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Heat is helping. I tried to cut it just a bit, but that did not work out. I didn't crash completely, I simply couldn't get going either. Comfortable, but I have some work I want to finish tonight. At least I was able to realize the problem and fix it, in real time. That, for me, is snazzy. I'll take that. A bit of laundry, then to begin getting trash out and seeing if it is recycling is tonight... Usually, looking up and the down the street will let me know. Though I need a more powerful flashlight than the one I have on me. After that, I want to get my boots cleaned, shined, and waterproofed. I am not sure why they bother putting breathable materials in leather boots. I don't have that, but I've seen them. Then again, they use gortex and such with waterproof jackets, so... Maybe. I just think it's a bit off with leather goods, unless it is engineered with more than what it seems. Some people will buy anything though, and demand "the best" in spite of it being impossible that it could work as it is simply thought.
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Yeah, I have been looking and thinking a great deal about gear, prep, and such. So many things sold simply will not work well. I recently saw a kit, with two backpacks of medium grade, a smaller pack with wheels, a very inexpensive tent, and some food and maybe water pouches or purification pills and canteens. Now, for a very short run, assuming weather is somewhat reasonable, some of it would suffice to get a short distance on foot. Assuming the users can handle walking fifty, maybe a hundred miles. Something like that is purchased to make everyone feel like they are safe. It is a false hope and a waste of money.
What do I recommend to folks who really think they might end up hoofing it? Start right now, but very simply. Buy a pair of real hiking boots for everyone in the family. Then, find trails to hike and use them. Day hikes, a few hours on the trail, once or twice a week, to start. Learn to keep everyone together. Learn who has more of a problem with that and see what can be do about it. And make sure the boots work. Over time, hike greater distances, make it an half day, then full day hikes. Learn to carry loads, and how best to distribute the loads. Take enough to eat two or three times in the day, figure out what gear works for rain gear, and slowly buy and try kit for cooking, heating, rest sheltering, and learn how to deal with weather. Over time, finish gearing up for hikes that are of several days, including tents, other gear for sheltered sleeping, and learning all four seasons. Become a family hiking troupe. That won't come in a $700-$800 dollar package, and it won't be delivered tomorrow. So it goes with most of what they are selling to preppers. Thankfully, not all preppers are either stuck trying to buy survival and are doing what it will take.
Oh, I hope the worst I have to deal with is minor inconvenience from an earthquake, or even, somehow, a flood that damages power lines or such. A bit of food, some gear, an interest in preserving life as is possible, and prayer. But worst come to worst, and that odor is in the air as a possibility, I don't want to have over spent on gear that simply will not work. I don't want to be ignorant about the equipment I have. I don't want items that really aren't correct, or can't be applied. And I am hoping others really think before spending that dime, but that the thinking process doesn't hinder them. Yeah, I know, in even a solid, semi-permanent grid down, life will become brutal. Even if roving bands of vandals, thieves, and worse don't show up. Simply keeping up on water, figuring out food and just how... different... stored food is from what we are used to eating. Finding fat after the stores, and growing food, will be most of a human life.
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We live in very easy times. I won't admit I don't appreciate it. Not out here, but in many places, food is a phone call and 10 to 30 minutes away. I can order everything from a printer to a hammer to a metal lathe, and have it delivered to my door, assuming I have the correct numbers in the account I use. While, for me, in my condition, being single, food is a bit of a trick... it isn't bad when I am even barely going. I can at least cook meat. I'm even seeing how to do vegetables, and I'm thinking smoked canned fruit, with a touch of cinnamon, might not be bad either. Life is easy.
I have heard some suggest that gold is worth this, and the dollar is worth that, suggesting that the dollar has declined. And it has. But something that is often missing from that whole equation is a man's wages. And, of course, with women working, the labor market has exploded without a sustainable explosion in work opportunity and with a decrease in children being born. Which, on top of it all, is seriously impacting wages. And yet, compared to what my grandfather earned, and could spend, and had, I am still coming out on top. I don't have to ride a horse to town, or hook up the buggy if the wife insists on going. I don't live on what I produce, some small share of it. Kings, for all the ages of men, have never known even this declining level of luxury that we know. The poorest among us do not have to travel for entertainment, they don't have to suffer the heat of the season, or cold. Other than actual addicts, and there is no saving for that, none in this country ever needs to go hungry. Not even in the world, save war and greed for money and power at the local levels.
Yeah, it is sustainable. There are just powers that be that wish there to be only two types, the rich and powerful and the rest. For them, as the rich and powerful, it works better. Some of them think there are too many people. Others think there is too much pollution. How easy it is for people with wealth and power to lose faith. If all of the people lived in one city, depending on the density of the city, it would be a rather small area of the world. Well, and governments are not based in faith, and the further the people who run it get from Christianity, the less trust that things will work out it gets. I actually don't blame the wealthy, or powerful, I blame the faithless. Those who believe only in flesh can only believe in death. And, that is, whether they know or like it, they will lead the world. It just so happens that the wealthy and powerful tend to have no faith. An odd example was that, when studying doctors, they found that atheist doctors were much more inclined to terminate a patient than to keep working on them. Which is odd, if you think about it. If someone believes that death is the end, wouldn't they want to try to prevent that end? Only if they thought keeping someone else alive would benefit them. And, without faith, they don't believe that. Odd how that works out.
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Oh, I best get some laundry going, pull my boots out for a shine and remember to look for polish and such before too long, maybe get dishes together and begin bagging up what needs to go. Then a bit of a sit and a consideration of what is left to do. Later.
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