Diary of a Survivalist
April 11I did my taxes today. Boy, that really goes to show you what is wrong with our country. That just seems like an awful lot of wealth to be handing over to the government to spend on programs I don't necessarily agree with. I know this is off the track for Y2K planning, but I think of what I could do with that extra money, and I know I could put it to better use than the government. Of course, I'm mostly upset because I owe just over $1,000.
But you got to be careful, I try to keep a low profile, and part of that means paying your taxes. The law states that you can do everything legally possible to reduce your tax burden, as long as you do not cross the line. So I have a fair amount withheld and this year I am stuck paying more. I guess I over compensated for the child tax credit. Next year, however, will be a good year to under-withhold. Think of what a snafu there will be if the IRS cannot process claims and cut checks in a timely fashion. As I recall, it takes about six weeks to get a refund. You figure every day they miss in January puts them at least two days behind.
I guess the economy is ticking along at a pretty good pace, and that's a good thing for all of us. Unemployment is down -- people are still being laid off, but they are getting new jobs fairly quickly, which is the first time I can ever remember that happening. Interest rates are still reasonable. The war in Kosovo, which already seems to be trickling off the front page, is not scaring off investors, as the stock market keeps pushing up to new highs, dropping down a bit, and then going even higher a few days later. Makes me wish I had invested in Yahoo or even AOL a year or two ago. Early earnings reports are not too bad.
The only sour spot is the increase in gasoline prices -- regular unleaded is now up over $1 again. I've given up the premium stuff and going for the middle grade at $1.10 to $1.15 a gallon. When it gets up over $1.20, I'll start getting every other refill with the low-end stuff. Who would have thought that OPEC and the non-OPEC countries would have gotten together after all this time? And what is interesting is that prices rose just on the threat. Before we started feeling the decline in production, prices were rising a nickel to a dime a week. I hope it levels out pretty soon.
Will Y2K cause a market crash? The way things are going, it looks like we might never see one. On the other hand, it might just be that much worse because the market is that much higher and it catches everyone by surprise. Gold has pretty much stayed in the low $280s, so my moving money from the stock market into other items is looking like it wasn't the smartest move from an earnings perspective. But then, it has only been a few months, so time will tell. I'm not planning to reinvest until some time next year.
Well, I went to the Warehouse club after work today and spent $223. Most of it was on our regular food, but I purchased a 50 pound bag of rice, which I will experiment with by sealing into a 5-gallon bucket. I also bought another three cans of Spam, eight cans of baked beans, 5-pounds of spaghetti, a box of 72 maxi pads, 10 boxes of soap and 20 rolls of toilet paper. I considered buying 5 toothbrushes, but thought I could get a better price at Big Lots or the Dollar Store.
I did not find the 5-gallon gas containers at all. They were selling lawn mowers, but no gasoline containers, which is kind of strange. I would think this is a good time of year for that.
Speaking of good buys, however, I forgot to mention that on a recent trip to Big Lots, I purchased a bolt cutter for $9.95. This universal padlock key is worth several times that in my book. I also acquired some seeds and other products on the same trip. It is amazing what they carry there, and how it varies from store to store and week to week.
Also interesting to note is that today was the 99th day of 1999, 9999 in the Julian date format. As far as I know, nothing has happened. It will be interesting to see if the media reports any errors in the next few days.
My latest order from Ready Reserve arrived today, courtesy of my friendly UPS man. 9 cases of six cans each -- close to 250 pounds of dehydrated foods. This was the order I referred to in one of my very first posts. We now have enough canned milk to make 90 gallons, which should be ample. This one also included corn, more eggs, lots of potato slices, dices and granules, green beans, cheese, tomato powder, banana slices, chocolate pudding and other goodies. I think I have one more order pending. One with more beans and grains in it.
I have not done a complete inventory of my traditional wet-packed canned goods, but I am convinced that if we were to put them in our pantry and eat them in a normal course of events, it would take more than a year to eat them all. Of course, in a Y2K situation, that would be different, since we would not have fresh fruit, vegetables and meat unless we grew or harvested it ourselves. From what I can see clearly on the shelves -- not in boxes -- it includes 18 cans or jars of spaghetti sauce, 24 cans of tuna fish, 60 cans of different vegetables (corn, beans, peas, beats, mixed veggies, etc.), 30 cans of soups, 18 cans of Spam, 24 cans of beef stew, 24 cans of assorted pasta products, 18 or more cans of chili, 15 cans of baked beans, 4 cans of hash (I need more of these -- I love hash!) a few cans of powdered drink mixes, 10 cans of sardines, a few cans of salmon, 6 or 9 cans of canned chicken (this stuff I terribly expensive) and a some miscellaneous cans of olives and similar products. Because canned fruits seem to go bad first, I will stock this closer to the end of the year.
Hmm. When I read over this, and think how many cans it takes to make a meal, it doesn't sound like that much, but when I see it on the shelf, it takes up a great deal of room.
The UPS order also included PRI-G and PRI-D, the gas and diesel fuel preserver and some non-hybrid seeds. The seeds arrived just in time, and I may plant some this year just to see how they do. I wouldn't want to plant something next year when I really depend on it, only to find out that the growing season here is too short.
I immediately added some PRI-G to the gasoline fuel containers I have, which I had recently filled. I will have to get some more of these 50 gallon vessels, and I may take care of this Friday when I am planning to go to the Warehouse Club. I was luck and filled my containers when gas was at its recent low price. I generally add the gas to the car's tanks and then refill them every time gas prices go down slightly. This helps rotate the gas and also may help me save a few cents.
I am considering getting another container, some kind of metal drum, perhaps, to hold an additional store of gasoline. A manual pump would have to be included. Then I could fill the 5-gallon containers at different stations and pour the contents into a metal container in a protected shed. I am also considering a reserve tank for the F-150.
I am sore and my muscles hurt. I started working out yesterday, figuring that it will take a minimum of six months to be in "fighting trim," and I forgot how sore you can actually feel after a good workout. I think I will go to bed early tonight!
In and after college, I studied martial arts. After that, I joined a gym and lifted weights and used the machines to stay in shape. Even rode the bike to keep aerobically in good shape. But I stopped in my early 30s which is probably the worst time, since this is when you start adding a bit more around the middle and it gets progressively harder to take it off.
And as I have grown older, I have slowly deteriorated, with a more rapid pulse rate than ever before and legs that used to climb mountains now get tired from just standing there too long. I always knew I would someday have to get back in shape. Well, despite being able to live a couple of weeks on the food "stored" around my middle, I have decided that the inherent threat of Y2K is great enough that it is worth getting back into shape. This will be from a strength perspective as well as improving my endurance and aerobic ability.
The good thing is that when you work out, if you once had stronger muscles, they seem to return easier the second, third or subsequent time. I started with my arms and chest, doing bench presses, pull downs, row-ups and curls. Now my arms were never my strongest suit, but it is amazing how tired they got lifting the first time in who-knows how long. I am used to having some stiffness after using the chain saw for a while or dong other work, but hard, repetitive lifting is making me wince, and the day after is usually worse!
Anyway, I think it makes good sense to get into shape before facing Y2K. I look at the hostages from Kosovo, and while I do not expect to have to walk to the Canadian border, being in better shape will mean being better able to suffer physical hardship. And being in better shape will mean being better able to chop wood, or dig a garden and all the other things our forefathers did to keep in shape without doing so simply for the sake of building their muscles.
Well, I am now convinced that Y2K is nothing to worry about. I visited Peter de Jager's web site, and if he feels we have conquered Y2K, then so do I. All those little programmers working all those late nights have obviously paid off.
Embedded chips? Forget about them. Something doesn't work, just throw it out and buy a new one. It will keep our economy going in 2000!
April Fools!
OK, I'm kidding, but Peter de Jager is serious about declaring victory. We've addressed the problem, the fix is in place and the emergency has been avoided, is basically what he says. But I think this is foolish and shortsighted. Sure, we've called attention to the problem and it's beginning to be addressed. But that's only the mission critical things. What about all the non-critical applications? What about all the embedded chips? What about the people who are lying or stretching the truth to look good or earn a bonus? What about the recession? What about panic caused by people? What about a bank run and stock market crash?
De Jager concludes by saying preparing for a year is not necessary, but that preparing for several weeks or a month (I'm paraphrasing here) is still smart. He predicts there will be no TEOTWAWKI, but for me, a month without electricity, a few weeks without food a water is still a severe emergency. And while we may avoided a "global power blackout" I sure wouldn't want to be in the city that does have a power outage.
We've got about 275 days left. I'm still planning on using them to their best advantage.