Making Decisions

With all that's been going on in this country these days, I've been having to revamp my thinking concerning how I view a SHTF situation and what I'm seeing ain't pretty.

One of the changes I've made due to revisiting the roots of my thinking is what I need more of in the way of preps. The basics and more basics: beans, band aids and bullets. (I neither have the kind of money needed to stock gold and silver, nor do I see them being of much value to the 'common man'.) In addition to enlarging my stock of ammo for my conventional weapons, I've added another weapon. Not much in cost, $223 for the rifle, another $60 in accoutrement's and quite a few hundred more for ammo to feed it. Tons of ammo. (Note the AMMO link to your left.)

OK, maybe not tons more, but more than I can load in the truck in ten minutes without a dolly of some sort.

Not to make any kind of prophecy, but I'm thinking a truckload may not be enough, even in my neck of the woods.

Hopefully, I'm wrong in what I believe is going to happen- I'd love to be, would rather this country can get back on an Constitutional footing without resorting to violence of any kind outside the ballot box. But I don't see it happening despite the new faces bewilderingly wandering the halls of CONgress.

Of course, there's no need to restate what has been so thoroughly covered in other blogs and the news sources, even those we know we can't trust. But I have to wonder, which of these, if not all, are False Flag Events, being used to create a deeper fear in the Sheeple and encourage a mis-step by Patriots?

We all understand how the fed would love a genuine Patriot group to open the dance so they can claim the moral high ground and initiate martial law, or worse. Too, we're all probably getting anxious for the ball to open so we can get this country back on an even keel (trying to not mix metaphors and compliment Mayberry ;) ), but I encourage you to sit back and wait. It won't be long before the Dark Lord and his minions get antsy and do what we need to claim the high ground.

Just be ready, don't sleep or get impatient. Our time is coming soon enough.

Bless God, God bless.

Shy III

Bitter bitter C-O-L-D and Dogs

Dang, was 32 below at 0630 today and didn't rise above ten below all day.

Still, had to get some chores done: fill the woodbox, run the dogs, shiver.

Not that I actually shiver now at ten below- the body tends to get used to cold when you're out in it a lot. Seriously- the more time you spend in the elements, the more accustomed your body is to accepting them, reacts totally different than it does when you baby yourself.

So the dogs and I are panting and frosting the moustache with icicles and I'm watching their tails bob as they lope along. Gawd, those critters love to run! We're zipping past the shacks and I see a thread of smoke rising from one and the dogs are barking up a storm and I'm waiting for someone to come see what the ruckus is about.

No one shows. Oh, well- we met last spring when they began hauling in a trailer load of supplies so it isn't like they don't know who I am. Or the dogs.

But it's watching the dog's tails and their frosty breath-cloud and seeing my glasses fog up from my breath, and I start thinking again about getting some sled dogs.

Like I need another mouth to feed. Especially a dog. Or four. Four minimally for a team. Two dogs couldn't handle any real load on a sled or make having them worthwhile in a survival situation.

So four more it is. Now, what kind?

I don't want monster size critters that eat more than they weigh. Big dogs can do a lot of work, pull heavy loads and, for the most part, ain't too fast. Oh, they can be raced, but most racers have smaller dogs, about 70 pounds (but look like a hundred with all their fur). Long legged pups are out, too. Good for speed, but the longer the leg, the less power they can generate pulling. Don't want a really short legged dog, either. They won't have the lunge to get through much snow. So it's a medium sized dog with leg and body proportionate for me.

Can't really think of anything bad about having a team of dogs other than feeding them and the neighbors not liking the barking- and bark they do. Sled dogs are good for two things. Pulling sleds and making noise when they ain't. Sometimes even when they are.

Ever see a team of sled dogs? Those critters live to run, cannot wait to get into harness and just GO! To have a team for EOW wouldn't be bad: trips to town for whatever and hauling back groceries (if there are any available) or other goodies. Hauling in firewood from fairly distant locales (remember: we're talking EOW, not just a depression). Even or especially with running a trapline or fishing, or hauling the moonshine to customers, dogs could really be helpful.

I wonder if I can trade off these Russel Terrors and Golden for a couple sledders?

Hmmmm...

I sure hope my Lady don't read this post'r I'm dead meat..she likes these mutts!

They're forecasting another 40 below tonight and some windchill to fifty below. Dang- sled dogs are big and furry critters...furry? Foot warmers are furry, aren't they?

Bless God, God bless,

Shy

Ever see such a happy grin on a dog?

Addenda to earlier: News weatherman did a couple of demonstrations during show tonight. It's 26 below and he: drove a 16 penny nail through a 2x4 with a banana that had been frozen outside, and threw a pan of boiling water in the air to show how rapidly it froze: immediately. The water went into the air and became a cloud (the rest of his forecast was obscured by cloud).

Somewhere around 1990 I went out early one morning to start the truck to warm it before driving off. In my hand was a cup of fresh brewed coffee. I got in the truck, set the cup on the dash and immediately proceeded to crack the windshield like a spider web. Learned that lesson quick.

Shy

Toss'n 'n turnin'

"Dear Bessie;" the letter begins, typed the old-fashioned way on a spooled-tape typewriter...

"...I do remember you, but you were not very big then. But I sure do remember Albert and Irene. They were the best neighbors we ever had.

"I remember one winter day when I was sick with the flu. We heard a noise outside and there was Albert with his team and sleigh, unloading wood outside the door. They were that kind of people.

"...Albert and I had been helping the county build roads and just got paid off. No work in sight for the winter, so we decided to buy our winter's groceries. I asked the biggest store in town, 'Do we get a discount on large orders, such as 740 pounds of flour, 200 pounds sugar, 120 pounds of lard?' and they said, 'Sure.'

So Albert got 500 pounds of flour and 100 pounds of sugar and the rest accordingly.

"We did cut cord wood that winter . But in the spring a friend of Albert's talked him into charging a couple truckloads of wood, and never paid for it.

"The next fall we were going to town in the pickup. No cab, no top, just a windshield, so we each had a big overcoat on and were huddled up to the windshield.

"Albert said, 'I think that's Gilbert's truck coming. Let's stop and done him for what he owes.' I said, 'Okay, let me do the talking. Just back me up.' We stopped and so did Gilbert, and I told him, 'We stopped to collect what you owe us,' and I took my overcoat off and tossed it into the pickup seat. Albert ripped his big coat off and just threw it at the pickup and said, 'You're @^$(&##^&) right we are going to collect it.' And Gilbert said, 'I've got it along today. Here it is,' and paid us.

"Albert was a good man to work with.... Sincerely, Cliff Miller"

(Taken from a letter written by an old-tyme game warden to my Aunt Bessie while she was researching the family history.)

There's been quite a bit of speculation as to what's coming down the pike for us these days- or those in the not-so-distant future. Back in the 70's when my mind first began formulating real live thoughts about surviving anything, I'd gladly have gone back to 1872 or '80. I was young and dumb then, fresh from a four year stint in the Army, cock-full of myself and more full of piss and vinegar than I had any right to.

That kind of thinking even followed me into the 80's and middle age. Then reality of family set in and the thinking had to change- or I had to grow up, whichever the case was.

Now I am more convinced than ever what will happen is more akin to what my Grandfather and his friends went through during the depression- which lasted well into the 1950's up here. Not that my memory is 100% correct, but I recall fairly extensive unemployment up here even into the early 60's. Several uncles, friend's fathers and uncles and older brothers, all getting government jobs to work in Greenland building airbases and such. "Commodities" (government procured-provided-disbursed food stuffs, fore-runner of what are called "food stamps" today) were common in everyone's homes, it seemed. Probably just those I went to, though- people whose families were in the same straights as mine, since we tend to befriend like minded people.

My more settled mind now conjures images of people from all walks doing whatever it is we can to provide for our families and friends. It's going to take a network of friends and family, for sure. Working together, we'll keep each other sane in the coming insane world. And, again IMNASHO, until we are truly in the "last days" and when nation has risen against nation, when our own children have risen up against us and give us up to death (Mark ch 13), we will be living in the age of wars and rumors of wars, of earthquakes and famines. It is during these early days when our hearts will be tried, our faith tested, our love/charity observed by the One Who Is In Control.

So keep the Faith, Kids. Don't be fooled into thinking it's going to be easy, either. If it was gonna be easy, where'd the fun be? Where the challenge? If it was going to be easy, we'd have been told that, but we weren't. So let's cowboy-up, gird our loins and tackle the beast together.

Shy

Getting prepared

Coming attractions. If this was a movie, this would precede the newsreel.
Of course, most readers here probably have no idea what the "newsreel" is. Let me explain...

In the "old days", when people went to the theater to see a movie, they were treated to four things: the movie they went to see, the previews of 'coming attractions', a cartoon that was actually funny, and a news story or two, usually something current and timely.

What follows is no cartoon, regardless how you perceive it.

The coming attractions, as I see them, are global hunger/famine, even in the United States of America, brought on by a world-wide anti-pollution cartel; world-wide energy crisis brought on in great part by left-wing-liberal politicians such as Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal); global 'warming' fanatics (such as Sierra Club et al and their in-pocket politicians); a breakdown of society, especially in the United States of America, brought on by liberal politicians trying to appease the world-at-large and their own self-aggrandizing egos; civil unrest created by this societal breakdown.

In short, the shit is going to hit the fan and people had better be prepared.

Everyone will need at minimum three items to survive: water, food and shelter. Beyond that everything else is gravy.

And that is how you should look at it. Whatever is not necessary to survival is gravy. Get that in your head now, first off, right away, ASAP. If your head isn't "in the game", your ass won't be, either.

Water. Egads, big business has sure helped in that area: get your bottles of water in stock now. At least a gallon per day per person in your household. And to hell with the soap and washing anything but dishes. (I say that tongue in cheek: you can bathe if you have an ample supply of water, even the kind unfit for consumption.) You can buy oodles of water already sealed in factory-fresh containers of 16 ounces, or more. If you have the money and inclination to. Otherwise, buy some containers (or recycle) and fill with tap water. Get some sort of purification system for any water you consider suspect- especially if you live in a community and have no personal well. Recommendations? Nope, I have none so you'll have to research your own. Just Google 'water purification'.

Food. MMMM, we all love to eat- soon we'll be eating to live and that will make a lot of difference in what's on the menu. Sugar will be the least of your worries. Salt should be at the top of the list, or close to it. You can live without sugar but not salt with Iodine. Get some. Get lots. Your kids will learn quickly to adapt to good food- well, nutritious food, anyway- when you make it clear they have two choices: eat or go hungry. And, for your own personal peace of mind, be sure to "not give a shit which it is," and they'll get the idea fast. Again, I have no honest recommendations, other than Mountain House Foods. They manufacture "MRE's" that, from my camping experience, are genuinely delicious and easy to prepare. (You can even open a packet, pour in water, carry it in your pocket for several hours of hiking/whatever or a day, and have a somewhat warm, rejuvenated Meal Ready to Eat.) Otherwise, in my own preps, I'm going from store to store buying what I normally buy, only more of it. Salt, spaghetti's, salt, macaroni and dry sauce packets for them, salt, tuna, salt, dehydrated soups, salt, SPAM (the original type),salt and other loved spices, salt, flour, many canned goods such as salt, beans, corn, carrots, peas, beets, mixed veggies, asparagus, tomatoes- whole, chopped, diced, sliced and sauteed as well as sauced and some with salt- and more dehydrated soups. The list goes on: my point is buy what you'd normally buy, only twice as much. When the Y2K scare came around (gawd, I was hopin it would! but that's a whole 'nother story) my pantry was ready. We are still living on some of those supplies.

Also, get your seed supplies in stock: nothing hybrid/modern. Get what's known as 'heritage' seeds: they'll sprout young'uns for your next year's growth. You'll never taste peas so good as what you grow yourself. Not to mention peas, carrots, onions, taters, beets, rutabagas, corn....

Shelter is really simple, really. Whatever you're doing now, get the hell out of Dodge and do it someplace else. (Of course, I'm hopin' no one takes this advice cuz I wanna be livin' in the woods all alone, no tourists around me.) Seriously, folks: get away from larger cities fast as you can, even if it means a commute. Gas is cheap compared to being caught in town when your pants are down.

(Guess I should put in a disclaimer in here, too: remember, whatever you do is a result of your own thinking, not mine. I will not and claim no responsibility for what you do: you are your own person regardless what others say or do. Your mind is yours to make up, your conscience is yours to live with, your family is yours to protect as is your own life, I will not be responsible for them. Any mistakes you make are a result of your own thinking. Any injuries accrued are a result of your own actions- I will not be there to give them and sure as hell will not be there to wipe your nose and kiss the booboos. So grow up, cowboy up, man up, grow a pair and settle your own affairs like a man instead of a sniveling chicken shit.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

You'd be best to have a rural area in which to find your buns. A place with ample supplies, bandaids and bullets. (Yup- we're going to cover those, too. But not today.) Look for a smaller community to live, where you can actually get to know your neighbors (yes, there are places like that still .)
While you're in the neighborhood, don't be alarmist and start screaming for everyone to take shelter and plant their gardens- they'll consider you a kook at the least, a real looney bin candidate or call the men in white coats.

So there you have it for now...much more to come cuz this is just a primer (primmer in 'old school' speak) and we have lots and lots to talk about.

While you're waiting for our next talk, start working on that wood pile.

What do you mean "no way no-how you ain't got a clue"? OOPS- well, let's hit that soon.

Oh- that newsreel we talked about? That's coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

Shy III