Paratus is this coming Friday. I’ll be putting cards out Monday since it seems the postal service, ever since the election, has somehow managed to actually become even less efficient. If you want to get on the Paratus card list, all you have to do is either become someone I interact with on a fairly regular basis or be someone who kicks in a few bucks once in a while AND provides a mailing address. Anyone who signs up for Patreon gets a card if you provide an address. (Also, sending yours truly a Paratus gift is an excellent way to get one back as well.)
Summer is slowly giving way to fall, which means winter is just around the corner. While heating a house in winter is never a cheap affair, I’m wondering if it will be worse this year. Why would it be, you may ask? Well, first off we have that bugaboo of inflation going on. But, additionally, we have ‘supply chain disruption’ which means when your 30-year-old furnace craps the bed, or your brand new 101% efficiency furnace blows a circuitboard, finding (and getting) that replacement part may be…tricky. And, if you do get that part, finding an outfit that has enough staffing to get around to repairing your furnace in a timely manner may be an issue as well. And, of course, the fuel delivery system (gas, oil, electric) may take a hit in the reliability department as well for similar reasons.
As always, it’s a good idea to have some backup systems in place. For me it’s a couple kerosene heaters and a whole mess of five-gallon-drums of kerosene. Enough to keep the house above freezing for a good while. I’m not necessarily tryying to keep my house at 72 degrees on a winters night…I just want to keep my pipes from freezing. (and, yes, worst case scenario I could drain the pipes as well to reduce the risk and then only have to heat one room as a ‘lifeboat’.)
These current shortages, logistics issues, occasional hacking-related shutdowns, and Wuhan Flu restrictions are going to make winter interesting. Especially since staying indoors with lots of people is sort of the opposite of what you want to do during a pandemic.Will ‘the numbers go up’ as people spend more time indoors around other people over the winter and holidays? Will the regular flu get mixed up with Wuhan Flu and send panicked people to the emergency rooms as their temperatures rise? Will whoever is actually running the country impose even greater restrictions ‘for the greater good’? We’re gonna find out.
This should be an interesting winter.
The urban/suburban Hive Dwellers will be impacted by these ‘issues’ First. Most of them have No Skills, No Stock of Food, and depend entirely on the ‘Grid’ and ‘JIT’ supply. They will be easily ‘Rounded up and put in Boxcars to the Camps’ once they get Cold and Hungry- in fact, most of them will Demand it.
Then the question becomes, How (if they even have the resources to) does the commie/bolshevik ‘government’ try and ‘mess with’ the rest of us Deplorables?
The Farm I live on is not Self-Sufficient (very few actually are) and We have laid in Supplies and Fuel to last about a Year, but if things go ‘ballistic’, we are not much better off than the suburban dwellers nearby.
As for the Wuhan Batshit Flu, I had it in March, so it’s not one of my potential Problems. Stock Up on Invermectin while it’s still available at the Pet Store; I can get about Anything from the Vet, because Horses are about 95% compatible with Humans as far as Drugs go.
The recent Pronouncements by Zao Bi Den point to (un)Civil War coming soon. got Ammo? (hint, You don’t have Enough).
Also really interesting is watching what cramming 60-100k people into college football stadiums will affect things. Either we get a big bump in infections or we can breathe easier imo.
this is why i topped off my lp tanks in june, and stacked wood backups. going to start on next years supply asa the leaves drop. if i had to we could move down to the basement where the wood stove is to conserve fuel.
I sometimes watch that show ‘Alone’ where people with above average skills are put in an environment rich in natural resources, given an chance to win $500k then slowly starve.
Unless someone has laid in a supply of food things are going to get rough. Hurrican Ida had folks crying immediately for government support because they are unwilling or unable to help themselves. A nation that spends more than it takes in will eventually have to see the bubble burst.
The big cleansing may be coming. Just ordered more freeze dried Mountain House from Costco. Free shipping and no tax! Actually cheaper than going to the store.
Hope this coming winter is like the last one. Here in Michigan it was fairly decent. I used five face cord last year. Which is two truckloads at one hundred per truck load. 2 1/2 face per truck. I’ll replace what I used and call it good for the year. Still have 12 face cord on hand.
I used a kerosene heater during the cold spells. So $200 for wood and $80 for kerosene. Not bad for a Michigan winter.
On 1 July I paid off my last bill and that night the HVAC system crapped the bed. We couldn’t get someone out until 6 July to look at it. The owner of the HVAC company was smart and bought up a significant supply of new systems when the scamdemic hit back in early 2020. We replaced the old system as it was better than putting a band aid on a 19 year old system. Now we are in debt again, but hope to have it paid off once I know what my tax bill will be in Jan 22 (should we make it that far without things going kinetic). Its always something!
Have expected things to blow since I starting doing the math in 2005 about the direction the country and the world of finance were headed. I have really been surprised to see how they have kicked the can down the road to only make matters much worse when everything blows.
As prepared as I can be for SHTF situation, but wish I could of been able to afford a parcel of land somewhere in the nearby mountains, but just can’t seem to win the lotto to make that little dream happen.
Just hope the meat puppets declaration of war on the unvaxed doesn’t cause anyone to do anything stupid to get this party started. Our household had the Wu Flu last November and for some reason God kept me healthy so I could take care of my very sick family. We really do live in interesting times.
Happy Paratus!
The supply chain issues are either intriguing to watch or frustrating, depending on if you really need/want something affected. New car production has moved beyond just the chip issue to multiple essential components that aren’t available. The prediction from people watching that industry is 2023 or later before they could catch up if everything went to normal soon. Those of us who believe in redundancy to meet our basic needs will be shaking our heads and delivering some “I told you so” comments for quite a while.
Got my furnace/air condition replaced this summer. Talking to the various salesmen, it seems there are some supply issues with repair parts and some brands of furnaces. I don’t think its possible to buy a unit with 100% American parts and labor.
We’re looking to replace our furnace (which bit the bullet at the end of last winter) with a furnace/air conditioning unit this fall.
As far as I know, the only 100% American made hvac units are made by Goodman, at their HUGE facility outside of Houston, TX. However, Goodman is owned by Daikin Group, a Japanese company that bought Goodman to get a foothold into the American hvac market.
From what I understand, Goodman only markets to contractors, no general public marketing, to keep their costs down. That new facility (I think they built it in 2014?) is supposed to have the latest and best technology for hvac and a/c improvements on their production lines.
If anyone knows of another “American-made” company, please post about them. I’d like to know about them. Thanks!
(Not affiliated with Goodman, Daikin of any other hvac company, just a subject I’ve been researching recently).
I got an American Standard combo unit this year. Google Fu shows they are made in Texas, along with Trane, apparently in the same factory.
Our AC refused to work this summer when we first tried to use it. It took a week to get a tech to look at it (he’s the only one in town and it seems every commercial account had similar issues), but when he uncovered the works outside, he found the problem in a minute. The small, desiccated carcass of a frog that had crawled on top of the condenser and shorted it out. Something he’s seen before and knew immediately what the issue was. Whew! A $45 part instead of an $8000 part.
And yes, the unit is a Goodman.
While winter may be unique, in that it is one of very few remaining things that is not a ‘social construct’, I spend 90% of my prepper-energy planning for the collapse of western civilization due to half of society losing its GD mind.
If it’s time to de-populate this thing, let’s get on with it.
Of course winter is a social construct. It’s only thermally-supremacist Americans who would claim otherwise. Fascist!
Racist! Or something distasteful and equally naughty at least.
Have a line on a used kero heater at a good price,kero storage is still the question. Need to refill bbq tanks and get a tank top heater. Just ordered a snorkel parka for very cold<-10f as weather seems to indicate a cold winter. May get a set of snow chains(+extra snow tires?) if .gov is lazy about plowing/salting. A pallet of ramen is free for the taking at work(don't have room for more-25 cases). Worst case, pack and go to Fl. Happy Paratus everyone.
Winter of our discontent. A historic phrase used to describe the previous “Great Britain ” after they LOST their status of the Pound Sterling being the World’s Reserve Currency.
VERY UGLY Situation that lasted years where nurses were seldom paid, garbage piled up, roads and other structures fell in to disrepair. Folks were malnourished and so on.
Slow Motion SHTF SITUATION.
When NOT IF our foolish CONgress (spelling intentional) Fiscal Idioticy causes the USA to lose World Reserve Currency status.
Short Dollars Long canned beans and hold in your hand real wealth. Inflation is too many dollars chasing that loaf of bread.
The powers that be can “print dollars ” BUT Cannot print up a case of canned beans.
Just saw announcement of Nordstream2 completion and gas may flow this week to a seriously endangered eu(they had 1/2 the gas supplies they needed for winter). This may kick off some stupidity by Ukraine as the thieves get cut off.
Yeah, I am with you guys on this topic. I am replacing my underpowered 16+ year old gas heating stove in my home I just moved into. (Wyoming winters so go figure) Just because of these current trends, it will of course eat up a few grand of the cash stash to have it professionally done, but it is a strategic action at this point. Water heater also getting R&R as well. Think long game fellas, I just need to get barrels of Kero like our Commander, to have stocked back ups as well.
For the majority of us who follow this blog and are ready to deal with whatever life throws at us, the situation is hopeless, but not too serious. For the rest, good luck to you because you are going to need it.