Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Post-apocalyptic movies are a fave of mine (surprise!). So I finally caught 28 Days Later last night. Spoilage ahead:

Now, if you come into contact with the blood of one of these ‘infected’, you get infected. Ok, I can see that. But if thats the case wouldnt you make it a point to use weaponry that does NOT result in huge blood spatters? C’mon, a machete??? The baseball bat would have been a better choice. Personally I would have gone for a nice shotgun…kill at a distance.

Also, since you *know* that you want to keep the blood of the infected off of you, wouldnt you dress in such a manner as to cover your skin? The girls father had the right idea with his riot-police garb. The soldiers had the right idea with their MOPP gear.

Rogue soldiers!!!! I knew it! But, really, 28 days is not so long to go without women that things go to hell like they did. The soldiers had a fairly good setup but I think their security was lacking. And did you see the stuff they were hoarding? VCRs????

Pepsi and candybars are not survival food. I’d ahve grabbed every PowerBar in the supermarket. And, speaking of, dont you think that they should have left someone at the door in the supermarket to keep an eye out for trouble?

I suppose this is to be expected from Britons since theyve been so effectively emasculated as a nation.

An intense movie, much more violent and ‘real’ than any of the Romero zombie movies.

Rogue soldiers….ah, one of our contingencies that we’re still troubled about. Tough to prevail over a military unit that has decided to go into business for itself.

Post-apocalyptic movies are a fave of mine (surprise!). So I finally caught 28 Days Later last night. Spoilage ahead:

spoilage

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Commander Zero loves a bargain. He also likes quality. Usually, those two things are exclusive..not always, but often enough. Saving money is a big deal when youre gearing up for Ragnarok…every five bucks you save is another freeze-dried entree, another four-pack of batteries or another case of bottled water.

So, I must say, I like my local Albertsons grocery. All the way at the end of the meat displays is the ‘bargain bin’ of meat. Its usually meat that is one day away from its ‘use by’ date. Its perfectly good but you must either cook it immediately or freeze it. The savings? Well, the $1.99/# ground beef is $1.19. Thats a savings of around 40%. Bonless pork chops, normally $2.99/# are $1.99/#. You get the idea. Since I get into work at around 10am I usually head over to the grocery after checking my mail at the post office. Its early enough in the day that I can have a good selection of marked-down meats. I usually by $5 worth and put it in the fridge at work until I can take it home in the evening. From there, it gets vaccuum sealed, dated, and packed into the deep freeze in the basement. Keeps easily for over a year. Now, at this point you may say, “Zero, when the end of the world comes all that stuff is gonna spoil since your freezer will be without power.” Yes and no. For something like a two or three day power outage, it’ll be fine. I keep alot of bottled water in there for just such an event…the frozen water will help keep things cool until power is restored. But, importantly, this supply of meat isnt so much for TWOTWAWKI as it is for more mainstream emergencies…like sudden economic problems that preclude me from getting groceries. Plus, the money I save (since I do use this stuff on a day to day basis) gets put towards other preps. Say I break a leg and cant work for a few weeks, not a problem..Ive enough food and meat set back to keep me and mine fed just as well as ever.

Money, though, is a big deal when preparing for the future… theres some seriously expensive gear out there. For example, you can buy a typical made in China kerosene lamp for about $8 at any WalMart. Or you can pay $100 for an Aladdin kerosene lamp. When push comes to shove, the quality and durability of a product will usually make the cost worth it. I dont *mind* paying alot of money for something if its *worth* it. Example: motorcycle helmets. Do you really wanna skimp and go with the cheapest you can find? Same idea.

Buy quality, you pay once…buy cheap, you pay many times over. ‘Tis true.

Anyway, I’ll be sealing up some meat and tucking it away in the deep freeze tonight and then I shall sleep quite well knowing that I’ll never starve.

Commander Zero loves a bargain. He also likes quality. Usually, those two things are exclusive..not always, but often enough. Saving money is a big deal when youre gearing up for Ragnarok…every five bucks you save is another freeze-dried entree, another four-pack of batteries or another case of bottled water.

So, I must say, I like my local Albertsons grocery. All the way at the end of the meat displays is the ‘bargain bin’ of meat. Its usually meat that is one day away from its ‘use by’ date. Its perfectly good but you must either cook it immediately or freeze it. The savings? Well, the $1.99/# ground beef is $1.19. Thats a savings of around 40%. Bonless pork chops, normally $2.99/# are $1.99/#. You get the idea. Since I get into work at around 10am I usually head over to the grocery after checking my mail at the post office. Its early enough in the day that I can have a good selection of marked-down meats. I usually by $5 worth and put it in the fridge at work until I can take it home in the evening. From there, it gets vaccuum sealed, dated, and packed into the deep freeze in the basement. Keeps easily for over a year. Now, at this point you may say, “Zero, when the end of the world comes all that stuff is gonna spoil since your freezer will be without power.” Yes and no. For something like a two or three day power outage, it’ll be fine. I keep alot of bottled water in there for just such an event…the frozen water will help keep things cool until power is restored. But, importantly, this supply of meat isnt so much for TWOTWAWKI as it is for more mainstream emergencies…like sudden economic problems that preclude me from getting groceries. Plus, the money I save (since I do use this stuff on a day to day basis) gets put towards other preps. Say I break a leg and cant work for a few weeks, not a problem..Ive enough food and meat set back to keep me and mine fed just as well as ever.

Money, though, is a big deal when preparing for the future… theres some seriously expensive gear out there. For example, you can buy a typical made in China kerosene lamp for about $8 at any WalMart. Or you can pay $100 for an Aladdin kerosene lamp. When push comes to shove, the quality and durability of a product will usually make the cost worth it. I dont *mind* paying alot of money for something if its *worth* it. Example: motorcycle helmets. Do you really wanna skimp and go with the cheapest you can find? Same idea.

Buy quality, you pay once…buy cheap, you pay many times over. ‘Tis true.

Anyway, I’ll be sealing up some meat and tucking it away in the deep freeze tonight and then I shall sleep quite well knowing that I’ll never starve.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Lemme see if I have this right…the Dept. of Fatherland Homeland Security get billions of dollars for their budget and the *best* thing theyve done for the average citizen is tell them to keep three days of food, water and meds on hand??? The Boy Scouts deliver the same message for lot less money.

Civil defense is a joke in this country. The North Koreans have entire underground cities..as do the Chinese. The Swiss are *legendary* for their hollowed out mountains, armed citiznery, and dedication to protecting themselves..so much so that not even Hitler wanted to drag his boots into that quagmire.

Whereas we, arguably one of the most economically and technologically advanced socieites on the face of the earth, do almost nothing to prepare our citizens for disaster and then we mock the ones that do.

In the 50’s and 60’s we actually had a budding CD program going on. Remember shelter drills in school? Remember those funky fallout shelter signs? Theres still alot of big, concrete buildings and malls out there with old rotting cases of CD gear in their basements..Ive seen ‘em!

So how would the Zero work Civil Defense in this country? Glad you asked! First off, the Bunker Tax Credit. You build a bunker in your home, yard or property that meets a minimum spec and you get a tax break. Disaster supplies would be non-taxed. Basic preparedness would be a course in schools, like ‘hygiene’ and sex-ed. On a larger scale, every state would have at least one regional base..preferably on reclaimed abandoned military bases, to stockpile vehicles, food, fuel, medical gear and the like for whatever disaster occurs. Tornado in Kansas? Teams fly into the Kansas redoubt, stock up, and head to the scene. Hurricane in Florida? Teams fly into the redoubt there, load up in the prepositioned road-clearing and cargo-hauling vehicles and head to the incident area. You get the idea.

And the cost? Not what you’d think….we have various military that sit idle most of the time, might as well use them since theyre getting paid anyway. Have the engineers get out there and refurb that old military base. Have that Nat’l Guard water-hauling unit set up a purification plant and equipment at the base, etc, etc. Tons of military gear that is past its prime can still be used quite nicely for CD programs..instead of giving old deuce-and-a-halfs to third world militaries or Canada, give them to the states for their CD programs. Same for leftover rations, generators, medical gear, buildings, etc, etc.

Then, next time theres an earthquake that sends Los Angeles toppling into the ocean all the gear is in place and ready for it.

Lemme see if I have this right…the Dept. of Fatherland Homeland Security get billions of dollars for their budget and the *best* thing theyve done for the average citizen is tell them to keep three days of food, water and meds on hand??? The Boy Scouts deliver the same message for lot less money.

Civil defense is a joke in this country. The North Koreans have entire underground cities..as do the Chinese. The Swiss are *legendary* for their hollowed out mountains, armed citiznery, and dedication to protecting themselves..so much so that not even Hitler wanted to drag his boots into that quagmire.

Whereas we, arguably one of the most economically and technologically advanced socieites on the face of the earth, do almost nothing to prepare our citizens for disaster and then we mock the ones that do.

In the 50’s and 60’s we actually had a budding CD program going on. Remember shelter drills in school? Remember those funky fallout shelter signs? Theres still alot of big, concrete buildings and malls out there with old rotting cases of CD gear in their basements..Ive seen ’em!

So how would the Zero work Civil Defense in this country? Glad you asked! First off, the Bunker Tax Credit. You build a bunker in your home, yard or property that meets a minimum spec and you get a tax break. Disaster supplies would be non-taxed. Basic preparedness would be a course in schools, like ‘hygiene’ and sex-ed. On a larger scale, every state would have at least one regional base..preferably on reclaimed abandoned military bases, to stockpile vehicles, food, fuel, medical gear and the like for whatever disaster occurs. Tornado in Kansas? Teams fly into the Kansas redoubt, stock up, and head to the scene. Hurricane in Florida? Teams fly into the redoubt there, load up in the prepositioned road-clearing and cargo-hauling vehicles and head to the incident area. You get the idea.

And the cost? Not what you’d think….we have various military that sit idle most of the time, might as well use them since theyre getting paid anyway. Have the engineers get out there and refurb that old military base. Have that Nat’l Guard water-hauling unit set up a purification plant and equipment at the base, etc, etc. Tons of military gear that is past its prime can still be used quite nicely for CD programs..instead of giving old deuce-and-a-halfs to third world militaries or Canada, give them to the states for their CD programs. Same for leftover rations, generators, medical gear, buildings, etc, etc.

Then, next time theres an earthquake that sends Los Angeles toppling into the ocean all the gear is in place and ready for it.