Back On Line

The sewer is back on line and everything is flowing again operating as normal. Even the sprinkler heads the Llama ate have been replaced. Everything is new now and should last a couple of more years, I hope. I tried all week to find the best deal on the parts but these specialty items never go on sale. I hate paying full cost on anything.    

Speaking of which,
I mentioned earlier this week about building a sprinkler system for the raised beds. Let me just say there is a benefit to being a hoarder. I was able to scrounge around and find almost everything I need to build the complete system, I don't know why I didn't do it before.
We planted the fall gardens a couple of weeks ago and just as the tinder little sprouts came up, the sun and heat zapped them dead.
To at least have something for the winter, we had to come up with this sprinkler system and replant the gardens.
I am two weeks to a month behind on things like corn, green beans and squash but if we have a late winter it should be ok, if not then we will do without.  
I had everything on hand except the sprinkler heads and the little risers which I got on sale. Each bed is 16'X4' and has two full circle shrub heads for full coverage. There are valves at the front of each bed making it possible to irrigate one at a time. Total project cost, $8.00 to irrigate five raised beds. The cost if I was not a Hoarder, $80.00 .

Quick Question

Instead of a "real" post today I just have a simple question.

I read books and blogs about the "Crunch", "It", "Collapse", "SHTF" or what ever you want to call it when it does happen and I have not seen anyone touch on this area.

If the food supply is gone leaving empty shelves across the nation from the last minute shoppers and looters, plus the dollar being worthless making the fuel to expensive to buy and ship any commodities and fuel itself also not being shipped causing a shortage making it impossible for people to commute to and from work (assuming people would actually still go to work in fear of their stuff being looted or being killed for their cars), what is going to happen to all the criminals that are locked up in prisons and jails?
Being there will be no food to feed them,will the authorities just open the doors to thousands of murders, thieves and rapist and say good luck?
In a crisis of that magnitude instead of being at home protecting their families and investments, would the jailers just stay at the jail, but even if they did that, where would they get the food to feed everyone?       

This question may have been cover somewhere, but I have not seen it.
It's just a thought.

FYI

For the past month I have been doing my own kinda study and keeping track of certain key words typed into the Google search area. I was wanting to to keep track of how fast some of these words grew by popularity over the last few weeks.

With all the Economic down turn in the news and the fear of a total national failure, I figured words like prepper, prepping and survivalist would sky rocket in new websites and hits generated by the search engine. Sure enough they did just that.

Here are the results I came up with: 

Survivalist - In one month about 900,000 new hits were added when searching this word. A growth of about 30,000 a day. Totaling 3,650,000 all together when you search it.

Prepper - 210,000 new places to click were added in a month. A growth of 7,000 hits a day. The sites to click for this word is about 1,030,000.

Prepping - 10,400,000 places to check out when you put this word in the search box. Believe it or not, this word had little growth over the month by adding just 100,000 places to go. That is a little over 3,000 sites a day.

To me it looks like the trend has gone from prepping to surviving. I am not sure if this is what they call a "Band Wagon" and a lot of people are just jumping aboard because they have figured out what they are doing is not going to work. I would like to have seen the numbers at two years ago before the election.  

I just found it interesting, that's all.

Oh, one more thing,
Redneck - 39,400,000 places to click and holding steady. Kinda makes you think who has it all figured out, hu?  

Redneck Emergency Preparedness Kit

I found this at http://uscca.us/ccr/view_post.php?postId=465 By: Mike Piccione and thought It was fitting so I am re-posting it.

A Countdown of the Ten Items In Your Redneck Emergency Preparedness Kit
10. Smokes and Chew: Marlboro Lights for a category one hurricane or tornado, Marlboro Mediums for a category two or three, Marlboro Reds for a category four. You need a serious smoke for a serious hurricane. Chew is important because it counts towards your daily supply of vegetables.
9. Booze: Hide the Budweiser and have a couple cans of Milwaukee’s Best incase strangers stop by or you need to barter with neighbors. Follow this safety rule for consuming alcohol in emergency situations: beer for morning and Jack Daniels for afternoon and evenings. If you are too drunk to walk then use your ATV otherwise it will take you forever to get anywhere.
8. Food: Slim Jims and if you want to live large get some mustard for dipping, beef jerky, pork rinds and anything that was on the table that the dogs didn’t eat or wasn’t sprayed with Raid when you were clearing cockroaches during dinner.
7. A Boat: A true redneck has a boat in his yard for years at a time without ever using it once. That’s because it’s for emergency purposes. I highly recommend a two-stroke motor that will always start after it’s kicked a few times. Preferably that motor will be a Johnson, because jokes about your Johnson never get old.
6. Pickup Truck: A redneck is a man that has less than 50% of his vehicles running at any given time. It’s easy to tell the vehicle that is driven the most by counting the 7-11 hotdog containers on the floor. But, when a hurricane hits, it’s certain that a redneck in a Ford F-150 that is held together with bondo will be pulling your Lexus out of a ditch. And remember, that’s not just a redneck’s truck; it’s where his kids were conceived so understand that bench seat is sacred ground.
5. A Dog: A dog will tell you if something is edible or not.
4. A Flashlight: You need one in addition to the light the family uses at night to go out to the bathroom. 
3. A Radio with a Powerful Speaker: That way you have something to drown out the wife, kids, mother-in-law, your sister-in-law Crystal, your sister Crystal, cousin Crystal, and your neighbor Crystal and her daughter little Crystal.
2.  Home Security System: 1. Buy a pair of size 14-16 work boots. 2. Put them on the front porch with a copy of your most recent assault charge. 3. Put some giant dog dishes next to the boots and court papers. 4. Leave this note on your door: "Jake and Buster: I went for more ammo & beer. Back soon. Don't mess with the pit bulls; they messed the mailman up bad this morning. I don't think Satan took part; hard to tell from all the blood. I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside. Be right back. The cops will be back too.”
1. Guns and Ammo: I’m not talking about the magazine. Looters will be shot on sight and their loved ones can buy their watches and rings back from the pawn shop. And personally, I’d like to say that if you have a gun then squirrel is always on the menu if a disaster causes the traffic to be bad.
Get yourself prepared in case you have a shortage of rednecks in your area. Don’t expect the government to be able to get to you or provide for you.  And of course, stay loaded my friends.

Updates and Rambles

The work week started off great. This morning the wife called at 7:30 AM and told me the well was out. Being the positive thinker that I am, I thought maybe it is something small and can be fixed when I get home tonight without to much trouble.  As luck would have it, my buddy Dave took off today and ran over to confirm it was a simple fix. The main issue is that even though he got it up and running again, the pressure switch needs to be replaced. That is not a hard fix in it's self, but being it is all plumbed out of iron pipe, you can see some major corrosion on the treads where all the connections are made. I am positive it will all have to be re plumbed up to the well head when the switch is replaced.
 
As far as the little sewer problem I have, I am thankful the house sits higher than the tanks so it does not back up into the house, plus the new addition to the back pasture, AKA the LLama, loved eating the sprinkler heads so now I need to replace those as well and fence off the heads.

The fall gardens need to be replanted. Everything came up great but the sun just burnt it all back down. Now with some cooler weather, maybe the evaporation level will be lower and the dirt will retain some moisture.
I have some odds and ends sprinkler parts and pipe down in the barn. I think I will try and Southern Engineer some kind of watering system so we can keep the beds watered better.
Soaker hoses are not the answer for broadcast seed application. They only wet the area around where it is laying at the time. I need a system to cover a larger area with less effort. I might just have something I can work with.

The sell this weekend was one of those I hated to have. I only had a hand full of chickens and a goat I needed to sell but ended up having to sell three goats we wanted to keep and some chickens we were hoping to use as breeders for next season.
We are almost back to square one on the animals now.       

I am proud of the oldest girl BlueEyedBaby at A&M. With all the fires down that way, the wife and I were getting worried for her safety (I also think we are looking for any reason to go get her). She has kept us informed of the situation and has assured us she has a plan A, B and C in case of evacuation.
I am also worried about our friends HossBoss and YeOldFurt. They are really close to all that so best wishes to them. They have devised a plan that includes getting my daughter out when they go if need be. Let me tell ya this, that is the kind of stuff right there you can never repay.

We are staying on high fire alert up here as well. I caught myself yesterday scanning the horizon for smoke every few minutes. The wife has restocked our BOB and she says we are ready to go.

Y'all have a good day.       

Labor Day Stress Reliever

With all that has happen in the past couple of months, I figured me and the family should just go out and shoot something. I guess you could say it is Redneck therapy.
The Northern blew through yesterday afternoon and dropped the temp down into the high 50's this morning. Plus I had some old ammo I needed to burn through so I thought it would be fitting for all of us to go out and relieve some stress.

The middle girl thinks she is just all that.

The youngest enjoyed the little .22 Ruger for a few clips.

The wife even had to take out some frustrations with the .22
She chose to use the banana clip because she had a lot of spent up stress.

Yours truly trying to just hit the board with a SKS.

My Dad jumping in and wanting a piece of the action with his .270

I don't know why.

No problems for just a couple of hours makes a world of difference.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. Just those few minutes made mine.

How Can You Not Laugh At It All

If you were wondering, I deleted yesterdays post because it was improper to do a post like that with everything else that is going on in the world today.

Sometimes we just find ourselves in a dark place and just need to let it out somehow.

For the ones that have the can on their head, it is hard to see any way out. The ones looking at it from another point of view might not think it is all that bad. 

Thank everyone for the comments yesterday.  

Too Close For Comfort

Right after I hit the Publish button for the FireFlies For the Soul post earlier today, my phone rang and I noticed it was the wife calling. I answered the phone the same way I always do, "Hey babe, whats up?"

What came next through the ear piece was mixture of tears, panic and total chaos. The first few sentences there was no way I could make out what she was saying, but I knew from the sound of her voice it was not good. I told her to calm down and start again.
This is what I got, "Fire! (huff, huff) House! (holy crap, holy crap) Neighbors house is burning! (come here puppy) I'm out of here! (sounds of running) Ours is next! (truck door slamming) I will call you back!"

This of course got my curiosity up a little and I decided to go ahead and leave work early and I defiantly did not break any speeding laws on the way home. 
Upon arrival forty five minutes later (I work an hour and a half away) I saw the street was lined with fire trucks and clouded with smoke.
As I drove up near the end of our road, through the smoke and the haze I saw the wife with several people around her. She was digging through the BOB handing out water bottles to other evacuees.

My first thought was "I hope they are not eating all my MREs".

A fire is one of those occurrences that I would define as "IT". We have drilled on this and our evacuation plan many times. The wife executed the plan with perfection and I got to see the Bug Out Bag at work.
I overheard many of the neighbors telling their spouses that they were going to make up a bag just like mine. My unemotional response was, "You should already have one". 
 
I am telling you right now friends, you can do all the planning and drills you want, but when "IT" happens, you have to be able to control your adrenaline so you can make the decisions that have to be made. If not, all that prepping you have done is for not. I am proud of the wife for keeping her head and taking charge of the situation.             

Through the help of neighbors and the Fire department, they were able to stop the spread before it got to my house. Not much damage on this end but that is not the case for my neighbors.

 Vinyl siding and high heat do not match.

 A Round Baler was the cause of the fire. A stuck baring caused sparks to fly and with this drought we are in, it was not good.

This picture was taking from my property line.
I will say, that was a close one.   
    

FireFlies For The Soul

Back when the wife and I were younger and the kids were not so busy starting their own lives, we were a family of campers. On most weekends it was hard to find us anywhere but out in the woods with the perfect little camp set up, living off of what fish we caught or what little food we stuffed in the cooler.  Camping was a way of life for us and it is where many memories were made and the time spent being together as a family was priceless.
 
At that time we lived on the old farm and every day was just like camping to us anyway. Our house was nestled  back in the woods hidden from the road, we cooked outside over an open fire for our meals and a few times a year had to live off the glowing light of lanterns until we came up with the money for the electricity bill. Even still, at every opportunity we would pack up the old short bed Ford and head to the lake.

It is funny to say, but our camp site was always set up better than the way we actually lived. A large tent for me and the wife and a little smaller one for the girls were the first items assembled to mark our small claim of land for the weekend. Next on the list was a cooking area. A few stacked sandstone rocks to make a circled pit and done, presto, instant kitchen.
Being the basic shelter and food needs met, I would venture off to gather wood while the wife and girls teamed up and made our little spot more like a home. They would set up the eating area with tables and chairs, hang a clothes line to dry our clothes after swimming and furnish the tents with whatever was packed in the truck.
I could never help but smile when I heard the sounds of laughter coming from the campsite echoing through the dense trees. My heart would warm and I felt just maybe, everything will be ok. At that moment, nothing else in life mattered but those little girls playing tag around a makeshift rock fire pit.

The one activity we loved doing while camping was watching the sunset. We would all sit in the grass by the water and watch the sun slowly sink it's way into the horizon. The girls would always try and time it by counting backwards "10... 9... 8..." until the sun showed no longer and had finally gone to bed.

We would continue to sit and marvel at the lasting effects the sun had left on the sky.
The girls would pick out colors and point upward with such intensity, "Look! I see purple, and pink over there".  Another would say, "I see blue and yellow and....."
The wife and I would hold hands and smile at one another knowing without words, that this will be tucked away in the memories of the girls forever.

At dusk you could find us still sitting in the same spot waiting for the next one of Gods marvels to come out and play.
Then there it is! One of the girls would always be the first to spot it. "Look Daddy, a firefly". They would all take off running to try and catch it.
One would look back at me and mommy and say "Look, look another one, and another, there everywhere Mommy".  
Flashes of light were darting the now darkened landscape and the girls quickly remembered to stand still and they might just get lucky and one would land on them. A truly marvelous sight, all three girls standing as still as their excitement would let them, grass up to their waste with fireflies dancing around their heads. A picture I will hold onto forever.

When the oldest could not contain herself a moment longer she ran over to me.
"Daddy, can you please catch me a firefly"

Me, "I can try baby"

I stood up and walked over to the grass, stuck out my hand and stood still. Luckily after a minute a lone firefly came by and landed in my open hand. I slowly and carefully cupped my hands together and brought them down to where the girls were standing.

Me, "Come here and look, I caught you a firefly" I whispered to them.

I slowly bent down on one knee as the three girls huddled in close around. They softly whispering "let me see, let me see daddy".
Their excitement was unbelievable, eyes opened wide and sparkling like new silver dollars in the moon light.
I slowly opened my hands just a little and as if the firefly new, right on cue it started lighting up and dancing for his young audience.

The girls all together at once whispered a long drawled out "Wow".

The oldest girl looked up at me with a tear in her eye and said "You are the best daddy in the world".

A lump the size of Texas formed in my throat as I stood up and turned around. I brought my cupped hands up close to my mouth and as I opened them to let the firefly go I softly whispered, "Thank you Mr. Firefly" and watched him fly away.       

Howdy

 I wanted to say howdy and give a welcome to the new friends that hit the follow button.
Thank y'all for coming over and becoming a member of the Modern Day Redneck family. You won't find nothing but friends here.
Your good or bad comments are always welcome and will be returned with a reply, count on it.
If you need anything my email is on the right sidebar so don't hesitate to drop me a note.
When you have time, check out some of my friends in the Blog roll.

Thanks again for hitting the follow button and Welcome to the family.  

What About The Kids

With all the buzz on prepping for "IT", most if not all the prepping/survival blogs that deal with Bug out Bags I have read only talk about the main bag or bags that will support the whole family for the 72 hour duration. My question is, what about the kids? Yes they will be covered under your main BOB when they are with you but in a worse case situation and they are at school, then what?

We all think if something terrible happens tomorrow we will be able to jump in the car and go get our children and take them to safety. Being they are at school, friends house, church function or where ever they may be, jumping in the car and racing to save them may not be that easy. It may take several hours or depending on where you work, days to get home and secure your loved ones and your belongings.      

The best thing I have found to ease my mind on this matter is have each child, no matter the age, have their own personal survival bag. I do not know of any school policy that prohibits a small bag with certain items being hung in your child's locker. Of course you would have to use your head when filling the bag and not put weapons, knives or medications in them, but simple survival items to help them cope with the time of disaster and to be safe upon your arrival.        

Here is a small list of such items that I think would be useful for any child stuck in that situation.

Basic Survival Items: Do not overload you child's bag and keep in mind their age and carrying capacity.

• Small flash light. (LED)
• Emergency whistle so they can be found in a crowd or get your attention when you drive up. 
• Emergency contact list with names of relatives, home address, and telephone numbers.
• Area map
• Emergency Poncho.
• Inflatable pillow. (Used in case of a overnight stay or a flotation device)
• A full change of clothes. (socks and underwear for sure)
• Small box of Band aids & wipes. (Remember no medications)
• Small bottle of hand sanitizer.
• Hard candy.
• Bubble gum.
• Energy / Breakfast bars.
• A couple of Water bottles. 

I am sure there are items I have missed, but this list will get you started and get your mind working. All these items will fit into a cute little pull string bag or a hand bag your kids can put in their school lockers, take with them to church camp or a overnight stay at a friends house.


Make sure you go over each item in the bag with your child and explain to them what they are used for. Having the items at hand is only half the battle and are useless if they do not know how to use them. 


It is also good to have an evacuation plan. Being my kids are older and working outside of the home, we have devised a plan to where if a disaster hits and there is no way to get home, they will know where to meet. If they have their small survival bag with them at least I know they will be ok until I can get to them.       

Weatherby Vanguard

A challenge from Stephen over at http://dixiecritter.blogspot.com/ . He wrote;

"I'd like to throw out a challenge to all my blogger friends; write and post one article this week, hopefully today or tomorrow, based on the .22 caliber rifle or handgun. The tone or theme doesn't matter. Write about a favorite rifle you owned as a child, or an heirloom inherited from a family member. Perhaps you have certain reasons for or against its consideration as the best cartridge (it is in my humble opinion) for survival situations. Doesn't matter, join the fun. Duke at, http://downrangereport.blogspot.com/, got the ball rolling yesterday. "

 For his challenge I chose the Weatherby Vanguard because of the black sheep image the Vanguard has. Chambered in the .22LR or the .17, this little gun can be your best friend.

Introduced in 1970, the Weatherby Vanguard action (based on a Mauser-style, dual opposed lug design) takes many of its features from the legendary Mark V action, including a one-piece forged and machined, flat bottomed receiver and a fully enclosed machined steel bolt with duel opposed locking lugs and three rings of steel surrounding the casehead. The Howa bolt action is one of the good ones and the version produced for the Vanguard incorporates many of the features of the Mark V. Of those is the one-piece bolt body being fluted, there are three gas escape ports in the side of the bolt and a streamlined bolt sleeve shrouds the rear of the bolt.  Also similar to the Mark V is the flush mounted claw extractor at the front of the bolt and the plunger ejector in the recessed bolt face.

Two positions lock the bolt closed in the safe position just like on the Mark V, but it is shaped differently. There is also a Mark V type cocking indicator for a little added safety. On larger chambers the magazine floorplate is hinged, and the release is in the front of the trigger guard making access a snap.

All Weath Vanguard and Mark V alike, come with a 1.5" MOA accuracy guarantee specifying a 1.5" or smaller 3-shot group at 100 yards from a cold barrel when used with Weatherby or premium factory loaded ammunition. They are supplied with a test target to prove it. 

Vanguards range from basic blued/synthetic models to the ultra-accurate SUB-MOA models and Deluxe models stocked in beautifully finished walnut. Many knowledgeable gun dealers and hunters alike consider the Weatherby Vanguard to be the best value available in a centerfire or rimfire hunting rifle today.




Weatherby Vanguard SUB-MOA Varmint. Illustration courtesy of Weatherby, Inc.

One question that I have been asked, since it is not based on the real Waetherby, is the Vanguard a true Weatherby? And the answer is "yes." Weatherby puts their name and reputation on the line with the Vanguard, and if they say it is a Weatherby, then you can take it to the bank. 

The Vanguard is no longer the stepchild in the Weatherby line like it once was and is now the heart of the Weatherby line.

Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe. Illustration courtesy of Weatherby, Inc.


(Information gained from http://www.weatherby.com/product/rifles/vanguard, http://www.chuckhawks.com/wby_vanguard_rifles.htm)

Weatherby offers rifles chambered in:  

.17 HMR, .204 Ruger, .22 LR, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, .270 Winchester, .300 WSM, .300 Winchester Mag, .243 Winchester, .25-06 Remington, .338-06 A-Square, .338 winchester Mag, .35 Whelen, .375 H&H Mag, .458 Lott, .270 WSM, 7mm-08 Remington, .280 Remington, 7mm Rem Mag, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield