Food Storage preps

I'm finally going to be getting some food storage preparations taken care of. I'll be storing two 5gal buckets, one of rice and one of beans. In each food-grade bucket will 3 separate sealed mylar bags with the respective rice or beans and a few oxygen absorbers to help the food last much longer. The benefit of keeping it in three separate sealed bags is that if I open one I don't compromise the longevity of everything all at once. I bought a cheap sealer from Harbor Freight and the mylar bags online.

And I know this sounds like something the crazy old hermit does, but I see it as a very positive and practical thing to do. Food price ARE rising and, this is a way to eat tomorrow at today's prices. Not only that but it's a peace of mind thing. If I were to lose my job tomorrow and not have money to buy food, I could easily and very happily live off the rice and beans that I eat on a regular basis anyway. And in the worst case scenario such as a natural disaster (most likely to be an earthquake around these parts) I'd be well prepared, which eliminates a lot of the fear of such a thing happening and the panic that one might have if they had NO food in their house and the grocery store was trashed.

Life Goal

They ask you when you're young what you would do if you had some enormous amount of money and they say that's supposed to help you determine what you might want to do for the rest of your life as a career.

I don't know that I've ever had a satisfactory answer for that which could be translated into a lifestyle before now. It might at one point have been to buy every material possession I could wish for, which is a sad thing because it means the person answering that might be doomed to be a consumer for the rest of their life, but thankfully my views have changed.

Today if I were given an enormous amount of money, basically if I were "set for life," I would buy a big property. Not necessarily a big house, but a big property that I would use to give myself a truer liberty than most people in our country have today by making that home into something that helps me take care of some basic human needs myself, rather than depend on society for those things and stay trapped in the cycle of having to work a full-time job in order to pay to survive in comfort and security for the rest of my life. I want to grow all the food I could ever need and most of what I could ever want. I want to harvest rainwater and shape the land to make the most efficient use of water to keep reliance on public water to a minimum. I want to install solar panels on my roof, not because Al Gore says I have to, but to cut down on my reliance on the power grid and keep my electricity bill to a minimum. I want to find peace in putting work into the land and not have to live every two weeks on my paycheck and worry about what a horrible situation I would be in if I lost my job tomorrow.

To work toward this life I'm going to seriously start saving money. I know it will take me a long time to save enough to buy my own place somewhere, but if I reach that point it will have been worth it.

Lifesaver Bottle Water Purification System

Not that we get a lot of water purity problems here in California, but this would have been REALLY useful for the people who had to suffer and wait 5 days for water when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. In fact, emergency hurricane situations and the persistent condition of dirty and diseased water in third-world areas is what inspired the creator of this system.

Anyway this is an awesome invention. The simplicity of use, capacity of use, and ability to filter any waterbourne virus or bacteria is really amazing. Just probably won't desalinate or remove chemicals.



The maker sets up options to purchase and send these things to donate to disaster victims as well.
Visit http://www.lifesaverusaonline.com/

Greening the Desert

Amazing video of how permaculture can actually de-salt and green even a desert.

I Wish I Owned Land

I really wish I owned land...
My backyard lawn does absolutely nothing but suck water and nutrients from the earth it sits on running up my water bill. I wish I could dig it all up and turn it into a beautiful living, self-sustaining, food-producing garden. It's been so long since I got my hands dirty and planted or took care of anything, but I'm renting and can't do a damn thing to the land.

Someday...

The H1N1 Swine Flu Scare: Oh Noes!

This thing is kinda ridiculous.
On one hand we've got the media people blowing it way out of proportion and many people buying right on into that and getting all freaked out while on the other hand some people are completely oblivious and not taking it seriously at all.

The statement made by the President that this is "cause for concern, but not panic," is a very good way to put it.

So far this thing hasn't been any more deadly than the normal seasonal flu. Obviously you're going to want to cover your mouth when you caught or sneeze, wash your hands regularly, but that stuff is all common sense for any flu.

I'm more worried about what the government and citizens might do in an overreaction than I am about the actual flu itself.

Blues

Well my employer today sent out an email to the company stating that we now have the option to
a) Take a pay cut
b) Take a sabbatical
c) Quit while you're behind

I'm definitely gonna opt for the first choice but this has got me a little concerned. I'm worried about the economy getting worse and I didn't expet it to start getting worse this soon. I'm not nearly as far along as I'd like to be towards being more self-sufficient and needing to rely less on money.

So far I've got a compost bin started but that's still going to take a while to really get going so I guess I'm going to probably just buy some compost to start me off with and start planting some food in my garden so I can reduce my food costs.

Just growing the little things we use in our cooking all the time will really help.
Garlic, onions, cilantro, peppers, maybe even potatoes and beans.

I'm probably going to consider cutting my cable if possible since all the shows I watch are streamed online now anyway.

This is all part of thinking like a prepper from a financial standpoint, I'm glad I've got the mindset and know what I need to do but I'm sorry that I'm not as far along toward making some real changes in my life as I'd like to be.

Oh well, hopefully the economy turns back around but honestly I don't think it will anytime soon.