Preparation

Or lack thereof.

Surely some of these people had the foresight to stock up on gasoline BEFORE the storm hit? Maybe fill the car's tank as well?

Apparently not.

I mean, really, if you have the containers it's not like you can't use it in your car over the next week or so if the storm had fizzled, so why not fill 'em up before hand?

5 gallons of gasoline will let you run yer gennie enough to keep your home above freezing and keep your freezer cold for about 4 days if you are smart with most generators. 

Surely they could have purchased enough for that a day or two ahead of the storm? 

Skills:

I can hit a man sized target with a rifle at 500 yds 9 out of 10 times,

I can hit a man sized target at 25 yards 100% of the time....10 rounds , in under 10 seconds (including reload) with a 1911.

I can design (and build) a building, a bridge,a table or a bench or a drainage system.

I can operate nearly any piece of construction equipment in common use for the past 50 years, and repair them too, given the parts.

I can weld steel and aluminum, fab nearly anything out of metal, am a fair framing carpenter, can do tile and carpet. I am a decent plumber. I can fix nearly any mechanical device..... I have been known to repair COB electronics under a microscope.

I am a decent cook, I can handle a knife like a ginsu chef.... I can skin and butcher nearly any animal in North America. 

Yet I can't sew worth a damn. I can barely thread the needle 10% of the time. And let us not discuss my stitching.

Strange that.

The difference

Between Democrats and Republicans.

Honor and integrity.

You should read

THIS.

To many of you, this is no surprise. I've been waiting for the furor to die down and real facts to come out.

We now have them. More facts may be forthcoming, but the ones we already know are damning.

There are rumors that may be true that are even worse (scroll down), but until they become facts we can't be sure.

Hopefully, soon, this ineffective man (I won't call him a leader) will be gone soon.

More here

We shall see

If New York, New Jersey, and all the other blue states being trashed by this large (but not terribly intense) storm can do better than New Orleans at recovery in the aftermath.

While I sincerely hope that the damage is minimal, and no one is hurt, I wonder how they will recover. 

They all have HUGE "entitlement" populations, their populations all vote for Democrats, and they are all sheep like when it comes to government.

While they are somewhat better at self determination than their N'awlins southern neighbors, they are still democrats, and statist.

 

Free automatic weapons

At the Nappanee gunshow...

So, since the restaurant next door has all you can eat bacon for $8.95, we went.

Sadly, the Free Automatics were already gone...or it may have been a rumor put out by the Brady folks.

We did meet up with Og and entourage at the restaurant, and had an excellent breakfast while we discussed the shape of the world and how things were going and such....

Either way, after a large(ish) (>12,000?) number of bacon laden calories covered with a significant amount of potatoes and eggs covered with heaps of cholesterol laden (real sausage) gravy, (I  stopped after 4 trips to the buffet, when I couldn't swallow any more and by them people were staring anyway) we entered the gunshow.

Sadly, there were very few bargains (unless you wanted shotgun barrels).

I had taken the 788 with me looking for a scope that would fit the look-though rings, but could not find anyone who had the same idea of the value of used scopes vs (nearly worthless) FRN's. So I didn't purchase a scope. I did get a great deal on some 45-70 bullets ($60/1000-- 405 grain hard cast flat point) and some ammo cases. I am told by people who know more than I that the prices on the more collectible firearms weren't great.


I was saddened that we missed out on the free automatic weapons giveaway, but it was an entertaining Saturday morning. If you like used firearms, and collectible rifles and pistols, you should check out the Nappanee Indiana gunshow, held spring and fall only.

Sometimes, I want to move to Texas

Especially when they tell the UN to butt out.

That is the kind of politician I can vote for.

So voter ID isn't such a big deal...

If, of course yer the Prez.

(we all know how he was gonna vote anyway).

Strange that they protest that it is an undue burden for everyone else though, innit? (Even though you need an ID to function in today's society)

Just passing it along:

You should read this. The source appears to be InfoWars, so take it for what it is worth.

Having said that, it is not outside the realm of possibility.

Decide on the veracity, and plan accordingly.

I shall.

Perhaps not too bad an idea:

Maybe skip that coffee from the coffeehouse for a few days, or perhaps take a lunch instead of going out, or cut your beer dosage in half for a few evenings or whatever, and instead send the money HERE.

I'm gonna write a check as soon as I get home. Maybe not for as much as I'd like to, but if enough of us give a few bucks, it'll add up. No doubt a few bucks from each of us will help things, especially down the road.

Think about it.

Watching the political ads

on the Chicago area television stations, I must say that it is apparent that the people who the Democrats are pandering to must have an IQ somewhere between warm bread and newly hatched parakeets.

Not that anyone in the Chicago political scene is really worth voting for, but anyone who believes the half truths and misrepresentations in the ads must be an idiot or a union member or a lifelong democrat(but I repeat myself), not to mention the fact that the ad writers apparently believe that in order for the ad to be effective to the intended recipient the bullet points must be repeated at least three times shows that the candidates and the folks who write the ads think that the average voter is stupid and slow or retarded.

Were I in that voting block, I'd feel insulted, but after seeing the ads, I'm not sure the folks who they are aimed at have the capacity to understand WHY they should feel so.

83 years ago

Was the beginning of the stock market crash.

While significant for the fact that it brought about the Great Depression and the bank runs which led which spread to affect those smart enough or who had not enough money to dabble in the highly leveraged stock market....

But more importantly, the effects of the crash which happened 83 years ago today opened the door for the (not so) thin edge of socialism.

And we live with those effects today.

It's not like they are gonna ever like us anyway...

But it seems that PahPakistan and it's government is unhappy that we aren't helping enough with their recovery and relief from their yearly floods.

Even though the US's contribution is greater than Paahkestans.

Sad that.

No good deed

Goes unpunished.

While approximately 90% of people have morals and will behave correctly, 10% don't, and won't.

Note:
This was from folks who weren't starving, weren't desperate, and weren't under stress. 

What do ya think might happen if they were under stress, were starving, or were desperate?

Some people.

Note to all those folks

Who are panic buying their Evil Black Rifles, new Glock pistols, High Capacity magazines, assorted AK's and the tons of ammunition:

YOU IDIOTS WAITED TOO LONG!

You paid way too high a price, significantly more than you would have paid for the same items 6 months ago. If you were wanting any of the above listed items, you should have purchased them 6 months ago (or even earlier) when the prices were lower. You should have had the brains to buy these well BEFORE the election. Panic buying indicates that you have no forethought, and that you couldn't see that pricing would skyrocket because people would suddenly realize that we might be facing 4 more years of "Hope and Change". 

I am sure that the merchants at the gunshows appreciate your lack of forethought, and really appreciate the panic you were feeling because you can't look farther than the end of your nose. I am surprised that you can think far enough ahead to tuck it in before you pull up the zipper.

This happened last election, and the one before that, and the one before that....Likely even before that, but i wasn't paying attention to such things much earlier than that.

If you feel like you paid a high price for those firearms ammunition or accessories, and it hurts, then maybe you learned something.

Now as soon as your wallet recovers from your lack of foresight, learn enough to go stock up and prepare by buying some food and other supplies BEFORE you need it desperately.

One way it should be done

is this.

I am, however, more supportive of using a Louisville Slugger or other type of implement to further express your disgust at someone's actions at a funeral. But I am like that...direct.

Notice that the cowards never even bothered to show up once the community organized.

Plans

I talk with other business owners a lot (I am also a small business owner), and we often discuss the health of our businesses and our plans for dealing with government and changing economic conditions.

One resounding theme of discussion and worry has been ObamaCare (the Affordable HealthCare Act).

On the one hand, it is going to force may of us business owners to hire more people.

On the other hand, we are only going to likely work each employee about 25 hours a week, and hire more people to make up for it. Thing is, none of us are going to be able to pay for ObamaCare. Most of the people we hire are relatively unskilled and they are not paid a great deal of money. They work as unskilled labor in service oriented businesses. Waiters, housekeepers, store shelf stockers, clerks, etc.

Since they are working in jobs for businesses where the profit isn't high, and the regulations and cost are, many businesses are going to be faced with a choice:

Since anyone who works more than an average of 30 hours a week is considered full time, and is therefore eligible for ObamaCare, and since the cost for ObamaCare is going to be somewhere north of $6K per employee per year, many businesses will choose to hire more people and work all employees for 20-25 hours per week. The current employees, all of whom work 30-40 hours per week currently, will likely see their hours reduced to 20-25.

The other options are to raise prices in an already competitive marketplace, difficult to do...

Or, of course, close the business, putting the employees out of a job.

Most of us see no reason to continue to operate our businesses if we can't make a profit, and the cost of ObamaCare will likely reduce our profit to near zero, or at least to a level which makes it not worth operating the business. Most of us put in 50+ hours per week operating and managing, and while we aren't poor, we don't make as much as others think. For many, the additional costs will put them into the red. For the rest of us, we are all looking at the fact that the risk of operating a business will not be worth the very small profit we might have left after the new costs.

A LOT of people are going to be out of work or making a significantly lower take home paycheck because of this. Especially those working in service type industries.

Unintended Consequences and all that.

One truth from the Debate:

There will be an attempt to put in more "Gun Control"....Likely via an "Assault Weapons Ban.

Both candidates agreed that some form of additional gun control would happen.

Again: we have a choice between bad, and worse.

Debate thought:

Thought: