The Doctor Update

The Doctor has been pulling up for about a month, which means he'll be an early walker like Row. The Doc is teething like crazy, and on track to have a full set of teeth by his first birthday. The daycare workers have decided that the Doctor is a mash-up between both his brothers. No DNA test needed to determine that they are mine.

He is starting on solid foods, which gives me a sign of relief. We've been stockpiling food and formula for a while. We are buying extra every payday.

If for some reason there was an extended national emergency, we would probably lose a substantial chunk of the baby population. On my wilderness ramblings, I ran across quite a few graveyards, and I was always a little sad to see so many infant graves. A good reason to prepare....

Keep Right On Prepping - K

11th Anniversary

I'd still say "absolutely."

Keep Right On Prepping - K

3.14

Apple, of course. I'm baking pie shells now for the chocolate mousse pies with whip cream.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Getting Real

It really hit home today that I have a new career. As I was making a hard copy of my phone contacts, I deleted all of my food service contact numbers.

And some Friday the 13th fun....

• Power went out at work, and luckily no one was in the scanner. We had to reschedule 3 patients to next week so we lost our $100 weekly challenge bonus.
• My evening front office co-worker got fired today.
• A patient took a dump in one of the dressing rooms, then stole the scrubs she was wearing. Crackhead. I got to clean it up (oh joy).

Still better than working in the restaurant industry though!

Keep Right On Prepping - K

An Easy Prep To Accomplish

I recently left my phone at work (during a snow event, of course) and had no idea for the phone number for my boss's cell phone. So, today or tomorrow, I'll be writing down each contact from my phone. Whether I misplace my phone or it gives up the ghost, I'll have all my contacts safely written down on index cards in my desk at home. Like I said, an easy preparation that doesn't cost anything, and can prevent some stress, if and when, your phone gives out. Have you done this?

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Fair Warning

Fleecing of Your Wealth

The fleecing of the American consumer should be a Olympic sport because it has really been perfected. I could be ranting about income taxes, sales tax, inflation, or various other schemes designed to part you from your money, but I'm talking about a newer skill set.

Ever since gasoline hovered in the $3-$4 range, and the American public swallowing it with little outrage. I've noticed that other manufacturers have become more bold in inflating their prices, or creating shortages to maximize prices. Ground beef ($5/lb?) more expensive than seafood? Not until recently. High priced pork products. I'm sure that I'm missing a few products that have gotten outrageously overpriced, and feel free to leave a comment on things that have gotten out of hand.

Anyways, just another example of the decline, and the money grab near the end of the line.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Toothpaste After 5 Years of Long Term Storage

Way back in 2010 when I was prepping for unemployment and full time school, I combined coupons and sales to get free toothpaste (and razors). I got a lot of toothpaste. So much, that after five and a half years we have used about half of it, and given away about a quarter of our stockpile to some friends in need.

How did the toothpaste hold up? The regular toothpaste hasn't had any noticeable changes. I've haven't had any cavities, the texture is still the same, and taste just like it was freshly bought from the store. My favorite toothpaste the Colgate Mint Zing has had some changes that I've noticed. The mint oil has separated, but can easily be fixed by gently massaging the tube of toothpaste. The texture is also a bit thicker, and tends to clog the opening about every quarter tube of usage.

All in all, I'm pleased with the 5 year experiment and will probably place the Colgate Mint Zing at the first out rotation. I probably have about another 10-15 tubes in the stockpile. The lowest price for the tubes was $1.00 each, so I imagine that a twenty dollar investment would last you about 4-5 years of toothpaste per person. I know that this is a minor item for hoarding prepping, but I'd like to have a sense of normalcy of if things went south. Plus, dental care will be a major concern in an extended emergency. And yes, we have plenty of floss to go with the toothpaste, as well as toothbrushes. The floss and toothbrushes could stand to be resupplied to match the expected rate of depletion of the toothpaste though.  

This is just another example of practical prepping experimentation. Keep Right On Prepping - K

Infrequent Posts

How the time passes without a thought or care. It's been way too long since my last post, and a hat tip to those that are able to post every day! I certainly have good intentions to post every day....

 Row finished the Little Rock Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday through his school. They log 12.1 miles at school during PE and after school events to qualify for the last leg of the race. The Little Rockers have kids from all over the state finish there last mile on the actual Little Rock marathon course. Row was really pumped to finish course. The morning was very cold and sleet fell for about an hour while we were downtown.

After watching people at the event, and seeing how they acted and especially dressed for the weather. the first cold winter is going to be a major killing event. I'd say probably about 5% of the people at the race were properly prepared to be outside more than a day, let alone overnight. There were quite a few women that looked good shivering from hypothermia.

While we were in the Little Rock area, I got to try out the Arkansas Armory . I give this place my stamp of approval. I got to talk to the owners,a husband and wife team, and they have done an excellent job on running their range. The store is well stocked and reasonably priced. The male to female ratio was about 50-50, which is nice to see. Actually, the female market is probably an under served gun market in most areas of the United States. The range is small, with six lanes and 25 yards long. As a reloader, I was very happy that I could collect my brass, and any other that happened to roll my way. Heck, next time I show up, I'm bringing my dustpan and small broom.  Revolver, we gotta make the time and go soon!

Keep Right On Prepping - K