Wednesday, May 24, 2017

cops or food


COPS OR FOOD

For eleven years now doing various blogs ( Bison blog 2006 to 2012,  James M Dakin blog the next two years, current blog 2014 to until I die because there were convoluted but ultimately unnecessary reasons to change blogs ) I have always had to fight the issue of article ideas.  Whether five, six or seven days a week, eleven years of blogs is a lot of friggin articles to come up.  At a minimum, five days a week and at most a once a month idea repeat and let’s be generous and call it several articles being two or three part-ers, you have at least fifteen new subjects to cover a month.  We are going on two thousand unique ideas by now.  Now, obviously, there are probably not that many sub-genres in the survivalism or preparedness field, but there are probably many more than that of minute details that can be covered.  But even so, 2k different subjects is an exhausting accomplishment.  I don’t think I’ve ever NOT written every advertised day.  Guest articles have been, if not every single time than 99%, extra articles rather than replacing the daily scheduled article.   I don’t get other people to write my stuff, which to me is a far greater accomplishment than saying my blog has posted every day since forever like some do.

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I’ve tried many different ways of trying to alleviate this bottleneck, from reducing the word count so as to explore ideas you can’t stretch out so far, to cutting the days of the week I post to, or, currently, making almost every article a multiple day posting ( five part articles are too long, I grant you, and will be henceforth kept as BBB books.  But two to three part’ers with a very rare four part series will stay standard ).  But now we have a new problem.  No, not that Amazon commissions are now cut by a third.  Or that I have way too much time to write now ( I exhausted myself pre-posting a months worth of articles in anticipation of writing a novel.  Given I can easily write four times as much in a week now as I was doing while working a real job, I could have spat one out a month and still had time left over.  Alas, my brain completely refused, even with a solid outline.  I’m too wired for non-fiction, and if I don’t enjoy what I’m writing, I won’t do it.  My passion is why I’m as good as I am ).

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No, the problem is that now I’m not stressed enough.  Without stress, I’m crap for incubating new ideas to write on.  I was burning at a red hot passion of hate and discontent and now I’m, well, relaxed and at peace.  I can write all day long until my tendon snaps off from one finger hunt and peck typing ( albeit a very fast pace after all this practice-when the ideas flow and mesh I can produce a thousand words finished draft in as little as fifty minutes.  With one finger typing ), but as usual my idea generator is problematic.  This is nothing new, as I’ve just explained.  But I do seem to be at a longer period between idea spurts.  A lot longer.  And I think it is because of my adrenaline flow subsiding.  I’ve been rather high strung for the last twenty-five years on a daily basis.  Initially I was stressed not getting laid but I was also drinking to blunt that and the workplace stress.  Then the Baby Momma came around in my mid to late twenties and we had kids and my stress levels went through the roof.

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Not because of the kids, that was a good stress.  The four hours sleep a night followed by nine hour work shift and ten or eleven hour babysitting shift ( we worked opposite shifts to eliminate daycare.  It was the only affordable way and was priceless as it was my only intensive child bonding before the divorce took them away 80-90% of the time ) was nobodies idea of a good time but it wasn’t a health wrecking stress.  It was a “sense of great accomplishment” stress.  Anyone with kids that partakes in their care understands what I’m talking about.  Your memories might not be all that sharp by now but you remember the feeling if not the details getting it.  Of course, join in that good stress with the bad stress of a job and the worse stress of a relationship gone bad even prior to kids and your life takes on a rather dismal daily grind which is fine at first but after decades starts wearing you down.  I went from mildly stressed all the time to hyper-stressed every day without letup.  If the job didn’t suck as much the relationship with the current wife got worse.   If the current wife was wonderful ( the current NOL ), the job sucked worse and worse.  It was always some damn thing keeping me high strung.

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And then two months ago, after wearing down health-wise far too much ( even if I‘m fit and healthy for my age, I‘m still falling apart to a degree ), I had finally just had enough and said “hump it”.  Time to derail this life choice.  The job will disappear before I retire.  I might as well jump off the ship while it is still in port.  And now, my stress levels are back to pre-children levels ( but post-military and post-living at home ).  I don’t expect them to stay that way, as my life never seems to be stress free, or even stress-resistant ( I’m just too high strung ).  But for now, I’ve lost that burning red hot fire that helped so much in motivating my years long screeds and lambasting tirades.  I’m still motivated to write for fear of starving, and I still hate enough just on general principles that I won’t become soft or accommodating, but the edge I’ve had since I started in 1991 is somewhat blunted right now.  So my newest solution coming up with article ideas is to go back and mine my old blogs.

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I won’t be re-posting.  The articles will be all new writing.  The idea will just be the same.  Exactly the same, with the only modifications being if the elapsed time changed any particulars.  I’m not real fond of this tactic as I’ve strived all along to keep things fresh, or as fresh as possible, but the show must go on and if I need remakes, like Hollywood, so be it.  I’m hoping this won’t be a daily thing, just an emergency stand-in, but you must remember that I’m now writing seven days a week blogging, AND monthly books.  I’m needing twice the ideas as previously ( and curiously, I’m not gaining any from article comments like I used to.  I went from 500 readers to 750-I had gotten to 1200 after Ol’ Remus posted links to me but those frittered away back down to a steady 700 plus-yet I’m getting less comments than ever.  I hope that doesn’t mean everyone hates the new articles ).  So, the first “re-make”, food control to substitute for the police state lacking enough agents to control events.  Continued.

END

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31 comments:

  1. I have found your peak oil slant very interesting. I have to admit that I was a non believer until you introduced the return on equity concept. I do not think we will ever run out of oil but I can surely see it being too expensive to burn. The other concept that I have come to understand is the fact that oil is required to manufacture the renewable energy types. Both of those concepts have opened my eyes to what is going to happen. My only saving grace is that I am old enough that I will not live to see it all but my son sure will!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is almost too expensive to burn, now. Introduce an economic problem and see production of fracking and Canadian tar fall. Buy Chinese solar panels NOW. $1 a watt!!!???? Get them while you can. Five years ago they were $4 a watt.

      Delete
  2. Ideas for article....How to get the lazy-assed wife and kids to do some work to relieve some of the stress on the old man?

    Home schooling ideas?

    Finish up the fiction stories you posted long ago

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can write fiction from a single guy musing viewpoint, and that is about it. I don't know how much others want to read that. And getting lazy wives and kids working? You dreaming!

      Delete
    2. Nightshift here. Still want you to finish the one with the 2 buddies that looted in town and brought the to women back after capping the meth head. Can't remember the name.

      Delete
    3. Sadly, I have a hard time remembering it also. Locos Gringos and the Apocalypse, I believe. As per another minions desire, I'm at least thinking about a continuation. But no guarentees.

      Delete
  3. tell us about living in an African trailer park with five wifes.

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  4. Commentary about HOW if any or WHY if not your previous articles changed.
    Your source(s) of doom are clear, your plan to deal with them simple and succinct (and affordable).
    Some updating of further supporting evidence, changes in pricing for your survival plans aspects, etc.
    Adding those things into your older articles.
    Plus a willingness to look at current events as a model towards current and future trends might also work to open up some article ideas - stuff like "what if your PODA warlord is modeled on Hillary Clinton, or Trump, or if your local banker decides to target your property for "investment", or your child puts themselves into a potentially dangerous situation like a concert... All easy ideas to pickup from current events that you can use to refresh old articles or generate new ones...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yep, each new re-do is updated and commented on. Current events, however, are problematic. I still haven't found a good source for news that isn't completely biased. Or that is broad based.

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    2. It's incredible the amount of bias / spin there is with the news. Fake news indeed

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    3. Analysis of current events problematic?
      Point out the likely biases, and how what is *not* reported could effect the actual results of the reported news.
      Much of it is obvious with proper paranoia, but many lack the totality of your proper paranoia.

      Delete
    4. Dingo-I often wonder how much worse the alternate media is, since they are passionate rather than lazy like the mainstream.
      JJ-The problem I'm finding is that other than InfoTainment, and then PC Thought Police Rants, there seems to be nothing reported AT ALL. Like current events no longer happen outside the PR department.

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  5. Personally, I prefer one post a day. I usually check your daily post a couple of times to catch any new comments and it's a bother to keep track of two posts worth of comments.

    I think one post with a more robust comment section is more interesting. IMHO. But it's your blog so do what you like.

    ***************

    Article ideas

    # NOL attitude change toward prepping.

    # What are your neighbors like? Could you depend on them in an emergency? Are any prepared even in the slightest bit?

    # Why folks should prep, no matter who is the President.

    # The top five prep things where you wasted your money.

    # Experiment on carrying water to your retreat from the river you said was close - by foot and/or by bike.

    # Scavenge some bike parts and build a Chinese wheelbarrow. (This could be several updates/post - making a plan, scrounging parts, putting it together, trial run, rebuild it better, trial run, rebuild and make improvements, finished product.)

    # What would trigger you to leave for the bison compound.

    # Five prep items you wish you could afford.

    # Update on what you see in your local economy.

    # What you used for a toilet while at the compound? How did the women folk like it? What would you have to do different in a grid down situation?

    # Make jerky. Update us several times through the year on how you stored it and how it held up.

    # Has the prepping mindset going more mainstream increased the level of personal preparedness in our general society -or- has it just given people a false sense of security because they bought a case of Mountain House from Costco and have it stored in the back of the closet?

    # Some musings on the different triggers that could force us over the waterfall.

    # All things wool.

    # What you keep for a basic medical/first aid kit.

    # Rain water collection with a camp trailer.

    # Bury some caches then give updates on what worked and what didn't.

    # Try different flatbread recipes from around the world and rank them.

    # What changes/labor saving devices have you done regarding survival as you have gotten older.

    # Why Hollywood can't seem to make a decent survival movie.

    # Stealth potatoes gardening. Go out and plant potatoes along railway tracks, stream banks, vacant lots, Bison compound and then report back this fall about the harvest.

    # Update on how well your tobacco is storing.

    # Basic hair, personal grooming and hygiene supplies to store for a grid down existence from bare minimum to "would be nice to have".

    # Build a scavenged outdoor shower this summer and let us know how it works.

    # Tips you have picked up from the homeless regarding stealth living.

    # Your thoughts on what to do if family you don't like shows up and expects help in a grid down situation.

    # Best places on the web to find prepping bargains. (I.e. Sportsman's Warehouse.)

    # How to trick the spouse into prepping by making them think it's their idea.

    # Go primitive camping this summer (pretending to bug out to the wilderness) and tell us the good, the bad and the ugly.

    # Why you picked the Bison name?


    *********************

    Not one, not two, but THIRTY ideas for articles.........


    ......You're Welcome :)

    Idaho Homesteader

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn, thanks. On the twice a day, you might have a point. I'm mulling.

      Delete
  6. If you need stress I've got some I'd rather not have. Unlike your good self I shut down once stress levels exceed my carrying capacity. If I work out how to send it to you I will (all in the name of helping you out of course)

    In all seriousness, knowing how you & members of your tribe deal with stress & having strategies to deal with it will be useful for the "event"

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    Replies
    1. When you have extra food, do you pack it up for the Ethiopians?:)

      Delete
  7. I'm just speaking for myself here, but I think the two-a-day articles is too much. I think people who comment want others, not just you, to see their contribution to the article. Why comment if you think nobody will read it because there's a new article to look at and the old one is fading from memory? Also, most people only have a limited amount of time to read the internet a day, and if now one of the blogs they check has double the material to read, it's probably just getting skimmed over. My opinion only.

    When I was in school and had to take a mandatory typing class, they insisted I place my fingers on the appropriate central keys, asdf jkl;, memorize the layout of the rest of the keyboard, and NOT look at the keyboard while typing. I couldn't memorize the keyboard well enough and was pretty much always looking at the keyboard while keeping my fingers in the correct position. Eventually, by using this "cheating" method, I had to look at the keyboard less and less, and can now type quite fast.
    Peace out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops, okay, now it is two against, one for. If I go to one a day I need to put the material somewhere else. Should I lump them together? They still might skim. A free book bi-weekly, perhaps? Dammit, more drama to worry on. Thanks for the input-it means a lot since most don't comment at all.

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  8. I think your quality of work is holding up well... it wouldn't kill us if you took the weekends off, if it would help maintain that quality. Reviewing previous topics is not a bad idea as there's educational value in repetition. Also, the world has changed since the first article, and a new slant may appear. And there are still topics I think could be (re-?) covered... Dealing with Ebola and other epidemics... Faraday cage construction and testing... preserving meat & fat -(canning those hotdogs vs rendering out the fat & drying them.. how to prevent your shit from being stolen, even when the thieves come in platoon strength, with a Bradley and a FEMA badge... how to develop a 'like-minded' community (tribe) w/out giving yourself away to the infidels... and so on and so forth... OK, OK, you probably HAVE covered all this.... dammit, Jim, I'm a '___', not a writer... (or I'd be rich from writing ad copy, like the ads say)..

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks for the ideas and glad you still are enjoying the reading. No need to take weekends off, I write ahead and take off Sunday's. What would I do with myself for an extra day? I'd be bored.

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    2. On your days off become a mad scientist. In other words, pick something like the Chinese wheelbarrow (hint, hint) and build it. Find something that interest you, do it, then report back. Sitting behind a desk and reading can only get you so far. You need to get out and do a little field research.

      I find your first person experiences, your trials and error, your interactions with people, your ways of making the frugal prepping lifestyle work very interesting.

      There are lots of blogs and Youtube channels where "experts" just regurgitate what others have done. You're unique in the fact that you have actually done things (and lived to tell about it) not just reporting on things.

      So you'll still be busy but half your time will be writing and half your time will be field testing stuff to write about.

      Idaho Homesteader

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    3. I really should try to do more hands on stuff, but I've always been far more analytical. Remember, all the off grid stuff I already did saved me money. Doing almost anything now would COST me. Not that I'm discounting it completely.

      Delete
  9. I was always "my glass is half empty" kind of pessimist, but after followING your writing, I'm now down to "I don't even HAVE a glass" You are one of the greatest pessimists I've read... and and paranoid is almost a PC way of describing you (love it). It's going to end badly no matter how much planning and prepping I do. I'm also so quilty of being one of those yuppy scum preppers you always slap, and I feel it... you're helping me understand some serious mistakes I've made in my plans over the years. Thanks.

    I've commented once or twice before and was surprised that you actually responded to me... one of the things I like is you READ them... and I enjoy the comments as much as the articles some days. 700 readers... come on... is that true? Have I missed something?

    I'm also guilty of learning much and paying little (none) and promise you I will FIX that. As for comment inspired ideas, I'll try and be less afraid to introduce STUPID in here, another reason I like this place.

    You have made changes in people and places that you will NEVER be able to know or measure, don't stop... an old idea updated with new info is a NEW idea as I see it. Things constantly change, and a good strategy yesterday may be a disastrous one tomorrow.

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    1. I like your attitude! As for being a Yuppie Scum, I was there too once. My first purchase was a months wages handgun. Before any wheat. I was a dumbass, too ( and still am on occasion ), so the only judgment is if you refuse to see the error. Please ask anything-I've learned so much in life by being able to laugh at myself and ask REALLY stupid questions. Keep being a minion, dude.

      Delete
  10. extra time? keep up with the cycling to maintain strength and stamina--could your wife ride ,too?
    as for ideas-- after idaho and anonymous what else is there to say.
    as an idiot, i rely on people like you to give ideas.
    sorry i'm no help at all.

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    1. I ride five days a week, as it is. Actually, writing one hour a day, or three, as long as I write it helps fill up most of the day wonderfully.

      Delete
  11. I'll add my voice to 2 posts a day being difficult to keep up with. Also the comments by other minions is helpful (I'm looking at you ave) & they can be lost with the 2 a day program.

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    1. Okay, it seems to be unanimous that two a day is too much. I'll try to get a bit more feedback, and unless it says otherwise I'll nix it. Thanks.

      Delete
  12. "...yet I’m getting less comments than ever..."
    ===============================================

    It's not you, it's me. Honest injun nutz.
    Just being yanked every which direction at the same time, 1000 irons in the fire, etc. I'll try to make more of an effort into coming in here and busting your chops. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not you, its me. Sounds like a polite break-up :) Of course, better than "I love you but I'm not IN love with you"

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