Saturday, April 13, 2013

Getting Down To Business

I'll be the first to admit that I have completely dropped the ball when it comes to getting prepared for an emergency.

I was in halfway decent shape when I was still single and living in the fifth wheel a couple of years back but let most of my preps go because when I got married and moved into my parents house for six months I had no idea what my long term plans were going to be at that point.

My dear wife is not on board with the concept  and even gives me shit when I do try and stock some supplies.

I have been keeping a close eye on the rolling disaster that is coming and have decided that I need to sit her down and tell her where the bear shits in the woods.


As the head of this household and the one ultimately responsible for the well being and security of my wife and family I have come to the conclusion that I am going to get quite a bit more serious about getting and staying  prepared for, at the very least, any short term emergency that I can foresee happening around this neck of the woods.

Long term preps will be addressed as the opportunity arises.

The probability of a strong earthquake around here is when, not if.
We have also had three fucking tornadoes in the last four years, this being in the vicinity of Portland Oregon, not exactly known as being Tornado Alley.

We had a very mild winter this year and I am very grateful for that. I have seen winter storms around here that completely shut down the whole region.
Ice storms, snow and freezing rain on top make travel near impossible because of all the hills surrounding the two rivers locally.

This whole area is a series of hills and valleys with a few big assed volcanoes thrown in for good measure.
Add that to the list of possible disasters, a volcanic eruption.
Huge earthquakes followed by huge clouds of gas and ash blotting out the sun and covering everything around with gritty particles that get into everything.

So now that I am attempting to get my head out of my ass I have started getting a few things straightened away already.

Personal defense had some major upgrades recently. I got the generator my brother gave me a couple years ago running and tested. He said the front oil seal was leaking and it certainly kept leaving a small puddle wherever I had it.

After finally getting it up on a work bench where I could see what the fuck was going on, I cleaned it up, charged the battery and after about ten minutes of dicking with it got it going.

I put some new gas in it and let it run for few minutes then plugged in a skill saw to put a load on it and it worked just fine.
I let it run for a while then shut it off and fucked around with something else for whil to give it a chance to start leaking.

Pretty soon there was a drop running down the frame.
I walked around, took one look at where it originated and then grabbed a wrench .
After tightening the drain plug on the crank case I now have a leak free, perfectly usable 3500 watt portable generator to add to my preps.

Even with all the fucking tools I have I can still see a few holes there too.
Most of those are geared towards automotive repair and I actually don't have many wood working tools.

Being a bonafide tool junkie that just gives me a little chubby and an excuse to go get some!.

Food preps are my biggest concern right now and where most of the friction originates with the wife.

She is one stubborn lady and the whole lot of them are picky eaters.
This is going to be a real challenge but I feel I am going to stock some basics either way.
Just as soon as I am done here I am going down to Bi Mart and get a couple of water storage jugs to replace the ones I left at the trailer park.

I do have some things covered that I am not going to go into at this point so I will have something to write about in the future but I feel it is way late in the game and I have a shit ton to do to even come approximately close to where I was even two years ago.

I am going to start over again with a renewed focus on the basics so I will be updating my status here occasionally among other things.

Natural disasters happen, it is the looming man made one that I am keeping a close eye on.

At this point I feel that it is inevitable that there is going to be run away inflation and I could give a fuck what the government says about it because they have been trying to hide it already and are failing miserably.

Update;
Alrighty then.
I had a short discussion with the wife as promised.
She is on board with some caveats.
We have different perspectives, naturally.

There will be further discussions as to how we go about this and what we need to do as for long term food storage that is acceptable but she named a few that made me do a fist pump inside.

I told ya she is a good woman.

My only problem now is she is still after me to make more room in the garage so she can get her car in to unload groceries when it is raining by way of getting rid of some things that I really don't want to part ways with.

There will be much diabolical planning in my future.

14 comments:

Moe said...

Picky eaters,,,

in the words of my mother-in-law "I ain't eaten that shit"

-Moe

Spud said...

Picky eaters,,,

in the words of my mother-in-law "I ain't eaten that shit"

-Moe

So say the currently well fed, when starving...even shit will look good.

hiswiserangel said...

Picky eaters...

In the words of Poppy and my mom, "We bought it/killed it/skinned it/prepared it/etc., you WILL eat it. Or you will do without. I don't want you to think this is a dictatorship. The choice is entirely yours."

As a female prepper, (fepper?!) I come to this with the mindset that I'd do anything to protect my kids when disaster happens, why wouldn't I put some effort into making that easier for myself? If I'm willing to die for them, why shouldn't I be willing to prepare for disaster to keep us all alive? Poppy always pounded common sense into my pretty little head, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

drjim said...

Hi there. Came over here from wirecutter's place. Nice to meet you.

I had it easier with my wife after we were married.

She already had a decent stash of "Earthquake Supplies", and I've added a lot of other items to it.

So far, everything I've bought has met with glowing approval, although most of the "new" supplies have been in the "Wow....I never would have thought of THAT!" category.

Keep at it. I'm sure she'll eventually come around, and if/when we ever need all our stores, you'll be Hero of the day!

Phil said...

Thanks for stopping by. My wife is actually pretty tolerant if stubborn but she is on board, if less than enthusiastic. Lol.
I'll keep working on her.

In the mean time, I just added you to the list of Government Surveillance Targets up above also.
I was just at your place yesterday.

Bushwack said...

Well, I've been in the same boat. Screaming into the void... I no longer consider myself a Republican. The republican party left me in 2008 with the McCain debacle, then it doubled down with Boehner and Romney... The GOP is done because they think the way to get to power is to compromise with these new democrats. FUCK THAT>

Anyway, I have a page on my site with some great links to some great folks. I don't always comment but I do get around to most of them daily. I'll be linking you at http://americanandproud.net/best_of_the_web/

Phil said...

Sucks to be us, don't it?
Neither of us has a representative government anymore. Rotten bastards.
Maybe it IS time to start a viable third party alternative finally.
Anyways, thanks for stopping by and I just added you to the list also.

Phil said...

Dang, that is one heck of a list BTW.
Thanks, I'll be all over that.

Phil said...

I have to admit, there are some things that are quick to induce my gag reflex, liver and brussel sprouts come to mind but that isn't something you are going to store long term anyway.

I'm of the thought that if you get hungry enough, you will eat beans and rice and like it.

I have been hungry (as in not just a short time) in my life before and I haven't forgotten what it's like.

There is going to be a steep learning curve coming some peoples way.

Thanks for swinging by and leaving your thoughts and thank you especially for adding me to your Blog roll!

hiswiserangel said...

Do you have room in your backyard for a Justice Shed a la Wirecutter? A place to store and lock away those things you want/need and add to them? Clean out the garage, and get you a little Justice Shed.

Phil said...

I'm in a rental and my landlord is so anal that if I don't mow the lawn often enough for his taste he will call and offer to come do it himself so that is kind of out right now. My wife has informed me we will be moving (again!) some time in the next few months anyway. I told her I have one demand only, a bigger garage.
This one is a small, one and a half car unit.

I will make something happen in the mean time, I can be......resourceful.

Anonymous said...

I would add an unfinished basement to the wish list;)

Busted, when I started out I used the 18 gallon tupperware type totes to hold my bags of of dry goods. They will hold 50-100 pounds each and they might work for you to stash under the bed or in a closet. Plus they can be moved fairly easily and are great multi-taskers.

Phil said...

Good idea.
They are stackable.
I can go up if not out.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you have shopped at Cash & Carry but there should be one in your area. You can get great buys on bulk food and stock up at a good price! No membership is needed to shop there and they don't track your shopping!
I'm not sure how many you are prepping for in your family but you might be able to use the #10 cans of soups, stews and veggies to get you started. Save your coffee can lids as they will top a #10 can if you don't use all of it in a meal. If your family likes biscuits or pancakes C&C has a great buy on Bisquick pancake or biscuit mix 25 pounds for about $20.00 each. Pancake mix a bit cheaper biscuits a bit more.
For fast and somewhat cheap water storage go to your local mega mart and buy those water jugs for those dispensers you see at offices. They are about $12.00 per 5 gallons already filled and sealed and just store in the dark closet or even the shop if it doesn't freeze it should be fine. You will find most 5 gallon camp jugs are about the same price empty. If you have a local Bottling company you might be able to purchase the 15/30 gallon syrup barrels used. With you looking to move I would stick with the 15 gallon type as they weigh about 120 pounds when filled. Not exactly light weight but movable to your next home and they have a very small footprint of 14 inches around and about 25 inches high. They also won't challenge your floor boards with a heavy weight if you don't get the basement. Toss a piece of plywood on top of them and you can make a work table that is at a good height.

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