1/9/11

Prepper Ponderings Jan. 9, 2011

No Post Yesterday

I was completely out of media contact yesterday.  We were rearranging our main room (it holds the living room, dining room and office area), and both the DirecTV and internet were unplugged.  I crawled under the house last night to run new DirecTV coaxial cable to the TV's new location.  I need to go today and move the Cat5 phone cable to plug in my computer in its new location.  I write this today from my wife's laptop using the wireless router.

From a prepping/self-reliance standpoint, I really enjoy being able to do things like run new wires, change out electrical outlets, and add phone plugs.  It saves money from not having to call in service to do it.  It also ensures I can work on and fix things during tough times.  A few years ago, I did not have these skills.  If I can do it, most anyone can.

From being unplugged from the media for a day, I missed the big story out of Arizona.


Arizona Killings

I woke up this morning to news of the horrific attack on the Arizona Congresswoman yesterday.  From what I have read, it looks like the killer is severely mentally deranged, and has a leftist anarchist viewpoint.  Of course, that has not stopped the finger pointing and blame at the right.  He used 32 33 round magazines in his Glock.  You can bet that this will be the fodder needed to try and push through a new version of the old 1993 "assault weapons" ban.  You can bet a new one will be much more in depth and won't have a sunset clause.  If you can do it without going into debt, might be a good time to pick up that AR15 or pistol that you've been looking at, or maybe some extra magazines.

All that being said, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.  I hope that justice is swift and sure for the killer.


Saving Money

How long have you had your current car insurance policy?  A couple years ago, we switched companies and saved about $200 a year.  Last week, we shopped around again and ended up switching back to our original company and saved another $300 a year.  That money will add to our debt reduction snowball.

Have you noticed over the past few months that the width of a roll of toilet paper has shrunk?  At least the brands we use have followed that.  It's been quite some time since a 1/2 gallon of ice cream became a quart and a half.  I noticed recently at Food Lion that a case of Coke products now has 20 cans instead of 24.  To the consumer who is not paying attention, prices have not gone up.  If you're paying attention, you know that you are paying the old price, but for a smaller quantity.  Pay attention to your per unit prices.

Is anyone running Net Flicks through their Wii?  I'm thinking of doing that and removing Starz from the DirecTV.  I think it will save about $36 a year, and give us more choice in our movie watching.


Post Apocalyptic Fiction

One of my favorite genres.  I just a few minutes ago I learned of "The Last Man" written by Mary Shelley (of Frankenstein fame) in 1826.  It is written as a first person account from the point of view of a survivor of a worldwide pandemic.  "The Last Man" is available for free e-reader download through Google Books.  It is also available as a free Kindle edition from Amazon.Should be interesting.


Shotgun

Still haven't been able to get my shotgun.  Just could not connect with the dealer yesterday.  Hopefully within the next few days we can make it happen.


Glenn Beck

You may know that Glenn Beck advertises Food Insurance.  Food Insurance is one of the many companies vying for your family's preparedness dollars.  I have no first hand knowledge of this particular company, but am interested to know if any of you have bought from them and what you think of their products. 

On his show Friday, Glenn mentioned that he had given all of his family members a 6-month supply of Food Insurance for Christmas.  He said some had called him in tears thanking him, and that others who think he is crazy have not said a peep.  He sent the 6-month supply to siblings, in-laws, cousins, everyone.  All I have to say is, "Hey Cousin Glenn!  You probably don't remember me, but our I'm your great aunt's second cousin's step-brother's first wife's niece's high school boyfriend's brother.  My Christmas present must have got lost in the mail, but no hard feelings.  Look forward to getting my Food Insurance!"

Think it will work?

4 comments:

  1. Even if one can't afford a whole new gun right now, some quality magazines for a common rifle system (AR, AK, FAL etc) might be worth the bucks. If the mags are stored halfway right they will be just fine whenever one is able to afford a rifle. And if you don't get said rifle they can still be traded or resold.

    Unless you're SURE that a given pistol will work for you I don't recommend buying pistol magazines for a gun you don't own.

    Steelheart

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  2. Good advice on the mags, Steelheart. A person can't go wrong with quality AR or AK mags. I think Glock mags would fall in the same catagory even if you don't ever plan to own one. Back in the AWB, "pre-ban" Glock mags were running $75-125. Of course, all this is assuming you have plenty of mags for what you already have, no debt, and your other stocks and stores are set.

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  3. We just signed up for Netflix (we get it through the Wii my mother bought my kids a few years ago for Christmas), and the first thing my husband said was, "Why don't we just cancel the Dish Network?" So we may do that. There is certainly plenty of stuff on Netflix to keep us entertained.

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  4. Thanks DodgeTruckMom! It's good to hear that you like it. I'll probably fiddle around with the Wii this coming weekend to get it connected to the internet.

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