Monthly Archives: April 2015
A Lot of Preps are Like Fire Insurance
You may never need them – you hope you’ll never need them – but you buy them anyway just in case; because the outcome if you should need them and don’t have them is just so bleak.
I just finished watching “end Day” on Netflix. It made me think not so much about teotwawki, but the preps I have in place “just in case”. Now that I have been working toward resilience for quite some time now, the initial overreaction has passed. Point in case, I am more prepared for a pandemic than I am for an extended job loss. Which do you suppose is more likely?
Having said that, I do realize that, even though the former is far less likely, it is easier to prepare for because there are so many “one and done” things you can do to prepare for them; and unlike the latter, once the former strikes it may be too late to do anything more than what you have already done to mitigate the risk.
Back to my point, I did realize there are some things which may be necessary that I have not yet added to my preps. Two come to mind immediately: two wind up time keeping devices (don’t think it really matters whether they are watches or clocks), and goggles to accompany my air filter masks. The first we need so that we can coordinate with our peeps (family members, tribe, band, whatever) and know that someone either is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, or they’re not. The second is because some bugs could get in if someone sneezes and we catch it in the face. In the movie, one of the scenarios was a pandemic, and the rescue workers were wearing the hazmat suits and had eye protection. That’s when I asked myself “shouldn’t I have some eye protection as well as my filter masks”?
I wear glasses so I am going to get some prescription sports goggles to fit that bill. I suppose my eye protection that I use with the table saw over my glasses would work, but that is so cumbersome and inefficient, and since I can get a pair of sports goggles for $30…
In another scenario a husband and wife are not together when news of a catastrophe hits, one is at home and she starts loading up the minivan with water, food, etc, and the husband is out and about with their kid. I thought, “How will she know whether know whether to keep waiting or cut and run? Do they have a rendezvous point?” What if you do link up – or start out together – and then have to split up, how would we know when to worry, or bug out alone?
The wind up watches won’t really be necessary as long as there is electricity, since we can charge and use our phones. Even if we can no longer sync to a network so our time of day is accurate, we can still use the timer or stopwatch function (app) on our phones. The only two times I can think of where this would be undoable is an EMF or we are away from any way to recharge for a few days. Still, something to consider.
Fridge Rant Follow Up
Don’t know why this didn’t post earlier, but anyway…FYI
It is 4/16, and I just ate a piece of the lunch meat I mentioned in my previous post, which was bought on 4/4. It has been in my lunch box with no ice packs or anything for 2 ½ hours, it is pretty much room temp. It smells ok and tastes ok, except for the fact that room temp lunch meat is weird even if it is fresh, lunch meat should either be hot from the stove or cold from the fridge, but whatever. I have put the remaining meat back into a mini fridge and will finish it later. I will resume this rant in a few hours to update my health status.
For full disclosure I should note that I am a God fearin, Jesus believin man, so it is possible that I may be kept from getting sick eating the crap that others might get sick…
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Fridge Knowledge – Take 1 – Meat
It is time to end the ridiculousness. Every time I try to ascertain via the internet whether the leftovers in my fridge are still good, I get the same BS. With the exception of a microscopic number of websites, pretty much
all I can get is the party line from either the FDA or the USDA, and considering who these institutions (organizations?) actually are and the level of corruption and underhanded dealings they traffic in, I do not believe the recommendations.
It’s not just that I don’t believe them on principle, but I know for a fact based on repeated personal experience that the recommendations I am reading are hogwash. (I wanted to say horse sh1t, but didn’t want to be too vulgar). So I am here to pass on what I have gleaned from my daring. Let’s start with what got me on this rant in the first place tonight: the Easter ham.
So right now it is Tuesday, the 10th day from Easter Sunday. There is leftover ham in my fridge. I’m not sure if I should eat it or not, so I’m not going to at this stage of the game. It smells fine and looks fine, and there doesn’t appear to be any slimyness coating the outside. According to the experts, and 98% of the websites out there, it is good in the fridge for 3-4 days and then should be discarded no questions asked, the end. HOWEVER, I know for a fact that it will keep in my fridge for 7 days, no need to even question it. Point in case: I just ate some this past Sunday, and if I was going to get food poisoning from it I am more than confident the symptoms would have shown up by now. Of course I always perform the smell test before chowing down, just in case there is some anomaly going on. I’ve had food poisoning and it is something to be avoided at all costs. This isn’t the first – or the second – time I’ve played this “beyond three days in the fridge” form of Russian roulette. I’ve been doing it for years.
I also have some Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh turkey breast lunch meat in the fridge that is 11 days old, I ate 3 pieces today. Not sure how long it’ll last but you can bet I won’t be afraid to eat it tomorrow. My thinking is this: meat stinks when it is bad. I have had meat go bad in the fridge, I was a bachelor at one time. It also often times changes color when it starts going bad. On top of that, lunch meat in particular is loaded with preservatives in order to preserve profit margin potential for the heartless corporations that put it on the market.
So without further ado, I give you my personal experience based recommendations for these two meats in the fridge, and keep in mind I don’t think these time frames are pushing the envelope:
Cooked Holiday Ham that you can taste the salt in: 7 days
Store bought, big brand (not fresh from the deli) lunch meat: 12 days
Cooked bacon: I can’t even fathom a guess, but I know 2 weeks is nothing. I’ve cooked bacon after sitting in the fridge for two weeks uncooked. (Store bought, prepackaged, that is). I can’t speak on deli products because I’m not rich like that.
The real joke is that the other guys’ websites even parrot the recommendation it should be thrown it if it’s been in the freezer for 2-3 months. The freezer!! Hello???? Nothing goes bad in the freezer. It might loose some deliciousness, but it is safe to eat.
Critical Thinking Skills
13 lines of reason that form a foundation for critical thinking.
1) Does it / will it affect me (us)?
a. If not, then who freaking cares? Why let it bother you?
2) Do not resist something that has no power.
a. If you do:
1. you give it power – even if it is just marketing.
2.You have given it more attention than it ever would have received if you’d ignored it. You have essentially become its tool
b. Do not be misled
3) Does it increase the power of one person (or group) over another (involuntarily)?
4) Is it Constitutional?
5) Does it (will it) make people that agree on 90% of issues fight among themselves?
a.If so, the issue may exist solely for that purpose
b. see #1
6) Does it break a previous agreement?
7) What will it cost, and what is the ROI?
a. Who pays?
b. Who benefits – Cui bono?
8) Is my personal bias influencing my judgment on this?
9) What is the result – what are the consequences?
10) What happens if we do nothing or leave it alone?
11) Could it potentially lead to more government intrusion in the future, or intrusion into more areas?
12) Do I really need to have an opinion or get involved in this?
13) Make the opposing side’s argument for them.
a. Play devil’s advocate b. what are their supporting arguments? Are they valid – do they make sense to me?
SuburbanResilience 