Powerball, doomsday and Wednesday randomness

Everyone is pooling money and buying Powerball tickets, it's all about the dream and hope. I'll admit we are going to drop $20 on tickets, we can't win if we don't play, but unlike many people we don't sit around talking about the what if. Chances of winning are silly remote so why sit around and pretend what you will do, it always seems to make a lot of people depressed about the current situation they are in.

I've watched a little more TV this week than normal, but I see the choices are still horrible. It does make us thankful for the lifestyle we have, the jobs, the family and friends, etc. How about some home improvement shows (not loaded with drama, fights, flamboyance). I guess I'm so fringe that I don't like 99% of the shows on TV. The few I record and watch are usually in hopes I can learn something. One small idea or sliver of knowledge makes it worthwhile, but it's often painful in the meantime.

Doomsday preppers last night was one long episode about the same group. They certainly had money to burn, good for them, should have used some of those millions for a garden. I would give them the most prepared out of all the episodes I've seen so far (2 years I think). The concussive blast in the 'hunting blind' made me laugh a little, way to get jacked up while you are trying to set off IED's... everything about that segment was way too unsafe. They should have built something on the building tops so they could keep an over-watch/lookout without having to leave the safety of buildings. There were a lot of things they could have improved on, like we all could do, but some of it seemed so basic it was a little silly.
One of the brain dead moments occurred when one half of the group got dinged hard for not bringing/having food stores. That family took the criticism to heart and started to take fencing lessons.... what!?

We found out there are negotiations underway for drilling on some of the properties we leased out a few months ago. Hopefully they get going fairly soon, it will take around a year from start to finish before we see any results, we want to bathe in black gold and pay off the mortgage.

My gym workouts are going great, I've got some amazing progress under my belt and I'm feeling better. I know I'm stronger, but for me it's about getting stable. I won't see the real long distance endurance running progress until spring, but I'm hopeful my back wont hurt after a few hours of slogging up and down the mountains. I don't think I'll try for 30+ miles anymore, it becomes too much of a job and sucks up all of my free time. I think a nice mix of trail endurance runs and power lifting will work great.

I've been generator and freezer shopping online. Freezers seem easy, no frost free and we want a standup. Generators are another story, so many choices. I would like a nice Honda generator but those are super expensive, I'm still bouncing around all the choices. Diesel, propane, gas... pull start or pull start backup, 3000 - 3500 watts but portability is important. I'll get it figured out soon, right after we decide what to do in the kitchen and get a new stove.

Cyber Monday goes by with a thud.

Buying a robot on cyber Monday isn't popular anymore, people spend on Black Friday (or a few hours earlier). I only received about half the junk mail cyber Monday offers as last year, hurt my self esteem.
I took a trip to Walmart today for work and was told I have an invalid credit card number card. I said no problem, let me call up Amex and I'll find out what's going on. The head cashier storms over and tells me the transaction has to be completed or else they have to get a manager over. I replied 'I can't pee money' and walked away to make a phone call.
Amex told me everything was fine, have them type in the card manually.... that required a manager too.
Typing the card number in manually is safer than using a card reader, managers needing to do this help prevent fraud. A card reader doesn't require ID for under X $ in purchases and most of the time they never ask for ID. How often are you really asked for an ID, especially if using a debit card and it's all self swipe.
I let them know the card reader was bad, the manager wasn't pleased she had to do her job and made sure to belittle the cashier to the head cashier. The holiday spirit is alive early this year in one of my least favorite stores of all time.

I ordered something from Tactical Assault Gear, something I've had my eye on for over 6 months. I checked to see if it was on sale (no luck) and noticed they had the color I've been wanting in stock. I've never seen multicam in stock before so I figured it was fate and stepped up.

Banshee carrier with optional attachments.

Soft Armor IIIa: front, back, and love handles!

The question at home was 'why did you buy it?'. It was a great question, and it wasn't about the expense.

I could have picked up another weapon, more ammo, food, etc. There are a ton of things I could have picked up that might seem better suited (generator and/or freezer come to mind). Having supplies is great, being able to defend your supplies and family is even better. I'm not sure that most people think they will ever get shot at. Countless sites, blogs and forums all seem to be big on weapons and having 50,000 rounds of ammo to fend off the countless 'zombies' (hungry neighbors) who will come and try to take your 'brains' (food). I assume if I have to shoot, I will get shot at.

If I'm prepared to defend my 'brains' and non infected family, why wouldn't I want a combat multiplier, an edge. This purchase might save my life, everything else I could get can only extend it. This isn't a movie, you don't get shot and rub the crushed bullet off your vest and bounce up, but you can get back up and you can survive. We have some a nice concealable armor vest in the closet but it's too small (better than nothing), from back when someone was 20 years younger. 20 years ago for me and I was still wearing flak vests, body armor for the military was never thought of.

We will check it out when it shows up and probably order another, why have just one person with an edge when you can have 2. Once we fit and play around with it, I'll think about getting rifle plates, depending on how the month ends up at work. There is always the factor of never knowing when you won't be able to purchase this stuff, some websites still ask for proof of 1st responder employment. I'm thinking not to far in the future the average citizen (or people like me) won't be able to buy armor anymore.

Red Dawn, or how I wasted my day

When half the people I know don't want to see a movie, maybe it should ring a little bell in my head. Instead I wasted $7 on a movie that only had a few good moments. Sure, I knew the Titanic would sink but it was still a great movie.

Some people were kind and I have a few more followers. I'll try not to annoy everyone.

A great day to water the yard and watch some college football. Since I really did waste the day away, here are some fun pictures of my lazy Saturday.

 Luke doesn't care about being outside, the couch is more comfortable.

 Rock trying out his raccoon mask in hope he can sneak up on a squirrel.

 This no knead bread goes great with:

Irish stew (and a large bowl of it at that!).

More bread was made, good bread never lasts long.

Apple crumb, the in-laws placed an order and I'm sure there isn't any left.

I was successful in wasting the day away and yet getting so much done. There is football on right now that needs me and I have a workout at the gym in a few hours. I should take a nap, I'm 40 after all and it's hard being this old....

Irish stew on Black Friday!

After staying up a little late cleaning some guns, I wanted to sleep in. 5 minutes after my alarm would normally go off the calls and text's came in from work. SoandSo doesn't have a key to X, the receptionist didn't show up, no one can open up X, my password doesn't work, are you working today, where are you. How do they manage when I'm normally not there I'll never know.

Since I was up and about I hit the gym early but my workout sucked, I'll go back tonight and do 25 laps in the pool.

A friend called me up and off we went to get a scope for her husbands birthday present. I was wary about going out today but I wasn't driving and the traffic was all normal. The scope she wanted was still in stock, but at Sportsmans warehouse there is always so much stuff, we checked out the sale stuff and this is what I picked up:

2 Panther .308 magazines
Electronic hearing protection
500+ yard rangefinder
4-Sided small archery target

What I really wanted to buy this weekend: new shoes. I figured since the traffic and people were behaving I would venture out on my own once we got done shopping together. Sports Authority had buy one, 50% off second shoes but of course didn't have the size I wear. Just my luck and I was so adventurous to brave the traffic a second time. I should have gone where I always buy shoes but I got sucked into the sale flyer. Tomorrow I'll go buy my 6th or 7th pair of running shoes this year, I'm an addict.

Time to cook for the weekend:

Irish stew

2 lbs. stew meat
2 lbs. ground beef
30 oz. stewed tomatoes (I use fire roasted)
15 oz tomato sauce
2 C. chopped celery
4 large potatoes, 1" squares
15 oz corn
2 white onions
2 C diced carrots
3 C elbow noodles

Sear meat in yuo stock pot. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, 30 oz water, and the following spices:
1 TBS: Chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 tsp: oregano, cumin, coriander, paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cover and cook an hour until stew meat is tender, add carrots and cook for 10 minutes, add 'taters and cook until they are almost done, add onion and cook until they are almost done, add elbow noodles and corn. When noodles are to your desired tenderness get a bowl and eat.
You can add 1/4 head of cabbage at the same time as the elbow noodles if it's not Irish enough for you this way. I suppose you could drink a 5th of whiskey too.

Happy Barkday?

Today is a special day for us, it's both of our boys barkdays!

Sure, they could be birthdays but we don't know when they were born. Instead we celebrate when they came into our lives and graced us with barks.

We found Luke 8 years ago on the way to Thanksgiving dinner. We tried to get him in the car and he wouldn't come so I said let's go, can't rescue them all. The game being over he hauled ass and leaped into the backseat. We took him to the Humane Society but they were closed and the after hours rescue drop off was locked. He decided to let me know that I was his owner... he pee's on my foot.
Twice.
His original owners were visiting the area when he dug out and escaped. He must have heard them talking about returning him to the shelter since he was getting too big for them and they were afraid their landlord would complain.

Rock (as some of you know) was a rescue last year after our beloved Tobie passed on after a long battle with leukemia. Rock was more than a handful at first, and honestly still is a little big for his britches at times but he has become a wonderful addition to our family. He spent around 9 months in a rescue shelter apparently just waiting for us, he didn't like anyone else at all.

Apple crumb pie, oatmeal white bread x 2 and no knead pan bread has been done this morning. The turkey goes into the over in a few minutes. I also made some barkday treats for the boys!

That's right, I have dog bone, dog house, dog paw print and sitting dog cookie cutters. Don't you?

Out of eggs and a special treat

When you need to bake 10 loaves of bread you should make sure you have all the ingredients before you start. This goes for anything I suppose.
I set all the boxes, tubs, containers, etc. on the counter, wet on the right and dry on the left. I had 3 eggs and needed 15. I could have stopped what I was doing and hit the store but what kind of preparedness level would that be if each time I needed something I went to the store.

Those are eggs in the sifter. 1 T whole egg powder and 2 T water equals 1 egg. I actually added a little more water than it calls for, each type of egg powder will be different so you need to find out what works. They don't make the best scrambled eggs but it's good enough to eat. I use the whole egg powder from Shelf Reliance, I just happen to like their products. The added bonus of egg powder is you don't have to worry about uncooked eggs. I opened a #10 can a couple of months ago and am slowly making a dent in it. The #10 can of baking powder sitting next to it will eventually get dumped out, that's a lot of powder.

Amish friendship bread made with real eggs, minus a sample slice.

Amish friendship bread made with egg powder. They were a little lighter in color and a little 'fluffier' but otherwise tasted the same. My neighbor friend stopped by unannounced (they are used to me opening the door with a gun in my hand when they do that.... maybe I shouldn't have given them a gate key) so they were my test subjects. No one complained and one entire loaf vanished when they left. I had the sample slices only since I had to visit the gym when done cooking.

If you make quick bread, especially a sweeter type (banana, zucchini, etc.) you can give it a special twist. Grease the loaf pan and coat it with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. I use 1/4 C sugar and 2T cinnamon (saigon cinnamon is my favorite but you can use regular store brands just fine), mix in a small bowl and then coat one loaf pan. Pour the extra into the next pan, repeat until it's gone or you run out of pans to coat.

It should look like this when you are done. I went high with the grease and sugar but it's a good habit in case you have breads that rise a lot. Amish friendship bread is similar to a sourdough starter:
1 packet (or 2t) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (to dissolve the yeast)
1 C. Sugar, Flour, Milk
This is day one. Day 2-5 let it sit (I use a zipock, make sure you check the air level so it doesn't explode).
Day 6 add 1 C. Flour, Milk, Sugar.
Day 7-9 let it sit
Day 10 cook it up with this stuff (makes 2 loaves):
1 C Oil, Milk, Sugar and starter batter
3 eggs
1 T vanilla
2 T cinnamon
1/2 t soda
1.5 t powder
2 C flour
1 package pudding powder (I use vanilla non instant)
dash of salt

Bake in greased and floured (or sugared) loaf pans @ 350 degrees for 43 minutes (my oven, yours may need an hour).
The standard recipe says to add to the starter before you cook with it but I'm special and throw caution to the wind. You can give people a cup of starter and instructions, etc. but they really just want the bread to eat. I make new starter each time, but I know how to keep it going if I decided to not start from scratch each time. I start from scratch for more of a virgin batter, that's just me. I also use metal bowls and most recipes say not to.
My way will result in 4 (ie. 8 loaves) batches. Sometimes I can get 10 depending on how active the yeast was (or if I left the bag in the sun, added a little more than 1 C. of sugar, etc.).
If you forget the pudding it's a plain tasting sweet bread.

Tonight I need to make the rest of the bread. Tomorrow I'm making a ham, turkey, pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie. Perhaps a chocolate sheet cake as well, depending on how much help I get in the kitchen. Once all that is done it's off to the in-laws.

Happy Thanksgiving. People are always thankful for stuff on this day. I'm thankful all year for everything in my life, it's been amazing and many times frightening, I'm thankful I wake up each morning.

Clutter from my mind to the keys

We are stove shopping, at least we might get a good deal with the holiday season here. Our 1970ish stove is on the fritz and it's time to upgrade. We are thinking about doing the counter tops at the same time, it's just hard to part with money. We have $800 in gift cards saved up from Home Depot and Visa, that will cover half of the stove. We want a 6 burner smooth surface electric. We put some thought into a gas stove, but you have to have a large over the stove hood vent in order to have it installed. Our kitchen won't allow for that, so we will stick to electric. You can see in the below picture it's a 2 burner on the right, but either side is a large insert (we have a grill for the left side as well), but the contacts are all wearing out. If you have the 2 burners on the right cooking, the left burners barely work. Not acceptable as much as we cook.

I'm amazed, and totally not surprised by the number of people who can't make bread.... or anything. Someone at work assumed my bread was from a bread machine and told me how they can't figure out how to use the one they got as a gift. I know it's hard to measure and dump....
Fresh bread not only has an amazing taste, it's only about .50 cents per loaf worth of ingredients if you don't buy in bulk. It's so much work... oh my poor hands, all that kneading. A solar over isn't really inexpensive

Organizing: Making room for a second gun safe and a possible freezer had me in the basement for 4 hours. I moved a rack, added a rack, organized a rack and checked the expiration dates on the canned goods. I noticed my 7 day go buckets have expired pop tarts in them, this weekend I will swap some mountain house packets in their place. I had about $50 in goods to stock in from the staging area, it's only a pain when you have to move all the cans to put the new stuff in the back/underneath.

Surfing: I read an article over here, about a LEO during Sandy. A few of the comments talked about a sense of community and how they hope people will pull together and learn from lessons in the past. Good luck.
We are guilty of not wanting to socialize with the people who live around us, for the most part. It's ok to be friendly, but when people go out of their way to cross the street so they avoid you... well that's all I need to know. Who's fault is it that people aren't prepared, it's not ours. If there is a crisis, people do band together some, it's natural. After the crisis, it's back to the Xbox and ignoring each other.
We have enough to do right now with friends and family, I'm not going to waste crisis energy or supplies for people who never wanted anything to do with us. I'm sorry if I walk out of my gate and someone notices a pistol on my belt, tough cookies, see you on the other side of the street.

Everyone has the same opportunity to be prepared for whatever. Income and expenses will vary but the opportunity and choices are/have been there. I grew up on food stamps, government cheese, low income firewood delivery programs, etc. Once a month we would get some ice cream or a bag of cheetos, otherwise everything we had went into just getting by. Thankfully there was a free school lunch program to help, I'm not sure we could have done one more meal 5 days a week for my Brother and I. We made the right choices the whole time and even when were off food stamps we didn't change much, (we did get electricity and a 19" color tv) our shopping habits stayed the same.

Lesson learned: Some blogs and websites I have read/read talk about using a .308 as a main battle rifle... After shooting the carbine and .308 this weekend, I don't think that's feasible. With the recoil on the .308, you are way off target after a couple of rapid shots. The carbine I can get a 30 round magazine on and around the target with no issues. It makes me wonder if I'm reading things from 'armchair preppers', or am I just a weak sissy boy.

Finally: I was in Safeway yesterday grabbing some fruit for the week (work nibbles) when I saw they were doing some type of fundraiser. $10 donation and they will fill a grocery bag and give it to X charity. Hey, good idea to help those less fortunate. THEN I saw the sign said you could use your EBT card for the donation. HOLD UP, WHAT? Your EBT card is to help you purchase groceries, it's not so you can give to charity. If you can give $10 to charity then you shouldn't be using an EBT card. People should be allowed to donate the money they were donated.