Saturday, February 27, 2016

Reader Question: Money Windfall

The rent house looks like we will close in early March, but we aren't counting our chickens until all the papers are signed. With the equity, we are going to pay off all our debt except for our current house, and put three months worth of salary into the bank as a safety net [steps 2 and 3 for Dave Ramsey followers]. We will continue to add to the safety net until we have six months. We are also looking at doing some needed chimney repairs, adding a small deck in the back yard, and buying a 3 or 4 year old "new" family car.


My question for the readers. What would you do with $10,000 for your families preparedness?

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Friday, February 26, 2016

Online Vendor Endorsement

I am not getting any compensation for this endorsement. I've had a family member use SGAmmo quite a bit, and is also endorsed by a US Customs firearms instructor. I used them for the first time last week, and am really impressed with their customer service, communications, speedy delivery, and packaging.


Link on over and check out their ammo selection! If you've ordered from them, then tell us your experience.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Unbelievable Phone Call ?!?#@%R$^

I was driving home yesterday and received a phone call. "Thomas?", to which I replied you have the wrong number. "Perhaps you can help me out..." It seems that a group is raising money for people on The Affordable Care Act that can't afford the prescriptions drugs "that they need".

Well, dear gentle readers, I'll spare you the exact details but it went something like this : "Are you kidding me?"...something about the amount of taxes I pay...low income people are given, without working, food benefits, free phones, housing allowances, free lunch and breakfast for their kids, healthcare, educational opportunities, and I'm sure I missed a few items as well.

Broke A$$

These scammers and leeches on society are ruining the system that it was designed to help, and are given more money than I make in a year, and you're asking me for money?

A related link at http://eiaft.blogspot.com/2016/02/commentary-we-want-mo-money.html

Keep On Prepping - This system is unsustainable - K 

Friday, February 12, 2016

Faux Pas

I walk into work yesterday with my Gold Peak tea under my arm [ I brew my own tea then refill the old bottle]. The temp worker runs up to me and tells me that I'm needed in the office,a as she takes me by the arm. My first thought was "I'm getting fired."


It turns out that my boss had brought some Gold Peak tea in the same bottle that I usually use, and of course I drank it. You know, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me, and I thought that I had left it in the refrigerator. You don't want tea to go bad either. It can really mess up your GI tract. Plus, as an old kitchen manager, you gotta use the First In, First Out rule.

She was way cool with the whole situation, and even told me that she noticed the same type of tea, and wondered if I might drink it by mistake. We had a good laugh, and I offered my tea, but she declined.

Anyways, guess who is getting a new bottle of tea today, with their name on it? You've got one guess...

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Soap

Hey, another boring post on my supplies that I've squirreled away for ten years. I've stored Ivory soap and Irish Spring for a while. The items were stored in their own box in the bathroom, in the cabinet drawers, and also the linen closet. Be sure that the soap, detergents, and other strongly scented chemicals are keep in another room for your food supplies. Food stuffs will acquire the scent.


Both the Ivory soap and Irish Spring soap worked just like new soap. The only downside to the Ivory soap is that the paper wrapping has to be picked from the soap, and can get tedious. If this is the only soap in the tri-county area, then it would be a small price to pay. Personally, I'll be buying and only storing soap in the box.

Might as well make it as easy as possible, without any added hassle, while I can. One of the first things that I want to do after a long backpacking trip is to take a long hot shower. A clean body feels so good!

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Shaping Up To Be A Bad Week

On Monday I got a written warning for failing to do my job, and having to reschedule a patient for waiting too long.

On Tuesday, the last patient of the day the MRI scanner kept blowing an RF amp. Of course, this morning it is working.


A little back story on Monday. On Friday, I had to recall a patient to do some more scans due to poor image quality. Of which, I had only done this particular scan once before, and frankly, some of the diagnosis from the images on the scans are magical. I mean, I look at the report and wonder "how on Earth did the radiologist see that"?

I call the patient and she can make it back into our clinic before leaving town. I'm thinking [which is my first mistake] that I can run them in and out of the scanner in about 15-20 minutes. Well, the scans still come out grainy, and I have to pull over the Philips protocols which are 6 minutes long. I also have to call the radiologist to confirm that the images are of diagnostic quality. Of course, the radiologist wants to add just one more sequence [another 6 minutes].

At this time, it has been close to 35-40 minutes since the other scheduled patient's time which is a double scan. In retrospect, I should have run the double scan and had the rescan wait [second mistake]. I get the scheduled patient back into the dressing room, and she's not happy. Of course, during the continued scanning process the other patient waiting in the wings gets fed up and let's me have it with a carefully worded verbal dissertation. Turns out she's a doctor...

The doctor calls my boss, and so it travels downhill until it hits me squarely in the chest.

Lessons Learned:

Call the radilogist if I have any doubt about scan quality.
Doctors are special people that require special care and ego boosts.
Don't think about squeezing a person in front of a scheduled patient.
Keep my resume updated & get my national certification for MRI modality.

But really, isn't this is what preparedness is all about: preparing, practicing, and refining? Mine just happens to be my work life this time.


Keep Right On Prepping - K

Monday, February 8, 2016

Theory Based Scenario - North Korea

This is a theory based scenario for your thoughts and considerations.

The time is the near future, as the economic conditions around the world worsen, and the UN sanctions against the North Korean regime starts to take a toll on the populace and the leadership. The North Korea authorities have started a massive crack down on an increasingly disloyal military and population due to widespread famine.


China is providing little aid to North Korea to apply pressure on the United States government over the disputed South China Ocean man made islands.


The condition inside North Korea worsens as Kim Jong-Un faces an attempted coup by the military leadership, and an increasingly hostile population due to famine and hardship. The "Dear Leader" starts to see his empire crumble as graffiti and vandalism start to undermine his supreme authority. In a bid to save the people of North Korea, the military plays a dangerous game. They rally the people to march on Pyongyang as a show of solidarity, but tell Kim Jong-un that the people are calling for his blood.


In a desperate bid to have Kim Jong-un flee to China in a waiting jet, the Dear Leader prepares a helicopter  to the airport. With the few most trusted generals, he loads into the helicopter but heads to a secure bunker for his last stand against the United States. Inside that bunker, he has control over a simple nuclear missile capable of delivering a nuclear detonation over the continental United States. The resulting EMP from high altitude blast throws the United States back into 1800s technology.


The comment section is open...


Sources:

China man made island - Daily News

North Korea missile launch  - CNN

North Korea Nuke testing - CNN

EMP results - The federalist 

Saturday, February 6, 2016

What's Good For The Goose...

 If two Hollywood stars can cause a racket, and call for a boycott about the Oscars not having any black actors as nominees, then I'll be boycotting this year's MBA All star game.  In fact, I'll be boycotting all of the NBA games, merchandise, and anything related to basketball (except the Razorbacks) because they didn't select any white players. This year's all-star game has zero white players. #NBAsoblack


Two graphs for your thoughts:

USA race Distribution




More whites need to be represented in the NBA.

Keep Right On Prepping  - K

Friday, February 5, 2016

The New Economy Part II

Today is payday, and after looking at my paycheck stub, I have a solution for the "no clocking in policy". I won't be leaving early, and will find little projects to occupy my time until clock out time. It might be trimming my fingernails, organizing my locker, checking the reports for new pathological diseases to study, or checking my eyelids for leaks.

Anyways, these projects will earn me an additional $100 per pay period. It seems that I was saving the company money by coming in early and leaving early. If the company doesn't want me to clock in early, I think that I shouldn't clock out early as well.



Don't get me wrong. I still like my job. I'll always do my best...it's just who I am. It just really annoys me to split hairs about a few dollars when our clinic, which got the butt chewing, is one of the best performing for the company and saves money at every opportunity.


I've said it before, I like to be a problem solver. The solution is to work my scheduled hours, and we both get what we want. They don't want me to clock in early, and I get a bigger paycheck.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Thursday, February 4, 2016

The New Economy

I don't recall if I've ever posted about the "new economy" that me and my fellow students observed while in school. Raises are a thing a the past, you'll have to change jobs to keep getting pay raises. The "new raise" is that "Congratulations, you still have a job!"


I walked into work yesterday, and clocked in early, and clocked out in a couple of minutes. The word has come done from management, in the form of a butt chewing, that there will no more clocking in early. They sure are happy to have us leave early though. So, no more leaving early. When I have to leave early, I'll tried  to make up the time by coming in early and helping out.

I think that management has failed to see the bigger picture rather than just looking at the bottom line[$]. For example, our contrast comes in two sizes 7.5 ml and 10.0 ml. A 75 kilogram patient receives a  7.5 ml dose. Generally, if we have a 78 kilogram patient, I will only push 7.5 ml contrast to save the company the cost difference between the two vials, which is about a day's pay for me.

Hey, I don't have a problem following the rules. It just seems that some things aren't worth the happiness of your employees. I learned as middle management, a happy employee is more willing to look out for the company rather than having an us versus them mentality.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Taxes

Just about got all my stuff together for the annual "I feel violated" tax marathon. As my readers know, we always overpay our taxes. Some people say that it is stupid to provide the government with a tax free loan, but we prefer the automatic savings plan. The interest rate on money in the bank isn't enough to really matter...


Our refund money is usually used for the summer vacation, or house improvements, sometimes both. We aren't sure what we are going to spend our money on this year, but we have rather long "want" list that we have been compiling for a year or two. Sure, we could have charged them, but that doesn't seem prudent in today's world. Remember, that "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7).

The only letter that I want from the IRS is a refund check.

Sweetheart and I will have our budget meeting, and discuss the various uses the money could be used for. I have a new toy in my sights. The Tavor Bullpup (LINK) , good enough for the Israeli army, good enough for me.


Keep Right On Prepping - K

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

It's About Time

One topic that I rarely see on preparation sites, is the topic of keeping time without power. Most of the world uses their cell phone instead of a wrist watch. I used to wear a watch when I was doing x-rays, but switching to the MRI modality has me using the wall clock, and computer as my time pieces.

Yesterday, I found a windup clock with an alarm, for 99 cents at our local thrift shop. It will be going into our Faraday cage. When you have to be up before the sun, this will come in really handy. I've been running it to see how it keeps time, and so far it hasn't lost or gained any time.

I know a few wall clocks use an AA battery that lasts for a really long time, but it doesn't have an alarm. Also, when the battery loses power, how are you going to reset the time?

What would you use in an EMP event or very long term power outage?

Keep Right on Prepping - K

Monday, February 1, 2016

Under Contract

The buyer has accepted our counter counter offer, and the rental house is now under contract. This just means that the house will get a home inspection, and we will have to negotiate the repair list. We have set a $1000 cap, under the contract, which the finance company made the seller take out. We shall see what happens.

I'm just glad to get this far into the process, but a lot could happen between now and the signing of the papers.






I'll keep my loyal reader(s) up to date...

Keep Right On Prepping - K