Odds ‘n Sods:

Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Fall: “The median price of a single-family home fell to $219,800 last month, a drop of 2.5 percent from the price in September 2005. That was the biggest year-over-year price decline in records going back nearly four decades.” I’ve been warning SurvivalBlog readers about this since I first started the blog, back in August of 2005. Buckle your seatbelts, folks! We are about to witness the part of the roller coaster ride when everyone screams. (So far all that we’ve heard have been a few nervous whimpers.)

   o o o

Vic at Safecastle mentioned to me that he was able to convince his contract storm shelter/fallout shelter builder to extend a special discount of 5% off the list price of any custom steel plate fallout shelter, storm shelter, or saferoom that is ordered before January 31, 2007. This sale price has never before been offered. Typically, this discount will be between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on the type and size of shelter needed. (The discount does not apply to shipping or installation fees.) The offer is good to anyone who contacts Vic and arranges for a shelter to be built and places the 50% deposit before February 1, 2007. For those that are not be familiar with their shelters, they are the best shelters available in the USA, dollar for dollar. They are engineered and built to exceed FEMA standards, and above or below ground, they will withstand winds in excess of 330 mph. Safecastle’s contract builder has installed more than 400 shelters all over the US over the last 13 years for corporations, government groups, homeowners, and associations. A few have been real-world tested by storms such as Hurricane Katrina and have come through with flying colors, saving lives in the process. Do you want peace of mind? Believe me, there is no better way of getting it than to build a serious storm/fallout shelter for your family. If you are interested, start by looking at Safecastle’s shelter web site. After looking through the site, go to the “Request a Quote” page and submit your no-obligation query. It is simply an initial correspondence that will allow then to start a dialog with you about what kind of shelter you really need.

   o o o

We are saddened to hear of the death of four firefighters in California. They died battling a large wildfire near Palm Springs. The fire was reportedly lit by an arsonist.