Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Got some good deals at the local Albertson's last night. I mention this not to brag (not that I dont brag, its just that this isnt one of those times) but to illustrate a point I made yesterday – you can add to your levels of preparedness without spending huge amounts of cash. Matter of fact, I would wager that on $10 a week you could put together a hellacious amount of food within a year. But, back to the bargains…
The local Albertsons had its usual weekly “10 for $10″ sale. Alot of times these sales are for the 'store brand' versions of things which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, this time they had one of the staples of my pantry on sale…jars of spaghetti sauce. And not the store brand either…26 oz. Ragu in various flavors – $1 ea. Normally, theyre about $1.50. Over in the frozen foods, the frozen dinners that the takes to lunch for her work were knocked down to $2 from $4@. So, we picked up a case (dozen) jars of spaghetti sauce and we got 5 of the frozen dinners. Thats an outlay of $22 to purchase what would normally be $38. Total savings? $16. Which means it was like getting 8 frozen dinners for free or another 1.3 cases of spaghetti sauce for free. The spaghetti sauce goes in the cupboard, the dinners go in the freezer, and we pat ourselves on the back for saving $16.
The point here is that you can buy food that you normally eat and like and get it cheap enough to stock up if you watch for the sales and strike while the iron is hot.
Also, you dont necessarily need a sale…you just need space. A 1# bag of rice vs. a 50# bag of rice – I havent had to buy rice in a while but in a 50# bag (which gets repackaged to a 5-gallon bucket with lid) it comes out to around $0.25~ per pound. So if you paid more than 25 cents for that plastic bag of rice at the supermarket you could have done better. Ditto for things like pasta, beans, etc, etc.
Enough about this, Im trusting you see my point.
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Went shooting the other day. 200 gr. RN out of a k-frame .357 are a bit much. Out of the N-frame, however, theyre juuuuuust fine.
Shot the .308 a bit. Shot 1 7/8″ at 200 yards which is just under MOA for five shots. Finally. One of the LMI let me try some of his handloads. Lapua brass, match primers, Lapua bullets….definitely could see a difference. I've been shooting the less-than-precision-manufactured Remington brass because, honestly, I just happen to have a bunch of it. Looks like Im going to have to order some Lapua or Norma match brass.
Also shot the Yugo SKS. Folks, if you havent bought one of these cheap ($150~) guns yet you are going to be kicking yourself later on …. believe it. Good, solid gun shooting a cheap cartridge capable of keeping looters at bay yet the gun is cheap enough that youre not too concerned if it gets lost or stolen. And, like the AK, its quite reliable. Get 'em while you can.
Ten years after the end of the world I think the most prevalent guns will be Rugers and AK/SKS rifles…..they just. dont. quit.
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Winter approaches. The cold weather module is back in my TT bag. Kerosene was running around $22~ for a 5-gallon drum up at Lowes. And I smiled a big smile at myself because when they had it marked down to $5 a drum I bought a dozen and still have them. (Thats bragging.) I really need some new boots and need to get that taken care of…esp. since hunting season will be here soon.
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Fascinating story here about a guy who took it upon himself to drive his personally owned military truck to deliver aid to Katrina victims. He put on his old uniform and sailed through all the roadblocks, got shot at, returned fire, got robbed, and had a very interesting final encounter with three thugs when he stopped to change a tire. I can freely admit I wouldnt have done 1/10th the things this guy did, out of his own pocket, because Im just too selfish in that way. But its a good story and theres some interesting info in there.
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Now that, for the most part, the heroic moments are done with the blame game starts. Police chief, Mayor, Governor, Director….all forming the traditional circular firing squad and taking shots at each other. Is there seriously anyone who didnt see this coming? Certainly theres some folks that seriously need to be run out of town but theres also going to be a few loyal troops falling on their own swords to spare theirl eaders. Regardless, reputations and expections for various organizations like FEMA are going to take damage. Even the Red Cross' sterling image has been mightily tarnished. Matter of fact, after reading here and there about some of the 'our way or the highway' policies of the RC and other organizations, and their utter disdain for local responders and inability to work with other .orgs, I really don't think theres any national-level relief agency that deserves my support. However, from what Ive read there are scads of local/regional .orgs that deserve support and praise. Church groups, VFD's, private companies, and the like. I think organizations tend to do a better job when the affected area is in their home area…it gives them motivation and, this is important, it gives them a certain accountability since they have to live among that population later.
