Share Your Secret, Come On, I Know You Got One.

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That little idea you plan to use to keep something hidden or just a simple plan that you thought wasn't worth sharing, Something never mentioned in previous threads or was, but worth posting again. What is it? You might think it's not worth sharing, but it might be the little bit of information I need to keep my family alive. So please share it with us.

Here is mine. I'm in a small town, I plan to have heat, using my oil furance. What I plan to do about people that are drawn to the sound of my generator.---- I have it underground (the generator) in a old outside storm celler, and yes it is still reachable and secure. But the noise!! It still penatrates the outside doors. So I took a old exchaust pipe and connected it to my old old truck (which will be parked over top of it). In Winters freezing temps. when the fumes will show, it will look and sound like my truck is running to any one from more more then twenty feet away. Anyone asking why, will be told it's just recharging batteries. See Zog's post ( http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001qRd ) If you missed it.

I only need it to run for 15 -to 20 minutes at a time, maybe 4 to 8 times a day to warm the house. How long this will last before someone tries getting too close, I have no idea. It is well guarded and I'll explain that since my truck is running, any closer and I'll have to shoot. Truck and horse thiefs are still hung around here. <-That was a joke today, but maybe not next spring.

As for inviting neighbors in to keep warm. It will be crowded enough. If it's 7-10 after 3 months, my family will be biting each others heads off, add a outsider to that and I give it two weeks.

I printed out some of the better threads that give infomation on how to use a tent inside your home and stay in the basement for warmth at night. I'll hand these out to anyone who comes to by door. Could posters please repost them again?

-- SilentRunnig (CanYouHearMe@Calling.You), November 27, 1999

Answers

It's not a specific tip, and time is running out to implement it anyway. But I say, think about what your backup plan is. I went solar. I also have a good supply of oil lamps in case something destroys the solar system. I have a backup solar-powered well. But just in case, I also have a bucket that can be lowered down the well to manually draw up a couple gallons at a time.

It's inevitable that something will happen to somebody who thought they were prepared. What's the backup plan?

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), November 27, 1999.


Prayer, money ran out, long before "Gran-deur Aspirations". One auto mechanical failure after another, taking my extra money. Had to fix it, just so I could continue to go to work. Have lotsa preps., but is it enough to sustain 14, yes read it, 14 DGI's? Some of whom, are minor children. Some may say, "boot out the parents and feed the children". SHEEESH, what a thought!!!!!

-- Granny (SickandFed@whineykids.com), November 27, 1999.

Aaaaah, "silent running", that's a good one, lol.

In case anyone smells the food that I'm cooking, I'm going to put up a big sign in front of my house that says "Harry's Bar and Grill." But then when they come to the door, I'll have another sign that says "Closed." What do ya think, pretty clever, eh?

-- (just@go.away), November 27, 1999.


Granny,....LOL...Yep, only think worse is whiney adults.

JustGoAway, just go away and please die quietly. You're a whiner

-- SilentRunnig (CanYouHearMe@Calling.You), November 27, 1999.


Mr/Ms. Silent Running, I regret my offer of levity has offended you. I make an attempt to show, that not all have the dollars. And, sometimes, circumstances, surround us

-- Granny (Sickandfed@whineykids.com), November 27, 1999.


As a matter of fact, I do have some secrets that may save your family's life.

* Instant rice doesn't need to be cooked. Just soak it (equal parts) in cold water for about 20-30 minutes, then eat it cold. If you find yourself without fuel for whatever reason, having precooked rice on hand is a valuable back-up plan.

* Angel hair pasta (capellini) can also be prepared w/out fuel by soaking in cold water, but it takes longer, and it's not easy to achieve 'al dente'.

* In a no-heat situation, a down comforter (or sleeping bag) will save your life. Nothing comes close to the insulating power of down.

* If you have enough to eat but no heat, run in place for 15-20 minutes. The human body is a very efficient converter of fuel to heat. Old people die every winter of hypothermia because they just sit there.

* Find a way to keep your sense of humor alive. Few people have ever died laughing.

-- semper paratus (always@ready.now), November 27, 1999.


Granny,...No!! you didn't insult me. The second line was for the person below your answer. Your predicament is alot like mine,... just doing what we can. When I read your response all I could think of was the movie "Grapes of Wrath" on Provo channel this week. You're the salt of the earth, the people "Ma" spoke of at the end. You will make it.

-- SilentRunnig (CanYouHearMe@Calling.You), November 27, 1999.

silent,

So you were insulting me eh? Some thanks I get for sharing my secret! The "just go away" was meant for the people who want my food.

-- Harry (we@are.closed), November 27, 1999.


Granny; Just tell the parents, "Get out there and set some traps! We need meat!" They will surely be willing to take care of the kiddies. You might do some searching on the web looking for that kind of information as it is out there. Teach those "city kids" one can eat possum, house cat, dog, even rat. Actually rat (raised in the wild or in a cage) is pretty darn good, truthfully. Having had it myself and all.

:)

-- osiris (...@.......), November 27, 1999.


My secret, hmmm. Well, I don't think I have any. The archery equipment? Nope. The black powder firearms? Nope. The HUGE tank of propane? Nope. Perhaps it is my slingshot... I guess that might be a secret because nobody much knows about how efficient a hunting weapon they are when armed with 5/16" cubes honed to a razor edge on the corners... perhaps that is it. Trapping, not that either. It is a rare skill these days (in my area) but there are many who know it.

I wish I could say I had a secret... but the only secrets I keep are those I had to sign for long ago.

-- (...@.......), November 27, 1999.



My secret is that I've been hording Xanax from prescriptions I get from my dentist (scared spitless of dentists) and my doctor when I have to have certain tests, etc. If things get weird I can take one Xanax a day and have about a 3 month supply. Will I be an addict by then????

The bad thing is I've had to go to the dentist office cold turkey to stash the drugs. Actually I think he didn't mean to give me a refill but he did last time I went. maybe he just felt sorry for me...

-- LindaO. (feelingno@pain.com), November 27, 1999.


Frequently, after watching a hot chick mudwrestling video, I needlepoint.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), November 27, 1999.

My secret is that I bought enough Potassium Iodide tablets for my entire family. I haven't told my wife about the purchase, and don't intend to...I hope.

For those who don't know about Potassium Iodide: it's a FDA approved product that fills your thyroid up with "good iodide" so that you can't absorb radioactive Iodide, which concentrates in the thyroid, then kills you slowly, maybe after many years, of cancer. Nice to have if your neighborhood nuke plant has one of those "bump in the road" things.

It's not expensive...about $18 for 10 tablets from watertanks.com.

-- joe (joe@adeveloper.net), November 27, 1999.


Dear Silent Running, we are reduced to depending upon, one another, in this life, and to the Spirit we call. Dang!, I thought I controlled my entire life, and I HAVE MESSED IT UP, TO A FARE THE WELL! Guess I need some outside help. Since I can't make my life happen ,totally, to my expectations. Else Wise, I would be a TOTALY BILLIONERNESS, WITH A ZILLION PAPER BACK BUCKS. But you can, bet your tomorrow, that I am going to be investigating those "Water Hose" HOGS that state "their hose is not for Human Consumption". Call me THUNDER THIGHS!! Let us all go forward! And Demand a truth! They talk and label "Food Expiration date", therefore you toss it into the trash, and "go buy another" Well,Hells Bells! my friend. "They" talk of botulism in Honey, they most natural food, that Nature Provides. They are lying. Honey, was God's Nature, put on this earth, unless mankind "messes" it with. Let us Demand their Truth!

-- Granny (Icanhearyou@.calling.com), November 27, 1999.

Joe,

Good luck on the Pot. Iodide. It is too bitter for folks to take. Get Pot. Iodate. It's OK.

-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), November 27, 1999.



Silent Running,

Would have been a good post if their were any one alive reading it. I'm thinking 4 out of 5 of these preparers are dead already. I go to sleep everynight with a smile on my face from picturing King Of Spain saying his line to a lady national guardsmen. (Don't bring a noodle to a knife fight boy) Anyway, I hope you learned from this.

-- Chat Room (Slut@aol.com), November 27, 1999.


Thanks Slut,

I did, I guess this forum turned into the Will Smith school of snappy come-backs, like you said a month ago. Fastest way to die in the new world.

-- SilentRunnig (CanYouHearMe@Calling.You), November 27, 1999.


Joe: I took care of the potassium iodide today! I got enough for my entire family! A 14 day supply for 1 person was $10! How much was yours?

-- Crono (Crono@timesend.com), November 28, 1999.

Linda, Xanax is highly addictive. Try to start with a quarter of one if you are freaked out. Don't take it regularly. Take it irregularly and try not to get habituated. Best.

Good secret about instant rice, BTW.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 28, 1999.


Think about having a means to distill water. They are numerous reasons for this and some I don't want to even face myself. I picked up a pre-made still from Jade Mountain, but it would be easy to jury rig something with plastic tubing and some pots. Reasons, 1) Water is very important. 2) Water filter doesn't work as well as hoped 3) Need for distilled water for medicinal purposes (contacts, health concerns etc) 4) chemical contamination of water supply that water filter is not designed for 5) Water filter needs run beyond useful lifespan 6) the one I don't like to consider, radioactive contamination of water supply -> any filter would rapidly become highly radioactive while a still could be cleared with source water before radioactivity (or chemical contamination) concentrated in tubing or pans. I feel the lack of emphasis on a possible means of distilling water is a potential area of serious oversight in attempts to prep for any Y2K induced lack of basic services. I also feel diarrheal illness is a serious potential threat we face (who can give me the name of that marine unit in the South Pacific in WWII that cut the bottom off there pants to keep fighting?). Let's hope it doesn't get to anywhere near that. Good question SR.

-- PD (PaulDMaher@att.worldnet.com), November 28, 1999.

My secret? Horse or livestock feed stores. You can get 50 pound salt blocks for $3.50, 50 pds of corn $4.00, 50 pds rolled oats $7.00, 50 pounds wheat $8.00, 50 pounds lime or stall freshner $5.00. Just call around to horse or livestock "Feed and Tack" "Horse Goods" etc. They are in every majort city and rural area.

Loved the instant rice tip thanks.

-- Stacia (ClassyCwgl@aol.com), November 28, 1999.


Listen .....(ooh waaaah oooh)

Do you wanna know a secret? .....(oooh waa oooo)

Do you promise not to tell? ....(oh, oooo woe O..)

Closer.

Ok, here's a good one. Ghb-pre-metabolites. Search web for "Somatopro". Legal, ultra-effective, chill-pills. They bring on emotional maturity and a sense of well-being. FDA prob'ly dislikes 'em b'cause they're wholesome and effective and non-copywriteable. GHB is illegal in lotsa places...which means...Mammals are illegal...you and I are ilegal, possums are illegal, your cat is illegal - the stuff occurs naturally in each of our cells!!! It's a crazy legal situation, buying the pre-metabolite gets you around it.

It just makes your own body produce more of the stuff, the pill contains no illegal (or dangerous) chem's. Emotional stability and Ride-with-the-bumps-yness with be worth a hell of a lot in the near future. Stuff been used for 30 years in Europe, it has no noticeable ill-effects. It's probably the most useful chemical to come down the pipeline in our lifetimes, which is why you've never heard of it. It's the superior competitor to Prozac etc, and maybe to alcohol etc. Has some MDMA'ish characteristics, but it's not really like that. Three pills a day and you're well-adjusted, 10 and you throw up. Most unnoxious chemical composition.

Think of all the drugs/substances you've ever heard of. Some are fairly beign, some are horrid. Some are useful, some are useless. Bhutane and Crack and Heroine and thalydomide are at one end of the spectrum, Ghb (and it's nifty pre-metabolites) are at the very distant other end....think about it...something had to be! Exploit the loophole, before the bozo's/villains plug it up.

(no attempts made at annonimity, I'm assuming such a post get's unwanted attention. Hi lads, honestly, we really are both on the same side. love, no.6 :~? )

-- number six (oh, I don't have one@peacelovehopetruth.com), November 28, 1999.


My Secret:

At K-Mart in the tool type area are battery operated closet lights. They are round, large, and one pushes the whole surface to switch them on. I put them right above the toilet paper rollers so there's no hapless victim caught in the dark due to an unexpected outage or during an outage having a flashlight going out, dropping ecetera.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 28, 1999.


Clovite is an animal feed supplement that can be given to any animal (part of my chicken feed plan if pre-made runs out). Just bought a red LED light from a local mountaineering store- $16, 1 AA battery lasts 41 hours, bulb should go 100,000 hours! Light is bright enough to read by at night. Due to oversupply almond prices are quite low this year- $2.50/lb. retail. Golden West Nuts is local outfit that will ship 530-345-3352. Sprout the nuts to increase nutrition and to make them softer to masticate. Have you got a good quantity of raw sunflower seeds? They are probably the most perfect human food. How about lots of pasta, Kraft parmesan cheese and olive oil (3 litres 1st cold pressed from Costco for $12)? I know my wife and kids will eat it! If storing quantities of grain do you have a wheat grass juicer. Found a mag light holder for the 3 or 4 D cell models that loops on belt- took a long night walk with my boy - it was handy for lugging that 3 cell light around. Made an investment- bought 5 gallon rubbermaid gas cans; filled them with premium quality gas and treatment. Am stashing these in several spots- for trading or ? Just got my 9 year old a kitten. If things go south it will be a comfort for him. Come end of Dec. I'm going back to Costco for a few bags of potatoes- these should last a couple months even in our mild climate. Already have my ketchup and A1 sauce. Got a case of sweet and sour sauce at local restraurant supply house (rest of family isn't crazy about rice- chicken bouillon helps though; s &s sauce is only a couple pennies/ unit and they give it a big thumbs up. Also got a lot of moist towelettes cheap there)

-- skipper clark (skipper@cncnet.com), November 28, 1999.

a butane curling iron!!!

o.k. just kidding. After the essentials, I started stalking up on books and learning activities for my girls.

Good Rice Tip!

-- yoursovain (karlacalif@aol.com), November 28, 1999.


OK, here is mine...

I am actually a dog...

It's a bitch to hit the right keys with paws...

(snicker)

The Dog

-- The Dog (dogdesert@hotmail.com), November 28, 1999.


Instant rice?! Blaaaaa! Why give yourself a nutritional meltdown? All grains and beans will sprout and can be mushed into cheeses after fermenting on the counter, or just eaten. No need to cook anything! By the way, I want a secret alarm to protect my chicken coop, perhaps a trip wire with a bell? The coop is about 50feet from the house. Thanks, and thanks for the tip about the toilet roll lights. Now that's a good idea!

-- Chicken Ma (got@getrunning.com), November 28, 1999.

My secret? Sandbags. When I hear people in this forum start to talk about severe civil discord (man, does that sound oxymoronic), they seem to have a pat answer for the situation: start shooting. IMHO, this is a dangerous (and barbaric) oversimplification... firing a gun ought to be a last resort, not a first. Find a way to raise your response to the appropriate level without "on or off" lethality as your only alternative.

I don't think I've ever seen a posting here about field fortifications and defensive positions. If you've researched Y2K and you've concluded that things are going "Milne" or "Infomagic" then I hope you've realised that you want to put something substantial between you and those high velocity projectiles that can slice through your home like a hot knife through butter (forgive the cliche).

An alternative to sandbags might be discarded tires packed with dirt. Ask the manager of a tire store if you can haul some away for a landscaping project, i.e., a retaining wall for an eroding slope. He'll likely tell you to take all you want (saves him the dump fees). If you set yourself up properly you can hunker down in relative safety while the bad guys waste their tiny supply of ammo trying to take you out. Along these lines, remember this: Never (and I mean NEVER) take a shot unless you can see behind your target and you know it's clear. If my neighbor panics and starts blasting .223 in all directions I will personally deny him his right to own a firearm.

-- Choirboy (choirboy@hellzchoir.edu), November 28, 1999.


My secrets? Realizing how much infection can getcha (I had a great- aunt who died of the flu in 1918 at the age of 19), I have stocked up on something I always normally kept: Echinacea and Goldenseal. Both herbs that the Native American Indians knew about. They boost the immune system. I was really leery of "herbal supplements" until I had emergency surgery in September of 98, then an appendectomy two weeks later, then a terrible terrible sinus infection that wouldn't go away, and finally, pnuemonia that came on so fast it was unbelievable. I had never been so sick so much in my life. My doctor said two major surgeries in two weeks can really weaken your immune system and he actually recommended those herbs. I tried them and they worked. Now if I start to feel sniffly or "yucky" I up my quantity of orange juice (something I will REALLY miss if things are bad), continue with the daily multi-vitamin, and add the echinacea and goldenseal. Works every time. Better than antibiotics.

Oh and if that doesn't work I bought some amoxicillin from a friend of mine who goes to Mexico about once a month to visit family.

And my biggest secret of all? Accepting, at the age of 29, my own mortality. Has made all the difference in the world, and has actually improved the quality of my life. It took about a year, to really accept, by the way. Hardest thing I have ever done.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 28, 1999.


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