I wanted to get a Glock 19 today. Finally got the cash and the time to go pick one up. I did some calling around and there wasn't one to be had near me. Eventually I found a gun shop that had one in greater Atlanta. It is a bit more then two hours away. I got to driving. Bet you can see where this is going
I then topped off my car and made the two hour drive. I got there and said " I want to buy a Glock 19". The dude pointed to some guy and said "he just bought your gun". I cursed loudly, mumbled something about how I had driven for two fucking hours, gave the door a good shove and left.
I figured on burning the place down but decided against it. I would have had to go get a couple of 32 ounce beers, a one gallon gas can, a lighter and a rag. The hitch is that I would have had to then wait until at least midnight. Somewhere between the $15 bucks in stuff and several hours of my time it wasn't worth burning that mother fucker to the ground.
To cap it all off there was construction on the way back which meant I had to wait for 45 minutes while sitting there. So it took forever to get home. Somewhere on the drive I went from being pissed off about the whole wasted Saturday thing to just being bummed out. Eventually one of the local dealers will get one in at a time I can go purchase it.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Nanny State
Gun Cache found. If the guns were legal and the ammo is legal and digging a hole on your own land is legal what is the problem.
quote of the day- Glenn Beck
"If there were were a Katrina in New York, there would be 40 survivors. People would be eating each other."
-- Glenn Beck, radio program 1/29/2009
-- Glenn Beck, radio program 1/29/2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
All The Eggs- Guest Post
I went for the shed, and made it water tight and lockable. I used that "great stuff" hardening foam to plug any potential leaks. I stored 1.5 tons of hard red winter wheat in it, plus a lot of other goodies and still have room.I do worry about the temp swings though--even though I have the wheat stored in mylar bags that sucked down on the 02 absorbers, I can't help but think the hot summers out here could do something to kill its ability to germinate. I'm considering a double roof to create some dead air space and maybe keep the temp 15 lower during the hottest parts of the summer.For a cache container, you might consider a bucket with a gamma lid. They are bitchin--I got larger containers that happened to use gamma lids for my chicken feed, before I knew these types of lids were hip in the prep community. The really seal well--I left one out all year with hydrophilic stuff in it, and not a hint of moisture. They have them at feedstores, but they're not cheap, and of course you can order them online. I think they would bury just fine, and not take forever to get access to if you had to.
All My Eggs In One Basket
Hello again,
I was thinking about my preps and I still need to get my hands on few things. But I was thinking about my cache of preps that are currently stored in my house. I have everything stored in my house and that concerns me. I think about the situations I can prep for but what would happen if my house burned down or some other disaster leaving me with little or no supplies. I have read about caching but I am not ready to start burying my stuff (not that I wouldn't). I also don't have the budget for a rental storage locker. In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure. I could use some ideas. Should I split my cache in half? Some in the house and some in my cache? I have thought about storing the stuff in car(my hot rod project but doesn't meet the temp issue, space for stuff or fireproof), A storage shed in my yard near my house(securing this could be difficult and I would be leery of putting guns and ammo in it). I have a root cellar but its damp.. I was wondering if you had any ideas?
FarmerMechanic
TOR Says: Without some specifics (what you are trying to store, how much, info about your place, etc) there is only so much I can do. If you want to talk about those specifics just shoot me another email and it will stay between us (as will anything a reader wants to stay private).
In any case here are some thoughts on the matter. Splitting your stuff (maybe not in half but up in any case) up is probably a wise call. As for keeping stuff in your home the big advantage of having it there is that you can use it. Your rifle can go hunting, canned goods can be eaten/rotated, etc. There is some definite weakness in having all of your eggs in one basket. Your home burning down or something else equally unpleasant happening would be a big suck fest. Keep enough stuff in your home to defend, feed, and clothe yourself for awhile. If you have less then 90 days of food keep it immediately accessible. Keep plenty of water and such ready also.
Caching has one big weakness. Your stuff is buried in the ground. This means it is difficult to impossible to rotate or use what is in your cache. Throwing a couple guns you do not use with ammo and accessories plus some precious metals into a well planned cache could be a good plan depending on your worst case scenario.
As for the storage place you mentioned not having the budget for a rental place, no worries there. You said "In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure." I would rank those priorities in the following order: dry, secure, temp controlled, fireproof. I am assuming you don't live in a canyon in Southern California or some place that burns every other year. I am also unsure of how extreme the climate is where you live. I rank dry number one because you really can't store anything long term in a wet place. Secure is number two because you can't use stuff that someone stole. Temp is next because (this also depends a lot on what you are storing) it isn't that huge of an issue. What I would say about temp is that consistent is more important then the actual temp unless it is really low or high. What really messes up stored stuff is temperature swings. Fire is last because unless you live in a place where wildfires are constant most peoples places don't burn down very often. Unless you've got a friend who gets drunk and throws molotov cocktails there shouldn't be a huge concern with fire.
All of that being said here is what I suggest. It looks like the outbuilding would be your best bet. As you mentioned theft can be an issue but if you avoid high value compact portable items (guns, ammo, precious metals, etc) the risk of theft drops considerably. That being said; a well oiled .38 in an empty coffee can full of rags at the bottom of a shelf buried behind other stuff would probably be safe (YMMV). You don't hear much about someone stealing an old wall tent, a pair of sleeping bags, some assorted camping gear and a shelf full of canned goods. Putting half or a third of your preps (not high value compact stuff) in the shed would make a potential house fire far less devastating.
For getting some stuff completely off (of your home) site either a storage place or a like minded friend/ family members place is an option. You let him keep a couple of contico boxes worth of stuff in your garage and visa versa.
Guess those are my thoughts on that matter.
I was thinking about my preps and I still need to get my hands on few things. But I was thinking about my cache of preps that are currently stored in my house. I have everything stored in my house and that concerns me. I think about the situations I can prep for but what would happen if my house burned down or some other disaster leaving me with little or no supplies. I have read about caching but I am not ready to start burying my stuff (not that I wouldn't). I also don't have the budget for a rental storage locker. In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure. I could use some ideas. Should I split my cache in half? Some in the house and some in my cache? I have thought about storing the stuff in car(my hot rod project but doesn't meet the temp issue, space for stuff or fireproof), A storage shed in my yard near my house(securing this could be difficult and I would be leery of putting guns and ammo in it). I have a root cellar but its damp.. I was wondering if you had any ideas?
FarmerMechanic
TOR Says: Without some specifics (what you are trying to store, how much, info about your place, etc) there is only so much I can do. If you want to talk about those specifics just shoot me another email and it will stay between us (as will anything a reader wants to stay private).
In any case here are some thoughts on the matter. Splitting your stuff (maybe not in half but up in any case) up is probably a wise call. As for keeping stuff in your home the big advantage of having it there is that you can use it. Your rifle can go hunting, canned goods can be eaten/rotated, etc. There is some definite weakness in having all of your eggs in one basket. Your home burning down or something else equally unpleasant happening would be a big suck fest. Keep enough stuff in your home to defend, feed, and clothe yourself for awhile. If you have less then 90 days of food keep it immediately accessible. Keep plenty of water and such ready also.
Caching has one big weakness. Your stuff is buried in the ground. This means it is difficult to impossible to rotate or use what is in your cache. Throwing a couple guns you do not use with ammo and accessories plus some precious metals into a well planned cache could be a good plan depending on your worst case scenario.
As for the storage place you mentioned not having the budget for a rental place, no worries there. You said "In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure." I would rank those priorities in the following order: dry, secure, temp controlled, fireproof. I am assuming you don't live in a canyon in Southern California or some place that burns every other year. I am also unsure of how extreme the climate is where you live. I rank dry number one because you really can't store anything long term in a wet place. Secure is number two because you can't use stuff that someone stole. Temp is next because (this also depends a lot on what you are storing) it isn't that huge of an issue. What I would say about temp is that consistent is more important then the actual temp unless it is really low or high. What really messes up stored stuff is temperature swings. Fire is last because unless you live in a place where wildfires are constant most peoples places don't burn down very often. Unless you've got a friend who gets drunk and throws molotov cocktails there shouldn't be a huge concern with fire.
All of that being said here is what I suggest. It looks like the outbuilding would be your best bet. As you mentioned theft can be an issue but if you avoid high value compact portable items (guns, ammo, precious metals, etc) the risk of theft drops considerably. That being said; a well oiled .38 in an empty coffee can full of rags at the bottom of a shelf buried behind other stuff would probably be safe (YMMV). You don't hear much about someone stealing an old wall tent, a pair of sleeping bags, some assorted camping gear and a shelf full of canned goods. Putting half or a third of your preps (not high value compact stuff) in the shed would make a potential house fire far less devastating.
For getting some stuff completely off (of your home) site either a storage place or a like minded friend/ family members place is an option. You let him keep a couple of contico boxes worth of stuff in your garage and visa versa.
Guess those are my thoughts on that matter.
Steve Sees 30% Unemployment Coming
The latest pew poll indicates over 50% of the people like living in the cities. When things get dicey Spain, Iceland,Greece, France are not the only places that are going to be rioting. The last place you want to be is in the cities. There are hundreds of armed and dangerous gangs nationwide,there are 7 million pisoners througout the US that will be armed and dangerous. You don,t think the prison guards are going to be looking after the prisoners when things get dicey no they will be home looking after their families. Then you have all the 17 to 29 year old junkies, and druggies armed and dangerous to contend with also. No the cities are not the place you want to be when the balloon goes up. Find a place you can go to away from the metropolitan areas and stock it up and be ready at a moments notice. There are good used travel trailers out there for sale under 2500 which would make a good immediate shelter on a piece of land someplace. Its not if but when things are going to be dicey! So get ready if you can. Good Luck Steve
I'm Rich, Bitch
My dear respected One,
I have to write you this few words, as presently I do not have a choice but to be a blessing to you and to the poor in other countries as I have always wished.
It's with tears and pains that I write this mail from my sick bed in the hospital. I believe you have never met such a condition before.I'm sorry to bother you with my pains and vision for the poor. But I can't keep quiet because I have a strong feelings I'm going to die soon through this cancer diseases as indicated by my doctor three days ago.I have been a widow since the past two years, but before my husband died we both had a vision for the poor to be a blessing to them.
After my husband's death, I tried to fulfill this vision we had together but it did not work out well as I wished because I have tried several times giving out money to people, family members and organization for the well being of the poor here and in other countries but I found out that they never used it for the poor as I planned, rather they end up using it for their own personal use.This has caused me great pains in my heart and health.I don't know if I can TRUST you as I have been praying over this issue for the past one month, to entrust this huge amount of money or funds in your hands for the welfare of the poor and other
rightful charity homes which you know.But if for any reason you find my mail offensive, you can ignore it and please accept my apology.
If you assure me that you can be TRUSTED in this matter, that you will not act like the other people and organization whom I gave money and they failed me, then I will link you to the bank where this funds has been lodged by my late husband, to effect wire transfer of the funds to you as my relative in other to carry out this great vision on my behalf.I hope you won't disappoint me now and even after my death concerning this vision I'm handing over to you?
Kindly indicate your interest to my mail, to enable me give you directions of how you contact the bank to effect wire transfer of this funds to you and also to enable you start this project.Have in mind that the amount am transferring its beneficiary right to you is US$7.5M with its 2yrs interest of US$750.000.00 making it total of US$8.250M.Once more, I want you to assure me that you can handle this vision which am entrusting in your hands, as soon as this funds is been transferred to you, so that when I die my soul will rest in peace.Please not just assuring me to trust you but also to assure me that you will move on with this fund transfer processing with the bank here with every urgency and confidentiality until you confirm it in your account.
Have a nice day as I look forward to hear from you immediately.
Yours Sister in Christ,
Mrs.Florence Wilson
I told my dear sister in Christ that I hope she is comfortable and that it would be great if she wants to send me a check.
I have to write you this few words, as presently I do not have a choice but to be a blessing to you and to the poor in other countries as I have always wished.
It's with tears and pains that I write this mail from my sick bed in the hospital. I believe you have never met such a condition before.I'm sorry to bother you with my pains and vision for the poor. But I can't keep quiet because I have a strong feelings I'm going to die soon through this cancer diseases as indicated by my doctor three days ago.I have been a widow since the past two years, but before my husband died we both had a vision for the poor to be a blessing to them.
After my husband's death, I tried to fulfill this vision we had together but it did not work out well as I wished because I have tried several times giving out money to people, family members and organization for the well being of the poor here and in other countries but I found out that they never used it for the poor as I planned, rather they end up using it for their own personal use.This has caused me great pains in my heart and health.I don't know if I can TRUST you as I have been praying over this issue for the past one month, to entrust this huge amount of money or funds in your hands for the welfare of the poor and other
rightful charity homes which you know.But if for any reason you find my mail offensive, you can ignore it and please accept my apology.
If you assure me that you can be TRUSTED in this matter, that you will not act like the other people and organization whom I gave money and they failed me, then I will link you to the bank where this funds has been lodged by my late husband, to effect wire transfer of the funds to you as my relative in other to carry out this great vision on my behalf.I hope you won't disappoint me now and even after my death concerning this vision I'm handing over to you?
Kindly indicate your interest to my mail, to enable me give you directions of how you contact the bank to effect wire transfer of this funds to you and also to enable you start this project.Have in mind that the amount am transferring its beneficiary right to you is US$7.5M with its 2yrs interest of US$750.000.00 making it total of US$8.250M.Once more, I want you to assure me that you can handle this vision which am entrusting in your hands, as soon as this funds is been transferred to you, so that when I die my soul will rest in peace.Please not just assuring me to trust you but also to assure me that you will move on with this fund transfer processing with the bank here with every urgency and confidentiality until you confirm it in your account.
Have a nice day as I look forward to hear from you immediately.
Yours Sister in Christ,
Mrs.Florence Wilson
I told my dear sister in Christ that I hope she is comfortable and that it would be great if she wants to send me a check.
Mystery at the Law School
Mystery and intrigue has again engulfed the law school. Last year, at roughly the same time, my Con Law I professor shamed us for some racist comment, which was made, by someone, to someone, at some point, somewhere, regarding something. As you can guess, considering we have way too much time on our hands, and that vague comments are wet-dreams for all law students, we had a fun term spreading rumors, accusing each other, and trying to figure out what, if anything, actually happened. That whole thing ended up with an innocent party run out of the school, and the people who did something (which wasn't really a big deal) staying on.
Today, my Family Law class started off with the professor comes in and says "Now I know that you all know there has been some harassment of students going on, and I just want to let you know that if you are a victim of harassment you should come forward, and talk to myself or the dean. We want to ensure that this is a safe place for everyone."
Now part of me wants to just ignore all this shit, and go about my day, but the part of me who watches Desperate Housewives 3 times a week is thinking of ways to destroy random people's lives over this shit.
Regardless of what I end up doing (I will most likely attack some people's character, spread a rumor or two, but drop it before someone gets run out of town), I am really not sure why they keep on bringing this shit up. First of all, either give out information, or keep your mouth shut. If you don't want us starting rumors and whatnot either give complete information or none at all. What is fucked up is to give out a little bit of information, and than let us run wild with it. That's what we do, you know it, stop giving us fodder for making up shit.
Second, why is this always brought up in class? Eventually you have to send out an email to clear up the rumors (although it doesn't clear up anything because you do the same thing as above). Just make the first announcement that way, and stop wasting class time. I don't care about if someone is being harassed (whatever the fuck that means).
Sorry for this rant, which is nothing more than me sitting in Family Law, and pissed off. I know this doesn't have anything to do with anything, but than again, its my blog, and sometimes I need to rant about meaningless shit. There is one woman who has been an absolute bitch to a friend of mine, so I think I might try to use this to run her out of town *evil laughing* so maybe this will workout alright.
Today, my Family Law class started off with the professor comes in and says "Now I know that you all know there has been some harassment of students going on, and I just want to let you know that if you are a victim of harassment you should come forward, and talk to myself or the dean. We want to ensure that this is a safe place for everyone."
Now part of me wants to just ignore all this shit, and go about my day, but the part of me who watches Desperate Housewives 3 times a week is thinking of ways to destroy random people's lives over this shit.
Regardless of what I end up doing (I will most likely attack some people's character, spread a rumor or two, but drop it before someone gets run out of town), I am really not sure why they keep on bringing this shit up. First of all, either give out information, or keep your mouth shut. If you don't want us starting rumors and whatnot either give complete information or none at all. What is fucked up is to give out a little bit of information, and than let us run wild with it. That's what we do, you know it, stop giving us fodder for making up shit.
Second, why is this always brought up in class? Eventually you have to send out an email to clear up the rumors (although it doesn't clear up anything because you do the same thing as above). Just make the first announcement that way, and stop wasting class time. I don't care about if someone is being harassed (whatever the fuck that means).
Sorry for this rant, which is nothing more than me sitting in Family Law, and pissed off. I know this doesn't have anything to do with anything, but than again, its my blog, and sometimes I need to rant about meaningless shit. There is one woman who has been an absolute bitch to a friend of mine, so I think I might try to use this to run her out of town *evil laughing* so maybe this will workout alright.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Job Opening for Career Criminal
Today Gov. Blagojevich was removed from office, and banned from ever holding public office in Illinois. Here are some quick thoughts.
This is not really a surprise for anyone. Rarely is evidence as overwhelming as it appears to be in this case, and rarely is a person as completely unlikeable as this guy. This guys is the personification of D-Bag.
4 out of the last 8 governors of Illinois have been sent to jail for things they did while in office. Here is a quick note to the people of Illinois. If you want to vote for a guy, vote for the opposite. You are attracted to the bad-boys/crazy broads (trying not to be sexist). If you like them, they are bad for you.
Gov. Blagojevich should change his name, so I can talk about him without stuttering for 5 minutes and than making up a way to say it which makes sense.
For the last week he has gone onto every TV show he could find, talking about how he didn't do anything wrong. His biggest issue is that he claims that he is not allowed to present any evidence during the impeachment, and if that was to happen, he would be found innocent. First, I don't know anything about the procedures of the Illinois impeachment process, so I cant speak to that issue. However, I know he will be able to present evidence when he is facing his criminal charges. Maybe he should be careful about what he wishes for...
It still amazes me that people elect people like this, but than again, that could be said about almost every elected official... Except most aren't quite as corrupt as this one.
Gov. WhatEverTheFuckYourNameIs, its time for you to hide. Your friends and allies are running for the hills. Right now the DOJ is looking to make an example of corrupt politicians, and buddy, your it. If you disappear, move to the hills, don't tempt them any more than you have, and they might have mercy. However, that's not really your style. You are going to keep on saying that you are MLK and Gandhi's love child. No one is buying it, and you are starting to piss people off. Unless you want to spend some time in raped-in-ass-jail, seriously, keep your head down.
This is not really a surprise for anyone. Rarely is evidence as overwhelming as it appears to be in this case, and rarely is a person as completely unlikeable as this guy. This guys is the personification of D-Bag.
4 out of the last 8 governors of Illinois have been sent to jail for things they did while in office. Here is a quick note to the people of Illinois. If you want to vote for a guy, vote for the opposite. You are attracted to the bad-boys/crazy broads (trying not to be sexist). If you like them, they are bad for you.
Gov. Blagojevich should change his name, so I can talk about him without stuttering for 5 minutes and than making up a way to say it which makes sense.
For the last week he has gone onto every TV show he could find, talking about how he didn't do anything wrong. His biggest issue is that he claims that he is not allowed to present any evidence during the impeachment, and if that was to happen, he would be found innocent. First, I don't know anything about the procedures of the Illinois impeachment process, so I cant speak to that issue. However, I know he will be able to present evidence when he is facing his criminal charges. Maybe he should be careful about what he wishes for...
It still amazes me that people elect people like this, but than again, that could be said about almost every elected official... Except most aren't quite as corrupt as this one.
Gov. WhatEverTheFuckYourNameIs, its time for you to hide. Your friends and allies are running for the hills. Right now the DOJ is looking to make an example of corrupt politicians, and buddy, your it. If you disappear, move to the hills, don't tempt them any more than you have, and they might have mercy. However, that's not really your style. You are going to keep on saying that you are MLK and Gandhi's love child. No one is buying it, and you are starting to piss people off. Unless you want to spend some time in raped-in-ass-jail, seriously, keep your head down.
Beans
I sorta fell off the real food bandwagon for a little bit there. I got back into a frozen food cycle for a week or so. In order to help me snap out of it I decided to make some pinto beans. Creedmore mentioned them recently which also had something to do with it. It was Sunday at about 3 oclock when I made this decision. I grabbed a 25lbs bag of pinto beans from the pirate trap and got looking for recipes. I found a nice easy one and got cooking. As a lesson I learned from the stew I didn't completely free lance this one. Didn't absolutely follow the recipe but I was headed down that general path.
I started with 3 cups of dry beans. They went into a pot on high until it boiled. Then it was backed off to warm to soak for an hour. After soaking the beans went into the crock pot. There was just enough water to cover them. I cut up some ham lunch meat that was about to go bad and threw that in also. After three hours on high I added a pinch of salt, pepper and about a third of an onion. Because it is never bad I threw a clump of brown sugar in. The beans cooked for about another hour and a half. Just keep on cooking them until they are soft enough. The great thing is that unless you completely ignore something in a crock pot it is pretty hard to fuck it up.
I ate some of the beans right away. It was bed time and I wasn't hungry but curiosity lead me to having a small bowl. They are pretty darn good. Today I had a bunch of them today with a pork chop and a couple of corn bread muffins for dinner today. It was downright grubbin. The pork chop definitely helped but using a chunk of corn bread to mop up the beans would be a darn good meal in and of itself. As Creedmore pointed out that is a darn good meal that costs about a dime. It might be a bit more expensive then that but seriously it is one of the cheapest meals out there.
I will probably be cooking beans again this weekend and am going to try a slightly different recipe.
I started with 3 cups of dry beans. They went into a pot on high until it boiled. Then it was backed off to warm to soak for an hour. After soaking the beans went into the crock pot. There was just enough water to cover them. I cut up some ham lunch meat that was about to go bad and threw that in also. After three hours on high I added a pinch of salt, pepper and about a third of an onion. Because it is never bad I threw a clump of brown sugar in. The beans cooked for about another hour and a half. Just keep on cooking them until they are soft enough. The great thing is that unless you completely ignore something in a crock pot it is pretty hard to fuck it up.
I ate some of the beans right away. It was bed time and I wasn't hungry but curiosity lead me to having a small bowl. They are pretty darn good. Today I had a bunch of them today with a pork chop and a couple of corn bread muffins for dinner today. It was downright grubbin. The pork chop definitely helped but using a chunk of corn bread to mop up the beans would be a darn good meal in and of itself. As Creedmore pointed out that is a darn good meal that costs about a dime. It might be a bit more expensive then that but seriously it is one of the cheapest meals out there.
I will probably be cooking beans again this weekend and am going to try a slightly different recipe.
HR 45 Bill
It is critical to obtain all your guns ammo and spare magazines now! There is presently a Bill before the 1st session of the 111th Congress which if passed will ban all semi auto handguns and rifles with detachable magazines. This is not going to go away because Obama's choice in his attorney general(confirmed) is against we the people to owning any guns. The new Attorney general (ERIC HOLDER)Quote"we have no right to have a working firearm in our own home". Also there is presently in 18 states legislation being attempted right now to confiscate our ammunition. So folks get your guns and ammo right away!!! GUNS AND AMMO RIGHT AWAY!!!! This will not go away until we have our freedom taken away as the folks in England and Australia have already experienced!!!! Good Luck! Steve
funny thing that is sort of true
General says, be ready at 0900.
Division G-3 says , be ready at 0845.
Regimental Commander says, be ready at 0830
Regimental S3 says, be ready at 0815.
Battalion Commander says, be ready at 0800.
Battalion S3 says, be ready at 0745
Company Commander says, be ready at 0730.
Platoon Commander says, be ready at 0715.
Platoon Sergeant says, be ready at 0700.
Squad Leader says, be ready at 0645.
Fire Team leader says, be ready at 0630.
Marine stands in the bitter cold, waiting.
Division G-3 says , be ready at 0845.
Regimental Commander says, be ready at 0830
Regimental S3 says, be ready at 0815.
Battalion Commander says, be ready at 0800.
Battalion S3 says, be ready at 0745
Company Commander says, be ready at 0730.
Platoon Commander says, be ready at 0715.
Platoon Sergeant says, be ready at 0700.
Squad Leader says, be ready at 0645.
Fire Team leader says, be ready at 0630.
Marine stands in the bitter cold, waiting.
AdBlock
My last post was about TrackMeNot, an add-on for Firefox which sends out random searches to keep from Google and other search engines from creating search profiles. There is one side effect arising from this program. Search profiles are used for targeted advertising. Now I enjoy every web-page reminding me that 1) I like guns, 2) I am a libertarian, and 3) I am single, and there are single females in my area looking for me. However, TrackMeNot screws up the targeted advertising, leaving me with some weird ads, most of which do not have half-naked women. I mentioned this to a buddy of mine (the same one who told me to use Firefox), and he recommended a new add-on.
AdBlock stops pages from displaying ads. Basically, all those annoying pages which take forever to download because they are covered in ads, load quickly because the ads on the page are blocked. I downloaded AdBlock a couple days ago, and have yet to see a single ad. CNN, Facebook, Hotmail, and Myspace are now ad free. Its a great program, and I would highly recommend it.
AdBlock stops pages from displaying ads. Basically, all those annoying pages which take forever to download because they are covered in ads, load quickly because the ads on the page are blocked. I downloaded AdBlock a couple days ago, and have yet to see a single ad. CNN, Facebook, Hotmail, and Myspace are now ad free. Its a great program, and I would highly recommend it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Retraction
In a previous post I mentioned making my own lunch to save money. As it was so politely pointed out to me this evening I do not make my own lunch, Wifey makes my lunch.
Untarnished Truth as Steve sees it.
During the Great Depression of 30's most people did not own homes,there were no home equity loans,no credit cards,no 14 trillion in debt, we had a trade surplus not $700 billion trade deficit, we were not fighting two losing wars which are now at 2 trillion cost, we weren't running 1 trillion budget deficits per year, back then we had a manufacturing base along with a gold standard(not able to print dollars with abandon). Today we have a trade deficit of 700 Billion, a national Debt of 14 trillion, a banking system that will need an additional 2 trillion bailout money, foriegners owning 3 trillion of our debt, zero percent interest and a currency headed to the toilet! This is why you need to have a long term food storage plan, shelter and water along with GOLD and SILVER for future bartering needs!! Good Luck! Steve
Thermold Mini 14/30 Mags- Thanks Steve
Thermold mags New Production for mini 30 and mini 14 mags. Limited supply www.omegamanenterprises.com-steve
ZONK
This mornings training things were totally confused. Our boss did the right thing; said he messed up, told us when we needed to come back and yelled "ZONK". So I ended up with a couple hours to kill. I drove home, made a pot of coffee and did a bit of homework. Also budgeted in some blog time for both writing and reading.
It looks like I will be spending a lot of time in the field over the next couple of months. I will do my best to stay as active here as possible. Posting might at times go from daily to 2-3 times during the week (M-TH) with regular Friday evening-Sun posts. I am not dead or anything, just busy.
Wifey and I decided to start our new financial tracking plan on Monday instead of on the 1st. I realized that tracking expenses weekly is much more meaningful and easy then doing it based on pay periods. This will let us get into a fixed pattern of tracking and talking about our expenditures. Keep track via reciepts from Monday to Sunday and every Sunday afternoon enter the reciepts into the computer and discuss them. The substance of our tracking and discussion will be discussed on Sunday.
On the subject of preparing I think Dakin reenforced an awesome point yesterday. The point is that you need to make the best preparations possible for whatever your situation and circumstances are though it might not be the best overall plan. This could mean living in an apartment near an urban area or a trailer on an acre of junk land. It could mean adapting to all manner of sub optimal equipment or conditions. Having a realistic plan you can act on quickly is better then an idealistic plan that you can act on eventually.
A cheap (but functional) used .38 will protect you far better then a couple hundred bucks in savings allocated toward the eventual purchase of a super customized tactical urban CQB .45. A bag of rice will keep you fed for awhile while 20 bucks in an envelope that says "Mountain House purchase" on it will not.
I guess the point is to make realistic attainable plans and act on them instead of dreaming and waiting for the perfect time to have the perfect circumstances.
It looks like I will be spending a lot of time in the field over the next couple of months. I will do my best to stay as active here as possible. Posting might at times go from daily to 2-3 times during the week (M-TH) with regular Friday evening-Sun posts. I am not dead or anything, just busy.
Wifey and I decided to start our new financial tracking plan on Monday instead of on the 1st. I realized that tracking expenses weekly is much more meaningful and easy then doing it based on pay periods. This will let us get into a fixed pattern of tracking and talking about our expenditures. Keep track via reciepts from Monday to Sunday and every Sunday afternoon enter the reciepts into the computer and discuss them. The substance of our tracking and discussion will be discussed on Sunday.
On the subject of preparing I think Dakin reenforced an awesome point yesterday. The point is that you need to make the best preparations possible for whatever your situation and circumstances are though it might not be the best overall plan. This could mean living in an apartment near an urban area or a trailer on an acre of junk land. It could mean adapting to all manner of sub optimal equipment or conditions. Having a realistic plan you can act on quickly is better then an idealistic plan that you can act on eventually.
A cheap (but functional) used .38 will protect you far better then a couple hundred bucks in savings allocated toward the eventual purchase of a super customized tactical urban CQB .45. A bag of rice will keep you fed for awhile while 20 bucks in an envelope that says "Mountain House purchase" on it will not.
I guess the point is to make realistic attainable plans and act on them instead of dreaming and waiting for the perfect time to have the perfect circumstances.
Carrying Water
This post is inspired by my current irritation. I had to go out and buy a fucking black camel back today. I had a green camouflage one but that isn't sufficient. I must have a black camel back. Not I must have one or I can't wear a camel back; I just had to go out and get one. I fucking had one of them 5 years ago and I mothballed that POS. Awhile after that my sister mentioned wanting one for Christmas or something and I walked out to the garage, found mine and gave it to her. I only got the green one because it was free. Forty bucks down the drain but it really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things as my wages do reflect this sort of thing.
This got me to thinking about carrying water. Broadly speaking there are two carry water. There are bottles and bladders (camel backs, hydro storms, etc). If you didn't pick up my thoughts in the rant above I'm not a huge fan of bladders. Admittedly I could have just had really bad luck with bladders but I've had a few different ones made my multiple manufacturers. I like bottles, specifically hard plastic ones with screw on lids. Two great examples of these are GI canteens and Nalgene bottles. There are oodles of different types but really anything that is hard plastic and has a lid that screws on securely is probably a fine choice.
My personal bad luck with bladders aside I do have one big issue with them as used by many people. Bladders (especially with current larger sizes) have a bad tendency to lead people to putting all their eggs into one basket. Far too often I see folks whose only water source is a bladder with a tube flopping around near their face. If something in this inherently weak system (in comparison to hard plastic bottles) fails they are up a dry creep with a wet back or possible backpack. Even if you have one of those big assed gallon and a half blivets that are attached to your back by straps have another source of water. For the record I am not talking about a little day hike where the worst case is you turn around and are back at the car in ten minutes. I am talking about situations where you need to rely on the water you are carrying and possible periods of time where resupply (even that needs to be filtered) might not be readily available.
Regardless of the method of water carrying you go with (admittedly I am prejudiced against bladders) the bottom line is that you need to have some water readily available and some more in your ruck. You need some readily available to drink while you walk/ ski/ whatever. This could be in web gear or those little water bottle pouches on the side of commercially made packs or by some other fashion. The balance of your water needs will be carried in your ruck.
Now comes the question of how much water to carry. I think it all depends on your needs but for longer hikes, a potential night in a dry camp, etc I like to have at least a gallon and a half. Two quarts readily available and a gallon in the ruck. I figure that is a reasonable amount for most situations. Keep in mind that water weighs right about 8lbs per gallon. IMHO a gallon and a half covers most situations except long 10+ mile stretches of no water, multi night dry camps or seriously high temperatures, etc. To be honest in those situations you would need to strongly rething the practical ability to carry enough water to be self sufficient on your back. Some other method for travel or procuring water is going to need to be found or plans would need to be dramatically changed..
This got me to thinking about carrying water. Broadly speaking there are two carry water. There are bottles and bladders (camel backs, hydro storms, etc). If you didn't pick up my thoughts in the rant above I'm not a huge fan of bladders. Admittedly I could have just had really bad luck with bladders but I've had a few different ones made my multiple manufacturers. I like bottles, specifically hard plastic ones with screw on lids. Two great examples of these are GI canteens and Nalgene bottles. There are oodles of different types but really anything that is hard plastic and has a lid that screws on securely is probably a fine choice.
My personal bad luck with bladders aside I do have one big issue with them as used by many people. Bladders (especially with current larger sizes) have a bad tendency to lead people to putting all their eggs into one basket. Far too often I see folks whose only water source is a bladder with a tube flopping around near their face. If something in this inherently weak system (in comparison to hard plastic bottles) fails they are up a dry creep with a wet back or possible backpack. Even if you have one of those big assed gallon and a half blivets that are attached to your back by straps have another source of water. For the record I am not talking about a little day hike where the worst case is you turn around and are back at the car in ten minutes. I am talking about situations where you need to rely on the water you are carrying and possible periods of time where resupply (even that needs to be filtered) might not be readily available.
Regardless of the method of water carrying you go with (admittedly I am prejudiced against bladders) the bottom line is that you need to have some water readily available and some more in your ruck. You need some readily available to drink while you walk/ ski/ whatever. This could be in web gear or those little water bottle pouches on the side of commercially made packs or by some other fashion. The balance of your water needs will be carried in your ruck.
Now comes the question of how much water to carry. I think it all depends on your needs but for longer hikes, a potential night in a dry camp, etc I like to have at least a gallon and a half. Two quarts readily available and a gallon in the ruck. I figure that is a reasonable amount for most situations. Keep in mind that water weighs right about 8lbs per gallon. IMHO a gallon and a half covers most situations except long 10+ mile stretches of no water, multi night dry camps or seriously high temperatures, etc. To be honest in those situations you would need to strongly rething the practical ability to carry enough water to be self sufficient on your back. Some other method for travel or procuring water is going to need to be found or plans would need to be dramatically changed..
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Ways To Save Money
Today was a pretty decent day. Slept more or less decently which was nice. It will take me a week or so to get re accustomed to 5-6 hours of sleep a night instead of 7-8.
Today's two thoughts on saving money are pretty simple. First take your own lunch to work. I find it most convenient to prepositions a weeks worth of supplies at work on Monday. That way you can just deal with moving stuff (and the risk of forgetting it) once a week. I can not do this with the kind of food I like to eat in the current work situation. I can however pack a lunch and take it with me to work. I ended up buying lunch Monday which wasn't a big thing money wise but it reminded me that I need to start packing lunches. Eating out once in awhile is nice and all but it should be a special event or something to get you through hump day (when we worked together Chad and I ate out on Wedsdays for lunch) but spending + - 7 dollars a day adds up pretty fast.
The second thing is loaning books. A friend and I had a discussion about a particular book over Christmas. I mentioned the desire to read it in passing and forgot about it. He gave me a call today to tell me to expect a package. I got home and there it was. I now have a new book to read that doesn't cost anything.
Yeah this is sorta weak but my good idea for the day went to a pre post to get a bit ahead. I had some time to do a little writing. My original idea for today's post is getting shelved for at least a day so I can reflect on of it is worth posting. Have a good day.
Ryan
Today's two thoughts on saving money are pretty simple. First take your own lunch to work. I find it most convenient to prepositions a weeks worth of supplies at work on Monday. That way you can just deal with moving stuff (and the risk of forgetting it) once a week. I can not do this with the kind of food I like to eat in the current work situation. I can however pack a lunch and take it with me to work. I ended up buying lunch Monday which wasn't a big thing money wise but it reminded me that I need to start packing lunches. Eating out once in awhile is nice and all but it should be a special event or something to get you through hump day (when we worked together Chad and I ate out on Wedsdays for lunch) but spending + - 7 dollars a day adds up pretty fast.
The second thing is loaning books. A friend and I had a discussion about a particular book over Christmas. I mentioned the desire to read it in passing and forgot about it. He gave me a call today to tell me to expect a package. I got home and there it was. I now have a new book to read that doesn't cost anything.
Yeah this is sorta weak but my good idea for the day went to a pre post to get a bit ahead. I had some time to do a little writing. My original idea for today's post is getting shelved for at least a day so I can reflect on of it is worth posting. Have a good day.
Ryan
Gold and Silver- By Steve
Gold and Silver is real money and I have been a Gold & Silver fan since 1975 and believe everyone should have some for the hard times coming. Over the last several months I have ran across several hard money economists,investors and money mavens. Here is a summary of their predictions on the coming hyper inflation and what it will do to metal prices-George Blake 2009-2010 $1200 oz.Gold Mike Maloney-2010-2012 $600 oz. silver $6000 oz. Gold Dr. Petrov 2012-2015 $10,000 oz. Gold Jim Sinclair 2011 $1650 oz Gold Art Field 2009-2010 $3500 oz. Gold. The US dollar has lost 95% of its value since 1919 and in reality is only paper and not backed by anything. The last time you could go into a bank with a silver certificate and exchange for a silver dollar was 1971. So bottom line is protect some of your net worth with GOLD and SILVER PLEASE!!! Good Luck Steve
Internet Privacy
"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds."
-John Perry Barlow
The other day I was talking to a buddy of mine, and I mentioned that, on my laptop, the internet was running really slow. He took one look at my computer, and said, "That's because you are running Internet Explorer, dumb ass!" So I made the switch to Firefox. First, and this is not the point of the post, if you haven't switched over to Firefox, do it. It is faster, customizable, and generally easier to use.
One of the nice features it offers is add-ons. Basically, it adds on features to the browser. One of my favorites is ad-block. Basically, all the ads which take forever to load, no longer load. Very nice. However, the add-on I am pimping is called "TrackMeNot." Here is basically what it does. All major search engines track what things people search in order to create search profiles. They like to know what type of products and services people like. Also, the government is interested in various types of profiles. Now there are ways around this, such as using www.scroogle.org. However, this search engine pretty much sucks. What TrackMeNot does is it sends out searches automatically through all major search engines. I have it set to sending 10 searches a minute. It doesn't open the search, it just adds the search to the record Google keeps. Because they are pretty random, it makes any kind of search profiling impossible, or at least very difficult. Right now I am searching "Lincoln counties will," "good life than," and "Statement affect."
-John Perry Barlow
The other day I was talking to a buddy of mine, and I mentioned that, on my laptop, the internet was running really slow. He took one look at my computer, and said, "That's because you are running Internet Explorer, dumb ass!" So I made the switch to Firefox. First, and this is not the point of the post, if you haven't switched over to Firefox, do it. It is faster, customizable, and generally easier to use.
One of the nice features it offers is add-ons. Basically, it adds on features to the browser. One of my favorites is ad-block. Basically, all the ads which take forever to load, no longer load. Very nice. However, the add-on I am pimping is called "TrackMeNot." Here is basically what it does. All major search engines track what things people search in order to create search profiles. They like to know what type of products and services people like. Also, the government is interested in various types of profiles. Now there are ways around this, such as using www.scroogle.org. However, this search engine pretty much sucks. What TrackMeNot does is it sends out searches automatically through all major search engines. I have it set to sending 10 searches a minute. It doesn't open the search, it just adds the search to the record Google keeps. Because they are pretty random, it makes any kind of search profiling impossible, or at least very difficult. Right now I am searching "Lincoln counties will," "good life than," and "Statement affect."
Seven Money Mistakes To Avoid- Thanks USAA
Seven Money Mistakes to Avoid
Posted: 09/01/2007
1. Piling Up Debt
Using credit cards responsibly can help you build good credit so you qualify for lower interest rates on loans. But charging your cards to the max and not paying them off is a sure ticket to trouble. Pay in cash instead to keep spending within your means.
2. Ignoring Murphy's Law
Bad luck would have it that you're involved in an accident the day after your auto insurance policy expires. If that happens to you, the financial fallout can be devastating. Be sure you stay fully covered with auto, homeowners (or renters), health care and disability insurance at all times. And if someone else depends on your income, include life insurance.
3. Procrastinating on Saving
In the world of investing, time can be your best friend. Thanks to the power of compound earnings, your chances of achieving financial independence shoot up dramatically when you start at a young age. By waiting even just a few years, you make it much harder to meet the same goal. So find a way to start today.
4. Missing the Match
If your employer offers a 401(k) plan with a company match, make sure you take full advantage of it. Simply put, a company match pays you. If you're not contributing enough on your own to get the full match, you're giving away free money.
5. Not Using Cruise Control
Basing your investments on what you have left over at the end of the month will get you nowhere fast. Instead, set up an automatic plan that takes money out of every paycheck. You'll probably never miss the dollars you don't see.
6. Co-Signing for Loans
Next time a friend or family member asks you to vouch for them on a loan, politely run the other way. When a bank requires a co-signer, it's because the person applying has no credible history of paying debts on time. If the person who received the loan is late on payments or simply doesn't pay up, you'll be responsible. And it could damage your credit.
7. Driving Upside Down
Let's say you buy an expensive new car and finance it for five years. Since new cars depreciate quickly, after a short time you may owe more on the loan than the car is worth — being "upside-down" on the loan. To get the most for your money, put at least 20% down or, better yet, buy used and drive it till it dies.
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Little Steve For You
Another round of layoffs-GM 2000-ING 7000-Sprint 8000-Home Depot 7000-Caterpillar. I wonder if the gov't geniuses will ever wake up? Steve
Quote of the Day
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
- John Adams
- John Adams
Seeking Advice
I was talking to a buddy of mine this weekend, and mentioned this blog. He asked me a question, which I am ill prepared to answer. However, I thought that maybe you guys could help him out. Here is what he is trying to do:
He owns some "Red Dawn" Land about 4 hours away from where he lives. He is looking for a way to have a secure buried waterproof container to store some gold, and guns. He is hoping to have something about 4'x7' about 3-4' under ground. He is concerned, because he never is able to get out there, about securing it, so nothing gets stolen.
Any advice you could give on creating his mini-bunker would be great. I believe we had a series of posts on point, but because of our prolific blogging (well, TOR's prolific blogging, I can't take any credit for our 1,000+ posts) I couldn't find them on our blog. Thanks for any help you can give.
He owns some "Red Dawn" Land about 4 hours away from where he lives. He is looking for a way to have a secure buried waterproof container to store some gold, and guns. He is hoping to have something about 4'x7' about 3-4' under ground. He is concerned, because he never is able to get out there, about securing it, so nothing gets stolen.
Any advice you could give on creating his mini-bunker would be great. I believe we had a series of posts on point, but because of our prolific blogging (well, TOR's prolific blogging, I can't take any credit for our 1,000+ posts) I couldn't find them on our blog. Thanks for any help you can give.
Building A Home On The Cheap
We have gone over RV and travel trailer living in the past, mobile homes have been discussed also. Let us assume that you want to live in a more permanent but want/ need to do it on the cheap. It is worth noting that cheap for a permanent structure is nowhere near trailer/ RV/ mobile home sort of cheap. The bottom line is that cabins/ houses/ whatever you want to call them just plain cost more.
Please check out some background by reading this post by Steve. All the good advice in it aside it got me to thinking. Three different people and their residences come to mind; I will now talk about them. Hopefully you will get something out of it. Here I go in no particular order.
Uncle B lives in a nice little cabin. It sits in a mid sized town that was small 20 years ago. The origin of the cabin is kind of a funny story. Grandpa was in construction and was building a park which included demolishing the structures that were on the land. He had a lot adjacent to the family home where they had a barn and kept the horses. Grandpa chose the best of the cabins on the land he was working on, sawed it in half with a chainsaw put it on a truck and drove it to the land in the middle of the night. This structure is fairly small but ingeniously designed to have a lot of space.
The cabin is about 20' x 35'. It has two small (queen bed, desk, dresser, small closet and its full) bedrooms on the left side that are about 10 feet wide. The little bit of space on the left side between the wall of the middle bedroom and the north wall was a tiny bathroom. The remaining space was split up with about 25' of living room and the rest was the kitchen. A brick fireplace is in between the two spaces. It looks like at one time the oven might have been attached but it was replaced by a gas oven. Later on a laundry room was added which tacked about 10 feet onto the end of the place. This place has pretty much everything you need and could be built pretty cheaply. My uncle and I were talking (he is a contractor) about homes and I gave this floor plan some serious thought. We agreed that adding a loft (very cheap space) would help out a lot. Admittedly in the cabin storage is somewhat short but between the barn and assorted outbuildings (one of which is basically a small apartment without a bathroom) there is plenty of space to put stuff.
This place has three lessons for me. First sometimes you can get a place just for moving it. This is of course more economic if you have the truck and such to move a place. However if that is your only expense for getting a livable structure it is worth looking into. The big thing in this is that for it to be cost effective the structure probably needs to be pretty close to your home site. Certainly not an answer for every situation but it is worth keeping in mind. The second lesson is that to a certain degree the floor plan and its livability are more important then total square footage. The third lesson is that if you have enough space on your lot additional storage space can always be added later on as funds allow. The cabin started with a tiny porch and no laundry room. After it became Grandmas full time residence I think the laundry room came pretty quickly. A few years later Pa and my uncles all got together and built a car port and a wrap around deck. Build a small place now, a shed in a year or two, a barn a few years later, maybe another room or two down the road, etc.
The second place is probably the smallest and almost definitely the cheapest. It belongs to one of Uncle B's friends who we will refer to as J. He owns ten beautiful acres of woods with an amazing view. He got the land about 20 years ago for a darn good price. He lives in an A frame. No foundation and no septic. He has a grey water system and an outhouse. To be honest I am not sure if there was a single permit involved in the place getting built. In any case the work was done by him, I imagine Uncle B and a friend or two. He has a nice barn also which stores all manner of things. The morale I learned from this place is that if you are willing to adjust your lifestyle (he has an outhouse) then substantial savings can be made.
The third place is the one I know the most about as it was recently built by a friend of mine. His folks have 40 acres they inherited and he was given a couple to build a house on. He of course has access to the rest should he want to have a cow or something. Most likely he would just get more involved in his parents rather substantial efforts (cows, pig, chickens) and have a piece of the rewards.
My friend built what could be best described as a studio house. Pretty simple layout with a bedroom in one corner, the bathroom kitty corner to the bedroom with the kitchen on the same wall to make plumbing easier. A wood stove sits by the doorway and the rest of the place is open. It sits on a slab and there is a small mud room in which the washer and dryer live. If I recall correctly he built the place for $45,000.
It took him about a year to build partially because he built as he could pay for materials. He thus owns the place free and clear. Being a union machine operator and generally a handy guy who knows lots of other handy guys he was able to get everything but the septic system and the plumbing done for trade or greatly discounted cash prices.
The good part of this plan is that he got the place for significantly less then it would have cost to have someone else build it. The bad sides are numerous but it is a question of what is important to you. When you get cabinets and such from leftovers at a great discount some weird combination's come up. When people are doing work for free or lower cash rates they show up when they can and feel like it. This means stuff takes a lot longer then if someone is there all day long. Expect to have lots of pauses while waiting for someone to come and finish their piece of things.
The building process being far lengthier is a big problem if you are paying rent/ mortgage/ whatever somewhere else. Paying for two places to live puts a strain on all but the biggest budgets. Living on site in a travel trailer/ barn (tent if you are a bachelor and the climate is mild enough) would be a good option. A friend of his who I don't know was building a place in the same manner and having serious financial problems because he was paying rent. My friend probably would have done things differently if he didn't have a room in his folks place. The bottom line is that he got far more of a place for his cash then through any other means. He did concede that if his time was factored in the cost would be far higher and really it was a pain in the ass. When he adds on two more bedrooms and a family room in a few years he is going to just have a contractor do the work.
I guess the biggest thing to keep in mind is that you need to think outside of the box to really cut costs. Thinking outside of the box means making sacrifices in some form or another. It is just a question of what you are willing to live without. Doing the average thing and getting a loan which you use to purchase a turn key home or having one built is going to lead to an average sized mortgage and all that comes with it.
Please check out some background by reading this post by Steve. All the good advice in it aside it got me to thinking. Three different people and their residences come to mind; I will now talk about them. Hopefully you will get something out of it. Here I go in no particular order.
Uncle B lives in a nice little cabin. It sits in a mid sized town that was small 20 years ago. The origin of the cabin is kind of a funny story. Grandpa was in construction and was building a park which included demolishing the structures that were on the land. He had a lot adjacent to the family home where they had a barn and kept the horses. Grandpa chose the best of the cabins on the land he was working on, sawed it in half with a chainsaw put it on a truck and drove it to the land in the middle of the night. This structure is fairly small but ingeniously designed to have a lot of space.
The cabin is about 20' x 35'. It has two small (queen bed, desk, dresser, small closet and its full) bedrooms on the left side that are about 10 feet wide. The little bit of space on the left side between the wall of the middle bedroom and the north wall was a tiny bathroom. The remaining space was split up with about 25' of living room and the rest was the kitchen. A brick fireplace is in between the two spaces. It looks like at one time the oven might have been attached but it was replaced by a gas oven. Later on a laundry room was added which tacked about 10 feet onto the end of the place. This place has pretty much everything you need and could be built pretty cheaply. My uncle and I were talking (he is a contractor) about homes and I gave this floor plan some serious thought. We agreed that adding a loft (very cheap space) would help out a lot. Admittedly in the cabin storage is somewhat short but between the barn and assorted outbuildings (one of which is basically a small apartment without a bathroom) there is plenty of space to put stuff.
This place has three lessons for me. First sometimes you can get a place just for moving it. This is of course more economic if you have the truck and such to move a place. However if that is your only expense for getting a livable structure it is worth looking into. The big thing in this is that for it to be cost effective the structure probably needs to be pretty close to your home site. Certainly not an answer for every situation but it is worth keeping in mind. The second lesson is that to a certain degree the floor plan and its livability are more important then total square footage. The third lesson is that if you have enough space on your lot additional storage space can always be added later on as funds allow. The cabin started with a tiny porch and no laundry room. After it became Grandmas full time residence I think the laundry room came pretty quickly. A few years later Pa and my uncles all got together and built a car port and a wrap around deck. Build a small place now, a shed in a year or two, a barn a few years later, maybe another room or two down the road, etc.
The second place is probably the smallest and almost definitely the cheapest. It belongs to one of Uncle B's friends who we will refer to as J. He owns ten beautiful acres of woods with an amazing view. He got the land about 20 years ago for a darn good price. He lives in an A frame. No foundation and no septic. He has a grey water system and an outhouse. To be honest I am not sure if there was a single permit involved in the place getting built. In any case the work was done by him, I imagine Uncle B and a friend or two. He has a nice barn also which stores all manner of things. The morale I learned from this place is that if you are willing to adjust your lifestyle (he has an outhouse) then substantial savings can be made.
The third place is the one I know the most about as it was recently built by a friend of mine. His folks have 40 acres they inherited and he was given a couple to build a house on. He of course has access to the rest should he want to have a cow or something. Most likely he would just get more involved in his parents rather substantial efforts (cows, pig, chickens) and have a piece of the rewards.
My friend built what could be best described as a studio house. Pretty simple layout with a bedroom in one corner, the bathroom kitty corner to the bedroom with the kitchen on the same wall to make plumbing easier. A wood stove sits by the doorway and the rest of the place is open. It sits on a slab and there is a small mud room in which the washer and dryer live. If I recall correctly he built the place for $45,000.
It took him about a year to build partially because he built as he could pay for materials. He thus owns the place free and clear. Being a union machine operator and generally a handy guy who knows lots of other handy guys he was able to get everything but the septic system and the plumbing done for trade or greatly discounted cash prices.
The good part of this plan is that he got the place for significantly less then it would have cost to have someone else build it. The bad sides are numerous but it is a question of what is important to you. When you get cabinets and such from leftovers at a great discount some weird combination's come up. When people are doing work for free or lower cash rates they show up when they can and feel like it. This means stuff takes a lot longer then if someone is there all day long. Expect to have lots of pauses while waiting for someone to come and finish their piece of things.
The building process being far lengthier is a big problem if you are paying rent/ mortgage/ whatever somewhere else. Paying for two places to live puts a strain on all but the biggest budgets. Living on site in a travel trailer/ barn (tent if you are a bachelor and the climate is mild enough) would be a good option. A friend of his who I don't know was building a place in the same manner and having serious financial problems because he was paying rent. My friend probably would have done things differently if he didn't have a room in his folks place. The bottom line is that he got far more of a place for his cash then through any other means. He did concede that if his time was factored in the cost would be far higher and really it was a pain in the ass. When he adds on two more bedrooms and a family room in a few years he is going to just have a contractor do the work.
I guess the biggest thing to keep in mind is that you need to think outside of the box to really cut costs. Thinking outside of the box means making sacrifices in some form or another. It is just a question of what you are willing to live without. Doing the average thing and getting a loan which you use to purchase a turn key home or having one built is going to lead to an average sized mortgage and all that comes with it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cleaning and Fiddling With My GPS
Today I woke up a bit late Had a nice leisurely early afternoon of cinnamon rolls and coffee. Spent a good chunk of the day doing some house cleaning that was a bit overdue. I also got to a long overdue project, the GPS. Mine is a Magellan Meridian that was purchased in late 2002 and has been essentially mothballed since then. I put some way points on it back home but didn't really use it much. To be blunt I prefer the Garmin Etrex series but this is the GPS I already own. Potentially replacing it is not even on the long list. If it breaks I would get another one; other then that I will stick with this one.
Nowadays I do a lot more land navigation and being able to confirm exactly where I am would be quite useful. The first thing I did was to get it out of the box, put some batteries in it and turn it on. The thing worked which was a very good sign. It took some fiddling to get it to orient to our current location but it was nothing too bad. Next I put it to give me the location coordinates in MGRS instead of Lat/Long . We use MGRS in the Army and it is what I understand and am confortable with. Switching it was pretty easy for me. Years ago when I was far less technologically capable (since then I've upgraded from a tech IQ of 27 to a tech IQ of 58) trying to do this pissed me off for a couple hours then I mothballed the thing. My last task with the GPS is to mark our residence as a waypoint. This means I can get a bearing and distance to our residence from anywhere. That is a good thing.
After completing this task I turned it off and put it back in the box in the closet, ready for use. Next in my list of electronic tasks is fiddling with the new radio. I will try to get to that sometime this week.
Nowadays I do a lot more land navigation and being able to confirm exactly where I am would be quite useful. The first thing I did was to get it out of the box, put some batteries in it and turn it on. The thing worked which was a very good sign. It took some fiddling to get it to orient to our current location but it was nothing too bad. Next I put it to give me the location coordinates in MGRS instead of Lat/Long . We use MGRS in the Army and it is what I understand and am confortable with. Switching it was pretty easy for me. Years ago when I was far less technologically capable (since then I've upgraded from a tech IQ of 27 to a tech IQ of 58) trying to do this pissed me off for a couple hours then I mothballed the thing. My last task with the GPS is to mark our residence as a waypoint. This means I can get a bearing and distance to our residence from anywhere. That is a good thing.
After completing this task I turned it off and put it back in the box in the closet, ready for use. Next in my list of electronic tasks is fiddling with the new radio. I will try to get to that sometime this week.
Blogs We Read List
I did some editing on the Blogs We Read List. I basically made it more like what we used to have with a daily reads section and a blogs we read section albeit in the same list. This is because I am not going to start messing with the formatting, it never ends well. What I did is make two alphabetical lists one below the other. Links are organized alphabetical, those that tend to post more frequently are on the top list and the more sporadic ones on the lower list. This is for my own personal use more than anything else. On days I have little time just the top list will get read. When I've got more time the whole list will get read through.
The Obameter
The folks at PolitiFact.com were cool enough to make the Obameter which tracks every distinct campaign promise President Barrack Obama made.
Stocking Up On Stuff
A big part of prepping is accumulating lots of stuff. It is not everything but it is a pretty major part of what we do. I am going to talk about some simple strategies to accumulate needed stuff.
First lets break this whole thing down a little. To simplify things a lot there are two kinds of stuff, single use and durable goods. A rifle cartridge is single use while the rifle is durable. Significantly different strategies can be used for these types of stuff.
The main way I stock up on durable stuff is by holding onto the older stuff I have. A pair of pants that are a bit worn is far better then no pants. Wrong color, odd fashion from a couple years ago, whatever. Still a lot better then being neikid. An older beat up pan that have been replaced becomes the camping pan. I have bunches of blankets because I never throw them out. Some are odd sizes or colors but they would keep me warm.
Single use stuff can not be accumulated in the same manner because once it is used it is done. Can't eat a snickers bar twice. This stuff must be purchased in quantity prior to needing it. Pick up 6 spare chap sticks so when I need one it is in the medicine cabinet. Keep extra cold medicine lying around because you never know when someone will get sick. A few bucks worth of OTC stuff makes getting sick a lot less crappy. What I like to do is just get two when I need one. Sometimes getting more then that makes sense.
Durable stuff can be purchased in advance if you desire to do so. There is some wisdom in this plan. I particularly like the holding onto older stuff plan because it is free. You will not care if an older pan has some scratches when the other one has a hole in it. Some combination of purchasing stuff in advance and holding onto older stuff is probably the best way to go.
The big thing is to KEEP EXTRAS OF STUFF YOU USE. You do not need twelve of everything in Cheaperthandirt, or Sportsmen's Guide. Picking up a spare jacket at a good price though it isn't something you would normally wear isn't a bad thing but you probably don't need to have fifty of them. Ditto for 1940's era Swiss mess kits, it is great that you get a discount for purchasing 12 or more but that doesn't mean you need twelve. Aside from a few spare sets of unfashionable work clothes, footwear and some tactical gear (spare holster, some sort of load bearing gear, etc) if you do not currently use it then there very well might not be a reason to own it. Do however keep in mind how your needs would change if modern utilities were nonfunctional. Can't just flip on the light if the power is out so you might want some flashlights and a lantern or two.
So hold onto your old stuff and pick up extras of disposables.
First lets break this whole thing down a little. To simplify things a lot there are two kinds of stuff, single use and durable goods. A rifle cartridge is single use while the rifle is durable. Significantly different strategies can be used for these types of stuff.
The main way I stock up on durable stuff is by holding onto the older stuff I have. A pair of pants that are a bit worn is far better then no pants. Wrong color, odd fashion from a couple years ago, whatever. Still a lot better then being neikid. An older beat up pan that have been replaced becomes the camping pan. I have bunches of blankets because I never throw them out. Some are odd sizes or colors but they would keep me warm.
Single use stuff can not be accumulated in the same manner because once it is used it is done. Can't eat a snickers bar twice. This stuff must be purchased in quantity prior to needing it. Pick up 6 spare chap sticks so when I need one it is in the medicine cabinet. Keep extra cold medicine lying around because you never know when someone will get sick. A few bucks worth of OTC stuff makes getting sick a lot less crappy. What I like to do is just get two when I need one. Sometimes getting more then that makes sense.
Durable stuff can be purchased in advance if you desire to do so. There is some wisdom in this plan. I particularly like the holding onto older stuff plan because it is free. You will not care if an older pan has some scratches when the other one has a hole in it. Some combination of purchasing stuff in advance and holding onto older stuff is probably the best way to go.
The big thing is to KEEP EXTRAS OF STUFF YOU USE. You do not need twelve of everything in Cheaperthandirt, or Sportsmen's Guide. Picking up a spare jacket at a good price though it isn't something you would normally wear isn't a bad thing but you probably don't need to have fifty of them. Ditto for 1940's era Swiss mess kits, it is great that you get a discount for purchasing 12 or more but that doesn't mean you need twelve. Aside from a few spare sets of unfashionable work clothes, footwear and some tactical gear (spare holster, some sort of load bearing gear, etc) if you do not currently use it then there very well might not be a reason to own it. Do however keep in mind how your needs would change if modern utilities were nonfunctional. Can't just flip on the light if the power is out so you might want some flashlights and a lantern or two.
So hold onto your old stuff and pick up extras of disposables.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
1,000th Post
This is a pretty major event for the blog. To be honest it has grown explosively and exceeded my wildest expectations. To everyone who has helped out in some way or another thank you very much. Rarely does a day go by where I do not learn something from readers. This blog takes a lot of work but it is worth it. I am pretty ambivalent about additional growth at this stage. Hopefully the whole thing stays fun and we have some more good times on our way to 2,000.
In the next couple of weeks there will be enough funds to purchase the Glock 19. Waiting on Wifey's last check from her old work to show up and then headed to a gun shop. Definitely looking forward to that.
Commander Zero wrote a great post today. He was talking about guns, mags and spare parts for the most part but also a bit about alternative power. The part on guns, mags and such got me to thinking. Particularly when he spoke about ratios. That got me to proportionality whichgot me headed down another path. Basically I think it is a good idea to have good proportionality in all of your preps, namely from one category of stuff to the others.
The gun collection is out of proportion to some other stuff. At some point I will definitely purchase some more guns but other stuff needs to take priority. We have a reasonable stash of chow but can use a bit more. Got as much water as can be readily stored in our humble abode, a water filter to purify more water. Plenty of clothes and assorted warm stuff. A bit of cash in the bank and some on hand. A few precious coins.
The main area we need to improve is emergency lighting and power. We have plenty of flashlights (also two self powered ones) and some spare batteries but that is about it.This will probably start pretty small with a couple of LED lanterns and a solar battery charger. A grinder will also likely be in this purchase. Bulk grains will likely soon become a part of our food storage plan. We will of course need to get some rechargeable batteries. Eventually a fancier lantern might not be a bad idea. More traditional kerosene lanterns will round out the lighting situation at some point.
That puts us onto power. A solar battery charger is the simple and cheap start. Batteries are more expensive but we can get a pack a week or something like that. The next step will be something like this. Being a single unit has some real advantages for a newbie to this whole alternative power thing. I think getting to this stage will take 3-4 months. Eventually some solar panel's, an inverter and a few batteries will be the solution but that is a long way off.
For the next two or three months we will be purchasing ammo instead of precious metals. After that we will resume precious metals purchases. Once the power and lighting situation is taken care of this stuff spare parts for the guns we have will probably be the order of the day. Spare parts and some mountain house will probably share our resources for awhile.
It looks like I just mentally allocated a reasonable amount of money I haven't earned yet. Fun times, fun times.
In the next couple of weeks there will be enough funds to purchase the Glock 19. Waiting on Wifey's last check from her old work to show up and then headed to a gun shop. Definitely looking forward to that.
Commander Zero wrote a great post today. He was talking about guns, mags and spare parts for the most part but also a bit about alternative power. The part on guns, mags and such got me to thinking. Particularly when he spoke about ratios. That got me to proportionality whichgot me headed down another path. Basically I think it is a good idea to have good proportionality in all of your preps, namely from one category of stuff to the others.
The gun collection is out of proportion to some other stuff. At some point I will definitely purchase some more guns but other stuff needs to take priority. We have a reasonable stash of chow but can use a bit more. Got as much water as can be readily stored in our humble abode, a water filter to purify more water. Plenty of clothes and assorted warm stuff. A bit of cash in the bank and some on hand. A few precious coins.
The main area we need to improve is emergency lighting and power. We have plenty of flashlights (also two self powered ones) and some spare batteries but that is about it.This will probably start pretty small with a couple of LED lanterns and a solar battery charger. A grinder will also likely be in this purchase. Bulk grains will likely soon become a part of our food storage plan. We will of course need to get some rechargeable batteries. Eventually a fancier lantern might not be a bad idea. More traditional kerosene lanterns will round out the lighting situation at some point.
That puts us onto power. A solar battery charger is the simple and cheap start. Batteries are more expensive but we can get a pack a week or something like that. The next step will be something like this. Being a single unit has some real advantages for a newbie to this whole alternative power thing. I think getting to this stage will take 3-4 months. Eventually some solar panel's, an inverter and a few batteries will be the solution but that is a long way off.
For the next two or three months we will be purchasing ammo instead of precious metals. After that we will resume precious metals purchases. Once the power and lighting situation is taken care of this stuff spare parts for the guns we have will probably be the order of the day. Spare parts and some mountain house will probably share our resources for awhile.
It looks like I just mentally allocated a reasonable amount of money I haven't earned yet. Fun times, fun times.
Ultimate Home Defense Weapon
My Pa really took a shining to my Uncle Rick's pistol grip pump shotgun. That specific shotgun is a Mossberg 500. I happen to have a Mossberg 500 and a pistol grip to fit it. After some discussion I told Pa that I would send it to him ASAP and he said there was no need to do that. If he was really worried about guns he would go to where mine are stored and pick up a couple choice items. When my guns are sent home because I am headed OCONUS he would like to hold onto the Mossberg shotgun, I said of course.
Pa considers the pistol grip pump the ultimate home defense weapon. I personally like standard pump shotguns because with them I can shoot accurately far faster. That being said Pa is very strongly right eye dominant but he has a blown right shoulder (accident in a lumber mill) so the pistol grip makes a ton of sense. He has plenty of strength but can't take recoil on his shoulder. Seeing as I have got the Remington 870 even if I am CONUS Pa can hold onto the Mossberg 500 for the foreseeable future. Worse case I get a spare 870 just because. Got a line on one in any case.
Pa considers the pistol grip pump the ultimate home defense weapon. I personally like standard pump shotguns because with them I can shoot accurately far faster. That being said Pa is very strongly right eye dominant but he has a blown right shoulder (accident in a lumber mill) so the pistol grip makes a ton of sense. He has plenty of strength but can't take recoil on his shoulder. Seeing as I have got the Remington 870 even if I am CONUS Pa can hold onto the Mossberg 500 for the foreseeable future. Worse case I get a spare 870 just because. Got a line on one in any case.
Building A Cabin Affordably By Steve
By acquiring building materials from a materials list prior to starting construction you can save 60%. By utilizing garage sales,bankruptcy sales,old inventory turns at building suppliers,salvage yards,used lumber from tear downs(free) HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SALES,RETIREMENT MOBILE HOME COMMUNITIES(cabinets and appliances). With accumulated materials on site prior to start eliminates a lot of trips for missing materials especially if your building far from any towns. We bought a used steel container for use as secure storage of the materials to keep intact prior to construction. I modified heavily a set of old modified A frame plans to make a 36'x20' 2 bed ,one bath cabin. Instead of a regular foundation we put ours up off ground with 16" diameter concrete pillars because the area is a wetlands and sloping ground uneven,also keeps out any critters from moving in! I have plans and plenty of pictures; if anyone is interested contact me (pipeguy@earthlink.net). Good Luck Steve
Friday, January 23, 2009
Finances and Visibility
We here at the TOR household are going to work on our finances. Things are fine but having a few more bucks in the checking account at the end of the pay period would be nice. We are not entirely sure where our cash is going. I mean we track spending in a general way (we spent this amount here and we currently have this amount of cash, etc) but not enough to make it meaningful. Knowing you spent $19.27 on gas at the 711 on the 17th is nice, ditto for $64.83 at Walmart on the 25th, etc. That stuff is not particularly meaningful though. The main reason it is not meaningful is because it does not show broad trends.
We have tried budgeting in the past with relatively low degrees of success. We spend below our means and save the difference (we save 15%) which puts us ahead of lots of folks. We have not done a great job of managing spending X amount in X, Y amount in Y, etc.
This is in part because I am not willing to budget for some things. I have done the whole going to the grocery store with cash and a calculator thing (it sucks) and would really like to avoid doing it in the future. When I go to the grocery store I get the items I want and purchase them. I do not eat steak and crab every day, or anything even close to it. I am just not going to make those pathetic choices between having granola bars or crackers for the week again unless I have to.
Trying to say we will spend such and such amount on this and this amount on that is not something we are broadly speaking successful at. So much of it is hard to really plan for because stuff changes. The power bill isn't the same every month nor is the fuel bill (gas for cars). Even food isn't the same every week. I tend to have bigger weeks and far smaller weeks. Go to the store and get a bunch of stuff and then eat on it for a couple weeks, maybe need beer, milk and eggs on the odd week but not much else.
The plan (which starts on the first) is to keep track of what we spend by category on a weekly basis. We spent X on groceries, Y on fuel, Z on entertainment, etc. I am not entirely sure what direction this will lead us in but I can't see it being a bad thing. There are probably some areas where we could cut down a little bit without it really affecting our lifestyle. The key as I see it is information. You can have the information and decide to not to change anything but without the information you can't possibly make informed decisions.
Take care
We have tried budgeting in the past with relatively low degrees of success. We spend below our means and save the difference (we save 15%) which puts us ahead of lots of folks. We have not done a great job of managing spending X amount in X, Y amount in Y, etc.
This is in part because I am not willing to budget for some things. I have done the whole going to the grocery store with cash and a calculator thing (it sucks) and would really like to avoid doing it in the future. When I go to the grocery store I get the items I want and purchase them. I do not eat steak and crab every day, or anything even close to it. I am just not going to make those pathetic choices between having granola bars or crackers for the week again unless I have to.
Trying to say we will spend such and such amount on this and this amount on that is not something we are broadly speaking successful at. So much of it is hard to really plan for because stuff changes. The power bill isn't the same every month nor is the fuel bill (gas for cars). Even food isn't the same every week. I tend to have bigger weeks and far smaller weeks. Go to the store and get a bunch of stuff and then eat on it for a couple weeks, maybe need beer, milk and eggs on the odd week but not much else.
The plan (which starts on the first) is to keep track of what we spend by category on a weekly basis. We spent X on groceries, Y on fuel, Z on entertainment, etc. I am not entirely sure what direction this will lead us in but I can't see it being a bad thing. There are probably some areas where we could cut down a little bit without it really affecting our lifestyle. The key as I see it is information. You can have the information and decide to not to change anything but without the information you can't possibly make informed decisions.
Take care
Today in Review
This morning we went for a DUI run. The concept behind these is that if you do a long hard and intensive run in the morning people will not go out and get DUI's that night. Personally I had planned to go to a bar and drink 2 pitchers with a half dozen shots then drive home (real fast so I am on the road for less time) but that run lead me to a change of heart.
I had never done a 5 mile run at a fairly quick pace that included lots of stairs and hills before. Really it wasn't too bad, guess I'm getting into OK shape.
I was going to get something really cool today that I have been wanting a whole bunch for awhile. Some stupid bullshit with residency prevented me from getting it at a great price today. It just frustrated the hell out of me. I will have to go across state lines and pay 20% more for the exact same thing. Probably going to do that tomorrow because I really want it and the addition in price is more palatable then the alternatives. The whole thing shat upon an otherwise pretty decent day. There will probably be more specific stuff on this tomorrow.
I had some other stuff planned for posting but the day sorta got away from me. Maybe I will get a second writing wind.
I had never done a 5 mile run at a fairly quick pace that included lots of stairs and hills before. Really it wasn't too bad, guess I'm getting into OK shape.
I was going to get something really cool today that I have been wanting a whole bunch for awhile. Some stupid bullshit with residency prevented me from getting it at a great price today. It just frustrated the hell out of me. I will have to go across state lines and pay 20% more for the exact same thing. Probably going to do that tomorrow because I really want it and the addition in price is more palatable then the alternatives. The whole thing shat upon an otherwise pretty decent day. There will probably be more specific stuff on this tomorrow.
I had some other stuff planned for posting but the day sorta got away from me. Maybe I will get a second writing wind.
CNN gets it right almost
Interesting video... Forced smiles... Very much a lets make the best of it attitude. Good thing to be talking about, but what ever happened to raising the Hue and Cry?
Quote of the Day
"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Your blog got me started
Hello,
I wanted to thank you and your friends for really getting me interested in reading blogs on survival topics. I have enjoyed reading your posts especially. I was wondering if you would come take a look at my blog and give me your honest opinion. I thought about making a survival blog or a prep blog or even just a fire arms blog. I then thought to myself there is a lot of those kind of blogs. So I thought I would do something that others kind of touch on but something that I do every day. I am a Welder/Mechanic/machinist on my family's farm. If it breaks I am the one who fixes it.Over the years I have come up with some interesting solutions in a pinch.. So I thought I could do some common sense tips and tricks and techniques that comes with my 25 years of experience. Its a different slant on being prepared.. If there is breakdown of civilization maybe some little blurb could be helpful when there is no parts store or mechanic available. The topics I hope to try to cover: Small engines, hydraulics,lathes, Milling machines, drill press, hand tools, tuneups, brake jobs, welding, gardening, irrigation, animals, electrical work, carpentry, cement work, plumbing, rope making, tractor operation/safety, Semi truck operation, Getting to know your local farmer. I'm sure there is more..
Thanks
FarmerMechanic
http://farmermechanic.blogspot.com/
TOR says: Thanks for the compliments. Lots of blogs do have some definite overlap in content. I suppose we all write from whatever our perspective is. Ultimately since 99% of us do this for fun with no compensation we write about whatever we feel like. Taking applicable knowledge and experiences you have and writing from that angle is a very good way to go.
I think that using practical experiences you have gained in a couple decades of experience working a farm and all that entails. Lots of people who do not run a commercial farm (or significant hobby farm) do not realize how much machinery and complicated stuff goes into a farm. I read over what you've done some good stuff already. I would love to hear some simple practical tips for fixing things.
I wanted to thank you and your friends for really getting me interested in reading blogs on survival topics. I have enjoyed reading your posts especially. I was wondering if you would come take a look at my blog and give me your honest opinion. I thought about making a survival blog or a prep blog or even just a fire arms blog. I then thought to myself there is a lot of those kind of blogs. So I thought I would do something that others kind of touch on but something that I do every day. I am a Welder/Mechanic/machinist on my family's farm. If it breaks I am the one who fixes it.Over the years I have come up with some interesting solutions in a pinch.. So I thought I could do some common sense tips and tricks and techniques that comes with my 25 years of experience. Its a different slant on being prepared.. If there is breakdown of civilization maybe some little blurb could be helpful when there is no parts store or mechanic available. The topics I hope to try to cover: Small engines, hydraulics,lathes, Milling machines, drill press, hand tools, tuneups, brake jobs, welding, gardening, irrigation, animals, electrical work, carpentry, cement work, plumbing, rope making, tractor operation/safety, Semi truck operation, Getting to know your local farmer. I'm sure there is more..
Thanks
FarmerMechanic
http://farmermechanic.
TOR says: Thanks for the compliments. Lots of blogs do have some definite overlap in content. I suppose we all write from whatever our perspective is. Ultimately since 99% of us do this for fun with no compensation we write about whatever we feel like. Taking applicable knowledge and experiences you have and writing from that angle is a very good way to go.
I think that using practical experiences you have gained in a couple decades of experience working a farm and all that entails. Lots of people who do not run a commercial farm (or significant hobby farm) do not realize how much machinery and complicated stuff goes into a farm. I read over what you've done some good stuff already. I would love to hear some simple practical tips for fixing things.
Snippet of Obama's 850 Billion stimulus package
This is just more printing of money we don't have! 1(Science & Tech 17billion 2)Infrastructure 92Billion 3)Aid to poor & Unemployed 97 Billion 4)Education 159 Billion5)Health Care 155 Billion6)Housing 13 Billion 7)Law Enforcement $ Billion8) Taxes 500 per worker, 1000 per couple for 2 yrs, 1000 per child tax credit, 2500 college tuition tax credit cost 140 Billion and this is for starters.( THIS INFO CAME FROM TY ANDROS TEDBITS@TRADERVIEW.COM)----THE TRAIN WRECK IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER -GET READY!!!!Steve
quote of the day thanks Pearls
"What has the Government ever gotten its fingers in that 1. they ever got out of and 2. they ever made better? NOTHING..."
Pearls
That is so true
Pearls
That is so true
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Letter To My Mugger
Letter to My Mugger
To the Guy who mugged me downtown ( Savannah , GA )
I was the white guy with the black Burrberry jacket that you demanded I hand over shortly after you pulled the knife on me and my girlfriend. You also asked for my girlfriend's purse and earrings. I hope you somehow come across this message.
I'd like to apologize.
I didn't expect you to crap your pants when I drew my pistol after you took my jacket.
Truth is, I was wearing the jacket for a reason that evening, and it wasn't that cold outside.
You see, my girlfriend had just bought me that Kimber 1911 .45 ACP pistol for Christmas, and we had just picked up a shoulder holster for it that evening.
Beautiful pistol, eh? It's a very intimidating weapon when pointed at your head, isn't it?
I know it probably wasn't a great deal of fun walking back to wherever you'd come from with that brown sludge flopping about in your pants. I'm sure it was even worse since you also ended up leaving your shoes, cellphone, and wallet with me.
I couldn't have you calling up any of your buddies to come help you try to mug us again.
I took the liberty of calling your mother, or "Momma" as you had her listed in your cell, and explaining to her your situation.
I also bought myself some gas on your card. I gave your shoes to one of the homeless guys over by Vinnie Van Go Go's, along with all of the cash in your wallet, then I threw the wallet itself in a dumpster.
I called a bunch of phone sex numbers from your cell. They'll be on your bill in case you'd like to know which ones. Alltel recently shut down the line, and I've only had the phone for a little over a day now, so I don't know what's going on with that. I hope they haven't permanently cut off your service. I was about to make some threatening phone calls to the DA's office with it.
Oh well. So, about your pants. I know that I was a little rough on you when you did this whole attempted mugging thing, so I'd like to make it up to you. I'm sure you've already washed your pants, so I'd like to help you out. I'd like to reimburse you for the detergent you used on the pants. What brand did you use, and was it liquid or powder?
I'd also like to apologize for not killing you and instead making you walk back home humiliated.
I'm hoping that you'll reconsider your choice of path in life.
Next time you might not be so lucky.
If you read this message, email me and we'll do lunch and laundry.
Peace!
Chuck
President TOR's Executive Orders #1-9
A bit of background: President TOR (Guns and Dope party) comes into office with a landslide win. He is likely to receive strong support from Chairmen of the House Ron Paul who leads the Libertarians and numerous like minded individuals (Republicans, Guns and Dope, etc).
1. I have been doing a little bit of reading and in the Second Amendment it doesn't say anything about what sort of firearms citizens are allowed to own. I think lawful citizens who are not restricted from owning firearms currently (felons, those with serious mental health issues, drug addicts, etc) can own whatever weapons they feel necessary to secure their freedom or just enjoy shooting. Current weapons laws including but not limited to: NFA, Gun Control Act of 1968 (the prohibited persons list will stay in effect), Hugh's Amendment, Brady Bill, NICS, etc all are immediately repealed. The FFL system is also immediately disbanded.
In case that got confusing lawful citizens can buy, own, posess or sell any firearms they want.
Since I am not a fan of useless clutter; all records, papers, information and data associated with previous federal or state firearms sales, NCIS checks, purchases or registration will be immediately destroyed. All agencies or individuals possessing said records will destroy them within 7 working days, attempting to circumvent this rule will be punishable under federal law. Independent verification of the destruction of these records will be made by a committee made up of lawyers from Gun Owners Of America, the NRA and Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership.
President TOR takes a break to saw the barrel on his Remington 870 down to 13 inches and then use a file to smooth out the new edge.
2. If a firearm or associated accessories (magazines(any container that holds ammunition to be fed into the receiver and fired), ammunition, parts, etc) that is legal in the US (see order#1) can be imported free of restriction or tariff.
3. Seeing as it is legal for lawful citizens to buy or sell any firearm or ammunition to any other lawful citizen under any circumstances (or otherwise posses whatever firearms and ammunition they desire to posess) there is no reason for the government to be involved in firearms possession or sales by lawful citizens. The BATF is heir by renamed the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division of the IRS with the dual (exclusive) purposes of enforcing federal tax laws for Alcohol and Tobacco. Its budget and staffing will be adjusted sharply downward to reflect this change.
4. Gold is money. No taxes will be levied on the transfer of money from one form to another including those transfers involving precious metals. Contracts with gold provisions are lawful and can be enforced as such in court. States, counties, or private companies are free to create and use precious metals as currencies in physical or electronic forms. Participation (receiving or accepting) in these currencies is completely voluntary.
President TOR notes: This is going to be handy in two years when the Federal Reserve is abolished. A pannel that includes Rep. Ron Paul, Thomas Sowell, Gary North and The Moneychanger among others is working on it as we speak. The guy who wrote Freakanomics (Steve Levitt) will also participate.
5. The Department of Defense is now going to go by its original name Department of War.
6. An official monopoly on ketchup is given to Heinz.
7. McDonalds will bring back the Cajun McChicken to all stores effective NLT 30 calender days from the effective date of this order.
8. In desperate times we need price controls on essential commodities. Their for McDonald's will change the price of their double cheeeseburgers back to 99 cents. The price of Cajun McChickens will also be fixed at 99 cents.
9. All footware manufacturers who sell shoes in America will abide by a uniform sizing criteria as established by an industry panel. Example: A size 10.5 from Nike must be the same size as a 10.5 from Adidas, etc. This standard will be enforced for all new footwear (excludes previously manufactured new product and used products) sold in America within 30 calender days of the signing of this order.
1. I have been doing a little bit of reading and in the Second Amendment it doesn't say anything about what sort of firearms citizens are allowed to own. I think lawful citizens who are not restricted from owning firearms currently (felons, those with serious mental health issues, drug addicts, etc) can own whatever weapons they feel necessary to secure their freedom or just enjoy shooting. Current weapons laws including but not limited to: NFA, Gun Control Act of 1968 (the prohibited persons list will stay in effect), Hugh's Amendment, Brady Bill, NICS, etc all are immediately repealed. The FFL system is also immediately disbanded.
In case that got confusing lawful citizens can buy, own, posess or sell any firearms they want.
Since I am not a fan of useless clutter; all records, papers, information and data associated with previous federal or state firearms sales, NCIS checks, purchases or registration will be immediately destroyed. All agencies or individuals possessing said records will destroy them within 7 working days, attempting to circumvent this rule will be punishable under federal law. Independent verification of the destruction of these records will be made by a committee made up of lawyers from Gun Owners Of America, the NRA and Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership.
President TOR takes a break to saw the barrel on his Remington 870 down to 13 inches and then use a file to smooth out the new edge.
2. If a firearm or associated accessories (magazines(any container that holds ammunition to be fed into the receiver and fired), ammunition, parts, etc) that is legal in the US (see order#1) can be imported free of restriction or tariff.
3. Seeing as it is legal for lawful citizens to buy or sell any firearm or ammunition to any other lawful citizen under any circumstances (or otherwise posses whatever firearms and ammunition they desire to posess) there is no reason for the government to be involved in firearms possession or sales by lawful citizens. The BATF is heir by renamed the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division of the IRS with the dual (exclusive) purposes of enforcing federal tax laws for Alcohol and Tobacco. Its budget and staffing will be adjusted sharply downward to reflect this change.
4. Gold is money. No taxes will be levied on the transfer of money from one form to another including those transfers involving precious metals. Contracts with gold provisions are lawful and can be enforced as such in court. States, counties, or private companies are free to create and use precious metals as currencies in physical or electronic forms. Participation (receiving or accepting) in these currencies is completely voluntary.
President TOR notes: This is going to be handy in two years when the Federal Reserve is abolished. A pannel that includes Rep. Ron Paul, Thomas Sowell, Gary North and The Moneychanger among others is working on it as we speak. The guy who wrote Freakanomics (Steve Levitt) will also participate.
5. The Department of Defense is now going to go by its original name Department of War.
6. An official monopoly on ketchup is given to Heinz.
7. McDonalds will bring back the Cajun McChicken to all stores effective NLT 30 calender days from the effective date of this order.
8. In desperate times we need price controls on essential commodities. Their for McDonald's will change the price of their double cheeeseburgers back to 99 cents. The price of Cajun McChickens will also be fixed at 99 cents.
9. All footware manufacturers who sell shoes in America will abide by a uniform sizing criteria as established by an industry panel. Example: A size 10.5 from Nike must be the same size as a 10.5 from Adidas, etc. This standard will be enforced for all new footwear (excludes previously manufactured new product and used products) sold in America within 30 calender days of the signing of this order.
Odds and Ends
Timothy Geithner's nomination as the Secretary of the Fed is about to be voted on. I think this guy is scumbageriffic. He is either too stupid to do his taxes or is a crook. Either way is that the guy who should be running our monetary policy and the IRS? That he is not honest or CAN'T FILL OUT HIS OWN FUCKING TAXES is a serious concern for me. His nannies immigration status is less of a concern to me. It seems like when he hired her she was legal to work in the states. I don't know an employer who regularly checks up on peoples status after hiring them but maybe it is standard practice. I don't know as I am from here. Also he designed TARP which to me is akin to being the guy who designed the Titanic. But only he can save us from this mess so he must be confirmed even if there is a video of him killing a homeless guy last night on his way home from a nice dinner.
Apparently Georgia's unemployment is hovering above 8%. Jobs of any kind are very hard to find down here.
Deflation?
First lets start with a definition of deflation. Investor words says deflation is: A decline in general price levels, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can also be brought about by direct contractions in spending, either in the form of a reduction in government spending, personal spending or investment spending. Deflation has often had the side effect of increasing unemployment in an economy, since the process often leads to a lower level of demand in the economy. opposite of inflation.
I don't think that we are in deflationary times. To me the key phrase in the above definition is "general price levels". While neither deflation or inflation would happen evenly in all sectors at the same time (this is why they hurt people) I don't see that trend. Some stuff is up, some stuff is down and other stuff is staying pretty level. I would say that the less essential an item is the more its prices have gone down. This is a great time to buy a new car or a big flat screen TV but broadly speaking I do not see deflation. Wages stagnating while unemployment rises and the prices of goods goes a bit haywire is probably realistic.
Personally since my wages are as fixed as wages can be can be deflation would be great for me. The debt we have would not change in proportion to my wages and our dollars would buy more stuff. I just don't see it now and have a hard time seeing it happening unless some major factors change.
South Carolina is out of money to pay for unemployment. Unlike California I think they are stating what is going to happen instead of begging for a bailout. States are going to have it hard for awhile. They have very comparable obligations to the federal government but they can't just print more money, they can borrow it but states tolerance for a bloated long term deficit is relatively low. Watch for what happens in California in the next 2-3 months.
It looks like GITMO is going to be closed. Where the detainees should go (politicians playing "not in my backyard" is fun to watch) is a concern. The far more complicated issue would be where and how to prosecute these detainees. Evidence and all sorts of stuff gathered in the boonies of Afghanistan isn't like that of a liquor store robbery in Omaha.
I heard a great thing on the radio today. Do not write/ post/ send anything on a computer that you would not want read in front of your family (read spouse) or in open court. I think that is a good way to look at the significant lack of security of anything online and more importantly of these electronic media's permanence. I already thought along similar lines but will be extra vigilant to do so in the future.
Be careful
Apparently Georgia's unemployment is hovering above 8%. Jobs of any kind are very hard to find down here.
Deflation?
First lets start with a definition of deflation. Investor words says deflation is: A decline in general price levels, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can also be brought about by direct contractions in spending, either in the form of a reduction in government spending, personal spending or investment spending. Deflation has often had the side effect of increasing unemployment in an economy, since the process often leads to a lower level of demand in the economy. opposite of inflation.
I don't think that we are in deflationary times. To me the key phrase in the above definition is "general price levels". While neither deflation or inflation would happen evenly in all sectors at the same time (this is why they hurt people) I don't see that trend. Some stuff is up, some stuff is down and other stuff is staying pretty level. I would say that the less essential an item is the more its prices have gone down. This is a great time to buy a new car or a big flat screen TV but broadly speaking I do not see deflation. Wages stagnating while unemployment rises and the prices of goods goes a bit haywire is probably realistic.
Personally since my wages are as fixed as wages can be can be deflation would be great for me. The debt we have would not change in proportion to my wages and our dollars would buy more stuff. I just don't see it now and have a hard time seeing it happening unless some major factors change.
South Carolina is out of money to pay for unemployment. Unlike California I think they are stating what is going to happen instead of begging for a bailout. States are going to have it hard for awhile. They have very comparable obligations to the federal government but they can't just print more money, they can borrow it but states tolerance for a bloated long term deficit is relatively low. Watch for what happens in California in the next 2-3 months.
It looks like GITMO is going to be closed. Where the detainees should go (politicians playing "not in my backyard" is fun to watch) is a concern. The far more complicated issue would be where and how to prosecute these detainees. Evidence and all sorts of stuff gathered in the boonies of Afghanistan isn't like that of a liquor store robbery in Omaha.
I heard a great thing on the radio today. Do not write/ post/ send anything on a computer that you would not want read in front of your family (read spouse) or in open court. I think that is a good way to look at the significant lack of security of anything online and more importantly of these electronic media's permanence. I already thought along similar lines but will be extra vigilant to do so in the future.
Be careful
quote of the day
"If you're not mad enough to bare knuckle box then you're not mad, just get over it"
-Red Foreman
-Red Foreman
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Today in Review
It was a pretty decent day. I got a reasonable nights sleep. PT this morning was actually pretty nice, we ran almost 6 miles but it was sorta slow with a semi interval thing in the middle for awhile. I got home and had coffee with leftover birthday cake for breakfast. It is the rainbow chip kind which Wifey likes. Cake makes a pretty good breakfast if high on sugar and not particularly filling for the calories.
After that not much happened today. I tried to take a nap in the morning but woke up after 20 minutes and couldn't get back down. The remainder of the day was spend at useless formations at work and trying to do simple stuff and having it become complicated. I am working on getting my stuff together for a CMP purchase and it turns out I need a copy of my birth certificate which somehow I do not have. Mom (crossing my fingers) has the original so I just sent her an email asking her to make a copy and send it to me in the snail mail. If the prices weren't good I would not bother with this but having a few 192 round spam cans of 30.06 ammo already in Garand clips would sure give me piece of mind.
I had a post planned for today but ended up doing some other stuff. Sometimes things come up that are too good to not run with. As for the other post like a good whiskey they are often better after sitting around for awhile. My head is sort of like an Oak barrel anyway.
The sky didn't fall today which is a good thing. Here is hoping that it stays up for tomorrow and hopefully through the weekend. Time for me to go to bed.
After that not much happened today. I tried to take a nap in the morning but woke up after 20 minutes and couldn't get back down. The remainder of the day was spend at useless formations at work and trying to do simple stuff and having it become complicated. I am working on getting my stuff together for a CMP purchase and it turns out I need a copy of my birth certificate which somehow I do not have. Mom (crossing my fingers) has the original so I just sent her an email asking her to make a copy and send it to me in the snail mail. If the prices weren't good I would not bother with this but having a few 192 round spam cans of 30.06 ammo already in Garand clips would sure give me piece of mind.
I had a post planned for today but ended up doing some other stuff. Sometimes things come up that are too good to not run with. As for the other post like a good whiskey they are often better after sitting around for awhile. My head is sort of like an Oak barrel anyway.
The sky didn't fall today which is a good thing. Here is hoping that it stays up for tomorrow and hopefully through the weekend. Time for me to go to bed.
Train Wreck Coming! By Steve
Darryl Robert Schoon indicates his belief that only 5% out of 304 million population (May) or could be aware of and possibly getting ready. I feel most should have at least a years supply of food set aside if not more and some junk silver coins for bartering purposes since every one is familiar with US coin pre 64. I talk a lot to family friends and neighbors and usually get a stare because they can't or won't believe it could happen-that the government is going to get us out of this with Obama in office now. What a joke! Just had to blow off some steam!
Steve
TOR adds: Most younger people are clueless about the fact that relatively modern US coins (almost identical to those now in our pockets) were made of silver. If there was a situation where our current system falters people would re learn what real money is pretty quickly. Having food and some silver on hand is sound advice.
Steve
TOR adds: Most younger people are clueless about the fact that relatively modern US coins (almost identical to those now in our pockets) were made of silver. If there was a situation where our current system falters people would re learn what real money is pretty quickly. Having food and some silver on hand is sound advice.
Basic 4 For a Smallish Women By AP
TOR notes: You will be getting a special treat today. After her comment on the previous post on the topic I asked AP if she would be willing to write a post on the matter. She is going to talk about firearms experience as a smallish woman and what she would choose for a basic 4.
I am a small framed woman (5’2” approx 110 lbs) who loves to shoot stuff. I’ll give you a disclaimer here: I have not shot every gun out there, not even close. I’m basing my choices on guns I own or have handled or fired, so there might be something better out there that I just don’t know about.
There are a few problems with 80% of the guns available if you are smaller than the average man (which most women are) and especially if you’re smaller than the average woman. First is the weight of the gun. This has to be somewhat of a compromise. A long gun that is too heavy leads to an awkward shooting stance just to get it stabilized. A handgun that is too heavy will also be difficult to hold right. But if it’s not heavy enough, you personally take a good deal more of the recoil since the weight of the gun isn’t counteracting the pressure of the round being fired. This is especially true with handguns. The little KelTec P3AT or Ruger LCP are cute and concealable, but have a nasty bite when they are fired due to their relative light weight, so you’ll probably be cutting practice sessions short.
Another problem small people have with most long guns is that a "standard" length of pull (usually around 14-14 1/2 inches) is too long. They might believe they have an issue with the recoil when actually they have an issue with the gun fitting right. If your gun fits right, you can take more recoil because it hits in the correct place on your shoulder instead of out on your arm somewhere. This would apply to rifles and shotguns. I've only shot one Ruger 10/22 and didn't like it due to weight and length of pull.
I have similar experience with handguns. .45's are not so bad if I can get my hands securely around the grip. I've had a lot of people recommend Glocks/M&P's/XD's/etc., and they are fantastic guns, but I cannot physically get my hand around the grips of the double stacked magazine pistols (even the new ones with adjustable grips). If my hubby brought one of those home for me, he'd just have to keep it (which I’m sure he wouldn’t mind). Being able to get a good, comfortable grip on your handgun goes a long way towards making shooting fun and if it's fun you'll want to do it more and practice makes good shooting.
So after all that rambling, here’s the guns I like:
Centerfire Rifle: For average shooting, I like our Winchester Model 94 lever action 30-30. The stock length is only slightly too long which is manageable. It is a little shorter overall, a lot lighter weight, and has less recoil than our other deer hunting rifle (Remington 742 30.06 autoloader). If I’m actually going to hunt deer, there’s a lot of open country around here and so I use the 30.06 with the scope attached. Even though I don’t like it as much, it’s better for longer distance shots. (I actually do most of my hunting archery, so haven’t had to use the rifle much.)
Centerfire Pistol: I am not a fan of revolvers. Some people are and they are welcome to shoot them. I own and love a Colt Mustang .380. Unfortunately these pistols are no longer in production although you can find them used every once in a while. I’ll tell you why I love this gun and then maybe my reasoning can apply to a more readily available handgun. Remember what I said about fit in the introduction? This gun fits my hands perfectly. For a .380 it is a bit heavy, but that actually helps with the recoil bite—I get very little recoil with this pistol. Another consideration with any gun and especially one that you would rely on to protect your life or the lives of your loved ones is reliability. The gun has to go bang every time, and this one does. Another reason I like it is it is not too “fat”. Thick guns are hard to conceal (if you are inclined to carry concealed), especially on a small framed individual, and I can carry this one in my favorite holster and only I know it’s there (okay, maybe my husband can tell). I have picked up the Kahr pistols and really like the feel of them—maybe someday I’ll move up to a Kahr .40 if I ever have that much cash laying around J
.22: Marlin Model 60. This is no status symbol gun, but it is fun to shoot, accurate, and lighter weight with a shorter stock than the Ruger 10/22. And did I mention it’s cheap? What more could you want for a plinker rifle?
Shotgun: Remington 870. I do not own this one, it’s on my wish list, but I’ve done a lot of shooting with my friend’s. His is a 12 ga right out of the box so I always go home with bruises on my arm from not being able to get it shouldered properly. These shotguns are readily available, dang fun shooters, and cheap in the realm of shotguns. The 20 gauge youth model is a fantastic fit for smaller people. I really want a 12 gauge so my husband can shoot it also, and I can shoot 12 ga. target loads all day long with the right stock fit, so am looking at aftermarket adjustable stocks for the 870 12 ga. Remington told me their 16 ga. youth stock will interchange with their 12 ga 870, so there are options to get a youth size 12 ga. shotgun, I’ll just have to work a little harder for it.
So ladies, if you’ve never liked shooting, but you’ve always just shot the guns your husband/dad/boyfriend used, look for something that fits right and give it another try—you might be pleasantly surprised. Handle as many guns as you can get your hands on, and fire as many as you can before making your decision (most friends with guns would be more than happy to let you try their guns out, and there are ranges that will rent you different guns also—check around). And whatever you decide on, I’d also recommend some training. Some ranges have a ladies’ night if you don’t want to go shoot with a bunch of guys. Husbands/boyfriends/dads, if you’re looking to buy your girl a new gun, make sure to take her with you to handle them—you’ll both be happier with the purchase that way. A comfortable gun makes all the difference between loving shooting and hating it.
TOR notes: First of all thanks a lot for the great post. Seeing as I know as much about using guns as a smallish woman as most smallish women know about peeing standing up you really helped me out. I find nothing to disagree with but do have some thoughts.
When it comes to the weight of guns and caliber the key is balance and purportionality. If a weapon is too heavy to safely handle and accurately shoot it doesn't matter if it shoots like a dream. That being said weapons can also be too light for their caliber, particularly pistols. Beware of guns that are significantly lighter then the average for their size/frame/caliber. Better to carry a couple extra ounces around and have something you can control and enjoy enough to practice with then to have something that is lighter but you are scared of.
Defensive firearms must be reliable. If a defensive firearm proves not to be reliable then find another purpose for it, sell it off or mothball it. Some like auto's and some like wheel guns, like chocolate and vanilla ice cream both are good choices. I have also heard good things about Khar pistols and they are relatively affordable as new firearms go. I think that for a primary defensive firearm .38 or 9mm should be the minimal caliber, .380 if that is the biggest thing you can shoot and conceal but that is it. .22, .25, .32 have a bad tendency to stop people a long time after the shooting. Killing an asshat who attacks you is great but it is better to take them out of the fight and have the EMT's save them then to have them stab you to death, take the $47 you had and go bleed out in a crackhouse after getting their fix. Good ammo helps but the requirement for absolutely perfect shot placement AND good luck is just not what I would want to bet on. If you were having good luck you wouldn't be in a defensive shooting so better carry a little more gun.
If you can't get your hand around it securely you aren't going to be able to shoot it worth a darn.
The Marlin 60 is definitely the icon in affordable .22 rifles. From what I have seen (which is admittedly a narrow view) these either function flawlessly forever or give you nothing but problems. If you've got a good one then enjoy it and otherwise see above.
In a world of limited resources many families have a small collection of firearms. As noted previously I think a basic four with the addition of a spare pistol so both spouses can have one (to carry, have in different locations at the house, etc) is enough guns for most families. If guns aren't really your thing or cash is tight there is no need to frett about not having a dozen fancy guns. One thing to consider (as mentioned by Massad Ayoob) is that it is essential to purchase firearms intended to be used by the couple (family, group of friends, what ever) WITH THE SMALLEST PERSON IN MIND. A large man could shoot his smallish wive's compact 9mm or 20 gauge youth model while she would have a much harder time with his Glock 21 or full sized 12 gauge pump.
There are M4 style adjustable collapsible stocks on 870's now. If they can be put on the defensive ones I see no reason they would not fit on any model 870. It would look kinda funny when hubbby had it in a duck blind but that could let you both use the same gun without swapping stocks every time.
Handling and shooting as many guns as possible before making a purchase is great advice for everyone.
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