. I say it’s my collar in lieu of ring. Broke the clasp last year when I had to have a CAT scan and needed to remove it. Get it fixed some day.
No longer wear a watch. Started when I was about 12 but stopped about 10 years ago(that would be 53 years) when the Seiko battery died (they would last about two years) and I decided I really didn’t need it. I always liked the self winders I had. Last Seiko one lasted years but was stolen from car one day while I was in the river. Not sure I move enough nowadays to keep one running.
Phone is the go to. everywhere there is a clock but even without I seem to always know the time +-30 minutes clock or not. If the SHTF who cares? Is it day or night.
Gateway pundit has some interesting links concerning Khan.
Like everyone Hillarity has trotted out, he’s a connected insider.
nick
I had a list of occultations for Winston, but I need to update it to reflect Sparta. They occur often enough that it’s possible to determine the true time to within a fraction of a second.
” If the SHTF who cares? Is it day or night.”
that’s not an unreasonable question, as for much of history man didn’t need timekeeping. The church changed that. But you didn’t need to the second timekeeping for observances, the railroads changed that.
So why would I care about time if SHTF?
Whelp, I might want to try contacting my family or group at 5 after the hour, and 35 after the hour so they would know when to power up the radio. Or I might need to meet some other partisans at a given time. Or I might need to time some chemical reactions while making something useful. Or someone (not me) might need to time astronomical observations for navigation or some other reason.
I think there will be a long slide, possibly kicked off with a sharp drop, and people will still need to coordinate activities in time. So I’ve got some wind up clocks (very cheap at yard sales) some quartz clocks (as long as batteries are available) some wind up watches, and some other clocks. I’ve even got a book on designing, siting, and building sun dials in my apocalypse library. ;
nick
Bonus question, who knows why ‘clockwise’ is the direction it is?
Well I was only thing TOD but your other examples are well taken. Of course there are many ways to accomplish these but obviously a tool made for that job is best. Egg timer to get my soft boiled egg just right.
If clocks went counter clockwise we’d all get younger.
“Yes, he spelled it “two”. I may swing by tomorrow and through my trash into his stolen cart.”
Wait. You’re hating on the homeless guy ’cause he spelled “too” as “two” and you spelled “throw” as “through?” lol. Yeah, I know; it’s the effed up spell-check on yer smartypants phone.
“…I believe they are really in the tank for Cankles.”
You and me both, hombre. Something funny as in not funny is gonna happen with Trump before November. But even if Cankles gets in, I believe her time is nearly up; she’s a friggin’ mess and a half.
“I’m surprised the admin and faculty didn’t get involved and suspend her.”
Well, I keep saying our elections, voting and party system are now like the old Soviet Union’s, but our college campuses are very like unto Mao’s “Cultural Revolution,” where “counter-revolutionaries” and capitalist roaders and “rightists” had to wear dunce caps and get marched around in public and made to work in rice paddies and suchlike. That pudgy little midget Deng had that done to him back in the day.
“…but even without I seem to always know the time +-30 minutes clock or not. If the SHTF who cares? Is it day or night.”
Ditto, but I wear a nifty and rugged little Casio anyway, for the reasons that Mr. nick mentioned earlier. It has some cool additional functions on it.
“Like everyone Hillarity has trotted out, he’s a connected insider.”
I am shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you! Yeah, he’s yet another scumbag in tight with the Klinton crime family. As the late Murray Rothbard used to say; “The State is a band of thieves writ large.” Poor Murray had no idea just HOW large it would get. Our State makes the old Soviet nomenklatura look like total pikers. Larry and Cankles could give Edward Teach a run for his doubloons.
Because that’s how a Foucault pendulum precesses due to the planet’s rotation. At least in this hemisphere, which is where clocks were invented.
“…I might want to try contacting my family or group at 5 after the hour, and 35 after the hour so they would know when to power up the radio. Or I might need to meet some other partisans at a given time. Or I might need to time some chemical reactions while making something useful. Or someone (not me) might need to time astronomical observations for navigation or some other reason.”
And even more good reasons from Mr. nick; and ya can’t always be carrying around a clock or a phone.
“If the SHTF who cares? Is it day or night.”
If it’s night, I’m strapping on my FLIR and NV and IR doo-hickeys and gimcracks. Assuming I have any of that stuff, of course.
If it’s day, I’m going for street melon head shots.
I hate speel checkers. lol!
+100 to Dr Bob for Foucault pendulum, most obfusticated explanation tonight. Of course for this bunch that’s nothing. Isn’t the answer sundial movement?
” Isn’t the answer sundial movement?”
Yes. From medieval times. LONG before Leon Foucault.
And the other guy with the same surname was a total asshole and good riddance to bad rubbish, beloved of English and comp lit departments.
BLMs out protesting for reparations. I want reparations. There must be something in WHITEY! history where I can get some scratch. Calling hperliterate Mr. Dave Hardy. Surely we deserve sumpin’.
BLMs out protesting for reparations. I want reparations.
Obola gonna give us all $400 million in reparations. We all deserve it !
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874
BLMs out protesting for reparations. I want reparations.
Obola gonna give us all $400 million in reparations. We all deserve it !
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874
I forgot, bring your wheelbarrow to get your reparations !
“There must be something in WHITEY! history where I can get some scratch. Calling hperliterate Mr. Dave Hardy. Surely we deserve sumpin’.”
Depending on one’s ancestry, there is every likelihood that at SOME time back in the mists of time, there were slaves. Norse pirates, criminals and brigands routinely kidnapped other Europeans, especially English and Irish people, and sold them to musloid slave markets. Musloids also routinely kidnapped Afrikans on that continent with the connivance of Afrikans, and sold them to European slave traders. And amazingly, Afrikans HERE also owned slaves, some of them WHITE. Plus countless white folks came over from Ireland and the U.K. as INDENTURED SERVANTS, for YEARS, often little better than slavery, not to mention all those who were sent as convicted criminals to Caribbean plantations, and worked and starved to death.
Yup, we oughta get sumpin. Oh wait—check yer privilege.
Hey, any BLM or SJW types get up in my grille about reparations, and after I stop laughing, I tell them “I never owned slaves and you, fummamucker, never picked cotton.”
PLUS, some of my Quaker ancestors ran stations on the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. How you like THEM apples, BLM asswipes?
“I forgot, bring your wheelbarrow to get your reparations !”
May as well; it’s all just fiat currency trash anyway, like the Germans and Austrians had between the world wars. Wheelbarrows full to buy a loaf of bread. The rest of the “money” in our international banking cartel system is simply ones and zeros in a spreadsheet on a server somewhere in a data center.
I’m ++50, still wear a wristwatch, and still carry a pocket knife, just like I have since I was a little kid. I also wear a ring, but of the heirloom rather than wedding sort. Any time I work on any kind of machinery it goes in the pocket, a habit I picked up from my dad when he wore the ring. A man who worked for my dad & I used to talk about one of the E-3s who worked for him at Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam, who lost a finger thanks to a cheap ring and a violation of regulations. And back in my days at the * Institute of Technology, there was a Chemistry grad student known as “Three Fingered Gus” for the total number of digits on his hands. Yes, that’s plural – hands.
“Yes, that’s plural – hands.”
Yikes!
And of course I lobbed out the softball question, for which at least one answer is correct, that is the direction the shadow on the sundial moves…..
‘course those pendulums are neeto keen with all the near misses, then suddenly bang your domino is knocked down.
nick
From the “What A Bitch!” Department:
https://lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/can-trust-hillary/
She ain’t changed at all since her previous days in the WH or the governor’s mansion down in Little Rock, and according to one of our regulars here, she’s been like this since high skool. Yet tens of millions will vote for her anyway and the fix is mos def in.
More:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/08/stephen-lendman/hillary-charge/
Working on a SW radio so I had Alex Jones on. He had Matt Bracken (the author) as a guest. As more and more of Bracken’s book stuff comes true, he’s finally getting some wider acclaim. And yes, Alex is a conspiracy theory loving kook, but he has some great guests on, and he can be perfectly reasonable and like most of the folks on the new right, until he starts talking about lizard people controlling the world….
The radio isn’t getting the signal from the antenna into the radio. There’s only a couple of components between the antenna and the rest, so I should be able to find the problem. I quit for the night because I have to remove the face to get out the main board, and get to the traces on the bottom. Don’t want to start that tonight. Bands sounded open though, might be a good night to spin the dial for a while.
nick
Obola on TV trying to make the case tRump isn’t qualified, again. This from a guy who came from nowhere and got everything because he’s Black. Apparently when you are a community organizer, you are automatically a foreign policy expert, financial expert and all around expert on everything. What a complete llying loser.
Rachel Madcow on TV sqawking and mocking tRump because a Vet gave him his Purple Heart. Referencing Tammy Duckworth who “got her Blackhawk shot out from underneath her” tweeting picture of herself after her legs were amputated. Dramatic much. Just because tRump said he didn’t think it was that easy to get it. Why didn’t Madcow use her hero Lurch’s “I got scratched” PHs. Sorry Duckworth lost her legs, but no props for using it for political gain.
Now some fuktard Vet (founded some Vet group) whining no Vets will vote for tRump because of his comments on the Gold Star mom. Using Cindy Sheehan. Invoking Bush as treating Sheehan right. I guess I’ll be voting for Cankles. Uh, no. Sorry the Gold Star mom lost her son, no props for letting yourself be used as Cankles tool.
The MSM and libturds are just insane. How can people fall for this shit.
Now she’s praising the Dumbocrat sit in on gun control. A usless act, but since led by a Black man…GOD’s WORK!!!!!!!!! I deserve reparations just for watching this. No wonder Fox wipes out the libturd networks night after night. Now she’s hawking some “graphic novel” about civil rights and John Lewis. Appropriate level reading for illiterate Boobus Americanus. The words are probably in Ebonics.
Thirty years ago I worked for a company that did industrial controls. One of our contracts was for the controls on the paper converting lines at Proctor & Gamble’s plant in Bellville (cardboard and plastic went in at one end, disposable diapers came out the other). You did not step on to the plant floor without safety shoes (boots) and hearing protection. You also removed all rings, bracelets, watches, ties, necklaces. No exceptions, ever!
This was the policy at almost all the plants I worked in where there was moving machinery. Enforcement was variable with P&G one of the strictest. I struck me as the height of stupidity not to follow it even when not mandatory. Still have all my fingers and toes but not much of my hearing left. The latter is mostly age.
Somebody please, please drop a MOAB on Mordor.
Madcow now has Lewis on raving about the comic book. Written and illustrated by two WHITEYS! And being used as a textbook in HS and college. How appropriate. There’s your reparations BLMs.
Tired from typing on iPad. And watching ugly super dyke Madcow smirk and cackle.
“As more and more of Bracken’s book stuff comes true, he’s finally getting some wider acclaim.”
Yeah, Matt has been nailing it repeatedly; only a handful in the West really GET IT at least as good as he has.
“…until he starts talking about lizard people controlling the world….”
Seriously? Or R U just funnin?
“Obola on TV trying to make the case tRump isn’t qualified, again.”
I posted a nice little summary of all of Obola’s “accomplishments” on here yesterday; what a piece of chit he is.
“Why didn’t Madcow use her hero Lurch’s “I got scratched” PHs.”
One wonders where they are; he’d actually thrown another vet’s medals over that fence long ago; that’s just how peeps like him roll.
“Now some fuktard Vet (founded some Vet group) whining no Vets will vote for tRump because of his comments on the Gold Star mom.”
Didja happen to catch the name of the group? Some vets groups are bogus fronts for the Party. I’ll bring up this chit at our next group meeting on Thursday, see how fast tempers flare, lol.
“no props for letting yourself be used as Cankles tool.”
+1,000
“Now she’s praising the Dumbocrat sit in on gun control.”
That takes ballz; the fuckers were dialing for dollars during that caper; soliciting campaign contributions, and again, that’s just how these people roll. Scum.
“I deserve reparations just for watching this.”
And I deserve reparations just for reading your running commentary on it; see, this is why I don’t watch this chit; it would drive me even more fucking bonkers than I already am!
“The MSM and libturds are just insane. How can people fall for this shit.”
My late Aunt Elinor told me when I was just a young lad: “David, 98% of the American people are stupid.” I probably just laughed and blew it off; she was kinda eccentric but wicked smaht. But now she must be spinning in her grave; not only are they fucking stupid but they’re as insane as the creatures they admire and vote for.
This is gonna be quite a ride over the next few months; hold onto yer hats, ladies and germs!
“Tired from typing on iPad. And watching ugly super dyke Madcow smirk and cackle.”
Why do ya do this to yerself, kemosabe? You some kinda weird masochist? Damn, son, turn that chit off.
“Somebody please, please drop a MOAB on Mordor.”
+1,000,000
I have a vision; it’ll be like that old Michael Crichton novel, “Congo,” where descendants of the present inhabitants roam through a great dismal swamp, which it once was anyway, amid ruins of busted up buildings and monuments and statues. Or we can do a version of that “Fail Safe” flick; we “accidentally” nuke Mecca, Medina and Riyadh, and to show it was a mistake, we let them nuke Mordor, SF and Hollyweird. Isn’t that what they call a “win-win?”
Lol! Blow ’em all up.
The Z-lister after Madcow trying to make the case tRump is mentally ill because, get this, *he’s* a pathalogical liar. Backed up by some pysch flakes. WHAT ABOUT FUCKING CANKLES! The only reason I can think of why the libturds are so scared is they know tRump could win.
At least sniffing O’Reilly puts on some people from each side. The libturd networks are all libturd pundits all the time. That’s why they have no ratings. Only the crazy libturd base watch.
I was going to go to bed, but they are going to have Penn Jillette on. He’s a straight shooter. I’ll post tomorrow if he’s breathed in the fumes.
I wonder if Trump is reading this blog:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-trump-a-new-rigged-system-the-election-itself/2016/08/02/d9fb33b0-58c4-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html
“”Donald Trump, trailing narrowly in presidential polls, has issued a warning to worried Republican voters: The election will be “rigged” against him — and he could lose as a result.”
“Trump pointed to several court cases nationwide in which restrictive laws requiring voters to show identification have been thrown out. He said those decisions open the door to fraud in November.”
““If the election is rigged, I would not be surprised,” he told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “The voter ID situation has turned out to be a very unfair development. We may have people vote 10 times.””
Oh yeah, the DLL hell that we have been fighting has awesome names for the system DLLs. One of them is called, “api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll”. We are trying to stay with MS VC++ 2015 because I will have to rewrite my threading code. I used the new simplified threading model in C++ 2011 which was incorporated in MS C++ 2015. Threading is where you split computing tasks over two or more cpus.
OK, the Pokemon Go thing is getting serious here in the Land of Sugar. The wife’s 300 lb 5 ft 2 in sister and and 400 lb 6 ft nephew are spending the week with us. Down from the Land of The Colony, Texas. Our other nephew is 6’1″ like me and only 225 or so. Plus they have their former Italian exchange student who is spending the summer with them. I doubt she is 100 lbs or 5 ft.
Anyway, the wife took them all over to the big park in Sugar Land, Lost Creek Park, to chase Pokemons. The wife had to park over a half mile away because there are so many Pokemon chasers in the park. In the summer. In the afternoon.
These people are nuts. but the Pokemon stuff is getting them out of the houses. And air conditioning.
I am back to carrying a Swiss Army Tinker knife. Just too convenient and if you break it, cheap to replace.
https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Tinker-Pocket-Knife/dp/B00004YVB4/
I was going to say you should get with the 21st century and outsource some of your development to Indiana. But I don’t have a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering, and I haven’t written Fortran code since I discovered Pascal…
Re: Foucault, I hate to be obvious.
Re: reparations, blacks kept white slaves in the Carribean and elsewhere.
Regarding lizard people, yeah I think I’m serious, but I don’t know if he is. He lets all kinds of people talk and his encouragement might be from belief or carefully phrased to keep them moving without committing himself.
Most of the time I can agree with about 95% of anything he’s saying. But then I don’t listen all that often. I might have gotten lucky.
Part of me want’s to believe he’s just in it to sell nutritional supplements and prepper supplies. He’s certainly convincingly passionate…
nick
Give him a try yourself,
if not on radio then at Infowars.com
nick
Oh yeah, the DLL hell that we have been fighting has awesome names for the system DLLs.
Unless things have changed since I worked on Windows code for Death Star Telephone, the real fun begins when you realize that a given point release of MSVCRT will have multiple versions which are slightly incompatible with regard to memory management. Integration of third-party DLLs is nearly impossible to get completely right unless you can compile the vendor’s code with *EXACTLY* the same Visual Studio installation as the one you use for GM releases.
I want reparations.
My Grandfather got denied a job at GE in Lynn because he was Polish. Where is my money?
Rings and Fingers: Running to a casualty on the Submarine I had my ring catch. Sprained finger. I never wore the ring in an industrial environment again. We had to take off all metal when working on live circuits anyway.
I never wore any jewelry beyond dog tags until well after I got an office job. Now I take my wedding band off to work on the truck or the house.
I worked with a guy who wore his wedding ring on a chain. His ring finger showed a scar where they sewed his finger back on after he lost it jumping off a wrecker. Made me glad I was single at the time.
@Clayton W. — may I ask what boat(s) you were on?
I was an EM1SS on the USS Los Angeles SSN 688 (Plank Owner)(1964-1968) and the USS Finback SSN 670 (1968-1969).
When I was in EM A-School (Great Lakes, IL) one of the first things we were supposed to be taught was absolutely no rings or anything dangling from our neck. However, on day one a “student” managed to weld his ring to a connection block in a controller while checking for no voltage (mistake one is not realizing what that big lever on the side of the cabinet was for). He spent the next 6-weeks without the use of his left hand while his major burn healed. BTW, he didn’t graduate and got sent to Cook’s School.
Edit: BTW, I am owed reparations for more than $10,000.00 in Navy Nuke Bonuses that Jimmy (the peanut) Carter took away from us Navy Nukes. These were bonuses “promised” us at the time of enlistment, due us at scheduled times in our enlistment based on attaining certain ranks and reviews above 3.5. Of course there was the fine print that allowed Peanut Man to do what he did.
Victorinox SAK’s are cheap because they’re now made in China.
I was in just shy of 10 years. ET1/SS, Nav ET. Qualified on the USS Michigan Blue (Biggest boat in the free world!) out of Bangor Wa. Brought Trident Refit Facility, King’s Bay Ga. online. Last duty station was Operational Test Support Unit 2 at Cape Canaveral Fla. Got out in 92.
Did one launch on the Michigan and watch one on the USNS Range Sentinal. Very cool.
Victorinox SAK’s are cheap because they’re now made in China.
Is anything not made in China now ?
See previous comment about nobody in the USA working.
Yep. That’s one of the reasons I stopped, cold turkey, doing MS-targeted development. I won’t buy their tools. I won’t buy their OS. I won’t even buy their piece of crap office suite. If a client is willing to pay for every hour of my time as I fight with DLL versions and other problems, I might be willing to deal with it, but I’ve never found a client who wants a Windows executable who will accept a time and materials contract. Funny how that works.
re reparations, the US government owes me because they mangled my grandfather’s name at Ellis Island. I’m still dealing with the legacy of that trauma.