Thursday, April 30, 2020

fiddling in rome


FIDDLING IN ROME
I don't know if this post will be disappointing or inspirational. I'm fiddling while Rome burns. That is, I'm not really doing anything special to prepare, now that we seem to be on about a 95% chance that Crap Just Got Real. If we are not already going through a by gum economic collapse ( ALL others mere “decline”, rather than “collapse” ), few folks will be more surprised than I. Every day I find out how much more fake all the reactions to Beer Virus were, the more real the economic collapse looks.
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But I'm NOT running to Home Despot to buy material to build up my B-POD. I'm not buying up any more storage food. I'm not scrapping up the last of my savings to pay a back-hoe to dig a new hole for an RV, to get the NOL to move out to my property as she refuses to deal with the winters without central heat ( the tiniest heater would make an underground shelter Old People warm. What you and I call Friggin HOT! ). My fifteen year old Full Balls To The Wall preparations have come to an end. Besides the odd hobby level project, I'm done prepping.
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I believe that globalism is already dead. I was of course hoping I was wrong, but I think the Reindeer Games have gone on too long. Even for me, Peak Oil Advocate Poster Boy, I'm surprised the declining PER CAPITA oil supply finally bite us in the ass for the last time. Even hating and despising the Federal government for over thirty-five years, I'm still surprised they are actively killing us, for real this time, with no need for fantasy black helicopters. I SHOULDN'T be surprised. All my wishful thinking we would semi-recover was just me being surprised reality finally met theory.
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One of the side effects of living your reality through the written word. It just isn't the same as experiencing real life. No, I KNEW it was all over. And my actions have reflected this, regardless of my wishful thinking. I'm living now as if global trading is over and done with, and have stopped trying to shop. Yes, I had a few last minute screw-ups I fixed. The disposable batteries. I don't REALLY hold the poor soil conditions here in town against myself, because we won't be staying here too long, more than likely, and my attempts at mini-gardening are just soothing the butt hurt rather than actually doing something realistic.
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I got a few extra things online, mostly pre-buying sterling silver jewelry gifts for NOL, to cover the next years worth of gifts. After a Even More Extra Generous ( and believe me, you all were ALREADY generous to a fault ) couple of donations, I bought a factory made solar cooker ( despite my normal insistence one makes them yourself, this was when I actually thought Beer Virus was far more contagious and had no desire to go out to the store, plus thought Amazon would fail quicker. It still is showing signs, but not widespread. Yet ).
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But I've been over shopping for weeks now. I just pile up Federal Reserve Notes ( outside the occasional book or DVD purchase, mainly to reward myself for not doing any serious shopping ) in a vain hope they will perhaps be worth enough to buy SOME fresh foods down the road. Nor am I taking on projects to make myself feel good about “doing something”. I don't claim I WON'T. I might. I may or may not invest some of my Orange Man Check. I haven't decided, because even despite filing, I don't think it's even going to be sent prior to Total Public Panic.
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What have I been doing? The same thing as the last three years. I'm enjoying the only good and pure relationship I've had my entire life, enjoying the company of a woman who actually likes mine. And I've been doing what I love, writing ( research takes far more time than the writing, but I love that also ). At this point, I'm spinning my wheels. There is also nothing left to buy, for preparations. All we can do now is Top Off. I hope my words are helpful, but I also know by now that I'm merely the band playing on as the USS Titanic takes on water in the upper decks.
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But it doesn't matter, does it? I'm doing what I love. If it doesn't help me live longer, I'm still living BETTER. I never expected to survive, and only prepare in case I do. That, and trying to minimize pain. Not to say I won't try to survive. I will, if for no other reason than to deny someone else that right at my expense. I still want to remove the unworthy from the gene pool before I die. I just think we might be slightly counter-productive by running around like lunatics, thinking frantic effort is going to make much difference.
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By now, we can top off and we can tweak, but we cannot make a world of difference if we aren't already ready. Any prepping now is just for peace of mind, or an occupation to calm our worry. But it won't do anything much in the great scheme of things. So why not take a little time off? Do what makes you happy, as a reward for all your hard work and sacrifice already made. I'm not suggesting wallowing in counter-productive behavior, of overdoing the sloth and luxury. We still must keep up the exercise and vigilance. But could it hurt to take it easy, for once? To enjoy life.
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I look at it like if you were studying for a test. You can cram all night long, and after a certain point you learn nothing else as your brain shuts down. You'll do better on the test if you got a couple hours of sleep instead of trying to study up to the last minute. Stop, take a breath. Reward yourself. Relax. Stress, lack of sleep, lack of food and lack of down time, all that is coming up shortly. Your mind isn't like a machine that can run 24/7. It needs down time. We need a Zen like state of calmness for what is coming.
( ADDENDUM-yes, I just went shopping, after a long spell staying home.  But for me, that is just a tweak.  To me, four more months of calories is JUST topping off, not serious preps )
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click HERE )
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note: Trump declares the meat processors essential businesses, overrides governors, Defense Act will force the companies to continue production.  I'm no fan of Orange Man, but credit where due.  Let us hope it isn't too late for this reprieve to work
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note: free for today books, EMP HERE 
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34 comments:

  1. Bison wrote: "Trump declares the meat processors essential businesses."

    I have watched some videos that say the well-publicized meat plant closures were done intentionally so that meat production and processing can be nationalized.

    Of course, the elites want us to have no meat and poor diets.

    These days it is hard to tell which news is 'good' and which 'bad'. Everything is so convoluted now. The only way to tell is by knowing what their agenda is: total control of a reduced population.

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    1. I don't know if I buy into "nationalized". We ain't socialists. More fascists. I'd guess, and yes this is just a SWAG, this is about industry bail-outs and de-Uninionization. And of course, 500% increase in retain prices ( it almost got there, 2009 ). You can never have enough hookers and blow, or summer cottages at Martha's Vineyard. Or yachts, with blow for ballast and hookers for sailors.

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    2. re:
      David Geffen brags he is safe on his yacht in the Caribbean

      Geffen.
      I read his semi-authorized biography.
      I say 'semi-' because he started working with a ghost-writer, then changed his mind... then changed his mind another sixteen-dozen times.
      Can you imagine him as your boss?

      Geffen owns several recording companies including the holders of contracts with Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, Mamas and Papas , and thousands of other bands and performers.
      Geffen and his DreamWorks SKG -- S for Spielberg, K for Katzenberg -- own most of the programming coming out of 'Hollywood'.
      Together, they own around two-thirds of a trillion dollars.
      Trillion with a 'T'.
      Hundreds of billions of dollars in their wallets.
      This gives them the ability to decide the slant of anything on televisionprogramming and movieprogramming and radioprogramming and musicprogramming.
      Geffen gets a percent of every music download to telephones and computers.

      If they were honest, I would have no problem with their propaganda.
      But they seem to need to hide their motives.
      Think back to the caricatures of other races in Lost Raiders or Jurassic Park.
      They portray them as mindless laborers and savages.

      I think this's a shame, a lost opportunity.
      Instead of working to bring everybody together, they incite division.
      My brain doesn't work that way.
      How can power and more power be so important?
      I don't get it.

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    3. 10:05-yes, corporate and gov are fascist. Nazis ( not Spaghetti Slurpers ) a long time role model, a permanent war time economy

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  2. I have felt for a long time that most in the prepper community are just doing a game of Role Playing. But that ain't you, Bison, so I don't like the 'defeated' vibe to this post.

    All of your tough experiences in life have already hardened you. Military, trailer living, fucked by divorce, alcoholic spouses, shitty jobs, etc. Yet you had the balls to buy junk land in a high desert and make a go of it. That is beyond admirable. You are tougher than you know. It will pay dividends to you.

    The Hank jr. song "A Country Boy Can Survive" is applicable with you. So enjoy your respite in town with your much deserved new partner, but don't sell yourself short with any kind of doubt of what you are still capable of when the need arises.

    Nothing beats experience. And you have had tough experiences in Spades, my friend.

    Stay strong. Peace.

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    1. Perhaps more weary than normal. I think I need a target to focus my rage on, to motivate. Too many potential targets now, all obscured by the fog of collapse. Who to hate?

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  3. Right. Jim your writings are depictive of a near parallel stationary pause that I also have adopted as of late, kinda by circumstances. I am using the environmental conditions created by this chicom virus bio warfare attack or just the flu bro incident and the follow on .gov/systems reactions thereof to adjust focus from outside of compound activities to a more reflective and internal housekeeping regrouping activities mode of operation. Like a John Wayne movie line "been doing some drinking thinking" as a disconnect exercise for better strategy and planning. The true war or conflicts in our future is mostly going to be head games and skullduggery, not flir queered beard boys chomping all tough guy on the old lady's homemade crummy dog meat jerky. Don't spaz out and be that guy. Darting out from some snuggly cover just as a dork's reaction to nerves and running into some small arms alleyway traffic is not cool. Stay frosty.

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    1. I still have my spaz moments. Heroically trying to contain...:)

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  4. "Trump declares the meat processors essential businesses"

    As a loyal minion to our Lord of the Supreme Coiffure, I have been listening to you preach the good word of preparedness.
    In the past I have canned my own hamburger, for use in spaghetti, and sloppy joe's as such. It's just a lot of work browning and draining the fat before putting it in the jars to process.

    I have found a suitable replacement for short term (a year or 2 past the BB date.) Our local store carries the Keystone meats that are already canned. I just scored 8 more of the big tins for $6.98 each. I still would can my own in jars, if I wanted something to last 10 years or so.

    So if there are any sharp eyed minions going up and down the aisle, look for the cans now, and grab what ya can. My store had be out for the past 3 weeks, I guess after I cleaned them out again, it's going to be another 3 weeks. 😲
    This is what they look like. The website is all sold out for now.

    https://keystonemeats.com/canned-meats/heat-serve-ground-beef/

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    1. Even if they don't run out of meat, the canning jars are looking pretty sad-almost no stock. I know it is just JIT breaking down, but I swear if it wasn't that, the gov was targeting prepper equipment.

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    2. Look to inexpensive canned seafoods as fill ins as well. Makeral, sardines, etc are cheaper cost per ounce than most animal meats. The variety to your table fare will also help your appocalypse times seiged in your hermitage position dining experiences. Stay frosty.

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    3. I am admittedly prone to conspiracy, especially in regards to .gov, but I dont think they're to blame for lack of canning supplies. Around my AO, its very seasonal and only the barest of supplies are on the shelves until right about this time of year. With shipping and logistics being jacked up right now, a lot of it is probably just sitting in warehouses in the middle of nowhere. On top of that, there was that cutie from Waco that made "country chic" so hip & happenin' with her TV show, that a lot of canning supplies are being scooped up by folks with no intention of ever canning with them, they're purely decorative. Hell, the biggest supply Ive seen lately was at a Michael's arts and crafts store. Of course they only had jars and lids and not all the other stuff you udually find with canning supplies, but they had a lot of it. Of course, CA Bay Area isn't exactly a hot bed of self reliant folks so Id imagine the demand for canning stuff is a lot less here than in say Amish or LDS territory. Pure speculation on my part, but I think the .gov has bigger fish to fry than keeping preppers away from canning supplies.

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    4. I think I wrote it confusingly. How about: If I didn't know better, I'd swear the gov was screwing with the prepper supplies. But I know it is just JIT breakdown.

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  5. You've got a ringside seat to the greatest show on planet earth (albeit dark and evil) so load up on popcorn and lots of butter. It ain't easy being a casual observer and staying out of the drama stream designed to catch hair on fire but hey, pat yourself on the back (or head) cuz you saw it comin' and you're sitting pretty.

    Keep the noise at bay and dream of happier times while you still can....before Rome really does burn down all around us. Shakespeare got it right...."All the world's a stage." -RB

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    1. Wasn't Shakespeare also for killing all the lawyers?

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  6. Keystone ain't bad but we always had Werlings out of Ohio. They are a bit pricier than Keystone but better.

    ... Trump declares the meat processors essential businesses, overrides governors, Defense Act will force the companies to continue production. I'm no fan of Orange Man, but credit where due. Let us hope it isn't too late for this reprieve to work...

    Yeah it resembles Reagons Federalizing the Traffic Controllers. You vill work and gloriously walk into those ovens slaves...Vee haff many not working to replace the fallen ones. The need of the many will justify the sacrifice of a few. Not only kicking the can but devouring souls too.

    I'll never stop preparing on a building sense , it is what I do to occupy my mind and exercise the body. Plus it provides one of a kind things just for us. As you know , if you enjoy your work ...it sooths the soul.

    Buddy of mine got his check...he stocked up in medical mj lol.
    Bet he's relaxed ha ha

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    1. I look at it this way. Foreigners are coming in to be slaves at the meat plants. They breed and replace us. Do I give a crap about their working conditions? No. Indirectly, they are at war with me. Murphy the Muslim comes in from Crapville Africa, employment guaranteed. I WANT his dingus to get caught in the machinery, or in eighteen years Murphy Jr is voting Democrat. I have zero compassion for immigrants. And I want to see heads on spikes for those supporting this system. If I wanted to see immigrants take over the country, I'd have voted Obammy. The Unions are a more nuanced issue, admittedly.

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    1. I'm impressed. More by what you've done, rather than what you've bought. But impressed that you are being self-sufficient AND have excellent stockpiles. Now if you could only make ice cream grid down

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    2. Churn, rock salt, dairy, sugar, flavorings, hmmm easy peasy. Kids get those baked potato biceps making them crank that churn. Stay frosty with your treats.

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    3. Wouldn't be difficult in winter but who wants ice cream when it's freezing out ? But really ya only need cream and sugar with whatever flavor you're going make it.

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    4. Stupid question. Do cows give milk with limited feed and little to no heat in the winter? Fun filled fact: thee have been studies recently that suggests more ice cream is consumed in winter than in summer. Of course, grid up central heat queers the equation.

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    6. Goldie locks,
      Do human women still produce milk for their young in winter ? With limited feed , all mammals produce less milk of course...sometimes scare me with your udder lack of where and how food gets made...

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    7. Don't know about winter vs summer consumption of ice cream. Being an occasional addict of the stuff and consideration of the fact winter doesn't happen here.
      I tend to binge on it throughout the year when the urge hits me.

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    8. Someone is a grumpy old humper today. I asked, given limited feed and LACK OF HEAT, will milking be disrupted. Since humans don't produce milk during a famine, I imagine there are other causes of disruption, and wonder at what point cows dry up if they are burning calories for warmth, or go too long ( how long? ) without excess feed or proper feed. We are apes, an animal. Not too dissimilar, if we were being raised for food. Just got the "udder" on the third reading.

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    9. DG- here is a PDF of the book "Sunshine To Dollars". Lots of solar projects, one is using the guts of a small dorm size fridge to make your own ice. Need salt water ( buy the bags of water softener salt, must be sodium chloride, NOT potassium chloride if also using for consumption ) and a inverter and solar panel. Constant draw is only about 90 watts. A couple hours gets you a block of ice. You can then use the old insulated box as an old timey Ice Box. So, more than just a way to make ice cream.

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    10. Duh. Link:
      https://archive.org/details/SunshineToDollars/mode/2up

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    11. My Lord,

      FYI: Lack of heat is not at all an issue with dairy cows. The cows themselves are a 1300 lb heater. Put a herd together in a barn and you will be wearing short sleeved shirts when you milk them, even if it's 30 below zero outside.

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    12. Okay, thank you. All I know about cows and northern climes is that they don't really raise them here anymore. The blizzard of 1880-something wiped out a lot of beef cattle. I image it was all free range and done on the cheap, so no shelter or winter feed. And I knew cows didn't do well in Greenland after the warm period ended for the Vikings-but I had no details.

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  8. “the tiniest heater would make an underground shelter Old People warm”


    Check out this short (2 min) video on the Anderson shelter Jim. There’s a very simple solution offered for heating. The cheerful demeanor of the narrator, as London is being bombed nightly, admittedly, is somewhat ironic. Just take the usual precautions for ventilation, smoke/low oxygen, carbon monoxide, etc (I know that I don’t have to tell you this. But there seems to be an increase in the number of people these days, that can’t walk and chew gum at the same time :D )


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHyxP3epU-w

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    1. The Apartment People had everything done for them, so idea how it all works. You know, like meat grows on Styrofoam trays.

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  9. Ordered Walmart end of March, called last eve, 2 hour wait on line, asked where.
    Is my rice, oil, etc. Told it was lost in shipping, and sending out my order immediately, ha, split order, and instead of east coast ship from left coast this time.
    You have it IF ITS IN HAND. LORD BISON U DA MAN !!!

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    1. We think it is bad enough, but what if the shipping situation is far worse than we've thought we've figured out? What if the food waste on site is transportation, not lack of destination? Well, you got my attention now. I'm awake!

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