Posted on 07/24/2009 3:37:21 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition Category: Roundups | Comments(15)
Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.
To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.
The Frugal Roundup
How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)
Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)
Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)
Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)
40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)
Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)
5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)
A Few Others I Enjoyed
* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance
>>>Cashmere was the first to catch a mouse about 2 months ago! She was so proud and came over prancing to me, that she dropped it. So cute!<<<
LOL, it is amazing how they do that for approval... Our 3 legged cat does the same thing. Only problem was that my wife did not think it was too funny when she caught one and deposited it on her pillow to show her... With the scream my wife let out, I don’t think the cat will do that again...
Audience: Cardiology and endocrinology healthcare professionals
FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it is reviewing preliminary data from a recent study suggesting that patients using sibutramine have a higher number of cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or death) than patients using a placebo (sugar pill). Sibutramine is marketed as Meridia, a prescription drug, in the United States. Meridia was approved by FDA in 1997 for the management of obesity, including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet. Meridia is only recommended for obese patients with an initial body mass index (BMI) 30 kg/m2, or BMI 27 kg/m2 with other risk factors (e.g., diabetes, high cholesterol, controlled high blood pressure).The analysis of these data is ongoing and FDA is making no conclusions about the preliminary findings at this time. These findings highlight the importance of avoiding the use of sibutramine in patients with a history of coronary artery disease (heart disease), congestive heart failure (CHF), arrhythmias, or stroke, as recommended in the current sibutramine labeling.
Read the MedWatch safety summary, including a link to the FDA Early Communication about an Ongoing Safety Review, at:
What 60 vote to discuss, 50 + the vp will pass...<<<
And I got a news alert that says it did pass.
This is all so scary, that it has to be a nightmare that we will wake up from, won’t we?
been stockpiling cat food when it’s on sale, but all the bags seem to expire about a year out from the purchase date.<<<
I am thinking about your question, rotation is of course the answer.
Maybe it would be wiser to study what is in the cat foods and gather the recipes for making the foods yourself, for the grains alone, will last longer than a bag of cat food.
Your chickens, ducks and hogs, etc will also eat cat food, if they can find it.
I suspect that after a year, the oils in the food are rancid and then it will not be eaten.
It allows you to map the waterline with different levels of sea level increases...<<<
First California will have to break off and fall in the ocean and then I can begin to see the ocean, a mere 20 miles away.
I had a plot about 10’ X 25’ with them and got about 120 nice ones. Definitely planting more next year. Maybe even try some of them in a three sisters planting.<<<
Sounds good to me.
The best one that I ever cooked, was a simple cut in half and bake, then I served it with the half full of a hot sausage stirfry, just a simple, onion, celery and swiss chard stir fry.
Served with rice, it was fantastic.
The extra eggs, I put in cakes and breads, they will all take more eggs than called for, just cut the water down, so it comes out right......LOL, makes the cakes good for you.
I have buckets, mylar, oxygen absorbers at hand.<<<
You were on my mind when I posted it.
It is the kind of information we don’t often see.
I’m afraid the bad dreams have just begun.<<<
Yes, you are right.
I won’t live long enough to see the laws this ‘o’ has messed with reversed...
The insanity in Washington has reached the streets.
I thought about drying it out in the oven, pulverizing it so it would compress, then storing it that way.<<<
I would think the heat would kill the vitamins, etc and speed up the oils deterioration.
Better to bake them cookies for cats and bake them dry enough that they will eat them, if they must have dry food.
In the wild, they eat meat and grasses, no dry foods that I can think of.
You can store the grains, even dehydrated butters and margarine, dried milk, and other goodies, such as a nutritional yeast.....I used to give mine yeast pills.
My TT got out the door, when I was feeding the feral cats and they have run him off.
5 days and not a sign of him.
He always slept all morning, so I didn’t miss him for hours.
Purr Baby is so scared that I will put her out, that she spends 24 hours a day touching me, so I will know how special she is.
bookmark bump this thread
Thanks to Eagle 50 ae for the link to this site, for shortwave radio information and survival info....granny
http://www.w2ik.com/FAMILY_PREPAREDNESS.html
[Snipped from the page of excellent infromation]
High Target Areas: A Short Explanation
High target sites for terrorism are those high profile places that the most physical and psychological damage can be done using the least amount of destructive energy. Using a few pounds of explosive to destroy a roadway in the desert and hardly a soul will know, nor will it attain any media attention. Our lives will not feel threatened nor will we alter our lifestyles. Take that same amount of explosive to destroy a railway bridge, which may go unnoticed until a train crashes killing many people, and the media will descend on the site like locusts, developing wild stories when they drag in “would-be experts” and create confusion and fear among the public. In doing so, it will strip away some of our inner feelings of security. The more media attention an event gets, the more fear will be induced and encourage additional terrorist actions by either the original group or by “copycat” people, who use the opportunity as a means of becoming noticed and usually are not part of any “cause”.
High target sites may include, but are not limited to:
Any military base or installation
Major bridges and tunnels linking larger cities (such as The Golden Gate Bridge or The Lincoln Tunnel) IF THERE IS A “NEXT TARGET”, IT WILL PROBABLY BE ONE OF THESE SINCE “CAR BOMBS” ARE CHEAP YET EFFECTIVE.
Any utility plant, especially electrical with interconnections to inter-state power grids (since we always equate darkness with fear)
Public water supplies
Any type of chemical plant or any manufacturing plant that uses large amounts of chemicals such as a fertilizer company
Any Federal Government building
Any tall structures (such as the “Space Needle” in Seattle)
National and State Monuments (such as The Statue Of Liberty, The Washington Monument or The Alamo)
Professional sports stadiums (such as Yankee Stadium)
Large “national type” amusement parks or zoos (such as Disney World or Sea World)
Major transportation hubs (such as Grand Central Station)
Major Airports
Toxic Waste Handling Plants and Containment Areas
Nuclear power plants and processing facilities (within 50 miles)
Transcontinental Railway lines
Any jetliner flight
Down river from any dam
Any subway system (underground systems for their sheer terror potential)
Any vacation-type cruise ship
Terrorists wish to instill as much fear as possible. By damaging those things we hold as symbols of our country and our way of life they hope to shatter our ideals, dreams and security. There are sites in every state that they’d wish to destroy, not so much for the loss of life, but for the loss of our dignity and faith in who we are. Here, in Texas, one of the most venerated places is the Alamo in San Antonio. It represents our resolve in the face of insurmountable odds. The Alamo stands as a monument as revered in Texas as the Statue Of Liberty is to most of America. If either were destroyed, or even seriously damaged by a terrorist attack, it could cripple our spirit. There are many such high target places in our country that even though they can be rebuilt they can never be replaced. There are many people charged with the security of these places and they have our respect for the work they do. You can help them by being observant to anyone who exhibits strange behavior. If you see someone acting odd, do not turn and walk away. Be part of that great caring that is America and report anything you see or hear to the proper authorities. This also holds true when you are on vacation. What greater damage to the spirit of America than if a place such as “Disney World” were damaged by a terrorist? What fright would be created if we felt that even an amusement park wasn’t safe. To be sure, places like this have remarkable security forces that are trained in counter-terrorism, but extra sets of eyes couldn’t hurt.
Oil and gas depots, refineries, major ports, and places of commerce and industry are also high risk areas. The risk level varies depending upon if an area or building were crippled or destroyed in an attack what damage would be done to our psyche and our economy. When the World Trade Centers fell, besides the saddening loss of so many innocent lives, there was a profound effect on our economy. Most of the banks and financial institutions have learned a hard lesson and now backup their records to low-target areas. In 2001, lost records created financial shockwaves that took many months to recover. The ensuing ripple effect also meant loss of jobs and further fear.
SO WHAT SHOULD CONCERN US?
Aside from the natural threats coming from mother nature, we do need to be concerned, but not overwhelmed, about other threats, some of which can be initiated by terrorists, carelessness or just plain stupidity. Threats involving chemicals are one of these incidents that need consideration. Every day there are thousands of gallons of chemicals being transported throughout the country by rail or tanker truck. Some of these chemicals are relatively harmless in nature. There are many, however, that are extremely toxic. In most cases the liquid chemical spills which might occur during accidents can be quickly contained. It is the gaseous variety that need more attention by the public. There may be a point in time when a spill due to a tanker truck accident will release fumes or gas.
Depending upon the gas, it might either quickly raise above ground level and be quickly dissipated OR it might remain ground level as it spreads. This last type is the most dangerous as it can spread to a neighborhood and engulf it in a deadly plume. The public has been told during certain emergencies to seal all your windows and air conditioners. This may hold true when there are just irritants and particulates in the air, but since houses were built to “breathe”, it offers little protection against poison gas. (If you live out in the country you’ll agree that homes breathe if you’ve ever smelled the caustic odor of a road-killed skunk from miles away even when every window and door in your home is shut.) The best way of surviving a poison gas event is to get out of the area as fast as possible while remaining upwind of the spill. During an event like this it might be life-or-death if you fail to listen to your local news and follow the directions of local government officials. Pay special attention to what the police and fire departments have to say as they are trained in this type of spill. There are special hazardous material “HAZMAT” teams that are both equipped and trained to deal with containment. Listen to them. Do exactly what they say as you may not get a second chance. If you live in an area where there is a chemical plant, you can consider yourself in a high target area. You don’t need to become overly worried, but you need to be alert. With deliveries and shipments via trucks or rail there remains a higher risk that an accident or terrorist event might take place. With this in mind, make plans for several evacuation routes away from the plant (based upon wind direction) in the event that your family has to leave. If you are in such an area, consult with your local police and fire departments about any alert system they have in place. If there is no alert plan, get your community together by discussing the development of a plan at a town meeting. A good alert plan might be the same as those developed in areas which have a nuclear power plants. (This is another high target area. The only proper response to a problem at a nuclear power plant is to evacuate WITH your home bag.) These nuclear power plant alert systems usually involve a series of powerful signaling horns or sirens that ONLY signal in the event of a problem. An alternative alert system might involve a special series of blasts from the fire department horns. The only drawback to this second choice is that we have become acclimated to it’s sound so many might ignore it or confuse it’s signal with that of a fire call out. A re-education of the public and a few test drills would be needed. Either way, make sure your community has an alert system in place if you reside in an area that has a chemical plant. Also check to see that your fire department and police department have the proper training and plans to cope with a chemical HAZMAT emergency. If you see a chemical spill remain as far away from it as possible and report it to the proper authorities. Armed with this additional planning, you become better prepared in the event such an occurrence takes place.
Remember that a “one-point” terrorist act might also evolve into a “multidimensional event”. These are disasters that trigger or combine with weaknesses within an area that will result in a “super event”. An example of a super event that might occur is if due to a terrorist attack a plane crashes during an emergency landing at San Antonio Airport. Depending upon it’s direction and altitude, during such a crash it might clip or hit the chemical tanker cars that Union Pacific routinely has parked on it’s tracks that parallel along Wetmore Avenue and are adjacent to the airport. I have read some of the contents of these tankers... very scary. Let’s say the plane attempts a landing but crashes into these tankers releasing their contents. The plane, as it crashes, continues another 300 feet. At that point it might hit the aviation fuel stored in large tanks at the outer perimeter of the airport where other planes (delivery services, etc.) are also parked. So, in this one crash event the plane ruptures dangerous chemicals from the tanker cars, hits the volatile aviation fuel and sparks a tremendous fireball that ejects toxic fumes from the chemicals into the air. This “super event” would mean the evacuation of tens of thousands of nearby residents and businesses. Since the major wind direction in this area of Texas can change on an hourly basis, coming from the Gulf, Mexico or from the North, as a precaution the evacuation would have to cover all residences/businesses within a 360 degree area for many miles. This would also force the closings of two very major highways: Rt 410 and 281. If you are in the emergency “business”, you’d better plan for this type of thing to happen. This is why you need to make several evacuation routes from your home or business and several other places to shelter. Planning is very important. Take the time. Make plans. Discuss these plans with family members and neighbors.
continued.
Glad you checked the thread out, you are welcome to join in, it is a fine group of Freepers that post here.
Usually, grain prices fall at harvest time - not so this year...
Could it be the rain-reduced harvest? Devalued dollar? Increased population demands? Anticipation of shortage?
Regardless of the cause, deflation does not seem to be in the mix... Definitely inflationary. Hope you weren’t lured into corn burning stove with the $2 corn of two years ago - at today’s prices it would sure be expensive...
Current Grain Market Information
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The following is current grain market information from Carl German, Extension Marketing Specialist, UD.
From the close on September 4th to November 18th, Dec ’09 corn futures rallied 92 cents per bushel, from $3.06 to $3.98 per bushel; and Dec ’10 corn futures rallied 84 cents per bushel, from $3.56 to $4.40 per bushel.
Since October 5th, Jan ’10 soybean futures rallied $1.37 per bushel, from $8.90 to $10.27; Nov ’10 soybean futures rallied $1.32 per bushel, from $8.87 to $10.19 per bushel; Dec ’09
SRW wheat futures rallied $1.24 per bushel, from $4.42 to $5.66 per bushel; July ’10 SRW wheat futures rallied $1.23 per bushel, from $4.86 to $6.09 per bushel.
http://kentagextension.blogspot.com/2009/11/current-grain-market-information_19.html
Lord, Bless us all! [DW]
The price of Healthcare Legislation...
Amazing how everyone has their price.....
AARP sold out their support for $18,176,224 According to Recovery.gov (of course they will say there is no connection)
AMA sold out for $210 Billion promise of not cutting Medicare payments to Doctors next year. (Shhh don’t talk about that yet...)
Mary Landrieu $100 Million (or according to her she isn’t that cheap of a date - $300 Million was her price - geesh came right out and said it too- even proud of it.....)
Wonder how many others were ‘bought’?
Total cost - DON’T ASK!!!!!!!
And the Gov’t commissions didn’t even wait for the vote to start rationing - Mammograms, PAP’s - just the tip of the iceburg!!!!!
Following their guidelines, I would have been a widower for the past 25 years!
I don’t have 16 in the house, thank goodness. Nearly all are still feral cats. I have two of the six kittens from the last litter and my daughter next door has the other 4. We have many out buildings, pole barn, wood shed, toolshed and garages so we save all old blankets and comforters for bedding for the ferals and feed them out there. The kittens will stay inside until they are old enough to be neutered. FFF (friends of feral felines) has assured us that if they are all neutered, eventually all will die of old age.
DelaWhere, so glad to hear of the good cholesterol results. Never did believe that warning about 2-3 eggs a WEEK. Daughters dog is a fussy eater (all our animals are as they know we will cater to their whims) but likes scrambled egg, so he gets 2-3 every day along with whatever else I can convince him to eat. No lowly dog food for him, lol. Right on, as to the butternuts. I always save the seeds from the biggest and best formed of my tomatoes and squash and I will be planting butternut next spring. I am also furnishing the squash for Thanksgiving dinner.
Does anyone else find things on sale at a good price this holiday season? I can’t believe some of the buys after the sharp increases we have experienced in the past months. We have turkey at 39 and 40 cents a pound in several stores, coffee at 4.99 for large cans, chicken broth at 45 cents a can. Campbells creamed soups at 58 cents, cranberry sauce at 68 cents and many other good buys. I have been stocking up until my pantry is bulging and hubby, who stores away the groceries and does most of the cooking is hollering “enough, already.”
>>>Does anyone else find things on sale at a good price this holiday season?<<<
Absolutely! Visited WallyMart Friday - Turkeys @ .40 - was totally amazed that they have ‘Great Value’ brand products showing up on every aisle - a lot of them! Lots more items in larger packaging too. Even #10 cans of powdered milk - (although it is not with regular powdered milk, but with the other Goya brand specialty items - and almost half the price found elsewhere). Even in the bacon, bigger packages and their ‘Great Value’ brand... I think they are viewing the future and know they will have to meet the needs of the shopping public. Oh, and they had a HUGE (6’ high and about 12’ long) display of sliced white bread - $.49 for a large loaf!!! (still prefer my own though)
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