Friday, March 22, 2019

when time and money is short


WHEN TIME AND MONEY IS SHORT
While everyone else is constantly focusing on New Useless Guys ( NUG’s, in military parlance ), either pasting Fear Porn to explain WHY you should prep, or covering the basics yet again, I take pride in mainly writing for the already woke and already advanced prepper.  As in, okay, you have wheat and FLIR scopes, now it is time to worry about human interactions after the apocalypse.  But, since Frugal Prepping is my thing, Kurt Saxon being and older and wiser Brother From Another Mother, I also occasionally return to basics.  Today is one of those days.
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Prior to the 2009 financial pile of stinky, it was embarrassingly easy to make casual income doing this kind of writing ( well, easy once I figured out advertising rather than book sales were key-I can be a tad slow on the uptake at times ).  Back then I really wasn’t all that great of a writer, still learning my craft, and I was still making a good several hundred dollars a month in Amazon commissions and Google ads.  I also had twice the readers, but as I found out after I had to moderate comments, they were Fair Weather readers.
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By 2012 or 2013, if I recall correctly, Google started requesting that I go back and scrub clean objectionable comments.  Well, easier said than done, because although they obviously referred to the N Bombs, there were fifty or seventy damn comments I had to wade through to find it. To avoid being kicked off, I decided to police the comments.  No more Wild West Comment Section, which was sad.  Those were some funny Mo-Fo’s.  But, as soon as I did that, my reader numbers halved.  They were just here for the entertainment.
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At first that pissed me off no end, as I was busting my ass here trying to throw all this great wisdom on the wall and no one was interested.  Eventually I pulled the stick out of my ass, relaxed, and tried to entertain while teaching.  Hey, what can I say?  It was a stressful period.  Anyway, for the next five or six years my reader numbers stayed at around 600 daily.  Then ‘Ol Remus ( and no one else-so thanks, bro! ) would mention me, my reader count would skyrocket, but drop right back down after a day or so.  Any new readers just replaced the pissed off ones leaving.
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Now, this time, it seems either that Woodpile Report Dudes are actually staying, or I’m getting them from another source.  Or both.  It almost looks, knock on wood, that I’m getting back to my old Open Comments numbers of double the last half decade ( I’m nothing if not stubborn.  I’ve been at this since 1992, although I was not at all serious those first seven or so years ).  I know a lot has to do with an improvement in my writing, but one also needs exposure.
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Now, all you new guys.  See how I spend one half to one third of the entire article giving background information and blathering?  Yeah, get used to that.  That is how I roll.  But, to compensate you for your time, this article is for you.  Yes, you are welcome.  I’m also generous to a fault like that.  Some of you might be beginners.  NUG’s.  No shame in being a NUG, if you try to put some effort into learning and leave that classification as quick as possible.  I could just direct you to my Frugal Survivalist book, and I have, but I also want to give you a quicker guide.
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Well, okay, you caught me, this has nothing to do with me being nice.  I was commenting at Aesop Dudes and it gave me the idea.  I’ve done Extreme Poverty Prep articles before.  Like, $50 preps where you find two liter soda bottle salvage and fill with white flour, then make some spears out of thrift store kitchen knives ( water purification is a $1 used pot to boil it in ).  That kind of extreme homeless preparation.  This is more conventional, for the working poor.  And full spectrum prepping.
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It is nothing new my regular long suffering readers haven’t already heard many times.  Just a short detour to benefit the new arrivals.  So, minions, please bear with me.  Perhaps some of this still applies, or you have friends and family that might be less threatened by this Full Retard Simple approach.  First off, forget needing much money.  This is far less than the cost of a single FLIR scope, or a quality AR with a half dozen Spam Cans of ammunition.  Second, this is Butt Simple, Caveman Level of tutorial. I’m not getting into a ton of detail. 
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Third, this is all more willpower than anything else.  You do one thing, you’ll see how easy it is and more eagerly embrace the others.  Start with fitness.  Most teachers shriek about PT, and cardio, and how you are too fat to survive, regardless of your supplies.  And, it is true.  The first rule of the zombie apocalypse is really “Cardio”.  And if you are like me you are old and tired.  I spent ten years living like a savage, mostly off grid.  I did nothing BUT fitness, commuting to the job by bicycle, lifting thousands of pounds a day and coming home to physical chores.
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So, I let fitness go a bit.  I still rode the exercise bike, because with a bum spine I need to keep my lower back muscles tone.  But I was doing little else.  It starts to wear you down, the lack of exercise.  You eat too much, feel gross and begin to wonder if you even want to run away when the apocalypse starts.  Just start walking.  As simple as that.  Walk a half hour each day, with a day off weekly to recover.  As time goes on, walk faster.  Then, if you feel up to it, farther. 
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Those tactical combat courses?  Please.  Go out “hunting”.  By which I mean, even if all you are trying to kill is a rabbit or bird, the important part is stalking and woodcraft.  Get out into the woods and learn how to move in them.  That is far more important, practical, and affordable.  Camping is a good way to practice off grid living.  And it is nearly free.  You’ll need those supplies anyway.  Once you progress you can combine hiking and camping.  You’ll quickly learn how little you want to pack ( hard to be stealthy while posing as a mule ).
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Food storage?  As simple as The Mormon Four program. 
I like my version, but of course I’m biased.  For my book How To Eat Wheat, no charge:
If you don’t have a feed store near you ( ask for human consumption, whole, not cracked, no vet meds ), you’ll be forced to buy the next cheapest.  Wal-Mart wheat:
I won’t get into the merits of wheat over rice.  If you like rice, every supermarket carries it.  Wal-Mart carries the cheapest vitamins I’ve found.  A year’s worth of Vitamin C and a multi-vitamin is barely $20.
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 The longest lasting cooking oil is shortening.  It is disgusting and unhealthy, but it is far worse to die in the winter.  You need external AND internal heat once the central air stops working.  You NEED fat in a cold climate.  A lot less but still some in a hotter one.  Historically, prior to colonialization, sugar was rare.  So was fat, for the poor.  Don’t be confused by current Right Think that you shouldn’t eat fat.  Most medical advice today is as Fad Driven as Gore Warming or Political Correctness.
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Well, as simple as this should be, I’ll still need one more day to finish up the subject.  Continued tomorrow.
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click here )
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note: update on the above, written last week. Yeah, even though you write "knock on wood" trying to avoid cursing yourself by not verbalizing what evil forces you wish to keep at bay?  Doesn't work.  Perhaps I should also have thrown salt over my shoulder.  I write this in the morning and that evening my numbers go from 1k-1200 they had been hovering at for weeks, down to 700 readers.  They stayed 600-700 for four days and just the last few popped back to 800-900.  Gggrrrr!  Well, many thanks to my long term readers, for your steady business.  I don't want YouTube type numbers, and the growth paradigm is dead, but JUST getting back to my first blog numbers would be nice.  Oh, well-play on!
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note: welcome to the crash, bitches!  A much more sensitive barometer of global economic health than the Baltic Index is the company FedEx.  Yeah, they are cutting expenses, starting with retirement buy-outs, hiring slow down and expense account reductions. Their ground service in the US, for those that think "Amazon Effect", is also in big trouble.
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note: I still think this is the time to buy silver or forever after hold your peace.  US silver production lowest in 70 years click here
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*** Pay your author-no one works for free.  I’m nice enough to publish for barely above Mere Book Money, so do your part.*** junk land under a grand *  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio*   my web site is www.bisonprepper.com *** Wal-Mart wheat***Amazon Author Page
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there



24 comments:

  1. Following along. I think you are hitting on something insufficiently addressed by the unicorn riding cavalry prepping brigades elsewhere. It needs to be restressed that time is indeed short and there is not s.u.v. and mortgage loan term lengths of time remaining to prep for full on collapsing system (s) and resultant die offs. If an aspiring 'n.u.g.' minion adherent stays at that Bison approved frugally focused prep objectives, keeping costs way low and therefore amplifying a quantity ability this will help speed the hell up their behind the curve or playing catch up prepping momentum. I fight off that indifference and sleeping bug too, that causes folks to wallow away unserious about actually surviving while things continue to rot out. Perhaps a form of timeline objectives and firm deadlines need to be implemented in prep plans to put some discipline and sense of urgency (lit fire under arses) towards the most important and primary items. (Food now! Flirs later, duh.) Also better a core number of hard core minion adherents, rather than a shifting number of additional sunshine preppers that are only click bait voyeurs with no devotion, little resolve, and easily wilt away from adversity and real challenges.

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    1. Hmmm, perhaps I will change my slogan to FLIR First, picking up some of the Idaho Unicorn Brigade.

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  2. As one of those long time minions, even tho I don't ramble on much with my comments... I do notice that you too are reading and parroting some of my advice. (Great minds think alike ?)
    To me , success at the art of prepping advice is hearing others spreading my thoughts and advice. Not that I'm so vain to think my thoughts are special lol.
    Just too bad that we didn't connect before you left this humid hell hole of plenty...
    On another note. You gained a life long minion the day you sent me an aid package. Knowing full well your economic situation proved to myself you're the real deal Jim.
    You are a very wealthy man Mr. Bison... riches being measured by willingness to accept and adapt to reality is a trait few have.

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    1. I fought reality with great gusto, and had my ass handed to me :) Believe me, you are one of my litmus test minions. You are one of the guides, if not exactly a mirror. Our great minds do think alike, but I know better than to completely ignore anything contrary to my incoherent thoughts. :)

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    2. Not bragging but I've been here for yonks. Back when N bombs were flying.

      I remember when you were down on your luck Spud.

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  3. I’m probably one of your longer followers, having been here roughly since about 2008. I wished I’d been around from the beginning, as it would have been interesting to see how this site has evolved over the years. I was over at the super survivalists guru’s site following hurricane Katrina. In an attempt to appease the PC gods, I was astonished when he tried to portray the looters as having been from a variety of demographic backgrounds (Anyone seeing the footage knows that it was almost exclusively one demographic). Then someone over there in the comments section talked shit about that bison dude. This had the opposite effect on me, and I ended up here.

    Yeah, that’s the problem with google ads, or anything google related. You have to abide by their leftwing, PC policies (No worries though if you’re a lefty. You can still say fun stuff like a sitting presidents son should be thrown in a jail cell full of pedophiles, and google won’t mind that, and the leftwing corporation that you work for won’t fire you either). I sure hope that Gab.ai browser comments plugin comes along soon.

    The hunting suggestion is a good idea for stalking practice. Bow hunting is even better (and silent) considering the direction that gun control is taking in this country. A few words from a wise fellow at a different site on this topic:


    “JJ wrote:

    I got halfway through the link and I'm beginning to think that the West MUST die. It MUST and it should because frankly, there is no moral strength in Republics. A deranged and deeply disturbed asshole shoots up a mosque and in a matter of days only gun confiscation can resolve the national pain. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister looks like she's a freshman in High School. Women throughout the country are wearing hijabs in solidarity. A nation ruled by emotional and shrieking women. Are you kidding me? Where are the men? Where are the men who say, "You cannot take my weapon that I use to defend myself, my family or my community!"

    My only regret is that I don't have a longer life span to tell the generations in the future how in the height of technological advances we were too stupid to hold onto the Enlightenment principles.”

    https://kiwigunblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/21/tyrant-prime-minister-kills-sport-shooting/

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    1. I like how that guy thinks. Yeah, we are all to blame and deserve what is coming.

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    2. A phantom nitwit does bad so the natural statist response is to hold good people responsible. She'd get a better response if she fired all her armed body guards and posted her home address as a truth and honesty gesture. Pay attention to NZ, the black swans test the waters for further tyranny.

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  4. A good exercise I've been having good luck with is 'planking', which is simply preparing to do a standard push-up, but then stop. Just freeze in position with arms extended, toes on the ground and legs - spine - neck aligned straight. Then hold position for two minutes. When you can do that comfortably, do another rep. And then another. Three reps is pretty good exercise, tones the arms, shoulders, belly, ass and back of legs. Try it and see if it helps you too. Walking is good too, especially if you have a nearby stadium or building where taking the stairs up and down is available.

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    1. Are you trying to kill me? That's what steps would do. Look, I'm certainly not exercising to improve the quality of my remaining years. I ONLY do so to increase my brain functions so as to improve my writing. Don't hate me for it! :D

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    2. Burpees - hate me now and later.

      I did body weight squats with a 17kg medicine ball which I through up into the air. Did 100 of them and it took me a week to recover.

      I have a pedometer. Was chuffed at 18,000 steps average. My brother does 28,000 and 55 flights of stairs.

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    3. If you're not going up and down the stairs BACKWARDS you're doing it wrong. Same with that planking, do it with your face to the ceiling. Then do it with a stack of encyclopedia's on your back/belly. When you can "flex" your back or belly and hit the ceiling with the books you will have achieved nirvana. lol

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  5. Okay, basics . . . one question I've had, but not seen a good comprehensive article on is post-catastrophe antibiotics. How do you deal with strep 20 years after the zombies attacked and you've already used all of your basic supplies?

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    1. Herbs are a marginal solution. The better solution is to have a natural immune system built to keep you healthy. The perfect solution is to have food surpluses and healthy soil to get to better health, but that is rarely feasible. The hard way to get to the better way is simply through better breeding, as the sickly ones naturally die-off. People used to survive smallpox in good numbers, after immunity was bred in. No one wants to hear that, but long term, historically, species wide it is THE best solution. As good as it felt to save all those poor people the last hundred and fifty years, it has left us at the mercy of the antibiotics. Same with oil. Kicking both addictions will have the price of that 99% die-off. But on to gloomier topics... :D

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    2. Posting on the fly here, with no prior research. But there are natural antibiotics, as well as methods on making your own online. I know that garlic is a natural antibiotic, but I don’t know how powerful it is in its natural state.

      In the mean time, stock plenty of fish antibiotics. The next time Bud K has a free shipping promo, I’ll be getting some. Stock them in a cool, dark, and dry place.

      Try these keywords and link: home made antibiotics for humans

      http://humansarefree.com/2015/01/this-is-most-powerful-natural.html

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    3. Remember, the question was "twenty years from now". This is one of those things like smokeless ammunition that is a one-off manufactured item that simply cannot be replicated and its replacement must be factored in.

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    4. Yes, I understood Jim. That’s why I suggested some research on the topic. That one recipe that I linked sounded like a powerful alternative. A skilled person with chemistry knowledge might be able to do some really cool things, such as extract penicillin, but that doesn’t apply to the rest of us.

      Natural antiseptics are easier, and you can start with sugar, honey, or pine pitch.

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    5. Okay, sorry, but the reference to purchasing fish meds threw me off, thinking you were presenting that as a solution. Not trying to throw stones in a glass house-I know a lot of times I'm no where clear trying to make a point.

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    6. I think Dr. Darwin was a pretty good answer, really.

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    7. He has a terrible bedside manner, but in the long run he is the best medical help.

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    8. 2 good books:
      Herbal Antivirals by Stephen Harrod Buhner
      Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner

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    9. Just remember, herbs are never at a comparable dose as modern mods. Not to say they are bad, just saying reset expectations.

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  6. 120 ounces of silver rounds.
    Would u get more or stop there?
    Figuring I should get solar panels(300watts) instead of more silver.

    2:48

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    1. Since I believe silver will at a minimum reach golds price now, in current dollars, you shouldn't need more silver. If you don't have debt or a mortgage, or high property tax. If those debts must be covered, get that amount of silver ( figuring $1k an ounce ). Then, have your property tax covered for whatever length you are comfortable. THEN, you ask yourself how rich you want to be ( at the $1k an ounce. And remember, that should be a minimum ) and have that amount of silver. I know, it is tempting to go all in on silver. I wanted to keep buying last year after I turned my bank savings into silver. But as hard as it is, never put all your eggs in one basket.

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