THE PERSONAL PRICE OF (GOV'T) FINANCIAL FOLLY

(FYI--Patriot Dawn-The Resistance Rises a fictional prepper book is available for FREE Sat Nov 23 and (I think) Sunday Nov 24 as a download via your kindle/kindle app reader. Hyperlink will take you there).

In case you've ever wondered, it's $99,272.98. 

Rather a specific number, don't you think? 

As you may be aware, DH has been out of work since February. We received notice today that "even though he has a (positive $) unemployment benefit balance, unemployment payments will end on December 28 of this year due to federal regulations."

That just made me mad. Solely because YOU, the government, have stolen a minimum of $300 out of my DH's check every month for the 20 years we have been married. "To cover his unemployment benefits should he ever become unemployed." So now that he actually needs to lay claim to those benefits: too bad, so sad for us--our stolen wealth has been previously redistributed to people who...well...I'll end there. 

I won't even "go there" with how much was pulled out of my accounts in the 25 years before I stopped working outside the home. 

But annoyance aside, it made me wonder: just how much would we have in the bank if we had been "allowed" to take that $300 a month, put it into just a regular passbook savings account, you know, the kind that barely pay you 3 percent a year, and not been allowed to touch it unless we were unemployed?

Just on DH's 20 years, that would have amounted to $99,272.98. 

Now the reality is that there are a lot of good reasons why we haven't amassed a small fortune, most of them having to do with my scum of an ex-husband. But the other side of the coin is, I'm pretty sure we have frittered away $300 a month over the past 20 years, (even without my ex) on take out food, first day movies, stoneware I've rarely (if ever) used, books I am now donating, etc. This on top of the money we have wasted on credit card debt.

All because we were unwilling to live like no one else then, so we could live like no one else now. It's not like we haven't saved anything. Thankfully, we had, which is what we've lived on the past 9 months, but that pretty much ran out a month or so ago.

DS13 is studying personal finance this year in high school. So far, we have covered paychecks, taxes (SS, UI, DI etc.), banking, credit card debt, mortgage debt. One of the vendor sites he investigated talked about "how awful it was for poor people, they are such victims, etc." One of the scenarios was: you are barely making ends meet, and someone gives your child $10 for his birthday. Do you give your child the money or do you keep it? The meta message of course, is that poor people (adults) are justified in taking what doesn't belong to them.

It was a good teaching moment, because frankly, I have a 17yo son whose part time job right now pays for our car gas. DS13's response was, if he was the kid, even if he got the $10, he would contribute it towards the household. I said, that's a generous response, but what do you think about the parent giving the child the birthday money, then encouraging him/her to pay 10% ($1) in say, tithing, $1 in long term-no touch savings, $3 in short term savings, and he/she would be free to spend the rest as they saw fit?

DS13 thought about it for a while. Then he said, "yeah, that would be better. If he learned how to handle money that early, then he wouldn't be in a bad financial situation in the future."

Yep. That pretty much says it all. 

But it's still not too late for old dogs to learn new tricks, unless your name is Rovernment.

PREPPER TEN ESSENTIALS, Part 2

OY. From here on out, there is a wide difference between bug out backpacks (BOB) vs. sheltering in place (SIP.) As I said before, as an American Red Cross shelter manager, I am biased toward sheltering in place (SIP) or at least having enough time and space to evacuate. I'll try not to muddy the waters too much by taking about the pros and cons of each essential depending on BOB. Again, not a techie: hyperlinks will take you to pix of what I'm talking about.

ITEM 3: Cooking

I will admit a heavy bias against anything which is man-made fuel dependent. Don't get me wrong. I have a Chef camp stove like this one: 

Pluses? You can cook, broil, BBQ, pressure and BWB can (yes, I've done it!) on it.

Minuses? You'll obviously never carry it in a backpack, and you've got to store a lot of propane. I love mine though. But I'll never be able to store or carry enough propane for an emergency which lasts longer than a week. That's a problem. 

I prefer a cooking system like the Rocket Stove from EcoZoom. 

Small, reasonably light weight (SIP wise, not BOB), burns wood, biomass or charcoal. I've also seen people use sterno cans. I am enamoured by the whole science of rocket stoves. I like that you can "build" a L shaped stove out of rocks in the bush, using bricks from rubble etc. Although for piece of mind, you may just want to buy Ecozoom's commercially built Rocket Stove, which I hear can even bake bread (haven't tried it.)

Backpacking? Options are things like MSR's Pocket Rocket, or Trangia cook stove systems (they come with mess kits). Again, the issue with having to carry man-made fuel.

I'm going to digress here for just a second and talk about boiling water. If you get nothing else for your preps this winter, you absolutely need one of these: an irish Kelly Kettle. 

I cannot sing their praises high enough. They boil up to a half gallon of water using biomass, TWIGS, pinecones, whatever is laying around, in 3 minutes 8 seconds (can you tell I've done it?) What is pictured is the base camp model, which does a half gallon. They also have a medium one called a Scout, (although for $5 more, I'd go base camp), and a backpacker model called a Trekker. A Trekker boils about 2 cups of water, which conveniently happens to be about how much you need to reconstitute a freeze dried meal like Mountain House pouches. Oh yeah. YES, SPEND THE EXTRA $5 PER KELLY KETTLE MODEL AND GET STAINLESS STEEL. The first time you slam your Kelly Kettle on a boulder you're going to wish you had.(Steel versions are way more expensive in Europe, but here in the USA, the price delta is like $5.)

ITEM 4: 

Of all the items in my preps, I have flip flopped on food the most. I have the normal "basics", i.e., white wheat (not red, lol, I'm not THAT into wheat), rice, sugar, salt etc etc. I have a bunch I've canned (chicken, ground beef), some I've dehydrated (including meals, go check out dehydrate2store.com, and have a decent amount of commercially canned vegetables. All of that presumes I am sheltering in place. If you are carrying it in a BOB, I have to say, I am a convert to freeze dried food, either by Mountain House or Food Insurance, and yes, I'm brand loyal. I really really like the idea that I can throw a week's worth of food into each of our BOBs and not have it take up a lot of space or weight. I like that it tastes like real food. I like that, when combined with a Kelly Kettle Trekker and a Light My Fire Army 2.0 firestarter, my kids (and their BOBs) become pretty much independent. 

WHEW! Long post today. That's all for now, gotta skeedaddle !

PREPPER TEN ESSENTIALS, Part 1

UPDATE--SORRY, I TRIED TO INCLUDE PICTURES, for some reason the pictures show up in the draft, but not on the final post. I'm not a tech wiz, what can I say. Clicking on the blue hyperlinks will take you to a pic and description though. Sorry.

If you've spent any time in the Scouting world, you know that Scouts are required to carry with them at all times, a backpack containing the "10 Essentials" you would need to survive in a short term emergency. We came from a Scout troop which insisted everyone carry them. Sadly, not all Scout troops do; sometimes that leads to tragic consequences.

It got me thinking: what are the Prepping (Prepper) 10 Essentials? The 10 things you would need to have in order to survive for the short term i.e., in a backpack-a real one BTW, or to shelter-in-place. I am an American Red Cross Shelter Manager, we train to shelter in place, so I acknowledge a heavy bias in that area. Katrina, tornados, Fukushima have all shown sheltering in place might not be possible, so you do have to balance things out.

I thought I'd do a five part series, focusing on two items at a time, of what/why you would want to include these items in your 10 Essentials. They are in no particular order, and YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary.) Hopefully it will provide food for thought, and you will give some serious consideration on what constitutes your own 10 Essentials. It will not include items which are too deeply personal for me to weigh in on, i.e., weaponry, religious items, family keepsakes. Here we go.

ITEM 1: A way to make fire.

I personally prefer the Swedish Light My Fire ARMY 2.0.

It is hands down, the best out there. Strikes a fire on the first or second strike, lights under any conditions (cold, wet, hot), lights most material regardless of the materials condition (cold, wet, dry), sparks at 2,900 C. Keyfob contains an emergency whistle.

ITEM 2: A way to filter and sterilize water.

Here we get in to the dilemma of bug-out backpack vs. sheltering in place. If I didn't live in the nanny state of California, and was sheltering in place, I would get the Cadillac of water filters:  
a Berkey. The picture above just shows the filters. You can make your own water containers using 5 gallon buckets.

California "protects us from ourselves" so Berkeys are banned here due to their carbon filters. My second choice when sheltering in place would be a candlestick (or dome) ceramic like this Doulton 10" ceramic filter:  

You'd still need to make your own water containers using 5 gallon (or whatever) buckets.

On the move? I'd probably go with something in the Katadyn family like this Hiker Pro:



The problem IMO, with using Katadyn's for sheltering in place, is they can only push through a small amount of water at a time. Fine for on the run, but do you really want to spend hours hand pumping enough water to make just a gallon? It's a VERY time consuming process given the force of filter & water.

That's it for today. Check back for Items 3 and 4 of the 10 Essentials.

GREAT PREPPER SITE

I found this great prepping one-stop shop, carrying many of the prepping products people are interested in. 

It's called Nitro-Pak. Many of their items are on an Early 'Black Friday' sale, up to 70% off, and their Mountain House freeze dried foods are 35% off. It seems like they also sell MH in bulk, which for me is really nice. I know Mountain House food, and so far, I have liked everything of theirs that I've tried, so buying a MH product which I haven't "tried", doesn't seem like a big risk. I'm sure other freeze dried products are nice, but I know my family likes this brand, so until I get samples of other brands, we're sticking with this one.

Shipping is free if the order is over $149, so I'm thinking "group buy." 

The sell loads of other things too, like Katadyn filters, salt water filters (hello!), and a bunch of gluten, soy, lactose, nut free products also. I don't know how common that is, but it seems pretty unusual to me.

They have some interesting water storage/barrel options, like a "Hydroller Wheeled Water Container" which holds 8 gallons. It's only $35.99. They sell 55 gallon barrels also for $139. That seems kind of pricey to me, but at least you can buy them there. I just get mine once every 10 years or so when someone in my area sells used ones in a group buy.

I think Nitro-Pak is worth taking a look see.

Harvesting Heirloom Beets

The video didn't turn out as well as I had hoped; unfortunately some things you have to get right on the first take, like say, harvesting beets, since it's impossible to replant them and pull them up again. Oh well. 

You can watch the video at: http://youtu.be/HQTQt9LS-Nw.

These are heirloom Red Detroit Beets, which are available at Botanical Interests. They are very hardy. I planted 60 of them, all of them germinated and sprouted. Unfortunately, those stupid varmint rabbits ate 40 of them before I could get varmint fencing up. 

I ended up with 20 plants and beet roots, 11 pounds of beets, including two beets which were one and one-half (1 1/2) lbs each. I also harvested 3 gallons of beet leaves. I'm hoping to find yellow lentils (mund dahl) today so I can make curried beet mund dahl. I also squeezed two pints of beet juice out of just the stalks. DD17 wants me to make dehydrated beet chips, so I'm going to try some of that out of the 11 pounds of beets.

Overwintering. This is one of the parts of the video which didn't turn out well, and I couldn't use a different spot which was sunny. So here's how you do it. You leave the entire beet in the ground, give it a 1/2 to 1 inch hair cut at the stalk (leaving no more than an inch of stalk attached to the actual beet.) Pile about 4-6 inches of mulch on top of it. Leave it alone for the winter. In the spring it will shoot out new stalk and flowers, the flowers will create seed and you will have a great harvest of heirloom seed (I'm hoping anyway!)

The other way to over winter is to dig up a beet, leave the dirt attached to the beet. Haircut the stalk down to 1/2 to 1 inch. Find a box or other container, fill the bottom of the container with a few inches of sand or sawdust (I live near the beach, so guess which one I chose), place beet in container on top of sand/sawdust, fill container to brim-ish burying the beet in the sand/sawdust.

Place container in freezer or refrigerator. BTW, I couldn't find a box, so I used a #10 can with a white plastic lid, a good use for all those excess cans. I don't know that you need a lid per se, I just did because I had extra, and it keeps my well meaning, but unknowing family from seeing a can of sand in the freezer, wondering "what's this?" and tossing it. In the springtime, unbury the beet, replant, and hopefully, see new stalks, flowers and seeds. 

It will be interesting to see (1) if it works and (2) if it makes a difference which method you use, not like this is a scientific sampling or anything.

BTW, these were 2009 seeds for a 2010 planting that I used. So buying heirloom beet seed paid off. I will use up all the rest of the 2009 seed next spring, and hopefully will have generated enough from this year's crop to keep me in beet seed heaven for a long time to come.

You may have noticed the wood chips. I loosely follow the Back to Eden method. I really like it, and so far have had great results with everything I've planted.

I just love vegetables which have to either "die" on the vine to harvest (quinoa, amaranth, pinto beans) or I can just leave in the ground over the winter to get next year's seed crop (beets, kale). Yep. Lazy gardening. Just my style.

Bright Spot Amid the Dark Clouds of Unemployment

So DH had an interview today with EDD, (California's Employment Development Department.) Or at least, he thought it was an interview. He just went in to Tier 1 of Federal Benefits, which will end in 6 weeks, and then we will have no income coming in. 

When you walk in, it turns out it is a "one stop" resource center for EDD, Coastline Community College (one of our local, mostly online community colleges) and the umbrella job organization called, appropriately, One Stop (http://www.oconestop.com).

Wow. We'll start with the fact that it is a private enterprise, which has a contract with the State of California and Title I federal funds, to find people jobs, get them trained up in careers, set up interview space for employers to come and hire workers. It's AMAZING.

Although they technically get paid "by the State" and they have a State entity on their premises (EDD), they are not run by, or directed by, the State. Which (a) explains why they are so successful and (b) goes a long way in explaining why the State didn't bother to let DH know that such an organization existed, you know, way back eight months ago when he first got let go as opposed to 6 weeks before his unemployment runs out. It is NOT that practically worthless organization which is run by the State: CalJobs

One of the amazing things we found out is that OneStop has an aggressive recruiting campaign with employers. Consequently, they get job listings about 2 weeks before they hit the regular market. And we are not talking minimum wage jobs. We're talking the kinds of jobs which can actually support a family.

Need a place to print out or fax resumes? Go there.

Need to know how to put together a resume and dress for an interview? Go there.

Want to go to a job interview where they are likely to hire you? Go there (after all, they already know you come with the value-add of a Work Tax Credit.)

 Need to get redirected in to better training or better skills? Go there. They can hook you right up with the community college, get you accepted, enrolled, help you fill out financial aid, etc. Right there.

Age 15-21 and having a hard time finding work (face it: there's age discrimination at both ends of the spectrum.) Go there. They have a class and a list of employers willing to "take a chance" on young people with little to know experience.

Older, seasoned employee being displaced for likely the first time? They've got a program for that.

Just out of jail? They've got a reality program on what you need to do and how you need to get there if you're serious about getting your life squared away.

Re-entering the workforce if you are a former SAHM, or a recently released Military Vet? They've got a reality program for you too.

OH YEAH, DID I MENTION IT'S ALL FREE for you the "client?"

So exactly why is it, that the State of California figures they don't need to tell anyone about this great program? I have a theory. It might be because the misguided do-gooders of the world would rather create a dependent welfare State.

But  it is just really impressive to see what can be done by private enterprise when the State acknowledges that they can't get the job done, and they just get out of the way.

If you live in California, check your local listings for One Stop. If you live elsewhere, clicking on the hyperlink above should get you a "contact us" email; find out if your State has something similar.

 

AGENDA 21 ARRIVAL AT SURF CITY

You'd have to be personally acquainted with my DH and I to know how ironic and hilarious yesterday was.

GET THIS BOOK: Behind the Green Mask by Rosa Koire !!!

Yesterday, November 1st, marked the official, blatant arrival of Agenda 21 in Huntington Beach California, known as @CityHBPIO. (What kind of handle is that anyway?) Tweet the heck out of them.

BECAUSE YOU, the HB RESIDENT ARE TOO STUPID TO KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR OWN BEST INTEREST !!

I digress.

I inherited my (former) leftist leaning liberal tendencies genetically. Really. I honestly think that's the only thing my parents had in common. I used to be way left. Like by the time I was 10 (it was the '60s after all), I was marching, protesting, going door to door getting petitions signed. You can imagine the drill.

On the other hand, I don't think my DH even knew how to spell the word protest until he married me. His mother gave him a Rush Limbaugh tie the first Christmas we were married for crying out loud.

Needless to say, over the years we've had a few heated conversations on topics such as global warming, carbon footprints, solar energy, grocery couponing, food storage, the effect of media on youth...Over time, I'd honestly say I've moved to left of center; DH not so much. Every once in a while on a particular issue, his needle tilts a bit closer to right of center. Yesterday it jumped all the way to my side of the scale.

Enter Agenda 21. Me, I'm big picture. Like most people, DH doesn't "get it" until he is impacted personally. 

Which happened yesterday. I sent DH to the store to pick up a few things. I honestly forgot that starting yesterday, BIG BAD GROCERY BAGS are BANNED in Huntington Beach. BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST TOO STUPID to think in Huntington Beach, so the City Council has to do it for you,

DH found out his only two choices were: carry the stuff home in his hands, or BUY grocery bags. Forced to choose the latter, he came home hopping mad. Demanding we start shopping elsewhere (DUH!!!). I laughed my socks off.

I hope all 100,000 households in HB choose to shop just twice a month in Westminster or Fountain Valley just to make a point. Seriously, just drive across the street. Pavilions is in WM. Albertsons on WM/GW is in WM. Ralphs on Magnolia & Garfield is in FV. Sam's Club is in FV. I think the Fresh & Easy on Warner & Magnolia just over the 405 is in FV too.

Do it just to make the point, then I hope you email or tweet the City Council to tell them how much you spent NOT in HB. Oh, by the way, come Christmas time at Bella Terra you better bring your own bags, because the ban applies to every store there too.

Let's do the math. If all 100,000 households spend two grocery trips a month in WM/FV at $400 per, that's $800 a month per household, or $80 million dollars a MONTH not spent in HB.  Think that will send a message? I do. Think of the tax revenue decrease. We don't even have to do it very long...3-4 months will send the message loud and clear, particularly if you shop WM for the holidays. Look here at my previous post to see the results from a two year study commissioned by the County of Los Angeles. YOU can make a difference.

Get educated. Go here to buy the book Behind the Green Mask by Rosa Koire.

Harriet Parke and Glenn Beck wrote a fictional account of life in an Agenda 21 community. It's called simply, Agenda 21. Buy that one too. Back of the book has some really great original source material.

Then do something to fight back. Email this blog post to everyone you know. Email the Mayor: Connie.Boardman@surfcity-hb.org. Her personal goal is to remake HB into a "sustainable city." Really. That's a direct quote from her bio on the HB City Council page. Once you read Rosa's book you'll understand that "sustainable" is codespeak for Agenda 21.

Email the rest of the City Council as well. Last time I checked, Joe Carchio had a brain, but it's been a while.

And drive across Beach Blvd or Magnolia and shop in Westminster or Fountain Valley for a few months. Don't take it anymore. It's your life. You're entitled to live it freely.