Lessons From A Hard Disk Crash

In place of another feature article that I had planned for today, I’m posting a recap of a recent laptop computer problem, with some lessons learned.

Macintosh PlusTo start, I should mention that I’ve been a Macintosh user for my home computers since 1986. My first Mac was a Macintosh Plus, purchased just after I got off of active duty as an Intelligence Corps officer. This was before I was ever married.  I’ve owned a whole succession of improved Macs since then.  Since the turn of the century, most of those have been alloy-case MacBook laptops. I’ve always been fairly good about keeping backups, and that has saved my bacon, on several occasions. In recent years, I’ve used the Time Machine backup utility, with 1-Terabyte large form-factor hard drives in a Sabrent quick-change  desktop hard drive docking station. With two vertical slots, this docking station vaguely resembles a bread toaster, so I naturally nicknamed it “The Toaster.”Continue reading“Lessons From A Hard Disk Crash”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

Early in the week, we had an extended family outing at the Silverwood theme park, near Athol, Idaho.  That was a lot of fun and gave us our annual “fix” of rollercoaster rides.

I made some more progress on firewood felling, hauling crosscutting, spitting, and stacking. I did so much chainsawing that I ended up with some sore fingers. So I took a pause for a few days in any additional sawing and splitting.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee; The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Whereas thou has been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” – Isaiah 60:1-15 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 18, 2023

On August 18, 1896, at least according to lore, more than 200 outlaws from regional gangs gathered at Brown’s Hole (near the intersection of the borders of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah), where Butch Cassidy (aka Robert Leroy Parker, pictured) proposed to organize a Train Robbers’ Syndicate, which became familiarly known as the Wild Bunch.

August 18th is also the birthday of Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer, soldier, politician and public administrator that is best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Basics of Wound Care – Part 2, by D.C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Another aspect of wounds to consider is whether or not necrotic (dead) tissue is present. Necrotic tissue is “dead” or non-viable tissue that delays the progression of healing. There are a few types you may find. Eschar is black or brown and described as hard or leathery. It firmly attaches to the wound bed and obscures the depth of the wound. Gangrene is tissue decay secondary to an interruption of blood flow to a specific area of the body. This is most seen in the distal extremities, but it can affect muscles and internal organs. Another necrotic tissue type is hyperkeratosis, more commonly known as a callus. Observed to be either white or gray, it varies in texture from firm to soggy based on the moisture level of the periwound area. If a wound is covered is obscured by a thin, stringy or mucinous, clumpy layer—this is likely slough. Slough tends to be yellow in color, moist, and loosely attached to the wound.

There is a helpful classification system used to simplify wound bed coloration. Conveniently, it is dubbed the red-yellow-black system. If the area is red/pink, protect the wound. Granulation tissue should be present, so a slightly moist environment may be most helpful. If you see yellow, slough should be removed and drainage should be absorbed. Black tissue indicates thick eschar that needs to be debrided.Continue reading“Basics of Wound Care – Part 2, by D.C.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the slowdown in house construction. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

At Gold-Eagle.com: Only a Retail Gold Standard Could Dethrone the Dollar.

o  o  o

Is the world on the cusp of Bretton Woods 3.0, 52 years after Nixon closed the gold window?

Economy & Finance:

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: US Building Permits Stagnant In July As Mortgage Rates Top 7%.

o  o  o

An interesting piece about private credit: Post-SVB crisis, this debt market juggernaut is poised to grow even more.

o  o  o

Michael ‘The Big Short’ Burry Just Bet 90% of His Portfolio That the Stock Market Is About to Crash.

o  o  o

‘China’s Blackstone’ Misses Payments, Faces Government Scrutiny.

o  o  o

Saxo:  Global Market Quick Take: Asia – August 16, 2023.

o  o  o

Bond traders prepare to brave ‘painful’ yield curve bets as rate hikes slow.

o  o  o

World Bank: Pacific Economic Update – Recovering in the Midst of Uncertainty, August 2023.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 17, 2023

On August 17th, 1999, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck near İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people and leaving some 500,000 homeless.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Basics of Wound Care – Part 1, by D.C.

This article is intended to provide readers with a simple overview to wound care and a general understanding of related terms. I am a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant who spent time training in wound care as it relates to that specific healthcare discipline. Physical therapy’s role continues to expand when it comes to wound observation, treatment, and patient education. Much of this information will be valuable to “preppers” due to the assumed lack of easy access to medical care. It will hopefully give readers confidence in recognizing and treating certain common wound types and provide a better idea of what types of first aid dressings to purchase. Wounds improperly treated can be detrimental to one’s overall health – affecting all other systems within the body in addition to the first observed damage to the integumentary system.

Note: For this piece, burns will be considered separate from other wound types for clarity
of explanation.

The first thing to consider when observing the wound is the phase of healing. This will determine the most important steps to take. There are three overlapping phases. Immediately after a wound occurs, our bodies initiate the inflammatory phase, lasting roughly from day 1 to day 10. This stage is characterized by the five cardinal signs of inflammation (tumor/swelling, rubor/redness, calor/warmth, dolar/pain, and functio/loss of function). As these cardinal signs begin to subside, the body will enter the proliferative phase (from 3 to 21 days). Here, formation of new tissue, called granulation tissue, begins. Capillaries, or blood vessel endings, start to bud and fill the wound bed. They create a positive environment for the development of epithelial cells that will become the new epidermis, or outermost layer of skin. Finally, we have the maturation phase. This phase can last anywhere from 7 days after the injury to 2 years post-injury. The differentiation of cell types is observable through the formation of a scar, originally immature, raised, and red. Later, the scar will be distinguishable by a pale, flattened, pliable surface. A mature scar typically possess 75-80% of the strength seen in the original tissue. Keloid or hypertrophic scarring may also occur, meaning the skin remains raised due to excessive collagen lysis (formation).Continue reading“Basics of Wound Care – Part 1, by D.C.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, some news of yet another new coronavirus variant.

Scientists Demand Wearing Masks for New Covid Variant

In The Express: Scientists demand Britons wear face masks as new Covid variant spreads. A pericope:

“Dubbed BA.X, online virus trackers have found the virus in Denmark and Israel, although this has not yet been independently verified.

Some scientists are already calling for new measures to be introduced – but others say it is too early to determine whether the variant could lead to another pandemic.”

Most Have Been “Vaccinated” for Covid Via “Shedding”

Mike D. sent us this link: Study: Most Americans have been “vaccinated” for covid whether they wanted it or not due to “shedding”. Here is a quote:

“According to the experts at CU, aerosol transmission of antibodies represents “an entirely unrecognized mechanism by which passive immune protection may be communicated.” In other words, the fully jabbed are spilling the vial contents not only inside their own bodies by getting pricked but also to others who come near them simply through proximity.

“Whether antibody transfer mediates host protection will be a function of exposure, but it seems reasonable to suggest, all things being equal, that any amount of antibody transfer would prove useful to the recipient host,” the research team stated.”

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“History has shown that a government’s redistribution of shrinking wealth, in preference to a private sector’s creation of new sources of it, can prove more destructive than even the most deadly enemy.” – Victor Davis Hanson

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 16, 2023

August 16, 1888 was the birthday of British archaeological scholar and military strategist T.E. Lawrence—who was best known for his legendary activities in the Middle East during World War I, which earned him the nickname “Lawrence of Arabia”.

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On August 16th, 1841, President John Tyler vetoed a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States. In response, angry supporters of the bank gathered outside the White House and burned an effigy of Tyler.

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Ready Made Resources — one of our original advertisers and the first writing contest prize donor — has added an interesting new line of freeze-dried beef to their catalog. The company is called Whole Cow. Their specialty is certified vaccine-free beef, from Texas.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Garden Failed This Year, Now What?, by Hollyberry

Every gardener, worldwide, has glorious expectations of the upcoming gardening season. Many families rely on their gardens for daily food and for getting through winter with canning and preserving the summer harvest. Gardeners can control many area of the actual process of growing, like enriching soil and getting good seed stock. We can also control some pest/insect infestation. Controlling the weather, well that’s a whole different story. To some degree, you can mitigate adverse weather conditions. Planting after a last frost date, provided the full moon has occurred is a relatively safe bet. If you live in a northern climate, have some frost blankets on hand for those last-minute dips in temperatures. Even in a drought situation you can still water and save some crops, provided you have access to water. It’s very disheartening to watch all your hard work produce very little.

The last two years here in Maine were drought-stricken. Because of the drought issues, we set up our rain collection system in mid-May instead of the beginning of June. The past two years it took many storms to fill up 6 fifty-five gallon barrels. This year, one whopping, torrential storm filled all the barrels in 24 hours! I was elated! I keep a gardening journal that details weather, insect issues, successes, and failures. The two previous years we had almost no rain June and most of July with some very hot temperatures. This June was very different. We had 28 out of 30 days of rain. Not nice gentle showers that delicately water everything, I am talking pounding, two to three days of nonstop rain storms. Totals of 3-4 inches of rain per storm. Roads and streams flooding were a daily occurrence. Our dirt road took a beating. At times it looked like chocolate milk running down the sides of the road. Continue reading“The Garden Failed This Year, Now What?, by Hollyberry”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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Rising death toll makes Maui wildfires deadliest in modern US history.

o  o  o

Reader C.J. wrote to warn about GatewayAmmo.com.  According to C.J., in his case, this company has posted false contact information on their website, used trickery on payment methods, failed to deliver products or to issue a refund, and then tried “refundable insurance” trickery to scam even more money. This “company” has used several addresses in Kansas and California. Their terms of service mention El Paso County, Colorado — also apparently bogus. The Better Business Bureau has plenty of complaints about GatewayAmmo.  Ditto for a Reddit discussion of GatewayAmmo.  A word of warning, in general:  Never do business with any firearms-related company that initially looks like they have a credit card merchant account but then informs you that you need to make payment via the PayPal “family & friends” option, or Zelle, or Venmo.

And I’ve read similar complaints about MEGAAMMOSUPPLY.com.

o  o  o

Reader A.K. sent this: Examples of Lithium Battery Fires.

o  o  o

Well, a gazillion deaths late, but: Doctors Can Prescribe Ivermectin for COVID-19: FDA Lawyer.

o  o  o

Federal Court: Knives are ‘Arms’ and Protected by the Second Amendment.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their love of frivolities, their attempts to meet the world on it’s own ground, and give back the old love of the doctrines of the Cross and Christ. May free grace and dying love again be the music that refreshes the church and makes her heart exceeding glad.” – Charles Spurgeon