Hot and humid.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 No kidding.\u00a0 Hot. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Yesterday was hot until the rain, then slightly less hot for a while, until the hot caught back\u00a0 up.\u00a0 It was pretty late before we got back down into the 80s.<\/p>\n
As predicted no real work got done in the garage or driveway while I was running errands.\u00a0\u00a0 The kids did play in the pool for a while.\u00a0 Between my wife forgetting and overfilling the pool, and then 2 inches\u00a0 of rain, there has been a LOT of sloshing out.<\/p>\n
In order to push myself to actually finish the garage\/freezer\/workbench reorg, I ordered a good bit of food that will end up frozen.\u00a0 I also did my normal replenishing.\u00a0 Not much extra canned meat or dry goods, we’re pretty good on them.\u00a0 Meat and frozen fruit and veg are what needs building up.\u00a0 I really hope I don’t end up screwing up another order’s worth of food.<\/p>\n
I’m still filling other holes and gaps in long term preps.\u00a0\u00a0 I’m trying to improve my stores of things I can get cheaply now, but would be very dear if there was a collapse, or long term interruption to “normal” life.\u00a0 To that end, and because it’s what’s in the auctions, I’ve been buying safety gear and PPEs.\u00a0 This auction I got several boxes of safety glasses.\u00a0 Some tinted brown for outdoor work, some clear.\u00a0 I previously got a huge selection of clear with bifocal lenses.\u00a0 They are great for carpentry or soldering, both activities that need safety glasses.\u00a0 Safety glasses are an expendable, and you should have extra.\u00a0 Same with gloves, and workboots.\u00a0 Good fitting ones are essential or you won’t wear them.<\/p>\n
Hearing protection and respiratory protection I took care of last year.\u00a0 I have several boxes of foam ear plugs and I’m set for a while on N95 masks and organic vapor cartridge based respirators.\u00a0\u00a0 I even managed to pick up some more tyvek painter’s suits.<\/p>\n
I’m also considering what I would need to multiply my strength, just like in the old days.\u00a0 I’ve got very good block and fall setups with synthetic rope and a lot of rigging supplies from a previous career.\u00a0 I picked up a dozen spools of 550 cord in various colors at Habitat a couple of years ago, and I’ve added some rope when it became available.\u00a0 Chain and chain binders are incredibly expensive for some reason.\u00a0 Chaining my forklift into a trailer would cost about a quarter of what I paid for the forklift if I did it with new, so I’ve been watching for ways to reduce that cost.<\/p>\n
If I had more land, I’d be looking for gardening power tools.\u00a0 Prepping the soil takes a lot of work and any way to make that easier increases your chances of getting a good result.\u00a0 I wouldn’t turn down some things, but as I don’t have space or the need, I’m not looking for them.\u00a0 Some of you might be in a different place.<\/p>\n
Basic plumbing, electrical, automotive and hardware supplies on hand will save a trip to the store, and can be the difference between a disaster and a disturbance.\u00a0 Of course you need to know what to do with them, but there are lots of resources available to help with that too.\u00a0 This is a good time to practice as you can still get help if it all goes pear shaped.<\/p>\n
Like RBT, I came to consider that, outside of our normal disasters – hurricanes here in Houston – the most likely scenario was an economic collapse or a long slow decline.\u00a0 Civil disorder, up to a civil war was in there somewhere, with global pandemic as a longshot.\u00a0 Pandemic has been a focus of the CDC for a long time (and I constantly referred people to their pandemic preparedness pages as a resource for general disaster prepping), and with ebola in 2014 being in Dallas, I moved that up my list DRAMATICALLY.\u00a0\u00a0 Panic buy fits pretty well.\u00a0 Of course, ebola wasn’t an issue for us here, by the skin of our teeth, but the preps have served me well in what the CDC said was this inevitable pandemic.\u00a0 (Why was the CDC so ill prepared when this was something they’ve been pushing for a decade?\u00a0 I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.)<\/p>\n
So here we are, living in one of the longshot scenarios, generally doing better than we thought.\u00a0 Which is awesome.\u00a0 Unlike some places, we’re not stacking bodies in the streets.\u00a0 But we are also clearly (to me anyway) in the beginning stages of economic collapse.\u00a0 Supply lines are disrupted.\u00a0 Prices are fluctuating.\u00a0 Markets are being distorted by outside forces and have become increasingly decoupled from fundamentals and become more and more like gambling in a casino.\u00a0 Everything is slightly worse than before.<\/p>\n
Trash isn’t getting picked up as quickly.\u00a0 Dumping is more common.\u00a0 Maintenance is being deferred by civic units and individuals (with the caveat that individuals with the means have had more time than usual to do ‘projects’ around the house.\u00a0 The guy with no job isn’t putting up sheds, and painting the siding though, but he might be powerwashing the driveway…)\u00a0 Graffiti and tags are more visible and common, and stay in place longer.\u00a0 Crime increases.\u00a0 Violence for no reason increases.\u00a0 Civil discourse becomes more shrill.\u00a0 People contract their focus and concerns to more local issues.\u00a0 People’s tolerance for the other, the different, decreases.\u00a0 Behaviors become more extreme.\u00a0 Tempers get short.<\/p>\n
Any of that sounding familiar?<\/p>\n
Given where I think we’re headed, it makes sense to me to stock up on the kinds of things I’m stocking.\u00a0\u00a0 I wouldn’t FOCUS on them, as there is still a chance of avoiding the worst aspects of the decline.\u00a0 But it won’t hurt to start putting them aside, especially at low cost and low effort.\u00a0 This assumes you have the basics in place.\u00a0\u00a0 Water, food, shelter, defense, medical, and money.\u00a0 Huge piles of tangibles will probably buy you any of the things you need, so money is the best prep, but money is in kinda short supply too at this point for most people.<\/p>\n
Periods of great change are scary.\u00a0 Lots of destruction.\u00a0 But there are also always opportunities too.\u00a0 Crime goes up, and the guy who can weld burglar bars gets busy.\u00a0\u00a0 Some people are finding ways to prosper in this moment.\u00a0 I believe hard times, however you want to define that, are coming.\u00a0 If you don’t, if you think good times are coming, I’d like to hear why you feel that way.\u00a0\u00a0 Could be I’m missing something important.<\/p>\n
Outside of figuring out what that something is, I’m going to keep stacking.\u00a0 I think you should too.\u00a0 I know it’s getting repetitive, but really and truly I think you can improve your situation and I WANT you to.\u00a0 It’s made a world of difference in my life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
nick <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hot and humid.\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 No kidding.\u00a0 Hot. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Yesterday was hot until the rain, then slightly less hot for a while, until the hot caught back\u00a0 up.\u00a0 It was pretty late before we got back down into the 80s.<\/p>\n
As predicted no real work got done in the garage or driveway while I was running errands.\u00a0\u00a0 The kids did play in the pool for a while.\u00a0 Between my wife forgetting and overfilling the pool,<\/p>\n