Day: November 23, 2009

Letter Re: Preparing Your Spouse

Mr. Rawles,Several years ago I took a serious fall and was out of commission for several months. My husband had to completely take over the household responsibilities during that time. Fortunately, he was working at home and I was available to give him direction and information. Had I not been, he would have really struggled to figure out just how I got things done. As he was buttoning up the house in preparation for winter this year it occurred to me that, if he were suddenly unavailable, I too would be at a loss to remember all of the details …


Three Letters Re: Seeking Advice on Safe Food Storage, and Recommended Sources

Jim: For anyone in Northeastern Ohio, look into taking advantage of the resources in and around Amish country. Lehman’s Hardware in Kidron, Ohio is an excellent place to find non-electric household and farm equipment. They do sell some bulk grains to be used with their wide variety of grain mills, but I would also suggest looking at Swiss Village Bulk Foods in Sugarcreek, Ohio. They run sales weekly, and there are often coupons and additional discounts offered in local newspapers. There are many other similar resources in the area, but these two stores are the largest, and the ones I …


Three Letters Re: The Fabric of Our Lives

James: Thanks to Jeanan for raising a very important but easily overlooked point. It’s amazing how we take for granted having drawers full of clothes! Curiously, though, I do know folks who know how to spin thread and weave cloth. Some of the ladies in a Dark Age re-enactment group that I’m a member of perform demonstrations of these very skills. I have seen them work with raw wool, spin thread, and demonstrate weaving on period looms. Granted that the Dark Ages are a little too primitive (no spinning wheels, for example) but it does point to a partial solution, …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

WHO Confirms D225G In Norway And Ukraine Sharp Rise In England’s Swine Flu Deaths 1918 RBD D225G In Lung Cases In Ukraine and Norway UK: Surge In Pediatric Swine Flu Cases May Cause Bed Shortage All Fatal Ukraine Cases Have RBD D225G RBD Change D225G in Ukraine Lungs Raises Concerns Swine Flu Kills Six Adults In New Jersey Radical Measures Can’t Stop Swine Flu D225G Lung Tropism Driving H1N1 False Negatives?


Economics and Investing:

More than a dozen readers mentioned this London Telegraph article: Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for ‘global collapse’. Gee, folks must be catching on… Beepaw sent this: Bloomberg news: U.S. Housing Recovery Delayed to 2010 as Market Wanes. BeePaw’s comment: “It is remarkable that the [same] pundits who failed to see the crisis at all are now able to pinpoint its recovery. I don’t believe the markets will recover in 2010. Or 2011. Or 2012.” Peter D, suggested the latest installment of some speculative fiction from John Galt: “I Have Been to the Fields of Gettysburg” (The Day …


Odds ‘n Sods:

My old friend Fred the Valmet-meister has been helping me for the last few months in restoring several “All-American Five” 1940s vintage AM and Shortwave table radios. These have included a RCA, a Crosley, a Motorola and two Pilot brand radios. Fred has installed all new replacement capacitors, checked the tubes, cleaned the tuners, and realigned the radios. The end result has been EMP-proof dual band radios that can operate on both AC and DC power. As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, these are ideal for anyone that has an alternative power system where they have a 110-to-120 volt VDC battery …