gone missing

I'll be pretty much absent for several days. If you're looking for a way to while away some time, my I suggest scrolling through previous posts? Here you will find gems such as

If I were a rich man [bartering]

Mean planning = Money saving [just what it says, with tips]

To conceal or not... [concealed carry]

And many many more. Enjoy!

Ladies on family Preparedness Guide

UPDATE: I took out the little ditty that would play the show directly. I couldn't figure out how to make it NOT startup every time you pull up the site. (It is a great show, but I don't need to hear it every single time I open up ONP!!)

I *think* you can listen the Lady Preppers who were on James Talmage Steven's Blog Talk Radio show this afternoon by hitting something above. You can also download it here.

It was great fun! All three of us sound like, oh I dunno, normal people! Emily (Herbpagan) & Aggie (the Domestic Goddess) were great. Give it a listen. James has some good advise & interesting comments, too.

And as I posted on Facebook, you , too can become famous by growing your won veggies!! ;-)

[No, prepping is not about getting famous. But if you listen, you'll hear what it is about!]

Essential tools

Brought to you by TheSurvivalMom posting at

American Preppers Network

Among other tips, she says:

These are the basics the Paranoid Dad would pack first.

• Claw hammer. This multi-use tool can be used from hammering nails to demolition.
  
• Set of screwdrivers, both Phillips and straight. There should be different sizes of each type. Larger screwdrivers can be useful for prying and chiseling.
  
• Pair of lineman's pliers, often called by the trade name, Kleins. These are especially useful because they combine the flat surface of regular pliers with a cutting edge. Make sure your pair can cut through steel in case they're needed to cut through wire or nails.
  
• Utility knife, aka box cutter, with extra blades in the handle.
  
• Wood saw and a hacksaw. The hacksaw can be used to cut through steel, plastic and wood, but the wood saw is useful for cutting through large branches and small trees.
  
• Crescent wrenches in two sizes, small and medium.

How to repair desks, etc.

From Popular Mechanics:

Deck Repair: Tackle Mildew, Ants, Stains and Broken Patio Pavers

Open to the elements and constant invasions from the natural world, decks require their fair share of upkeep. Here, PM shows how to tackle mildew, stop an ant invasion in its tracks, remove stains with lemons, replace crumbling patio pavers and more. Excerpted from the Popular Mechanics book When Duct Tape Just Isn't Enough, published by Hearst Books/Sterling Publishing. Check out previous excerpts here.

Women preppers on Family Preparedness Guide

Here's Kymber's (Canadian Preppers) post announcing our appearance on James Tamage's BlogTalkRadio show tomorrow!

More Ladies to be interviewed on the Family Preparedness Guide!

Over the past few weeks, several preppers have been interviewed on James Talmage Stevens' Family Preparedness Guide radio showon Blog Talk Radio. All of the preppers that were interviewed have done a great job representing the Preppers Networks and James has done a great job interviewing! James’ radio show is doing a lot to help spread the word about prepping and the Preppers Networks and we thank him for his tireless efforts!!! All of James’ previous shows can be downloaded here.

However, according to James – his interview with the Lady Preppers on August 8 holds the second highest number of downloads on his show!!!

And because having the second highest number of downloads isn’t good enough for the Preppers Networks – James will have a new group of Lady Preppers on his show tomorrow afternoon. Please tune in tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, August 29) at 2:00pm/EST to hear Worn Out (Mississippi Preppers Network), Marica (Ohio Preppers Network) and Herbalpagan (Massachusetts Preppers Network) discuss a variety of prepper-related issues with James. You can listen to the show live, you can call in with questions (347-326-9604), or you can download the show later using this link.

Please be there to support them! And remember - they love questions!!!

Human contact: Just say "Hey"

Bear with me while I ramble a minute. There will be a point, I promise.

Last evening we went onto campus to pick up the boxes of stuff that John is moving from his office. (Recall, we are moving from Cincinnati to Mississippi.) I waited with the truck. As you can see, it was pretty quite-- not a lot of folks around on a late August evening (classes don't start for another 3-4 weeks). So I'm sitting in the passenger seat, with the front & back doors open, facing the sidewalk. A young woman approached, and walked past me. You can see her in the first photo up at the top of the hill. You may think that this was an unremarkable event. She just walked past me. But I think it is very remarkable. She just walked past me. She did not make eye contact, she did not nod, she did not speak. She just walked past me. Two human beings essentially alone on a university campus on a lovely summer evening. And nothing. No acknowledgment whatsoever of eachothers' existance. Mind you, I am as much to blame as she. (Although I will say I did say "Hey" to someone else who made eye contact with me.)

Here is my point. We talk a lot about helping eachother & teaching one another. It seems to me that the very first step is acknowledging the existance of someone else. I appreciate that this is one of the fundamental differences between urban and rural societies. Being physically very close to other people in urban settings actually puts more distance between individuals, and it hardly seems worth the effort to say "Hey" to every person you pass on the street. On the other hand, being separated from others by great distances, as in sparsely populated rural settings, tends to bring folks together. It's a rarity to pass someone in another truck on a little country road and not wave.

Which brings me back to last evening. Two human beings essentially alone on a university campus on a lovely summer evening. And nothing. Is there a lesson here? Is there a lesson for preppers? I think so. But I'm curious to hear what you think.

Prepping in small spaces

My daughters all live in apartments or condos, so I feel your pain if you don't have a lot of space and are trying to get your prep on.

Worn Out over at Mississippi Preppers has a nice post, with many links, about food storage in small spaces.

And Matt just across the river at Kentucky Preppers has another about apartment homesteading and canning.

I commented on Matt's and I think it's worth repeating: Right. You cannot have an acre garden in a third story 1000 sq.ft. apartment. Unless, of course, you rent space at a community garden. But you can still grow stuff. Here's a list of things that come to mind. And even if you do have a huge garden, not that much stuff grows well under snow, so the list applies to you, too! If you want more info, leave a comment and I'll post specifically about what you're interested in.

SPROUTS. The only sprouts that need sunshine to sprout are sunflowers. All the rest can be grown in a mason jar in the dark. Here's a lot more info at my blog about sprouts. (The blog's not about sprouts, the post is!)

MICROGREENS. Microgreen seed mixes are just a bunch of tasty little green & colorful young seedlings, picked when they're about 2-3" tall. All you need is a shallow tray of potting soil (an aluminum baking dish with pin prick holes in the bottom works just fine), and a few hours of sun-- even morning sun is enough. These are excellent salad toppers, and are wonderful on a piece of bread with cream cheese. Here's one source of the seed. A packet lasted me several months-- just sow, harvest, sow... .

HERBS. All you need for these is a couple of pots & some sunshine for 4-6 hours/day (who cares if they get leggy?). Basil works beautifully, and there's pretty much no herb that you can't grow inside. That's basil on the top shelf in my sunroom last November.

CITRUS. If you have space for a houseplant, consider growing dwarf citrus. It will do best if you have a deck or patio you can move it to during the summer. Here's a whole post on citrus.

This list is not complete. One of my kids is growing Alpine strawberries (everbearing) in her apartment. Last winter I grew potatoes in straw in my basement. Lots of folks grow cherry tomatoes inside during the winter.

One added benefit of growing edibles inside-- especially in the winter-- is air-filtration. In addition to the fact that fresh is just better for you, the plants themselves help filter the air & add needed moisture, which is especially good in the winter. Give it a try. Let me know if you need more specifics.

Sounds like good Fall crop weather

Here is the long range forecast from the Farmer's Almanac:

Great Lakes/Midwest U.S. Weather

August 2009
24th-27th. Heavy rains gradually subside, and it turns somewhat cooler and drier. 28th-31st.Another round of unseasonably chilly air follows heavy rains and thunderstorms.

September 2009
1st-3rd. Record low temperatures Great Lakes. 4th-7th. A shower or two initially, then clear and unseasonably chilly air. 8th-11th.Unseasonably chilly air spills across the Lakes and moves south. Heavy showers push east out of the Ohio River Basin. 12th-15th.Showers and thunderstorms followed by cooler weather. 16th-19th. Showery weather. 20th-23rd. Light showers. 24th-27th.Light scattered showers. Cool to start, then moderating. 28th-30th. Developing storm system brings rainy weather, followed by an early freeze or frost.

October 2009
1st-3rd. Cold rains across the Great Lakes. 4th-7th. Many showers and a few thunderstorms Great Lakes south to Kentucky.8th-11th. Rains Great Lakes, then clear and cooler weather moves in from the west. 12th-15th. Generally fair weather prevails.16th-19th. Humid and rather showery from the Great Lakes south.20th-23rd. Showers, followed by a mixture of clouds and sun.

F.I.R.E.

Passing along more information, especially for those with teenagers looking into colleges. I see a clear link between this information and prepping. You & your kids want to be prepared for what awaits them at some colleges and universities.

Free-Speech Organization Launches National Advertising Campaign Warning Colleges That Violate Students' Rights

Included in F.I.R.E's (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) Red Alert list of 25 schools that violate students, staff, and faculties 1st Amendment Rights is Michigan State. And, "one of the most outrageous examples of political correctness run amok" took place last year at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Senator Brown to hold town hall at UC

Just passing along information.

Brown to hold health town hall at UC

By Malia Rulon • mrulon@enquirer.com • August 24, 2009

WASHINGTON - Cincinnati residents will get a chance next week to tell at least one of their senators what they think about the health care reform proposals being considered in Congress.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Lorain in northern Ohio, just announced that he'll hold a public forum on health insurance reform at the University of Cincinnati on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

During the forum, Brown will outline how health insurance reform will reduce private insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care expenses, while giving all Americans insurance options during periods of unemployment.

He will hear from Ohioans struggling with rising health care costs and access to medical care. After a panel discussion, audience members will be able to ask questions. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

A spokeswoman for Sen. George Voinovich has said the Ohio Republican has no town hall meetings on health care scheduled for the Cincinnati area. Kentucky Sens. Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, both Republicans, also have not scheduled such an event in the Cincinnati area.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20090824/NEWS01/908250308/

Just doin' my part

This very short interview with me appears in the September issue of Cincinnati Magazine (on newsstands 8/27). (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

For those not familiar with the magazine, it's the hip & trendy publication here in Cincinnati. I have no clue as to how folks at the magazine heard about me. And to tell you the truth, since we are moving, I hesitated to do the interview.

The deciding factor was my message (not my business): I want to encourage people to grow their own fruits, veggies & herbs. I want to encourage them to be more self-reliant. Notice that there's no mention of "prepping," per se. It's not that I'm ashamed to be called a "prepper" it's that I'm trying to get more people into prepping through the back door, so to speak. Get them doing prepping-related activities, and sooner or later they'll figure out that they are prepping!

"I kept my oath"

I try to keep this blog sort of middle of the road with respect to politics, sharing mostly political issues that I think affect prepping. I think this video of David Hedrick speaking at a town hall in Washington state does just that. It'll take only 2 minutes of your time to give it a watch.

I especially like the "stay away from my kids" line.

"Gun Talk"

Traveling back from NC via the WV Turnpike* this afternoon, John was scrolling through AM radio channels and stumbled upon "Gun Talk"

the only nationally syndicated radio talk show about firearms, shooting and gun rights.

broadcasting out of WVNR in Beckley. (Lived in Beckley for a couple of years long ago.)

Here's the link to stations that broadcast the show on Sundays.

Two in Ohio:

WSPD AM	Toledo	OH	1370 AM	4 - 7 pm Eastern
WKBN AM	Youngstown	OH	570 AM	5 - 6 pm Eastern

Who knew? (Don't answer. It's only important that I finally do!)

* Toll increased to $2/toll booth. That's $6 to drive on this road (which I'm o.k. with, but DH isn't.) Humm. I remember the old tunnels, and when the morning news out of Beckley reported the fatalities on the turnpike over the weekend.

wedding

Not going to be posting for a few days. Daughter's getting married. Mom had dial-up. ... Chat amongst yourselves. I'll be back. And no doubt I'll have some things to reflect on.

Can someone pick up a Frugal Friday? Send me an email & I'll get it posted.

Tinkers no more

I thought I'd pass this article, "Tinkers no more" along because, at least as I see it, "tinkering" is a fundamental component of prepping and self-reliance. 

Tinkering. You know, fixing things; messing around with things to figure out how they work especially when they don't work properly; taking things apart and putting them back together and not having left-over parts. Tinkering.

The article begins:

This is a topic which has weighed heavily on my mind since recently finishing “Shop Class as Soulcraft,” Matthew B. Crawford’s eye-opening philosophical treatise. The author holds a PhD in political philosophy and served as the head of a beltway think tank before winding up working as a motorcycle mechanic. While many would view such a career arc as a disastrous failure, Crawford took that path by intent and finds time to share revelations on what he regards as the “useful arts.”

He notes that many of today’s small metalwork and carpentry shops are equipped with machinery — ranging from lathes to band saws and beyond — which was purchased on the cheap at auctions held by public schools. Many of today’s younger readers will have no experience with this, but at one time nearly every public school offered shop classes as part of their standard curriculum. (At least for the boys. Girls took home economics.)

He goes on...

The trades, as they were called, increasingly became a target of derision. Comics of all stripes would refer to seemingly slow-witted children as being destined for “a job with their name on their shirt.” If the child was not headed toward a career in medicine, the legal professions, Wall Street, or advanced design engineering, they were somehow seen as second-class citizens. Similar disdain was heaped upon youths seeking a career in the military rather than advanced studies in the ivy-covered halls of academia.

A tremendous amount of mental gymnastics is required for people of this mindset when their toilet backs up and the plumber they summon to restore one of the fundamental requirements of civilization charges them fifty dollars per hour in labor.

And concludes:

Being a “handyman” is another description generally employed with scorn, much like the tinker of old. But a man who is handy will likely find work no matter where the Dow Jones closes tomorrow. The real world is full of things, and they impact our lives on every level. Treating them as if they are magical beasts beyond our comprehension represents losing something which our society once held precious.

Fun & provocative read. Hope you enjoy!

For all of you HAMs out there

Falcon 9N-- someone who clearly knows what he's talking about-- has a guest post up at WV Preppers dealing with efficiency in radio communications. The bottom line is that BREVITY is critical. Following some code description (interesting) there's more discussion about why brevity is critical. We're new to this whole comm thing, and I found the post very informative. It begins:

************************Efficient Communications************************************
Purpose: To enhance emergency communications; Minimize station Airtime; To clear the operating frequency for next station and minimize the reaction time needed to provide timely assistance to the calling station.
Scope: Applicable to all members of the net

Read the whole thing here.

Freezing peppers

UPDATE: Andrea's recipe for fire-roasted, olive-oil drizzled, frozen peppers is in the comments section. Thanks, Andrea!

[And just to be clear, that's p-e-p-p-e-r-s, not p-r-e-p-p-e-r-s! There are no freezing preppers since all preppers have alternative sources of heat available to them in an emergency. But I digress... .]

Fresh sweet peppers are a true delight, and are a good source of vitamin C. If you grow your own peppers, or get them from a local Farmers' Market, you know that there simply is no comparison between those and store bought. The problem, of course, is that fresh pepper season comes to a screeching halt when nighttime temperatures are consistently below about 50*F. 

It is possible to grow peppers inside during the winter, but it ain't easy. Peppers like relatively high humidity, and most homes are relatively dry during the winter. I do encourage you to pot up your peppers and bring them inside, anyway. You can extend the season-- the flowers on the plant when you bring it in will still set fruit that will mature inside, as will the fruit that's already set. Plus, if you keep the plants alive through the winter, they'll have a jump start when you take them back outside come late spring. So it's worth the effort. Just don't expect a bumper crop of peppers in January.

"So what's a pepper-loving' prepper to do?" you ask. "Buy them at Mego-lo-mart?" 

HEAVENS NO!! Peppers are ridiculously easy to freeze. And while you may not want to eat them on a fresh salad, they still retain much of their crispiness, and are no doubt more nutritious than the tasteless, over-priced store-bought ones.

Freezing Bell (sweet) peppers:

wash 

dry

quarter (or slice)

remove seeds

lay out on a baking sheet, spacing so that none of the pieces are touching

put in freezer

...

when completely frozen (over night) put in freezer bag & remove as much of the air as possible

return to freezer

How simple is that? The idea is that by flash freezing-- without touching-- you'll then be able to take from your pepper bag what you need. They won't glom together as one big frozen chunk of peppers. Just be sure not to let the contents of the bag thaw as you're taking out what you need.

Scenes from a New America (it's good)

Among the topics Andrew & I covered at the 'meetup' was guns & personal protection. Seems we both had to disarm before entering Zips' Cafe in Mt. Lookout b/c Zip's sells beer, and currently, in Ohio, it's a felony to carry a weapon, whether you're licensed or not, into an establishment that sells alcohol for on-premise consumption. This may change. See below.

Coincidentally, I ran across this, from Instapundit (yes, I stole his title):

SCENES FROM A NEW AMERICA: So I dropped the girls off at a movie, and — since the Insta-wife was lunching with her mom — stopped at a Sonny’s Barbecue for lunch. A man — late 40s, big, with a wife and a daughter — came in with an empty holster on his belt. As he sat down at the booth next to mine, the manager came by and asked him if he’d left his gun in the car. Yes, said the man, who had a permit but thought he wasn’t allowed to carry in restaurants in Tennessee.. Well, they’ve changed the law, said the manager, and if you want to go get it that’s fine with us. It’s legal now, and I’m happy to have you carrying — if somebody tries to rob me, it’s two against one.

The man stepped outside and returned with a Springfield XD in the holster, chatted with the manager for a bit about guns, and then sat down and had lunch with his family.

Ohio House Bill 203, now in Public Safety & Homeland Security committees, amends

section 2923.121 of the Revised Code to allow a concealed carry licensee who is not consuming liquor and is not under the influence to carry a concealed handgun in a retail food establishment or food service operation with any class liquor permit issued for the location. 

I urge you to contact your district representatives and be sure they know where you stand on this issue. Just don't seem right to me that we forfeit the right to protect ourselves just b/c we want a burger at places like Zip's.

Here's the full text of House Bill 203. (Other legislation is also at Ohioans for Concealed Carry.)

A list of Representatives can be found by following the links at The Ohio House of Representatives. 

OH / NKY Preppers meetup TODAY!

UPDATE: I made it! Very nice meeting you, Andrew. (Yes, that's right. It was just the two of us. But hey-- gotta start somewhere. See you next time!)

Just a reminder:

All N. Kentucky / Ohio preppers are invited to lunch at ZIP's CAFE in Mt. Lookout Square next Saturday (8/15) at 11am.  We'll be taking over the LARGE table in the middle of the place, it seats 12-14, hopefully we'll take up at least 1/2 of it.  Please pass the word.

We will try to make it. If we can't, please forgive us. [Daughter's wedding is one week away, and moving day is two weeks away. We're a little snowed under right now.]

No scurvy in this house!

And I hope there won't be any in your house, either! 

From the Wikipedia entry:

Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. ... Scurvy leads to the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from themucous membranes. The spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. In advanced scurvy there are open, suppurating wounds and loss of teeth. ... Scurvy does not occur in most animals because they can synthesize their own vitamin C, but humans, other primates, guinea pigs, and a few other species lack an enzyme necessary for such synthesis and must obtain vitamin C through their diet. Vitamin C is widespread in plant tissues, with particularly high concentrations occurring in citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits); tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages, and green peppers are also good sources of this vitamin.

Above is a "cocktail grapefruit," actually a cross between a grapefruit and a mandarine orange. It is not ripe! The grapefruit and a lemon are growing in large pots on my patio right now.

Were we staying in Cincinnati, I would move them inside mid-September and put them in front of the sunniest window I have. As it is, they're moving to Mississippi, but I imagine they will still spend November - February inside.

Obviously, these two trees-- both about 3-4 years old-- are not now going to produce enough fruit to ward of scurvy all by themselves! But here's the thing. Once the lemon gets going, it will produce a crop almost year-'round. In fact, in addition to one lonely full-sized but still not ripe lemon, it has a new teeny little lemon on it already! There will be only one crop of grapefruits each year, but hey-- I can't think of anything cooler than having a dozen or so grapefruits of my own each winter, can you?

So, in a few years, I will always have fresh lemons. Always! And I will have real fresh grapefruit every winter. (I will get a lime tree soon, too.)

FAQ about growing your own dwarf citrus:

Why bother? Some of you may recall the lime fiasco a couple of years ago. Limes from Mexico, the world's second largest producer of lemons & limes (India #1), had been irrigated with sewer water or some such disgusting thing. This does not improve the taste of a gin & tonic at all, and it's down right sickening. The United States produces just 8% of the world's citrus. Next time you're at the market, take a minute to check out where fresh & canned citrus, and citrus juices, come from. Even if you want to buy "local" citrus, it's not easy. So the "why bother" is answered by whatever self-reliance / buy American /it's healthier* arguments you are fond of. 

How much does this cost? From the price list at Four Winds Growers:

Regular Dwarf Citrus Pricing
One Year Trees:   1 tree for $22.00   2 or 3 trees for $21.00 each   4 or more trees for $20.00 each		Two-to-Three Year Trees:   1 tree for $40.00   2 or 3 trees for $38.00 each   4 or more trees for $36.00 each

There are other places to get dwarf citrus, but these prices are pretty standard. In addition, you need a very large plastic pot, some good potting soil, and a bag of shredded cypress mulch, a bit of azalea fertilizer and some Epson salts. You could probably do a one-year old tree for $40-50.

How hard is it? It's not. Once the trees have established themselves in the pot, they are pretty self-sufficient. While outside they need nothing but sunshine & rain water. Inside in the winter they need water (not often) & occasional fertilizer. (No grow light needed.) 

When to get started? The next time I buy trees, I will buy them at the very beginning of Spring, or late August. Reason? To get them started outside before moving them inside. I made the mistake of ordering mine in October, so I had to start them inside. They had a bit of a hard time establishing themselves. They still flowered, and set fruit in the late winter, but they really took off when I put them outside. 

Anything I forgot? Let me know. 

* A word about the health thing. The only way that I can think of to avoid doctors & insurance companies (barring accidents) is to stay healthy. Even if you don't grow and preserve your own produce, be sure to eat fresh fruits and veggies especially in the winter time! Consider getting a juicer and squeezing your own grapefruit or orange juice. (Yes, this is your mother talking.)

Because we need to keep laughing...

Via Michael Ledeen in The Corner at National Review Online:

'Political Correctness,' Texas style   [Michael Ledeen]

A friend e-mails to say that Texas A & M has an annual contest for the best definition of a contemporary expression. This year it was "political correctness." And here's the winner:

Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Garden theft

Caught a bit of the front page news of Tupelo MS on the way back to Cincinnati today. Seems a group of charitable folks were growing a garden with the intention of donating the harvest to the local Salvation Army for those in need.

Someone stole into the garden and picked it clean.

A local guy-- a farmer I presume-- heard the story and gave a huge portion of his harvest back to the group so they would still be able to make the donation.

Take that you dirty thieves!

Self-reliance is not synonymous with stingy selfishness, or being greedy. No doubt what the farmer gave away was not "surplus." Most likely, he had planned on benefitting from his entire crop, and hadn't planned to give a portion of it away. 

Or maybe he had planned for some unknown. I'll never know. But I think I'll plant a bit extra in my gardens from now on.

Self-worth

Saw this on a billboard on the way down to Mississippi (actually in Miss'ippi):

Recession 101:

Self-worth beats Net-worth

I'd have said "greater than" rather than "beats"-- or better yet, ">"--  b/c it would have fit the theme better.  The background was a notebook page; worth is something that gets measured, like in a math class... . I'm a bit hypercritical about presentation & words.

But still, I think it's an excellent message. 

OH / KY Prepper meetup in Mt. Lookout (Cincy)

All N. Kentucky / Ohio preppers are invited to lunch at ZIP's CAFE in Mt. Lookout Square next Saturday (8/15) at 11am.  We'll be taking over the LARGE table in the middle of the place, it seats 12-14, hopefully we'll take up at least 1/2 of it.  Please pass the word.  One of the Ohio members might try and create a meet-up out of this, but not sure yet.

Got this yesterday. I'm the one who's supposed to do the meetup thing, but I'm in Mississippi at the moment. I'll give it a try as soon as I have a minute!

More later!

Individual autonomy

Here is a nice quote that summarizes the relationship between self-reliance and statism:

The current efforts to centralize power in Washington must be resisted because they substitute the authority of the state for our individual autonomy over the direction of our lives.

Read the short post, Jobs and Freedom by Burton Folsom at National Review Online's The Corner. 

I, for one, am perfectly capable of directing my own life-- heck, I have 50 years of experience (o.k., o.k., Mom & Dad "directed" some of the early years). And you?

Now back to stewing tomatoes and freezing raspberries, collards, zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans. My kitchen is very colorful today-- and smells like fresh veggies!

Internment

I did not believe it when DH told me about this. (I do have a tin-foil hat, but for the most part, I keep it in the closet.) So I went to the source, goarmy.com, clicked on the jobs tab, and entered "resettlement" as a search term. This is what I got.

I grabbed the image, including a sliver of my desktop. It's for real. I debated about whether to post this or not. But I figured that the possibility of interment/resettlement camps for right-wing extremists, or whatever it is people who... oh... I dunno... sort of LIKE the US Constitution are being called these days,  is a pretty big SHTF situation.

And here are a couple of definitions, for the record.

in⋅tern⋅ment

  [in-turn-muhnt]  Show IPA

–noun

1.	an act or instance of interning.

2.	the state of being interned; confinement.

in⋅tern

1  [v. in-turn; n. in-turn]  Show IPA

Use intern in a Sentence

–verb (used with object)

1.	to restrict to or confine within prescribed limits, as prisoners of war, enemy aliens, or combat troops who take refuge in a neutral country.

2.	to impound or hold within a country until the termination of a war, as a ship of a belligerent that has put into a neutral port and remained beyond a limited period.

Our going away party

Won't be long 'til we'll be leaving Cincinnati and moving to Mississippi! Why do you care? Because Ohio Preppers Network needs comtributors-- preferably folks from OHIO!

Step up, folks! You're sitting in front of your computer any way, why not spend a few minutes a few times a week sharing what you know & do to get you prep on?

And now for some shameless self-reliance. We need to sell our house-- which we call "The Compound," so that should give you some idea of what a great place it is! 

2300+ square feet. 4 BR, 2B. LR. DR. Study. Pantry. TWO-- count 'em--2 sunrooms! 100 yr. old Craftsman style. 1/3 acre (though we claim 1/2 acre) of beautiful perennial and veggie gardens, including front yard garden with blueberries & raspberries. Walk-out basement. 3 car garage (=lots of space for garden tools). Secluded. 10 mins. from downtown, 10 from UC campus. Outdoor kitchen. In Northside-- Cincinnati's eclectic neighborhood! $122,500. 

How to become a contributor? Want to look at The Compound? My contact info is in my profile.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program... . 

Mark your calendar

via Ohioans for Concealed Carry:

Ohio Second Amendment MarchThe Ohio Second Amendment March will be held in April 10, 2010.   Watch this space for further information about Ohio town hall meetings. 

Frugal Friday: Do you walk to work or carry your lunch?

No clue where that little ditty came from, but it's fun, isn't it? 

These days, most folks don't live close enough to work-- if they're lucky enough to have work-- to walk to work. But walking, as opposed to driving, whenever possible is both frugal & a component of self-reliance. Could you walk a mile if you had to? A related thought: get a bike (yard sale). Not because it's green or healthy or hip & cool, but b/c it's an effective, cheap, low-tech mode of transportation. 

Brown bag your leftovers for lunch. It's not complicated. It's frugal. Whatever you fixed for supper last night has got to be better for you than the stuff you shell out $$ for at noon. No driving just to wait in line. Blah blah blah.

Think about it. 

From PopSci (via Instapundit)

Five Tools To Survive the Apocalypse

Swine flu, nuclear tests, global warming—signs of impending doom abound. Should the unthinkable happen, the smart survivalist has two options: flee the planet or, for those of us who aren’t Richard Branson, stock up on gear that will meet your basic needs during Armageddon. If the world doesn’t end, you can always take your new gadgets camping.