Day: May 6, 2012

Notes from JWR:

A reminder that this is the last day of Safecastle’s big sale on Mountain House canned freeze dried foods with the maximum allowed 25% off, free shipping, and buyers club member incentives and rebates. The sale ends at midnight on May 6th. It is expected that Mountain House can prices will be going up very soon, so take advantage of this opportunity. — Today we present another entry for Round 40 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate …


Prepping: A Nickel, A Dime, a Dollar at a Time, by, T.J.

Many years ago, when I was a young teen, I started a hope chest. My grandmother had taught me about having a hope chest during the depression. She said that as a young girl, living in hard times, the only hope she had of having a dowry was her hope chest. So she embroidered on used pillow cases to make them seem nice, and even special. She learned to darn old tablecloths and repair small tears and holes, and she would put these in her hope chest. Small things really, and admittedly, not necessary, but things to make her future …


Letter Re: Don’t Be Blind-sided By a Secondary Event

Mr. Rawles, Bill W. recently wrote about some of the possible consequences of nuclear power plants when the SHTF. Although I agree that a minimum safe distance during an individual plant emergency is 50 rather than 20 miles, I have to wonder if distance is that important 4 – 6 weeks out during a continent-wide event. I work for an electric cooperative and live less than 25 miles north of the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Virginia. During last summer’s earthquake, an electrical engineer told me the plant had tripped offline. I could not find this out from any news outlet on …


Three Letters Re: A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Silver on eBay

Mr. Rawles, Gil G. had some very informative information and almost all of his instructions can be transferred to purchasing silver in a local coin shop. I have had nothing but a positive experience with buying “junk” silver on eBay. On two separate occasions, my order was missing some required coins. I had purchased $5 face value (FV) in dimes. In one order, I had only received 49 dimes. I sent an email to the seller and they promptly (within hours) refunded my account with the price of the dime. In another order, one of the 50 dimes was a …


Economics and Investing:

Spain’s poorest region suffers 32% unemployment. (Thanks to Pierre M. for the link.) People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 Each Child Born Today will Inherit $1.5M of National Debt, Study Shows Items from The Economatrix: Euro-area Unemployment at 15-year High as Slump Deepens Private-sector Hiring Slows In April, Stirs Concern April Turns Weak For Retailers Jobs Report Preview:  Traders Fear Evidence of a Downtrend


Odds ‘n Sods:

Lee M. mentioned this fascinating web page: Worldometers.    o o o An interesting blog on penny-pinching, gardening, and couponing: One Hundred Dollars a Month.    o o o The latest ultralight flying video from Ttabs, in eastern Washington: Pterodactyl Terror – Trike Flying – Elk. Eastern Washington seems to be greening up early, this year.    o o o CAN’T WE END ALL THE SHOUTING? Here is an editing tip that I learned from Patrice Lewis (of the excellent Rural Revolution blog): There is a handy tool available at ConvertCase.net to automagically convert those ALL UPPER CASE SHOUTS into …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …