Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

That’s supposedly the peak wind gust from TS Hermine recorded at the airport as reported by the mullet wrapper. Bull shit! 39 MPH winds don’t even raise my eyebrow…

At one point last night, my truck looked like it was in a wind tunnel test. Rain was flying off the roof in a stream that cleared the tailgate. Later, as I “slept” in the escape pod, sustained gusts roared through the trees and rocked that camper good. I would say those gusts hit at least 60 MPH. Sheesh, it’s gusting to 35 right now and the storm has pretty much passed.

The escape pod held up good, except for the cheesy little awning that blew off. I left it on because for some dumb reason I actually listened to local weather dink “Dead Wrong Dale” who said we’d only see 40 MPH wind gusts. Silly me. Anyways, the tarp held up great, and I stayed dry.

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

I used cheap caulk when I rebuilt the roof on the ‘pod, and it came back to bite me in the ass. Had a pretty good leak during a hard rain overnight. BUT! As you can see, I had a tarp which covers the length of the camper, and a container full of bungee cords to secure it with. All part of my preps.

Threw on my poncho this morning and covered the ‘pod in the rain. It was a trick, getting that tarp up and over (got paracord?) by myself, but I managed. Made a bridle out of paracord and attached it to two of the tie down grommets on the tarp, then tied the rest of the cord to it. Gave it the heave-ho over the roof, then pulled the tarp over with ease.

The whole works will get a good test tonight and tomorrow, as Tropical Storm Hermine will brush us to the south tonight and into tomorrow. We’ll get a lot of rain, it looks like. Shouldn’t have much wind. What wind we get should be mostly blocked by my workshop.

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Glad I got the escape pod, with air conditioner. I could live with the heat, but I sleep much better in the A/C. Had I a hammock, I’d be good to go…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Yep. 92 degrees in the house. Got the ceiling fans going and the windows all open. “Modern” home construction is definitely not suited to sub-tropical climates… I’m wishing I had this house right about now! That pretty much resembles my workshop, which I’m camped out in today. Got the windows and doors all open, and it’s a lot more comfortable in there than in the house. I might just roll out the awning on the escape pod and break out a camp chair. That, some tunes, and a cold brew sounds mighty fine.

On the plus side, the kids are outside playing in the garden hose. No Disney Channel on the boob toob. Imagine that…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Yep. 92 degrees in the house. Got the ceiling fans going and the windows all open. “Modern” home construction is definitely not suited to sub-tropical climates… I’m wishing I had this house right about now! That pretty much resembles my workshop, which I’m camped out in today. Got the windows and doors all open, and it’s a lot more comfortable in there than in the house. I might just roll out the awning on the escape pod and break out a camp chair. That, some tunes, and a cold brew sounds mighty fine.

On the plus side, the kids are outside playing in the garden hose. No Disney Channel on the boob toob. Imagine that…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Those are two words that go hand in hand….

I was thinking about this whole air conditioner thing, and something struck me.

The Environmental “Protection” Agency has ruled my A/C system is obsolete due to the refrigerant used. Okay, but ask yourself something. Does it make good “environmental” sense to rip out my entire A/C system when a new compressor would have it working again? How much dread CO2 will be generated in the manufacture, shipping, removal, and installation of a new system? Is it “green” to consume energy in the recycling of my old system when, aside from the fried compressor, it was perfectly serviceable? Or maybe it’ll wind up just another piece of landfill. That’s “green” alright. And one more question, what will become of the “offending” freon that’s currently in my system?

This whole thing reeks to high heaven of lobbying scum and back room deals. I can’t believe that replacing an entire A/C system will in any way offset any damage that might be caused by 20 pounds of freon. And I can surely bet that any payback via lower electricity consumption would take years to realize. Probably a decade, at which time that system would then be obsolete and need replacement due to back room deals at the EPA…

Think about it from this angle: our economy is a Ponzi scheme. It requires ever increasing financial input to stay afloat (do your “patriotic” duty and spend spend spend!). What better way to achieve that increase than by planned obsolescence? Hell, it’s worked wonders for Microsoft, so why not use it as a tool to prop up the Ponzi scheme! We’ll just change the rules around every so often, which forces folks to spend more money. Money that is ultimately funneled into government coffers and bankers’ profits. Money that the “investor” in the Ponzi scheme will never see again.

“Oh Mayberry, take off the tin foil hat…” Well I don’t think there’s any “theory” in this conspiracy, it’s pretty clear what’s going on. Government, corporations, and banks have thrown in together to bleed us dry. Corporations and banks tell the government what rules and laws they want, and government implements them. Does anyone here have any misconceptions about the real purpose of Obammycare? Why, it’s to suck even more blood from our wilting carcasses in order to feed the insurance industry and those shiny new government bureaucracies! It’s plain to see if you just follow the money. Watch it leave your paycheck or bank account and land with the IRS (who will be enforcing Obammycare) or the insurance company, ne’er to return.

The government/corporate conspirators are sucking every last dime away from us, and thereby enslaving us. Well, I say “us”, but I should be saying “you”, because I’ll have none of it. “You” being the people who still believe our government is anything more than a fat, bloated parasite with its’ fangs buried into your flesh. “You” who believe it could ever be anything else.

It’s about time for anthropologists to divide homo sapiens into the two separate and distinct species which we have become: homo facundia (productive), and homo parasītus (parasite). Hey, they classify species in the plant and animal world based on a whole lot less difference…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Dooooon’t listen to me! I ain’t got a clue what the hell I’m talkin’ about!

The outside A/C unit decided to quit working. I’ll bet it’s 10 years to the day that it was put in! Those damned outside units don’t live past 10 years down here in the salty air, and I’ll be damned if ours didn’t crap out. Not that anyone bearing a striking resemblance to ME hasn’t been warning anyone else in this house…

So now it’s 82 degrees in here, and it’s been rising about a degree an hour. Sure hope the other half has money to pay the A/C guy, because I sure as hell don’t. Nor do I want to. I could give a shit less, I’ll just plug in the pop up and sleep in there.

On a side note, I looked up the house next door which is for sale. They’re asking $89,000. And it’s been on the market for 67 days… We paid $87,000 for our house in 2001. Based on the price per square foot, ours would be listed at $94,000 right now. That’s down from a peak of $136,000 three years ago. When I wanted to sell…

But dooooon’t listen to me, I’m a male retard. I’m dumber than a box of shit, the TV says so. I got no clue what I’m talking about! I surely can’t recognize housing bubbles, or impending crashes of shit that’s unsustainable! I’m just a male idiot who thinks with his pecker!

Well we’ll see how the “she genius” gets us out of this one, because I threw the ball in her court.

Me, I’m glad the A/C shit the bed. That electricity meter isn’t spinning at 5,000 RPM, which means I’m not getting hosed on the electric bill. Man survived for eons without freakin’ air conditioning and 1,600 square foot drywalled prison cells, so I reckon I will too. HA! This is a good thing in my opinion, because those three spoiled rotten females I’m stuck living with will get a taste of humble pie…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

Haven’t had too much to write about lately (and I’ve been busy). I was off yesterday, so I went to visit a friend I haven’t seen in a while.

He owns his own business. It’s doing ok, but he was griping about taxes, and looking for ways to minimize what Uncle Sugar could steal from him, even if that meant spending money on things he didn’t necessarily need. Good for him sez I!

An interesting thing about hanging around my friend’s shop is that a lot of other folks stop by throughout the day, and it’s interesting to hear what they’re talking about. I don’t push any subjects, just let the conversation flow where it will. When politics or the economy came up, the thoughts expressed were pretty universal; it sucks, it’s getting worse, hope it gets better. The “dislike” for Obammy was evident.

I’ve found, pretty much across the board in my little corner of the world, that those who work for a living are basically good people. They share many of the beliefs, values, and ideas that I hold dear. And the only thing holding them back from reaching their full potential, and happiness in life is government, excessive taxation specifically. But for some reason, these folks still hold on to the notion that some miracle will occur in November, and that same government which now stands in their way will magically transform, and everything will be unicorns and lollipops again.

These folks are intelligent. All they need is a little push in the right direction to open up their eyes. Just the gentlest of nudges would open up their minds to the fact that there is no salvation in government, and maintaining the status quo is a suicidal pursuit. Because I value my friendship, I don’t want to come right out and make that push. It’s something folks have to figure out for themselves. All I can or will do is drop a hint here, or make a subtle comment there. The rest is up to them.

I write here on this blog hoping my friends will find it, and all the others that are about Freedom and Liberty. I have certainly found many new friends here, and for that I am thankful. It’s folks like us who will be there when the time to rebuild after the collapse comes. The more, the merrier…

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

14 hour day today. I’m beat, but in a good way. Got me some saltwater intake, and a bit of sunburn…

San Antonio Bay near Port O’Connor.

Here’s something ya don’t see every day; an entire dredging outfit strung out in tow. A second tow just as long was behind this one. This was in “the ditch”, or the intracoastal waterway just south of POC.

Closer view of the head of the tow. Chug-a-lug, they were making five knots if they were lucky. I was cruisin’ at 25 when I snapped these…

Lots of barge traffic up there. Made for some interesting maneuvering at times, especially when two double wide tows were passing each other from opposite directions in the ditch. I had the jack plate almost all the way up, and was skimming across calf deep water on the side of the ditch to get by a double tow and another boat coming up the channel.

Sure was nice to check out a new patch of water, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Variety is the spice of life!

Go to the source: Keep It Simple Survival

It was my favorite kind of day, when work is play! In spite of some scattered rain showers, the day was perfect. Calm winds, calm waters, (mostly) sunshine…

Even caught a rainbow on my high qwarity made in China Wal Mart camera!

Couldn’t ask for a prettier day on the water. Just wish it could have lasted longer…

Tomorrow I go to Port O’Connor for another day on the boat. I should go buy a lotto ticket…