Survival series

again it has happened. six people die in midwest snow storm from exposure

it doesnt need to happen. never ever. energy share could have prevented this from happening

okay sometimes i say the wrong thing and piss people off, but this is the 21st century and people should not freeze to death in their own homes...in my home i have a supplimental form of heat. i have a nice wood stove in my garage that does nicely to keep us warm during bad weather. power
outages aside, you can stay warm .. layering and clothes help. a friend of ours showed us a neat trick for her gas log system that allowed her to cook and heat her living room and it cost her less to do it than you might imagine. a simple steel box she had made fits over the burners of her gas ports, and it gets hot fast. she cooked meals on it, boiled water in less than 5 minutes with it and it heated the room up and vented the noxious fumes right up the chimney and all during a five day period where there was no power. she said it got so hot in the room she had to turn it off for 8 hours to get the room to cool down to 78 degrees and during the worst ice storm and blizzard weve had in over 100 years here. ..good one robin...

so staying warm is a factor. ive been cold , i know what cold is, believe me. in the service they sprayed us down with cold water as we stood outside in 40 degree temps. i ve swam in the north atlantic for hours in frigid temps and have been in water so cold that specific dangling bits
try to crawl back up inside the body to get warm .. this summer past, i was packed in ice to bring
my temperature back down..rockie mountain spotted fever is a bitch... so i know what cold is. ive also had frost bite a time or two but thawed out okay, now i have to watch it

my things

my things...

i have a few things, nothing major

a truck or two, a tractor in need of repair
a house that needs work, a life that needs less despair

what can i say. ive been a man for some time now
men accumulate things. too bad its all a waste.

ive got bed, some blankets that are warm
ive got shoes, and slippers, fleecy coats and hunting clothes

ive got a lot compared to some and not lot compared to others

ive got 3 things you cant buy
guess

survival series

Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves . in the past i've cautioned about being bullheaded about certain aspects of survival in these trying times. And yes, you can learn the basics easily
enough, but putting what you've learned to practical use can sometimes be frustrating. especially
if things go wrong. when i was in the service, we had a name for this phenomena mr. murphy
of murphy's law . if things can go wrong, invariably they will. . . nine times out of ten thing go right. the engine starts up , the process works. but that one time... that one instance. and occams razor
also fits into the equation. its usually the simplest thing that proves to be the truth.

today i had my share of mr. murphy. and its an expensive fix. the head gasket on my tractor
blew out. i need it for my garden this spring, so im looking at several $ to repair the parts. and then my truck battery was dead this morning... and now the weather is going south on us.

so i grin and bear it. as best i can.

i hope your day was better than mine... peace

Survival series

this is a good time to talk about a few things. first water is on my mind. fresh, clean
drinking water is essential to a healthy lifestyle. all to often here in north carolina
i have heard about wells being polluted with lead and arsenic in them. have your
water tested . usually if you live in an affected area, the health department or ag service can do it either for free or for a small fee. thats all for toinight have a great day tomorrow...peace

mary margaret and the happy hippy

she , happy go lucky, free spirited, wild.

him a hippy a silly stoned smile.

together they made a funny funky couple its true,

in time they found out the truth


maybe a baby , maybe a child

carefree and loving together and a new life

worked hard, every chance they had

the rent, the mortgage, the bills they paid

the layoff, and the foreclosure

the dream gone sour

you're never home, she said

you're always mad, he said

she said, he said, what do you say?

im gone, she said. gone far away.

she took the baby and left

he found shelter in the woods

and he lives on roots and rotted vegetables

gleaned from the grocery store dumpster


he grew weak and cold, his face aged and he became sick

she came back and found him there

im sorry i left you, she said in the rain

but his face was empty no more in pain

she cried and left and to this day, she doesnt smile anymore

poor mary margaret , she sits all alone, cold weary boned

thinking of her hippy man and the world moved on

haiti

haiti, wow what devastation. the millions in our taxes we send every year as foreign aid won't do a lot to help those poor folks. prayers help, at least thats my opinion , even though the violence will boil over from the gangs there very quickly. these gangs wield machetes and their violence has never solved any social problems only created more problems. the whole problem is far beyond my understanding , its history, haiti's history, none of its good. we left virginia a while ago when the haitian gangs started up in the tidewater area. we had a problem with the housing project behind the apartment where we lived. someone killed our cat and rocky was a good cat. they were trying to make a point. penny (my wife) kept me from taking matters into the wrong direction. i don't usually back down, but this time it was the best thing i did . really, there were more of them than there were of me... lesson learned

Survival series

okay so i write poetry too. so do a lot of my friends and family. i write a lot of stuff. 3 unpublished books a few short stories. so what. i read a lot and i write a lot more . depends on my mood
deanne i love ya kiddo.

shes a great writer. she has a dark side to her as i guess we all do. but she's more than family , shes a mommy a writer, a wife and a scholar. she wears a lot of hats and does a great job of it. her husband works a lot and shes got to take on a lot with her kids, my hats off to her

that being said, i can get back to the main point this evening.

generators are great. they provide needed electricity when the lights go out. years ago, we survived a hurricane and no power for 9 days. back then i didnt need a generator, but living out here in the middle of the wilderness you have to be consious of things, like water and keeping
frozen food cold and days without power can mean death for some folks.

i already gave a history of my summer past. i contracted rocky mountain spotted fever
and nearly died from it. i lost some weight, had to have surgery to fix a few problems from
the illness. and im still recovering. its a long slow process, and it being the winter has slowed me down only that much more .
a generator can provide for electricity for heat, for a radio, or recharging batteries if you use solar ... go green i say.. green brown black and tan.. camouflage is my favorite color..

buying a generator is expensive. set up is simple, but if you tie it in to your house, hire an electrician for two hours to get it set up properly, don't be a dummy like someone i know...

we got one on sale and with a 20 percent discount as it was the floor model... best buy..
it eats a gallon and a half of unleaded gas every eight hours so a five gallon gas can is good to
have. dont run it in your cars garage, carbon monoxide is a killer. i had to lock mine down, as its portable and there be thieves in my area who'll steal anything electrical or copper.. make sure it has oil in the oil case, dont want to screw it up ...

for d.

lonesome

loneliness cuts us
it eats away at us, bit by bit

they come they go
they come again, they go again

like the tide
in and back out
back in and out again
all on the winds of time

i lost people,
places, friends and loved ones
my mind is going too.

i used to be a young man
i felt things, i learned about things
now i'm an old man
i spend my time alone, with no place to go.
i sit on the bench thinking about time
no one to love me anymore

time takes from us. it is a thief
it lingers and steals our lives from us,
our souls , our hopes and dreams
time is the enemy
it doesn't give to us
it only takes away.

i was a young man once
a long time from now
now my beard is gray.
my vision was always to be happy
but time stole it away from me.
like everything else

please accept my apology

i been feeling out of sorts lately. my last blog i put out was mean spirited and uncalled for. i apologize ..

given the fact that its winter here now, the temperature outside here is 19 degrees in the shade , lets talk about ice. ice is the solidified form of frozen water. it occurs when the temperature falls to below 32 degrees, ice can be used to cool things off, it can be used on sprained ankles to reduce swelling , but just because it's ice doesnt make it safe to drink. cold temps dont kill germs microbes or viruses. heat is the only thing that will do that. me, i prefer steam distilled water . its been boiled and purified . water can be distilled by using a pressure cooker, a piece of sanitized garden hose and a jar of ice water ... you can figure it out easily enough.
boil it and hook the hose to the spout, run it through the icebath to condense it and you get distilled water. purify it using sand and ceramic and charcoal filters. and collect it in a clean jug.
i use old wine jugs i salvaged and got corks for. beats buying it at the store for 2 bucks a gallon

next lets take a moment to remember to prevent fires. January is a bad month for fires. faulty heaters, kerosene heaters and candles cause hundreds of fires every year. carbon monoxide is a killer too. get you a detector if you use heating oil, kerosene or a woodstove..

so good luck to you this year... next time... how to really make your wife happy... new sex secrets revealed

Survival series

greetings and happy new year

today is sunday and its cold out side this morning for the 3rd day of january 2010.

im sitting here trying to encompass a thought or two about survival. and ive come up with a fascinating thought. come the day the shit hits the fan, i won't give two rats asses about anyone but myself. sorry. its me . its not you. you might be a wonderful kind person , warm , giving and caring. but i won't let you stand in my way. i won't feel sorry for you, i won't take
pity or have mercy on you. thats my thought for the day. stay the hell out of my way