in retrospect

IN RETROSPECT

In retrospect, were there things I could have done differently on my preps ( a warm hug [ with suitable space between pelvises, to avoid any misunderstandings ] for the minion who suggested this topic ) over the years?  I’m not engaging in self-flagellation, bemoaning the broad strokes of any of my actions.  I’m quite proud of my sacrifices and achievements.  With what was left of my earnings by ex-wives I think I did better than most folks could have.  To most of you, just being without a motor vehicle would have been an unbearably fresh Hell every day. 

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And I don’t spent an inordinate amount of time dwelling on the past. I’ve always been future orientated ( while most wives have been living solidly in the present, my planning, hard work and sacrifice unappreciated and unwelcome ).  Since I mull over, obsess over, over analyze and over think everything ( except getting married, obviously-ha! ), I have practically zero regrets.  All decisions were made logically and methodically with all the facts I then had on hand.  So, all this is nothing more than taking my newest knowledge and comparing that to what I knew then and deciding if I should have acted otherwise. 

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For instance, should I have picked a different location to settle down at?  I’m not applying personal lifestyle choices here, by saying, oh gee, if I hadn’t moved here I never would have met the NOL.  I’m saying, as the collapse looms ever closer, and knowing what I know do about this location, was it the right choice?  I still had my family living where they did, the visitation of my kids a factor.  I still needed gainful employment to pay the ex to avoid jail.  I can’t say, “oh, I should have gone self-employment sooner”, because that doesn’t factor in here.  I was still paying child support as I was digging the B-POD.  I’m not twinkling my nose and doing any fact changing wishful thinking here.

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So, with all that said, let’s get to it.  Right up to 2006, all the choices I had made were basically in the ball park of being Best I Could Do.  There was the Car Fiasco, where I tried to buy a passenger car.  The plan was I lived on my desolate lot four miles from any other home, power line or paved road.  I biked those four miles, got in my car and drove the ten miles into town to work.  The trailer towing truck got too poor of mileage and the Hippie Bread Van was too old to be reliable ( with spare parts availability an issue ).  After about a thousand bucks in purchase, registration and repairs, I gave up on that plan.  Buying a closer lot was cheaper in the long run.

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I had already bought the Elko lot, at bubble high price ( if I recall, $3300 after up front cash discount-this was bought with casino gratuity money, just like my silver stash and other goodies ).  Did that mean I needed to move there?  I also had Arizona, Arkansas and Texas land ( all for under $500 each ).  I wasn’t tied to any location because of investment ( I can easily walk away from a ill considered investment, like the half paid for mobile home in Florida ).  Should I have kept looking for other land elsewhere?  Well, here’s the thing.  I couldn’t follow my kids as they started moving all over the place, quickly.  So I wanted to be close to my aging father.

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So I picked Elko.  A six hour drive away from my dad, plenty of jobs and plenty of close in land to buy on payments, with very reasonable zoning laws ( or, lack thereof ).  In retrospect, what could I have done differently?  Most other Nevada locations, far better locations with much smaller populations and more isolated, had worse zoning or no jobs.  What I should have done is spent another three grand and bought one of those secluded lots close enough to the river, and waited to move out there.  Yet, would that have been feasible?  I needed to have my B-POD ready yesterday, not five or ten years in the future.  Both because of an aging body and because I ALWAYS plan for the collapse to be tomorrow.

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So, no, I would say I couldn’t have picked a better place to hang my hat, all things considered.  Unless I had no child support to pay, I didn’t have the freedom to remain unemployed settling in a preferable clime.  Should I have saved a few grand and bought tax property instead of private sale?  Again, no.  The peace of mind of not having the land potentially revert back to the original owner was worth the price.  What about prep items?  Would I have done anything differently?  No.  There are plenty of other better weapons, but for the price I paid I got the Deal Of The Century.  I’ve never changed my mind on the Near All Wheat Stockpile, not in thirty years.  I never regret not buying far cheaper freeze dried foods while getting all that sweet tip money at the casino. 

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I know I tell you to buy food over precious metals, but I had plenty of food.  In wheat, granted, but to me that is not a handicap.  I did use that extra for lots of expanded scenario items I still own and which make for a better stockpile ( the Forever Gun, more Enfield’s for breakage or people joining the group, finally getting enough ammo for the 357 to take it from a Protection Today gun to a post-apoc one, etc. ).  Did I waste a lot of money?  A thousand here, three grand there, sure.  But none of it was critical to buy something else I don’t have.  It was the cost of education I don’t see how I could have avoided spending.

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As I’ve said, prepping isn’t an investment, it is a cost.  I don’t see every dollar as needing to be highly justified.  Some waste is built into the system.  I look at it like the rich dude having five mansions in different countries.  Four are a waste of money, but the fifth saves your life as a safe haven.  Same with prepping costs.  You might piss away a lot buying worthless crap like FLIR scopes, but if in the end you have done and completed your preps and you are all set for the collapse, it is all good.  And I minimized that waste anyway.

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Everything COULD be better.  I could have found a secluded cabin up in the Appalachians, or in the Louisiana swamp.  But few of us want the perfect retreat, with thirty years of food and ammo.  We want to enjoy a reasonably normal life, which doesn’t mean complete seclusion.  I chose to visit my father and children, swapping that for a less than perfect location to live.  Was that a wasted effort?  It seems so, as my dad slides into his not-very-aware twilight years and my kids barely bother with me now that I don’t have money.  I was grasping at something that slid through my fingers, living my life according to others high expectations.  I should have known better.  Yet, I have no regrets, since I tried. 

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You know, the more I think about it, Better Than Nothing is really not bad at all.  I had BTN family ( given the poison the ex poured into everyone‘s ears, even my dad, I have to give them credit for even associating at all with me ).  I have BTN preps and location.  I have a Far Better Than Ever relationship.  I have a job I love ( that doesn’t mean I don’t need to be paid ).  No regrets!  Full steam ahead!

END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2hSjDgB )

 

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