10:09 – Things are pretty quiet around here. Barbara is finishing up her Christmas decorations today, and we’ll probably bake cookies. I’d also like to try making up some peanut butter fudge.
It’s a good day to stay inside. It’s gone from cool, breezy, and dry to warm, breezy, and wet. We had more than an inch (2.5 cm) of rain overnight, with another couple of inches expected today and tomorrow. It’s just lucky that our temperatures have gone up 20F or so, or this might have been a real mess.
Barbara said yesterday that we’d had only 0.03 inches of rain from early October until now. That affects my water planning. Until now, I’d though that our rainfall was very evenly distributed throughout the year, with roughly one inch per week, usually in two or three weekly rains. Going almost two months with almost no rain means we can’t depend on rainwater capture, at least unless we have a lot more storage.
We’ve been doing a fair amount of baking-powder baking, and our only can of baking powder is almost empty. Barbara is going to pick up another can from the store today, and I just put in a Walmart order that included four cans of baking powder as well as half a dozen cans of Augason potato shreds and three pounds of Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder.
We still have a 250 pounds of macaroni to repackage for LTS. It’s the Walmart house-brand macaroni, and it’s smaller than some brands. I discovered experimentally yesterday that it can in fact be funneled into 2-liter bottles. It’s basically free-flowing, which surprised me given its shape. I figured it’d logjam almost instantly in the stem of the funnel, but it didn’t. The trick is to use the cut-off top of another 2-liter bottle to make the widest possible funnel. It’s helpful to have a second person to hold the funnel and keep it aligned with the 2-liter bottle mouth, but I was actually able to do it by myself. When a jam did occur, gentle jiggling freed it easily.
Incidentally, if you order Walmart macaroni (or anything else from Walmart or Amazon particularly) be very careful about pricing. I ordered the 250 pounds of macaroni on two separate orders. The first, for 100 pounds (20 five-pound bags) was $4.48/bag. The second order, for 30 five-pound bags, was $3.17/bag. The last I checked, it was back up to $4.48/bag.
“It’s just lucky that our temperatures have gone up 20F or so, or this might have been a real mess.”
Send a thank-you note and a generous contribution to Algore.
“Going almost two months with almost no rain means we can’t depend on rainwater capture, at least unless we have a lot more storage.”
Ditto up here. But we can always hump buckets of wotta from the lake and boil it. Not a great physical activity for two people in their sixties and one of them with a troublesome back and sciatica.
Overcast and foggy with some rain drizzle. Gotta go order heating oil and do a dump run.
I’ll have to check Google Maps, but I think our nearest surface water is about half a mile away. That was one of the downchecks on my evaluation of this property, but it was outweighed by the upchecks.
I’ve seriously considered getting quotes on having a concrete sistern installed on the highest part of our property and running I/O pipes to keep it filled from our well and to provide gravity feed down to the house. There wouldn’t be much pressure, but enough to let it flow freely.
@OFD, re: humping
As we get older keep in mind alternatives to carrying. Much lighter to carry a couple hundred feet of hose, and a cordless drill with a pump attached.
https://www.amazon.com/Jabsco-17215-0000-Drill-Pump-Kit/dp/B000O8B10Q
Much easier to use a good hand truck to move buckets than carry them. Don’t forget lids so the stuff stays in the bucket. If you do have to carry heavy buckets short distances, use 2 hands and carry it between your legs. OR get a stick and carry 2 half full buckets like a milkmaid. Carrying a heavy bucket on one side is an excellent way to mess up your body. A simple rope or strap can be draped across your shoulders and tied to a bucket on each side of you. It can hurt like hell if the rope is too small.
A garden wagon is also a good choice for moving stuff, and the traditional wheelbarrow works too.
Another blogger has set up a rigid framed backpack with a shelf for carrying fuel cans and water buckets. Old rigid frame packs are super cheap.
Gravity is NOT your friend, simple machines are.
@RBT, have you looked at anything to join your 2 liter bottles for filling?
https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Bottle-Connector-Tornado-Colors/dp/B0090LYSLC
Has a restrictive hole in the middle but a few minutes with a file fixes that. OR find a plastic pipe fitting that is a friction fit over the threads….
n
@RBT, I use white 55gal drums as my “rain water collection system” and “cistern”. They are lots cheaper than concrete….
n
Or in deference to Barbara’s sensibilities, an actual decorative rain barrel from the garden center is only about $80…
https://www.amazon.com/RTS-Accents-50-Gallon-Collection-Recycled/dp/B00YFT9846/ref=lp_698954011_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1480433866&sr=1-3
n
Or more decorative
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RESCUE-85-Gal-Terra-Cotta-WaterUrn-Decorative-Urn-Rain-Barrel-Kit-with-Integrated-Planter-2264-1/202020567
WRT to carrying heavy loads: use a bicycle like the Viet Cong did (@OFD probably has a better term and a story or two).
References:
http://www.transportation.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/vc-bike.htm
http://www.historynet.com/pedal-power-bicycles-in-wartime-vietnam.htm
Yeah, we’d do the hand truck or wagon, plus the hose and pump. Not gonna be hauling it manually in buckets at our age. Nice way to really screw ourselves physically and become “useless mouths.”
How ’bout this guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGyHu4iX5-Y&w=800&h=450
“…there was no warning….nothing on the news….”
All structures fully involved. Tremendous heat and blinding smoke.
“Does this muthafucka wanna DIE HERE?”
Lesson: don’t count on the “authorities” or the nooz to tell you of chit like this in your AO.
And what if the power lines and trees were down on BOTH sides while he was gallivanting through a major forest fire?
Re: vortex bottle connectors
That’s an incredible ripoff at about $7 each for what amounts to a plastic bottle cap. If you really need something to link the bottles, its fast and free to superglue two 2-liter caps together and drill out the middles. Or simply use a strip of double-sided velcro or even a strip of duct tape. Or just hold them with your hand, which works well.
As to rain barrels or 55-gallon drums, they’re much too small and much too expensive for what I want. I’d like to store 100 gallons/day for three months’ worth, or 9,000+ gallons. That’s a metric shitload of barrels or drums, but only a 1,200 ft^3 cistern. Call it 11 feet on a side, or more practically a 20-foot square pad with 3-foot high walls and a 20-foot square top pad. It actually wouldn’t even need to be buried.
If you are up into that size, there are a ton of poly tanks that are made for it. Some plantings around the outside, and you are your own uncle….
n
Or, up in the TX Hill country they prefer steel
http://www.tank-depot.com/p-3631/flat-top-steel-watertanks
“…use a bicycle like the Viet Cong did (@OFD probably has a better term and a story or two).”
Peeps in “developing” countries carry tons of chit via the yoke over the shoulders or in rickshaw-type conveyances and bicycles. During the Indochina Wars many, many tons of supplies, ammo, and weapons were carried down the Ho Chi Minh Trail via bicycle by NVA and VC cadres despite repeated heavy bombing and strafing attacks by the USAF, which would temporarily interrupt that chit but never stop it completely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_trail#/media/File:Ho_chi_minh_trail.jpg
Either plastic or steel tanks are much more expensive than poured concrete, and don’t last nearly as long. The last time I looked, either a plastic or steel tank in the 9,000 gallon range would cost about a buck a gallon, not including delivery or installation. A 6″ thick poured concrete cistern might run half of that.
Or idiots that use them for targets.
Well, I hadn’t looked at concrete tanks before, but some quick googling —
It looks like unless you are willing to DIY, or you buy precast, the costs are still considerable. There is mention of a “liner” needed for potable water, and that it needs replacing regularly…. and apparently leakage is a bitch.
WRT idiots, if I was doing above ground, I’d build a shed around it and then plant something around the shed.
Not an issue for me at this location, but I’d definitely want mega storage if I was a bit further out. Most of the houses that have the room put in some sort of pond. That gives you firefighting water, stored water, and fish… as well as some recreation. Two of my clients are set up this way.
I’ve got a horizontal poly tank with 125 gal, 80 gal in stainless steel, 110 gal of rainwater in poly barrels, several aquatainers, a bob for the tub, and an inflatable kiddie pool if it comes to that… Quite a bit for my suburban home, but never quite enough.
nick
WRT concrete water tanks:
Precast concrete septic tanks are often used for cisterns/water storage. If the size is less than you want, use several which may be a good idea anyway since everything leaks sooner or later.
An example, not the best, but an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjQfpRBaGGI
I’ve also thought about a pond. Even a small one makes a large cistern look tiny.
We just gon hab to manage with our 130-mile lake, I guess. But seriously, I’m slowly stocking three-gallons-to-a-box of wotta in the cellar anyway, and lobbying for a dual-fuel generator; told Mrs. OFD that we could get a pretty decent one for what we paid for our woodstove, and look how swell that has turned out to be, etc. So, after the rest of the windows and the rear storm door, I should be in good shape to get us one in the spring.
Meanwhile I just heard from my Fed job recruiter guy who’s been in NC all week and now back in Mordor, where it is as cool and rainy as up here today; they’re still farting around at the Fed level with my background check and may have “followup questions” for me but I should hear something this week, supposedly. If so, I’d have to ramp up super-fast on Cisco routing and switching, and probably A+–level and M$ server wouldn’t hurt, either. Plus several weeks there of “on-boarding,” whatever that means. It would make Mrs. OFD super happy that I’m outta the house and working my ass off again and bringing in regular revenue, etc., but I’m not real enthused about it, unless it turns out to be a good team of peeps to work with and I like getting up in the AM to drive down there. We shall see.
I’ve also thought about a pond. Even a small one makes a large cistern look tiny.
My swimming pool / spa is 40,000 gallons of water. But it will go bad in a hurry without circulation (1.5 hp pump running 10 hours per day with automatic chlorinator to 3.5 ppm). Sounds like you do not care about potability.
Plus several weeks there of “on-boarding,” whatever that means.
Are you sure that he did not say “water-boarding” ?
It would make Mrs. OFD super happy that I’m outta the house and working my ass off again and bringing in regular revenue
More money for Princess ! Lord forbid that you pay down your debts.
Potable after filtering is fine.
Dave: RE: Dual Fuel Generator – I found Refurbished Champion 9000/7000 dual fuel generators on eBay for $499. Mine works great on both gas & propane. They also have a Natural Gas conversion kit. This is the best price I found for high output dual fuel. The 7kw output will run everything I need aside from Central AC and clothes dryer. I am very happy with this.
For you cordcutters, AT&T’s DirecTV Now launches November 30th with over 100 channels of streaming TV
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/28/13766274/att-directv-now-streaming-tv-service-announced-release-date
and
http://gizmodo.com/is-directv-now-really-worth-it-1789463120
No DVR yet. Not sure about local channels.
I am paying almost $150 per month now for DirecTV satellite with three TVs, two DVRs, and a mini-genie (DVR client). No HBO or other pay channels.
If anyone thinks AT&T is going to offer any type of real deal please contact me immediately for today’s bridge sale.
Am I missing something? That isn’t cord cutting.
It’s AT&T’s Netflix/Prime streaming ‘we have it too’ bullshit.
Holy crap! Don’t they understand they need to price it at $10/month?
Am I missing something? That isn’t cord cutting.
No cable box, no satellite box. The live tv shows are coming straight over the internet to your Roku / TV app. However, no DVR capability (yet) so you must watch the shows when they are showing.
Netflix / Hulu / Prime are all buffered and served at your desire, mostly at a flat rate per month. But their TV shows are not all of the tv channels and are not what is showing today. Netflix and Prime are a year behind ??? and Hulu is a couple of weeks behind ???. I could be totally wrong, this stuff is in total flux.
Right now I’m at almost exactly $200 for cable w/HBO and internet (my own cable modem). We get about 70 channels and 10 digital with no encryption. Any TV with a cable gets them. Old analog TVs too but no digital on those. Seven TVs in the house and only one digital box in the living room, no DVR.
Used to be Brighthouse but will now be Spectrum with the Charter take over of TWC/BH. Expect all analog to go away and a box needed for every TV. Some may become Roku/Firestick only. Understand they may require their own Internet adapter in which case there may be some issues there. Internet is actually Earthlink delivered by the cable company. TWC made that deal when they bought AOL.
“I found Refurbished Champion 9000/7000 dual fuel generators on eBay for $499. Mine works great on both gas & propane. They also have a Natural Gas conversion kit. This is the best price I found for high output dual fuel. The 7kw output will run everything I need aside from Central AC and clothes dryer. I am very happy with this.”
@Mr. Harold; thanks! I’ll look further into deals like that. We may be able to find and hook up a 10k dual-fuel generator when the time comes and we have the $. We don’t have A-C here and don’t need it. And we can always hang laundry out the back porch on a line.
Holy crap! Don’t they understand they need to price it at $10/month?
ESPN is very expensive, around $6/month from what I hear. And I like having our local channels come through the satellite so I can record our shows using our DVRs. One of our DVRs has five tuners and the other one has two tuners. I have seen all five tuners recording on the Genie DVR since we are apparently TV addicts. Costs me about $150/month using DirecTV.
There are approximately 25 million DirecTV customers. Not sure about the other satellite service but they are huge customer markets.
http://www.fiercecable.com/cable/at-t-adds-342k-directv-subscribers-q2-loses-391k-u-verse-tv-subscribers
Actually, I think ESPN is more like $9/month, charged to all subscribers whether they want it or not.
Holy crap! Don’t they understand they need to price it at $10/month?
I eventually see a A La Carte system for live TV. But I bet that each channel might be $10 / month.
Actually, I think ESPN is more like $9/month, charged to all subscribers whether they want it or not.
I would not doubt that. But this article quotes $6.61/month back in Jan 2016.
http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/only-6-of-consumers-would-pay-20-a-month-for-espn-011416
And I just noted the new AT&T Direct Now service does not include NFL games on mobile devices. So this is definitely just a cord cutter service if they are restricting content on mobile devices.
Holy crap! Don’t they understand they need to price it at $10/month?
Can’t work at that price, there won’t be enough money to pay for content. In addition, cab;e/satellite penetration in the US is over 80%, so price isn’t a problem.
Netflix and Amazon set the standard, and provide lots of content for under $10/month.
Can’t work at that price, there won’t be enough money to pay for content. In addition, cab;e/satellite penetration in the US is over 80%, so price isn’t a problem.
I am not sure about that, “ESPN Loses Another 555,000 Subscribers Per Nielsen”
http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-loses-another-555-000-subscribers-per-nielsen-112916
“According to Nielsen ESPN now has 88.4 million cable and satellite subscribers, a precipitous decline from well over 100 million subscribers just a few years ago”
“Presently ESPN is on the hook for the following yearly sports rights payments: $1.9 billion a year to the NFL for Monday Night Football, $1.47 billion to the NBA, a deal I told you flat out wasn’t sustainable back in July because it meant every single cable and satellite subscriber in the country was paying an average of $30 a year for the NBA whether they watched or not, $700 million to Major League Baseball, $608 million for the College Football Playoff, $225 million to the ACC, $190 million to the Big Ten, $120 million to the Big 12, $125 million a year to the PAC 12, and hundreds of millions more to the SEC.”
Wow, those are big numbers. And ESPN’s number of subscribers are dropping precipitously while their payments are rising.
Live TV is all about football, General Hospital, and a few nightly shows such as The Walking Dead. Drop the football and I can find a replacement for the others.
So drop the football. It’s costing you a shitload of money.
The fems here demand their TeeeeeVeeeee. I torrent all the shows I like and Netflix fills the rest. I would love to shit can the full cable load. At least we don’t have any premiums channels.
Libturdians are hilarious. Remember Keith Olberman. He’s accusing tRump of being a “Dictator”. The tRump hasn’t even been sworn in. How many EOs has Ofuksik issued? That’s OK because Odooshnozzle is a Prog and Black and shit.
And, unions are planning a “day of disruption” around the US. The rest of us should plan a day of “shoot a union thug in the head” around the US.
The content providers keep pretending they hold the keys and can charge ridiculous fees just to carry. When the LA Dodgers created their own channel the gave the rights to TWC and suddenly every subscriber got a $10 a month increase asked for or not. Problem was many homes in LA had other providers and they refused to pay the asking price so large portions were blacked out of Dodger games. Eventually the whole pyramid will collapse. You can squeeze only so much blood before the turnip has no more.
So drop the football. It’s costing you a shitload of money.
I wish I could but Comcast does not give me the option. There are other channels I want such as Discovery and History. To get those I have to subscribe to a package that includes ESPN, which I do not want.
According to Nielsen ESPN now has 88.4 million cable and satellite subscribers
And how many of those are people such as myself? Which are not technically subscribers because we are forced to take ESPN to get other desirable channels. ESPN are leach channels whose model would not be sustainable without forced subscribers. Basically a parasite.
So drop the football. It’s costing you a s***load of money.
I want my football ! I only watch one game a week now that the Aggies are down for the count. And if the Texans don’t rise out of their slump, I may stop watching them.
And it looks like ESPN is going to implode. Disney does not like nonperforming divisions, they will preemptively shoot them.
I’d say “Fuck ESPN, fuck pro sports, and fuck the cable companies”, but it looks like they’re fucking themselves. I approve!
If all providers were forced to only offer ala carte some channels would quickly wither and die (MSNBC) while others would become very rich overnight.
Sounds like you’re paying $6-10/month, 12 months per year, for a game per week for, what, a month or so? Sounds like a bargain!
Kill your television.
Pick up a book. A real book, not some PA or sci-fi bullshit written by a poseur or hack or a committee or a complete imbecile or moron or cretin. Reading about what MAY happen or COULD happen is a waste of time; look to your own household and home and neighborhood and Do The Right Thing. Hell, for a bare minimum in the West, grab a Bible and a complete de Vere; like it or not this is a Christian nation as is most of the West, even if only subliminally nowadays. And the de Vere because that was and is the peak of our beautiful English language and literature. With those you can conquer the world.
Yes, I’m addicted to pro football and NFL games. I gave up the heroin, the ciggies, and the booze but I still cuss a lot and watch football, for part of the year. The tee-vee is mostly off otherwise.
I agree with all the bitching here about getting a crapload of channels we don’t want so we can still have the one or two we DO want. They have us over a barrel unless we cut the cords. And that would leave AMZ and Netflix, which, as RBT says, provide lots of content, much of it pretty good, for just ten bucks a month. Each. And I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I can get with our Roku 3. But we’re FAH from tee-vee addicts in general here; we mostly listen to the radios and read books. Old farts, what can I say. Last of our breed, too, most likely.
Overcast and drizzle and fog all day today, which is good. Was up on the I-89 this afternoon briefly, and as usual during inclement weather, the stretch up on the Georgia ridge (Georgia is the adjacent town to our south) had standing water on it and you can see cars hydroplaning when they get up to around 70. And cretins and morons were flying by me doing 80 and 90. Luckily the temp was in the low fotties but when it gets close to freezing, funny chit can happen up there and peeps go flying off into space and then down into the median or all the way across it, some steep dropoffs there, too. Like clockwork every winta, along with the morons and cretins and imbeciles who drive their pickup trucks and snowmobiles out onto the lake ice or ponds. A snow mobile weighs around 700 pounds and then there’s Fatty Arbuckle on it in his heavy-ass winta gear, all strapped in; guess where he ends up? Or the drunk-ass local dirtbags, swilling Bud and driving their shitty and rusting pickup trucks out onto Lake Champlain before the ice has gotten thick and solid enough.
Wife just called and reports the same rainy weather in northern Nova Caesarea, so it must be the whole East Coast.
Got the oil delivery arranged and made the dump run and basically did not much of anything else here today, other than more research and an online class. Maybe I’ll be more ambitious tomorrow….
Didn’t they just unbundle ESPN? I thought that was one of the reasons Disney stock was down?
Hulu, and the other sub services ARE trying to unbundle the channels, since no one carries all the content the cable company does. Add up Netflix, Hulu, and a couple other streamers, and you’re back to the cost for cable, without the nice delivery mechanism. In my mind there is NO F-IN’ REASON for TV to crush the bandwidth of the internet when we have a PERFECTLY GOOD system for distributing it outside of the internet.
So says the guy who’s been watching youtube vids every night instead of the TV.
(We’re down to O network shows, no sports, no nothing on TV. I watch a few gun/shooting shows, and some home improvement stuff. We might start watching a show or two with the new season, but we’ll probably binge watch to get caught up, or just wait until next year and watch whatever survived.)
n
Didn’t they just unbundle ESPN?
Not from Comcast. Only way to eliminate ESPN is to go basic cable. You get local channels, shopping channels and other crap no one watches. These crap channels actually pay Comcast to carry their content. The local channels I can get OTA.
But even with that in mind it is cheaper for me to get TV, Internet and Phone then to just get Internet and Phone. I also want the Discovery, History and the Science channel. To get those I am forced to get ESPN and thus pay for ESPN as part of my service cost. 200 channels and I watch maybe six.
For connecting two (2-liter or similar) plastic bottles, Hobby Lobby has the “Tornado Tube” for $2.99 and you can usually get it for 40% off with coupon.
I used a T-handle tapered reamer (an old bicycle technician tool, for enlarging holes in soft metals, plastic, and wood) to enlarge the hole in the Tornado Tube, and of course I added a large funnel cut from another plastic bottle…
Search Amazon for “hand reamer” (at your own risk).
If all providers were forced to only offer ala carte some channels would quickly wither and die (MSNBC) while others would become very rich overnight.
Thing is, not all the channels you like would survive. And not all the ones I like, or the people on the other side of town, etc. would survive.
Bundling makes sense for cable and some other products.
I see no difference in watching “cable” as opposed to Netflix etc (commercials yes, no if you DVR). You are still watching. If I could get rid of cable (The Fems!!!) I would. Netflix could torrent some stuff since they put out a whole season of their own content at once. Can’t wait for Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Stranger Things.
I’m torrenting my favorite shows as we speak (on automated Mac Mini setup with IP Vanish). Then I have “SciFi Friday” where I binge the weeks episodes. I occasionally turn on the nooz. MrsAtoz likes CNN so I’m stuck with that (wretch!).
You’re making things too complicated, MrAtoz. Simplify where you can. “If I could get rid of cable (The Fems!!!) I would.” becomes “After I get rid of the fems, I can get rid of cable.”, and then your first step is obvious.
I was gon ‘splain dat to him but my better self said dat’s a possible moral problem and who am I to tip somebody over the edge…and then Mr. SteveF came along and gave it a good kick…right on schedule…
Haw, haw, haw…
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2016/11/29/how-you-look-when-you-are-eating-crow/
Bishop Mittens as SecState….
Like I said before, why not just leave Liveshot Kerry in the gig, what’s the fuckin’ diff?
Patrick right on the money per usual:
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2016/11/29/quote-of-the-year-7/
Sureties in life: death, taxes, and Steve boldly going where
no man has gone beforeangels fear to tread.Another apparent surety in life is libturds never giving up and never shutting the fuck up. I’d take death twice over if we could lose all these wastrels and wreckers.
The latest from Uncle Remus:
http://www.woodpilereport.com/html/index-454.htm
And not to put a rude damper on anyone’s Trump cheerleading and joy juice:
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/james-wesley-rawles-double-up-on-your-prepping-they-cant-hold-back-collapse-much-longer_11232016#
In my mind there is NO F-IN’ REASON for TV to crush the bandwidth of the internet when we have a PERFECTLY GOOD system for distributing it outside of the internet.
A year or three ago, I read that the DirecTV total satellite bandwidth is 6.2 Gb/s. Compressed. Six ??? satellites over the equator ??? They’ve replaced one or two of the satellites since then but that goal was to convert from MPEG2 to MPEG4 (more HD channels).
Eat that, internet.
I have:
* Netflix
* Amazon Prime (for the shipping costs – it still pays for itself)
* Hulu (no commercial package)
* Sling
On top of Internet service. Still under $100/month. (Barely). Amazon Prime I would drop if not for the shipping. I get mobile music that way, too.
Sling I turn off after football season, so I’m only paying for 5 months out of the year.
Cable basically screwed itself when it went from $30/month to $80/month several years ago ($80/month with internet to $130/month with internet). I called & complained, but they couldn’t do anything. I get offers out the wazoo now, but they still can’t beat the choice I get with Netflix & the others. A La Carte, indeed.
How are you going to keep the water in the cistern from freezing? If it weren’t for the freezing problem, I’d suggest an open top cistern, aka a swimming pool.
If I didn’t have kids that will have to grow up in this world, I’d be thinking seriously about how I could just position myself to enjoy what’s left until it’s gone.
Having a daughter who will have to grow up in this mess makes me similarly concerned. Otherwise, I might retire and build my own sailboat.
“How are you going to keep the water in the cistern from freezing?”
Surround it with a couple feet of soil. For the cover, probably fiberglass bat insulation. And, just to be safe, probably have an immersion heater.
We don’t have kids, so my concern is with the species as a whole.
And not to put a rude damper on anyone’s Trump cheerleading and joy juice:
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/james-wesley-rawles-double-up-on-your-prepping-they-cant-hold-back-collapse-much-longer_11232016#
Sorry, but I disagree. The USA has the strongest currency in the world. Most world transactions still use the Dollar. This can will be kicked down the road for quite a while. Maybe a decade, maybe two.
My point of Dollar failure is still two times the GDP, $40 trillion. Unless, we have a world war. A civil war (or five) in the USA. A civil war in Mexico. A massive crop failure world wide (not much different from a world war). A …
And your point is….
….pretty much any “black swan” event can kick over that whole can of worms, i.e., our massive financial house of cards.
Earlier you had moved up your disaster timetable to five to ten, IIRC. I still think that’s an optimistic view but admit that maybe the Trump WH may give us one more little window and some breathing space. This will translate into diffidence and laying back for a lot of peeps, which is not a good idea, and the main point Rawles and others have made; no time to sit on our asses and light up a doobie.
Another thing that disturbs me is that he’s gotten on board a bunch more of the same tired old neocon faces we ought to get rid of completely, and a House that’s just authorized a no-fly zone in Syria, which is a de facto act of war and not likely to end well for anybody. While we still have other slightly less dangerous flash points in the South China Sea and Ukraine.
So yeah, a war of proxies escalating to another world war, with possible use of nukes by some party or other somewhere, and a still-divided populace and society in North Murka, which shows zero signs of kumba-ya and c’mon people, get together, let’s all love one another. Armed to the teeth.
Another disturbing trend is the increasing frequency of various parties breaking into gun stores and private residences and just grabbing up everything they can and doing God knows what with it all. They are not particularly bound by registration and buy-back schemes. That and the targeting of cops, plus the tremendous amount of gang activity and numbers of gang members that no one seems very worried about, or the lousy quality of so many of our cops and troops nowadays. With failed states to our south and increasing swarms of refugees and crimigrants.
….pretty much any “black swan” event can kick over that whole can of worms, i.e., our massive financial house of cards.
Unfortunately, yes. If all the other countries in the world demanded that their t-bills get paid off, that would be a problem. But suicidal for them as “when the USA gets a cold, the world gets pneumonia” kind of thing. And as you mentioned, look out for black swans.
I am continuously amazed at how many other countries run to the USA to stabilize their money supply. Or, to move their valuables to a safe place. I would not be surprised to see quite a few USA properties change hands in the next year to foreign nationals for stupid amounts of money. Oil fields, tall buildings, etc.
Earlier you had moved up your disaster timetable to five to ten, IIRC
That was BT (before Trump) ? I am back to my 10 to 20 years. If, big if, Trump can slow down the federal spending. Of course, his 18% import tariff XXXXXX VAT will put more money in the federal coffers. And I think that he can do that without the gang of fools known as Congrefs.
BTW, I still see Trump getting us out of NAFTA and NATO. I doubt the UN though. Very important as Putin is desperately trying to stabilize Russia (still waters run deep). Russia is very unstable with the price of oil at $45 to $50. And Putin is nervous about his neighbors being overrun by muslims.
Another disturbing trend is the increasing frequency of various parties breaking into gun stores and private residences and just grabbing up everything they can and doing God knows what with it all.
They are going to where the money is, right ?
We may get 5 years. If we’re really lucky we may get 10. But I’d be very surprised if we got 20.
I sincerely hope and pray that Mr. Lynn is right about T getting us outta NAFTA and NATO; if I was him, I’d also get us outta the UN, IMF and World Bank forthwith. But that would step on way too many corporate and bankster toes, so probably a dead letter currently. It may come about anyway regardless of whose toes get stepped on or whose coffers get depleted. De facto, with a big enough black swan. I also hope Mr. Lynn is right about that import tariff, but am afraid the Congress will stymie him every chance they get from here on out. And any bad chit that happens from now on will be blamed entirely on him by the MSM and their stooges.
“They are going to where the money is, right ?”
Yeah, somebody’s money but we don’t know who. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume it’s gangs. Which grow ever more sophisticated technologically and with weapons. A rash of these have occurred recently in Tampa, and some other isolated incidents around the country. Doesn’t take a whole lotta finesse to crash a big enough vehicle through the front door/windows of a gun store and grab as much shit as you can with four or five people doing it and then beating it outta there, matter of a few minutes, well before the cops get there, unless they’re right around the corner, which would have been scoped out beforehand anyway, or another fake incident deployed on the other side of the town or city to draw them away.
“We may get 5 years. If we’re really lucky we may get 10. But I’d be very surprised if we got 20.”
Agreed. I’m hoping for at least five and praying for ten. By which time you and I will be 73 and we’re too old for this chit right NOW! Maybe we can be respected elders or something, you with an encyclopedia of knowledge concerning chemicals and other stuff and me with….hmmmm….medieval poetry??? Oh well, I can cook, and know my way around a few firearms and can do basic first aid and CPR and I’m learning new chit all the time. Fast study. I’ve also gained experience LISTENING to other people and defusing domestics and other dicey interpersonal relationships; that could prove useful when tempers and patience fray.
Doesn’t take a whole lotta finesse to crash a big enough vehicle through the front door/windows of a gun store and grab as much shit as you can with four or five people doing it and then beating it outta there, matter of a few minutes, well before the cops get there, unless they’re right around the corner, which would have been scoped out beforehand anyway, or another fake incident deployed on the other side of the town or city to draw them away.
All of the stores (gun and grocery) around here are putting vertical pipes filled with concrete on five foot centers in the front of their storefronts. Or those large concrete planters that have a pipe in the middle of them. Too many snatch and grab operations. You notice that Walmarts all have huge foyers on the side of the stores so that you cannot drive through them. Them Waltons are smart …
Yeah, I’ve tried to imagine ending with a dozen or more people living in this house, which is about the minimum we’d need. Overcrowded house. Crisis situation. And I’m Aspergers, although fortunately I conceal it pretty well. Still, it’d be tough keeping the lid on.
Yeah, I’ve tried to imagine ending with a dozen or more people living in this house, which is about the minimum we’d need. Overcrowded house.
Tents in the summer. Igloos in the winter.
Just kidding about the igloos. A used mobile home or RV would be good. Might want to drive around for a while and see if there are any unused mobile homes or RVs now. Not sure how to tell if they are unused except for the obvious missing roof, etc.
“All of the stores (gun and grocery) around here are putting vertical pipes filled with concrete on five foot centers in the front of their storefronts. Or those large concrete planters that have a pipe in the middle of them.”
Outstanding. I’ll have to think of scaled-down versions of that for this property, front and rear. Of course if chit gets bad enuff and imminent in the AO, I’d work with neighbors and temporarily close off the three roads coming into the village here, for starters. And though a maritime assault by goblins would be unusual, it would also leave them sitting ducks out there. They’d have to come in via ATVs, or on foot and be sitting ducks again.
“Still, it’d be tough keeping the lid on.”
Oh my goodness gracious, the interpersonal/family dynamics would be a yuuuuuuuuge change all of a sudden, especially for a couple who’ve been alone together for so long, and that goes for us up here, too. We could comfortably accommodate another couple, maybe, with a kid or two, but beyond that would be a hothouse and in each others’ faces with one bathroom and a kind of narrow kitchen. As it is now, wife and I try to stay out of each other’s way in the latter. And then, as you say, there would be the ongoing crisis and tension and short fuses and fear. And that would extend to immediate neighbors, who we all hope, would be friendly and cooperative, but as many people have found, that can be very dicey. Desperate people do desperate things.
Jenny’s point, about warring parents not doing their kids any favors by staying together, does concern me. For now, our daughter wants us to stay together. I think it helps a lot that my wife and I hardly ever argue. She screams and demands and destroys things and otherwise shows all the signs of a temper tantrum, but I hardly ever (like maybe once a year) even raise my voice. Considering that my wife also screams at the kid and her own mother and our sons when they’re here, the kid is savvy enough to see the common factor and that it’s in her interest for me to stay around and help protect her from her mother’s temper.
Other families, with other personalities and circumstances, may come to different conclusions.
I tried that once. Didn’t like it.
You’d think I’d be terrible at that, and mostly you’d be right, but several times I’ve calmed down angry drunks and people who were stressed about to the point of homicide. In every case that I remember, there were military police or regular cops already on site and incompetently trying to get the guy to agree to be arrested, and I waltzed right on in and talked with the guy for a minute or two and got him calmed down and then bought him a sandwich and a cup of coffee or whatever. And in every case that I remember, the MPs or cops got really bent out of shape about it. The MPs always just wanted to bitch at me, but that was it. The cops… well, the worst was when one told me I was under arrest and I laughed at him and his buddy aimed a pistol at me. This resulted in all three cops being unconscious with broken arms and legs and faces, which was totally hypocritical of me because I’d just finished telling the angry drunk that there was no need for any fighting and we all could just go home and tomorrow’s another day, but in my defense I get really peeved when threatened.
We could comfortably accommodate another couple, maybe, with a kid or two, but beyond that would be a hothouse and in each others’ faces with one bathroom and a kind of narrow kitchen.
Dude, isn’t your house about 600 ft2 per floor ? Barely enough room to swing a cat. And yes, you’ve told me about a dozen times before. If it happened in the last five years, it did not happen according to my short term memory.
“Barely enough room to swing a cat.”
The cats here don’t like that sort of talk. I’d cut it out if I was you.
“And yes, you’ve told me about a dozen times before.”
Told you what? There’s so many different discussions here I forget half of them by the time I’ve read through a dozen more. Yo, this a happening scene, man.
Just watched “No Country for Old Men,” but the book was way better. Cryptic chatter that I couldn’t hear even with the volume cranked up, a blurred lens through half of it for some damn reason I can’t fathom, and a cryptic ending. But a couple of main characters had some funny MacGyver tricks they did with stuff and there was plenty of violence. So I give it, on Mr. Lynn’s star scale a two, maybe two and a half.
That’s one of the substitutes for situational awareness, from the Nov 30 post. Put a cat on a leash, swing it a few times, then take the cat for a walk. Nothing coming within the ambit of the leash will survive long enough to attack you, and just think of how much exercise you’ll get, walking in the full plate armor you’ll need to keep the cat from shredding you.
“…walking in the full plate armor you’ll need to keep the cat from shredding you.”
Yo, amigo, that’s no chit!
Me and my cats get along famously. They will shred anyone who fucks with their food distribution manager and doorman.
We used to use ’em for cat skeet. Clamp their tails in the thrower, then PULL.
And I’m Asperger’s, although fortunately I conceal it pretty well.
Seems quite a few here lean towards Aspergers (except Mr. SteveF, he leans towards ass-burgers).
Maybe rename the site to “Asperger’s Manor”?
Not me, I just have PTSD and wife-withdrawal symptom. (off to Hawaii soon without me; but dat’s OK, ’cause I already been to Hawaii, about eight times, saw the inside of the terminal building…with flowers and everything…sweet…and an MP on each exit door.)
I’ll keep working on the Asperger’s and ass-burgers, though.
I already been to Hawaii
I was stationed there for 20 months. First two months were great. After that I could not wait to leave. Place is crowded, expensive, full of tourists and an island. Once you have been around the island a few times you realize you cannot go anywhere without a plane ticket. Dock worker strikes cause shortages, traffic everywhere, rains every damn day in the interior, Samoans and Hawaiins are racist unless you are spending money.
And how does Hawaii qualify for an interstate highway when there are no adjoining states? Should it not be an intrastate?
We are living in The Arabian Nights… every day we get a little reprieve, and who knows, maybe the horse will learn to sing…..
n
(‘course, I’m filing on my chains every night, hoping to break away before the end.)
“I was stationed there for 20 months.”
I had enlisted, partly in the hope that I’d get stationed in Europe and avoid the mess in SEA but such was not to be; for the icing on the cake, I got out and back in MA and met two guys in quick succession who’d been DRAFTED into the Army and the Marines and done their tours in Germany, Hawaii and home in MA.
I have zero interest in going to Hawaii and maybe Mrs. OFD still has some kind of romantic idea of the place and beaches in December and suchlike. I actually have zero interest in ever leaving northern Vermont again, but I suppose I’d go with her to western Ireland or Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland and Iceland.