The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

Even as obesity rates are going up, Americans are downsizing.  The problem with growing waistlines is not always appetite control. Look at the price of food. A pound of apples, which is basically two servings, costs more than a bag of generic potato chips. A pound of cheap hot dogs to go with those chips cost more than a decent grade of chicken breasts, and it probably should cost more. The food industry has learned to wet our appetites for high fat and sugar foods, addictive substances that are killers. And they can produce non food cheaper and store it longer (shelf life of cheetos? maybe 15 years?) than fresh wholesome food.

Solutions include:  have a garden, limit meat consumption, hunt and fish, kick the trash foods to the curb and eat basic things like oatmeal, rice, and grains. Not surprisingly, the food industry has made prepackaged foods so easy and affordable, many have forgotten or never learned to work with basic foods.

But what caught my eye this morning is an article on voluntary minimization of the general American public.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Beginning-End-Suburban-atlantic-1156625650.html?x=0

According to this article, electric (power) consumption has reached a peak per capita and is on its way down. Much of that trend is due to the down sizing of homes. Not even counting all the people who now share tight living quarters with family members, live in tents, or are homeless, the author of this article states that new homes in 2010 are 130 sq feet smaller than new homes built in 2007.  130 isn't much smaller, but its a start. Its like one 12 x 11 room not added on.

People are driving fewer miles. This will eventually translate into fewer cars bought, and fewer tires.
It all adds up. Fewer oil changes.
As the population slows in growth, (presuming can we halt the massive influx of illegal immigration) and the trend to downsizing continues, we can not expect our economy to grow. The current unrecognized continuation of the recession that began in 2007 has helped in a small way with the illegal immigration problem. Some folks are returning to their homes south of the border cause there's no work here. Some, a few.

One guy noted on a comments thread to a similar story: they can't expect us to buy the junk we used to make when we no longer have the jobs to make it.

In other words, outsourced, out thought, and outlasted.

The stove is totally installed and tested now. The 90 degree angle pipe and the damper work great. I admit I was a little skeptical, so tested it before cold weather set in, just in case I had to go straight up through the ceiling, cutting into the insulation and roof. All is well.

The shelving is made with cinder blocks which have been sealed with a glaze and brown tint. I didn't like the gray blocks with the terracotta, and black. Way too many colors going on.

The acrylic glaze was $2 for a gallon at the Habitat for Humanity Thrift store. The brown tint was acrylic paint I already had on hand. Mix 4 parts glaze to one part brown paint. Stir well, glaze away.

I love having the shelving behind the stove. Not only will it absorb heat, protect the panelling, but decorate and organize all the nice things a person uses with a wood stove. A large coffee pot is coming soon.

The outside is not as pretty. My rain cap was a little close to the pipe. I raised it with more spark arrestor material, and used heat tempered tape to seal the interfaces, then painted it with black stove paint.
The support for the pipe is a copper wire, securely attached to the roof, circling the cemented pipe and anchoring it horizontally as well.


I had some difficulty installing all of this outside work because the ground slopes and the ladder was scaring me. I did get it level enough to finish the job.

Not too bad. Cold front coming in the end of this week. I have firewood ready to go.

I watch Your Money on CNN every Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Today they started the program, then changed to the 9/11 Coverage of the President Landing and shaking hands.

Its almost like the terrorists gave us a Holy Day. Americans feel solidarity, a oneness we forget on other days. A very sad time for all.

But, on the money front, a recent poll showed that 82% of Americans believe we are still in the same recession. You will hear very few "experts" say this. They claim we are in danger of a second recession, the first one having ended in 2009.

But, if our economy is based on consumer's spending, up to 70% they claim, and consumers believe we are still in the same recession, wouldn't this be the time to trot out the old adage: Perception is Reality?

Now, I don't always agree with that adage. Things can look totally true and obvious, and be 100% wrong. I'm reminded of the time I shot a pile of mulch around a tree, Sure it was a brown rabbit. I need my glasses.

One of the guests on the show noted that we have 1 Million less jobs now than before that last similes of 800 million was spent. Not the desired outcome. Funny how they expect small businesses to hire when the current employees aren't even busy. No customers!

The approval rating for congress stands at 14%. This is bad news for you all, congress people take note. All this fighting and B Essing when our country needs intelligence is not doing you any favors.

Lets see, they claim that durable goods ( the big stuff like refrigerators and appliances) sold very well a few months ago. Well, dugh. If my refrigerator breaks, doncha think I'm going to replace it? Eventually durable goods do need replacing, we can put it off only so long.

That sounded like a rant getting started. But, I'm going to say kudoos to Ken Rodoff, Professor at Harvard University for saying what we all believe, its the same recession.
 

Netflix is a great way to get some seriously good entertainment while maintaining solvency. I mean, with cable and satelite prices going through the roof, its a wonder Dish or Direct TV can stay in business. If you're not one to go out on the town or rent seat space at a huge ball stadium, then its not so awfully bad. Its all about perspective.

Today I watched the 2011 release of Wrecked, an hour and a half production which opens with a mangled guy regaining conciousness after the vehicle he's in has crashed into a very deep ravine.

In the back seat is a dead fellow, out in the woods is another body. We watch as the man takes inventory of his injuries and the contents of the destroyed car. Its almost slow motion and we start to wonder if there will be any speaking parts in this movie.

It rains, he is trapped, gets wet, fights with the car interior to free himself. This is very realistic. Gradually he begins to remember stuff, has hallucinations and without spoiling the plot, gets out of the car to traverse the wilderness. A dog, mountain lion, woman, river and gun are all utilized as the story unfolds.

The ending is of course a twist, and much better than I feared it would be. We end up liking our guy, and he does make it out alive.
I don't want to divulge much more, but its worth watching.

The one main take away, or moral of the story, is don't judge a book by its cover. No matter how many times we hear that old old old proverb, its very hard to remember in times like these.

Sometimes a person Has to judge a book by its cover. Waiting to see whats inside may be too late.

Today I bought a 10 pound bag of white rice at Walmart for $5.78. According to this website http://survivalacres.com/information/shelflife.html
white rice will keep for 8-10 years whereas brown will only keep 6. This is presuming 70 degrees and properly packaged and sealed.

There's a large chart there, and I was happy to find oatmeal will last 30 years. That's my staple food for breakfast. A person can munch on it raw too. Just be sure to drink enough water or the fiber will actually draw water from your intestines and you'll be very sad and constipated.

Anyways, checking on the chart, and purchasing regular dried goods like flour, salt, rice and beans, oatmeal and such, a long term survival pantry isn't hard to imagine.

I have white food quality buckets. Each one is being filled with basic assorted dried foods and should last one person a month. With canned goods, and wilderness skills of hunting and gathering, this should be a good plan.

One three pound container of oats says its 30 -1/2 cup servings. That with coffee, maybe some canned fruit would be breakfast.

Hot homemade bread, and "Survival Soup" would make good lunches. Bread requires flour and salt. Leavening can be obtained from natural yeast or baking soda. Survival soup is supper leftovers in a broth, with garden and wild harvest, sort of Native American Style. Please, no bugs slime or sludge. Like Dave on Dual Survival, not into that crap.

Suppers would be rice and beans, pasta and corn, or potatoes and beans. Potatoes are dehydrated , like instant mashed. I added some spices and for sure some salt to that.

Really not too hard. I figure how much I could eat, or how many servings a container claims it has and go from there.

Bought my stove pipes today. I'm getting all set up, braced for the winds we get in these parts and will post photos soon.

After publishing my Hobo Water Filter system video to YouTube, a guy suggested using Charcoal and sand as well, or in place of chlorine. I like to go as natural as possible, so did a google research on this. The best link I found was:

http://www.helium.com/items/1423236-how-to-purify-water-in-the-wilderness

Indeed, charcoal is very effective in purification. However, it did say chemicals are sometimes needed against viruses. The article recommended rain water as one of the purest sources of water.

If I intended much of this run off to be drinkable, I would definitely totally disinfect the buckets and add a screen to the top to prevent anything from falling in. One morning I found a dead mouse which had probably fallen in and drowned.

All these systems and knowledge is great to learn now while we still have Internet and resources. I use this information too in my new books.

At first, I thought, how do I get charcoal. In a campfire! Easy as that. Of course, if you are on the move, like a long distance backpacking trip, using a tiny bottle of chlorine is perfect.