Less hot and humid, but hurricane coming? Who knows anymore.
Spent the weekend on a small lake about 2 1/2 hours north of Houston. Kind out in the country. Still within one tank of gas, so not ideal for avoiding mutant biker zombies, but judging by the number of Trump flags, the zombies might find it a tad inhospitable come the day.
And now we are really actually ramping up to find somewhere to GTFO to… ‘cuz my wife is a pretty smart cookie and while we sometimes take different routes, we usually end up in the same place. And that place says, having somewhere to go that isn’t in a potential riot zone is a Good Idea ™.
Lots of people out there preaching that it’s long past time to get out of the cities. The argument is getting more compelling by the day, and there are a lot of people out there, and a lot of them are paying attention. The little lake we were on had more than 5 houses for sale last month. This month, there is one left. It’s been on the market for over a year with no takers. As we left yesterday, there was another couple looking at it.
A short while ago I shared the thought that if the economy got worse, people would have to start selling off their toys. I’m seeing that in the auctions. LOTS of collections coming up for sale. I thought that people under money stress would sell vacation homes, and that there might be a decrease in prices, and THAT’S when I’d swoop in. What I didn’t consider is that there are a lot of people paying attention. It looks like they are quietly acting like preppers, even if that whole idea is foreign to them. Or maybe, because of hurricanes, BLM, and a whole lot of stuff coming to a head, it’s REALLY FREAKING OBVIOUS to anyone right of center on the bell curve– getting out of the cities is a REALLY GOOD IDEA all of a sudden.
The upshot is, I’m feeling like we already missed the boat. I feel like I’m looking at the last package of TP on the shelf and I REALLY don’t like that feeling. Inventory is shrinking before my eyes.
Sometimes this whole blogging and prepping thing can get to feeling pretty insular. You all feel like a small circle of friends, especially the group of frequent commentors. I get a little boost when someone who doesn’t comment frequently shares something and I remember that this thing is bigger than it feels, that there are a lot of you still coming by and hanging out. (Thanks by the way, I am humbled and grateful that people still keep coming by, I credit that to the larger community that exists here in the readership and comments.)
Anyway, the pace of whatever is coming seems to be picking up. There is a sense I’m getting that the herd is starting to stir and get restless. I keep asking people to rebut the idea that we’re headed for worse, but no one does. That adds to my sense of unease. No one on either side of the political spectrum is saying “you’re nuts, better times are right around the corner.” It seems to me that there is a large element of ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ to this sort of thing. Once the momentum builds to a certain point, people are just going to say “F it, let’s go” and then the dark age starts.
I don’t know what the timeline will be. I’m not thinking deeply enough about second and third order effects. I don’t want to see the country continue down the current path. And I don’t have enough of anything for what’s coming.
Start stacking. Keep stacking. Move your stack somewhere safer. Do more. It feels like time is getting short.
nick