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

Summerlike weather approaches here in western Montana. In fact, it’s so summery that there are flood warnings all over the place as rivers rise due to melting snowpack. Fortunately, our location is such that the town would pretty much have to be wiped off the map before we were at risk of flooding…moreso for my buddy who is up in the hills here. Most of this valley would have to be a lake several hundred feet deep before he had any problems. Unfortunately this also means that water-based recreational activities like fishing and teaching the dog to swim are going to have to get put on the back burner for a while. That’s cool, because it isnt like theres a shortage of things that need to be done.

In case you missed it, according to a superstitious bunch of..well…something, the world ends this weekend. I feel that if they really, really believe in that nonsense then they should have no trouble signing over their property and cars to me since, after the 21st, theyre not going to need them anymore. Anyone who doesnt would, of course, be branded an infidel for their lack of faith. I will happily wager with anyone that the world does not end this weekend. (For the purposes of this bet, the term ‘end of the world’ means a ‘rapture’-type event where a large percentage of population disappears in accordance with Judeo-Christian myth.) Heck, I’ll even give odds.

So far its looking more like the end of the world is going to be something along the lines of a slow slide into economic Third World-ism. The .gov, being denied an increase in the debt ceiling, says it will take to ‘borrowing’ from federal pension funds. Baby steps, there. First it’ll be ‘borrowing’, then it’ll be only from certain types of funds and then before you know it pensions will have to convert their assets into .gov bonds that will be redeemable at a later date….you hope. Under the current way things are done, I see no possible way this can end well at all. If it were me, I’d let others argue about who should be captaining the Titanic as I work on getting the lifeboat launched.

As the missus said to me, “I dont know why we keep money in the bank”. You know, other than the convenience of using debit cards theres no reason to keep money in the bank. Fees surpass any interest you can earn, it’s inconvenient when you want to get cash, and, really, who needs to help the bottom line of banks that treat their customers like crap? Throw the money in the bottom of your safe (or under it, if youre the really paranoid type) and go on about your life in a pleasant, bankless, undeclared cash kind of way. A million bucks in cash would fit in a 40mm ammo can with room to spare, so it isnt like storing large amounts of cash on hand is difficult.

Of course, it’s all academic for me. It isnt like I have two nickels to rub together. But, unlike many bloggers, I dont blame that on ‘banksters’, The Man, Big [name of industry], or even on .gov. Anything I’m deficient on is pretty much just my own fault and, accordingly, is remediable only by me.