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Economic Red Flags Abroad

March 20, 2013 by

I posted these articles on the forum and on Facebook.  For those who don’t check either, I want to share my thoughts on them with you.  I am not an economics guy but I do learn from history.

Last weekend, Cyprus delayed a vote on whether or not to confiscate 10% of the bank accounts of private citizens; Rueters states:

“In a radical departure from previous aid packages, euro zone finance ministers want Cyprus savers to forfeit a portion of their deposits in return for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for the island, which has been financially crippled by its exposure to neighboring Greece.”

In another report from TheAge.com from an article that has since been taken down), there was run on ATM machines:

“In a move that could set off new fears of contagion across the eurozone, anxious depositors drained cash from ATMs in Cyprus on Saturday, hours after European officials in Brussels required that part of a new €10 billion ($12.6 billion) bailout must be paid for directly from the bank accounts of savers.”

There have been reports that Cyprus is under a bank holiday until Thursday, and possibly for the rest of the week.  I have also read reports that Italy or Greece may be next and that the national government of New Zealand wanting to try a  Cyprus-style solution.  I just saw a report that the Cyprus lawmakers rejected confiscating funds, good for them.  I do not think this is the last time we have seen this tried.

Some might say this kind of thing won’t be passed through the House and Senate of our government.  To this I would point out that our leaders in the House and Senate used some pretty sleazy tactics to pass “Obama care” and other legislation.  I would also point out that we have a president who likes to use executive power, and there is precedent for the president to use executive power to confiscate money.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt used Executive Order 6102 to confiscate gold.

Am I saying it will happen here?  I don’t know, but it truly wouldn’t surprise me.  There are many in our government who would like to see us move more toward a European model of government and society.  The precedent has now been set that private bank accounts might be up for grabs.

I’m not saying to take all your money out of the bank and stuff it in the mattress, but these things should be an alarm for us.  Before things would get that bad here, I assume we will see more warning signs.  Since people far smarter than I have been warning for years that there is a very good chance our economic future might look like that of multiple European countries, I would not be surprised to see one of our more leftist leaders to suggest this.  It will be railed against, but the Overton Window will move a little.

If I were asked what we should do, I would say we should make sure we have some cash on hand.  If something like this does occur, ATM’s will run dry quickly.  Above all, make sure you have a minimum of two weeks food and medications on hand.  I don’t think in this, or multiple other scenarios that the dollar will immediately lose its purchasing power.  So don’t be afraid of holding some.  If you have some money to invest in precious metals, I personally would stay away from gold and would buy silver instead.

Pray we never see this or worse but prepare like we will!

**Update**

I was thinking about the possibility of this ever happening here and wanted to share another thought.  I think someone in the USA will bring the idea up, and it will be shot down, at least initially. If the economy gets worse and worse it might be brought up again. How many companies have asked their employes to take a pay cut so they can keep the doors open? Eventually enough people might drink the kool aid and think this sounds like a good idea.

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Filed Under: Finance, Signs of the Times

Berkey Guy Giveaway

March 19, 2013 by

Berkeyguygiveaway

 

I wanted to let you all know about a great giveaway that one of my sponsors is doing.    As you can see from the above image, he is giving away ten 5 watt solar chargers.  Follow the link and join his various social media for multiple entries.  I was a bit tardy in posting on this, the contest ends Thursday at midnight

The Berkey Guy is who I have purchased our Berkey unit and sport bottles from, and who I will purchase from in the future, here is a review I did on my Berkey last year.  If you’re in the market for water filtration, please head to the Berkey Guy and see what he has to offer.

Filed Under: Water

A Quick Personal Update

March 19, 2013 by

I have a quick prayer request. I, along with 11 co-workers, was let go from my job yesterday. While I’m trained in IT (computer geek), I’ve grown tired of the field and I’ve decided to use this opportunity to take a different path. If you feel led, please pray for wisdom for me and for God’s plan to unfold before me.

Thank you in advance,

Chris

Filed Under: About

Nuclear Preparedness: Shelter

March 18, 2013 by

fallout shelter

In two recent articles, “Current Threats to America with AlertsUSA” and “What Would You Do; North Korea Attacks” ,I mentioned the possibility of North Korea launching nukes at America.  I also mentioned that my response would involve heading to the basement.  A few people shared that they don’t have a basement and wondered what their options are.

I decided not only to give some possible options, but also to add some information about different types of nuclear attacks as well as sheltering to protect against radiation and fallout.  We’ve been led to believe that if there is a nuke attack, its game over but that’s just not the truth.  The truth is that for many who’re outside of the blast zone, with a little forethought and a quick response, many might come through the attack haggard but alive.

While I do believe that there is a small chance of North Korea (or anyone else) dropping nukes on the United States, it is still a possibility.  If I had a crazy neighbor who hated me, who had a shotgun and said he was going to use it to kill me, I would be foolish to just dismiss his threat.  That doesn’t mean we should live in fear.  We should just be aware of the threat and have a plan for how to respond when or if the small chance becomes a reality.

It’s not just us crazy Prepper’s that are concerned about this.  An article from December 2010 called “U.S. Rethinks Strategy for the Unthinkable”, explains that the government is actively taking a look at the subject and trying to educate the citizenry as well.  This article doesn’t cover things like radiation sickness, potassium iodide or decontamination.  You can find information on these and other related topics linked below.

 

Types of Attacks

There are three types of nuclear attacks.  They are: conventional, Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD) and Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP).

 

Conventional Nuclear Explosion

A conventional nuclear explosion can be delivered by an intercontinental ballistic missile or in a small carried device such as the “suitcase nuke”.  The area of initial damage is called the blast zone.  This is where the greatest damage and loss of life will be.  There will be a shock wave that travels near the speed of sound.  This will be the second greatest damage and loss of life.  If you are in the blast zone or area of the shock wave, you would need to be in a blast rated shelter.  The size of these two areas will depend on the yield of the bomb.  Those outside of the blast zone and shockwave, depending on distance, may face nuclear fallout and radiation.

 

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)

I wrote an article called “EMP’s, Solar Flares and CME’s”, which explains what each one is and how they are different.   Congress established a commission to look at the threat of an EMP.  They released the following:  From The Critical National Infrastructures Report (page 9)

“The electromagnetic pulse generated by a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The increasingly pervasive use of electronics of all forms represents the greatest source of vulnerability to attack by EMP. Electronics are used to control, communicate, compute, store, manage, and implement nearly every aspect of United States (U.S.) civilian systems. When a nuclear explosion occurs at high altitude, the EMP signal it produces will cover the wide geographic region within the line of sight of the detonation.”

The commonly held belief is that an EMP will set the United States and possibly parts of Canada and Mexico back to the stone ages.  The truth, however, is that we don’t fully know what will happen because nothing of this scale has ever been done.  I know that the EMP effect is real.  We use a version of it on our planes to shut down surface to air missile stations.  What is arguable is how much of the country will be affected.  One recent report I have seen says that those within 1,000-1,500 miles of the area over which the detonation took place will have all electronics disabled.  I have also read reports that say one EMP would affect half of the country.

The other debatable idea is what items will be affected by an EMP.  Many people argue that all devices with an electronic circuit board would be rendered inoperable.  This would be any vehicle after say the early 1980’s.  This would include any vehicle with a computer chip in it.  Matthew Stein, author of When Technology Fails and When Disaster Strikes, which I reviewed here, has said (paraphrasing) that most vehicles that were off should run.  They may run rough, but they should run.  I have also heard reports that diesels will run after an EMP.

One other comment I have is that we wouldn’t be back to the stone ages.  They didn’t know what electricity was.  We have the knowledge and would just need to repair and replace; granted this could take many years.

Here is a very recent article explaining why the threat of an EMP is real, called Chaos from the Sky: Why the EMP Threat Is Real. Thanks to JP for forwarding it to me.

 

Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD)

Better known as a dirty Bomb,  I covered this subject in a previous article called “Terrorism: Dirty Bomb”;  The following is taken from that article.

“A dirty bomb is not a conventional nuclear explosion. It uses conventional explosives (such as dynamite) to spread radioactive material. The damage and casualty rate would be much lower then a conventional nuclear attack. The goal with this type of attack is fear. Any death or injury caused by it is an added “bonus” to the terrorist. Remember how long things were shut down after 9-11 and how badly the economy suffered? If they can scare people and get them to pause long enough, it will do much more to hurt our way of life than any damage they may have caused.”

 

Different But With Some Similarities

The flash that accompanies a nuclear detonation is also very hot.  People five to seven miles away can receive first-degree to third-degree burns on exposed skin.

 

Thermal Radiation

If you’re seven miles away from a one megaton explosion, the heat emanating from the fireball will cause a first-degree burn (equivalent to a bad sunburn), to any exposed skin facing the light. If you’re six miles away, it will cause second-degree burns, and if you’re five miles away, the thermal radiation will cause third-degree burns — a much more serious injury that would require prompt medical attention.

 

Fallout

Paraphrased from the National Terror Alert.com.

Fallout is caused by radioactive particles (Alpha radiation) that get sucked up during a nuclear explosion and come back to earth attached to dust and debris.   Fallout from a nuclear explosion may be carried by wind currents for hundreds of miles.  Radiation cannot be seen or smelled.  It can only be detected by radiation detection devices such as a Nuke Alert or a Geiger counter, among others.  Those in the fallout area will need to be in a fallout shelter with enough shielding to block the radiation; this is covered more below.

There are three factors that can lessen the impact of radiation and fallout; distance, time and shielding

 

Distance

As I mentioned above, there have been many misconceptions about the lethality of a nuclear explosion.  The information below shows the amount of damage at different distances.  This information comes from the National Terror Alert.com.

 

“1 Megaton Surface Blast: Pressure Damage
The fission bomb detonated over Hiroshima had an explosive blast equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. A 1 megaton hydrogen bomb, hypothetically detonated on the earth’s surface, has about 80 times the blast power of that 1945 explosion.

 

Radius of destructive circle: 1.7 miles
12 pounds per square inch

At the center lies a crater 200 feet deep and 1000 feet in diameter. The rim of this crater is 1,000 feet wide and is composed of highly radioactive soil and debris. Nothing recognizable remains within about 3,200 feet (0.6 miles) from the center, except, perhaps, the remains of some buildings’ foundations. At 1.7 miles, only some of the strongest buildings — those made of reinforced, poured concrete — are still standing. Ninety-eight percent of the population in this area are dead.

 

Radius: 2.7 miles
5 psi

Virtually everything is destroyed between the 12 and 5 psi rings. The walls of typical multi-story buildings, including apartment buildings, have been completely blown out. The bare, structural skeletons of more and more buildings rise above the debris as you approach the 5 psi ring. Single-family residences within this this area have been completely blown away — only their foundations remain. Fifty percent of the population between the 12 and 5 psi rings are dead. Forty percent are injured.

 

Radius: 4.7 miles
2 psi

Any single-family residences that have not been completely destroyed are heavily damaged. The windows of office buildings have been blown away, as have some of their walls. The contents of these buildings’ upper floors, including the people who were working there, are scattered on the street. A substantial amount of debris clutters the entire area. Five percent of the population between the 5 and 2 psi rings are dead. Forty-five percent are injured.

 

Radius: 7.4 miles
1 psi

Residences are moderately damaged. Commercial buildings have sustained minimal damage. Twenty-five percent of the population between the 2 and 1 psi rings have been injured, mainly by flying glass and debris. Many others have been injured from thermal radiation — the heat generated by the blast. The remaining seventy-five percent are unhurt.”

 

“1 Megaton Surface Blast: Fallout
One of the effects of nuclear weapons detonated on or near the earth’s surface is the resulting radioactive fallout. Immediately after the detonation, a great deal of earth and debris, made radioactive by the blast, is carried high into the atmosphere, forming a mushroom cloud. The material drifts downwind and gradually falls back to earth, contaminating thousands of square miles. This page describes the fallout pattern over a seven-day period.

Assumptions
Wind speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: due east
Time frame: 7 days

3,000 Rem*
Distance: 30 miles
Much more than a lethal dose of radiation. Death can occur within hours of exposure. About 10 years will need to pass before levels of radioactivity in this area drop low enough to be considered safe, by U.S. peacetime standards.

900 Rem
Distance: 90 miles
A lethal dose of radiation. Death occurs from two to fourteen days.

300 Rem
Distance: 160 miles
Causes extensive internal damage, including harm to nerve cells and the cells that line the digestive tract, and results in a loss of white blood cells. Temporary hair loss is another result.

90 Rem
Distance: 250 miles
Causes a temporary decrease in white blood cells, although there are no immediate harmful effects. Two to three years will need to pass before radioactivity levels in this area drop low enough to be considered safe, by U.S. peacetime standards.

*Rem: Stands for “roentgen equivalent man.” This is a measurement used to quantify the amount of radiation that will produce certain biological effects.”

 

Time

The more time that passes, the more radiation will decay.  There are multiple formulas and charts that can be used to determine the level of radiation.  One is the 7-10 rule; for every multiple of 7, the radiation has decayed to 1/10th of its strength.  This means that 90% of gamma radiation is gone after the first 7 hours; 90% of that remaining 10% is gone after 7×7=49 or two days.  (–LINK Radiation Safety In Shelters–) is a good resource.

 

Shielding

This image and following text come from the FM 3-05.70 Army Survival Manual:

 

Shielding examples FM 3-05.70

“Shielding Materials

23-31. The thickness required to weaken gamma radiation from fallout is far less than that needed to shield against initial gamma radiation. Fallout radiation has less energy than a nuclear detonation’s initial radiation. For fallout radiation, a relatively small amount of shielding material can provide adequate protection. Figure 23-1 shows the thickness of various materials needed to reduce residual gamma radiation transmission by 50 percent.”

“23-32. The principle of half-value layer thickness is useful in understanding the absorption of gamma radiation by various materials. According to this principle, if 5 centimeters (2 inches) of brick reduce the gamma radiation level by one-half, adding another 5 centimeters (2 inches) of brick (another half-value layer) will reduce the intensity by another half, namely, to one fourth the original amount. Fifteen centimeters (6 inches) will reduce gamma radiation fallout levels to one-eighth its original amount, 20 centimeters (8 inches) to one-sixteenth, and so on. Thus, a shelter protected by 1 meter (3 feet) of dirt would reduce a radiation intensity of 1,000 cGy per hour on the outside to about 0.5 cGy per hour inside the shelter.”

 

Expedient Shelters

Most of us can’t afford a ready-made fallout or blast shelter.  Even if we could, it’s not very practical.  Don’t get me wrong, I would love one and would turn it into Chris’ man cave. (That’s what HE thinks. <wink> -Trudee)  Since we don’t have a shelter to go to, knowing how to build an expedient shelter is a good skill to have and pray you never have to use.

A basement is ideal, but as was expressed last week, many American’s don’t have a basement.  Don’t fret!  I have a solution!  The reason a basement is ideal is that there is earth on four walls.  If you don’t have a basement, you need to add mass either inside or outside the walls.  The interior of the walls, to me, seems preferable.  This way you don’t have to worry about the elements or anything else destroying it.

In my example last week, I said I would take those 13 gallon bins and fill them with earth, placing them on the floor of the area above the basement, piled three feet high.

If I didn’t have a basement, one option would be to fill those same bins six or so feet high, by three feet thick, on interior walls.

If you lined the four interior walls of a room in your house, you now have a much smaller room than what you started with.  As you can see in my diagram below, you can place your bins on the outside walls of shared rooms, this will let you keep your shelter a comfortable size.

house design

If you have brick walls or a brick fireplace these would add additional shielding.  It doesn’t have to be just earth.  Here are some pictures from some old Civil Defense manuals.  Anything that adds mass can be used for shielding.  Just remember; the denser it is, the better shielding it will make.

Protect and Survive image 3

Protect and Survive image 2

Protect and Survive image 1

 

In the same army manual listed above it says in section 23-36:

“It is not mandatory that you build a roof on your shelter.  Build one only if the materials are readily available with only a brief exposure to outside contamination. If building a roof would require extended exposure to penetrating radiation, it would be wiser to leave the shelter roofless. A roof’s sole function is to reduce radiation from the fallout source to your body. Unless you use a thick roof, a roof provides very little shielding.”

In many of the Civil Defense documents from the 1950’s and 1960’s, people are shown adding ceilings to their basement shelters with bricks.  If you’re building your expedient shelter in an interior room you will already have a roof to keep fallout off you.  If you have the ability to add more shielding, it can only help.

In the image I diagramed for placement of your earth filled bins, you’ll notice how the entrance overlaps.  This can also be seen in the image below.  Since radiation travels in a straight line and won’t draft in like smoke might, the overlapping shielding is enough to stop it from entering the room.

 

Shelter entrence

 

What If You’re Not at Home?

This gets much more complicated but is not impossible.  I used to work just minutes away from Minneapolis in one direction, and the Mall of America in another.  Both are considered terrorist targets.  I worked in a decent sized office building and game planned this scenario.  Not only are you faced with finding adequate shelter, but food, water and other supplies.

 

Building as shielding

 

In this image from the Department of Homeland Security, you can see by the higher numbers where the best shelter can be found in various buildings.

If you’re caught away from home and don’t see a building that would provide adequate shelter, another possible solution is to shelter under your car.

 

expedient Fallout Shelter car

 

I’m not crazy about this idea and would only use it if there were no other options.  In order to be able to do this, you would need adequate supplies to make the shelter as well as to live in it for a time.

 

What if Your Home Won’t Provide Enough Shelter?

If you live in an area where you wouldn’t be able to dig enough earth to fill bins to make a shelter, it might be a good idea to be on the lookout for places near your home that might offer adequate shelter.

 

How Long Should I Stay Sheltered?

Depending on how close you are to the blast zone, it may take several weeks for the radiation to decay to a point that it is safe to leave the shelter.  If the government is able, they will advertise that the levels are safe enough to leave the shelter.  A rule of thumb used is that after two weeks of sheltering you can leave the shelter for a limited time and continue to sleep in it.  You will need to take precautions to protect against coming into contact with fallout and you’ll need to decontaminate before going back into the shelter.  You can find information on that listed below.

 

Nuclear Power Plants

Someone made a comment last week about nuclear power plants being another danger.  From the U.S. Energy Information Administration:

“There are currently 65 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states around the country. Thirty-six of the plants have two or more reactors.”

This is absolutely true!  These plants require constant cooling of the reactors.  If something happened to shut the grid down, they have backup generators and enough diesel to run for two weeks.  If power has not been restored after that and the diesel hasn’t been resupplied, we would be faced with 65 chernobyls or Fukushimas.  If you live near a nuclear power plant, this is something to take into consideration.  Have a bug out plan!  In this scenario, sheltering in place is not a good idea.  The radiation is not going to decay anywhere close to the speed that it will from fallout.  The best thing to do would be to get a good distance away.

 

Resources

Here are some of the resources I have used over the years.  The first group is PDF’s of several documents on the subject.  Feel free to download them.  Even if you don’t have a basement, look at the PDF’s for basement shelters.  You can still get ideas from them.  The second group is websites I have visited.

 

Downloadable PDF’s

Radiation Safety In Shelters
Above Ground Home Shelter
Protection in the Nuclear Age
MP-15 the family fallout shelter
FM 3-05.70 Army Survival Manual
Plans for Expedient Fallout Shelters
Fallout Protection Homes with Basements
Nuclear War Survival Guide British Government
Fallout Protection What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack

 

Links to other sites
Ready.gov; Nuclear Blast
Wikipedia: Fallout Shelter
Wikipedia: Nuclear fallout
Huge number of Civil Defense links
Wikipedia: Radiation protection WIKI
You Will Survive Doomsday By Bruce Beach
Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions
Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny  (THIS IS A MUST READ PDF)
WHAT TO DO IF A NUCLEAR DISASTER IS IMMINENT!  (THIS IS A MUST READ)

 

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Filed Under: Shelter, Signs of the Times

Easter Sale to Celebrate Easter from Mother Earth Products

March 15, 2013 by

MotherEarthProductsLogo

I posted this on facebook, but it’s such a good deal I wanted to pass it along to everyone. I have some new friends at Mother Earth Products! They are a Christian owned company! They’re having a huge sale to celebrate Easter! Free shipping and 20% off all orders over $100! Click the logo to see them share their faith and announce the sale.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Ins and Outs of Food Storage

March 15, 2013 by

canned emergency food storage
photo credit The Survival Woman


I mentioned in the comments section of the What Would You Do: North Korea Attacks that I would put together some options for those of you without basements.  I started working on one and soon realized that to do the topic justice I needed more time.  Instead, I am going to post the article I had planned to post today and will post an article on the topic of radiation and fallout next week.

 

 

The Ins and Outs of Food Storage

It’s been a while since I have covered food storage.  Because of that and a couple good forum threads, I thought I would bring the subject up again.  One of the five basic human needs is food.  It can be one of the more difficult to figure out when you’re new to preparedness.  I think the reason for that is because the sheer size of the problem can be overwhelming.  Take a family of four, eating three meals a day, and two snacks a day, that is 84 meals and 56 snacks in a week, or 336 meals and 224 snacks in a month.  Seeing as most people shop for what their needs will be in the next week or two, planning that far or further ahead can be a lot to wrap your brain around.

 

Guidelines

Food storage isn’t one size fits all.  You’ll need to tweak things to fit your family’s needs.  That being said, here are some guidelines that can help you build your food storage and keep it rotated.

 

Shelf Stable

My definition of a shelf stable food is one that can last for six months or longer without freezing or refrigeration and won’t spoil.

 

Eat What You Store, Store What You Eat

This is the food storage golden rule.  It will make sure that you don’t waste money on foods your family doesn’t eat.

When building your pantry, I recommend getting a notebook and writing down all shelf stable food that your family consumes for a week or two.  These are the “eat what you store, store what you eat” foods to concentrate on.

There are exceptions to every rule and this one is no different.  We happen to eat foods that don’t store well, so if we only stored foods that were shelf stable that we consumed regularly, our food storage wouldn’t last for very long.  What we have done is stored some shelf stable foods that we eat occasionally along with some that, because of their long shelf life, we have decided to leave as storage foods.

 

First In, First Out (FIFO)

When you grab a can of vegetables take it from the front of the line.  When you replace it, put it in the back of the line.  This is the best way to rotate your foods.

 

What Kinds of Foods Should You Store?

If you’re like me, what can you do to supplement your food stores with foods other than the ones you eat frequently?  There are many options available for foods that have a long shelf life, though some you will need to repackage.

 

Staples

A staple is a food that is used commonly.  Think of sugar, flour, salt, rice, beans and so on.  These staples, when repacked into Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, can have a shelf life of 25+ years.

 

Dehydrated

There are commercially dehydrated foods sold that tout a 25+ year shelf life.  This can be achieved because the oxygen in packaging is replaced with nitrogen.  Most of the data I have seen on home dehydrated foods say 1-2 years.  We’ve mostly dehydrated fruits, but you can make jerky, soup ingredients and so much more.  Sadly the dehydrated foods never seem to last more than a couple weeks around me, so I’ll never get to see if they could be edible after a few years. J

 

Freeze Dried

There are many brands of freeze dried foods on the market.  I have tried a few and enjoyed most.  Trudee and the kids did not like some.  Some manufacturers have gotten smart and have the entrees available in a pouch and a #10 can.  I highly recommend you try the pouch, as it’s only a few bucks and will save you money if it turns out no one likes it.

Freeze dried foods also have a shelf life of 25+years, as long as the packaging isn’t opened.  Once you open the #10 can, you need to consume it within two weeks. I don’t know if it is possible to freeze dry your own food.

Because of the shelf life, and some other factors, we decided to add some freeze dried food to our food stores.  We purchased some entrée’s as well as some baking ingredients like powdered egg,  powdered milk, powdered cheese and powdered sour cream.

 

MRE’s and Emergency Ration Bars

MRE’s or Meals Ready to Eat are already cooked meals.  They include a heating element that you add water to in order to activate.  They often come with a desert and some condiments.  Emergency Ration Bars often say something like “2400 calories”.  That is for the total bar.  However, there are usually nine separate bars, each one containing 250+ calories.

These foods have their place in food storage.  They make good additions to BOB’s and car kits.  Shelf life can vary from 5-8 years if stored in optimal conditions.

 

Home and Manufacturer Canned Foods

Whether you purchase commercially canned food or can it yourself, canned food is a great way to supplement your food storage.  The most common question is: “how long does canned food last?”  Food Reference.com and the FAQ at the Ball Jar Company state the same basic information.  Properly canned food that is stored in temperatures above freezing and below 75 degrees will last at least two years.  The food will often last a lot longer than that, but over time there may be changes in the color, texture etc.  If the home-canned food looks edible from the outside, open it and see how it smells.  If it is store purchased and not bulging, open it and see how it smells.  If it smells fine it’s probably safe to eat.

 

What are the Dangers to Food Storage?

The life of many foods can be extended greatly by avoiding the following dangers.

Heat

Temperatures between 40 degrees and 72 degree Fahrenheit are ideal for food storage. For every 18 degrees above 72, the food loses up to half its nutritional value. If the food is exposed to temperatures over 72 degrees for an extended amount of time it can lose its color, texture and taste.

Light

Keep things in a dark space if at all possible, light can affect the appearance and taste of food. Mylar bags and food grade buckets will also help here.

Oxygen

When fats oxidize they turn rancid. Keeping your food in an oxygen free environment will prevent this, as well as kill pests that may be in the food. You can remove oxygen with oxygen absorbers in an airtight bag. I’ll cover deciding how many to use below.

Moisture

Moisture can take the form of humidity, condensation or even a water pipe breaking. To mitigate this, I keep much of my preps in Mylar bags and put the Mylar bags in food grade buckets. You can also add a desiccant to the inside of the Mylar for added moisture removal. I try not to have any food with cardboard packaging out in the open, as it is susceptible to accidents involving liquids, such as broken pickle jars, broken pipes or the “Not Me Ghost”, you know, children.

Pests

Pests range from larvae in bulk food to mice in your food storage area. There are a few ways to deal with each. For larvae, you can place a bag of rice, beans or whatever dry food you intend to store in your freezer for a couple days. This will kill any bugs, larvae or eggs. I used to do that, but it’s time consuming, my freezer isn’t that big and it’s usually full. I found, on a forum, that the simple act of removing the oxygen would kill any pests in the food. This made sense and they were steps we were already taking. We have not had any problem with pests in any of the food we have stored this way. If you want to make sure, feel free to do both. I have also read that Bay Leaves will keep pests away and some people add them to the inside of the Mylar bag as well as the inside of the food grade bucket.

To summarize, keep your food storage in a dry, dark, cool area in oxygen free and pest resistant containers.

 

How Much Food Should I Store?

This is something everyone will have to decide on their own.  That being said, I think everyone should have a minimum of three months food stored.  I personally would eventually like to get to one year stored for my family.  This will give us a large cushion if I should lose my job, or a number of other things take place.  It would also give us room to help those in need in a short term situation.

When you’re beginning your food storage it may be difficult to wrap your mind around storing an extra 90 days of food, or an extra year.  Don’t overwhelm yourself!  Break it down into easier chunks, like a week, then two and just keep adding to it.

 

How Do I Know How Much Food I Have Stored?

There are a couple ways to approach knowing how many days’ worth of food you have stored.  The first is to determine the required caloric intake for your family, then count up the calories of all the food you have stored, divide calories needed into calories stored and you now know how many days of food you have put up.

The second way is to use a food storage calculator.  Emergency Essentials has a very good one that is free.  With it, you can add how many family members you have and some basic information about them.  There are over 500 foods already populated to choose from and the ability to enter your own foods that might not be populated.  Once you’ve entered in all of your food storage, simply hit “calculate” and it gives a tally of how many days food you have stored, along with the nutritional information.  If you shop from Emergency Essentials, you also have the ability to add items that you want to purchase on your next order.

 

How Can I Afford Food Storage?

I recently wrote an article called “Frugal Preparedness”.  It has many tips and the comments have even more suggestions from readers.   There are many easy things you can do to build your pantry.

If you just need to bring in more money, one option, if you qualify, is donating plasma.  I checked into it a couple years ago and you can do it twice a week, receiving $25 each time.  That’s an extra $200 a month!  Blood Banker is just one online resource.  It may or may not list locations that buy plasma near you.

 

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With:

What would you do, North Korea Attacks

March 13, 2013 by

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a “What Would You Do?” post.  I thought today would be a good time to have another.  For those who haven’t seen these, the reason I write this type of post is because of the book The Survivors Club.   Author Ben Sherwood explores a theory developed by a man named John Leach called “The 10/80/10 rule”. In summary, the rule states that the top 10% of people in a crisis excel; they think clearly and take immediate action. The middle group comprises 80% of people; they are “quite simply stunned and bewildered”; “reasoning is significantly impaired and thinking is difficult”. The last 10% of people are the “ones you definitely want to avoid in an emergency”.

A few pages later he explains something called ‘behavioral inaction’; “The current theory of behavioral inaction goes like this: As your frontal lobes process the site of an airplane wing on fire, they seek to match the information with memories of similar situations in the past. If you have no stored experience of a plane crash, your brain can’t find a match and gets stuck in a loop trying and failing to come up with the right response. Hence: immobility.”

The scenario I describe today has a slim chance of happening just as I describe it but, as was discussed on Monday in “Current Threats to America with AlertsUSA”, North Korea has clearly put the Unites States in its crosshairs and made claims they would use a preemptive nuclear strike.  As AlertsUSA mentioned, what it might take for North Korea to attack, “…, we believe that move would not come out of aggression, but fear. Fear of attack and fear of the further choking of resources needed for the survival of the state.”

I chose this scenario because, if I was Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, and was faced with extreme sanctions by the UN and threatened by joint American and South Korean military operation, this is how I would attack America; a sucker punch.  The event’s I’ll describe may seem far-fetched but I’m sure Japan attacking Pearle Harbor and destroying a large portion of the United States Pacific Naval fleet seemed far-fetched on December 6th, 1941 until it happened the next day.

 

What would you do, North Korea Attacks

Due to continued nuclear testing and repeated threats of preemptive strike to the United States, the United Nations has passed the heaviest handed sanctions given to any country in its history.  The Chinese, Russian and Iranian leaders condemned planned joint military operation with the South Korean Navy that are to take place in the near future.

At 12:00 PM PST North Korea launches a low yield nuclear bomb on Seoul South Korea and a barrage of conventional missiles at American and South Korean military bases inside of South Korea.

At 1:00 PM PST a modified cargo ship hailing from China but originally from North Korea, has taken a long trade route and is currently in the Atlantic, roughly 500 miles from the East Coast, when it launches two mid-range nuclear missiles.  Both are headed to Washington D.C.  One is destroyed a minute before detonation.  The second detonates.

At 2:00 PM PST a modified cargo ship originally from North Korea, last docking in Hong Kong and now located in the Pacific, 200 miles away from California, launches two long range nuclear missiles.  The first missile, targeting military bases, detonates in San Diego California.  The second detonates in the stratus-sphere over the western hemisphere of the United States, destroying the electric grid over much of the western half of the U.S. and causing scattered blackouts over the rest of the country.

So, what would you do?

(Check the comments section to see the answers from myself and everyone else as well as to add your own.)

 

Filed Under: What Would You Do?

Current Threats to America with AlertsUSA

March 11, 2013 by

I have mentioned AlertsUSA and Threat Journal in the post I wrote called “Way’s to Stay Informed and be Alerted in an Emergency”.  I recently had the opportunity to ask them a few questions about AlertsUSA and Threat Journal, about some recent world events and what the largest threat to America and American interest abroad.

AlertsUSA has also been incredibly generous and has agreed to give away 5 radiation safety packages for Prepared Christians who sign up for the free Threat Journal newsletter. Each radiation safety package will contain:

(1) NukAlert Radiation Monitor and Alarm
(5) RadSticker Peel and Stick Dosimeters
(2) Boxes of ThyroSafe Potassium Iodide Tablets

So make sure you see the bottom for details on the contest.

I have been receiving Threat Journal for two years and follow it on facebook as well.  I try to stay on top of current events, but Threat Journal always seems to find a story or two that I hadn’t seen before.

With that, on to the Q/A

Chris:

To start off, can you explain what Alert USA and Threat Journal are and how they can assist in one’s preparedness?

 

AlertsUSA:

“What AlertsUSA IS:

AlertsUSA is a 12 year old emergency alert system for mobile devices. We monitor news and intelligence information from around the world on a real-time basis (24/7/365) and inform subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile device, when developments occur which pose a direct threat to the U.S., as well as its citizens and interests at home and abroad.

The service is in use by federal, state, county and municipal government agencies, first responders, corporate security professionals dealing with large, multi-site organizations, as well as the general public.

The service is of value to individuals and families along three primary fronts: Speed, Truth and Reach

 

Speed:

In most instances AlertsUSA beats the mainstream media by hours and days reporting breaking, threatening developments, if it is reported by them at all. As we do not have an editorial process, scripting, advertisers, or other stake holders to worry about or placate in our reporting, we are able to bring factual, validated information to the subscribers quickly. This advance notice can be critical, such as a distant earthquake generating a tsunami, an emergency being declared at a nuclear power station, bank runs, etc…

 

Truth:

Every story reported by the mainstream media passes through editorial filters seeking to determine if it will impact ad sales, a business partner or a subsidiary. Often stories are stifled as a result. None of these are factors with AlertsUSA’s reporting.

 

Reach:

It is impossible for individuals to stay parked in front of their computers and TVs monitoring world developments around the clock. This is AlertsUSA’s sole function. And as we deliver breaking information via one’s mobile device, we can reach subscribers, anywhere, anytime, 24/7/365.

 

What AlertsUSA Is NOT:

We are NOT an automated service. We do NOT send out alert messages just to generate traffic. We do NOT inform subscribers each time a fire engine is called or a SWAT team investigates a suspicious package. We often will go for days without reporting anything as there is simply nothing happening warranting an alert.

Quoting one of our long time subscribers; “We only report the bad stuff.”

 

Threat Journal:

Threat Journal is a weekly email newsletter used to follow up and expand on any alerts issued during the previous 7 days, as well as to cover other stories we feel the readers should have on their radar, but did not warrant an alert to their mobile device (thus preventing “alert fatigue”).”

 

Chris:

How do you gather Intel and how do you validate it as credible?

 

AlertsUSA:

“Our information sources span mainstream media outlets worldwide, premium targeted information services, private intelligence groups and information provided directly to us by government agencies and departments both foreign and domestic. This combination, developed and continually refined over the past decade, gives us an excellent handle on events worldwide.

Validation of information tends to be the easier part of the overall effort. As we also serve a broad number of government agencies and departments, validating information is often as simple as making two or three calls to trusted sources.”

 

Chris:

In recent history there has been a Russian TU-95 bear bomber flown over the US territory of Guam.  North Korea has also made several hostile comments towards America and Iran has made several inflammatory statements as well.  Do you foresee any circumstances in which these countries intentions amount to more than saber rattling?

 

AlertsUSA:

“Russia/China

The U.S., Russia and China regularly test each other’s responses to encroachment on their territory and that of their regional strategic partners. There are a variety of reasons for doing so, including measuring response methods and timing, signals and electronic intelligence gathering and more. Probing each other’s defenses is routine in an effort to understand the weapons systems and defense methods used by the other side. The same occurs with land and naval forces.

As an example, in 2009 Russia conducted simulated bombing runs on Alaska and California. It is also not uncommon for Russian missile and attack subs to be regularly tracked off the East Coast of the U.S. and as recent as December and January, inside the Gulf of Mexico. China is only now beginning to field systems to enable them to carry out such missions outside of their immediate region where they are very active.

Given current events we believe that major conflict between the U.S. and Russia can break out as a result of events in the Middle East. Russia has deep economic, military and cultural ties with Syria stretching back to the 1950’s. Tens of thousands of Russians live in Syria. Russia’s use of the deep-water port at Tartus is critical for their naval presence in the Mediterranean and supports not only the Russian Black Sea and Northern Fleets operating in the Mediterranean, but is also being upgraded to support nuclear-powered warships and submarines. It is also their only base in the region once outside of Black Sea.

Russia has publicly stated that foreign meddling in Syria could end up as a nuclear conflict.

Closer to home, Russia maintains strong economic, industrial and defense ties with Venezuela. Russia and Venezuela regularly hold joint military maneuvers. Venezuela is also one of Russia top buyers of defense hardware, itself a significant source of revenue for the Russian government.

 

N. Korea

N. Korea poses one of the most profound threats the U.S. is currently facing, particularly in light of their recent nuclear and 3-stage missile tests. The current U.S. missile defense shield, started under President George W. Bush, was rooted in part due to concerns over N. Korea.

With stiff new economic sanctions in place and rather large defense exercises slated to begin in mid-March with S. Korea, the U.S. and several other nations, N. Korea has been making threats of preemptive nuclear strikes on both S. Korea and the U.S..

Here is an article from the Israeli National News N. Korea Threatens Nuke Attack on Mainland USA

Here is a Video from Good Morning America covering North Korea Threatens a Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike on U.S.

This article from the U.K.’s Daily Mail Online: ‘Prepare for all-out war’ Kim Jong Un vows to attack South Korea as he cancels peace pact in revenge for tough UN sanctions

The MSM may refer to these threats as hollow, but the U.S. DoD is taking them quite serious. As recent as January, the New York Times reported theformer Defense Secretary told U.S. troops the following:

“North Korea just fired a missile. It’s an intercontinental ballistic missile, for God sakes. That means they have the capability to strike the United States.”

The best estimates put the current range of N. Korea’s ICBMs as being able to strike Alaska, Hawaii and the Western U.S… Miniaturization of nuclear warheads is merely a function of time, as are increased range of their missiles and the hardening of the warhead package to survive reentry. This does not preclude quiet assistance from other Nation’s such as China, which has already supplied significant portions of their existing medium and long range capability. N. Korea’s nuclear capability itself was enabled by Pakistan.

It is our opinion that the most immediate and easily achievable threat posed by N. Korea to the U.S. comes in the form of an EMP style attack. While their missiles may not be able to survive full reentry, detonation of a nuclear device at a much higher altitude could potentially devastate parts of the U.S. power grid, transportation and communications networks.

The second, and perhaps more concerning threat comes from N. Korea’s willingness to sell the same capability to other nations, such as Iran or other Middle East players. Iranian personnel are widely known to be present in N. Korea during missile and nuclear tests. N. Korean personnel are also a constant feature at Iran’s nuclear facilities.

As for a particular incident or event that could trigger such an attack, we believe that move would not come out of aggression, but fear. Fear of attack and fear of the further choking of resources needed for the survival of the state.

It is important for readers to keep in mind that in desperate times, desperate people (and Nations) do desperate things.”

 

Chris:

While many countries such as North Korea or Iran, don’t have the missile capability to launch a nuke from their country to land on the continental USA, (I know North Korea either has gotten the technology or is close to having it). Would it be possible for them to hide a missile on a ship carrying shipping containers, and launch an EMP style attack from a hundred miles from our shores?

 

AlertsUSA:

“In addition to that written above, this is most certainly a possibility. The USGOV certainly appears to be bolstering East Coast surveillance and defenses against some type of threat.

Consider the following:

In January, it was announced that the U.S. defense department would be closing down a balloon surveillance program being run on the U.S. / Mexico border known as TARS, or the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), which was an aerostat-borne surveillance program used to support counter-narcotic operations, mostly in southern border regions. Four TARS are deployed in Texas, two in Arizona and one in New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana and Puerto Rico.

In news released this February, a system similar to TARS known as JLENS, or the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System will soon be deployed around Washington DC. This begs the question: Why would such a surveillance system need to be “tested” around our the National Capital Region, already one of the most heavily monitored and defended areas in the country?”

On Feb 1, 2013 Yahoo News reported in an article titled Blimps to bolster Washington’s air shield in test:

“We’re trying to determine how the surveillance radar information from the JLENS platforms can be integrated with existing systems in the National Capital Region,” said Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command.”

 

 


In addition, it was just announced that a large drone base is being developed at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in California for broad area ocean surveillance. The systems to be deployed are high altitude, long duration platforms.

The LA Daily News reports: Drone base planned for Point Mugu near Malibu

“MALIBU – The U.S. Navy proposes to station a drone operations base at an airfield 15 miles west of Malibu, it was reported Saturday.”

The Sacramento Bee reports: Hueneme council supports drone base at Point Mugu

“POINT MUGU, Calif. — The Port Hueneme City Council has agreed to back a military proposal to make Naval Base Ventura County the West Coast home for a new type of unmanned aircraft.”

 

Chris:

I receive the occasional email and have seen posts on other blogs and forums about the government getting ready for civil uprising, which includes FEMA camps.  Do you think these reports belong in the realm of conspiracy theorists and tinfoil hatters or is there credence to it?

 

AlertsUSA:

“We know from direct knowledge that many of these claims are spot on accurate. While the specifics may be embellished from story to story or site to site, it is solid fact that our nations leaders know that the U.S. is now in a slow motion train wreck and they are most certainly preparing for a breakdown of social order.

The root cause will be, for sure, a collapse of the U.S. dollar and economy. This collapse will come as a result of astronomical debt and spending levels. We are already well past the point of being able to correct the problem. In fact, the U.S. military has, since ~2006, has been actively conducting war gaming exercises and preparing contingencies for just such an eventuality.

One such preparation effort was known as Unified Quest 2011.”

See the following videos:

 

 


 

While carried out under a different exercise, the following images should also drive the point home:

See this link for images: Vigilant Guard 2010 Riot Control, Detention Drills

Most Americans under the age of 60 – 70 have never known extreme national hardship, though it is a non-stop occurrence elsewhere in the world. We just never hear about in the MSM.

Most Americans have never been out of the country and so their world view is severely limited to what they are taught in our increasingly worthless classrooms or see on our increasingly worthless television and cable channels.

Most Americans have no clue that the largest holder of U.S. debt, even before the Japanese (#1) and the Chinese (#2) is our own government. That’s right. Our government must purchase its own bonds just to keep the system afloat. While intentionally called strange names like “quantitative easing”, it is essentially just “printing money”.

The following chart, from the Fed itself, demonstrates the scale of that money printing:

graph1

The following chart, from the fed itself, shows the devaluation (purchasing power) of the dollar over time. This is the result of money printing.

 

graph2

The following chart shows the average life span of world reserve currencies since the 1400’s.

 

graph3

America is no different, except perhaps for the sheer size of our debt load and the penetration into other countries.

When one has an understanding of these problems, and how many people are completely dependant on Uncle Sugar for their daily bread and entertainment, they will begin to understand why detainment camps, massive purchases of ammo and hardened vehicles are necessary.

None of this is tin foil hat subject matter, except in the minds of those who do not understand what is before us.

Here are more indicators:

Vigilant Guard 2010 Riot Control, Detention Drills

Wal-Mart Says February Sales “Total Disaster”, Worst Monthly Start Since 2006; Stock Drops

Wal-Mart Situation “Getting Worse” New Leaks Reveal

JCPenney Reports Horrific Results, Stock Plunges

Panic in Greek pharmacies as hundreds of medicines run short”

 

Chris:

What would you say is the largest threat to the average Americans’ way of life that is based outside of America?  For example Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz, and gas prices skyrocketing.

 

AlertsUSA:

“In addition to that written above, we would add the following:

As with all modern nations, oil and gas are our lifeblood. Without them, society grinds to a halt. It is our view that dependency on foreign sources of energy is one of the greatest threats to our national security. This threat is not only due to the security in the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal (the site of recent clashes with the Egyptian military and factions of the general Egyptian populace) and other choke points, but also clashes over those resources or delivery means with other superpowers such as China and Russia.”

 

Chris:

What would you say is the biggest threat to American national security inside our border?

 

AlertsUSA:

While there are MANY threats, we view the biggest threat as the pending economic collapse. It will happen. This is a given and is only a matter of time. While the blame for the event will be intentionally shrouded with some other event (bank takedown by some ‘evil foreign cyber attack’,  or outbreak of serious conflict elsewhere in the world), the impact will be the same.

 

Chris:

What other current events should we be paying attention to that haven’t been mentioned in the above questions?

 

AlertsUSA: (two answers)

1. It is important that the readers keep a close eye on our aging nuclear power infrastructure. Many of these facilities have been operating well past their intended design life and are precariously balanced with regular breakdowns. There is far too much money in play for these systems to be taken offline willingly or for the good of the general public. With the current administration’s attacks on coal-fired power plants, there are also few alternatives.

At some point there will be a catastrophic failure at one or more of these facilities. If you reside near, or downwind, from one of these facilities you need to maintain peak awareness.

2. More than any other threat currently facing this country; the one that has me most concerned is related to President Obama’s trip to Israel later this month. Much of the visit is intended to discuss a new peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, halting the construction of new settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This trip should have all Christians cringing as God has firmly warned that any nation that even attempts to divide up Israel would enter into his judgment.

Joel Ch. 3 is a great place to start. Also, a simple Google search using the phrase “dividing the land of Israel” will provide dozens of sites detailing the troubles that have befallen those nations through history who have already tried.

Draw close to the Lord. There are very difficult times ahead.

 

Contest Details

AlertsUSA has generously offered the Prepared Christian.net community a chance to win five radiation safety packages.  All you have to do to enter is click the picture below that shows the contents of the radiation safety kit, or follow this link to Threat Journal and sign up for the free weekly newsletter from Threat Journal.  The contest will run for four weeks and the winners will be chosen on April 8th, 2013.  I will make a reminder post once a week until the winners are chosen.

giveaway-ad

 

I want to thank the folks at AlertsUSA again for their generosity in taking the time to answer these questions and in giving away five great prizes.  I think this is an important article.  Please consider sharing it with everyone you feel may be blessed with information concerning current threats to America.

AlertsUSA has been kind enough to offer special pricing.  Normally the service is $99 a year, they are now offering the service for $75 a year for Prepared Christian readers.
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Filed Under: Signs of the Times Tagged With:

Vote With Your Feet

March 8, 2013 by

Do you live in a state that is too liberal and/or oppressive?  Have you given any thought to moving to a state that is more in line with your values? More and more people are doing just that; voting with their feet.  In this article I’ll cover some of my own struggles and list some resources that might help anyone else who might want to move to another state.  I also ask any of you who might have input to please add it, so that those of us considering voting with our feet and moving to a new state might have an easier time of it.

As some of you might be aware Trudee and I started looking for a new home last fall.  The goals were a lower house payment and, hopefully, ten acres or more.  We haven’t had much luck, mostly due to the fact that I work from home and need a low latency high speed Internet connection.  Since we’re looking in more rural areas because we want 5+ acres, satellite is often the only option and satellite just won’t work for my job.

We started looking for houses on ten or more acres and dropped it down to five when we weren’t finding anything.  We started to find some properties, but as soon as we would tell our Realtor to book a showing, she would tell us they accepted an offer.  We have now gotten to the point where there isn’t a single house on the MLS in our price range, with any acreage, that doesn’t require extensive fixing up.

I’ve grumbled about not liking Minnesota for years.  It’s just too liberal for me.  Last week Trudee made a comment along the lines of “maybe this is God’s way of telling us we should move out of state.”  I’ll not get into the reasons why I want to move out of Minnesota, as that isn’t what this article is about.  If you’re truly interested, send me an email or post in the comments.

We had a couple serious conversations about it.  We did a bit of research to find which states are more conservative and found this poll from Gallup ranking the top ten most conservative and liberal states.  Last week, Jack Spirko from The Survival Podcast talked about this subject in a listener question episode 1078.  He also mentioned he was starting a new forum called Walking to Freedom, a place that will list ten of the most oppressive states and ten of the most liberty loving states.  This forum will be a place to speak to others in states you’re looking to move to and from.

Jack posted an article titled “You Don’t Have To Live Like This” the next day.  In it the author is telling his readers that many people are leaving states that are not business friendly for states that are.  He lives in Florida and is making a case for people to move there.

Looking for a house in Minnesota is hard enough!  We look on the MLS, take a look at the property on Google Maps to make sure it’s something that meets our requirements and then I check to see if high speed Internet is available.  If it is, we ask the realtor to book a showing.  We’re often told that the seller, often a bank, has accepted an offer.   I have a hunch that people are making offers without seeing the house in person because Trudee keeps a close eye on the MLS.  The houses that we do go see are often not a place we would live for various reasons.

 

How Do You Vote With Your Feet?

In Minnesota, I know the parts of the state that are more rural, the parts that are a little too rural and have a general area of where we would like to live.  Researching another state would be a must, and this is where a forum like Walking to Freedom will come in very handy.

Let’s say you find an area you would like to live and even find a house for sale.  How do you go through this process when you can’t go see the house in person?  Once you find the house, Google Maps is a huge time saver.  We have used it to rule out several homes.

We went to see seven or so houses, and after seeing them in person we ruled five out.  One was ruled out due to lack of internet and one we were out bid on.  My point is that the realtors put the best pictures of a house on the MLS.  We had to set foot in five to rule them out.  How would you go about ruling out houses?  Trudee mentioned possibly finding a realtor willing to walk through the house with a smart phone running Skype or a similar program that would let us see the house and interact with the realtor.  Can you think of any other options?

If you work from home and need an Internet connection with less latency than Satellite, finding a viable ISP may be problematic as well.  It took me a week or two of searching to get familiar with the Internet Service Providers that service different parts of the state I live in.  Just doing a Google search often only yields the big names like Comcast or Century Link, and might not list a perfectly viable but smaller ISP.  I have found a newer technology called WIMAX, which is a wireless connection, sent much like a cellular signal.  Since these WIMAX antennae are often located on water towers or other things of similar height, the signal doesn’t have to travel to a satellite and you can see speeds of 5+ Mbps with low latency.

Because of our situation, we may end up staying in Minnesota.  Heck, we may end up staying where we live now!  What about those of you who live in states that don’t hold the same values you do?  Would you consider voting with your feet?

 

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Filed Under: General Preparedness

Rules for Extended Company

March 6, 2013 by

snowed in

I recently received an email from a new reader asking about what rules one might put in place when extended family comes to stay, either because they were ill prepared, or are forced to leave their home for some reason.

Andrea said “…much would depend on what type of emergency situation we were facing, but that having some guidelines on things such as how much water, food was to be used per person, what the thermostat should be set to, shared tasks would be helpful.”

Having made two six month cruises on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, I know a thing or two about living in close proximity to others for long periods of time.  The US Navy came up with some of the policies on how we would all get along.  We developed others out of necessity along the way.

I think this is a great idea.  If you have a wide list of potential guidelines, you can pick and choose the ones that might fit your life and the situation you’re facing.

The scenario I had in mind while writing this was one other family staying at my house with no supplies of their own for more than just a few days.  If the visiting party brought their own supplies, you’ll just need to focus on the areas where they are dependent upon you.  With that being said, here are some general areas and some guidelines.

 

Space

Sharing space over an extended period of time with anyone can be stressful.  When you add extra people there need to be some boundaries established that respect private space as well as shared, public space.

If you want certain rooms to be private, bedrooms for example, establish a clear boundary that no one is allowed in anyone’s bedroom.  Making bedrooms off limits can also help give you a private place away from everyone else.  One of the hardest things about being on a ship with 6,000 other people is that alone time is very hard to come by.

Request that everyone please help keep the common areas that are shared by everyone clean.  If you make a mess, clean it up.

 

Shared Chores

We raised the boys with the understanding that each of us had to contribute to get the chores done.  I think this is the only way to go in a small group scenario, where people are sharing an address for an extended time.

This area will vary largely, based on the type of scenario, the location where you live and the makeup of your group.  Instead of coming up with a chore list, here are some things to keep in mind.

There is a good chance those staying with you will want to help earn their keep.  Be willing to share the duty with chores they are capable of doing.

Kids will either be very eager to help, or very eager to avoid helping.  I do not recommend letting anyone off.  Favoritism can quickly lead to resentment.  To avoid it, give small chores that can quickly be done by all kids.  If those who are eager to help want more after, they might be allowed a special reward for doing extra.

 

Children

People differ on how to raise kids, but having multiple sets of rules for different kids is just asking for Billy to be angry because he has to go to bed at 8:00 PM and his cousin Robby who’s the same age can stay up until 10:00 PM.

Not all rules need to be the same, but on things that might show favoritism it might be a good idea.

 

Utilities

Depending on the scenario, you may or may not have power or heat.  If utilities are working, my feeling is that whomever pays the bills sets the thermostat, keeping everyone’s safety in mind of course.

It will need to be understood that shower times need to be limited to a short duration, so that everyone can shower.

If the power is out and you have a generator, you’ll need to agree on what gets powered.  If you can keep the fridge and the freezer cold by running the generator a few times a day, setting a rule about who is allowed to go in them might be a good idea.

When I was in the Navy there was only one or two television channels available while at sea.  Believe it or not, that was probably a good thing.  Trying to get a group to agree on which show to watch is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.  If you have a working TV, and/or DVD player, putting all options in a hat and drawing one might be the best way to go.

 

Food and Water

This is another area that will depend greatly on the kind of scenario you’re faced with.  If the event is short in duration or is longer duration and you can still get to the store and purchase goods, it is much different than a long term duration where the support infrastructure has collapsed.  If you have a well, this is a much different conversation than someone on municipal water and sewer.

If water is in short supply, you may have to ration it.  You will have to stop taking showers to conserve water.  The rule of thumb is that a person needs one gallon of drinking water a day, more in warm climates or if highly active.

When it comes to rationing food, there is a big difference between making due for a few days until a trip to the store can be made, versus a life changing event that caused you to make due until harvest time.

If you are forced to ration food, keep health conditions in mind, how many calories are burned doing physical activity and the needs of children.

 

Disagreements

With many people sharing the same space, tension could be high without facing an emergency situation.  Add the extra pressure and you’ve got the potential for everyone being on everyone else’s nerves.  Finding a fair way to deal with disagreements is something to think about ahead of time, before everyone is torqued off.

If I were in a situation that saw Trudee and I playing host to more people for an extended time, I would need to make sure we had wine, lots and lots of wine.  Just kidding.

I would be tempted to go with “My house, my rules”.  Depending on the disagreement, that might not be the best route.  I try to be objective and understand both sides of an argument, but I don’t always succeed and, like everyone, I make mistakes.  For that reason, every adult should have some say in daily life, and compromise should be well-used.

I think that every group needs a leader, someone who breaks ties and when compromise fails, has the final say.  There are also some things that I am just not willing to tolerate in my house. When it comes to the safety, well being and righteousness of my family, my foot is down.  Don’t ask again.

I am sure I missed some rules or guidelines.  If you think of some, please post them in the comment section.

 

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