Cool and damp to start the new year. It stayed pretty nice yesterday, and was 59F near midnight. Not super cold, and certainly not ‘warm’.
So. Happy New Year! I am sincerely grateful to everyone who comes by,whether you just read or comment and participate in the discussion; whether you come by every day or just once in a while. Thank you to Barbara for her continued support, and to Rick for his. It’s been an interesting and challenging year, personally, generally, and here at the Daynotes Journal.
I’m not much for navel gazing, but I do think it’s important to reflect on what you’ve done and what’s been done to you. It’s important to learn lessons from that, change what needs to be changed, do more of what needs doing, and to keep making progress toward your goals. I think it’s important to have goals, and this time of year is a traditional time to set goals, evaluate progress toward them, and to focus on changes.
This past year, I finally started making progress toward one of my major prepping goals- getting somewhere to GO when it’s time to go. Call it a BOL, a retreat, a ‘country place’, or a lakehouse… it’s somewhere to go when the time comes. It’s also a lot of work and a new dimension to my prepping journey. It has eaten a lot of my ‘excess’ energy and time, which has resulted in much shorter daily posts that previously. There should be some good blog fodder coming up though. I’ve got big ideas and goals.
To wit, I want to look hard at water treatment, starting with storing more at the BOL, and getting set up to treat more. I want some off grid back up energy generation. Start with a fueled generator, add solar and possibly wind, and include battery storage. I want to get some wood burning heating set up. I’ve got two wood burning stoves, I’d like to get at least one of them installed. THEN I’ll need lots more stored wood… I want to get my radio shack and antennas set up for backup comms. I want to make more progress learning about harvesting food from the environment, to include fish and other creatures from the lake, deer and pig hunting and processing, and getting a productive garden set up. I want to get a workshop set up and a full set of tools up there so I can be productive and make or repair what needs to be made or fixed.
On a more day to day level, I need to continue making progress on the repair and remodel of the BOL and all the grounds and outbuildings. I also need to get some of the neglected projects here at home finished. I need to focus on selling stuff and having my business make money this year to pay for all the other stuff that needs doing. I also need to be involved in my kids’ lives and education. That might mean a lot of volunteering at school, which takes more time. My other volunteering for the Constables and HPD needs to be increased too. I made those contacts and started building relationships, but let it go for too long. Time to re-engage in that community. Time to start meeting with my fellow hams again too.
Oh, and a little physical fitness, maybe some martial arts or other self defense classes, particularly with the kids, and more shooting are all “wants” for the new year. Yep. Lots to do. Much of it is just expansion of what I am doing or resumption of what I was doing, but some of it is new, and all of it will be taking place in the context of work and time spent at the BOL.
Nothing like setting some goals 
My outlook for the coming year is the same as it was. Dumpster fires to continue and worsen. I expect more economic woes, more political shenanigans as the existing order falls apart. I am more convinced than ever that we’re already sliding down the slope into what Bob called the long slow economic collapse. I’m also convinced we’re currently entering one of those times in world history where everything changes. The world will look very different in a few years. I can’t even begin to pick a likely scenario, but I’m going to do my best to get through it, and come out the other side. If bare survival is all I can manage, I’ll take that as a win, but I’m shooting for positioning myself and my family to thrive in whatever comes next.
Part of that positioning is having somewhere to go if we have to leave here. Part is increasing the stacks NOW while the stuff is available. IDK what the next ‘toilet paper’ or ‘N95 mask’ will be, but something that is common and cheap now will certainly be in short supply or even unobtainable later this year, and in the coming years. Part is getting out and networking, meeting and making myself useful to other people. Who you know is always important, but when things go really pear shaped, who you know and who knows you can make the difference between working or not, getting help or not, being safe or not… Part of it is building skills. A vague plan to ‘live off the land’ won’t help if you don’t know how to do it, and haven’t the stuff needed to make it possible. Fishing is turning out to be harder than gardening, and I’ve positively sucked at gardening…
Prepping is a journey. It’s also fractal in nature, so there is always more to do, learn, or stack. I’d love it if you all keep hanging around, sharing my journey and taking one of your own.
Here’s to a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year for us all!
nick