Monday, October 8, 2018

shelter 2


SHELTER IN PLACE 2
If you are so optimistic that you only read me to be entertained ( well, that could also be the case if you are so prepared that nothing I can ever say would do much more than just cause you to mildly tweak things ), if you were so happy and cheerful about Life, The Universe And Everything that when you were born you declared that you love the cold and brightness and boy howdy you can hardly wait to begin this challenging new adventure, you are a moron.  For Christ On A Crutch’s sake, show a little situational awareness-it ain’t all unicorn glitter and brotherly love.  I can almost understand how you would think that All Is Well, if you are that faithful to our Happy Time Growth Paradigm, and charge off on grand schemes of new employment or entrepreneurship.
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But to normal people, who are aware after a lifetime of adversity that it is in fact true that a crackhead would kill you for $20 if he thought there would be no repercussions, the millions of people NOT participating in the labor force isn’t a good thing and does NOT indicate blissful golf filled retirement but rather unemployment at above 1930’s Depression levels.  If you aren’t fearful of a pink slip, if you aren’t sucking the peanuts out of your bosses scat, if you aren’t aware that if you move you just might never find another job, you haven’t been paying attention.  High unemployment of a minimum of 25% and up to 33% means you cannot assume anything but the worst. 
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So, yes, your prepping plans might by necessity be Sheltering In Place.  This is far from ideal, and I don’t recommend it.  But I also recommend five years of food ( easy peasy lemon squeezey when you only stock wheat, vitamins and shortening.  Before container cost, only $500 ), and few of you think that is feasible.  So I can understand why you don’t have junk land.  Actually, I seriously understand.  A lot of that is a thousand miles away, and without a realistic way to get there, why even have it?  Before, I said that if you can’t live on junk land for whatever reason ( such as, like myself, your Old Lady refuses.  Although unlike you, my land is a two hour walk away ), just move to the smallest town close to that land where you can get a job. 
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But again, I KNOW this is advice much easier given than taken.  Will you find a job again if you move?  The brother in law was a supervisor at the gold mine and has practical skills up the wazoo such as welding.  And he can’t find a job outside this area.  Granted, he is almost 50 years old, a near certain death sentence when job hunting anymore.  But it is indicative of the job market to some degree.  And retail?  There is an industry practically guaranteeing you zero future.  So while staying in you AO is problematic, it isn’t the worst possible choice unless you are in some extra super sized craphole like LA or Chicago.  If I was in a major metro area, I think I would move regardless.  Because you are at ground zero.
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Most of you are probably already in areas that are safe-er.  How many survivalists live in Manhattan?  When economic times were better I imagine most of you already moved to the area that was the best trade-off between employment and lower population.  So, if you must shelter in place due to fear of unemployment ( and if you aren’t scared, with 33% unemployment, you are that aforementioned Way Too Optimistic Unicorn Fart Glitter Sniffer ), you need to do a couple of things.  I don’t necessarily subscribe to the historic Yuppie Super Fortress strategy.  All well and good, actually necessary while affordable, to bar every window and have good solid doors with extra long screws for a beefed up frame.  That just makes good sense.  But this whole thing with bullet proofing?  And steel shutters?  And all the rest of that nonsense? 
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For that kind of money I would invest in an RV in the wilderness, on land, with a small business AND funds to live on for years until it paid off.  But then, I’ll never have a suburban home I need to sink fifty grand in to make bullet proof.  For what some people pay for FLIR scopes I can have all of the above because I can prep and live cheap.  Anyway, I can’t see much sense in trying to make your home a castle able to withstand all but RPG fire or heavier.  Make it burglar proof, mob proof and fire proof.  Because those are the things that are the most likely to happen.  Just stucco siding alone, for fire-proofing, should deflect or stop the most common rounds a crowd is likely to use.
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This should get you through the increasing civil unrest.  After that, you need an escape route, a cache nearby for short stays if you had to flee short term, and then a buried food cache for when you return.  You’ll need a way to escape from besides the regular doors, and a way to sneak back in no one else knows about so you are not the one outside trying to figure out how to force your way inside.  As for the food cache, under a concrete slab is probably a pretty good bet, rather than anything fancy like hollow walls or a hidden room in the basement or whatever.  Remember, an IBC tote can hold near five years of wheat and are sold in most decent sized cities usually for under, sometimes way under, $200.
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The equivalent in five gallon buckets would cost $250 to $300 and not be as waterproof ( although easier to move ).  I don’t know what solid  iron bars over the window would cost, although I know Chinese bars are stupid cheap at $20 a window ( I can’t imagine they are super quality, but they would be BTN ).
And surely anyone can dig a hole and do a half assed slab over it with even the cheapest concrete.  None of this has to be expensive.  This is far from the best plan, as there is the issue of safety fleeing and returning, just for starters.  But we don’t always get what we want, do we?  We should.  At least me, if not you.  But that doesn’t make it so.  Just make lemonade out of lemons.  You don’t need a real pretty wife, even if you want one.  Get the one you can attract to learn cooking and the proper techniques for oral gratification ( both instructions online ), and she will do just fine.  The same with prepping.  You can make Less Than Ideal work for you, cheaply.
( .Y. )
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10 comments:

  1. Is someone is near 50 and worried about keeping a job, junkland makes even more sense. The problem with looking for a job at a higher age is most folks are looking for supervisory positions and not willing to settle for less. Once you get living expenses to a minimum, working seasonal jobs can keep you in cash while being semi retired.

    If there is a venue near you, Live Nation loves older workers, they are less likely to get sloppy screwed up during concerts.Check out local fairgrounds and ball fields as well. There is a distribution center near me that plans to hire a ton of people for the holiday season. Some folks still follow the harvest season and work the mills, not the fields.

    Working part-time at a hotel maintenance or even McD's becomes viable when you have minimal living expenses.

    For me, if worst comes to worst, I could probably have the VA cut me a check for crazy, but I would have to hide all signs of firearms I fear. So that is a last resort.

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    1. Or, Welcome To Wal-Mart. Actually, I think I'd rather up my guns first :)

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    2. When I turned 51 (literally the same week of my birthday) I was laid off from my electronics job of 15 years. I knew that I was in for a tough time, as far as finding another job. One of the first decisions that I made was to buy junk land, and I have not regretted that decision. And although I have not yet moved there, I can and I will be at some point.

      I also live in an RV. Unless you have enough of a monthly income to be able to afford to heat one in winter (even in a moderate climate, such as I live) they’re terrible to live in, as I’m sure that Jim can testify.

      If you are poor, but have moderate handyman skills, and plan on living in a trailer, here is my advice. Find an older junk trailer, and as long as it’s weather tight, the interior can be trashed, because the first thing you should do is to gut the interior. That’s right; tear the inside completely out. The reason for this is twofold: First off, these things are not laid out in an optimal manner for someone to live in full time, but rather for occasional use, so they have very little room. The second reason is so that you can frame it with 2”x4’s”, so that you can insulate it properly for winter time temps, because trust me, they do not hold heat for very long without a continuous source of heat. Pick up a port-potti for $50 for a toilet. They also have portable sinks with a holding tank. If it’s cold, and you wish to take a shower inside, get a kiddie pool, a bug sprayer, and fill it with warm water, and there’s your shower. If you are any bigger than Billy Barty (in which case, it would be like living in a castle :D ) then you won’t find the bathroom or shower in most RV’s to be usable anyways. I still don’t recommend getting one, but if you’re going to, the above advice will at least make one somewhat livable.

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    3. Nice folks. Makes you wonder if they picked the layoffs not from seniority but by getting date of births from Personnel. Yeah, RV's are crap, although they have their plus sides like anything else.

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    4. That actually wasn’t the case in my particular situation Jim. What I did was rather specialized, and as long as there was work, I had job security. Unfortunately the work stopped coming in, so the company went out of business. In the end it really didn’t matter, because I was still an unemployed middle aged white dude…

      Technically, one could survive the rest of one’s life on the raw basics (i.e. junk land, shelter, thrift store clothes, bulk food as you advocate, etc) but you do need some cash for the items that require money, such as property taxes and unexpected purchases. The pioneers got by with very little money and produced as much as they could from the land. But even they had the occasional unexpected purchase for items that simply could not be produced from the land.

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    5. Learning to live on less and less cash-it will never be zero until the economy implodes totally-is a skill and a tough nut to crack. It still isn't easy for me.

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  2. There was report and stories about amazonland places where oldsters who could not afford retirement live in rvs in nearby compounds and work their asses off picking and packing in the wharehouse. In the southern deserts in wintertimes there is large brigades of squatters living in r.v.s (21 days or time limit, move elsewhere again) out in the blm land areas on the fringes of smaller towns. All out of necessity to squeek by on a meager stipend and avoid housing costs. Being a hobo with camp gear is going to be a reality for a lot more folks soon.

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    1. A little planning ahead and you live in a RV on your own land, no gas, no insurance, no utilities. They had to have made good money to afford those new RV payments. And people wonder why I hate old humpers. Dumb as a box of rocks thinking the gravy train never ends. And they knew about the Great Depression!

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  3. For RV living on your junk land you will probably want two RVs. It would give additional storage and provide a place for getting away from the spouse for a few hours.

    My second RV would be a school bus because all the Windows would make it a terrific reading room. Remove the bench seats, add bookshelves and a big comfy chair and you have a perfect man-cave.

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    1. If you have close to ZERO storage in your RV, it isn't too bad to live in ( weather issues aside ). Always have another storage unit for all your crap. As in all but like one change of clothes, just a minimum amount of food, etc. Clutter makes the experience pure crap. Also, look forward soon to school bus surpluses as districts go broke and liquidate assets.

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