I've seen it all..lol.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The world might be Fallin' but cake makes it better.
I just had to post this poster I did for a sleep terrors poster. I did a little extra credit paper for sleep disorders. It's amazing what you can do with a sharpie and some construction paper. If you'd like to imagine the scale of it - the smallest polka dot is the size of a penny.
---
Don't let people in your study group and lab group know that you cook for a living...
Last week someone had asked to see my portfolio and I brought it because I'm not ashamed...and a few people piped in Hey it's my birthday. So I finished up submitting some assignments and made some simple chocolate cupcakes and chocolate frosting. I'm just waiting for Mr. Man to come home with that sugar so I can bake off a 7up cake (I accidentally stored a regular bag into long term storage haha).
Times might be tough - but it's a nice little respite to make a few people's day. I also made enough for my lab partners birthday which is tomorrow. I feel that since there are very few people I like that when I do like them it's nice to do something for them and not expect anything in return. As tough as I might sound I do have a strong altruistic nature, it's only when I am betrayed or shown ignorance that I become apathetic.
Man it's going to be a LONG walk with all these pastries and my bookbag and my laptop. But I'm sure there won't be a shortage of volunteers
The high cost of WhuuuuuuuT!
So I went to the store yesterday and damn near lost my mind...
celery stalk $1.99 ea
cocoa powder, dutch $5.69 a lb - supposedly sale price
Mexican gray squash $1.99 a lb
zucchini $1.79
regular gas - $3.28/gal
premium gas - $3.48/gal
sugar (4lb now not 5lb) - 3.99
Then...I read an article about how there is an increase of home invasions by ARMED burglars and these are not being reported in the news so as not to "alarm homeowners." Really? They are breaking into good neighborhoods that they do not live in, that they are casing, and then taking off and getting away with it. Seriously? Unbelievable.
Then...my Psych teacher told us that a few months ago she was walking across the parking lot around 7am and some young guy mugged her for her purse and laptop. What? She chased him about 2 blocks while calling the cops and he dropped her stuff and ran. Mind you, our campus is in a nice neighborhood with plenty of sheriffs around - when I told Mr. Man this he really is encouraging me to carry concealed loaded. I think that's a bit much.
If you can't read a sign - then I'm sure you can see a billboard. All that stuff I just wrote about is on a BILLBOARD. Because of weather conditions (frost and floods) expect everything to go up in price because it's already heading there. If you do not have at LEAST a month of food and water in your house you better get with it now. If I'm wrong then you just eat what you get...I pray that I'm wrong every morning that I wake up I pray that I am just being overly cautious and things aren't going downhill and all general population has is a digicam and a bottle of Gatorade. I pray every morning for the safety of my friends and family. I pray every day that I can discern enemies from friends. I live in the now but get ready for tomorrow.
This past week we tried to discuss the inflation spiral and preps with a couple friends. I think one of them agrees and has about a weeks worth of food and is planning on getting a weapon, my only concern is that he has this false perception of time. Erm, the time is now. A second friend of ours acts like he is on board ---but stubbornly hangs onto that notion bias that "oh that could never happen" I simply told him not to be naive. He actually said,"well I will just come over to your house..." I laughed and said "no you won't, not empty handed..." Mr. Man said,"that is rude...just plain rude. You don't want to prepare yourself but you will come over and eat my shit, use my shit and borrow my shit. That's not going to happen." Really, really, really unbelievable. I don't worry about my friends out of state too much because they have the means to get stores if they needed to.
We have 'friends' who have children and even newborns - who look at us like we have a tin foil hat on when we talk to them. I finally just told them - look I'm not some Area 51 dork who thinks they got abducted and given an ASS probe so don't shake off what I say. Because if they don't want to have anything they are free to do that. We tell our friends because we feel that it is our obligation to "ring the warning bell," to have 'just in case' stuff in the house. I am absolutely mortified that anyone with children would be so IGNORANT as not to have anything in place for emergency. Don't get it twisted -- even if you come to my door with that child on your hip I will still turn your ass away and not even think twice about it. I heard Mr. Man say to his so-called friend,"If I have to decide between my sanity and your starvation - then your ass is going to starve."
No one can prepare you as well as you prepare yourself.
As horrified as I am about what's going on - I can at least breathe that we are insulated against any sudden fluctuations or disasters or any unknowns.
On the upside...I'm getting 3 A's and an A- (math)...my psychology professor just gave me a barrel of oranges and grapefruits. Valentines was fun...we just spent some time together over dinner and talked politics, how far we've come and where we want to go. Today we hit about 833 lbs in food preps. My seedlings are blooming (my first attempt!) for jubilee and roma tomatoes, armenian cucumber, thai basil, spinach and green beans. Let's hope I can make those actually become a town crop lol. My head finally stopped having that exploding feeling after I added Vitamin B-12 and ginseng to my supplements.
Mr. Man has started a video log - to encourage others to prep. Especially trying to encourage people of color to prep. We're doing our best to be helpful but sometimes we might as well be talking to a cactus.
It's all a bit much...but we just have to keep it Movin'
celery stalk $1.99 ea
cocoa powder, dutch $5.69 a lb - supposedly sale price
Mexican gray squash $1.99 a lb
zucchini $1.79
regular gas - $3.28/gal
premium gas - $3.48/gal
sugar (4lb now not 5lb) - 3.99
Then...I read an article about how there is an increase of home invasions by ARMED burglars and these are not being reported in the news so as not to "alarm homeowners." Really? They are breaking into good neighborhoods that they do not live in, that they are casing, and then taking off and getting away with it. Seriously? Unbelievable.
Then...my Psych teacher told us that a few months ago she was walking across the parking lot around 7am and some young guy mugged her for her purse and laptop. What? She chased him about 2 blocks while calling the cops and he dropped her stuff and ran. Mind you, our campus is in a nice neighborhood with plenty of sheriffs around - when I told Mr. Man this he really is encouraging me to carry concealed loaded. I think that's a bit much.
If you can't read a sign - then I'm sure you can see a billboard. All that stuff I just wrote about is on a BILLBOARD. Because of weather conditions (frost and floods) expect everything to go up in price because it's already heading there. If you do not have at LEAST a month of food and water in your house you better get with it now. If I'm wrong then you just eat what you get...I pray that I'm wrong every morning that I wake up I pray that I am just being overly cautious and things aren't going downhill and all general population has is a digicam and a bottle of Gatorade. I pray every morning for the safety of my friends and family. I pray every day that I can discern enemies from friends. I live in the now but get ready for tomorrow.
This past week we tried to discuss the inflation spiral and preps with a couple friends. I think one of them agrees and has about a weeks worth of food and is planning on getting a weapon, my only concern is that he has this false perception of time. Erm, the time is now. A second friend of ours acts like he is on board ---but stubbornly hangs onto that notion bias that "oh that could never happen" I simply told him not to be naive. He actually said,"well I will just come over to your house..." I laughed and said "no you won't, not empty handed..." Mr. Man said,"that is rude...just plain rude. You don't want to prepare yourself but you will come over and eat my shit, use my shit and borrow my shit. That's not going to happen." Really, really, really unbelievable. I don't worry about my friends out of state too much because they have the means to get stores if they needed to.
We have 'friends' who have children and even newborns - who look at us like we have a tin foil hat on when we talk to them. I finally just told them - look I'm not some Area 51 dork who thinks they got abducted and given an ASS probe so don't shake off what I say. Because if they don't want to have anything they are free to do that. We tell our friends because we feel that it is our obligation to "ring the warning bell," to have 'just in case' stuff in the house. I am absolutely mortified that anyone with children would be so IGNORANT as not to have anything in place for emergency. Don't get it twisted -- even if you come to my door with that child on your hip I will still turn your ass away and not even think twice about it. I heard Mr. Man say to his so-called friend,"If I have to decide between my sanity and your starvation - then your ass is going to starve."
No one can prepare you as well as you prepare yourself.
As horrified as I am about what's going on - I can at least breathe that we are insulated against any sudden fluctuations or disasters or any unknowns.
On the upside...I'm getting 3 A's and an A- (math)...my psychology professor just gave me a barrel of oranges and grapefruits. Valentines was fun...we just spent some time together over dinner and talked politics, how far we've come and where we want to go. Today we hit about 833 lbs in food preps. My seedlings are blooming (my first attempt!) for jubilee and roma tomatoes, armenian cucumber, thai basil, spinach and green beans. Let's hope I can make those actually become a town crop lol. My head finally stopped having that exploding feeling after I added Vitamin B-12 and ginseng to my supplements.
Mr. Man has started a video log - to encourage others to prep. Especially trying to encourage people of color to prep. We're doing our best to be helpful but sometimes we might as well be talking to a cactus.
It's all a bit much...but we just have to keep it Movin'
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
on "self-importance" & and nouveau prepping
Let me preface this blog with a few things:
1) Mr. Man and I started reading up on a lot of things around Thanksgiving 2010 because the status of America and the world were weighing on our mind.
2) I pretty much figured out that there is a reason that we have only gotten a cold ONCE in 3 YEARS and we adamantly refuse vaccinations. We are also in good health as determined by thorough checkups, including blood stool and hormones -- yet why are a lot of our friends having issues with their kidneys, livers, respiratory, allergies or even developing diabetes.
3) The economy is not getting better and I don't care what they tell me I can see it myself.
4) The amount of homeless people in this country really disturbs me.
5) 800 Million people with food insecurity vs 1 Billion obese disturbs me even more.
6) Why don't people really read anything much less what is around them.
7) We always felt like the last few years put us on edge and we couldn't identify it.
Basically Mr. Man and I have become "preppers." Of course when we first started we didn't know that was what it was called. The two things that concerned me the most were hyperinflation and a police state. The other thing that hit me during my Thanksgiving shopping is how BOLD the manufacturers are in reducing the size of the product while tripling the price - it made me mad. I would find myself looking around at other people like why don't you look as surprised as I do. So right after Thanksgiving I started researching food storage, how to dehydrate, can, store etc. The day after Thanksgiving I started assembling a pretty goodlooking first aid kit, I don't have any IV bags or cpr masks or anything - but i've got enough to keep someone glued or keep them from dying from Pneumonia. That same week I also assembled our Emergency bag. The first week of December I found a crappy dehydrator for 20 bucks and got it - because even if it doesn't have a fan it's very arid here and as long as I rotate and turn everything comes out properly. I started figuring out what stores had what sales and how to balance our nutrition and the budget.
The reason I wanted to 'prep' is because I didn't like the feeling that I was helpless or could potentially be the victim of some morons decision. I prepared to feel that I had some control over a potentially negative situation. But you know what - once you start it's really hard to stop, because there is always some aspect to do. By Dec we had 2 weapons, and by January we had a 3rd. Mind you it is very hard to do this right now because we are on a limited budget - but if you tighten up you can manage. After about a month - I started thinking how much of this am I really supposed to put away? Well I read an article on survivalblog.com called 100-1,000-10,000. Basically it indicates that you should have food-bullets-fuel-metal and when you are starting shoot for 100 lbs of food, 100 ammo, 100 gals of fuel and 100 pcs of precious metals. After that you shoot for 1,000 and after that go for 10,000. I figured out that 30 lbs of combined foods are what you need to feed 10 adults for a month. And I ran with it. As of today, we hit 775 lbs of combined food.
Preparing for emergency, natural disaster, foreign attack, martial law, hyperinflation or anything on your mind is no joke. It quickly becomes an addiction that is part of your daily life. Believe me when I tell you that you will not look at things the same. You will also not look at people the same. It's possible that you won't look at your family or mate the same. You will definitely not look at your neighbors the same - because that's part of 'prepping' is being aware of who is around you and who probably has no more than 3 days of food and a weapon (since this is AZ they will more than likely have a weapon and no food). You just stack and stack and stash and learn and learn some more, and read even more and keep going.
The first wall I hit was a bit of food molding because I set the dehydrated food by the rice cooker and then sealed it. That loss was 4lbs and a lesson learned, I think it's an acceptable loss for a learning curve. The second wall I hit was trying to talk to family about it - they just naysayed it and basically acted like i was running around with a foil hat and they call me 2012, or miss gloom and doom or said "what's this for again" - but that's a whole different blog. So after about 2 months in I was burnt out. I started looking around for chat rooms that dealt with prepping or being a new prepper. The first few were focused more on weapons, tactical and protection.
Then I found one on the preppers network.
Above all else I find people in the prepping culture to be the most helpful people I've ever met, and I find that 99% of them are extremely encouraging and helpful. A lot of them have been doing this for decades and it is simply a way of life. Some of them are homesteaders who are working towards a self sustaining lifestyle. Some of them have had changes in their career or income and are adopting it as 'insurance.' I also like how there are people from different backgrounds, age groups, skillsets and even living situations. Almost everyone is very encouraging and positive but some are arrogant in their "prepper seniority..."
You know I normally have a really thick skin, but yesterday was a really long day, lots of homework, lots of lectures, lots of work...and I logged onto the chat to say HI...and someone said oh I'm new at this I have no idea where to start..and one of the prepping Gurus said, well chef is new and she's off to a great start so keep it up" Then the talk moved to urban gardens, flax seed, food storage and other stuff...and someone logged in and this other chick said "oh you know this room is all about self promotion and full of those with self importance." I have a feeling that bullshit was directed towards me. hahaha - then come say it Bitch - come say some shit - but you won't. Ironically, she is one of the most uppity chatters and often responds to people in a short condescending manner with a short unclear answer. I also like how she was quick to criticize my choice of weapons but not suggest any. I've never owned a weapon and chose what was comfortable...better that my house have something better than a paring knife for home protection. Oh and if you are "so busy" with your fucking show horses and being spoiled and some such shit - why are you online?
Hahaha.
Ain't that some shit.
I don't like that shit.
Online Gangster Bitches suck. LOL -- I think it irritated me coz I prefer when people just tell me that shit straight on. But that's typical - of people who perpetrate on any level for whatever thing. Keep being an asshole, coz eventually no one will rob you for what you have, they will just shoot you for being an annoying asshole.
I don't tell people what we have done so far to show off, or show out or be prideful - I do it when new people ask me so they know that you can do it. You can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. I remember that first feeling of not knowing what to do or feeling like I wasn't really accomplishing anything but as you proceed you just learn to incorporate preparation into your daily routine.
1) Mr. Man and I started reading up on a lot of things around Thanksgiving 2010 because the status of America and the world were weighing on our mind.
2) I pretty much figured out that there is a reason that we have only gotten a cold ONCE in 3 YEARS and we adamantly refuse vaccinations. We are also in good health as determined by thorough checkups, including blood stool and hormones -- yet why are a lot of our friends having issues with their kidneys, livers, respiratory, allergies or even developing diabetes.
3) The economy is not getting better and I don't care what they tell me I can see it myself.
4) The amount of homeless people in this country really disturbs me.
5) 800 Million people with food insecurity vs 1 Billion obese disturbs me even more.
6) Why don't people really read anything much less what is around them.
7) We always felt like the last few years put us on edge and we couldn't identify it.
Basically Mr. Man and I have become "preppers." Of course when we first started we didn't know that was what it was called. The two things that concerned me the most were hyperinflation and a police state. The other thing that hit me during my Thanksgiving shopping is how BOLD the manufacturers are in reducing the size of the product while tripling the price - it made me mad. I would find myself looking around at other people like why don't you look as surprised as I do. So right after Thanksgiving I started researching food storage, how to dehydrate, can, store etc. The day after Thanksgiving I started assembling a pretty goodlooking first aid kit, I don't have any IV bags or cpr masks or anything - but i've got enough to keep someone glued or keep them from dying from Pneumonia. That same week I also assembled our Emergency bag. The first week of December I found a crappy dehydrator for 20 bucks and got it - because even if it doesn't have a fan it's very arid here and as long as I rotate and turn everything comes out properly. I started figuring out what stores had what sales and how to balance our nutrition and the budget.
The reason I wanted to 'prep' is because I didn't like the feeling that I was helpless or could potentially be the victim of some morons decision. I prepared to feel that I had some control over a potentially negative situation. But you know what - once you start it's really hard to stop, because there is always some aspect to do. By Dec we had 2 weapons, and by January we had a 3rd. Mind you it is very hard to do this right now because we are on a limited budget - but if you tighten up you can manage. After about a month - I started thinking how much of this am I really supposed to put away? Well I read an article on survivalblog.com called 100-1,000-10,000. Basically it indicates that you should have food-bullets-fuel-metal and when you are starting shoot for 100 lbs of food, 100 ammo, 100 gals of fuel and 100 pcs of precious metals. After that you shoot for 1,000 and after that go for 10,000. I figured out that 30 lbs of combined foods are what you need to feed 10 adults for a month. And I ran with it. As of today, we hit 775 lbs of combined food.
Preparing for emergency, natural disaster, foreign attack, martial law, hyperinflation or anything on your mind is no joke. It quickly becomes an addiction that is part of your daily life. Believe me when I tell you that you will not look at things the same. You will also not look at people the same. It's possible that you won't look at your family or mate the same. You will definitely not look at your neighbors the same - because that's part of 'prepping' is being aware of who is around you and who probably has no more than 3 days of food and a weapon (since this is AZ they will more than likely have a weapon and no food). You just stack and stack and stash and learn and learn some more, and read even more and keep going.
The first wall I hit was a bit of food molding because I set the dehydrated food by the rice cooker and then sealed it. That loss was 4lbs and a lesson learned, I think it's an acceptable loss for a learning curve. The second wall I hit was trying to talk to family about it - they just naysayed it and basically acted like i was running around with a foil hat and they call me 2012, or miss gloom and doom or said "what's this for again" - but that's a whole different blog. So after about 2 months in I was burnt out. I started looking around for chat rooms that dealt with prepping or being a new prepper. The first few were focused more on weapons, tactical and protection.
Then I found one on the preppers network.
Above all else I find people in the prepping culture to be the most helpful people I've ever met, and I find that 99% of them are extremely encouraging and helpful. A lot of them have been doing this for decades and it is simply a way of life. Some of them are homesteaders who are working towards a self sustaining lifestyle. Some of them have had changes in their career or income and are adopting it as 'insurance.' I also like how there are people from different backgrounds, age groups, skillsets and even living situations. Almost everyone is very encouraging and positive but some are arrogant in their "prepper seniority..."
You know I normally have a really thick skin, but yesterday was a really long day, lots of homework, lots of lectures, lots of work...and I logged onto the chat to say HI...and someone said oh I'm new at this I have no idea where to start..and one of the prepping Gurus said, well chef is new and she's off to a great start so keep it up" Then the talk moved to urban gardens, flax seed, food storage and other stuff...and someone logged in and this other chick said "oh you know this room is all about self promotion and full of those with self importance." I have a feeling that bullshit was directed towards me. hahaha - then come say it Bitch - come say some shit - but you won't. Ironically, she is one of the most uppity chatters and often responds to people in a short condescending manner with a short unclear answer. I also like how she was quick to criticize my choice of weapons but not suggest any. I've never owned a weapon and chose what was comfortable...better that my house have something better than a paring knife for home protection. Oh and if you are "so busy" with your fucking show horses and being spoiled and some such shit - why are you online?
Hahaha.
Ain't that some shit.
I don't like that shit.
Online Gangster Bitches suck. LOL -- I think it irritated me coz I prefer when people just tell me that shit straight on. But that's typical - of people who perpetrate on any level for whatever thing. Keep being an asshole, coz eventually no one will rob you for what you have, they will just shoot you for being an annoying asshole.
I don't tell people what we have done so far to show off, or show out or be prideful - I do it when new people ask me so they know that you can do it. You can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. I remember that first feeling of not knowing what to do or feeling like I wasn't really accomplishing anything but as you proceed you just learn to incorporate preparation into your daily routine.