Tuesday, March 17, 2020

what you brought to the party


WHAT YOU BROUGHT TO THE PARTY
Post 2 of 2 today
First off, I want to state that many, many times I thought I was a sick and diseased individual. “I just ain't right” was my usual refrain as I bought yet another over the top survival purchase. I thought it was a sickness, the exact opposite of my previous sickness which was never owning anything except what I could fit in two duffle bags. That was TOO frugal and minimalist, as I kept buying books over again after I had donated them at moving time. Now, I was increasingly burdening myself with duplicates, of duplicates, of prepper gear.
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I mean, a ten pack of whistles. I was vaguely envisioning something along the lines of a sentry alert or communications. With no clear plan, I bought the whistles. Hell, why not? They were a few bucks including shipping. But then, as usual, I think I'll lose them, or they get stolen, or a house fire happens. Better get another ten pack! Magnifying glasses. I keep running across more of them every time I dig into an unmarked box or a WalMart plastic bag. When did I get that? I just couldn't get enough of everything. A dollar store was as dangerous to me as another discount shoe store was to a Barbie Princess.
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Understand, this was ongoing. I didn't own that much in 2006, living in a small RV and mostly buying silver while it was stupid cheap ( well, okay, and junk land ). I had a manageable amount of books. Just one closet full. Under 100. Now? 1,500 just from Amazon. And that is reference books. I have no idea how many bags of paperbacks I have. Or Kindle books. Those books were just from my Amazon ad commissions, leaving my other asset procurement program to my regular paycheck. Understand, I lived frugal to prep frugal.
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How many wool sweaters do I have from working almost nine years next to the thrift store? No idea, but three dozen might be close. Wool socks? Again, no idea. I've told you of my storage-pack any dry storage container or space full. No organization, just pack it in. If I couldn't find something, I just bought more of it at the dollar store, thrift store, on sale from Sportsman's ( when they used to be a real military surplus company prior to the current Yuppie Scum Tactical Tommy Outfitter ), even trash picking.
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How many #10 cans of freeze dried foods do I own, all trash picked ( some clearly from the 70's and 80's )? No idea. Some is the equivalent of canned Brussel sprouts or okra, something no one wants to eat. Half is just a fly by night company's version of soy flour. 100 cans? Perhaps. Who cares? Being almost all crap, I can't see most of it being anything other than barter. It is worth close to nothing now, being out of date or the cans being less than shiny and new. But that kind of condition or desirability pertains to almost everything I bought. Unwanted, surplus, close to zero cost. Even during the ammo drought I got 7.62x54r at a quarter each, in Spam cans ( components useful in 303 Brit rounds ), shipping included.
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My bicycle parts were dirt cheap, nobody much interested in buying beach cruiser parts ( busy loving on mountain bikes ). My Enfield parts and ammo going for a song, after the rifle prices moved into collectors range and accessories were marked down to discontinue ( you'll have the same experience with the AR, just from competition of a surplus of sellers ). The low price shopping was helped by my compulsiveness. I was ALWAYS pinching day-to-day expenses pennies to buy more prepping supplies.
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A dozen years of this behavior, fueled into a white hot passion by the never wavering belief of imminent collapse and die-off. Most of you are long time readers and know first hand my shrill paranoia. But really, almost the whole time after the first year going all in on prepping a step up from city RV living levels of storage, I kept stepping back and looking at it impartially as a compulsion I was powerless to stop. I KNEW it was excessive and yet I could not cease. It went way beyond hoarder sickness. I was stocking trash picked bundles of newspapers to use as toilet paper, used dish soap and laundry soap containers for eventual use with homemade liquid soap ( and back-ups to that when they cracked and broke ).
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I looked like a recycler, not a prepper. And yet. I'm now sitting at home, almost completely self quarantined, and I'm pretty happy with my supplies. I feel no compulsion to go shopping ( I only had one emergency run, with those disposable batteries. I think I could have done far worse ). The thought that nothing else will ever get shipped over from China doesn't actually much concern me. I feel at peace. Perhaps I wasn't so darn crazy after all. Being as paranoid as I was both prepared me physically, but also mentally. I'll admit, there was the more than usual stress induced stomach discomfort, at first, but I've mostly settled in for the apocalypse.
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I am not bragging. Far from it. I still think I am surrounded by too much crap. I had read up a bit on the author H.P. Lovecraft, who was about as dysfunctional as they come. He lived his whole adult life in poverty, a voluntary choice so you could write ( perhaps influenced by his issues holding menial jobs, granted ). He was rather proud of his frugality, many days living mostly on old coffee and donuts from a shop down the street. Which probably had a little something to do with his early death by stomach cancer. I worried. Am I acting like this crazed ass writer of yore?
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So, no, I'm definitely not bragging about any foresight. I thought I was acting slightly irrational. Perhaps more than slightly. I wrote about collapse. I lived like collapse was assured, tomorrow. I thought about collapse most waking hours. I sought out entertainment about collapse, to relax. I regret none of it, don't get me wrong. But it does seem a queer way to live. I don't even know how much I care about collapse, but rather writing about it. Was I just living like this for subject matter for research? Again, I never had any doubt about the collapse happening. I'm just not sure about my psychoses behind it.
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Yes, understood, way too much navel gazing. Welcome to my world, bitches. It has been a most interesting journey. I'm beginning to appreciate the genius of John Wilder, who wrote a great article on how mental illness is a survival mechanism ( John, buddy, a link please? Don't leave me hanging. If it was me, disorganized, I wouldn't know what I wrote last week, let along last year. You are not such a hot mess ). Do I fall into that category? The Darwin Awards ceremony is going to be VERY interesting.
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Now, did anyone ( Bueller, Bueller ) notice I barely even touch the subject matter here? Living with what you have on hand, as no resupply is coming. I'll continue this tomorrow. No, Francis, we won't be returning to Business As Usual.
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click HERE )
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34 comments:

  1. It's funny , in a weird way. That the whole world is slowly closing inward, collapsing in fear of the bug.
    Here I am , routine unchanged from normal ,isolated from others, cause that's the way I roll. So , unlike everyone else that is shitting their collective selves , not knowing how to pass the time isolated. They're bored.
    Me ? Still just doing what I'd normally do , with no end in sight for lack of something to do...
    Old lady is getting laid off , come Wednesday they closing the zoo down. Opened ended reopening date..
    Just as well , She and I spent seven years living together on a little sailboat. Now we can just hunker down in the hacienda and be just fine. Gates locked down and motion sensor alarms activated lol...

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    1. Yesterday, NOL was instructed Take Out only for the lunches. Thrift store has almost zero traffic. I expect her early retirement shortly.

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    2. Right guys. It is kinda like the more well versed preppers just fall back into their typical lifestyle pattern of compound self reliance and critical thinking capabilities. Business as usual, carry on. New normal is my old school ways, yo!

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  2. Yes. Jim your conditions described is not an affliction nor a negative connotation. I consider it as a base animal instinctive behavior caused or influenced by personal experiences and/or your visual and auditory absorbtion of data cues. (Just like squirrels packing away nuts and forgetting or never getting to all that they rathole, seasonal and automaticly done) Natural as anything.

    Get the last word in for spite anyway, open your window in the middle of the night and laugh out as loudly and insanely sounding as possible at the world outside, mindscrewing your sleepless neighbors.

    I have added the newly awarded "Hoarder" moniker/merit badge to my uniform, it's position in ranking aside that hard won "Deplorable" badge. Always Winning!

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    1. Hey, good idea. I needed another badge of honor to perk up my spirits. I've been forcing time into my schedule lately, to watch a comedy every day ( otherwise I'll be melting down from info overload ). Just watched Clerks 2 ( much better than the latest Jay & Silent Bob ). "We're going to take that back"-referring to Porch Monkey. We took back Deplorable. Next insult, please

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    2. Yeah man, Deplorable is our "N" word now. we use it profusely throughout animated conversations amongst ourselves, often spoken in codes and dialectic accents, and sling it at each other as a barbed comment. But no one outside our group is allowed to use it, ever, or say it, write it, under penalty of Empire law. Amen.

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    3. Can Hilary use it? She did birth it, didn't she? :)

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  3. Looooong time reader, first time commenting. It would be an interest post, to find out how many, if any, times you thought we were approaching imminent collapse, and if you see this time as majorly different.
    I know you're not a trained monkey who posts when asked, I'm just interested in your perspectives (obviously, or I'd be hanging out at Rawles.)

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    1. Article ideas are always much appreciated. Not sure if I could stretch that out into an article. Obviously, Y2k, and 2008, as I changed my lifestyle for them. But now, fully prepped, I'm feeling really stressed. So I think, if that is an indicator ( I was no where near prepped back then ), my lizard brain must be on a much higher alert. Actually, perhaps that IS a full article. But that would be the gist of it. Pondering-thank you for that

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  4. A couple-three points:

    a)
    Last evening, we watched a seven-year old YouTube video explaining epidemic(s).
    Greger MD -- PANDEMIC EXPLAINED.
    World War The First saw eight horses or forty troops to a boxcar.
    Crowds -- cities, factory farms, dorms -- are ideal for disease growing.

    b)
    My follow-up to my comment of three days ago about acquiring all the .22 ammo at a Wal*Mart in Eugene Oregon.
    I mentioned the customer ahead of me was Number 200 for firearms purchases for that day in that Wal*Mart region.
    I didn't mention the millennial couple behind me waited for my clerk to unlock the knife case.
    They needed a pair of knives "...for camping...", then experimented with air-thrusting "...in case we need self-defense while camping...".

    I imagine a lot of brand-spanking-new gear will be available for foraging.

    c)
    Somebody says selenium prevents viral infection.
    I'll search for the article.

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    1. Sweet Jesus-you wait for the apocalypse and then buy a knife?

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    2. Even worse, bringing a knife to a gun fight?!?! Oh, these poor, sad bastards... Although being in the PNW they probably have a good supply of tofu, fair trade coffee beans and beard oil, so they've got that going for them...

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    3. And yet, somehow, I'm cool with douches 'seeing the light and going toward it'.

      You die first, we're splitting up your gear.

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    4. Got a link for that youtube? Thanks.

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    5. Knife kids will give you new blades for your barter wares, and long pork for that giant village sized stew pot. Easy peasy, spice to taste.

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    6. Anonymous Conservative blog referenced it and does good work linking intel. A few days back had a PDF downloadable with corona chan intel. Dig into there for other angles on things.

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    7. Beard oil, the next new cooking oil
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      Dibs on hair products
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      I'm going to miss potatoes-love's me some french fried tators
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      Velvetta with long pork. Then you only taste nasty fake cheese
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    8. I forget where I read it, but someone on the internet said that just two Brazil nuts a day provide an adequate amount of Selenium to increase immunity. I found them to be inexpensive on Amazon. I am eating more like ten a day.

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    9. I'm frontloading Vitamin C, but I think your "pill" is easier to find. :)

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  5. Yes, Lord Bison you are sick & diseased. You "ain't right" for sure as regards this virus being the proximate cause of Civilizational Collapse (TM).
    So I hope to find a dusty bottle of AfroSheen on back shelf at the five & dime to send to you. Methinks you've neglected your hair over this Corona virus. Looking a little nappy, bro.

    As I noted previous, this economic hiccup will pass.

    What happened with recent S&P drop was simply a large number of people already predisposed to sell the past 3 years of gains got spooked or more likely decided to use Wuhan flue as a cover. Remember 90% of trades and stock holdings are done by HUGE institutional types like pension funds, 401(k) and hedge funds. The days of Mom & Pop investor gave up the ghost in late '90s.

    The old saying is, "there ain't no brick you can throw in the air so high that it won't eventually fall to Earth"

    The institutions have happy talked the stock mkt and egged one another on. A game of chicken to see who would be 1st to liquidate. Well, CoronaChan was a convenient peg to hang their hat. Now they can all liquidate but before doing that they placed a 'short order' to gain even more $ when the inevitable cascade happened.

    This shadow play collapse is not the result of gravity finally taking down some D.C. policy inflating money supply or propping up industries.
    The real 'economy' was doing fine. Increasing employment and hourly wages, record single family residences, trade issues addresses, etc., etc. Those are the 'real economy' not Wall Street.

    The various mayors and governor's who are going all Attilla on their local economies with lock downs, restricted hours etc are all Dems. Keep that in mind.

    On the radio today, Mark Steyn made a brilliant observation. All the Dems, media and anti-Trumpers who have for 3 years yelled Trump=Hitler are now all yelling he isn't doing enough. They say he needs to declare stricter this and that....how ironic, right?

    Is the virus serious? Absolutely. Is the death rate high(ish)? Yes. Will health care system take a terrible hit if flooded by vast numbers of critically ill at once? Yes.

    But the fundamentals of economic prosperity are pretty much OK. Yes, the deficiet is terrible as is nat'l debt. The too low interest rates at this point of economic cycle is regrettable, but you must compare our relative position to every other economic competitor. This isn't a comparison of saints to sinners but rather between sinners. Our sh×t stinks less than China's, EU or Japan.

    We are the last man standing.

    Don't give into "the sky is falling" scenario. Don't let other peoples' hysteria spook you. All those last minute food shoppers stripping the shelves are simply pushing a year's worth of TP sales into the 1st qtr. Same with gun & ammo sales.
    My bet is folks will be having garage sales in Sept of stuff bought today in order payoff credit card bills.

    As for WWIII germ warfare tinfoil hat stuff...puleez!
    At most, Wuhan flu was a unintentional escaped specimen from a lab. No skulldugery.

    I'm sitting back waiting to cash the humongous dividend check from my International Paper stock. The stock price is temporarily down but all that TP the panicked masses bought this past weekend will make the dividend go sky high.
    Thanks guys!



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    1. I am at a loss. I cannot grasp how anyone thinks the economy was anything other than a fecal smear these last twelve years. I'll just walk away now. PS-don't forget my Afro-Sheen-preferably before the PO shuts down.

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    2. Run Forest, run!
      Lol!

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    3. Shrimp gumbo, BBQ shrimp, fried shrimp...

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    4. Anon()(), You are either being sarcastic or naive about the real economy being good. We are screwed!

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    5. Don't bust his balls-he inspires me on a LOT of articles LOL

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    6. I know how you style your magnificent head of hair Jim.
      I'm betting Anon00 wears his in a bun...

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  6. Link -- 'selenium providing immunity to viral infections':

    www.journaljammr.com › do...PDF
    Can Selenite be an Ultimate Inhibitor of Ebola and Other Viral Infections? - Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research

    *****

    And again, lo and behold, verily I sayeth unto thee, every word from bumblebrats or TheMainStreamMedia is either intentionally wrong aka 'lies' or a day late and a dollar short.
    Rumors and rumors of rumors.
    Their puppet-masters are using these rumors to distract from the magician's other hand.
    Another little local drama.

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    1. Isn't "rumors and rumors of rumor" just a rumor? Asking for a friend

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  7. Field report. Vegas, 43 sites established for three squares food bank (consortium type warehouse pantry) to distribute food. Certain dates and times per spread sheet schedule. Indicative of the suck in the urbans, and how shit show unprepared this society is. Snowflakes are falling everywhere. I am going to make popcorn and watch a war flick dvd. Winning.

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    1. Ration the popcorn-probably no more of that shipping.

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  8. And. Nevada governor just shut it down. 30 days in the hole. It begins.

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    1. All the businesses are down, so line up at the Corona Trough. Bailouts for everyone! Nothing inflationary here, move along

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