A little humor (very little), what I'm reading, good news on health issues, other stuff.

Start off with a little bit of humor

Here are a few links to some blogs I've been reading today:

Toxic Patriotism

A discussion of the difference between toxic patriotism and nationalism.

Russian city removes “untruthful” plaque commemorating thousands of Poles murdered by Soviets

This is a virtually perfect example of the horrific result of the previous post's topic.

Authentic vs Phony Faith

Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

"There is a phony faith that claims to believe in Christ, but is only a fire insurance policy. Phony faith “believes” only to escape hell. It has no real desire for Christ. In fact, it would prefer if he did not come, so that we can have as much of this world’s pleasures as possible. This shows that a heart is not with Christ, but with the world."

2 minute audio clip from John Piper, with transcript.

Oh God, Make Us Angry!

The recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd demand that Christians be aflame with the Godly anger that opposes all things like racism and oppression and abuse and corruption. One caution I would add is that we not fall into the trap of worldly, unrighteous anger. James 1:19-20: Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

There were a lot of good articles today, but those were the cream of the crop.

Moving on to other stuff

Healthwise, things are looking up. I had a chemical stress test done recently, which showed some abnormalities. So, yesterday I went in for a heart catheterization. That went MUCH better than expected! Just some plaque build up, and no stent required. The cardiologist is confident that this can be controlled by diet, exercise, and perhaps a change in my cholesterol meds.

And, then to put icing on the cake, I got a call from the eye surgery clinic today. They can FINALLY get me in for the much needed cataract surgery on my right eye. About time, I'm almost blind in that eye by now. Next Tuesday they're going to do all the tests and measurements, with the surgery the following Monday. Hallelujah!!!

Did a little work on genealogy today, still processing that same obituary for Albertine Formhals Thornton. I should have been able to knock it out in a couple of hours at most, but I keep getting distracted, both by chasing down rabbit holes that it uncovered, as well as by external stuff. (Grrrr! Facebook Grrr!)

Oops, almost forgot. A HUGE shout-out to the Debster. That woman has been really going gang-busters with making sure we eat a lot more healthy and a lot less junk. I should have been all along, what with the diabetes and all, but I think this latest thing about my heart scared her more than she's letting on. Now that's she's helping me control the calorie input, now I have to really bear down on the whole exercise thing. I have to be honest, that is going to be very difficult. But I gotta do it.

Well, as a famous cartoon character said,

That's all for now, folks!

Ron out.

Weekly round-up

Well, another week is done. Can't say that I got much accomplished. But nevertheless, it has been interesting.

First, the garden. It has been growing like crazy!

The two tomato plants are as tall as I am, and just loaded with small green tomatoes. Our plants are so large and so loaded with fruit that they overwhelmed the trellis I had them tied to, shoving it almost completely flat. I had to prop it up to keep the plants off the ground. We should be harvesting quite a few fairly soon, now that the non-stop rain seems to have finally gone away, and the sun and the heat can start them ripening. We did manage to harvest two small ripe ones a couple days ago. The Debster swears they are the best-tasting tomatoes she has had since she was a child, helping her dad pick them from their garden. Personally, I don't like tomatoes, but the Debster is more "normal" than I, so I grow them for her. And, maybe next year if I put in more than two plants, I can try making my own spaghetti sauce and stuff, which I do like. But that is for next year's blogs. Moving on ---

Two more large cucumbers here, ready to harvest. You can barely see the second one hiding below the one on top. They are now sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for the Debster. Like the tomatoes, she loves cucumbers and I detest them. Yes, I know, I am weird!

Here are two of many small zucchini that we are watching. They have a ways to go yet, but hopefully the one plant will, in the long run, yield between 8 and 12 of them. I don't care for them raw, or even cooked in large chunks, but grated into zucchini bread and stews and stuff, they're OK.

The green pepper plant has one small fruit still growing. Going to be disappointed if that is the only one we get.  The romaine lettuce, rosemary, chives, and green onions are toast, smothered by the cukes and the zuchinni. The spinach is struggling as well. Some of the basil has fought its way through the jungle and continues to grow. 

Even if we don't get a ton of produce from this year's garden, I am "harvesting" a lot of lessons that I can apply next year. So, as in most things in life, even a "total failure", which this is not, can be a positive thing if I learn from my mistakes.

Our new puppy, Gidget, is now almost 15 weeks old. She has learned to scamper up the stairs like an old pro. Going back down them is still a bit of a problem, but she is getting better. She only falls on her nose every third step or so now. By next week I expect she'll be running down them like it was never an issue. So much fun raising a really young puppy. I haven't done this in many many years, and had forgotten how much fun it could be.

We are having vehicle problems. A few weeks ago, we had to put our 2000 S-10 Blazer in the shop; it was running horribly. No power, "service engine light", and most concerning, a bad knock in the engine. With 260,000 miles on that engine, I feared the worst. Yep, engine was shot. We thought about buying a used car, but any decent used car would cost anywhere from $4,500 on up. Which we don't have, and I refuse to go into debt. 

So I talked to Terry, the owner of the shop, who is a long-time friend of the family, about options. Rebuilding the original engine would have cost well over $2,500, and replacing it with even a rebuilt engine, not to mention a completely new one, would have cost as much as a good car. We decided to go with replacing the engine with a used one. This was done, to the tune of about $1,900 parts and labor, which we did have although it wiped out most of our savings. It did come with a 30 day warranty. The engine had 146,000 miles on it.

We got the Blazer back. For a few days, it seemed OK, other than a problem with a fuel evaporation sensor, which we got fixed. So, we took it to the park two weeks ago. Uh oh! Oil pressure bottomed out to zero! That was NOT good. Parked, let it cool a few minutes, checked the oil. It was quite low. I put oil in, and the pressure came back up. Still lower than normal, but acceptable for the moment.

As we were pulling into our driveway, the pressure went down to zero again, every time the engine dropped into idle speed. The next day, I nursed it the couple miles back to the shop. We still haven't got it back yet. Terry is making sounds about maybe having to replace the engine, and the place he got it from doesn't have a replacement on hand at the moment. I am not happy, and the Debster is semi-furious. Right now, we are forced into a wait-and-see-what-happens mode.

In addition to the car troubles, we got a letter from the IRS this week. Due to Obamacare issues, we owe them over $2,400, which must be paid in three weeks. No idea where we are going to get that money. A friend of the Debster's has offered us an interest-free personal loan with very generous repayment terms, but, like I said, I hate going into debt, especially to a very dear friend. Guess we will try to work out some kind of payment plan with the Feds.

I'm not going to get into details about my problems at work, but suffice it to say that I have to take a 3-day unpaid "vacation". My own fault, completely. But still, it comes at just the WRONG time! Losing that large of a chunk of pay is really an issue right now ...

On the positive side, the Debster's health keeps improving. Her legs are really doing well, and she is getting around pretty darned well. She still goes for exercise therapy twice a week, and it is doing wonders for her. You go, girl!

Did you all notice that photo in my blog a couple weeks ago, roasting hot dogs with my nephew? 

Do you see that gut on me? That is just plain disgusting! No wonder my back and feet hurt all the time, and that I am "pre-diabetic", and have high blood pressure, and have so many other issues. I have obviously known that I have gotten really fat, but I guess it didn't strike me as such a big issue (pun intended) until I saw this picture. I MUST do something about this, or it will eventually kill me. Literally.

So, a couple days ago, I started the Adkins diet. I did this once before, 12 or 13 years ago, and lost almost 90 pounds. Then, I did what so many others did. I went off the diet and resumed my old eating habits. I gained that 90 back, with plenty more to boot. Took time, but ... here I am, morbidly obese again. So, back to the diet, with even greater reason to stick to healthy eating habits and lifestyle.

And, beginning Tuesday, I am going to start a course of physical therapy at the place where the Debster goes. Even if my insurance doesn't cover it, it only costs $5 per session, 2 or 3 times per week. A therapist will evaluate me in detail, and set a course of supervised exercises and probably also diet. So though progress will be slow, it should be steady, and maybe a picture like this next year will show a much-different man. 

Well, that's enough for now. 

God bless you all!
Ron, and the Debster

Preparedness: Friendships, health, and wellness

Well, you never know when things will go straight south on you, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

For a few days, I had been feeling a little under the weather; not really sick, but not 100%, either. But, after my normal weekend off, I went to work Monday night like usual. About 4 am, I began really feeling crappy, but I assumed it was just from being tired, and readjusting to working all night after a couple nights off. Not unusual for Monday nights . But about 5 am, I spiked a fever and became delirious, according to the guys I was working with at that moment. They got my on-site supervisor to our location, and he got me out of the van and back to the office. My wife was called, and she had my brother-in-law lead her to the East St. Louis railroad yard where I work. (She had never been there; I had always discouraged that due to the really bad neighborhood surrounding it.) By that time, the railroad nurse had shown up, and determined that my fever was 104.4. She gave me a couple of Tylenol. They were going to call an ambulance for me, but my wife agreed to take me straight to the hospital.

We got to St. Anthony's Hospital about 7 am Tuesday, and my fever was down to 102, and an hour or so later was below 100. They did some fast talking and convinced me to spend the night, so I could get some IV antibiotics and fluids into me, and some rest. That one night turned into two nights, but they finally let me out yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. I had been pumped full of several different powerful antibiotics, plus several bags of saline. I was initially diagnosed as having pneumonia, but after a chest X-ray, a CT scan, and several blood tests, that was changed to a bad upper respiratory infection.

At home now, I am on orders to rest, and have two different oral antibiotics plus a third one via a nebulizer/inhalation machine.

One truly positive takeaway form this is that since the hospital is a strict no-smoking zone, I was put on a nicotine patch, and that seems to have done a great deal to help me with my smoking addiction. I went two and a half days smoke free. I can't say that I have stuck with that completely, but I can say that from two packs per day I am down to less than half a pack per day, and I foresee being able to quit completely in the near future.

It was good to have my wife by my side throughout; she only left my hospital room to go home and take care of our dogs and run errands; she was right there with me otherwise. What a wonderful woman I am blessed with!

My best friend was in and out several times. A good friend and a Godly man. And, a couple of other really good friends from way back showed up. Also Godly men. The interesting thing about friends like that is that although we hadn't seen each other in several years, just staying in touch via Facebook, when they made their (separate) appearances, it was like we had just seen each other the day before, without a trace of awkwardness. That is a hallmark of a true friendship.

This episode has really impressed upon me the importance of regaining and then maintaining the highest level of health and fitness possible. If I had been truly healthy and in good shape, I might have avoided this all completely, or at worst just been temporarily staggered by it. But because I had let my physical fitness level get so bad, this could have literally killed me if proper, prompt, and efficient treatment wasn't available. What would have happened had it occurred during a grid-down situation?

From painful personal first-had experience, I can tell you that a true "prepper" needs to work on his/her personal preps, meaning health and fitness levels, and solid friendships, with the "beans, bullets, and band-aids" as next-tier projects.

And, most importantly, one's "preps" need to address one's relationship with the Savior. Death can be right around the corner, and it would be the height of folly to be caught unprepared for THAT.

That's enough for now.

God bless!
Ron (and the Debster)

Health and weight loss

So many things going on, it's been hard to decide what to write about. With the onset of winter weather, the rioting and nonsense related to the Ferguson, MO mess in August died down a great deal. But I can't help wondering what will happen once warm weather returns. Might be an "interesting" spring & summer. 

The Debster is doing better and better. She is driving again, for the first time in almost a year. Hooray! And, as she becomes more and more mobile, her self-confidence and attitude about herself have started perking up. Triple-hooray!

My own issues remain. The leg has pretty much healed up, but the other problems still exist. The hematologist has had me undergoing a weekly phlebotomy (blood-draw) to get my hemoglobin count down. I normally don't have a problem with needle-sticks, but those things they use for drawing off entire units of blood aren't needles, they are more like sharpened hollow pencils. At least that's what it feels like going into the bend of my elbow.

The metformin that the doctor has me on to help control my blood sugar was rough on me, to begin with. The literature warned of the side effects, and they weren't kidding. For the first week or so, I was afraid to get more than a few steps away from the bathroom. Wow. Sure am glad that has faded away.

One positive is that because of the changes I've had to make to my diet, I have begun to lose weight. As of about 2 weeks ago, I had lost 6 pounds, and I'm pretty sure that I've lost a few more since then. I don't have a scale at home, though. Just going by the one in the doctor's office. I refuse to obsess over this. I know that I need to lose a LOT of weight. Really. A LOT. Like about one hundred thirty pounds, at least. One fifty wouldn't be out of bounds. But, thinking in terms of those kinds of numbers is guaranteed to only cause despair. So, my goal is to lose FIVE pounds. Once that is gone, then ANOTHER five pounds. It is much easier to think in those terms.

At this point, systematic exercise is difficult for me. I am so heavy that it doesn't take much at all to get me out of breath and my heart pounding. But I know that as the weight comes down, I'll be able to do a little more, and then yet a little more, and so on. And, as the exercise rate increases, so will the weight loss. That is a spiral that is the opposite of vicious! I will say, that even when I was young and fit, systematic exercise bored me to tears. I tended to keep fit by normal but strenuous physical activity, like hiking, wood-cutting, running up and down stairs instead of walking, playing sports, stuff like that. And I suspect the same will happen now. Just looking at a barbell makes me want to run the other way, but I have been eyeing my shovel and spade and garden space a lot lately. That kind of thing.

There were other things I wanted to talk about, like the garden I want to put in, my desire to get into woodworking using only hand-tools, getting ready for the fishing season, and so on. But this has gone on long enough; I'll save those for another time.

God Bless!
Ron (and the Debster)

Health updates and new stuff

Well, 2015 is off and running. At least no one close to me has died yet this year. Whew!

Some good news on the health front. My leg is healing quite nicely. The hard-core oral antibiotic regime of amoxicillin seems to have done the trick, making the short-term side-effects worth the hassle. There is still a little ways to go, but it is mostly healed up. Still have to use the mupirocin antibiotic ointment and keep it bandaged, but not for much longer.

The Debster's knees are coming along quite well. Her doctors and therapists are quite pleased with how far she has come so quickly this second time around. Won't be long and she'll be chasing me around with a rolling pin and/or frying pan, and probably catching me fairly easily. (I'm thinking I probably need to invest in a safety helmet soon.)

Not all the news was good, though. I have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic; my blood sugar numbers and other indicators are just a hair below full-blown diabetic levels. So my doc has me on meds, diet, and exercise, with a follow-up in a couple months with an endocrinologist.

Also have a pretty bad fungal infection in both feet. Doc thinks it may have contributed to the cellulitis, in fact. Podiatrist appointment later this week to begin work on that mess.

There are other issues as well, including weird hemoglobin and platelet levels. Hematologist appointment coming up for THAT. 

Geez. More doctor appointments now than in all of the last 10 years combined. The price of getting older and, more to the point, not taking care of myself to begin with. Let that be a lesson to ya!

Moving on: I've said this before, but I really mean it this time (ahem .. cough cough). Need to work on preparedness levels.

I've come to realize that I can think and talk all I want about "getting/being prepared", but if the Debster and I aren't on the same page, it's going to be tough sledding. My wife, simply put, does not think the way I do about this stuff. She was born and raised in the Great Nanny State of Illinois, and has the mindset that the government, or "somebody", or just "they", will take care of us if push comes to shove. Needless to say, that attitude makes me crazy. 

[An aside: why do people say "needless to say", and then say it anyway? If truly "needless", then don't say it; if has to be said, then don't say "needless". Nevertheless ...]

So I guess that before I get all involved with planning for long-term food storage, extensive gardening, saving money and resources, reducing dependency on others, and all that, I need to work on getting the Debster more willing to back me up. Not that she is fighting me on any of this. She is not. She simply doesn't understand the need for it, and has no real enthusiasm for it, nor much interest in active involvement. And her active participation is crucial to any serious advancement in these areas.

There are a lot of resources out there, both in print and on the Internet, about homesteading, rural living, home-farming and ranching, and the like. But so far, I haven't found much that would be of great help to us in urban preparedness. As I have mentioned before, the "bug-out" scenario, or even moving to a rural homestead, is pretty much a non-starter for us. Any prepping we do, at least for the foreseeable future, will involve a strictly urban environment, in a fairly small house on a very small city lot surrounded by homes, near major arterial roadways. Not the ideal "prepper"-type location, ya know?

Tip for saving money: don't spend loose change. Break a bill if you need to. At the end of each day, toss your loose change in a jar or can. You'd be surprised how quickly it adds up. Every so often, take a few minutes to count it. A pint-size mason jar holds $60 in loose mixed changed easily. And you know those larger prescription pill bottles, about 2" in diameter and about 2-1/2" tall? They will each hold $10 in loose change, with a little room left over. Let it pile up, and then once or twice a year, take it to the bank to exchange for folding money that you can put in your home safe or lock-box with the rest of your cash stash.

Well, that's enough for now. As always, thanks for reading!

God bless you all

Ron (& the Debster)

Our food supply is killing us

Couldn't help myself; I thought this was hilarious!

The Debster is doing great. She is transitioning from the walker to a cane, and has regained most of the flexibility in her new knee. Her pain level has diminished a great deal also.

Now, for the "meat" of this post:

Bluntly put, our food supply is killing us. This is from a Federal Government website:

While the American food supply is among the safest in the world, the Federal government estimates that there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually—the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year. And each year these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.

The US Dept. of Agriculture, responsible for inspection of meat and poultry, and the Food and Drug Administration, responsible for inspection of all other kinds of food, actually inspect only a tiny percent of the food that we buy.

Much of our food is produced on huge factory farms, and the number of traditional family farms dwindles more and more every year.

The vast majority of our seafood is imported from Asia. Tilapia, shrimp, catfish, and many other types are grown in huge fish farms all across Asia. These farms are NOT subject to the standards and limits applied to US suppliers, and often utilize known carcinogenic chemicals and additives. They are usually severely overcrowded and thoroughly unhygienic. 

Proposed laws and regulations attempting to stem the flow of tainted foods from foreign sources are usually gutted or even killed by legislators that are fearful to anger a trading "partner". 

Inside the US, large-scale food producers often go for years without seeing an inspector. And if a producer is determined to be producing tainted foods, there are few consequences. The worst that they will usually get is a sternly worded letter. 

What can you and I do to protect ourselves?

First and foremost, grow as much as possible for yourself. Even apartment dwellers can grow some foods using container gardening methods. Even a small yard usually has room for a garden, and techniques such as Square Foot Gardening can maximize output from a small garden.

(Stock photo from Google Images)

Even urban areas in the city will often allow for at least a few chickens, rabbits, and the like, although you would obviously want to check your local regulations. 

Very few people, even those on large rural homesteads, will be able to grow EVERYTHING they need, and will have to purchase some foods. As much as possible, buy from local farmers markets or even directly from the farmers. If you must buy from a supermarket, talk to the produce manager. Even large national chain-stores often use local suppliers for much of their produce and so forth.

Be picky about the meat and dairy products you buy. One good option is to patronize a local butcher. Make sure the meat he is selling is chemical- and antibiotic-free. You can save a great deal of money by buying a quarter or even half a cow. The up-front cost is obviously high, but the per-pound cost is significantly less than small packages. Perhaps splitting the purchase with a friend or few will enable you to exercise this great deal.

Make sure you follow safe handling practices. ALWAYS wash your fruit and produce, even if the package says "Pre-washed and ready to eat". 

Make sure your foods are thoroughly cooked, especially eggs, poultry, and pork.

Leftovers should be promptly packaged and refrigerated, not left sitting out for hours.

There is much that you can do to protect yourself from botulism, e. coli, listeriosis, salmonella, and many other types of food poisoning. Don't count on the government to do it for you, unless you actually enjoy playing Russian Roulette.

God bless,
Ron and Deb

Update on The Debster, and cousin Crazy George goes off-grid

I thought this was worth a chuckle ...

Well, the Debster has been home for a couple of days now, and life is settling back into some semblance of normalcy. She is still pretty limited in what she can do, but is improving daily. She gets up and down the stairs from the bedroom fairly well, and is doing her prescribed exercises with only a little bit of prodding from "the management of this torture chamber", meaning me. Her incision is healing nicely. She is normally a very slow healer, so that is VERY good news. And she has begun to cut back on the pain meds, also great news. One other thing that I really hope to see happen is that as the pain recedes and she gets some normal motion back, she will be able to work on strengthening herself all around. She has been in so much pain for so long, and hence virtually an invalid, that she has allowed her muscle strength to atrophy to an alarming extent. This is going to be a long process, but I hope that by the end of the year, after the other knee has been replaced, it will speed up quickly.

I received a letter the other day from my cousin Crazy George.

Hey Ronbo! [I'll explain that later]

Well, Patsy and I finally did it! We bought a spread near [name of town redacted]. You been yammerin about self-sufficiency and going off the grid for so long that we decided you just might be right.

 We have about 100 acres. It's kind of hilly, par for the course here in the Missouri Ozarks, too rocky to be great farmland. Most of it is wooded, but there are a couple of acres fairly level and clear, with a nice sized spring-fed crick running through it.

The nearest town is about 5 miles away, and our property is about a mile down a dirt road off the county road. The closest "neighbor" is about a mile away. There are NO utilities run out here at all.

This is a stock photo of a 1971 Airstream similar to George's.
He doesn't allow photos of his. Or of anything, for that matter. Kinda paranoid.

For the moment, we are living in our Airstream camper. We haven't decided what we are going to do about a permanent abode, but we are leaning towards building a log cabin. There is no shortage of building material, that's for sure!

There is a small outbuilding that hasn't fallen down yet. I'm going to do some repairs on it, and use it to house our garden tractor and our ATV. 

We had the crick tested, and the water has no chemical pollution. So I am going to put up a 500-gallon cistern, and a generator-powered pump from the crick to keep it filled. A good charcoal filtration system should take care of other remaining impurities. Eventually we will have to figure out a better water supply; that generator uses a lot of diesel fuel. Even adapting it to run on waste oil, and bio-diesel which I will be able to make myself, it is not economical enough to be a long-term solution.

I need to run into town and pick up some supplies, so I'll be mailing this from there. Give me a call. Although I don't have cell service out here, you can leave a message and I'll be able to get it when I get to town.

Hope to see you out here visiting soon.
George

Well, I have to go as well. Time to get the Debster up, get her breakfast, and finish the laundry. More to follow soon.

God bless!
Ron

I'm back to writing again!

I know, I know. It has been awhile. Sorry about that.

The Debster and I have both been dealing with health issues. Working full time plus taking care of the Debster, the house, and the animals has really eaten into my time.

After going to the trouble of staking out the edges of my garden, and renting a small tiller to get it ready, I wound up planting .... absolutely nothing. My feet, legs, and back have just been too sore to allow the labor involved in the garden. I have even been paying my nephew to keep the grass cut for me.

Thyroid disease finally claimed the life of one of our cats. We had two, named Cow and Bull. Brother and sister. Cow was black and white; her uncanny resemblance to the Holstein breed engendered her name, and Bull's name followed sort of logically. He is coal black. We buried Cow in the Debster's mother's back yard, where so many of the extended family pets are buried. She was a sweet thing, as cats go, and is sorely missed. 

One unforeseen result of Cow's death is the total transformation of Bull's temperament. He had always been a bit on the arrogant and stand-offish side, just a little abusive of his shy, retiring sister, and not very friendly to most people, even close family. But within a few days of Cow's death, Bull became an altogether different animal. He now sticks close to us, often sleeping with, or even on top of, me or Deb. He hangs out in the same room with us. He has even, recently, begun playing with Daisy. At least, I think he's playing. Or maybe she is driving him nuts and he is just too old to really put serious effort into tearing her apart. Whichever one it is, they both seem to be enjoying themselves.

The Debster had knee replacement surgery a few weeks ago. After a few days in the hospital and couple weeks at a rehab center, she came home Friday, on the Fourth. I don't know who was happiest to have her home. Deb, me, or the critters. Chelsea had been pacing the house two or three times a day, searching for her "Mommy", and then coming to me with a little whimper because she couldn't find her. So she is happy. Stempey and Daisy have their favorite lap to nap on again. Bull has his favorite belly to sleep on at night again. And I have my wife back! Until she is fully healed and ambulatory, my own work load will be a lot heavier, as I handle all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and so forth the next few weeks. But it sure is worth it! You just never know how much you'll miss someone until they are actually gone for awhile.

Well, I gotta go for now. Need to get a brunch put together for us, and the laundry has piled up a little. 

Until next time
God bless!

Ron

Saying hello to 2014, and a sad goodbye to a great cousin.

I haven't been posting much, obviously. Sorry about that, folks. I fully intend to be more consistent from now on.

We're starting off the new year with a sad note, unfortunately. My cousin, Vernon Buske of Alhambra, Illinois, passed away Wednesday afternoon (January 1) while taking a nap. He was 81 years young. Vern was a fabulous guy. Full of fun and stories and laughter. He will be sorely missed.

There are so many things that I want to accomplish this year.

1. Expand my garden as much as I can, considering the limited space and lack of exposure to full sun. I figure I can do better than last year, though. 

2. Completely re-vamp the basement storage room to allow for more food storage and better organization.

3. Finally finish that downstairs bedroom closet that the Debster has been after me to do.

4. Become more consistent in church attendance. It was easy to fall out of the habit, especially when I began working straight midnights. 

5. Work on losing weight and becoming healthier. With a fully-equipped YMCA just a quarter-mile from my house, this should be a slam-dunk, if I can just get off my lazy butt.

6. Do more of my own auto maintenance. I used to do almost all of it, but have gotten into the habit the last few years of taking them into the shop for even simple things like oil changes. Boo hiss!!

7. Last, but by no means least, be a better husband. My wife is the greatest treasure I have on earth, and I could, and should, do a better job of treating her that way. I'm not really a jerk, but there is always room for improvement!

There are a lot of other things floating around in my head, but no point in getting too ambitious. I know me too well to do that.

God bless you all!

"Prepping": fantasy vs reality

I have been reading and thinking a lot, lately, about "prepping". You know, the fad sweeping the country that has people buying guns and ammo in bulk, storing food and water in every possible nook and cranny, taking classes in herbal medicine, foraging for food, guerrilla warfare, seed-to-seed gardening, raising chickens and rabbits in back yards, and who-knows-what-all.

Some of what they are saying, I agree with whole-heartedly. Many years ago, I did my time as a Boy Scout, where the official motto is "Be Prepared" and where we were trained in all sorts of basic outdoor survival techniques and activities. (From what I understand, the Scouts these days are more urban-oriented, but that's OK, because that's where most kids live anyway, especially the ones that can benefit most from the program.)

A few years ago, severe storms knocked out power in a lot of areas around Saint Louis, and many homes were without electricity for up to 10 days. Though we lost our power, we were fortunate in that it was back on in just a few hours. But my mother-in-law's house was down for over a week; she stayed with us until things got back to normal. I remember the Great Blizzard in the early 80's, that had our area grid-locked for about a week. And we all know that it is proverbial around here, that just a hint of snow in the forecast will cause store shelves to be stripped of bread and milk almost instantaneously. Then there are the tornadoes that we are subject to every year. Other parts of the country have to deal, on a semi-regular basis, with floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, tornadoes, just about every natural disaster imaginable.

Some are predicting wide-spread economic meltdowns, even civil and/or guerrilla war in our streets and countryside. That, I think, though in theory possible, is a tad far-fetched. But, you never know, I guess.

So yes, it behooves everyone to think about, and prepare for, the almost-certain eventuality of being "off the grid" for at least a short period of time at least once or twice in their lives.

But what, exactly, will this REALLY entail? Realistically speaking, running off to the woods with your trusty "bug-out bag" and living off the land while the country goes to hell in a handbasket, is pure macho fantasy. I predict that if people actually attempt this, most if not all will come running home to mamma pretty quickly, if they survive. As much wild game and edible wild plants as there may be, most areas would be hunted out and picked clean in a relatively short time. 

Those that own acreage in remote areas, and have a decent cabin built and vegetable gardens and livestock will do better, of course. They actually would stand a good chance of making it through the emergency, provided they aren't over-run by starving mobs or government troops or hordes of zombies. Or some combination of the three. But even that is not a realistic possibility for the majority of people. There simply isn't enough land available for it, and most wouldn't know what to do if they had it anyway.

So, where do I stand on this? Well, let's consider where we are starting from. Dear wife and I are in our mid-50's. Neither of us is in top physical condition. Her knees are so arthritic that she can barely walk, and she has other medical conditions as well. I am overweight and have high blood pressure and a touch of arthritis myself. So the "bug-out-bag" scenario is a non-starter for us, even if such a thing were truly viable for anyone, which I doubt. We do not own any land out in the middle of nowhere, and would be hard-pressed, money-wise, to be able to buy any. So, unless some things change drastically, we are pretty much stuck with staying where we are and riding it out. "Bugging-in", I guess you could call it.

So what should she and I be doing to "Be Prepared"? The first order of business is to get healthier. That should be easier for me than for her; most of my physical problems stem from being overweight and smoking too much. Both of those conditions can be remedied, and I have begun to work on them, Trying to lose weight and cutting back on the smoking with the goal of eventually quitting completely. I can also begin a regime of exercise to build muscle and stamina.

I put in a small vegetable garden this past year, but it did not turn out well. Good news is that I learned a lot from my mistakes, and so next year I think it will be much more productive. Growing as much of our own food in the small space available will be a help. It is healthier than store-bought, would give us a big psychological boost, and would save us money that can go towards other things. Plus would give me, and maybe Dear Wife also, some much-needed exercise.

We also need to implement a systematic plan to store a variety of basic long-shelf-life foods, toiletries, first-aid supplies, candles, all sorts of things that would be needed if the grid does go down. We also need to think about the possible need for self- and home-defense. More on these things next time.

God bless you,

Ron

PS: Heard another good joke:

Wife tells her husband, "Stop and buy a carton of milk. If they have avocados, buy six."
When he arrived home, his wife asked why he bought six cartons of milk.
He replied,

...wait for it ...

...wait for it...


"They had avocados."