Life in the 12th Century, by Edge

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The following article may offend some miserable gits with no sense of humour. If you are a miserable git, then you have been warned. Don’t come whining to me.

To envisage a life after electricity, we must look back to a time without it. Most people can think as far back as the American Civil War for a lifestyle but that is modern history with Morse Code (1844), Railways (1804) and Steam Ships (1787) and not where we need to look at all. We need to go right back.

In the 12th century there was a rural population of around 2-3 million in an area of England of over 50,000 square miles and just as in today’s world, most people were in towns and villages.
Imagine the only man-made sound you can hear outside is the church bell.
Your world is at most a 20 mile radius and you never go out of it in your life time just like your father and his father before him. Your sons and daughters are going nowhere as well.

You wash hands and face every morning as well as before and after meals. You wash your feet once a week and maybe have one or two baths a year.

There is no deodorant nor toothpaste let alone mouthwash. I think this is how Country Dancing started with everyone trying to get upwind of each other in a polite manner.Continue reading“Life in the 12th Century, by Edge”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”.  Today, we look at Shortwave Broadcasting.

The Transmitters of Freedom (Shortwave Broadcasting)

Over at Off Grid Ham: The Transmitters of Freedom Should Be Turned Back On! Here is a quote:

“The internet affords little privacy, anonymity, or security. IP addresses can be tracked. It’s fairly easy to know who is accessing what content. Plus, the internet depends on a complex system of routers, servers, and data circuits to connect them. Oppressive governments can and do control what information is accessible within their borders and severely punish anyone who crosses the line.

Shortwave broadcasts have no borders.

The success of the shortwave broadcasts of yesteryear was due to the fact that radio has no borders and defeats attempts at censorship. No one can know for sure who is listening because a received signal cannot be tracked to any individual. Somebody, somewhere can tell when and where you do anything on the internet. But if you had a radio on, who would know?”

Takedown M4s for USAF Fighter Pilots

I found this link over at the Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report blog: USAF Fighter Pilots Are Now Flying With These Converted M4 Rifles In Their Survival Kits

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.

Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;

Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:7-26 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 18, 2019

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I just heard that novelist Herman Wouk passed away on May17th, at age 103. His novels–some still in print–will certainly outlive him.  From his obituary:  “In 1951, Wouk released his most celebrated novel, The Caine Mutiny. It sold slowly at first but eventually topped best-seller lists and won a Pulitzer.”

—

On May 18th, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, causing a massive avalanche and killing 57 people. Ash from the volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota.

Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens, which is 96 miles south of Seattle, began on March 16. A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded four days later and then, on March 23-24, there were 174 different recorded tremors. The first eruption occurred on March 27, when a 250-foot wide vent opened up on top of the mountain. Ash was blasted 10,000 feet in the air, some of which came down nearly 300 miles away in Spokane. The ash caused static electricity and lightning bolts.

Throughout April, scientists watched a bulge on the north side of Mount St. Helens grow larger and larger. Finally, on May 18 at 8:32 a.m., a sudden 5.1-magnitude earthquake and eruption rocked the mountain. The north side of the peak rippled and blasted out ash at 650 miles per hour. A cloud of ash, rocks, gas and glacial ice roared down the side of the mountain at 100 mph. Fourteen miles of the Toutle River were buried up to 150 feet deep in the debris. Magma, at 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, flowed for miles. The 24-megaton blast demolished a 230-square-mile area around the mountain.

—

May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel B. Wesson (of Smith & Wesson fame.)

Bullet Selection, by S.R.

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When looking at centerfire rifle cartridges for hunting, I’ve often been puzzled by several that have acronym designations implying some particular capability. You’ll see this on cartridges/bullets designed for small varmints, those designed for large dangerous game and everything in between. An example is the Hornady GMX (which will be explained later). As if the letters weren’t bad enough, you’ll often find terms on ammo boxes such as Interlock, AccuBond, Partition, Ballistic Tip, Power Point, etc. So what do the letters and terms mean to a person wanting to buy hunting cartridges or bullets for reloading?

A bullet, of course, is the projectile part of a cartridge. A centerfire cartridge has a bullet, case, powder and primer. I am not an expert on this topic. I’ve never been employed by a firearms-related industry (it would have been great, though). I’m just a guy who tried to learn what letters behind bullet identifications mean. That, in turn, led to learning about bullet design and characteristics.Continue reading“Bullet Selection, by S.R.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, 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 the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I’ve been fairly busy writing a nonfiction book for a publisher in England. Per my contract, that manuscript must be completed by mid-September. It is scheduled for publication in the summer of 2020. I’ll post more details on that book in the weeks to come.

We finally had a change of weather. We’d had three weeks without rain, and had resorted to running sprinklers on our gardens. But thankfully we got good downpours of rain on Thursday and Friday. That provided relief for our pastures and saplings!  Speaking of saplings, this past week we transplanted more than a dozen volunteer fir saplings from places where we don’t desire shade (e.g. south of our garden) to places where we do want shade. This sort of planning requires visualizing the shade pattern of 20 to 70 foot trees versus the currently puny 3 to 6 foot-tall saplings. This is long term stewardship planning for our ranch that will span generations. Hopefully we’ll have grandchildren living here that will appreciate our foresight and our efforts.

As I recently mentioned in the Economics & Investing column, I decided to transition from HK91 rifles to AR-10 rifles, for our family’s primary rifle battery. Because original pre-ban German-made HK rifles and accessories have become so valuable, it is not tenable to keep them at the core of our family’s battery. Selling just one minty pre-ban HK91 will now generate $3,000+. This rifle switch makes a lot of sense. After liquidating three HKs, 400+ box magazines, 10 drum magazines, bipods, claw mounts, magazine loaders & unloaders, spare parts kits, et cetera, I will end up with at least six AR-10s with 30+ magazines each, beau coup spare parts, premium optics–such as Trijicon ACOG tritium scopes, and some cash left over. This transition will be a gradual process.

I’ve already started selling some HK magazines and my Hensoldt scopes with HK claw mounts. The scopes  are all going to a local friend who declared: “I’ll take all of them, sight unseen.”  I started out by listing just the magazines, at The FALFiles Marketplace. (I should mention that I’ve also set aside 20 new-in-wrapper magazines for each rifle, to sell only with the rifles, or after the rifles sell.)

The aforementioned rifle cross-leveling exercise adds credence to my position that investing in tangibles is logical when living in a world dominated by inflating currencies. Silver and guns are my primary investments. Various “balances” and “shares” and electronic “coins” can be taxed, or legislated, or blipped away, but most tangibles cannot. It is our guns that are our premier tangible assets. They are useful tools that can even be used in defense of our ownership thereof. (No other investment vehicle–except perhaps edged weapons– can boast that claim.) It would require force of arms to pry these guns from our grasp. I may be old-fashioned and a veritable investing dinosaur, but we’ll never see our nest egg fully wiped out by some crash, glitch, or effrontery of government.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”.  Today, we focus on the post-flood food crisis in the Corn Belt.

Food Crisis in the Corn Belt

G.P.  sent this: A Food Crisis Is Here: Trouble For Farmers In The Corn Belt. JWR’s Comment: As soon as we saw the headlines about the floods, we could see this coming.,The Law of Supply and Demand cannot be escaped.  Retail grain and beef prices will surely rise. So stock up!  Here is a sbippet:

“Corn planting is already behind on schedule. The weather in the United States has made farming difficult as of late, while bankruptcies soar and flooding continues. As the weather in four of the top six states for corn production couples with the skyrocketing number of bankruptcies of American farmers, we could be on the precipice of a food crisis. And to make matters worse, none of the weather is expected to improve, putting even more financial pressure on the already stressed farmers according to the latest Crop Progress report is issued Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to an AccuWeather analysis.”

Middle of U.S. Awaits Severe Weather

Middle of country on high alert for potentially deadly severe weather outbreak.

Trudeau Has ‘Secret Plan’ on ‘Sweeping Gun Ban’

Meanwhile, in Canada:  Trudeau Has ‘Secret Plan’ on ‘Sweeping Gun Ban,’ MP Clement Says
Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.

 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.

As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.” – Psalm 58 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 17, 2019

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On this day in 1769, George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. He brought a package of non-importation resolutions, drafted by George Mason (pictured), before the Virginia House of Burgesses. This initiated a chain of events that led to Britain’s House of Lords demanding that men involved in the extra-legal Massachusetts convention of towns be tried in England. Britain’s plan backfired and created an American identity where before there had been none.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 82 ends on May 31st, 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.

Our Garden Produce Roadside Stand, by R.J.

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For the past 10 years, my wife and I have been selling our produce out of a small (4 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 5 feet high) open-faced vegetable stand which is located on our property next to a public road. The stand contains a variety of produce, priced to sell. It is unmanned, thereby relying on human honesty to pay the asking price. Our efforts have been most rewarding in more ways then just giving us a little extra spending money. We are eating better, have more meaning in life, are healthier, and often have discussions with our customers about “what in the world is going on these days”.

This article, I will share:

  • Garden and orchard size and layout.
  • We grow what we eat and what sells.
  • Steps in seed starting to transplanting to harvesting.
  • What it takes to improve the soil each year.
  • Challenges, mistakes, and do-overs.
  • Why we continue putting up a garden every year
Garden and orchard size and layout:

Located on a westerly 10% downhill grade meant that the vegetable garden needed to be built on raised beds facing North and South. This enabled exposure to the maximum sunlight while allowing for most of the beds to be relatively level. Fifteen beds are 5 ft wide and 60 ft long with a 3 ft walkway between each bed. To keep deer out of the garden, it is enclosed in a 7 ft high fence, 140 ft by 80 ft. To prevent rabbits from getting under the fence, it is buried one foot deep. Not all rows are perfectly level; therefore, some mild terracing is required for growing areas to retain water evenly.

The orchard is located just south of the garden, and contains 31 trees, each 15 ft apart. It is enclosed in a 7 ft high fenced area, 175 ft by 80 ft. Seven dwarf trees were planted in 1998, and 24 were added in 2006. The orchard consists of twenty four apple trees, six pears, and one plum.Continue reading“Our Garden Produce Roadside Stand, by R.J.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at HK91 rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

We’ll start with this at Gold-Eagle: Tariffs Terror: Stocks Crash And Gold Price Soars

o  o  o

The Only Gold The US Will Show: The “Working Vault” At West Point

Economy & Finance:

At Wolf Street: QE Party Over, Bank of Japan Stealth-Tapers Further

o  o  o

After Shares Collapse, Mini Bank-Run Begins as UK Lender Counts Cost of Broken Trust

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots, who gave up their name and left their country forever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon the face of the earth. Take these formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances in which no weakling could survive; place them so that they acquire skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman and the rider. Then, finally, put a fine temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual and you have the modern White Boer.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 16, 2019

On this day in 1868, the U.S. Senate votes against impeaching President Andrew Johnson and acquits him of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

In February 1868, the House of Representatives charged Johnson with 11 articles of impeachment for vague “high crimes and misdemeanors”. (For comparison, in 1998, President Bill Clinton was charged with two articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice during an investigation into his inappropriate sexual behavior in the White House Oval Office. In 1974, Nixon faced three charges for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.) The main issue in Johnson’s trial was his staunch resistance to implementing Congress’ Civil War Reconstruction policies. The War Department was the federal agency responsible for carrying out Reconstruction programs in the war-ravaged southern states, and when Johnson fired the agency’s head, Edwin Stanton, Congress retaliated with calls for his impeachment.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 82 ends on May 31st, 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.

Property Scouting in the Redoubt, by Pickled Prepper

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Like many others SurivivalBlog readers, I hope to one day move to the American Redoubt. In the summer of 2018, my wife and I took the first step: an eight-day trip to Montana and Idaho to look at properties, get a feel for the places in which we were interested, and to meet people. Our goal was not to buy a house or property this trip, but to start what may be a multi-year process that ensures that when we pull the trigger we hit our target rather than making a decision we come to regret. We also want to make sure a couple of Easterners like ourselves would be comfortable out there.

This is a report on that first trip, along with observations and lessons learned. Some of this may be obvious, but we hope it will help someone planning a similar trip next year.

Some Background

I’ve been a survivalist since my daughter was born some 23 years ago. We’ve been in a multi-family prepper group, we have a retreat in the mountains several hours away, and we have a good supply of beans, bullets and band aids. My wife is an avid gardener and very well organized. We’ve checked most of the prepper boxes, but while we live beyond the sidewalks on a couple of fenced acres with a well and septic, we’ve never lived on our retreat. Having the kids out of house and getting close to a potential early retirement presents an opportunity to address that.Continue reading“Property Scouting in the Redoubt, by Pickled Prepper”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”.  Today, we focus on furniture with secret compartments for guns–such as the Bedbunker Gun Vault.

2012 Gun Ban is Keeping Maduro in Power

A Closer Look At The 2012 Gun Ban That’s Helping Maduro Stay In Power. (Thanks to Gregg P. for the link.)

John Wick: Parabellum

The third John Wick film (“Chapter 3 – Parabellum”) opens Friday, May 17th. I only consider the noteworthy because of the extensive live fire training that Keanu Reeves did with the folks at Taran Tactical. That level of commitment to realistic competition guns and realistic gun handling is a rarity in Hollywood!

$30,000 in Fines After Not Mowing Lawn

Reader DSV sent this one: Homeowner faces $30K in fines, foreclosure after not mowing lawn. The article begins:

“A Dunedin [Florida] man faces sky-high fines and possible foreclosure on his home after code enforcement cited him for overgrown grass in his yard.

Jim Ficken returned home last summer to find the grass in his yard grew more than 10 inches tall. Ficken spent most of his time in South Carolina helping take care for his late mother’s estate.

Ficken says the man who mowed his yard unexpectedly died and the grass hadn’t been cut.

City code enforcement officers noticed and started fining Ficken $500 a day, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pinellas County. The fines mounted to nearly $30,000 before the city notified Ficken of the problem, according to Ficken.”

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