What Are You Doing Today?

Well, I went to the local groceries like I always do, looking for sales and bargains...and looked at seeds, trying to figure out which were the best to start in my area of the midwest.
Before that I followed the markets trying to decide if/when, I should sell what little stocks I have to finance my future security. I am in the beginning stages of being serious about what is going on out there even though I 've always been one to try and "prepare". Not to this level though!
I respect and admire all here and their opinions.Today is a "marker" for me, in that I really think this weekend I am going to sit down with my parent's and try to explain to them why this is so important. I have made some hints, but I think they need more than that. My mom is just starting to listen, but my dad might listen more to me. That is my "project" for the weekend. I would try with my siblings but I already know they think I am just being "crazy, silly, too artistic to make sense, and out there(?!)" to make sense to them. It's a shame people like myself get pidgeon-holed and not taken seriously just because we are a little "off of center".

I'm lucky that my man loves me for who I am!!

FMF

Originally posted by For(Home)Country
What did I do for survival today? Well, I enquired about scholarships with my guidance counsellor at school today to see which local scholarships I would qualify for for aide in my post secondary schooling this coming fall. It was exciting. Without money, I can't attend University, and without University, I'm nothing more than a complaining, blue-collar worker who hates my job and thinks the Government is out to get me. So yea, University is required for survival for me.

FYI I've been to university and I AM a complaining, blue collar worker who hates his job and KNOWS the government is out to get me.

However, I am much more than "nothing" more than that. Education is good, but wisdom is much better.

reply to post by Nirgal


Sir, I assure you that I do not think you are nothing. I was just talking about my own life. The people I see around me are not happy because they are stuck in a cycle they do not enjoy. They aren't making a positive difference in their world because their cycle has drained them of that ability. I don't want to become that. I'm sure you are very good at what you do, and that you are doing some great things for some great people.
I hope you didn't take offence to that...

What I will be doing later is making some decisions regarding me, and my INCH/BOB.

I left at 5am on a 4 hour trial bug out route-march.

One hour in I had to pull out. My feet just aren't coping with a) my boots; b) the weight of my pack and me; c) all of the above.

After the last 2+ hour walk I tried a second pair of socks and cycling shorts. The shorts work great, I may as well had not worn socks at all.

Either these boots are just too big and need packing out big time or replacing or I'm going to have to reduce the 55lb bag.

On a more positive note the first part of my revised route is much less "public" than before although the dual carriage-way still remains a major bottleneck worry.

I am doing a bug out run today. i am going to try and give up smoking when this pack runs out.
Hopefully my bug out will go uneventful. Just me returning home a lil hungry.

Originally posted by realboogyman
I am doing a bug out run today. i am going to try and give up smoking when this pack runs out.
Hopefully my bug out will go uneventful. Just me returning home a lil hungry.

OK I am praying for you to succeed, I smoked for thirty years until we have our son, I stopped on the day he was born, It was the best thing I ever did, saved a fortune and got my lungs back. PLEASE stick it out you dont need daft patches or drugs just a good enough reason to say NO MORE. In my case it was partially my sons birth and a large part my hatred of anything socialist like our government. They were taking over £4.60 on tax off me for every packet just to waste on stupid socialist policies in the UK. Go on lad you CAN stop.
NR

Originally posted by Northern Raider

Originally posted by realboogyman
I am doing a bug out run today. i am going to try and give up smoking when this pack runs out.
Hopefully my bug out will go uneventful. Just me returning home a lil hungry.

OK I am praying for you to succeed, I smoked for thirty years until we have our son, I stopped on the day he was born, It was the best thing I ever did, saved a fortune and got my lungs back. PLEASE stick it out you dont need daft patches or drugs just a good enough reason to say NO MORE. In my case it was partially my sons birth and a large part my hatred of anything socialist like our government. They were taking over £4.60 on tax off me for every packet just to waste on stupid socialist policies in the UK. Go on lad you CAN stop.
NR

Just to briefly continue the off-topic. I stopped last June. I'd just bought a carton of 200 and stopped halfway through a pack. Just stopped. I'm told by those who know me I've done this before, but certainly not for this long. I have also told people that I haven't given up though, just in case I start again, then I will not have failed. This means I haven't put too much pressure on myself. I didn't throw out/give away the remaining packets either... good bartering commodity.

Sadly I don't think my lungs will start to recover until I leave London.

[

Sadly I don't think my lungs will start to recover until I leave London.

you KNOW the answer to that.

Yesterday had to go to a funeral of a coworkers wife. That evening I field stripped my 1911 and inspected it after cleaning. Today I am going to till in a new garden. My wife's test of over wintering carrots in the ground was completed yesterday with the carrots being in good condition but very pithy and all the sugar converted to starch. The garlic and onion test did better.

During the week I talked to several coworkers about their ideas about what is to come. We found broad agreement on the issues and we will be looking into mutual support understandings.

I find my self moving further into condition yellow each day. Standing outside the funeral home with my boss I noticed a man down the street with a gun under his shirt and pointed out the bulge to my boss. After I told him where and what to look for he finally said "my god your right". I was thinking about talking to him about the mutual support thing but if he lives in condition green all the time I am not sure his other assets outweigh this.

After yesterday morning's debacle I bit the bullet and purchased a pair of walking boots.

Now i'll know for certain whether it's dodgy feet or too much pack weight.

Originally posted by Nirgal
After yesterday morning's debacle I bit the bullet and purchased a pair of walking boots.

Now i'll know for certain whether it's dodgy feet or too much pack weight.

Try some Sorbothane insoles, they are really very good, i put them in my Magnum spyders its like walking on air. BTW Magnum spyder boots REALLY are bloody good boots for us survies.

They do look quite pretty but £90 is a little too much for me. Having said that, so was the £60 I shelled out.

They're only Regatta but really comfortable. I tried a few that were pretty tight across the widest part of my feet but these kiddies were like the proverbial glass slipper.

Quick tip (lesson in sucking eggs) for footwear purchase: Always try stuff on after you've been up a while (namely afternoon) as your feet will swell slightly during the day.

its snowing outside..and im bored..but im glad i started to come to this site again.

Originally posted by Northern Raider

Originally posted by Nirgal
After yesterday morning's debacle I bit the bullet and purchased a pair of walking boots.

Now i'll know for certain whether it's dodgy feet or too much pack weight.

Try some Sorbothane insoles, they are really very good, i put them in my Magnum spyders its like walking on air. BTW Magnum spyder boots REALLY are bloody good boots for us survies.

Good boots are an absolute MUST. I'd like to add that some good quality wool socks are also a MUST.

Nothing is worse than blisters from sweaty feet.

I did a little target shooting. Hiked through the woods. Made a few calls, FINALLY got a job. Sounds awesom I know but its with my Ex-Mother-in-Law. But its cool. She's cool, I got a job!!

Originally posted by realboogyman
I did a little target shooting. Hiked through the woods. Made a few calls, FINALLY got a job. Sounds awesom I know but its with my Ex-Mother-in-Law. But its cool. She's cool, I got a job!!

Congrats on the new job!


I am getting some schooling with my delve into home type gunsmithing. Here's the deal. I am replacing a front sight on my .22 pistol. The current front blade is one of those luminescent posts and it is too large, which blocks out the target at 20yds on. So, I've decided to use a gold dot target sight.

Sounds easy right?

First of all the original front ramp is not cut for a dovetail, so I have to modify a rifle dovetail ramp, but cutting it down, grinding and polishing the edge and then re-bluing the cut part. That part isn't an issue, however when I installed it I didn't have the correct screw and thought that I could "make do"...wrong. I ruined the ramp.

Ok, so I order a nice assortment pack of screws from Brownells and guess what? I have 250 screws and not one of them is the correct size. Oki, so now I order the correct screws.

Screws for gunsmithing projects are expensive as hell. A dozen is $5.00!

Anyway I'll be set when this order comes in and I can finally put this project to bed.

Live and learn.

I've just picked up an extra couple of 5ltr bottles of water.....i have a good stock now so am pretty relaxed if ever the water was down for a week or so.....still need to get a water filter though so i can reduce the need for bottles taking up space.

Also grabbed a SAS Survival Handbook, one of the Collins gems mini ones for under a fiver. Always worth a read and good to have it tucked away when you are out and about.

Gonna chill out now.

CX.

I picked up 500 rds of .22 yesterday. Wow has ammo jumped in price!

Our neighborhood is being shut off of water today. It seems that a pipe broke beneath the street this winter and they are just getting around to fixing it. We filled some jugs and a 5 gal water bottle, the type used for one of those water machines that some people have in their homes. I'd like to have a bunch of those, heavy duty and seems to be able to hold water for a long time.

For those of you who haven't read Nuclear War Survival Skills, I'd suggest you find a copy and read it. Cresson Kearney shows how to make a water filter that will take out radiation particles.

Today I am continuing to make deep beds for garden expansion. On November 8, 2008, a Cat 4 hurricane hit here and smacked our little island. Fortunately, no loss of life. Our garden, which was mostly in containers with wheels on the bottom, didn't die so much from wind damage as from the salt rain. Intense hurricanes pick up sea water and rain it back down, and that burned up everything. I only just got back online a few days ago.

I dug a 220-foot trench with hand tools to put our power and phone lines underground and ended up with approximately 5 ton of rock that I couldn't stuff back into the trench. I've made a concrete form, and I'm using concrete, rebar and this rock to make deep beds. Their footprint is 4-foot square and I'm making one side two foot higher than the other side, such that I can cover them over with plywood temporarily, should we get another storm. We began replanting two days after the storm, and just now getting good harvests.

Solar panels and collectors have been very useful during the 60 plus days we were out of conventional power, and now that I'm online again, have ordered additional PV panels with the goal of gradually taking our major power users off-line. I expect by the end of the year we'll be off-grid, or nearly so. It's expensive. We're investing in ourselves and our future while the few dollars we have will still buy something. I feel hopeful.

Cheers

I am getting an over sized Airedale. The dad is 27 1/2 inches high at the shoulder and should weigh about 120 pounds. The mom is only 24 inches at the shoulder. The pup will be ready to go at the end of April.