Hi Everybody, Frank here.
Been paying attention to the news lately? Well, you know
all the problems in Greece are solved. The Chinese markets are all doing
great. Our unemployment problem here in the United States just about doesn't exist. You know those precious metals we
talk about all the time? Gold and silver? They're going through the
ceiling. The European economy is going great guns. Our economy here in the
United States has set record highs this year. And that pesky Middle Eastern
war? Everybody has just kissed and made up. Life is grand and we're all
back on the happy train again! I can hear them singing, Happy Days Are
Here Again! So let's all run down and buy us a brand new car, refinance
our house, take out more student loans, and go into debt just as far as
we can, because we all know that debt is good! We've been told this for the last 50+ years, so it must be true.
There's only one problem here. One very large problem. Everything just stated above, is a lie, or if you're a politician, someone misspoke. You see folks, everything mentioned above is not true. We sit in front of our TVs and let talking heads fill us with information that is a lie, and we believe it
because we want to believe it. We are a very comfortable nation. Just go into any Wal-Mart and look around. Look at all the grossly over weight, middle aged men and women dragging their fat little kids behind them with a candy bar in one hand and a sugar laced drink in the other. Yes, we are a comfortable country, but we have gotten too comfortable. We've become complacent. We expect everything to be done for us and all services provided. So when we watch the news, we want to hear happy time stories. Well, everyone of those stories mentioned above, as repeated before, here it is again, they are all lies.
The news media lies to us. The government is the biggest liar of all. We believe every word of it. We don't have an immigration problem. Who are we kidding? We don't have jobs. Go to any public clinic and you'll be hard pressed to find someone who speaks English. Crime is through the ceiling in most major cities. I am afraid to be in a city after dark. Am I paranoid? No, I'm not.
Here, let's review. Our government tells us that unemployment is around 5%. I beg your pardon! Private sources, reliable private sources, tell us it's closer to 20%. Recently we crossed the threshold of 50%. You know 50%, or one half of working age people in this country are on some type of public assistance. So when did it become a right to have a cell phone?
Have you looked at our politicians lately? I personally don't care much for Donald Trump. I know he is a TV star of some type, but I've never seen whatever show he is on. But he is making our main stream politicians look like sissies. Why is that? Because he tells the truth. Why can't other politicians tell the truth? Because they want to say what everybody wants to hear. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is impossible, therefore, they don't say anything of substance. I don't think we're going to hear the truth any time soon.
Getting back to the top part of this story where everything is a lie. If someone were to tell the truth, we would have panic in the streets. You see, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are in the middle to final stages of the beginning of a serious collapse in this country. Therefore, since all
markets are intertwined, it would be a world financial collapse. What does this mean to you and I? Banks shut down. Credit for large corporations ceases to exist. Big trucks quit rolling. Shelves go empty. Get the picture here? Financial advisers, investors and prognosticators from all disciplines are saying that a financial collapse is imminent. But the stock markets did great today, you say. These are out of control fluctuations. But gold and silver went up today. Gold has dropped from $1800 to about $1100. But you're right, it was up today.
Look at the price of a barrel of oil, it's around $50 a barrel. If it's too low, that's terrible. If it's too high, that's terrible. It doesn't make any difference where the cost of oil goes, it's going to be terrible. Speaking of oil.
Back during the oil boom days, oil wells were drilled less than 100 feet. Now days off shore rigs are going down about 2 miles. See the problem here? The easy to get stuff is gone. Not to mention the fracking technique. We're having to pollute our water systems, we're causing earthquakes where they never were before, but by golly we're getting that oil out of the ground. The problem is at $50 a barrel, the oil companies can't make a profit. At $100 a barrel, you and I can't afford to buy products, because shipping costs too much. That's just oil.
Do your homework and check out copper. Copper used to be easy to mine. Now there are pits in the ground miles across and a mile deep. The percentage of copper is about 3%, in other words, 97% waste. That 3% that can be harvested is a lower grade and quality than a number of years back. But that's okay, because the demand for copper has dropped sharply, and so has the price. Until today of course, it was up. Happy times are here again.
I used to tell people that the wolf was at the door. I used to remind people that there were dark thunder clouds rolling across the horizon. But I quit saying those things. The simple fact is that the wolf is not at the door. The wolf is in the door. Those terrible thunder storms coming across the horizon? They're here. Go back up to the top of this article and read all of those lies again. We are in the midst of a financial collapse that has never
been seen on this planet before. What's going to be the ultimate catalyst? Who knows, but there will be one. Some people call them black swan events. When that black swan event does happen, your government, and mine, and our news medias are going to tell us the truth. Have you been reading? They are going to orchestrate a lie just like they have been doing for years and years and years. Be careful and watch out for a serious diversion. Some examples that come to mind, these are just examples, of course, the sharp escalation in a war somewhere; close the banks and have a bank holiday for your protection; maybe fly a plane into a building; maybe shoot down an airliner somewhere; release a pandemic; have community organizers start riots in multiple towns; or a self induced EMP maybe. Pick one, pick any one, pick two. Be greedy, pick three.
It's here, Ladies and Gentlemen. It's not coming anymore. It's here. You need to get your house in order. You still have some time. Get things done
now. I pray every day that I am wrong. I like life the way it is right now, but the happy times are over. Reality is here and we are going to have to pay the price. The fat lady is singing, the game is over. You need to brace for impact. Get it done. If you think money in the bank is going to save you, you are sadly mistaken. If you have a bunch of shovels, then you will be a wealthy man.
I'm not the only one that sees this. I know that there are lots of readers out there that see this, too. I know this is hard to understand, but we are in
the final stages of the beginning of a world collapse. It can't be stopped. It just can't be. If you see this coming, please respond. You may have a take on it that I didn't see. Now is not the time to be shy. If there are fence sitters out there, your comment might cause them to get off of the fence. Today the stores are still open, and that's today. There are no guarantees about tomorrow. We need to help each other while we still can. Thank you for providing me this opportunity to share.
I pray to my God and Heavenly Father that I am wrong.
We'll talk more later, Frank
Well, not really a wreck, but in a great deal of disarray compared to a normal day. Today we accomplished a long, long term goal. We had the windows in our house replaced. This house was built around 1983 and the windows were in pretty sad shape. Many of them had moisture between the two panes that limits visibility. When we moved in there was this yucky brown ick growing on the inside of most of them. Needless to say, replacing them has been on our project list for a while.
To prepare for this event we needed to move everything away from the inside and outside of the windows to allow the installers access. That was yesterday. We finally finished all of that at about 9:30 last night. Frank also had to remove all of the blinds, which he finished this morning when he took down the ones in the bedroom.
 |
| Old window |
The installers from Window World arrived right on time, were professional, courteous and hard workers. They had our old windows removed and the new windows installed in three hours. There were nine windows in all. I found it rather disconcerting to have strangers walking in and out of the house, going into every room, tearing out the old windows, and making a big mess in the process. But these men were very efficient and did excellent work. They put down tarps below every window outside and drop cloths on the inside. This minimized the mess and made their clean up quick and easy.
We never had any question about what kind of windows we
were going to have installed. Double hung. Why? Ventilation. We have
porches down the length of our house on the east and west sides. This is
the same format of the house Frank and I built, not had built, but
built ourselves, back in the 1990's at our first homestead. With the
porches on both sides of the house, and double hung windows, we can
create a cross ventilation that will greatly enhance cooling the house
when we no longer have electricity and air conditioning.
Yes, these windows are part of our preparation for the coming collapse. They are tangible investments in our comfort in the future. If it is raining, no problem, we can still ventilate the house under the porches. If it is a hot summer evening, we can draw in the cooler air from the east porch. Having double hung windows is a great addition to our home that we are very excited about.
For now, we are tired. We have the minimal required window shades and curtains up for the evening. Tomorrow we need to clean all of the windows, which will be easy to do since they tilt in. Then we will need to reinstall more shades and think about how we are going to trim out the exterior. Fortunately, there isn't any rain forecast until next Tuesday. That will give us a little time to get that chore completed. We're thinking 1 x 6 cedar with an oil stain. That would look nice and should last a long while.
With all of the moving around of furniture and things on the porch, it has provided us with many opportunities to clean and dust things that don't get moved very often. We're also thinking to rearrange some of the shelving in the pantry to better accommodate our jars of canned goods from the garden.
Speaking of the garden. There are tomatoes, green beans and three kinds of squash blooming. We should be able to have our first meal of fresh yellow squash in a few days. While the men were tearing up the house this morning, I escaped out to the garden and gave many plants a good dose of diatomaceous earth. I hope it helps make a dent in the slugs and cabbage worms. There are a number of cabbages trying to make heads, despite the worms and slugs. I also found some damage from some squash vine borers. I am tempted to reorder more beneficial insects since I think most of ours either drowned or got washed away in the last deluge we had. But the class I am attending about beneficial insects is Saturday, so I think I will wait and see what I can learn there.
Life is busy, very, very busy. There are so many indicators pointing toward some sort of tremendous downturn, outright collapse or shutdown, that we feel it is very important to accomplish some of the things on our list of projects that are geared toward our survival. We have several more things in the wings that we'll show you before long. Investing in learning and tangibles that will increase our ability to make it on our own is more important than ever. We could leave what little money we have in the bank in the hope that it will still be there when the economy collapses, or we can invest it in our minds and in our homestead. Which one makes more sense? Which one will help us survive? Some folks have a problem with spending what they have, just in case. I find great security and comfort knowing we are investing in ourselves, our lives, and our ability to perform those tasks that are needed everyday to live. That's what we're about, and that's what we want to do. Live. And this is how we do it.
Until next time - Fern
This weekend seems like a good time to re-post an article that we wrote last year at this time. The goals it talks about are still in place. We have learned a lot since last year and continue to do so. With our stay in the hospital, I haven't had much time to devote to the blog, so here is something that I enjoyed re-reading.
Tangible Assets
Originally published July 6, 2013
Tangibles. What are tangibles? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tangible as 1) capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch, 2) capable
of being precisely identified or realized by the mind or 3) capable of
being appraised at an actual or approximate value.
So. If I have a packet of bean seeds
that I can touch, identify and appraise the value of, then in my
opinion, I have a tangible item. Many people would refer to their wealth
as tangible assets. The things they surround themselves with indicates
their status among those who share the same ideology. Take gold for
example. Many would categorize gold as a tangible asset, a means of
maintaining wealth in these times of economic volatility.
Now,
let's go back to the title of this piece - Real Assets. How will one
ounce of gold help you survive? Can you eat it, heat your house with it,
grow food with it, wear it, drive it.....? What good will it do you if
the dollar is devalued to the point of no return? How much is gold worth
if the dollar is worth nothing? We always think of gold as worth X
number of dollars. If the value of the dollar is equal to zero, what is
gold worth then? Can you protect your family with it? The precious
metals you need to protect your family are brass and lead. In the long
run they may end up being much more precious than any other metal.
Tangibles.
While we were in Alaska we were able to increase our savings. When we
moved back to Oklahoma we invested our savings into our homestead, one
of our most important tangible assets. One of the first things we did
was upgrade the older house we bought. We put on new siding that will
not burn and added porches on the east
and west
sides of the house for increased ventilation if the power grid goes
down for an extended period of time. We also installed a storm cellar,
had two water wells dug and put in stainless steel hand pumps,
had a barn built and had the fencing dozed and rebuilt. We bought a
tractor to help us work the land and invested in many tools for
gardening and animal care.We acquired goats, chickens, cats and a dog.
We consider all of these to be very important tangible assets and key to
our survival.
We have
often talked about tangible assets in the past few years. Our
discussions have included pondering what else we may need if we were
never able to obtain another thing in this world. What if the 'things'
we have are it? Can we make do? Patrice Lewis from Rural Revolution has written a World Net Daily article titled Tangible Investments.....That Breathe.
Patrice talks about her cows being a tangible investment. Her family
depends on them for food and income. We feel this type of investment in
tangible goods is not only prudent but necessary for our future survival
given the economic condition of our country and our world.
With
that in mind, we continue to learn as much as we can about food
production, processing and storage. Our new pond is just one example.
How does a pond represent food production? First, it is another way to
store water - that most precious necessity of life. Second, we stocked
it with fish. What better way to store meat than in it's own natural
habitat?
We have a flock of laying hens that also provide us with meat and
eggs. In the past, we traditionally have frozen the fryers we butcher
each summer, but we have begun to can our meat to decrease the
dependence on electricity for the freezer. Our goats provide us with
milk, butter, cheese and wethers (castrated males) each year that we
butcher for meat. So far we have frozen the meat from the goats, but
plan to can the next batch we butcher.
We are working on a rain catchment system that we can
utilize for watering the animals and the garden, thus decreasing our
dependency on city or well water. A greenhouse with solar panels and a
12 volt well pump are also in the plans.
One of the things we feel is very important at this time
is to obtain items now before the prices rise even more and we can no
longer afford them, or the items are just no longer available at all.
This includes the materials for future projects that we have not had the
time to complete, but would like to if we were to rely totally on our
own means to survive.
We
have been learning more and more about gardening and canning food. We
have had gardens in the past, but have not been as serious as we are now
about how to grow different vegetables. It is important to know which
ones grow well in your area, how well they keep and if you can save the
seeds in a manner that keeps them viable until they are needed. We now
grow all of our seedlings which has entailed learning when to start them
so they will be ready to plant at the appropriate time. Do you have
enough seeds and in a large enough variety to grow what your family and
neighbors will need to consume to remain healthy and able to work hard
every day? We continue to buy and feed our livestock commercial feed,
but are in the process of trying to grow feed for them as well. There is
so much to learn and not enough hours in the day to learn and do all
that we would like.
Frank has read recently that if you have a minimum food
storage of six months, within that time you can grow some food to eat if
the season and conditions allow. Six months. That is a long time to
wait for something to grow to the point that it can actually add
nourishment to your diet. Can you wait that long? Have you stored up for
a long winter or summer or downturn in the economy?
Tangible assets. Have you had a talk with God lately? What do you and your family need to do to be ready? Do it now while you still can.
Blessings to you all,
Frank and Fern
Tangibles. What are tangibles? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tangible as 1) capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch, 2) capable of being precisely identified or realized by the mind or 3) capable of being appraised at an actual or approximate value.
So. If I have a packet of bean seeds that I can touch, identify and appraise the value of, then in my opinion, I have a tangible item. Many people would refer to their wealth as tangible assets. The things they surround themselves with indicates their status among those who share the same ideology. Take gold for example. Many would categorize gold as a tangible asset, a means of maintaining wealth in these times of economic volatility.
Now, let's go back to the title of this piece - Real Assets. How will one ounce of gold help you survive? Can you eat it, heat your house with it, grow food with it, wear it, drive it.....? What good will it do you if the dollar is devalued to the point of no return? How much is gold worth if the dollar is worth nothing? We always think of gold as worth X number of dollars. If the value of the dollar is equal to zero, what is gold worth then? Can you protect your family with it? The precious metals you need to protect your family are brass and lead. In the long run they may end up being much more precious than any other metal.
Tangibles. While we were in Alaska we were able to increase our savings. When we moved back to Oklahoma we invested our savings into our homestead, one of our most important tangible assets. One of the first things we did was upgrade the older house we bought. We put on new siding that will not burn and added porches on the east
and west sides of the house for increased ventilation if the power grid goes down for an extended period of time. We also installed a storm cellar, had two water wells dug and put in stainless steel hand pumps, had a barn built and had the fencing dozed and rebuilt. We bought a tractor to help us work the land and invested in many tools for gardening and animal care.We acquired goats, chickens, cats and a dog. We consider all of these to be very important tangible assets and key to our survival.
We have often talked about tangible assets in the past few years. Our discussions have included pondering what else we may need if we were never able to obtain another thing in this world. What if the 'things' we have are it? Can we make do? Patrice Lewis from Rural Revolution has written a World Net Daily article titled Tangible Investments.....That Breathe. Patrice talks about her cows being a tangible investment. Her family depends on them for food and income. We feel this type of investment in tangible goods is not only prudent but necessary for our future survival given the economic condition of our country and our world.
With that in mind, we continue to learn as much as we can about food production, processing and storage. Our new pond is just one example. How does a pond represent food production? First, it is another way to store water - that most precious necessity of life. Second, we stocked it with fish. What better way to store meat than in it's own natural habitat?
We have a flock of laying hens that also provide us with meat and
eggs. In the past, we traditionally have frozen the fryers we butcher
each summer, but we have begun to can our meat to decrease the dependence on electricity for the freezer. Our goats provide us with milk, butter, cheese and wethers (castrated males) each year that we butcher for meat. So far we have frozen the meat from the goats, but plan to can the next batch we butcher.
We are working on a rain catchment system that we can utilize for watering the animals and the garden, thus decreasing our dependency on city or well water. A greenhouse with solar panels and a 12 volt well pump are also in the plans.
One of the things we feel is very important at this time is to obtain items now before the prices rise even more and we can no longer afford them, or the items are just no longer available at all. This includes the materials for future projects that we have not had the time to complete, but would like to if we were to rely totally on our own means to survive.
We have been learning more and more about gardening and canning food. We have had gardens in the past, but have not been as serious as we are now about how to grow different vegetables. It is important to know which ones grow well in your area, how well they keep and if you can save the seeds in a manner that keeps them viable until they are needed. We now grow all of our seedlings which has entailed learning when to start them so they will be ready to plant at the appropriate time. Do you have enough seeds and in a large enough variety to grow what your family and neighbors will need to consume to remain healthy and able to work hard every day? We continue to buy and feed our livestock commercial feed, but are in the process of trying to grow feed for them as well. There is so much to learn and not enough hours in the day to learn and do all that we would like.
Frank has read recently that if you have a minimum food storage of six months, within that time you can grow some food to eat if the season and conditions allow. Six months. That is a long time to wait for something to grow to the point that it can actually add nourishment to your diet. Can you wait that long? Have you stored up for a long winter or summer or downturn in the economy?
Tangible assets. Have you had a talk with God lately? What do you and your family need to do to be ready? Do it now while you still can.
Blessings to you all,
Frank and Fern
The news media lies to us. The government is the biggest liar of all. We believe every word of it. We don't have an immigration problem. Who are we kidding? We don't have jobs. Go to any public clinic and you'll be hard pressed to find someone who speaks English. Crime is through the ceiling in most major cities. I am afraid to be in a city after dark. Am I paranoid? No, I'm not.
