Prepping–Old School Style

I really don’t remember when it began, I was a kid.  Born and Raised in the U.S. Air Force, everything we did had to fit the Military income and Lifestyle.  I was Born in Massachusetts, but never lived there, and My sister was born in Hawaii.   I went to school in Both Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, Junior High in Selma Alabama (I’m an Eye witness to M.L. King’s March from Selma to Montgomery), and I graduated from High School in Miami Florida, class of 1970.   The schools I went to made you think.  We were taught how to apply the things we learned to other areas of life…not just how to memorize and repeat everything.

My Parents were both raised in a Tiny town in Upper Michigan and both were also survivors of the Great Depression.  Living Paycheck to paycheck is one thing, but in the Military, Dad only got paid once a month…and Mom didn’t work…  So it was a long time between checks.  At the time he retired in 1967, his check amounted to 500 bucks a month..and the Great Military retirement package everyone hears about amounted to 300 bucks a month for the rest of his life after giving his country 20 years service.   I was earning my own money with a Paper route at the age of 11, and was cutting grass in the neighborhood buy the age of 13.    What does this have to do with Prepping?  Everything.

We had to live cheap.  So Vacations were spent in Tents, cooking on a campfire.  I started learning survival skills very young.  Groceries were stocked up, and my Mother really knew how to stretch a food budget.   Our pantry never went empty.  Mom taught both my sister and I both how to successfully navigate the kitchen, AND the sewing room.   To the day they died, Dad knew how much in Gas it cost to drive to a city with better grocery prices, and how often they could make that trip and still save money.  (After retiring a second time from the Detroit V.A. Hospital they moved back to a tiny town in Northern Michigan where they spent the rest of their lives.)   They always kept a written inventory of everything in their food stores attached to the front of the refrigerator, and they marked each item off the list as it was used.  That list became their shopping list on the next big trip to town 6 weeks down the line.  Necessities like Toilet paper and Paper towels were stocked up for as much as a year when there was a good sale.  In fact, we really didn’t use much paper towels.  Cloth towels were cheaper….for that matter so were real plates….paper plates were a big treat since my sister and I were the automatic dishwashers.

Now since my retirement, My wife and I have been changing our lifestyles in a similar fashion.  Back to real plates and real towels in the kitchen over paper.  It’s cheaper, and kinder to our environment.

Living in Selma, a Farm community, I had to join the FFA in Jr. High School, study Agriculture, where I learned the beginning basics of farming….including the basics of welding and a little about animal husbandry.  Later in Miami, I became a Boy Scout  …..”Be Prepared”; I advanced in the ranks rather quickly and less than 2 years later I was the rank of Star….when we got a new Scoutmaster, who announced right away that things were going to change….and change they did.  I quit.

My major in High School was Electricity and Electronics..  So there are my current electrical skills, I’m scared to death of high places so electricity did not become my vocation…But I still keep up with local codes for doing my own maintenance and new installation.  Plumbing, I learned right away, was nothing more than liquid electricity….only safer, no electric shocks.  Plumbing still utilizes a “Hot and Cold” delivery system for the current, just like electricity….only the current requires different materials to transport it.  SO…….There ya go, 2 skills with one training set.

I’m Also A graduate of Henry Ford Community College Skilled Trades Program in Manufacturing Engineering, and was a Model Maker for General Motors at the Design Center Facility in Warren Michigan.    Until then my hobby had been wood working/carpentry. As a Model maker I worked in Wood, Metal, Plastics, Fiberglass, Carbon fiber, and casting plastics.  I worked on vehicles in the Design center about 5 years before a new model would be shown to the public.   I worked in a shop that exclusively built Pre-production Prototype  and Concept Vehicles.  Often we even got to build specialty cars for Movie and TV studios.   For you “Transformers” movie fans, I was on the team that built “Bumble Bee, and Jazz” for the first movie.  With Fiberglass bodies, those cars were totally built by hand, no computerized machines.

My first wife was into gardening and canning, so half our yard was devoted to vegi’s.   We had shelves of can goods in the basement.   During Marriage #2 (Yes I been around the block a couple times) I became a Cub Scout Den leader, and then a Scoutmaster as Wife #2 had 3 boys from her first marriage. My troop was in a poverty stricken neighborhood, very high single parent neighborhood where most families were on ADC or Welfare….and the kids were delinquents…most of them were running from the cops.  Most of the boys would get shown the front door in the morning and their moms didn’t want to see them until suppertime.  As a scoutmaster I took them under MY wing. Brought them in off the street and using the scout manual, I started teaching them a better way to live.

Besides weekly troop meetings at the local school, we always had some project, going on where the troop would be at my house once or twice during the week.  I wound up with 35 young men….and was the only troop in our district with 100% participation at ALL campouts.  Camping once a month was the best eating those boys would have for the whole month.   I took the Scout Manual and taught them in a language that they could understand, that there was something better than slashing tires and breaking windows.

We had lots of fundraising efforts.  Because “my boys” were from poor households, I arranged fundraisers to not only cover the costs of operating the troop, but a percentage would be put away in each boy’s name to covers HIS needs, camping fees, etcetera, within the troop.   They never had to go home and ask Mom for cash for anything Scout related.   I established a Uniform Bank where as they outgrew and needed new uniform components, they could trade in their old items for items that would fit within the “Bank”.  I was the biggest babysitter in the neighborhood as parents were always “too busy” to help.  But somehow the Boys all understood what I was doing for them and it was never an issue.  At Scout ranches the Rangers always turned their heads and looked the other way because I was severely understaffed where it came to Adult supervision, and the Rangers also knew that we would be the least of their worries all weekend and would leave our campsite cleaner than we found it.

I taught them ALL how to cook.  We made a deal with the local market.  We as a troop would hand deliver his sale fliers door to door every week saving him collating costs and postage for the mail.  In return, once a month we would come through with our shopping list and load our carts for the next camping trip….turkey stuffing, all the trimmings, etc…..for 37.  The cashier would ring it up, and the owner would sign the receipt “Paid in full”.  (Those boys were no longer trashing his parking lot and spraying graffiti on his store either…   *smile*)

3 times per year Scout Council would have competition weekends.  During those weekends were also cooking competitions, among many other events.  Council would allow the boys to use a knife a spatula and a 12 inch square piece of foil (no metal cooking grate) to cook a complete meal.  I wouldn’t allow the spatula or foil.  They had learned how to make their own utensils from nature, using their knife to carve them.  While other troops made hot dogs or hamburger dinners with their foil.  My guys made gourmet meals…chicken or steaks, vegetables,  potatoes, a small loaf of bread to go with their meal….AND to top it off… a desert, usually a cup cake.  You open the cake mix box in a fashion that allows you to pour in the ingredients and use a stick to mix the batter inside the box like a bowl.  Cut the top off an orange, then scoop out the fruit and eat is as a snack, leaving you with this neat little round bowl “Cup cake cup”.  Pour the orange peel bowl full of cake batter, place the top back on and using tongs set it down into the coals for 15 minutes.  And wha-la….a Yummy Cupcake.  To cut this short, my guys went home with the Blue ribbons in cooking from EVERY competition they attended.

I left Scouting, as my job position at the time became more demanding, and so did some of the parents who used the troop as a babysitting service.  Marriage number 2 ended a while later.  My own son was a year and a half, and I then had 16 years of Child Support to pay.  (NOT Complaining) I paid everything I was asked and more.  I was always available for my son, he never NEEDED anything.  But with the child support came less disposable cash for my needs/wants, so  I acquired what I could through garage sales, etc.  Prepping sort of didn’t happen…..of course who called it prepping then?    Camping continued for me as a primary way to Vacation, so I kept up with the survival skills, and I acquired additional camping equipment from garage sales.  I joined an international Single Parent organization, where I held several elected positions over a period of 17 years, but most of my involvement was with programming for our children.

I arranged  a few “Family” camping trips every year where as many as 2 dozen families would join up for a weekend at a time and share experiences and knowledge.  I met my Wife in that organization, and was the first time she and her children ever experienced camping.    The two of us have been together now for 28 years and celebrate our 10th anniversary this year.  We lived a block away from each other as we continued to raise our children as the thing that broke up most of our friends was differences in child rearing.  After the kids were all adults, it was finally time for us.  My son turned 18 and the Child  Support ended.

My job was improving, I was a Journeyman now, I could finally afford to start buying a few things…..like a small Travel trailer.  And I started buying a gun here and there.  I have two old Military rifles that I fully stripped down and restored.  I have a small handful of long guns, each bought with a purpose in mind, and then a couple “Just Because”.  I was raised with the great TV and Movie Cowboy Legends so I’m Partial to “Wheel” Guns.  I have a couple Semi Auto’s both hand and long guns.  But with my WWII 303 bolt action carbine equipped with a 6-24X40 scope, I can reach out and touch something….or someone, from quite a distance…..and change their socks for them.  I like my Cowboy rigs.  The profile pic on Facebook you have seen of me is with my Replica 1860 Colt Navy 44’s.  Black Powder.  They may be slow compared to a Semi Auto, but I go for accuracy, with a larger caliber.    “One shot, One kill.”  SO I started collecting guns…and started stocking up on the Ammo to go with them.  Whenever I could find a good sale I would buy several boxes while it was still cheap.  And I bought 50 caliber Ammo cans to store it all in with good re-usable desiccant packets tossed in for good measure.  I have a Master inventory list, and each ammo can has its contents labeled on it.  Some of the ammo I have in stock has doubled in price since I bought my supply.  I listen to some of my neighbors with their semi auto’s.  Blambambambambambambam.  Blambambambambambam.  I don’t think they are even aiming, just trying to see how fast they can pull the trigger.  I try to hit my target consistently.   Yes, I live in an area where we can all practice in our Backyards, with our own Gun Ranges.

ANYWAY,  In the mid 80’s came ” the movie Red Dawn”.  WOW, that one made you think.  Then came the “Road Warrior”.  And “Beyond Silverdome.”   I began thinking, “You know I believe something like this could happen”.  I had a Gut Feeling that it would happen …..Someday……. My son might live to see it, but I didn’t think I would.  “Water World” didn’t faze me that much….But “The Postman”?  YUP that could happen.  But why would people fall in behind an evil bean counter for a leader?  That never made sense.  They are all carrying guns, why do they need a cruel evil warlord leader who would kill them in a heartbeat?   So I bought more Ammo.  If an Evil pencil pusher came up to me demanding I follow him, at least I’ll be ready to give him a convincing argument.  I have the skills He needs to survive, He can work for me.

Then along came Y2K.  The computers are going to crash.  It will be the End of the world As We Know It, as all our technology crashes around us, all because a couple numbers flip over?  OK, I admit, a tiny part of me thought “What IF”.  But I never really believed it.  BUT I did believe in the stupidity of people.  I was very familiar with the character traits of the people of Detroit Michigan.  I was also familiar with Michigan Weather.  I believed in the possibility of one of Michigan’s snow and Ice storms hitting Detroit and a quarter past Midnight on New Year’s eve, knocking out power, shutting down everything we rely on.  It had happened many times before.  ONLY Now…..there would have been years of talks of doom and the end of the earth.  People would panic.  “OH MY GWAD”…..They were right…The computers crashed…I gotta go steal me some food….and …and …and ….and some gasoline”.  SO that is when MY self preservation mode started kicking in.

It didn’t matter if there was a Y2K or not.  Being ready for any catastrophe just made sense.  Mom and Dad always had tons of food in the house.  There were times when unexpected bills came in, the paycheck had to be stretched a little farther that month, and they never went hungry or asked to borrow from anyone because they were always ready for “Life Happening”.  That’s what I call it now.  Just when you think you have everything under control and right where you want it….”LIFE HAPPENS”.  I didn’t have any canning equipment, plus I lived on a Postage stamp in a subdivision so no real room for a garden.  So I started stocking up on canned goods, and some freeze dried stuff as the last line of defense against starvation.  I had used the Old Military C-rations on some of my weekend outings in the past, and they weren’t too bad.  I bought some water barrels and started studying up on all that stuff, as well as brushing up on my survival skills.

My son had left for the Army.  Y2K came and went…no computer crash…..no ice storm, we were still here.  But the feeling stayed with me.  I really needed to stay ahead of things and stay ready.  My Wife’s Girls Graduated in 2000 and headed off to college.  She moved in with me, we were Married in 2002.  BUT  9-11 happened.  My gut feeling changed.  It changed from My son would probably live to see the SHTF…..To …there was now a very good possibility that I would live to see it.  Nobody was talking about 12-21-12 yet.  We had been attacked.  I bought even more Ammo and a couple more guns.  I had my concealed carry permit now too.  We had bought into a Membership RV park where we could leave our RV on the lot ready to use at all times.  That became our Bug-Out location, before that became the Buzzword for such a place.  AND we kept a pantry stacked there too, 90 minutes away.

We had discussed the idea that we both always dreamed of moving out of the city, onto a small piece of property.   We wanted to become more self sufficient, less reliant on city services, less dependent of society to survive.  We wanted to improve our diets, and be more careful of the things we ate.  My wife had started working with essential Oils and Herbs.  We were becoming more concerned with the additives being put into our food.   Autism and diabetes were almost unheard of 50 years ago, ADD, ADHD, Bi Polar and several others WERE totally unheard of 50 years ago.  But Monsanto wasn’t pumping our foods full of chemicals with Government approval back then either.  Chemicals, GMO, MSG, Human Growth hormone in livestock feed….”go ahead and eat it, it’s healthy for you.” Bacon on the grocery store shelf, unrefrigerated, in a Ziploc bag, take out a piece for a snack close the bag and toss it in the pantry….IT”S MEAT PEOPLE, But go ahead and eat it, it’s loaded with preservatives that are healthy for you.

We knew that with a small parcel of land we could live a much healthier lifestyle…..AND we could protect ourselves much better away from an Urban area that boasts 4 million people…. so we started watching.  My wife is a Real Estate Agent part time, so we would spend weekends checking out vacant parcels of land.  BUT anywhere near Detroit was ….JUST Forget it.  Diamonds were less expensive than acre of land there.  Every weekend we drew another circle a little farther from the City center, and looked at properties along that new circle.  We looked at houses on large parcels, coughing at the prices and the amount of money they were commanding for the amount of work they needed to fix up.  Then one day in 2005 we saw it.

On our way to spend the weekend in the RV we passed an Auction sign.  There was an estate sale.  A farm had been divided up and was being auctioned off in parcels.  We began bidding on the main house which sold with 5 acres of land, but the price of the house was going up to high for the work it needed.  Farmers were pouncing on the plantable land.  We decided to bid on a 5 acre wooded parcel sight unseen AND GOT IT for a really sweet price, well under the statewide average for vacant land.  There is deer out here, and wild turkeys, and rabbits, and pheasant, and all sorts of things that can be used for food.  I put in a large shed right away, building it myself.  AND we started “Prepping” for the day we would retire and move to the country.   We started shopping for a house and eventually selected a 2300 sq foot Modular Ranch that would be put on a 2300 sq foot basement with a walk out entrance that we could use as a studio and classroom.

On August 14, 2003 we experienced SHTF.  There was a catastrophic power grid failure along the east coast.  New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio part, of Ontario Canada, and a large chunk of Michigan lost power.  The grid had fried, the automatic systems failed and system after system cascaded.  Cities affected included New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Toronto and Ottawa, Canada.  The Cell phone system crashed.  BUT Guess what?  My wife and I were ready.  By sheer coincidence we had both gassed up our cars the day before.  We had plenty of food.  I had 40 gallons of gas for the generator in the shed in the back yard.  We sat munching popcorn, watching everyone panicking on TV…Yes the TV stations all were on generator power.  Folks were burning what precious gas they had looking for a station who had a generator and could sell them a little gas.  They would wait in line for hours and get told they could only buy 5 gallons of gas.

Our neighborhood stayed really calm,  but some minor looting did take place as people broke into stores for food.  So many people today STILL go to the store everyday to buy food.  It’s unbelievable….and if a storm hits they panic.   Every few hours I would unhook my generator, roll it a block away to my Mother-n-law’s house and plug her refrigerators in for a while.  We came out of that “TEST” quite happy with what we had accomplished.  We had kept ourselves prepared, it proved itself to be a wise decision AND we had the knowledge that it could happen again simply because our leadership Never learns from its mistakes.  I have also purchased a second and larger Generator that will run much more than just the fridge and TV.

At the end of 2006 both my parents passed away,  AND I retired. In my driving back and forth to their house,  getting it ready to sell, I came across the  Ford 9N Tractor you see in the photo’s above.    It was in amazingly good condition for a 1943, always kept under a roof.  It ran, so I paid 1800 bucks for it (The fact that it ran made it worth $2,500 in this area).  I took it home and took it apart in the driveway.  Cleaned it up and painted it, re-wired it, and added head lights, something that it never had.  I converted it over to a 12 volt system, it now has the alternator from a 1980 Camaro firing her spark plugs.  I changed out all the steering  and suspension joints, among many other things, like front tires and rims etc. and put it all back together.    That summer entertained lots of looks from passer’s by wondering what in the world I was doing with an old Farm Tractor in a City Suburb.  I added a few accessories like plows, blades, tow chains.  I have an electric winch that I can hook on the front bumper….OH and yes a Trail Mower too–makes keeping the trails clean a lot easier; it mulches everything I drag it over up to 4 inches in diameter.   That old Tractor runs like a top and is worth its weight in Gold.  AND IT IS EMP proof too…as it is an old Breaker Point ignition, there are NO modern electronics under that hood.  It burns a gallon of gas per hour under full load.  So besides mowing the trails, It plows my garden, and depending on the type of snow we had, it sometimes plows the driveway in the Winter.  I grade the driveway in summer, and drag logs with it to be cut for firewood.  Parts are still manufactured for this tractor too, as by their best estimate, close to 75% of all the Ford “N” Series Tractors built between 1937 and 1953 are still in service in some capacity.

In 2008 we built and moved into our house.  That is a story and an education all by itself that I won’t get into.  Who knew when we broke ground in January 2008 what the economy was about to become.  We had problems selling the old house.  Our savings now totally depleted, my wife has had to continue working and commutes home on weekends as she can’t find a compatible job out here, so I have been taking care of everything by myself.  The pets, the chickens and ducks, the house and gardens and trails.  I’m Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.  I do the shopping and the laundry too.  We got a great deal on a 2 year old hot tub with redwood gazebo enclosure…And we don’t use standard spa chemicals in it….I did a super flush of the whole system and we use essential oils in it.  We’ve been treating it with essential oils for 3 years and just love the results.  The night the Preppers episode aired showing the family running hot tub water through a filter, we looked at each other and grinned….”OK Then”  we forgot about that water source.  We have 3 bathtubs and the hot tub, plus water barrels.

We have been trying to open a small business in our basement, but that work has landed totally on my shoulders too, so we are way behind schedule for our business opening.  Out here in the rural countryside, we are more likely to have power outages than in the city and we have had several, but usually not for more than a few hours.

February 2011 we had a wind and Ice storm that knocked out our power for 2 days.  The town 30 minutes away was without power for more than a week.  When we moved I got careless stashing everything.  I’m right now in the process of rounding up ALL the old camping gear, the Lanterns, the stoves, the outdoor cooking utensils.  AND we still watch for items that can be used or cleaned up and used for Barter.  I’m amazed at the number of garage sales we have gone to in the last 2 years and find oil lamps at 3 bucks each…a little TLC and they look like new.  People are selling things they will need in a catastrophe.  I’m replacing the line on the fishing poles.  I need to do some fiberglass repair on the canoe, maybe this summer.  I’m basically doing a complete inventory of everything that would be of importance in an emergency and putting it where it can be easily located, and making sure it is all operational.  My canners are seldom put away for very long as I’m building the pantry under the front porch as fast as I can.

My wife had a major health issue back in the fall, and now I had a close call just over a month ago, but things are ramping up again.  We started several years ago being more aware of the things we put down our throats.  We read not only the Nutrition label, but we also read the ingredients in all the food products we by.  The rule of thumb is, “IF There is something in the ingredients that we cannot pronounce…..do we really want to eat it”?  We are watching Fat content..both the amount of fat, and what kind.  While getting more difficult every day, we are avoiding GMO foods as much as possible……as well as MSG.  We grow most of our own herbs now.  We don’t have a flower garden, it is an herb garden at the front of the house, I grow both culinary and medicinal herbs.  I also have a 30 X 60 foot  Organic Vegetable Garden.  Our soil is acidic so the only Product I buy for the soil is Granulated Lime, as Vegi’s require a neutral to Alkaline soil.  The rest of my fertilizer comes from our chickens and ducks.

Every time I clean out the chicken coop and duck house, the soiled straw is taken to the pile next to the garden where it needs to “COOL” down for a while.  Chicken poo is so high in Nitrogen that it will burn garden plants.   SO the old straw rots for a few months, gets coffee grounds tossed into it… and then blended into the garden.    I also burn a lot of brush and till the ashes into the garden as well as a natural source of potassium or phosphorus….which ever, I can never remember which is which, I just know the garden loves it.  The garden is also where the Charcoal Grill gets emptied…  I only buy my Garden seeds from sources that certify all their seeds are Non-GMO, and Heirloom.  A lot of our Harvest I blanch and freeze, this year I’m going to focus more on Canning.

We have an assortment of wild berries on our property, mostly Wild Black Raspberry, and Mulberry and a lot of wild grape….  OOOOOooooo Does wild grape ever make a nice tart Grape Jelly.  In addition to that, we Planted lots of additional raspberry plants, and Blueberries and Elderberry, 4 varieties of apple trees, 2 pear trees, 2 cherry trees a plum tree AND a peach tree.  SO We will EAT as the trees grow to fruit production age.  AND Yes I do can fruit too besides the jams and jellies.

Self sustenance was a major reason for our move to the country.  We Raise free range chickens and ducks.  While I don’t pay the price for Organic Feed for them, I do buy feed that is free from chemicals, growth hormones and antibiotics, just to make sure they get their daily protein.  MOST of their diet, they are on their own.  What people who do not keep chickens don’t realize is THEY are meat eaters FIRST.  Chickens are not vegetarians.  You give them their choice of meat grains and vegi’s they eat the meat first then the vegi’s.  They spend their days running all over the place eating bugs, slugs, worms, mice, frogs and toads……yup you read that right.  Bugs, Mice, Frogs and Toads, with an occasional mole dug up.  The other thing people who don’t keep chickens don’t realize is that when you free range them, they are horrible when cooked on the Grill.  Unlike the Grocery store chickens, these actually get exercise….they are very muscular and it would be easier to eat your shoes.  However, 40 minutes in the pressure cooker and they are falling off the bone tender.

The reason I bring that part up is because when you by “Straight run Chicks”, about half will grow up to be roosters.  Roosters don’t lay eggs, so it’s into the stew pot they go.  We get lots of chicken soup and stew starters that way, and lots of home grown chicken broth too.  We sell the eggs we don’t use,  and with only 28 Heirloom hens that only lay 250 eggs per year. I can’t produce eggs fast enough.  This gives me not only a self sustaining food supply, BUT for the moment, with egg sales, my food supply is able to pay their own room and board and that goes for the ducks too….their eggs are absolutely Delicious.

According to Mother Earth News Magazine,  Free Range Chicken eggs have  1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A,  2 times more omega-3 fatty acids,  3 times more vitamin E, and 7 times more beta carotene than a commercial store bought egg.  Duck eggs, while they are almost double the cholesterol, they are also more than double the nutritional value in all other nutrients as well.

Along with learning how to care for chickens and ducks, come the education of how to deal with their predators.  Possum, Raccoon, Coyote.  Coyote is tricky, but an old farmer that lives nearby told me a foolproof way to keep Coyote away from your chickens.  You can’t trap them or hunt them, they’re too smart.   Instead you mark the boundaries of your property the same way they mark their territories from other coyotes.  You go along the boundaries and urinate.  Coyote will not cross into another coyote’s territory, NOR will they cross over Human Urine.  That works great.  I haven’t seen sign of a Coyote on the property in 18 months even though we hear them howling every night.

As far as Possum and Raccoon, I go night hunting.  Last summer I lost 7 ducks in two nights.  The ducks are always the last to go into their coop after dark, and something beat me to them.  Within 2 months I had avenged their deaths with 8 raccoons and 2 possums, I trapped a few of them and shot the rest.  I have my Romanian M69 bolt action 22 outfitted with a scope, spotlight and laser.  Then I will also go out at night with a 30 million candle power flood lamp and my 22 western revolver and Cowboy rig.  Shine the trees, and when the eyes glow back at you …..thar ya go.  I’m a better shot with the six shooter than I am with the rifle.

In our Religion (Spiritualism)  We don’t believe in the 12-21-2012 doomsday scenarios.  We believe that 12-21-2012 will be a new awakening.  Even if it is something that begins switching on within us telling us who we really are.  The Mayan Calendar ending on that date is merely the beginning of a new period of time.  Any doomsday scenario connected with the date is nothing more than wild imaginations.  Especially when you consider that the Mayan Calendar doesn’t take into account “Leap Year” which was created by Julius Caesar sometime later.  I’ve read tons of books over the years about our Origin.  Chariots of the Gods, The Wheels of Ezekiel, Etc.  I’ve read about all the doomsday scenarios.  Do I believe that the Earth may tip over on its axis?  Oh yeah, it may someday,  The North pole has shifted about 110 miles since 1900.  Do I believe that Yellowstone may blow its top.  YUP it could, But I don’t think it is getting ready to right now.  Might we get hit by a Rogue Giant Asteroid?  Definitely.  I also don’t believe that the Governments on this planet will be up front with us if they thought something was happening.  BUT also I don’t think they would be able to hide these things from us either.  We’d be able to see the Asteroid by now.  And I think we would be noticing activity near Yellowstone as well as other scenarios that have been written about.  They are the sorts of things that I don’t believe could happen in an instant without giving themselves away  well in advance.   And try as they will, Government won’t be able to hide it.   I have seen maps forecasting what Michigan may look like after a major Quake along the New Madrid Fault line, that shows the hilltop my house sits on just may become Lakefront Property.    I don’t believe in Global warming either. All that data is based on flawed science that put cash grants before accuracy and truth.  Has Global warming been happening?  Oh Yeah, No doubt, but we didn’t do it.  10 million years ago most of North America was covered in a glacier.  How many SUV’s did it take to melt it off?  Every Planet in our Solar system has been getting warmer at the same ratio as the earth, did we do that too?

There is evidence to show that we MAY be entering a period of cooling soon.  I have letters that my Grandfather received while in Germany in 1918 remarking how Michigan’s Upper Peninsula had no snow and temps in the 40’s in the month of February.  Our Weather man said tonight that the Month of March in Michigan set temperature records that have held since 1895.  That tells me that it must have been pretty warm in  March 1895. Therefore weather runs in cycles.  Do we need to clean up our act and take  better care of our environment?  You Betcha, we’ve been way too careless for way too long.  But we didn’t cause what everyone is claiming is happening.  Dozens of quakes happen every day…disasters happen somewhere every day.  Our Media is just getting more adamant at sticking them on the 6 O’clock news.

I think Green Energy technologies is a good thing, but it is wrong for us to pour all our resources into it and force on the people.  When we built this house I looked into the idea of Wind and Solar power.  I found that for our area in Michigan, Solar is almost worthless in winter, wind energy is poor in summer.  I found that I would need to combine both technologies to go off grid, and be able to dedicate a room for the batteries which would need to be replaced every few years.  The cost in 2008 would have been around $120,000 for the complete system not including maintenance and battery replacement costs.  Not an option for US.

I do believe in The possibility of an Economic collapse, it’s happening now.   Maybe Russia and the U.S. have been reaching new agreements when it comes to Nukes, BUT the U.S. and Iran and Korea have not.  All the different races on this one little ball in the sky were put here as representatives from their home planets thousands of years ago with the task of learning how to get along with each other…..and it hasn’t happened yet.  I believe in the extreme possibility that we could experience a catastrophic infrastructure failure.  The Electrical Grid, The water Grids in Metropolitan areas, The Natural Gas and yes the Highway grids are all aging, they are slowly failing as Corporations and governments have placed priorities on personal agendas, and used the old cliché, “If it ain’t Broke, Don’t fix it” as a means of dealing with ALL those trivial utility infrastructure matters.  Detroit water system for example, stretches through 6 counties in the State of Michigan.  Many of the pipes are over 100 years old.  Every year there are more and more water main breaks…..yet nothing has ever been done to replace the system.  Same with the electric grid.

During the 90 degree days of Summer.  The Detroit area Power company struggles to keep the lights on as Air conditioners over load the system.  The power company begs consumers and Businesses to dial back and turn off unneeded lighting to prevent a system failure.  It’s that way all across the country….as money were spent on frivolous things rather than upgrading the systems, now they say they can’t afford what the systems need.  When the systems fail, and don’t come back on line I have faith in the people to panic.

The Zombie apocalypse has already happened.  Schools have been dumbed down so people can no longer think for themselves.  They wander aimlessly around believing Government will always be ready, willing and able to take care of them.  They believe that nothing can possibly go wrong, they are not responsible for their own simple little lives.  And when the world collapses around them they will have no idea what to do, but to panic and demand that everyone else around them care for them and provide for their needs….and they will be willing to use violence to get their needs satisfied.

So that’s why I prep.  Not to be ready for a catastrophic Explosion…..but more of a catastrophic “IMPLOSION”.  Severe Storms and Economic and Infrastructure failures causing a collapse of our society.  People haven’t prepared.  They’ve had it drilled into them that they will always be cared for.  Our Kids have been told that should something of this nature happen, get their backsides to our home as fast as they are able.  My son unfortunately will have to make it on his own as he has chosen to call the Northwest Coast Home.  I’m still prepping as the budget allows, but for the most part I have all the equipment I might possibly need.  And a means of providing food….and water.  At the current time I’m comfortable with the knowledge that we can make it several months to a year if need be with what is in storage, and have the ability to obtain more food without much effort.  I have a few freeze dried foods as an emergency to the emergency stores. But I believe in stocking up on the food we really like to eat.  WHY stock up on a bunch of stuff that you would refuse to eat today as a source of sustenance in an emergency tomorrow, when for much less money you can stock up on the foods you enjoy eating today?

I feel good with what I’ve accomplished.  I was raised with the understanding that being reasonably prepared for any emergency was a necessity.  Even if all the emergency was, was a month that the paycheck needed to be stretched just a little farther.  When the power goes out I admit, there is a tiny element of fear and concern….What if?  Like the couple living in the missile silo, I don’t want what we have to end, I want it to continue on forever.  BUT We can’t relax with the security that we have done our best to take care of ourselves when the time calls for it.   While the Grass Hoppers that laughed at us ants panic looking for what they need to survive.   I NEVER want to rely on what we have done.  I NEVER want to chase someone off our property with a gun.  But That is why we have done it.  Security for the What If’s.  We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and our family.  You keep a fire extinguisher in your Kitchen ….not because you WANT to use it….  But just in case you NEED it.  Same as being a prepper.  And we like our self-sufficiency.

SO That’s about it.  That’s my story.  Here I sit on our Hilltop with a 360 degree view of at least a half mile in all directions overseeing the land.  All my Neighbors have at least one gun in the house and the Bad guys know it.  We have 2 cops (That’s it…only 2 cops)  that patrol well over 100 square miles…  There is a little crime activity inside the villages (very little), but here in the Townships, the bad guys understand their lives are in OUR hands…..so they usually don’t come around for a visit.

AND THAT’S THE WAY..UH HUH, UH HUH

WE LIKE IT……UH HUH!

L.R. MI

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