This is a post from James Dankin,s blog.

Normalcy Bias used to mean that the average prepper/survivalist refused to believe that anything really truly bad was going to happen outside a few natural disasters. They could continue to live in huge urban areas, drive their SUV’s and afford really expensive trophy wives. They could have their cake and eat it too. As long as they stocked a case of MRE’s and thirteen different cool looking plastic poodle shooters, they could sleep the rest of the righteous and all would be Double A-Okay. This mindset is everywhere, from “UN forces will invade so stockpile a concrete fortress atop a mountain” blogs to paper magazines urging you to take out a thirty year mortgage on a homestead, assuming that the bankers will take asparagus for the next payment. Now Normalcy Bias means that all the really gruesome crap happening to us is ignored or downplayed, being The New Normal. As in, it seems to be normal when an earthquake destroys most of a country and years later nothing is back to prior conditions. Normal means a city like New Orleans will NEVER be rebuilt. Normal seems to be that we can double the national debt in one Presidential term, and can do it again and again forever without consequences.

*

The New Normal means we can invent e-money by the trillions and inflation won’t appear. New Normal is a third of all houses being underwater. New Normal means radiation from nuclear reactors STILL being emitted from an ongoing meltdown years later won’t ever concern us. New Normal is ALL the worlds super-giant ( the elephants ) oil fields in near double digit yearly decline causing no raised eyebrows. Even though frack oil has been no more than a FIVE percent increase in our daily oil use, we seem to think it means a New Normal of energy independence. In short, folks, the whole system is shaking apart. But because it has been in collapse for several years we seem to find this new condition the new normal and are steadfastly ignoring it. Which is why everyone seems to think they have forever to prepare. What they really have is from zero days to Who Knows How Long. But they all act like they have forever. So they go shopping for three thousand dollar 308 AR’s.

*

I’m standing at the food checkout the other day, knowing it will be awhile since Sammy Slackjaw is trying to scan barcodes and making it look like a really difficult Jeopardy question from the category “1834 Opera Writers With Syphilis”. I have the unique talent of always picking the cart with the square wheel and the slowest checkout lane. So I peruse the latest issue of SWAT magazine. What the heck, I loved that one as a hormonal teenager lusting after females and firearms. And there it is, a side by side comparison of the newest category to tingle men’s nipples across this great land, 308 battle rifles in the AR platform. I won’t start again on the loathsome qualities of that rifle design ( and don’t get cocky, AK’ers. You can’t hit a barn over a hundred yards ). What I’m arguing against is the extreme price tag. Anyone who wants to spend this kind of coin on a single survival item is, frankly, either retarded or has more dollars than cents ( get it? Cents, sense ). Or both. They are dumb ass yuppie survivalist scum. They don’t rally want to survive the apocalypse, because without an SUV to drive their lazy ass around, without a pretty wife to attract other eyes away from this wretched life form of a husband, without the tens of thousands of rounds to enable semi-autos to continue firing, saving our poor wheezing bastard the hard manual labor of working a bolt action, life simple won’t be worth living. They were raised on pabulum and every labor saving device known to man, and they shall die with a propane gas fireplace remote in their hand. Nothing is too good for our girly-men in hunter cammo.

*

For three grand, you could have it all. And by all, I mean a rifle and ammo, a years worth of food for each family member, land without a mortgage, shelter and anything else you need to survive the collapse of western civilization. You simply can’t do so in luxury. Do you hear the ensuing silence? Almost as if a fart in a church pew was unleashed. Live on grain instead of freeze dried food? Live with ONE firearm instead of one each of every kind ever invented? Live on a fifth of an acre without utilities, on a dirt road? Instead of a third of a million dollar McMansion? Oh, the humanity! How did mankind live like this bare assed savage who somehow hijacked this word processor, long before our beloved Oil Age that simply must last forever because I , your dear reader, simply wish it to be so? Who could live without luxury? Why, I’d rather slit my wrist than live in a cold tent eating gruel and being forced to recon without, SOB!, vests full of AR magazines, their familiar weight reassuring me I can win all firefights if only I send enough un-aimed shots downrange like the super stud ninja warrior I am!
I’m going to pretend all of you uninitiated into The One True Way Of Frugal Survivalism are not there of your own accord, but were brutally denied education by all “experts” out there who insisted only the rich deserve to survive. Walk towards the light! You can save yourselves and your families, even as you face declining real wages and inflated necessities prices. You can survive off of feed store grain, bolt action hunting rifles, junk land no one else wants, crude shelters and nothing much more. Gear will not help you survive. Attitude will. And if your attitude is that of a whiney privileged bitch-boy, all the expensive gear in the world won’t save you. Avoiding taste fatigue, having the option of multiple wildly shot rounds, living in only the best residences- none of these help you survive. Having a smidge of fortitude to rough-it a bit in life will allow you to prepare for pennies on the dollar. And immediately, since no one knows when the wheels come off this patched up squeaky malformed engine. Anyone telling you that you have twenty years is just as full of it as one who tells you we will all die tomorrow. Don’t let others pick collapse timeline for you. How about you let your family’s well being decide for you rather than your admiration of an “expert”.

*

My weekday blog, with access to untold unlimited wisdom. Includes access to my books:
www.jamesmdakin.blogspot.com 

   He is differant than most maybe a little blunt but he isnt wrong.

The scrap haul and other stuff paid.

    Well i made the scrap run on Tuesday and it was worth the time made 42$ off the junk and cleaned up some of the yard.Now i am not like most scrap scroungers i don't go looking for it.Most of what i haul off is dropped here by family and friends.Everyone has something to scrap from time to time but rarely enough to justify a trip to scrap yard some how a lot seems to make it to my yard.I just put it under my lean to till i have a trip or need gas money.I like to think of it as poor mans precious metals.I do not sell any lead or cooper.I feel the long term increase in price is worth the wait.
      After i had sold the scrap i took my brother in law a gallon of distilled beer:) .When i got home a friend of mine came by and asked if  i would be interested in making 10 $ an hour cutting his grass (his mower and gas)he was hurting in his back.Sure i know it takes him most a day.Now he is a friend and i felt bad to be paid but knew if i refused pay he wouldn't agree to it.I cut 3 acres in 4 hours.Will do the weed eating tonite.My buddy was happy with the cutting and he didn't nit pick the work so i know he had to be hurting.Now a year ago if i had started  week broke i would have been in panic mode but i have learned there is always something someone needs done and stuff that will sell. It may not be as regular as a payday i had 6 hour involved and netted over 140 dollars.still have 3 hours of weed eating to do and 2 more days for odd jobs to pop up.I am ready for this weekend plan on working Friday,Saturday,Sunday and Monday.Last Monday i laid in 20 Boston butts 9 slabs of ribs and 4 chickens(was the reason i was broke)this cost me almost 200 more than a normal weekend.

My Mother is against me opening a legal food truck.

  Friday i called my mom i hadn't talked to her in a few weeks(I know i should call her more often)as we talked i told her i was probable going to licence up the food stand.Her response was not what i expected she said life is short your making it OK why did i want to take on the headache.You have time to camp you aren't as stressed as you was with a business(at the end of my last business i was kicking doors off the hinges rather than using doorknobs)you even look happy now.My 70 year old mom told me i was right in what i was doing.
     OK here is the back ground for years i said i was going to Quit work and take 3 years off and have a mid life retirement while i had good health and could enjoy living.She had always told me that wasn't how people were supposed to act.You were to work till you were 65 retire and then enjoy life.Well mom retired at 62 but the same year my stepfather got cancer they didn't get to do what they had spent years looking forward to doing.J.C. passed away after 2 years of poor health.After that mom felt cheated out of a good husband and their plans.She called me one day and said if you can survive and make ends meet take a Minnie retirement she wished they had.
     Mom did offer up an idea that i will probable wind up doing.Her idea was to cater company parties and open on Sunday's.Not any catering of fancy events just BBQ employee appreciation lunches stuff like that.Now i have done  few company lunches and tried a few Sunday's  maybe i gave up to soon and should build up that side.I would be able to do this without any cost increases or food inventory costs.

A free water heater can cost more.

     This weekend i had to replace our hot water heater.I have to admit it lasted i checked the date it was put in in 1991 so it lasted 22 years my stepson is a plumber said most last 10.TJ got me and his mom a good high efficacy unit for 400$ its also 50 gallons.

      I could have got a free electric unit from the power company to replace my gas one but i did a little research.The unit they give away was rated at 458$ a year cost the one i paid 400$ for is rated at a annual cost of 265$.So i recoup my money in 2 years and will save 200$ every year after that.Also to go to electric i would have had to add a 220 breaker and run 30 ft of 10/2 wire about 60 bucks for that.Not to mention how slow recovery is on an electric.
When you see the word free alarms should sound it rarely is free.
       I am glad i got it done before winter it was leaking a little and last week the pilot had to be lite every day.Tomorrow i am going to haul the old water heater an old stove and aluminum cans to the scrap yard.After this hit to the budget i have 12 dollars for gas money this week i hope what i haul off brings 25 $.If it doesn't I'm going to have to borrow money from the wife or a loan shark who may give a better rate than she will.Luckily the scrap yards closer than the dump and they pay me instead of me paying to dump it.

A disturbing news item.a Personal delima.

http://news.msn.com/us/govt-aid-pays-more-than-a-minimum-wage-job-in-35-states   


I see my state is a red one to.Not all that big of  surprise just a little sad.

   I have thought about applying for food stamps i wont lie it has crossed my mind more than once.I have no outside income just what i hustle doing BBQ.My wife is drawing her unemployment 120 a week .Me and my wife have never made it official {she would lose about 400 a month when she retires if we did}we both have been married before.She has hide my n@^$ and i have to behave now.My youngest daughter only works part time.On a W-2 we only have an income of 1000 a month.WE are a family of 3 {funny how i pay the bills and buy groceries and they make more than me}and qualify for 390 to 420 a month in SNAP.I guess its pride that stops me.I understand some people need it to eat my oldest daughter was on it till this job.

    Last month i was grabbing a few groceries at the store about 40$ worth had payed all the bills was a cash short week.As i worked my way down the last isle to the check out in line was a Mexican family mom dad and 3 kids.The oldest kid was maybe 10 was translating for his parents they had 2 buggies full {no this isn't a steak and lobster story}of groceries it was 580$.I hear the boy tell the cashier EBT mom swipes the card then i check out.Now this is what got me in the parking lot they were loading a Cadillac excalade with 4000 $ rims and Texas plates.That got to me!
    I ha vent applied for anything in my 50 years and these people had probable moved to Alabama because of lax rules and higher pay outs than Texas.I have never begrudged anyone in need but that seemed wrong on so many levels.Running through my mind now is as a Conservative constitution loving American should i keep making it the way i have or apply for what i qualify for and put that amount into food guns and bullets .Is adding a nail into the government's coffin patriotic or wrong? I love my country our government not so much.
  

a few pics that i meant to post yeterday.

this is a picture of the brisket hash i want to do but i want a few more peppers and onions in it.

I may add tacos and wraps to the lunch but it will be filled with smoked beef pork or chicken to keep cost down.I love BBQ but a lot of people may want a different twist.

  I  am looking at re fried beans and rice one i like them 2 its survival food Mexican style. Like i said yesterday i only have a 70 sq ft kitchen so i will be limited in what i can have prepared.

Some ideas on a food truck.

      Well i wrote 2 post that when i read them sounded like gibberish.I guess every blogger has done it but mine was real bad.Anyway the last few days i have been spending a lot of time looking for recipies that i can cook and serve when i deside to go back into a bussiness.Now i have stated many times that all i have been doing is a roadside BBQ on friday evenings and saturday it has been fun an has added to my abilities in the food service bussiness it is not enuff income long term.Yea i pay the bills and have a lot of free time but i need to be looking to the future.
    What i have is a food truck trailer its only 7x10 or 70 sq ft so my menue will have to be small and quick to fix.The way i have it in my mind is a breakfast setup at a high traffic gas station.I want a signiture dish that is quik easy and flavorful 

this is my smoker and the yellow stand   

   Around here you can get just regular breakfast fair so i think i have settled on something a little differant in a homemade hash i think it sounds good and is cost efective any feedback will be welcome.
 1 1/2 cup cubed red patatoes fried
 1/2 cup red yellow ,green peppers,oinions sauted
  4oz. smoked brisket choped
  combined in a skillet tossed let to blend 2 minates topped with 2 eggs your way.add gravy if wanted served with toast or biscuits
 5.00$ out the window in 3 minates.
  I will have regular items but i dont want to be known as just anouther fastfoodmorter location.the lunch menue is a little easier having done BBQ for years it is my mainstay and what i know best but have found some good wraps and other non BBQ sandwiches that should be doable in the space and setup i have.OH just for the record i do notdo hamburgers!!!!I love good burgers but a good burger cost to make and the average person will not pay for a good burger. A lot to think about before i go whole hog into a full time businness again. But the demgraphics dont lie women under 25 cant cook and women over 45 wont cook.AS for us men we just want good food.


     Sorry for the print size change and mis-spellings blogger freaked out as i finished writing.

WOW gun control isnt working.

  Was watching the news on fox this morning and it had a  blurb at the bottom.5 slain and 25 wounded over this weekend in Chicago. Now i may be wrong but doesn't Chicago have one of the most sweeping handgun bans in the nation?It must have been bad for FOX ot have admitted it on there news. I Looked at some news pages on line and none had it listed but i admit i didn't dig for details.You and i know the only application of the term GUN CONTROL should be when you empty a clip and punch out the bulls eye on a target.

about sums it up


    

My daughter is going to become a machinist?

    Yep last week my daughter asked if she could borrow 200$.Normally you would think house payment power bill or something else.No her boss offered her a chance to go to school and get a LEAN certification (its a safety and procedure course that OSHA likes company's to have)and after that they want her to take basic machine shop operation plus CNC operation.If she passes a course they repay her 100%.The company that she works for was started by a woman and they make Molds for other company's.When she got the job i have to say i was kinda proud.My daughter has only worked fast food(about 8 different ones) and they didn't pay much over minimum wage.The part that i was proud of is she got this job with no help from me but i have known the owners for almost 25 years.Right now shes running a molding machine making test part for customers( if you fish with plastic bait 80% chance the molds came from here).When she passes the LEAN program she will also handle the paper work and compliance with OSHA.once she passes the machine shop courses and has those certificates they will train her in house on manual and CNC.I told her that the average age of a machinist around here is 55+ and as a woman she could work anywhere once she had some experience.When she asked what her pay could move to she almost fell out when i told her start over 16.00$ an hour up 24.00 after a few years.The  company shes with now will probable move her into that range.Last week i took BBQs down for there lunch and to say hello to the owners a worker in the shop told me i need to go in the office due to shop safety Regina the owner informed him i had been in shops before he was born.
    I think my daughter has a future as a machinist.The owner Regina is a great machinist and her partner ray is a engineer that builds molding machines.A female will get a fair chance with them because they built their company working can to cant.I think training a female to run mills lathes and drill presses is fine if she wants it.Its rare but not unheard of.
    Companies are beginning to wake up that skilled people are not available in alot of positions.A shop is a dirty hot place and most kids do not want to do those jobs.I know many companies that have men in there late 60s still working at great pay because there is no replacements.

Doonsday preppers tonite on TV.

        Tonite is doomsday preppers on the discovery channel.I love watching this show some of the people are either crazy or made to look like they are.Now we know most preppers are not as dramatic as they ar made to look.Most people that prepp are generalist there is no one thing that is all consuming that they prepp for.Around here tornadoes are the main weather threat and so i use my basement and storm cellar for storage.Now i don't know about anyone else but my food prepps are 3 levels and cost is an issue

Level 1 is 30 days of food that we use everyday

level   2 is got more caned meat vegetables soups spaghetti's sauces and other single dish items about 90 days worth

level 3 i hope is still unused when i die its wheat rice beans noodles flour corn sugar honey powdered milk and other long life staples  i only  have maybe 6 months worth of calories for me and my wife.

     Now i know this is nowhere near what a lot of people have but i feel comfortable with 8 to 12 months food on hand.I treat prepping as a hobby it allows for other hobbies i love.

Camping makes use of a lot of  my prepps

Solar energy learning its limits

Gardening growing some fresh vegetables (ps didn't plant squat this year)

History i think our future will resemble our past

Shooting i love target shooting out of 15firearms i only bought 2 at a store.(when someone needs a loan i take firearms for collateral if i get re payed fine if not fine ).

Beer brewing and Distilling.learned both from my exwifes grandfather.(i do not drink)

   I guess i became a prepper because it includes a lot of things i liked anyway.I started prepping by accident it was more of a name change than anything.When i first quit working it sure made the first year a lot easier used a lot of supplies up and are SLOWLY putting them back.Did you just wake up and start worrying or were yo almost there before you even heard of prepping?

Foxfire books a must read

      If you have never heard of the foxfire books please look them up online and read 1-5.What they are is a collection of stories wrote in the sixties by high school kids talking to their grandparents great aunts and uncles about life in the Appalachian Mt's.Most of the books are first hand accounts of things that had to be done to just live a lot of how to a lot descriptions of there daily life.If you do read the books remember they had no electricity no cars few stores and little money.
      I have a lot of respect for the abilities of the people in these books .When i read books of this type i look at modern things that we have available for off grid living today vs back then.Our modern mountain families even if they are off grid and living off the land have it so much easier than the folks in the 1800s had.By the same token people from back then knew more about what it took to live that kinda life.If i had to live off the land with only 1 modern item i think i would pick a chainsaw.The amount of time they took with falling trees and making lumber and usable items was huge.A chainsaw would free up a lot of time for other things.You may wonder why not a truck? No roads .Solar panels ?Why a lantern was available and candles.Guns yea modern ones would be nice but black powder was OK and it wouldn't  save time.A fridge? No i have waded a mt stream its plenty cold for milk and most food .So i am back to the chainsaw.Even with a good chainsaw falling cutting and splitting a cord of firewood is a lot of work.Could you do  it using a 2 man saw bucking horse saw then split it?
     If something happens and we devolve back to this level read these books and choose what you could do to make it as manageable as possible.For me a chainsaw is my pick i have 3 and 10 gallons of Coleman fuel for long term.I also have a 10 gallon ethanol generator (a still) that i have used for many years.What do you think your 1 item would be for you.

why didnt I get anything done this week?

     Look we all have projects that we want to get done.If you are married its double the projects your and hers.This morning i got up early to put 10 butts on the smoker to sell today and i got to looking around at some of my projects.Since way before the 4th of July i cant think of 1 project i have completed.So when i get done i think i will make a list of projects ON PAPER that away i can see what i need to get done.What i want to get done.Also what the wife says i MUST get done{or else}.The last year i have got terrible about forgetting to pick up odds and ends that we need so i have a notebook that i jot stuff down on.Now it looks like im going to have to make myself a todo list also.
     I am begining to understand the the term oldhiemers and sometimers all  to well.when i was working i had no trouble prioitizing work and planning a day.Maybe it was because i always had dead lines but now I am my own boss(ok shes the boss but dont admit it)and need to get my act togeather.Lists,Lists,Lists.

Why bib overall matter.

     Yesterday i made a comment on farmer in bib overalls.Well this is how i learned about the men that wear them.
     When i was about 12 my grandfather loaded up about 6 cows for the auction.We has 6 cows in a 68 model Chevy and i mean aload so off to the sale we went.For a 12 year old at his first cattle auction i was mesmerized by the cows and bulls the ring men and the cadence of the auctioneer.The place was full of old cattlemen with muddy boots and overalls telling lies and caring on and grand paw was right in the middle with them with me tagging along.Now you could spot the meat company men because they wore suits and sat on the front row.I still remember when a Brahma bull cleared the ring and the handlers jumped the rail and landed in the lap of the men in suits.All the ranchers and farmer roared laffing.When it was all said and done we went up to the office to settle up.As the bills were tallied my grandfather and a group was betting on coke bottles.The game went like this old coke bottles had a city and state listed on the bottom showing where it was made who ever pulled the bottle from the farther est point won the pool.There was about 10 overall wearing farmer playing at 5.00 a pull so it was a 50.00 pot and grand paw was right in with em.Well one of the girl hollered at one of the men his bill was toted he said who owes who she told him he owed almost 6000 for what he bought.Well he pulls a wad of hundreds out of that bibb pocket and tosses it to the ladie  tells her to peel it off of that he is busy playing.When she counts it out marks the bill paid she hands it back to him he shoves it back in the pocket.She asks him count it to make sure he just turns around and says it feels about right then he tells all the men  he has to go been fun.When we were in the truck i told my grand paw that roll of cash was more than i had ever seen and how could a man dressed in overalls carry it around like that.Old gran paw told me that that man could buy and sell most 10 times and had earned it the hard way.He told me tha if i ever dealt with a man in bibb overall and mud to his knees.He may be broke but his word was his bond and if he was buying he would have cash in his bibb pocket.Well in my life i have never been done wrong by a man in overalls and i have seen handshake and cash deals done in a minute that most men would need legal papers drawn.On more than one thing some of those old timers have used the phrase "just you wait and see if I'm right"I don't drought what life has taught the few that were old bibb overalls .Ever since that cattle sale i know never to make lite of those men.

What will our food options be in 10 years.

       Last nite i was watching a local show it had a local farmer on it.The farmer runs a large U pick it farm.He was talking about most his customers we older because they still can and freeze fresh produce.He said it was a shame that younger folks was losing the knowledge to feed themselves.The old farmer made a statement that rang true to me he said 50% of all food was grown on cooperate farms and if it continued in 10 years 80% of all food would come from a few conglomerates.He said the family farms were dying  due to age and cost lower profits.The next statement he made got my wife's attention.The old man said in a few years it may be not how much food cost but how to get enough to eat and will it be what you want or fit to eat.
        Now that is a scary thought.What if 80% of food is controlled by 5 or 6 food companies will we have a choice or will we be fed soy lent green and told its organic( OK maybe not soy lent green but you get the idea).Marketing is these companies strong suit and when they control the supply they set the price.
        I know i haven't made any new revelations here but i felt it was worth a few lines. I learned as a kid that men in bibb overalls knew a lot more than most in Armani suits.what worries people in overalls should worry us all!

left over biscuts are the best.

      My wife makes good homemade biscuit's a few times a week.Now i  love fresh biscuit's i can eat 3 or 4 easy but sometimes she makes a few to many.I love leftover biscuit's the next day i make bacon grease biscuit's they are simple just fry 4 or 5 slices of bacon in a skillet add a little butter split 3 biscuit's in half place soft side down fry till nice and toasted add bacon jelly more butter ENJOY. Now i do not claim its healthy but its gooood.

no sleeping on the beach

  Some people just cant keep up with us old folks.


the family hoped a seagull well you get the idea

    My step daughter took a nap as we played in the sand.

our spoiled grandson Noah

The little one was wide open all day even as his momma was snoring in a chair. Its funny you have kids when your young but there no fun until you get thegrands.Ever wish you could have skiped kids and gone straight to grandkids? I have.Hear is my sister in law building a sandcastle in the surf.It was more like a hole with sea water in it.


digging is useless on the beach

 Everyone needs a break even an unemployed fat man like me it was nice to have some of the family togeather with us.Normaly me and the wife camp alone but i think we will be inviting our son and linda to go with us on more we had fun.The bigest reason we cant is they work durring the week and i do the BBQ on the weekends.If i worked a regular job i couldnt afford or have time to enjoy life.Unlearn and live!
     It is amazing what you can do when you owe no banker and keep what you earn.STARVE THE BEAST and OWE NO BANKER!!!!!!!

A few pics of the coast.

     I just wanted to post a couple of pics of us enjoying being away from home.

     The surf was mild and the water was shallow so everyone could go in. There is somethin about the ocean that a river or lake cant match.


    Afew hours of sun and surf wore us out. 

blogger has gone apeshit will try more later sorry!!!!!