I just received another 1000 rounds of 9mm ammo today and dropped the package into my "armory." I have lost count of how much ammo is in there but even without packing things tighter, I should be able to easily store another 4000 to 5000 rounds of 9mm or .223. In addition, it holds a half dozen rifles and shotguns, my lonely Glock 17, and a score of magazines.
My armory is simply a large Ridgid toolbox I picked up at Home Depot for about $275. I don't have the exact dimensions handy, but it's about 4' long by 2.5' deep and 2.5' tall. No, the toolbox is not fireproof nor truly thief proof. We've all seen the pictures on the web of what thieves have done to much sturdier gun safes. I'm not worried about thieves coming prepared with metal cutting equipment. In the unlikely even someone breaks into my house, it'll be a disorganized meth addict. I did consider buying a 12-gun safe for $400. What I didn't like about it was that it was too small to hold any appreciable amount of ammo or magazines. While I haven't spent as much on ammo as on my weapons, I want to secured the ammo too. The toolbox does the job very well. Being a toolbox, it won't be obvious to repairmen and visitors that I have guns. People may think I just have a lot of tools.
I went for a long time with my rifles and ammo just stored on a shelf in the basement. That was OK when I was around. This last summer, I was out of the country for a week and I was nervous about leaving the guns unprotected. One of my co-workers was on vacation for a week and came home to find their home broken into and burgarlized. This toolbox made me much more comfortable.
The major problem with using a toolbox is the difficulty in reaching the items on the bottom. For obvious reasons, my rifles are on top with the ammo and other gear below. Anytime I need to fish out more 9mm, I need to remove all the rifles. The other problem is that the toolbox is too short to hold my Remington 870 with the hunting barrel. My other Remington 870 with the shorter tactical barrel fits fine.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Give the Rapture A Chance
It's clear to me that the biggest problem on this planet is over population. Every problem we have is made worse by too many people. Our carbon emissions would not be causing global warming if there were only 3 billion people. We would not be on the cusp of Peak oil if there were only 2 billion people. With 1 billion people, farmland and fresh water would be plentiful. There'd be so much fresh water, you could wash your car with it or even crap in it.
I just checked the world population clock and we're sitting at 6.8 billion people. How can we get that down to 3 billion? AIDS is helping but not fast enough. This H1N1 virus isn't doing the trick. I keep hearing about killer bees, but have yet to see one. With one billion people across the world hungry, starvation has potential, but people can remain hungry and malnourished for a long time. Meanwhile they are still producing more children.
I think our best hope to reduce the world population is the Rapture. One source estimates that there are 2 billion Christians in the world. Probably only 50% of those are true Rapture-candidates as opposed to being Christians-In-Name-Only. The percentage is probably lower; looking around the US, I see many Christians that have definitely not taken Jesus' lessons to heart. But I'm giving the religion the benefit of the doubt and going with 50%. So after the Rapture the world population might be down to 5.8 billion. That's nearly a 15% drop! While a long way to go, it's at least a start.
The Rapture will benefit nearly everyone. Folks that move on are getting what they want. Non-Christians left behind will be happy because there will be more resources to go around and many of those holier-than-though Christians poking their noses in other people's business will be gone. The only losers will be the CINO's left behind. Unfortunately, many of these people are the ones we'd most like to disappear. People like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Mormons, pedophile priests, and the politicians from South Carolina.
So what can we do goad the Rapture?
Looking at the Rapture Index, there are two obvious categories that aren't contributing at all. They are Satanism and the Antichrist. I thought Obama was the Antichrist so that category should be max'd out. Anyway, we need to boost Satanism so go join Satanist churches and help spread their message.
Beyond that there is a lot of other stuff like False Christ, Occult, Moral Standards, Anti-Christian, Wild Weather, Civil Rights, Drought, and Climate that are only at a mid-range. Personally, I thought we'd been having Wild Weather so that should be higher. In the US, Civil Rights had a set back with the Patriot Act and the Bush administration shenigans, though I'm not sure if a lack of Civil Rights contributes or detracts from the Rapture. I'd think more Civil Rights is good, but with conservatives it's hard to tell.
All-in-all it looks like we need to engage in more anti-Christian activity to hasten the Rapture. Remember, it's for the planet.
I just checked the world population clock and we're sitting at 6.8 billion people. How can we get that down to 3 billion? AIDS is helping but not fast enough. This H1N1 virus isn't doing the trick. I keep hearing about killer bees, but have yet to see one. With one billion people across the world hungry, starvation has potential, but people can remain hungry and malnourished for a long time. Meanwhile they are still producing more children.
I think our best hope to reduce the world population is the Rapture. One source estimates that there are 2 billion Christians in the world. Probably only 50% of those are true Rapture-candidates as opposed to being Christians-In-Name-Only. The percentage is probably lower; looking around the US, I see many Christians that have definitely not taken Jesus' lessons to heart. But I'm giving the religion the benefit of the doubt and going with 50%. So after the Rapture the world population might be down to 5.8 billion. That's nearly a 15% drop! While a long way to go, it's at least a start.
The Rapture will benefit nearly everyone. Folks that move on are getting what they want. Non-Christians left behind will be happy because there will be more resources to go around and many of those holier-than-though Christians poking their noses in other people's business will be gone. The only losers will be the CINO's left behind. Unfortunately, many of these people are the ones we'd most like to disappear. People like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Mormons, pedophile priests, and the politicians from South Carolina.
So what can we do goad the Rapture?
Looking at the Rapture Index, there are two obvious categories that aren't contributing at all. They are Satanism and the Antichrist. I thought Obama was the Antichrist so that category should be max'd out. Anyway, we need to boost Satanism so go join Satanist churches and help spread their message.
Beyond that there is a lot of other stuff like False Christ, Occult, Moral Standards, Anti-Christian, Wild Weather, Civil Rights, Drought, and Climate that are only at a mid-range. Personally, I thought we'd been having Wild Weather so that should be higher. In the US, Civil Rights had a set back with the Patriot Act and the Bush administration shenigans, though I'm not sure if a lack of Civil Rights contributes or detracts from the Rapture. I'd think more Civil Rights is good, but with conservatives it's hard to tell.
All-in-all it looks like we need to engage in more anti-Christian activity to hasten the Rapture. Remember, it's for the planet.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Earth-Sheltered Studio
Some study a few years back found that men think of sex something like every 45 seconds. Not me; I think of escape probably about every 20 seconds. Even with the mortgage paid off, living in an energy-inefficient house in the suburbs is one of my biggest expenses. If I can ditch the house for even the $200,000 I paid for it (before mortgage interest, of course), I'll be sitting pretty for the rest of my unholy existence. That is, if I can find somewhere else to live that doesn't cost too much.
Blah-blah-blah on earth-sheltered houses deleted to move this blog entry along.
Here is the latest in an, apparently, never ending series of earth-sheltered house plans. I call this one the Studio.
The floorplan is approximately 15' by 40'; it's approximate because with concrete block, it's obviously very difficult to get perfect dimensions. The room on the left is essentially a shed for the usual plus a generator and batteries. The center room is a storage room and dry kitchen. And the last room is the "Great Room" with a futon or Murphy bed.
This plan is intended to be built into a slope. To eliminate retaining walls, no attempt will be made to fully cover the side walls. This also allows installation of small windows on each side thereby providing both light and ventilation.
Note that there is no utility room nor bathroom. The great outdoors is one big toilet, so it makes no sense to have a bathroom. Bathing is performed, quickly when cold, outside. If that becomes too much of a hardship, a separate bath house can be built.
Heat is provided by that small rectangle in the center of the Great Room. It is rocket stove cum masonry stove. I don't have a design yet, but I was thinking of a floor to ceiling masonry stove with plenty of heat-retaining mass and a spot to heat a pan and maybe some type of water reservoir to provide warm water for the aforementioned bathing.
The roof will be concrete covered with 4" or so of growing medium to create an earth roof. The interior walls will be concrete block like the exterior walls so that they can help hold up the roof. The concrete roof is definitely overkill, but I'd like to do a little traveling and making the studio into a bunker will give me peace of mind that one of my white-trash neighbors isn't chainsawing his way in while I am slumming in London or Chicago.
I know of a nice secluded spot on my tree farm I could build this. So secluded that I'd be inclined to build it myself without permits. So after construction is complete, my tax and utility bill would be about $65 a year. Well, plus gasoline for the generator until solar panels are installed. But even at $4 a gallon gas, that won't amount to more than my current winter heating bill of $130 to $150 a month.
Blah-blah-blah on earth-sheltered houses deleted to move this blog entry along.
Here is the latest in an, apparently, never ending series of earth-sheltered house plans. I call this one the Studio.
The floorplan is approximately 15' by 40'; it's approximate because with concrete block, it's obviously very difficult to get perfect dimensions. The room on the left is essentially a shed for the usual plus a generator and batteries. The center room is a storage room and dry kitchen. And the last room is the "Great Room" with a futon or Murphy bed.
This plan is intended to be built into a slope. To eliminate retaining walls, no attempt will be made to fully cover the side walls. This also allows installation of small windows on each side thereby providing both light and ventilation.
Note that there is no utility room nor bathroom. The great outdoors is one big toilet, so it makes no sense to have a bathroom. Bathing is performed, quickly when cold, outside. If that becomes too much of a hardship, a separate bath house can be built.
Heat is provided by that small rectangle in the center of the Great Room. It is rocket stove cum masonry stove. I don't have a design yet, but I was thinking of a floor to ceiling masonry stove with plenty of heat-retaining mass and a spot to heat a pan and maybe some type of water reservoir to provide warm water for the aforementioned bathing.
The roof will be concrete covered with 4" or so of growing medium to create an earth roof. The interior walls will be concrete block like the exterior walls so that they can help hold up the roof. The concrete roof is definitely overkill, but I'd like to do a little traveling and making the studio into a bunker will give me peace of mind that one of my white-trash neighbors isn't chainsawing his way in while I am slumming in London or Chicago.
I know of a nice secluded spot on my tree farm I could build this. So secluded that I'd be inclined to build it myself without permits. So after construction is complete, my tax and utility bill would be about $65 a year. Well, plus gasoline for the generator until solar panels are installed. But even at $4 a gallon gas, that won't amount to more than my current winter heating bill of $130 to $150 a month.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
We're All Doomed!
I accept that the end of civilization as we know it will occur sometime in my lifetime. I don't even think about it anymore; it's just another fact I know. Not many people share this view and I don't expect them to. I certainly don't go around sharing this fact and trying to convince people to do something about it. For I am definitely not a wacko.
Given that, I find myself surprised every once in a while when I read about our impending doom in a blog or article written by someone that hasn't outed themselves as doomer. Today's surprise was from a blog entry written by Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert cartoons.
A couple of days ago, Scott Adams asked his readers about their thoughts on whether the US national deficit would cause a doomsday. His conclusion from the feedback was this:
I think more and more people are seeing the writing on the wall. Not that it matters any; I seriously doubt that some major form of doomsday can be averted.
Given that, I find myself surprised every once in a while when I read about our impending doom in a blog or article written by someone that hasn't outed themselves as doomer. Today's surprise was from a blog entry written by Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert cartoons.
A couple of days ago, Scott Adams asked his readers about their thoughts on whether the US national deficit would cause a doomsday. His conclusion from the feedback was this:
And so I conclude, based on the evidence presented in the comments to this blog that the most realistic straight line prediction is that we're all doomed. And that seems to be the case no matter what any president did in the past or will do in the future.
The good news is that straight line predictions are almost always wrong. The future unfolds in shocks and surprises. So maybe our civilization will be annihilated by space invaders before inflation ever becomes a problem.
I think more and more people are seeing the writing on the wall. Not that it matters any; I seriously doubt that some major form of doomsday can be averted.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
See Ya, Mortgage!
Since I'm not buying any property with my "found" $69,000 and I couldn't think of anything else to do with it (I am so lame!), I gave it to the mortgage company. Plus, I transferred $9,000 from savings and my last debt has left the building. Tree Farm paid for: check. Subaru paid for: check. House paid for: check!
That's right boys and girls, I am debt free!
The problem, though, with having no debt is that I am now more inclined to give the corporate job the old heave ho. If nothing exceptional happens, at my current spending rate, I should be able to live on my savings for over 20 years. Maybe 30 years including interest income. That's assuming I don't buy any healthcare. 20 years will only get me to 65 years old. So far, I've been extremely healthy, so I expect to live to 80 or so. I don't want to count on Social Security because who knows if it'll be around in 20 years.
I could sell the tree farm sometime in the future. I was toying with putting it up on craigslist for $400,000 firm and see if I get any takers. My neighbor has been trying to sell his 5 acres for $200,000. There is another 10 acres up the road for sale for $160,000. My 40 acres for $10k an acre is a steal!
I could always pick up a dangerous hobby like motorcycling to ensure I don't make it to 80. Or maybe juggling chainsaws. Can I get disability if I am no longer working?
That's right boys and girls, I am debt free!
The problem, though, with having no debt is that I am now more inclined to give the corporate job the old heave ho. If nothing exceptional happens, at my current spending rate, I should be able to live on my savings for over 20 years. Maybe 30 years including interest income. That's assuming I don't buy any healthcare. 20 years will only get me to 65 years old. So far, I've been extremely healthy, so I expect to live to 80 or so. I don't want to count on Social Security because who knows if it'll be around in 20 years.
I could sell the tree farm sometime in the future. I was toying with putting it up on craigslist for $400,000 firm and see if I get any takers. My neighbor has been trying to sell his 5 acres for $200,000. There is another 10 acres up the road for sale for $160,000. My 40 acres for $10k an acre is a steal!
I could always pick up a dangerous hobby like motorcycling to ensure I don't make it to 80. Or maybe juggling chainsaws. Can I get disability if I am no longer working?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Property
I mentioned a week or so ago that I was looking at some acreage. I drove out there and did some tromping around. I love "unimproved" land. Add some cute Douglas Fir seedlings and I go weak in the knees.
I looked at 4 parcels. There really isn't much available in the sub-$100,000 range.
Two of the parcels were in a rural "subdivision." They were nice in that they were flat. The deal breaker on them, though, were the cruel and unusual Covenants, Restrictions, and Regulations. These CR&R would make the strictest church lady sit back in awe. There was the usual stuff of having every building, fence post, and land fill approved by a three-person architectural committee. And if the grass or weeds became taller than 10" the subdivision would hire someone to mow at the owners expense. The kicker was getting approval for the planting or removal of a brush or tree. Now I can't abide by that all. I think it should be a federal law that everyone carry a chainsaw in their vehicles and be able to demonstrate the proper felling of a tree. If a cop pulled someone over and that person was not in possession of a gassed, lubed, and sharp chainsaw the sentence would be two days of community service planting seedlings.
The third parcel was 5 acres and my favorite. It had the cute Doug Fir seedlings and was the most secluded. But there wasn't a single flat spot on it. Definitely a bulldozer could change that, but I do have to put it down as a negative. While secluded, there was a one-lane forest road along it's entire length.
The last parcel was too close to the neighbors manufactured home.
I was really keen on the 5 acres for $58,000. But then I asked myself why I wanted this land. My 40 acre tree farm is much better than all of these parcels combined.
The answer comes in two parts. Firstly, July with several days over 100 was an extremely hot month. As the heatwave progressed I had less and less energy. I went a little crazy. If the heatwave continued longer, I'm not sure what I would have done. If I wanted to live in Hell, I'd move to Texas or Florida. All of the parcels I looked at are near the Pacific Ocean and rarely get into the 70's. For me that's paradise.
The second part is I'm bored and a relocation would shake things up at least for a while. Being close to the Ocean there are opportunities for new activities like surfing and para-sailing. I need a good shake up.
I'm sure you've guessed the ending already. I'm keeping my money and am not buying anything. August is half over and my favorite season, Rain, will soon be here. I have maybe two weeks of vacation yet to use this year and I'll use that to take day trips here and there. When gas reached $4.00, I severely cut back on my travels. What is good for the wallet is not always good for mental health.
I looked at 4 parcels. There really isn't much available in the sub-$100,000 range.
Two of the parcels were in a rural "subdivision." They were nice in that they were flat. The deal breaker on them, though, were the cruel and unusual Covenants, Restrictions, and Regulations. These CR&R would make the strictest church lady sit back in awe. There was the usual stuff of having every building, fence post, and land fill approved by a three-person architectural committee. And if the grass or weeds became taller than 10" the subdivision would hire someone to mow at the owners expense. The kicker was getting approval for the planting or removal of a brush or tree. Now I can't abide by that all. I think it should be a federal law that everyone carry a chainsaw in their vehicles and be able to demonstrate the proper felling of a tree. If a cop pulled someone over and that person was not in possession of a gassed, lubed, and sharp chainsaw the sentence would be two days of community service planting seedlings.
The third parcel was 5 acres and my favorite. It had the cute Doug Fir seedlings and was the most secluded. But there wasn't a single flat spot on it. Definitely a bulldozer could change that, but I do have to put it down as a negative. While secluded, there was a one-lane forest road along it's entire length.
The last parcel was too close to the neighbors manufactured home.
I was really keen on the 5 acres for $58,000. But then I asked myself why I wanted this land. My 40 acre tree farm is much better than all of these parcels combined.
The answer comes in two parts. Firstly, July with several days over 100 was an extremely hot month. As the heatwave progressed I had less and less energy. I went a little crazy. If the heatwave continued longer, I'm not sure what I would have done. If I wanted to live in Hell, I'd move to Texas or Florida. All of the parcels I looked at are near the Pacific Ocean and rarely get into the 70's. For me that's paradise.
The second part is I'm bored and a relocation would shake things up at least for a while. Being close to the Ocean there are opportunities for new activities like surfing and para-sailing. I need a good shake up.
I'm sure you've guessed the ending already. I'm keeping my money and am not buying anything. August is half over and my favorite season, Rain, will soon be here. I have maybe two weeks of vacation yet to use this year and I'll use that to take day trips here and there. When gas reached $4.00, I severely cut back on my travels. What is good for the wallet is not always good for mental health.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I'm so proud!
I'm so proud of y'all. I see from recent headlines that you are finally ending your consumerist ways. Even at great temples of consumerism, like Costco, sales are down. Unfortunately, I slipped a bit this last month. Two of my very poor nieces are going to college in a couple of weeks and I bought them each a new laptop.
But forgive my weaknesses and keep up your own strength. The repercussions of your resistance will most definitely grow. More people will be laid off. More companies will close. The lines at the shelters will grow. Yes, we sympathize with those that suffer, but their suffering is not our fault. The buying of so many products simply could not be sustained. The end had to come sometime. Do not let the problems alter your path! Ignore the enticements of the politicians to resume spending. Ignore the bargains of the retailers. Remember, only in abstaining from buying crap will you be free!
But forgive my weaknesses and keep up your own strength. The repercussions of your resistance will most definitely grow. More people will be laid off. More companies will close. The lines at the shelters will grow. Yes, we sympathize with those that suffer, but their suffering is not our fault. The buying of so many products simply could not be sustained. The end had to come sometime. Do not let the problems alter your path! Ignore the enticements of the politicians to resume spending. Ignore the bargains of the retailers. Remember, only in abstaining from buying crap will you be free!
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