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Category: march to war

Fri. Aug. 13, 2021 – Friday the 13th falls on a Friday this month

Hot and humid, some rain somewhere in town. Yesterday I managed to miss all the rain. Wherever I was it was sunny and hot, but I could see the T storm cells in the distance. Two of them parked over neighborhoods near mine for a while. LOTS of rain came down in a short time.

I spent my morning taking the puppy to the vet for the last of his vaccinations. He was very sore afterwards, and he really doesn’t like the rectal thermometer 🙂

Then I did some pickups, and spent some time talking with one of the auctioneers about taking a bunch of my stuff. He’s game. I told him about a box truck worth, and he seemed ok with that. We talk again on Monday. That would be awesome to get a huge whackload of stuff out of here at one go.

I’m really getting concerned about unloading as much as I can as quickly as I can. The pace of our slide toward violence and civil disorder/war seems to be accelerating. There are blue check mark people (ie real people) on twitter calling for the un-vaxxed to be lined up in front of ditches and machine gunned. They are saying that society should be making the unvaxxed lives miserable until they lose heart and give in. I note that they are saying these things expecting pats on the head and agreement. On the other side, parents are chasing school board members to their cars yelling at them that ‘we know where you live and we’ll find you.’ IN PERSON and on video.

Petty and violent crime are up all over the country, and respect for the law is at lows we haven’t seen in decades. That might be partly because we are no longer ruled by law, and people are waking up to that. Criminals will always see it first and act first to take advantage of it. Ordinary people, who are growing madder by the day, will start soon. Every crime or slight will carry the death penalty WROL. (or without EFFECTIVE rule of law anyway.)

Extremists are getting more extreme. Rhetoric is heating up. Interpersonal violence and official violence are increasing. Add in an invasion of literally ‘the great unwashed’ to the tune of over 1 million, all of them legally criminals, many undoubtedly actual “criminal” criminals. The world political and economic situation continues to deteriorate. When was the last time you saw an article about Greece and its financial issues? When did the EU banks have their last stress test? Anyone think those situations have been made better by the last year and a half of lockdowns and trade disruptions? Is Paris burning cars this summer? How is Venezuela doing? Cuba? How about the failed narco-state to our south?

Then look to our own issues of governance. Even the edges of the mainstream are starting to question Biddn’s mental state. His wastrel son’s laptop is the gift that keeps on giving and someone is doing mental scale balancing of Biddn’s perceived power vs. the money to be made off the scandal. No one wants to be Epsteined, but recognizing the lion is toothless makes people bolder.

Our economic situation hasn’t improved. In every other instance in history, writing a bunch of checks you can’t cover except by running the printing presses has led to inflation. History HASN’T ended. We are seeing inflation. We expect inflation. Why is it so hard to BELIEVE in the bad things inflation brings? Your fixed income becomes ZERO. Your life savings becomes ZERO. Your wages quickly drop to near zero. And in the middle of this, TPTB have decided to fire at least 30% and possibly as much as 50% of their staff with vaccine mandates. Isn’t everyone complaining about a labor shortage? How does reducing the pool of available labor help that? People have lost their minds, and are not making rational decisions. That is a VERY BAD SIGN.

I know. I’m doom and gloom. It comes with the territory. But. Show me the alternative. Make the case that things are getting better.

And if you can’t, you need to start acting. Nothing irrevocable. But there is a lot you can do before it gets to that point. People are moving. Sarah Hoyt (who we sometimes link) has. Our own Jenny saw the possible very local bad things coming and acted. RBT did several years ago. Several other bloggers I read have moved too. Lynn has his gennie installed. Others of you have taken steps too. A fair number of you have casually moved in the last couple of years…

It probably deserves more thought and a lot more words written, but I think we are past the point where a ham radio license and some Baofeng radios will help. Alternative comms ARE going to be needed, but I don’t know what it will look like yet. Alternative food, water, power, sanitation, and healthcare are going to be higher on the list. Alternative income. Alternative security arrangements. Alternatives to going to work every day. Those are the things to prioritize now.

The more stuff you have stacked, the more skills, knowledge, and trustworthy friends you have, the more ALTERNATIVES you will have.

Keep stacking what you need.

Keep your head on a swivel and your options open.

nick

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Tues. Aug. 10, 2021 – stuff to do today, and kids at home

Hot and humid, chance of rain for parts of Houston. Yesterday didn’t get as hot as some days last week, but still crossed 100 in the sun. It wasn’t much cooler in the shade either. Stayed mostly sunny all day at my house. I’m thinking today will be pretty much the same. We do have a disturbance headed for Cuba, that might make it to the Gulf in a week, but it seems early to call that one.

Spent the day getting caught up on office and household stuff. Cut the back yard, restocked some of the cabinets. I need to do some shopping pretty soon too.

I’ve got a couple of pickups that need to be done, and no good route to combine them, small things for the house mainly. I like to combine trips for gas and time savings. Can’t always though.

Kids are at home this week so that limits me too.

I’m still pretty sore and stiff from swimming and jumping off the rope swing at the lake. My manboobs are aching. I’ll say it again, and maybe it will finally sink in that “I really need to start stretching again.” Before I can do any exercise, I need to get the planks of wood tenderized into bending again.

No way I will be doing any running or jogging, and especially no rucking, but it would be nice not to be so stiff. Just moving through my day isn’t enough any more. When to find the time though…

Garden is still producing tomatoes, although they are golf ball and racquetball sized. Caterpillars made their appearance and tried to eat what was left of my grape vine. I got them sprayed and might have saved something. No peaches again this year. Cabbage is still one plant with a baseball sized head, and two with just leaves. Collards are trying to grow, but not vigorously. At least the herbs are doing well, oh, except for the rosemary. I have killed another rosemary bush. We use a lot of rosemary too so I’ll be replacing that as soon as possible. Blueberries were done last week, and I’ll be able to take the bird netting down. Apple tree is still ok, no fruit, but the branches are thickening. I need to think about the fall garden soon, despite the 100F days.

There is always more to do and to be done. Somewhere near or in the back yard there is a dead rat. I can smell it, but can’t find it. Joy. I put poison in the garage after finding a box of Mountain House that had been nibbled on, so I’m looking forward to a dead rat in there too. Almond joy.

On top of all the daily normal stuff, and the backlogged stuff, I should know what my brakes and suspension work will cost later today. I’d like to have the Ranger back so I can get the body work done too. Or use it to move auction stuff around town. I need it done and back to work.

So much to do, so little actual desire to do it. I know I need to. I know I’ll feel better ticking the boxes off as the stuff gets done, but I’m weary of the grind. Worst possible time for that too. Oh well. Grinding away is something I’ve got plenty of experience with. It’s just not always the quickest way to get through the list.

Speaking of lists, besides knowing who would rat you out and who might help you, you might want to cast an eye around looking for resources too. If nothing else, it will help you see the area around you the same way the opportunists and criminals will. Start putting stuff away, and making your place less attractive to violence or bad actors.

And stack the stuff you like- buy it when you see it, and get out and look for it. Don’t count on anything being there at the same time you want it. Those days are probably gone for a while.

nick

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Mon. Aug. 9, 2021 – back home, stuff to do (‘natch’)

Maybe raining and hot today, maybe just raining and humid, or maybe just sunny and hot. Weather liars. I can be one of them…

It was a bit cooler at the lake with the breeze coming across the water, but in the sun, and out of the wind? It was STEAMY.

We did learn some things on our trip. We want trees on the lot. The difference it makes is dramatic. Many of the lots we’ve looked at online are as bare as a golf course. The grass grows better, but that’s about the only plus. Trees and shade are very important for comfort…

There are a lot of really sketchy decks and porches on lake houses. Especially given that the building code for decks has been dramatically upgraded in the last decade, the decks I saw were terrifyingly under built. Not a lot of code enforcement at most lake communities, and a whole lot of DIY.

I know very little about marine architecture, but I can recognize deferred maintenance and weather damage. Everyone I’ve talked to confirms that anything having to do with boats costs a LOT, and docks are no exception. One of our friends told us at the very beginning of our search to get a property with a good dock. Having talked to a bunch of lake home owners, I now have a better idea of why. And I can say with relief, at least we’re not looking at salt water. Bulkheads- improving the water’s edge with steel or concrete panels to prevent erosion/wave damage, are apparently $2700 PER FOOT. Yep, you want a property with good bulkheads. The takeaway is there is a LOT of money ‘hidden’ in the infrastructure. You buy the house and especially the view, but you PAY (through the nose) for the stuff most people overlook.

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There are lots of people out in web land making very good arguments for getting away from the cities to avoid what seems to be inevitable at this point. Lot of other people are making very good arguments that for work or access to healthcare or other reasons they need to stay close. I’m inside the second ‘ring road’ of a ‘purple’ city. I feel a lot better about Houston than I would about Chicago or Philly, but I still would like to have somewhere to go if need be. The simple thing would be to just get some cheap property, or a small lot in a small town, and maybe put a trailer on it, but that wouldn’t pass the spouse test.

The end is always nigh, but it usually doesn’t actually come. That means that any out of town property will have to fill an ordinary need or want, not just be a BOL, or “only if things get really bad” retreat. That does complicate things, but life is complicated. Add in the crazy run up in prices for anything outside of cities and it’s even harder to balance needs vs wants vs making good choices.

Think about where you’d go if you couldn’t stay where you are. Think about family or friends, or owning your own property. Think about what would make you leave, when or if you’d come back, what you’d take, what you’d burn on the way out… Even if you don’t do it, thinking about it is helpful. A lot of prepping is asking ‘what if?’ and answering to the best of your ability. For most things, you need to go ahead and take the next step and actually DO some of the things you’ve identified, or you don’t get the benefit.

Some things are so expensive or difficult that doing the thought experiment is the closest most people will get, and the benefit STARTS with the thoughts. Mentally rehearsing can be very useful, and having a plan is always better than trying to think something through under stress and ‘in the moment’.

Ike said that “in preparing for battle, plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Get to planning. Think about what might be coming and what that will mean for you personally. Do what you can. Stack it high.

nick

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Fri. Aug. 6, 2021 – this time for sure…

Hot and humid, chance of rain. Again. Like Thursday. Overcast all day, then some sprinkles, and it got cooler later in the day.

Wife and kids hit the road for the airbnb lakehouse, and I set out on my errands. First stop was my mechanic with my Ranger. I have the feeling it’s going to be a bunch of money. All the rubber bushes are ‘perished’. I’ve got a stuck caliper. I’m guessing new rotors and pads all around, and at least one caliper. I’ll know more Monday.

Then it was switch vehicles and off to my buddy’s gun store. Had a couple of people in waiting for their checks to come back, and a couple of random ‘concerning’ people. Crazy angry chicks that talk a lot can take up a lot of your attention. I lost track of a HUGE sketchy guy when I got distracted. Fortunately it was because he got done casing the joint and left. Lot of people case the place, none come back. I guess I should add “so far”. They had a few guns in inventory, but not many. No ammo.

Then it was on to my secondary where I spent about 4 hours moving stuff around and literally stacking some stuff. I can see floor, which is a big change. I intend to head over there today and do some more too. I want to be able to lot up some pallets of stuff next week.

I am hoping that my newest possibility of an auctioneer will be back from his mom’s funeral and back at work next week also. That way I can move a whole bunch of stuff to his place and out of my places. Having some sales from that would be nice too.

At some point during the day, I’ll head home, shower and hit the road for the lake. After all, it’s possible (I rate it ‘unlikely’) that I’m wrong and the world isn’t about to puke up its guts and rearrange things for the next period of about 70 years. I wish I could ask my grandmother how it felt in 1939, or ’40, or ’41. How she felt about the world, and if all the preparation and groundwork the government was doing affected her. I wonder if she saw what was happening in Europe and recognized that big change wasn’t done yet. I’ve got a feeling that these are ‘the good old days’ and I need to do my best to be sure the kids know what ‘good times’ look and feel like. Yeah I know, sounds overly dramatic and maudlin. But the US Civil War happened. The nazziz rose to power in Germany. Mussolini rose to power. Japan made their hubris filled miscalculation… there is absolutely no reason why similar things can’t happen again. History hasn’t stopped and humans are pretty much the same as they were 70, 700, or 2000 years ago.

The pace of change and the vitriolic rhetoric seem to be heating up. I’ve been feeling some urgency for the last couple of years to get all my unnecessary stuff out of here and the rest sorted out, but now I’m REALLY feeling it. Nobody is going to be buying any of this stuff if the world suddenly goes pear shaped. And it will be sudden.

Use the time you have to get squared away. Stack needful things.

n

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Thur. Aug. 5, 2021 – maybe headed out, maybe not

Hot and humid, chance of thunderstorms. Got the tiniest bit of rain late in the day yesterday, after a nice, slightly cooler day with a lot of overcast. Since it was under 100F I did some work at my storage unit. Still got soaked to the skin with sweat.

Spent the rest of the day doing small things, like getting my tire repaired, taking daughter the younger to the library. She had a book on hold that came in and was fairly vibrating with NEED to have it. She’d mostly finished it by bedtime. It was my first time in our local branch library, and it was full of weirdos. Yeah kid, I’m not sending you there alone. Another fallen institution. I spent hundreds if not thousands of hours alone at our local library when I was a kid. Now it’s full of homeless and degenerates.

Wife let the kids stay up late, until midnight, so not rising at the buttcrack of dawn this A.M. to get the car loaded. We had a talk and I may stay behind and then join them for the weekend. That will get me two more good working days that I really need. Between the truck maintenance and the auction clearing out and setting up, I’m falling further behind every day. If I keep posting throughout the day, I’m probably at home.

On a different note, scrap prices are back up. I took some of what I was throwing out to the scrapyard and got 60c/pound for dirty aluminum, and 67c/lb for stainless steel. Even regular steel brought 6c. $15 of the $53 was triple my money by selling off the cr@p that came with a lot of shelving I won last week. Go me. The columbians who bought out the previous owner have managed to clear out almost all the scrap that had piled up on the grounds and in the building. It’s quite amazing. I guess prices got to the point where they were motivated to move it all.

Now I need to keep moving and get more stuff out and sold or scrapped.

Maybe there is still some time left before the shooting starts. I was shocked to read Slow Joe’s comments on the eviction moratorium. He swore to uphold the Constitution, not look for ways around it. If we needed any confirmation that rule of law was dead, his statements about that put the final nail in the coffin. I know the guy isn’t a genius, and his ‘well spoken’ President often lamented that the Constitution got in the way of what he wanted to do, but to come out and say plainly that you know what you are doing doesn’t pass muster, but the length of time it takes the courts to address it will make it moot, so you’re gonna do it anyway, is just freaking nuts.

ANYTHING is possible under color of law now. ANYTHING. The Curmudgeon in charge over at https://adaptivecurmudgeon.com/ has some observations that are worth a consideration.

Irrational people are breaking things. They complain that the “other” is a terrorist, or a disease vector, or “bad for the earth”, or racist, or whatever. There’s a purpose to that. They’re working themselves up into evil actions. Once a person believes “others” must be “corrected” (by force if necessary) they can enjoy a righteous frenzy. Make no mistake, they will enjoy it. They seek to unload their hate and bloodlust. They want to experience the ecstasy of hurting “the other”; their society, their fellow citizens, friends, family, and neighbors. Most people would rather destroy than create. It’s the nature of man. It’s only civilization which keeps it at bay. So, they destroy civilization too. When the smoke clears and time passes, if they’re still standing, they’ll try to remember some version of events that makes them blameless, or even heroes. A few will repent, but it will mean nothing to the ashes under their feet.

This isn’t new. This has happened before. There are countless examples of whole societies losing their damn mind, working up to a religious fervor, and running amok…

Go and read it.

Then stack some more of everything. Keep in mind that money in the bank isn’t. The people that turned in Anne Frank were following the law and the people hiding her were breaking it. And no one cares about you as much as you do. Plan accordingly.

nick

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Tues. July 20, 2021 – “Next time, there’ll be no next time, you go to jail right now.”

Hot and humid, rain later, part sun. Heavy rain somewhere in Houston. Like yesterday.

Started out sunny and hot, later got rainy and cooled off a bit. Rained in patches all over town. I managed to find it in several places.

Did a pickup, and went by my secondary, but didn’t get anything done. Spent over an hour in traffic beyond what it should have been and that ate the free time. I was able to go by the place I buy propane and refill 5 bottles. It’s been a while. $10/ BBQ tank. I feel better with the stockpile refreshed. I’m reminded that I want to buy a propane conversion for my Honda 3000i. Forgot about that.

Took surface streets home from my secondary and was frankly shocked by the increase in homeless encampments… Every overpass had a few tents or improvised squats under it. Most corners had at least one beggar, and many had 2 or 3. More women too. It’s only been a couple of weeks since my last trip through the area and the change is dramatic. My route took me through areas that are predominantly lower income and subsidized housing, mostly for blacks. I can see the demographics shifting to hispanic though. Like so many places, all the illegals are displacing the blacks.

There is some good news in my neighborhood too. There is a bunch of new residential and commercial building going on. It’s right in areas that I predicted it would be in, but I once again didn’t buy property in the right place or time and I missed out.

Spent some time looking at my neighbor’s roofing contractor and how he works. It’s pretty low quality work, and there are a whole bunch of sketchy things going on. I definitely don’t want to be the one this guy or his crew blames if the owner ends up dissatisfied, but I also don’t want a bunch of cr@ppy work done right next door. It’s gonna depend on what the owner does now, and how he does it. For all I know, the crew is family and he’s on board with the cr@p work. Might need more cams.

I did get some of the sketchy behaviour on camera, and while reviewing that I saw that my lawn guys finally got here. I had just cut the grass hours before though. They did edge and blow and it does look better than before they were here. I guess I’ll be paying them, even though I did the bulk of the work. If I was here I might have waved them off, but I wasn’t and they did do work. Frustrating.

I felt better during the day than I had the day before, so whatever it was seems to be passing. I think I’d still like to see an ENT specialist to make sure nothing is wrong with my ears or sinuses. Either can lead to dizziness.

Puppy had a good day with no serious accidents and only one puddle on the tile floor after dinner. He’s been really good about getting to the door and getting our attention, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m glad for the progress we’ve made.

The post title is from a funny little song by Louis Prima and Sam Butera, but the application is maddening. TPTB, when they’re not bragging about what cowards they are, are making examples of the Jan 6 protesters- to discourage the others. I think they are going to get some unintended consequences, at about 1200 fps if they keep this nonsense up. When you kill rule of law, and dance on it’s corpse, you shouldn’t be surprised when people act as if there is no law. They are creating the monster they most fear, and SHOULD fear. Equal treatment under the law is dead.

Things are NOT calming down. Take that under advisement.

And keep stacking.

nick

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Thur. July 8, 2021 – flyin’ by…

Hot and humid, chance of rain. Might be sunny. Yadda yadda. Well, yesterday started cool, got hotter, got sunnier, and then ended hot and sticky. Lots of mosquitos in the yard too.

We are working on housebreaking the new puppy, which means sitting outside while he sniffs the entire yard looking for the perfect spot to NOT do his business, until we give up and let him back in the house. Then within a minute, he’ll have soiled something… so I’m getting reacquainted with sitting in the sun in the yard, swatting bugs. Joy.

Spent the day mostly not getting stuff done. I did get pickups done at two different auctions. One was half household stuff, the other half stuff for my non-prepping hobby, the other was all household. Got a tiny little dog life jacket for the new little guy. Fits him, and is even a bit big. He doesn’t like it at all, but if we ever find some lake property, we’ll need it. Got some pink safety glasses for the girls in my wife’s troops. If they’re gonna do woodworking with saws, hammers, and screwguns, they need safety gear. Got some small sized gloves for them too.

I did not get daughter two signed up for a day at the rock climbing gym today, but will get her in for tomorrow. She likes the gym and they had lots of day camps there the summer before wuflu. I will try to send the puppy to day care too. That should break me loose to actually do some work. And I REALLY need to get some auction stuff ready.

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Meanwhile, I think I’m starting to see the shape of the rest of the summer. The Dems in DC are establishing offices in other states for the DC police. Federal police force expansion cued up in 3, 2, 1 …

Chicago will ask for fedgov police or troops as the murders and lawlessness continue to get worse. They already have gangbangers trying to kill each other in the street with ARs firing 3 rnd bursts from 100 rnd Beta mags in broad daylight. I watched the video with my own eyes. Cops are saying “F this noise” and leaving or retiring on the job.

If Chicago falls, NYFC will be the next to ask for help. Cops in NYC are doing the same thing as cops in Chicago and elsewhere. Ie, leaving.

Whoever DC sends will just be more targets for the ‘bangers and revolutionaries who are already targeting cops (at least 3 that I can think of off the top of my head before the triple shooting in Chicago this week.)

NYC and Chicago are already blaming legal gun owners, and the gun manufacturers for the “gun” violence. The word they should be using starts with a “g” but rhymes with “bang”, and not “fun”. They’ll try to crack down even harder on the people who traditionally have just shut up and taken it. Only I don’t think they will this time.

Which should lead to even more sportiness, which the pro agitators will be sure to take advantage of. Their cadre has been blooded now, cycled away from the ‘front’ to share their experiences, and to gear up for the next wave. They haven’t gone home to tend their gardens and make war no more. They’re waiting, organizing, and equipping for the next skirmish.

Then there is the question of outside interference. Some people are concerned that China has used the foreign exchange student programs to pre-position tens of thousands of troops here already. We have a failed narco state to our south, that can move drugs, people, and guns over our border with impunity. THEIR fifth columnists are fully emplaced, dispersed to every city and town in the US, ready to provide an organized force either directly or as harassers. They are savage and have an ideological framework based on the Reconquista, and La Raza movements. If and when they are unleashed, the streets will run with blood and cities will burn.

There are many forces at work, they sense the weakness. Some of them have worked to create the weakness for decades. They’re looking at the fat, bloated, drug- addled Elvis, and they’re ready to kill the King and divide up the kingdom. My only hope is that we’ve been getting ready too, and no matter how much family fights, they all turn on the outsider.

The economy isn’t going to survive something like that. Personal violence is going to go through the roof. The economic engine of the world will stop, and then the whole world is in a world of hurt.

The elephants are dancing. I hope all the mice have a nice little bolt hole ready to hide in. If they don’t, what’s stopping you? Get to stacking.

nick

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Tues. July 6, 2021 – not much to say

Hot, rainy, humid, and more humid. Yesterday was typical Houston, depending on where in town you were, and when, you could have had sun most of the day. Or gully washer thunderstorms. Or both. I was driving around and most of the east and south east of Houston were sunny while I was there. Most of the west and NW got hammered.

Stopped in at my ‘industrial’ auctioneer, and he had left a few items off my last auction. We got that straightened out, and they are in the current one. I’ve got a huge pile of stuff for him, and I can’t even talk to his scheduling person until the 12th… I think I might have to try another local auction house for some bins of stuff. In person contact seems to work much better than anything else for the auction guys in town. Meatspace, it’s important.

Speaking of weather, it looks like TS Elsa is slowing? The last track I saw had it hitting Tampa later than I thought. I can watch it come in on my sibling’s newly installed Nest cam, if I want to… but I don’t think it will be too interesting at this point.

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Lot’s of violence reported this past weekend. NYFC, Chicago, the numbers are getting so high that MSM can’t ignore them. Even my wife made a comment in disbelief about the Chicago numbers, and she’s been purposely avoiding current news lately. Keep your eyes open if you are moving around in the wide world. Go armed if you are able. Have some trauma response first aid nearby.

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There’s a lot of stupidity going around too. More reason to keep your eyes open and your head down. The polarizing elements in our current situation haven’t gone anywhere, they are just getting ready for the next phase, and the next incident.

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I don’t know if we’re having too much water, too much heat, or too little of something else, but I read in different places that there are issues with food production and crop growth again this year. Previous years ate into any stores, bad crops will increasingly have a more immediate effect on the US and by extension, the world. Remember that there were food riots when US producers switched from food production to ethanol production. We still export a lot of food, but every farmer knows that no crop is guaranteed.

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I am seeing a bit of ammo hitting the market, and even a few guns. Prices are still crazy high, but I’d be sorely tempted to buy anyway, because there are a number of things that can cause prices to rise and supplies to decrease, and little that would cause them to drop.

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I think you know where all this is going. We’re already having floods, famine, storms, and plagues, war is next – in some form or another. Keep stacking. Or end up lacking.

nick

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Wed. June 30, 2021 – summer is flying by

Hot and humid, chance of rain. We did get rain yesterday, and sun, and heat (but not terrible heat). Today should be more of the same.

Spent the day mostly indoors, doing a bunch of stuff I’ve put off too long. Paid my toll invoices for driving around without toll tags in my new truck. Put the toll tag in the truck. Did a bunch of other paperwork stuff. Played with the puppy.

Today should be a bit more active. I have to do an auction pickup, and take both kids for their Girl Scout Camp physicals. I’ve got other auction stuff to do too. I was sorting through some stuff to sell in one of the local auctions last night. She’s got a guy who buys all of one particular item that she lists, and I’ve got a bunch of them. She’s waved me off on general items since she has a huge listing backlog, but maybe I can squeeze a dozen of these in. While going through that box of stuff, I might also have found a really good score. I’ll share with the guy who gave me the box though, I’d feel bad taking it all, it’s that good a score, and there were other things in the box that should bring good money on their own.

Part of the fun of thrifting/estate/garage/yard sale hunting is the treasure hunt aspect. You literally don’t know what you will find, and sometimes you do find the treasure.

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Got my FCC license for GMRS about 10 hours after I applied. It’s a “pay the fee and get the license” application, and the license covers your whole family. The FCC isn’t issuing actual hard copies anymore, they just send a link to a pdf. I guess there is very little intrinsic value in the paper, that would make it worth forging. In any case, I’m current for GMRS again. FWIW, I got a new license rather than renew my lapsed one. There were two additional hoops to jump through and a huge fee ($210) to bring my old one current, so I just got a new one ($70 for 5 years) instead.

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There are a lot of people that would make arguments against paying for the GMRS license, working from at least 3 different points of view. Don’t care. I don’t want to give them (.gov) that handle to use against me.

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There are a lot of lists out there. My radio stuff puts me on one or more. My CERT training put me on another. My previous work clients put me on yet more lists. I’m a blogger, which probably puts me on a list. I am on lists with HPD and our Constable’s office, and the associated alumni groups. Purchasing certain items with background checks put me on a list. Visa and Mastercard probably maintain lists based on my purchase history. Amazon certainly does, and likely collaborates with .gov by compiling and selling lists. My school district has me on at least 4 lists. I’ve been to China twice so I’m on lists there, and I’m certain the US State Dept. has me on lists because of my travel to the middle east and the middle kingdom. I’m on a list in Canada, I had a work permit there for several years. I was working on a project subject to ITAR and had to go through that paperwork – that’s another list. At one point in my miss-spent youth, I’m sure I was on some other agencies’ lists as a “known associate”. There may even be criminal enterprises that have me on a list, if they do that sort of thing.

Don’t let the fact that you’ll end up on a list keep you from doing something. There are lots of us on lists, and the more there are, the more noise there is to get lost in. Use the lists to your advantage. I have access to more training activities now that I’m on a vetted list with HPD and the Constable’s Office. The CERT training is very broad based, and definitely worth trading for a spot on a list. So is ham radio. Medical training likewise.

If everyone’s the ‘biggest risk to the US’ then no one is.

Of course, be aware of when you really DON’T want to be on the list, and try to conduct at least part of your life so you don’t get on lists. Especially when it comes to stacking, you don’t want to be on the list of resources to be plundered. And since local is the new hotness, be very careful about getting on your neighbors’ lists… and consider making a few of your own.

You can think of the lists while you’re stacking.

nick

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Mon. June 28, 2021 – if you don’t practice it, you will never learn

Hot and humid, possible rain, and surely some sun. Or some variation on the theme. If you guys are getting tired of the repetition, imagine me living with it 🙂

Yesterday was mixed rain and sun, with plenty of humidity and heat. I did get a bit of work done outside anyway, namely most of the grass cutting.

A quick look at the garden had more tomatoes ripening, lots of green still on the vines. The potted lime has 5 nice fruits on it. The blueberries are still ripening, with at least another half cup of berries ready soon. I harvested the one tennis ball sized onion out of what I planted last year. The grape vines died back almost to the root stock, but one is sending out new growth. It’s about 3-4 feet so far. I need to prune out all the dead grapevine sometime in the future. The herbs are flourishing.

It didn’t take too long to harvest the few things, and pull a couple of weeds.

Really I spent most of the day catching up on my online reading. There is plenty going on in the world and little good in the news. There is continued progress in the new race to space, and that is good, but it’s not something I follow. Of course the news is rarely full of ‘good’ news. Even accounting for that bias, there is a lot of stuff going on. For example, someone in south Chicago shooting up a car in traffic with a full auto rifle and a 100 round Beta magazine, in broad daylight. That is an escalation in the security situation in the city. Likewise, there was yet another daytime shooting in NYFC Times Square.

Nationally, we’ve now got the sitting President telling us rifles aren’t enough to keep the FedGov from killing us, we’ll need F-15s and nukes. It was bad enough when some nobody jerkoff from Cali said almost the exact thing, but now it’s the President? The president who seems more bizarre every day? Who does some sort of scary whisper voice during press conferences and talks about getting in trouble if he doesn’t do what ‘they’ say? THAT president? The same president who’s own party doesn’t trust him with nuclear launch codes?

Nationally, in big cities, and locally we have bad things getting worse. Yeah, doom and gloom. The end is nigh-er… but. Can you make the case it’s not?

And if not, then I hope you’re stacking it high.

nick

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