Thanksgiving

The Mitsubishi, the one that has gotten me through school, is on it's last leg. Today the transmission started to fail, it was like getting kicked in the rear at 30-35 mph (repeatedly), and peeling out to get it going in the forward direction.

It's time like these that the house for sale is an albatross around our necks, but we are also grateful to have family willing to let us use their car until we get our Pile O'Junk running again. We did a lot of praying that the car would get me through school, and it did. Plus a year.

 Red Ant called it the "itsy fishy" when he was younger, and I'll be ready to scrap it when the time comes or ram that ding dong that doesn't know how to merge. Either one.



Keep Right On Prepping - K

Food Storage & Holidays

Just a friendly reminder, in these troubled times, that this is an excellent time to stock up on prepping supplies for the family. Historically, these are the low price points for turkeys, ham, sugar, baking supplies, and some canned goods.

A turkey or two in the freezer for a January and February feast can help stretch the dinner dollar. Combine that with a spiral cut ham (x3), and you've got about half your protein needs for the winter months, as well as some excellent sandwiches to brown bag.

Look at those local ads, and catch you some bargains to stretch your food dollar.



Some goods prices that I've seen or stocked up on:

Sugar
Spiral cut hams
Sweet potatoes (fresh and canned)
Canned pumpkin (an excellent source of vitamins)
Cranberries (canned and fresh)
Turkey (frozen)
Pecans
Flour
Canned green beans
Canned Corn
Cream of [chicken, mushroom,etc...] canned soups

Keep Right On prepping - K

What did you stock up on this week?

Veteran's Day 2015 & Update

From our family to all those that served or are currently serving, we are grateful for your service to our country.

The kids are doing great. Row won the Principal's award [based on character, grades, attitude, and performance] at school and the A & B Honor roll. Red Ant made the all A honor roll, and both boys also had perfect attendance.

The rent house is still on the market, and the showings have dropped. Our agent had another open Realtor house with 30 agents looking at the house with our agent throwing in a $500 bounty from his commission for anyone that brings a buyer.

Sweetheart and I are winding down our Dave Ramsey class at church, and are considering taking a break due to various reasons.

My classes are going well. I should finish my last 8 hours towards my Bachelor degree with all A's. I'll graduate with high honors in May.

This Halloween Row, pictured above, went as Waluigi a fictional character from Mario Bros. Red Ant went as a Ghostbuster, or as he used to sing "Who ya gonna call?! Ghostmustard!".  Daddy dressed our sweet doctor as Chucky.

Our little doctor is already a computer expert because he changed a lot of my settings on my computer that I have no idea how he did it. He is currently happy to drag the mouse [unplugged] around the house, reading books, and using his baby sign language skills.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Presidential Prediction 2016

I'm going to make my predictions for the next Presidential election cycle.

On the republican side, Ted Cruz.

Hispanic descend, well positioned politically, and from a large electoral state. He'll need a non-southern running mate for more domestic appeal.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton.

Good name recognition, a political machine since Bill Clinton was president, aspirations since Slick Willy was governor of Arkansas, moved to New York as soon as possible for home field advantage in electoral college.

I'm calling the Presidential Election winner to Hillary Clinton.

My reasoning:

• Female - going to play the female card reasoning for president. Hey, the race card worked for Obummer!
• A huge political machine that has been refined from the original Clinton campaign, and refined for Hillary since fleeing the backwoods of Arkansas.
• Bill Clinton is highly regarded by the black community, and she'll use that connect to widen her voter base.
• Socialist, which means the non-productive members of society will vote to continue the "free lunches" available through the Democratic party. This is my main reason for my prediction. America has been lost without a huge fundamental change in the voter base.

This is a preparedness blog so here are a few thoughts to counter her future plans for America.

1. Decouple from the banking system by using cash whenever possible, less tracking of your personal purchases. 
2. Purchase (or have purchased) at least one gun through a private seller with no government records.
3. Purchase ALL ammo WITH CASH. No one needs to know how much ammo you have stored. 
4. Eliminate debt as much as possible. Taxes are going to increase, I'll take any wagers on this one.
5. Reduce your total cost of living, and set back cash out of the banking system for emergencies. Think Crete.
6. Purchase any gun magazines that you want or will want in the future. The anti-gun establishment will not relent. A 30 round mag might be worth $100 very soon.
7. Reduce your voluntary tax exposure. Stop smoking. Drink at home. Eat at home more often. Look at different ways to reduce your tax bills. Tune up your car (less gas tax).
8. Buy some junk silver or precious metals. If it's not in your possession, then it not really yours.

Your comments and suggestions are more than welcome, but be civil. Any new items added to the "Prepare for Hillary" list will be credited to you. Thanks in advance.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Chasing My Own Tail

I've been quite busy with life. Red Ant has joined the Cub Scouts, so Mondays I get to relax about 8:00 in the evening. I graduated with my Associates degree in 2014, and this is the last semester [8 hours] of college. I'm on track to graduate with high honors again. If I can get away with it, I going to decorate my gown like a third world dictator. I'll walk in May of 2017.

I was thinking this morning that they have special plates for the handicapped. Why not create a special license plate for the mentally handicapped. Considerations might include bumper stickers that declare "I'm ready for Hillary", not using the little stick on the side of the steering wheel, and other such qualifiers.

I've also been buckling down to take my national registry for MRI. This is a huge deal, and I always have test anxiety. I've found a good online interactive guide for $99.

The rent house is still for sale, and I'm ready for it to be sold at a reasonable price.

My bipolar co-worker is going to get divorced, and has found God in the process. I'm all for him being saved, but I don't want to listen to Christian rock all day and hear him quote scripture that pertains to his situation. I'd rather keep my religion like Depeche Mode - "Personal Jesus". That being said, I will listen to him, and offer some of my own life experiences that maybe he can relate to...

I'll offer some humor to close the post....

Must be a young liberal?

Love SLJ!

Keep Right On Prepping - K

New Cost Analysis on Homemade Laundry Soap (Still a Bargain to Make)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 Box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda© (55 oz)

1 Box Zote© Laundry Flakes (17.6 oz)

1 Box 20 Mule Team© Borax (76 oz)

In a large mixing bowl combine the entire box of laundry flakes (6 cups per box) and washing soda (6 cups per box), then measure out 6 cups from the box of borax and put into mixing bowl.

Pour the remaining borax into a gallon Ziplock bag and tightly seal to keep moisture out of it.

Mix the powder extremely well and place into empty paint can.

Start the washing machine and use warm water. Put one spoonful into the machine, wait a minute then add clothes.

Cost Analysis (9-19-15)

1 Box Zote Flakes............= $2.64

1 Box Borax.....................= $3.97 (with 4 cups left over) final recipe cost is $2.38

1 Bx Super Washing Soda= $3.97

================== =======

Total …................................$8.99

This makes a total of 18 cups and the measurement for each load is 2 TB (Tablespoon).

There are 16 TB in a cup...so there are 288 TB in this batch.

288 Tb / 2 TB equals 144 loads this batch.

$8.99 / 144 loads equals $.0624 per load. 6.25 cents per load

Time to prepare took less than 15 minutes.

Most of the major brands run around 20 cents per load to wash your clothes. This is close to a 66% savings.

Asthma Suffers or Family Members with Asthma: 
From Monsoon Matriarch:

Check places like Lowe's and Home Depot if it's not in your grocery. I have to double bag Zote and keep it in the garage because it slams my asthma. Fels naptha is less of a trigger for me. If you have someone with allergic asthma in the family, check Zote with them in the store before buying.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

A Little Feedback To Washington

I had the opportunity to talk to the Director of Food Services for one of the largest school districts in the state, and I asked her how it was going. She explained that Arkansas has the healthiest trash cans in the America. I gave her a puzzled look, and asked her what she meant. The district's federal funding is tied to the Michelle Obama mandate that all food trays have to have a healthy fruit/vegetable on it. While that seems like a great idea, the reality of the situation is that the kids go through the line, get their food, and drop the unwanted fruit/veggie into the trash can as they go to their table.

The director has tried unsuccessfully to have fruit bowls placed on the tables so that the kids that want a healthy option can pick their own fruit. Great idea! No waste, and mission accomplished. Unfortunately, the ivory tower has no ears, and her good ideas haven't produced any positive results. She equated it to trying to milk a bull.

Seriously, what is it gonna take for common sense to rule the land once again? Maybe God had it right when he flooded the planet to start over again...

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Week Four

This is the topic of my Emergency Preparedness class at my local university. It's an graduate level course and I'll be doing random posts about the course throughout the semester. Let me know if you'd like more...

There are two important terms in Emergency preparedness: mitigation and preparedness.

Mitigation is a means of reducing or eliminating the impact from a disaster while preparedness is the state of readiness to respond to a disaster.  A good analogy would be getting out of debt for a financial crisis (mitigation) and having a few months worth of cash at home (preparedness).

Preparedness Cycle:

Step 1. Planning- creating a risk assessment to plan for the most likely disaster to happen in your area. A hurricane plan for those in Florida would be a good start, but no so much if you live in North Dakota. 

Step 2. Organization and Equipment- In keeping with the hurricane scenario, you would want to have sheets of plywood pre-cut for your windows, food, water, medicine, battery powered lamps,etc...

Organization could be as simple as keeping all your supplies in the same area of the garage or a detailed plan on who in the family goes to the grocery store, who puts up the plywood, and who would collect all of the wind blown items in the yard before the hurricane makes landfall.

Step 3. Training- This might include teaching the kids how to turn off the gas line to the house, how to light the gas grill, or teaching the spouse how to assist in the placing of the plywood over the windows. Training = Knowledge.

Step 4. Exercise-  This could be as simple as a mock evacuation or a weekend living without power to test the first three steps and identifying any shortfalls. Did we store enough water? Did we forget the spare batteries for the lamp? How are we going to flush the tiolet or how to go to the bathroom? How is the dog gonna do his "business"?

Step 5. Evaluation and Improvement- This final step in the preparedness cycle takes the lessons learned and applies them to future processes. The bulk of your knowledge will come from exercising the plan and actual disaster experience.

Keep Right On Prepping  - K