Sunday, April 28, 2019

apocalypse shopping


APOCALYPSE SHOPPING
I normally keep everyone appraised of my apocalypse shopping.  Usually, though, it is in the comments section, or used as another point of information without detail.  For instance, I’d say “I bought more ammo, about 10% increase in my total”.  Or I’ll say I got another $120 in 303 British as it was on sale for forty-five cents a round.  I don’t get too much into detail, not because I’m secretive but because I’m hazy on them after twenty years of shopping and moving them time and again, in effect hiding what I have from myself. 
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This is good of course, because the more I have hidden and forgotten, the more I buy replacements.  “I know I have that damn rifle bore sighter in here, where the heck is it?  Screw it, I’ll just buy another one”.  In the Hippie Van I know I have coffee.  I bought them on sale at $3.50 a can in 2004 ( ish ).  Since wheat buckets and other heavy items have buried them under the bed frame, I have no idea how many.  Well, I better just double up on what I think I need.  I THINK there is a broken shell extractor under there too, but I’m not positive.  Better buy another!
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You anal compulsive list makers and organizers are cheating yourself out of duplicates.  Disorganization can be your bestest buddy.  Today, just for something different, I’m going to go over my saved receipt from my last prepper shopping trip.  Then, I’ll throw away the list, bury the items under other crap, and forget I have them.  Then probably buying more, if I have time.  The “time” aspect is of course slightly worrying by this point.  Crap just feelz like its going to get real, yo.  I’ll expound on that.
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The primary reason for going to Wally was that I felt I needed more dry ingredients for home-made laundry soap.  I feel like Wal-Mart might be hiding something, what with its store closings and its ( in my view ) desperate foray into Grocery Pick Up Service.  I don’t just pick up onesiers and twosies there, I like getting $40 or $60 at a time ( invest and forget ).  And I know everyone else sells the Borax and Baking Soda Powder, but it is at a much larger mark-up. So I’m stocking up before bankruptcy.
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One thing.  Buy the Baking Soda NOW.  They were marked down to about half price, to $2.48.  Usually that means they are discontinuing that size and replacing it.  Usually with a smaller size.  I usually wait until I can afford both powders and all the soap bars at the same time.  So, for each Borax and Soda I also buy the seven bars of Zote.  Almost $20 per set.  Now, you might want to JUST buy the Soda powder, since this looks like a clearance item, then play catch up on the other ingredients.  The Zote soap already increased by 14% in one foul swoop. 
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So, $10 in soda, $18 in Borax and $28 in soap bars.  $56 so far.  Another $4 into the Antacid Stockpile.  Usually I buy The 400 tablets for almost $7, but they have been having empty shelves there.  Purple Pills, too.  At least half the time, if you have heartburn and go to Wally, expect MORE heartburn as they are wiped out.  But now I think they are just raising prices on the generic Tums.  This is the fifth visit without my regular, so I’m thinking the 90 for $2 will be the new normal. 
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Another buck in toothpaste.  I use the paste, then dip in a box of baking soda to get a much better and cheaper toothpaste than the Crest Pro-Health I used to buy for gingivitis.  I never let my stockpile get down, even by one tube.  $61 so far.  Next up was another ( quart ) case of canning jars for $10.  Right now, after over ninety cans of butter, I’m taking it easy and just stocking the jars a little at a time so I’m ready for whatever I decide to do next.  It will be a little less sticker shock.
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Next, very important.  I got another pair of slippies.  I swear by the one piece plastic shoes.  More slipper than flip-flop, also known as “soccer slides”.  I’m doing almost everything but bike riding in them.  After thirty years walking on concrete at work, they are comfortable as can be.  Plus, they last longer and are cheaper than all other shoes.  If I have to replace them yearly, I’m ahead of most other shoes or boots that cost $50-$100 and last six months.  And I don’t have to replace them yearly.  I’ve stocked up while I can.
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Any day now, the price shoots up and they start using a really crappy replacement plastic.  I have about six pairs of the slides and six of the Croc types.  The generic Crocs I wear in winter with wool socks, the sliders in the summer.  I bought another winter pair for $10, as I also use them on my exercise walks and the arch is getting thin.  Since I’ll be taking from my stockpile, this is a replacement.  First in first out, just in case they won’t store forever.  This brings us to $81.  Next up is Band-Aids.
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I had a blister walking last week.  On my feet for over twenty years at work.  Biking and breaking down and walking into town, up to two hours walking.  Never one blister.  I must have had the hole in my sock slip over my toe just right, rubbing the inside.  I didn’t know I was in trouble until right before the house, and damn, was it a huge nasty wound.  I had to stuff a wad of TP between my toes to separate them and hobble around.  I also finished off the week doubling up on the exercise bike instead of walking once a day, as it healed. 
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I’m sure I’ll hear “moleskin”, but seriously, I thought I had no need for it.  I thought my feet were bulletproof.  Let that be a lesson.  But, I knew I needed to start replacing generic with brand name Band-Aids.  When you need to add scotch tape to keep the bandage on, it is near worthless.  Another $6, total $87.  Sugar to stash, $3.  Cheating, I bought a bag of whole wheat flour on my Prepper Benjamin.  And then tax on most of it, to round out the $100.  That went fast!
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This is the very UN-sexy side of preps.  Everyday items, hundreds of them, you must stockpile, that if taken away from essentials would buy multiples of very sexy semi-auto battle rifles, or FLIR scopes or freeze fried mystery meat cans.  But as I said before, I’d rather have $60 in soap, 150 gallons of liquid soap, than two bottles of antibiotics ( I’d rather have both, but insofar as prioritizing purchases on a limited budget ).  Prevention is the best cure.  And shoes are no laughing manner.  You want hookworm from the warm and wet feces infused soil from the idiots surrounding you?
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You want a stash of toothbrushes and toothpaste, or some tooth pliers?  Again, you’ll want both. Thank you, China, for cheap tools.  But start with prevention.  $20 in nail clippers sounds like a waste of money, like it prevents you from buying another box of ammo.  It also keeps you from getting sick after running out of toilet paper and water wiping your ass.  Trimmed finger nails makes sure no solids are missed in your post-BM hand washing.  And in case you do get worms, make sure to have food grade diatomaceous earth.  Yeah, less fun and sexy than gun gear.  Reality blows.
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click here )
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note: free for today book.  Zombie humorous here.  
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32 comments:

  1. I know I've mentioned it before, but you can go to the pool supply place and get a fifty pound bag of baking soda for what just a few boxes of Arm n hammer costs...it ain't food grade but will work fine for detergent.

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    1. Thanks for repeating, as I don't remember that at all. Good to know.

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  2. Homemade laundry soap. I purchased 2 boxes of the soda and borax and 10 or so bars of Zoe years ago. The soap bothered the wife so I am the only one using it now and I will run out in about 1 more year. I may need to add some more! I do like washing a load for 5 cents worth of soap.

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    1. Have you tried the half gallon at Family Dollar/Dollar Tree for a buck laundry soap for the wife? Next best thing.

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  3. I have to keep paper and pen handy these days for memory aids as I age out past my first half century. I am trying (hard efforts, really) to notate all those "ancilliary" items that are not a 'daily or frequent' usage items but are really nice to haves to go along with my gear kits. Examples just for illustrative aids for Minionites' thinking patterns: I buy and stock up rolls of the white "sport tape" to use as band aids or injury dressing overwraps to seal up and add protection to injuries (fingers hands etc) and thus will last a whole work day. (Looks dorky, but it beats flesh eating bacteria causing amputations and death from scummy workplaces or exposures) I need to get some elastic knee braces or back braces for when I stress or strain injure something I "have" those old peoples things to help out through pains etc. (No medical care is worth seeking, so do for yourself and be better off) Jim, your Amazon tooth dental pliers links are an excellent example to also get that (inexpensive now but priceless come apocalypse needs) item that rounds out a category. Well done, Sir.

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    1. I was motivated on those teeth extractors with the thought of needing to use shop pliers instead. Bad enough I'll need to kill the pain with vodka ( stocked for just that reason ). It was worth the then cost of $15. I like the sports tape idea.

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    2. Yeah, blue bubble package of tape at walmart between band aids and the braces and shoe insoles etc. I worked Security in Vegas casinos so have become a germaphobe and ppe equipment gearhead. All because it is like REALITY! Out there......

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    3. I gave up on security once they shifted to becoming quasi-medic rather than mere security. No way I needed that kind of stress or uncertainty. Not since the casino's ( non-Vegas, anyway ) went to Crap Pay.

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  4. I tried looking up those Slippies, but what I saw looked more like cloth slippers, than plastic shoes. Is that what you’re talking about? Because the concept of shoes made of actual plastic sounds intriguing. They would be easy to make, and they would probably last a very long time, if someone had the insight to produce them. I’ve seen those Crocs, and I like the concept, but they seem more like a slipper. Though I found a version that looks more like a shoe. Something like the Crocs or a homemade tire sandal/shoe, would probably work year round if you wrapped your feet in plenty of wool, and perhaps a layer of leather in extremes.

    https://www.amazon.com/Crocs-Womens-Bistro-Resistant-Nursing/dp/B00E1LFSAG/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=crocs%2Bbistro&qid=1556463797&s=gateway&sr=8-2&th=1&psc=1

    I keep meaning to get one of those dental extraction kits, and also a field surgery kit. I saw on the same page as your link, the full kit for a little more than twice the amount. So rather than the one tool for around $9, you got the complete 9 piece kit for around $25. Such a kit would be worth its weight in gold in the right circumstances. So would the dental repair kit linked below.

    https://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Supply-Emergency-Dental-Kit/dp/B001MA316C

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    1. The generic Crocs is what I use for winter. They just don't have a strap on the back. I can power walk in them, as long as the socks are thick enough. The summer slippies are like this: https://amzn.to/2IN3FQq
      But not an attached upper. It is a one whole piece. And only about $8 at Wally.

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    2. Yeah, those would work, particularly with thick socks for winter time. But they’re also simple enough that you could also go with the tire sandals for a longer lasting option. But I get that it might not be as easy to produce the tire sandals. I’ll have to look into them again, but I do seem to recall that they were relatively simple to produce. You would need a pretty sharp knife, and you would probably want to stay away from steel belted tires. But once made, I’ll bet that they last a good long time.

      Then you could virtue signal about how “green” you are. Leftist idiots eat that shit up :D Though I’m gonna go out on a limb, and guess that you don’t draw much of that crowd :D

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    3. Could you use the side of the steel belted tires? Also, free business model idea. Sell those tire sandals just using guilt. If you don't buy these, you hate Gaia. All other shoes are Child Labor enabling. etc.

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    4. “Could you use the side of the steel belted tires?”


      I don’t know Jim? Most of these newer tires, unless they’re truck tires, have low side walls. Not knowing much about the construction of tires, I don’t know exactly where the steel belting starts or stops. If the side wall has no steel, and it’s wide enough to fit your foot, I don’t see why not. For that matter, it might not matter, as long as you file away any sharp steel protrusions when all is said and done. Who knows, maybe you really want the steel for added durability? I believe that there is also a nylon belted tire being made as well. It would seem that that would be a better way to go for tire sandals.

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    5. I was thinking more on the lines that the sidewall is curved, so perhaps it can't lay flat. Who knows? If nothing else, we'll soon have time and plenty of trial material.

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  5. re:
    acid reflux

    I think your sphincter muscle between your esophagus and tummy is irritated or out of place.

    A chiropractor or Physical Therapist could coax it back into position long enough for the controlling nerve to re-learn its function. This may require multiple adjustments over several months.

    Meanwhile, I suggest you avoid triggers. Common triggers for GERD:
    coffee
    onions
    black pepper
    ginger
    chocolate
    carbonated beverages.

    Activities can mis-place the sphincter == bending to tie shoes or bending to lift an object lower than your hips. The strain by the abdomen muscles forces the tummy up and out of position; the tension forces stomach contents past the sphincter into the esophagus.

    The 'heartburn' you mention is a physical burn to the delicate lining of your esophagus from stomach acid leaking past your sphincter. Imagine burning your arm on a hot oven while fixing breakfast, then re-burning that burn during lunch, and again at supper.

    Some sufferers refuse to adapt to healing changes. As a compensation, they sleep in a recliner instead of a bed.

    Some folks are able to correct the sphincter with a very dilute solution of a couple ounces of warm water with a couple drops of vinegar. A few slow sips should tell you if this approach is helpful.

    Heal or continue slapping band-aids on the burn? Is either decision OK? Sure... or you could wait for TEOTW HTF to be externally forced into changing after the antacids run out.

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    1. I pretty much have most preventives covered. I use a capful of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water every day. I avoid all those foods, except coffee. For that, I eat oatmeal, AND I've added a whole wheat nuke bread-no butter-to my stomach prior to coffee. Since I've started exercising, the bending over part is a lot less worse. Before I barely got on my shoes. Now with the walking toning up the gut, it is getting better. Believe me, it scares the crap out of me going into the apocalypse with this issue. I'm motivated on the lifestyle changes. If I have to eventually give up my beloved coffee, I will. Perhaps wean myself off the caffeine with subbing home made Postum. Hell, I'll probably do that BEFORE I'm forced to. What is one more damn sacrifice to the Gods Of Geriatrics?

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  6. I have learned the hard way that I cannot cheap out on shoes. They might look expensive but compared to foot surgery they are a bargain. Just one more thing I have to accept and deal with.

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    1. These are a spongy plastic. Really like a huge pad you'd put in your shoe.

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    2. They probably don't offer them in size 18's anyway 6 bears lol.

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  7. I enjoy reading a post that can make men and women think.

    Also, thank you for allowing for me to comment!

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  8. Every time I go to the 99 cent store, I pick up some medical supplies that will come in handy. EmergenC has some hydration envelopes for cheap. Toothpaste economy size for a dollar.

    The bad is some of it gets 'pirated away' by my crew, whowould rather shop the larder than the grocery store because of no money required. how does one stop that - loaded mousetraps ? :

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    1. Over the years, evil stepdaughter ( from the last one, #4, or "BTN" ) cost me plenty with her Free Larder Shopping. You have to literally lock it up. Then wear the key around your neck ( with the duplicate buried only you know where ).

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    2. Lock the footlocker, gomer pyle, and there would be no thievery going on.

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    3. No shame, learning to NOT trust family is a shock and learning curve.

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  9. My sandal or footwear workaround was to get the cheapest flat sole skate boarder shoes or Mr. Roger's deck type shoes for general household wear. (Big 5 or discount footwear joint) As I get older I goofily stub a toe on something and am limping for days, not cool. They last a year or two easily, and my toes are protected. Also if I have to roll out the front door with my hk91 and punish some rule offenders, I have fast footed footwear on most of the time.

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    1. Yeah, the inability to run is a bit of an issue with the plastic shoes.

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    2. Yeah, if it weren't for the shoes you could run.

      Ok forest

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    3. How can you run without shoes? And it's "Forrest". I appreciate you are trying to be funny. Please try harder.

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    4. Adding to comments: some fools run down roads and smoothed out surfaces barefoot, no fooling, it is some kinda primal exercise that fully p.t.'s the feet and legs by NOT having shoes on during strenuous exercising. (Makes a bit of nuanced sense) I did it with stretchings, grass week range exercises, you know. I think the Minions being of advanced intellect can use the afore mentioned ideas with grains of salt to come up with a be best work around for things. Keep driving on Jim.

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    5. I can't see running barefoot on roads. The whole point of shoes is to mimic dirt with the cushion/spring. But we all need a hobby I guess.

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  10. I'm gonna use that disorganization is my friend line on The Mrs. I'll let you know how that works for me.

    ;)

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