Year: 2012

My Gardening Journey, by Mr. Black Thumb Turned Green

Planting a garden is a sure way to find out about yourself.  Are you impatient and reckless?  Are you detail-oriented and methodical?  If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will when you till up some soil.  Three years ago at this time, I hadn’t ever planted a garden.  The last time I was even in a garden was when I was 10 years old at my grandma’s house many seasons ago.  I found out that year that I didn’t like gardening as my experience with it was mostly weeding.  Sure, I got to eat some carrots or turnips out …


Pickup Truck Campers as Bug Out Vehicles, by Wade on the Road

A few years ago, I found myself widowed after 36 years of marriage.   Seven months later, I buried my mother after she lost a long battle with colon cancer.   I was only 59 but my kids were gone and suddenly I had no family nearby and no one dependent on me.  It took a few months to mentally adjust, but during that time I began thinking about re-engaging my life and setting new goals….sort of a bucket list if you will.  Two of the things that were on that list were traveling around our country and retiring early if possible.  …


Letter Re: Renewing Your Google Street View Opt-Out

Jim: Regarding the post of the guy in California that Google can take a photo from the public street, and see his electric meter and objects in his open windows: the problem is not so much Google as his choice to live so close to a public road that anyone could do this.  I used Street View to “sorta” see my gate, and that is all you can see–just a gate. Google Map’s satellite photos show far more detail about the layout of my “spread”, though the detail is fairly fuzzy. – Andy G.


Economics and Investing:

B.B. sent the link to this at The Hill: House liberal budget has trillions more taxes, stimulus than Obama plan A whole raft of new articles over at one of my favorite investing news sites, ETF Daily: Does The SPDR Gold Trust Really Hold Physical Gold, Or Is It A Scam?   Physical Gold & Silver Dividends Offer Investors The Best of Both Worlds   Can Ben Bernanke Break The U.S. Dollar Rally? Why It Matters To The Markets…   Real Estate: The Housing Market’s Biggest Hurdle   Why The Natural Gas Act Is Just Another Washington Boondoggle?   Why …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Jim W. mentioned a new 12 gauge shotgun, from Turkey. Unfortunately, because they made it look so much like an AR, and hence cosmetically “non-sporting,” I suspect that it will be reclassified as a “Destructive Device”, and slapped with a $200 transfer tax. After all, they have the precedent of the Korean Daewoo USAS-12. That was done retroactively, because some uneducated bureaucrats don’t understand Latin phrases like “ex post facto.” (See: Clause 3 of Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution.) And, given the arbitrary and capricious nature of bureaucrats, don’t be surprised if they also implement an …



Pat’s Product Review: Skinner Rifle Sights

Many, many years ago, when I started wearing reading glasses, I found that I wasn’t seeing the sights on some of my handguns and rifles as clearly as I would have liked. With age, comes reading glasses for many of us – just a fact of life! Now, while I could see the sights on my rifles – without reading glasses – the sights were a bit fuzzy! With my reading glasses on, the sights were sharp, but the target was blurred. Grrrr!   I did find though, that rifles with peep sights were much easier to get a good …


Letter Re: Renewing Your Google Street View Opt-Out

Dear Editor: A few years ago I blocked out the views of my house from Google Street View.  However, I recently discovered that the Street View vehicle had taken updated pictures of my street, and my house was again visible, and in much greater detail!  I was actually able to read my electrical meter from Street View and view objects inside of my house by zooming in on windows that were open.  It also appears that the Street View cameras are much higher than the previous vehicle; based on the height of a pedestrian on my street, the cameras look …


Recipe of the Week:

Tennessee Guy’s Pancake Recipe Here is my favorite pancake recipe:   1 cup of sour cream   1 cup cottage cheese   1 tablespoon sugar   1 cup of flour   Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.   It is also good to put a heaping  1/2 cup of oatmeal in place of 1/2 cup of flour!   This recipe will give you mouth watering pancakes. Enjoy! Useful Recipe and Cooking Links: H.E. suggested the recipe collection at Everyday Food Storage. Tom in Iowa recommended the 19th Century Recipes Archives at Hearth and Home. …


Economics and Investing:

Spain Starts to Feel the Heat G.G. flagged this: Tungsten-Filled 1 Kilo Gold Bar Found in the UK Memo Reveals: Corzine Did Steal Investor Funds and Perjured Himself Before Congress. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Strapped for Cash: New East River Bridges Toll Proposal Goes After Everyone, Including Bicyclists. (A Hat tip to Marcia H. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Silver Now Outpacing Gold and Fed Frightened For the Long-Unemployed, Hiring Bias Rears its Head New Homes Sales Slip, Prices at Eight Month High


Odds ‘n Sods:

I was recently given a braided paracord belt, hand made by Ridgerunner Belts. I was impressed by the quality of the construction and its sturdiness. In my estimation it has a bit too much stretch to be useful for a pistol belt, but otherwise it is a very practical belt. (Pistol belts should be thick and stout, so that they don’t “give” vertically, when you draw your pistol.) I’ve found that one advantage of paracord belts is that you can insert the belt buckle toggle anywhere along their length, at about 1/4 inch intervals. This means that in addition to …



Note from JWR:

Today we present two more entries for Round 39 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 from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a …


Prepping on $10 a Week, by S.W. Michigan Fred

Have you seen the latest reality television show, “Doomsday Preppers”, from National Geographic?  I made a mistake a few years ago – after 20 years of successfully resisting the cries and moans of my children, I gave in and allowed cable television to be installed in my house. Should have known better, but as they say, that’s a whole ‘nother subject.  Now, every week, National Geographic brings us “Doomsday Preppers,” Animal Planet serves up “Meet The Preppers,” Discovery beams in another episode of “Doomsday Bunkers” and the new pay-to-view internet network GBTV fires off a round of “American Preppers.”  Can …


Prophetic Words and the Ultimate Prepper Must Have, by Charles D.

I have always been minded to prepare.  From an early age, I was a boy scout, trained to “always be prepared”.  When my wife and I were newly married and living in a large metropolitan area, I felt impressed to purchase a 72 hour emergency kit of MREs, emergency radio, first aid, and radiation poisoning pills.   In the event of a large catastrophe, a city is about the worst place to be, so I wanted to be as prepared as possible.  I recall the Katrina-fueled (no pun intended) gas shortage during 2007 in which the gas stations in the city …