Cancer, relationships, politics, economics, whatever…..They usually get worse before they get better. Move deliberately and cautiously, like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs claymores.
2022 comes in like a homicidal KoolAid man………..
Monthly Archives: December 2021
Meat
I am amazed at what meat prices are doing these days. I was at CostCo the other day and regular 88/12 ground beef was something like $4.30 a pound. For freakin’ hamburger! It still seems like just yesterday I was getting it remaindered for less than $2/#. Fortunately I have a pretty healthy supply of the stuff in the deep freeze and, honestly, I don’t eat it that much. My go to is usually chicken breast and, as of late, various pork cuts. WinCo sells boneless skinless chicken breast at $1.99/#, which is reasonable, and pork for around $1.85/#. For my cooking, which is often a stir-fry type of affair, those types of meat are just fine.
But, good grief, hamburger at almost four and a half bucks a pound? What the heck are they feeding those cows? Imported Swiss hay?
But, this is the sort of thing I suppose we should be getting ready to encounter on a more frequent basis. Some of you may be old enough to remember a time in the 1970’s when inflation and meat prices were driving many people to designate one day of the week as “Meatless [weekday]”…Meatless Mondays, etc, etc.
I’m an omnivore, as all of us human-ish types are. I do , however, like meat. In fact, I am of the opinion that a meal is not a meal if there is no meat. (Eggs kinda count but that’s getting pretty nitpicky).
Here’s a really odd thing – I’ve been taking pictures of the pricing board at the CostCo meat department for the last few months and the price of some meats has actually come down. That kinda puzzled me until it occurred to me that with ‘supply chain issues’ and whatnot, it may make more sense for ranchers to slaughter their herds (and thus flood the market and drive prices down) than to pay higher prices for feed as the supply becomes unpredictable. What you wind up with is a glut and price drop…for now. The other side of that equation will not be a happy one for the consumer.
I’m lucky because I can live with ‘cheap meats’. I have a pressure cooker, cast iron cookware, a penchant for cooking, and rather low standards. I can take pretty much any cut of meat and make it into something I’m willing to eat. So…I’ve no problem with switching over to cheaper cuts and critters.
But, geez Ruiz, $almost four and a half bucks for burger is just alarming.
Year in review
These ‘Year in review’ posts are sort of the low-hanging fruit of the blogging world. But, I’m not proud..so you here you go.
Last year I figured that 2021 would be mostly consequences of 2020, and it appears I was right. Everyone walked out of 2020 saying that 2021 would be better (although they never explained exactly why) and, IMHO, they were dead wrong. Pandemic variations, mandatory vaccine orders, inflation, etc, etc….if there’s anything better in 2021 than 2020 I can’t imagine what it was.
From a survivalist standpoint, which is why youre here, it was another year of confirmation bias. Maybe I do cherry pick the events of the previous year in order to support my position, but even if thats the case it only results in me erring on the side of caution…and whats wrong with that?
I had a few goals and I pretty much nailed ’em all. Pay off the house? Yup. Double the Roth? Yup. More gold and silver? Yup. Vehicle upgrade? Yup. Career advancement? Yup. More guns and ammo? Oh yeah.
What’s still to be done? Well, there’s a nice chunk of Montana somewhere just waiting for me to plunk down a bunch of cash but thats gotta wait until the end of 2022. Things that didn’t go according to plan? Well things were going awesome until the markets got wonky in December but I’m still ahead for the year, so even though it was one step back that one step back came after several steps forward…so, net gain.
Goals for 2022? The absolute biggest is: keep what I have. That which I’ve worked for and acquired in 2022 needs to stay right where it is, thank you very much. Every year I say I don’t plan on buying more guns and thats true..I don’t plan on it, but it happens. An estate pops up and the next thing I know I’ve got mounds of .223 and stacks of Glocks. :::SMH::: It happens. But more than anything else I want to get enough money into my Bunker Fund so that at the end of the year I can close on a nice chunk of nowhere and start mixing concrete.
Careerwise, I wouldn’t mind a bit of a raise and I expect that’ll happen. My other revenue sources, for now, seem like they aren’t going anywhere so while I won’t be able to reach my goals just on the strength of savings I think I should be able to hit them with a combination of savings and trading.
Forecast for 2023? Inflation continues and blame for it goes everywhere except where it should. Wuhan Flu continues to be an issue until finally we develop natural immunities and it becomes a seasonal nuisance like the regular flu. China continues to a) duck the blame for the Wuhan Flu, b) continues its incremental imperialism, and c) keeps feinting at Taiwan. The Russians continue their low-key war against the rest of the world in the form of cyberattacks and state-sponsorship. On the domestic front, I think we’ll see the whole BLM/Antifa/Woke nonsense hit a nadir as people start getting tired of paying high taxes just to have ‘marginalized groups’ threaten to kill them and burn down their neighborhoods. Gun and ammo availability? Guns up, ammo down. “Supply chain issues” becomes the catch-all phrase and excuse for people and businesses not living up to expectations. Cubs do not win the Series.
You know, after thirty-some years of being a survivalist, I never thought I would be somewhat vindicated in this particular manner. I mean, on a long enough timeline, sure, something is going to happen. But I would not have thought that global pandemic and craptacular economy were going to be the leading causes. But…still weathering it pretty well nonetheless, so I’ve got that going for me…which is nice.
Article – Down the barrel of a gun: How Second Amendment activism can be a gateway to extremist ideologies
The culture war continues unabated. If they can’t stigmatize gun shows because of…well…guns, then they’ll stigmatize them as open-air recruiting centers of Timothy McVeigh-wannabes.
Its so much easier to swing the hammer of public opinion against someone if you’ve marginalized them and made them loathsome first.
Me, I like going to the range, shooting guns that look big and scary, and having a rather large variety of them. And, thus far, I am the least violent person you will ever meet. But…if you can portray me as some sort of violent extremist….well….thats a narrative that makes it much easier to oppress me and my lifestyle.
It’s not just a war on guns…its a war on people who own guns.
More of the same
Approximately 37 months ago, I stocked up on soap. As the supply started to dwindle, I figured it was time to bump it up. Here’s an interesting note – I purchased it from the same place as I did three years ago. But..instead of 100 bars for $40, I now get 80 for that same amount. Put another way, my cost went up by 25%. Sure, it could have been a simple change in wholesalers or something but in this economy…:::waggles hand::: ..who knows?
Regardless, I’ve enough soap for the next several years at current usage rates. As Forrest Gump would say, “One less thing to worry about.”
As I mentioned in that earlier post, soap seems to ossify over time. I vacuum sealed the soap to keep it from doing what it does and that seemed to work just fine. So…empirical data for the win.
I should also mention, while I’m on the subject of long-term toiletries, that about ten or twelve years ago I bought out a closeout of toothpaste. Still using it and it seems to work just fine.
Yeah, we’re going to sink into a 1970’s -style era of inflation and, possibly, unemployment on our way to Third Worldism but, by Crom, I’m gonna be the cleanest, best smelling insurrectionist at the revolution.
Holiday AAR
There was a bit of holiday gift exchanging going on around here and I figured I’d share the haul with you guys. (Or “Y’all”, if you’re of that ilk.)
- This required me to actually go to the website to figure out what the hell it was. It thought it was a fleece-lined jockstrap of some sort.
- If I ever get time to read, I’ll probably spend an entire night reading this and this.
And that was really about it. The older I get, the less I’m concerned with getting gifts…although, naturally, I do enjoy them.
Santa didn’t bring me a slightly-drunk and self-destructive Jennifer Lawrence this year, but, hey, a man’s reach should exceed his grasp else what’s a restraining order for? I’ll get over it…eventually. (For those keeping track, Jennifer Lawrence replaces my old celebrity crush/stalking traget of Angelina Jolie who is looking more and more like the trans version of Sekletor.)
One thing I need to jump on, sooner rather than later, is planning the goals for 2022.
And, sadly, these goals are not going to be helped out by the looming “Hey I know a guy who wants to sell…” opportunity that landed in my lap today. It may be nothing, or it may have some life to it, but the phrase “Pallet of loose .50 BMG ammo” was used. Could be interesting. Definitely be expensive. Of more interest were the pictures I saw of the stacks and stacks of ammo cans of 250 round belts of .308 w/ tracer. Uhm…yeah…might be buying that.
I know better…I really, really do…..
It never fails. Every time I leave the house to run an errand and forget to take a pistol I always wind up getting some whiskey-for-breakfast-brushed-his-teeth-with-a-hammer homeless wretch approaching me and asking/demanding something. Every time.
This message brought to you by the sinking feeling when you casually move your hand to your hip and realize your holster is empty because you were ‘only going to be gone five minutes’.
Stupid, stupid.
Seasons greetings as theologically appropriate
Whatever December holiday you celebrate, have a happy.
Here’s my favorite holiday music. Hit it, Placido….
So, how’d Santa treat you this year?
Oh, and before I forget, I’m trying something new. There’s a thank-you over at Patreon for those of you who have been generous this year. Nothing special, just me saying thanks and wishing you a quiet 2022.
Slouching towards Third Worldism
I remember reading news articles in the 1980’s about people fleeing Communist countries, getting to America, walking into supermarkets, and bursting into tears at the overwhelming abundance that was offered.
Were those stories true? Maybe. Coulda been Cold War propaganda. But, I’ve met quite a few refugees from Communist countries and, to a man, they’ve all a) said ‘yeah, this place is freaking awesome’ and b) they vote Republican. I had a neighbor from Poland back when Poland was still firmly stuck in the Soviet sphere. He could take potatoes and cook them up to taste like whatever you wanted…because where he grew up, potatoes were all you could rely on being available. As a result, you learned how to make potatoes taste like the million things you’d rather have been eating.
Had another neighbor, her and her parents fled Hungary back when Hungary was really kept on a tight leash. She spent a couple years living in a refugee camp in Canada before moving to the US and becoming a citizen. She told me stories about her mom struggling to get food and other necessities under the Communists.
And, naturally, I’d feel a little swelling of nationalistic pride…because, after all, this was the US…we have twenty flavors of Tang, two hundred channels, and fat poor people. Where else on the planet are poor people fat???
And yet…I walk into grocery stores, Home Depot, and Sportsmans Warehouse and the mantra is “supply chain issues”. Da, comrade….we have nyet inventory. Is supply chain.
There is nothing romantic, noble, egalitarian, or equitable about living in Third World conditions. At the moment there is running water, electricity, food to be had, fuel to be purchased, so all is good. Except….it’s slowly getting pinched off. Either the ‘supply chain issues’ empty the shelves, or creeping inflation and rising prices force you to leave those goods on the shelf. Either way, it winds up with you coming back from the store with less than youre used to.
When it takes $25 dollars to buy what cost $20 three months ago, but you’re still making the same wage, that is your lifeline being slowly choked off. And when you do decide to go ahead and pay the inflated price you’re told that, sorry, we’re out of stock. And that cinch tightens a bit more.
And, personally, I see it getting worse before it gets better. Even if there’s a political remedy, its going to be a while before the offices change hands. Thats plenty of time for your savings and retirement to be slowly dissolved by inflation. Assuming you keep your job as employers close because they cant hire people, or vaccine mandates cause them to fire people.
Me..I’m playing it close to the vest. I do my job(s), bank my money, buy some metals, keep the freezer topped off, and keep on top of the news. It’s only a matter of time before the morning comes where you stagger out of bed, put on your bathrobe, plop in front of the computer, and…Russia invades Ukraine, inflation peaks, someone shoots up a school, lockdowns are initiated, new taxes are levied, travel bans are brought to bear, etc, etc.
If there’s any advice I would offer to someone in these rather interesting times it would be this: be deliberate in everything you do. Think through the consequences several layers down of any action you take, or don’t take. Making mistakes in the current environment is a luxury that most people can’t afford too often.
People who really care about you don’t want expensive gifts
Don’t let the fact that there are a bunch of labor-intensive holidays this month distract you from the important things. What, pray, could that possibly be? The answer, of course, is: you.
Don’t let anyone guilt or browbeat you into doing something really stupid this holiday season. In a world of pandemic, inflation, high fuel prices, and that sort of thing do you really want to go hundreds (or thousands) of dollars into debt just to give expensive gifts to people who may or may not actually be that important to you? Or you to them?
If you care about someone enough to want to get them an expensive gift, and they care about you the same way, then they care about you enough to not want you to financially martyr yourself by buying some ridiculously expensive gift. If they’re a real friend, they’d rather you take the $100 you were gonna spend on them and spend it on making your life better, your life safer, and your life more resilient.
If you can swing it, sure, get dad the Rolex, buy mom the Peloton, gift the wife that diamond she’s always wanted. But all those people who love you, if hey really love and understand you, would rather you just give them a hug and a $20 gift rather than hurt yourself financially by getting them something because you or someone else has you convinced that you ‘have to’ go into debt ‘because its Christmas’ (or whatever holiday).
Look around you, do you really think this environment we are living in right now is the kind where you want to exhaust limited resources just because you’re getting pressure to give outrageous gifts? Aren’t there more important things to do with your limited resources?
I have a few close friends and I would much rather they take the money they were going to spend on me and spend it on themselves instead to increase their resilience, increase their safety, and increase their security.
Part of being a survivalist is having to be able to ignore peer pressure. Now, if you’re squared away, of if you’ve got a goodly bit of disposable income, go ahead and buy great gifts for the people in your life. But if you’re really concerned about the future, and you think having a little extra this or a case or two of that in storage might be a good idea, then dial it back a bit this year in terms of gift giving. If someone asks why you ‘cheaped out’ this year when you were handing out $250 Amazon gift cards last year you tell them truth – you’re putting your resources into making your life safer, more secure, and resistant to the chaos we’re in now. And if those people have a problem with it, well, then they’re people you probably don’t need to have in your life anyway, let alone be giving gifts to.
Nobody ever lost their job, was staring down an eviction notice, and said “You know, I’m sure glad we spent all that money on those expensive gifts for people we barely see during the year.”
People who really care about you don’t want expensive gifts from you. People who really care about you just want you to be okay. If they really care about you, then theyre going to think thats the best gift they can receive – knowing the person they care about is well. Give ’em a hug, a box of 9mm, and tell them how much they mean to you. In the long run it’ll be a great exchange for both parties.
