Month: July 2012

  • BUILDING ROCKET STOVES

    Last Sunday some of the members of our prepper group got together and built rocket stoves.

    A rocket stove is a simple cook stove that is very energy efficient.  They burn so hot that they also burn the wood gasses, generating very little or no smoke at all. You can boil a pot of water in a few minutes using a few twigs or small pieces of wood.  They are used in places where not everyone has electricity and fuel is scarce.

    The ones we made are made from a small metal garbage can and some stove pipe.  They can also be made from tin cans or other materials.

  • OUR BUDGET DILEMMA

    If you aren't already afraid of an economic collapse, this video should enlighten you.

    This video was produced by an accountant, Hal Mason, retired after 27 years with IBM.  He looks at the budget, its revenues and expenses, and very simply illustrates the problem. 

    Amazingly, we get all the media talking heads blathering and shouting for hours and never get clarity.  This guy does it in a couple minutes.

  • PREPPING

    The first rule in prepping is: You do not talk about prepping!

    The second rule in prepping is: You do not talk about prepping!

  • THEY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

    The device in your purse or jeans that you think is a cellphone - guess again. It is a tracking device that happens to make calls.

    It was recently disclosed that cellphone carriers responded 1.3 million times last year to law enforcement requests for call data. That's not even a complete count, because T-Mobile, one of the largest carriers, refused to reveal its numbers.  AT&T has a staff of over 100 people handling requests for information.

    These devices are also taking note of what we buy, where and when we buy it, how much money we have in the bank, whom we text and e-mail, what internet sites we visit, how and where we travel, what time we go to sleep and wake up - and more. Much of that data is shared with companies that use it to offer us services they think we want.

    To read the article go to: http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/298-185/12434-thats-no-phone-thats-my-tracker

  • Wednesday morning I made a trip to urgent care to have my thumb repaired.  I was canning pickles and sliced off a chunk of my thumb on the mandolin.

    It's a problem any time I bleed because I take Warfarin daily to prevent blood clots, and I take 81mg aspirin to prevent heart attacks.  So, when I bleed it's harder than normal to stop it.  I have to have my blood tested every four weeks or so to make certain that my INR doesn't get below 2.0 or higher than 3.0.  Last week it was 3.7, which makes blood flow even faster. --- By the way, Warfarin is also used in rat poison.

    Yesterday I went back to have it checked and it looks like everything will be okay eventually. I'll be staying off blood thinners for a few days.

    It's difficult not having the use of the thumb on your right hand. You just don't realize how much you use your thumbs.

  • Coyote Sighting

    When I went down to let the chickens out of the coop we spotted a coyote about 100 yards away.  Libby was staring at something that I couldn't see because it was just getting light.  I finally saw something moving along the tree line in the shadows.  It jumped up on a picnic table and I lost it again in the shadows.  I assumed it moved into the trees.

    I was curious to see what it was so I walked toward the spot where it disappeared.  Because the neighbors had spotted a raccoon that was acting strange during the day a couple of days ago, and because we had spotted skunks earlier I had Libby on a leash.  Also, I was carrying a 22 pistol in case we had a run in with a rabid animal or the chickens were being attacked.

    As I got closer to the table, I saw the coyote lying on it, watching us.  Now, he wasn't crouched or sitting at alert. He was lying there relaxed and not afraid at all. I got to about 100 feet away (gun in hand, but not chambered) and he didn't move. 

    I figured if he wasn't going to start something, neither was I. We made an oblique exit so I could keep an eye on him, but he never moved.  I watched him from cover for several minutes until he moved into the trees. The chicken fence is pretty much varmint-proof, but I watched the chickens until I felt certain they were going to be okay.

    I've seen coyotes around the neighborhood before, but usually from a distance and when they're on the move.  He must have been curious about Libby. Libby is about the same size as a coyote, so maybe he wanted to make a friend.