America is Broke

    

 
       This morning, a widely distributed quote by U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner has been circulating.  "Let's be honest", says Boehner, "We're broke".   Boehner, who looks like his dog has died, has been lamenting the slow shuffle Barack Obama has been doing in avoiding the so called, "fiscal cliff".  The president insists on new taxes particularly for wealthy people, but refuses to cut any expenses. It's as if the president intends America to go over the "fiscal cliff" and then come to him to rescue them.  Obama and Boehner have meetings, but it has become clearer and clearer that Mr. Obama has no intention of compromising sufficiently in order to avoid a closing down of the federal government.
             Why should we care ?   Without some type of a budgetary arrangement, our military will not be paid. Those who work for our government may well not be paid. Those who need an immediate passport may not get one. American stranded in foreign countries who need State Department assistance for some reason, will not get this help. (Yes, they used to)
              If you ever had any doubt at all, the captain running the ship not only has no weather station, but he got his captain's paperwork from the boxtop of Post Sugar Crisp. The voracious and foolish printing of money by the Federal Reserve was one thing.  His intent here can only be to create uncertainty, grief, turmoil, stock market volatility, and more people who must depend upon the government for assistance.
              Now is the time to pay off any debts you can.  Stock emergency food and supplies, and watch carefully.  The possibility exists that our country as we have known it, may not come through this.

More Information on Tornado and Bomb Shelters

(http://www.shelters-of-texas.com/welcome.html)

          


        I remember writing in Rational Preparedness: A Primer to Preparedness that most people have no particular need for a bunker.   Unless you are in an area in which tornadoes are common, then your preparation is probably better spent looking at ways to shelter in place or toward family evacuation.  A few families would benefit from a storm shelter.

           So back in August, I wrote a post which touched on storm and bomb shelters, and gave some contact information for some of the companies who manufacture and install these types of structures.

Please take a look at this:

http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/04/examining-bomb-tornado-and-security.html

            Since that time, a lot of people have asked me about these, and have wanted additional information.
First off, let me say that it is extremely important to learn all you can about such structures if you are considering one.  Ask yourself if you can afford such a thing, and also if the money wouldn't better be spent elsewhere in your preps.   In addition, a mention on this blog constitutes a mention only.  A mention in this or the prior post on bomb or disaster shelters does not constitute an endorsement of any kind.

  It is essential to do your own research and make your own decisions.



             These are some companies that specialize in tornado or bomb shelters or saferooms.
 I have not included fiberglass structures because I am aware that as buried structures, they may crack.



Cozy Caverns                                                   http://www.cozycaverns.com/

     Cozy Caverns builds custom built all metal storm shelters, which are sold nationwide.  They are based in Arkansas.  These are extremely heavy structures which are designed for families who wish to sit to ride out a storm.

This is the interior of a cozy cavern structure. The benching is part of the structure.

    These structures range from about $4500 up, but they do sell some that you may paint yourself and these afford you a substantial savings.   They can produce the shelter and install it in Arkansas, but the installation and anchoring, which can be quite expensive, they cannot do for you outside their home state.  This means that you must find a qualified installer.  This company always has a waiting list for their product. They also have financing through Iberia Bank in Little Rock, Arkansas.
                                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jarrell Storm Shelters                                                 http://jarrellstormshelters.com/

      This company produces storm shelters within the great state of Texas.
     Check out their website should you or other family reside in Texas.

                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Utah Shelter Systems                                                http://utahsheltersystems.com/

       Utah Shelter Systems has been in business since 1984 and builds a corrugated metal structure which is designed to be buried. It has entrances which can be accessed by handicapped individuals and it can be completely customized.

           
        The least expensive structure is about $51,000.   Many of these structures come with air filtration and other devices.  Blast doors can also be ordered.   These are designed to be "All hazard shelters".

                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  F5 Storm Shelters and Safe Rooms                                         http://www.f-5stormshelters.com/

         This company builds military grade structures intended for governments, churches, daycares, schools etc.  They build primarily metal structures and have abandoned concrete which they say develop mold and seep water when buried.



This option is directly quoted from their website:

We are now offering an above ground shelter on a lease to own bases.  This is a 7' tall, 6' wide, and 8' long shelter.  We will charge $3,100.00 down at the time you order the shelter.  We will then build the shelter and deliver it for $2.05 per mile one way from Baskin, Louisiana, 71295, to your location.  We install the shelter as specified by our structural engineer.  The shelter and installation is done where it meets or exceeds FEMA requirements.  Your total cost at this time has been $3,100.00 down and $2.05 per mile for delivery.  This can be done with cash, check, or credit card.  After the installation is complete, you pay $225.00 per month for 48 months.  First note is due 30 days from the day we install.  You must be the land owner to order the shelter.  



Also:

     A purveyor of all types of shelters is       http://www.shelters-of-texas.com/photogallery/index.html

  They are the owners and manufacturers of the shelter which is pictured at the top of the page, which is actually fiberglass.  They also had an interesting caution on their website, which reads:

<<     Building permits are required within most city limits. Do NOT let anyone install a shelter on your property without a building permit if your local government requires it. The city has the legal right to have you remove your shelter or require you to get a permit after the fact if you have a shelter installed without a building permit. This is important if you ever plan to sell your home.>>

       This was particularly interesting to me because no one I know in the country has bothered to get a building permit, as they wanted their structure to be completely secret.


       Key Point: 
Again, if you have a need for one of these, do your research fully and do not allow yourself to be rushed.  You want your decision to be the best one possible for yourself and your family.

Wal-Mart is Selling Augason Farms Freeze Dried Foods and Other Manufacturers Also

  

Wal-Mart sells this for $19.98.

This ten pound bag of rolled oats is only $14.98

I use this a fair bit in stews, and it's only $14.98

         I have been sending people to Sam's Club or to Augason Farms directly to get freeze dried foods to this point.  However, I learned that just recently, Wal-Mart has started selling some of these freeze dried foods also, and for fairly reasonable prices.

This is the link:

    http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=augason&ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=976759


       Please take a look.  Wal-Mart is running a special.  Anything ordered over $45. can be sent without having to pay postage.  The prices are not such that one could buy up huge amounts of anything, but buying and exploring what you do and don't like is an excellent idea.   I made an excellent chili soup this morning using Augason Farm's ingredients.

The Fiscal Cliff and Financial Collapse

(Cartoon by: Michael Crawford, a frequent contributor to the New Yorker. This cartoon found in condenaststore.com)

     
 

       I wrote Rational Preparedness:A Primer to Preparedness because I had concerns that many people had no disaster plan.  Natural and man-made disasters do occur, and each of our families need to have some type of a plan for these. The plans don't work if you use a plan designed for a California coastal dweller and you live in Michigan's upper peninsula. They don't work if you adapt a Floridian plan for hurricane to an area an hour from Alaska's Denali National Forest.  We each have inherent hazards wherever we live, and the focus of the book is to recognize and note the inherent natural hazards where you live and then to structure both a sheltering in place plan and an evacuation plan for your own family and your own situation.
             As I wrote Rational Preparedness, I was giving thought more to natural disasters than I was financial collapse, although many of the same strategies for immediate management would be the same.  In the last weeks though, more and more people in the mainstream have been discussing financial collapse within the context of the fiscal cliff.  We have a real impasse here.  Our president, elected by those who are apparently not paying attention, believes that the government can continue to provide consolation prizes to those who have been passed by, by the educational and job opportunities which used to exist within the United States. The House Speaker, Mr. Boehner, believes that he can continue to discuss a compromise with Mr. Obama and that one may happen.  The fact is that we are very likely to reach a point where the federal government grinds to a halt, the military doesn't get paid, the passport office stops, and the law of unintended consequences could lead to some very negative happenings before some adjustment is made.  Meanwhile, rather than being outraged at Mr. Obama's demands, the Republicans are trying to morph into kinder gentler souls so as not to lose the election "next time". I have news for the Republicans.  Many of the people I knew who stayed home this election, did so because they felt the Republicans were no longer conservative enough .   Many people feel that Congress and the Senate did not work hard enough to stop the financial and spending excesses of the present Obama Regime.
            The fact is that we can't give free cellular phones to everyone in the United States who has known a financial challenge in their lifetimes. Not if the phones are any good, we can't.  We can't give free health care to anyone who needs it indefinitely.  Not if that health care is being delivered to the US standard we used to have.  We can be compassionate and help those who need temporary help, as many people throughout life do, but a healthy economy must exist in order for someone to be earning and paying into the system which allows us to even consider rendering aid to those who are temporarily non-productive.  It is part of life to be financially challenged. Ask any college student. Many of them are so poor they can't even pay attention ! Most of us have periods of time in which we struggle financially, recover and then save and are relatively self sufficient. This is part of life and something to be accepted.  Accepting poverty of all as a status quo and something the government needs to ameliorate will not only be a complete failure, but does not give credit or creedence to the idea that life, for one reason or another is a struggle.
             Good luck Mr. Boehner. Mr. Obama will simply let the country fall off the cliff and blame your lack of cooperation when his intention all along was to create as many people dependent upon a Nanny State government as possible.

About Domestic Abuse

(Photo: mamiverse.com )

 

   Today, in a county fairly near our home, the domestic partner of a young teacher who worked at the Middle School arrived there before she started working.  He met her in the parking lot and proceeded to severely beat her around the face and head.  Despite the man being  in excess of 6 foot 6 inches tall and muscular, two teachers tried to pull him off her.  They likely saved her life.   The man ran, and the local sheriff arrived and had the woman transported to a trauma center where she remains in the hospital with severe head injuries.  The man was later apprehended when he turned himself in after negotiating with the sheriff over his cell phone.
      The news this evening tells us that the man had a restraining order against him, and had beaten, slapped or thrown his partner before.  He is also thought to have stolen her handgun which is missing from her apartment.   Since no one is permitted to have a concealed weapon in the vicinity of a school, the weapon would not have helped her, at least in the location where she was ultimately attacked.
       I would like to take a moment to remind all women, and fathers and brothers of women, that most of the time, men (or sometimes even women) who physically abuse a partner, do have a history of either physical abuse, or of inappropriate controlling behavior prior to an event such as this.  A man who controls your friends, loses his mind when you are twenty minutes late due to traffic, or a man who loses his mind when there is a slow driver in front of him, can evolve later into a man who kills his partner in a rage later.
        Sadly, women are killed due to domestic abuse every day in the US.  There are also women who shot and killed spouses and partners, and who kept prior abuse a secret  and who now sit in a Virginia jail as a result.   Teach your daughters to avoid a man who needs to control, and your sons to avoid such women.  It's easier to step back earlier in these types of relationships than it is to extricate oneself by the time there is a clear and present danger of physical abuse, and potentially of being murderered.
       As the economy slides, we are likely to see more of these sad situations as all of us are more stressed than we were prior, and those with these tendencies are more likely to act them out.   Watch your friends, your sisters, and anyone else you believe may be at risk.

What Is Hyperemesis Gravidarum ?

               

HG is no picnic   (picture:  i-am-pregnant.com )

      Thrust into the news once again, is the medical issue Hyperemesis Gravidarum.   Newspapers and the internet have announced that the Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton has been hospitalized with this ailment in England.
                  Hyperemesis Gravidarum is not the "normal" morning sickness that most women experience in early pregnancy. It is felt to be a response to newly circulating and unfamiliar hormones in response to a developing placenta.  Women who experience this may not simply have "morning sickness" but the severe nausea may afflict them throughout the day, and the vomiting may persist following all meals or snacks. It may be so severe that the woman may develop dehydration and fluid and electrolyte imbalance. The wretching can be so significant that it may cause her to rupture blood vessels in her eyes or have pinpoint vessel ruptures in and around her face and eyes. ( Also known as petichiae) My chest and abdominal myuscles were sore from so much wretching.   Physicians estimate that only 1-2% of pregnant women experience this severe an early complication to pregnancy, but if you do, that's not much comfort.  Women may also be unable to tolerate certain smells. They may be unable to cook, and they may be unable to drive or ride in a car without vomiting.  Of course, this makes working outside the home rather difficult also.
                  Prior to the 1950s, before we had so many wonderful hormonal radioimmunoassay tests which could better demonstrate hormonal upheavals, some  physicians thought that a woman experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum may have been psychologically rejecting her pregnancy. Now, it is known that this is not true. This is a gastrointestinal complication of pregnancy of hormonal origin.   Also prior to the 1950s, before we had really excellent intravenous replacement capability and could replace not only fluid but the correct complement of lost electrolytes, some women were actually delivered of their fetus in order to save their lives. (Yes, therapeutic abortion has been performed a long time in order to save a woman's life.) A few women died of renal failure following a failure to adequately treat this sometimes challenging complication.  Some women experience some degree of HG with each pregnancy, and others are bothered by it only in one pregnancy.   Sometimes, women who carry multiple babies are troubled by this, because they may have multiple placentae which translates to additional hormone levels.
                 When I was 24, and pregnant with my first child, I too developed hyperemesis gravidarum.  It was a bewildering time. Prior to the pregnancy, I think I had vomited perhaps five times in my entire life, and I absolutely hated to.   I thought of myself as a nurse with an iron stomach who could see anything, and not wretch.  Then, all of a sudden, my joy about a new baby was dashed with worry.  I was about seven weeks pregnant when I couldn't keep anything down.  I tried not eating until I got to work, and vomited anyway.  I tried crackers on arising. (Those are hard to vomit !)   I could vomit water with no trouble at all.  In those days I was fairly slim, and I lost five pounds in no time.  I was hospitalized for a first time, within the first week of my hyperemesis.  Finally, I was hydrated and they had a dietician come to see me to make some suggestions as to how to work with this, and I was released.  A week later I was back in just as dehydrated as I had been before.  This revolving door of hydration, feeding me bananas, releasing me, and my becoming dehydrated and ketotic again and again, happened a total of 11 times that pregnancy.  My doctor, trying to be efficient and thorough, did a lot of other testing in order to make sure that nothing else was going on with me.  He never did establish any additional diagnoses.   It ceased for me, only somewhere in the mid second trimester.  I was one of the lucky ones though.  Some women continue to have the symptoms of HG throughout their entire pregnancy. There are several drugs that have been used to slow vomiting, and they work with some degree of effectiveness.  Still, great care needs to be taken while taking any drug, especially in early pregnancy.
             I went on to have three more full term pregnancies, and only two of those had a small amount of normal levels of morning sickness. In my case, when my body finally became accustomed to the hormones being produced by a functioning placenta, I didn't react by vomiting anymore.
              Recent studies indicate that at least some women who have HG also suffer from Helicobacter pylori.  Since I had myself tested for this when I returned from Russia, where it afflicts 90% of people, and I did not have it, it was not a factor in mine.
             If you ever have a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a friend, a neighbor or anyone else who has this nasty complication, please offer any support you can.  Sending some ginger ale is a nice gesture, whether she will be able to drink it or not.
             I hope Katherine the Duchess of Cambridge is feeling better soon.  She has my sincerest sympathy with regard to her HG.
              
      

In the end, it's all worth it.   (Photo: hgkaren.blogspot.com     This is a baby who is a product of a pregnancy with HG)

Angus: and a Follow Up to Canine Dementia

               I don't often repeat a post from my blog "What I Learned from Daniel" which is about faith, hope. loss, and survival, and post a similar entry here on Rational Preparedness:The Blog.        
     
 What I Learned from Daniel is a spiritual forum, and its younger sibling Rational Preparedness: The Blog is about the practical matters of preparedness.  I even use different names on it, both derivations of my real name, but for a long time I have kept the two blogs very separate, and I plan to again.

                Some time ago, you may recall that I posted here concerning canine dementia.

That post can be found at:


http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-it-canine-dementia.html


This is the update to that post, taken in its entirety, from
 "What I Learned from Daniel: The Blog":

     http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2012/12/goodbye-angus.html

This is Angus, taken this year

 


   The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas has been a time in which both people and animals have passed from our lives..  Sadly, this year was no exception.   Angus came to us in 2002, as an elderly thin dog who liked to hide and watch us at our original farm. He was one of many hunting dogs who came to our farm during hunting season, and whose owners never came to find them. Most of the beagles and hounds are tagged with an owner, dog license, microchip or kennel number, and we have called and returned many, many of them over the years.  Angus never had a collar.  He was very skittish and used to watch us, but would not let us get near him.  It took a year of leaving food and then leaving and watching him eat before we were able one day to collar and tie him.  Rabies is endemic in our region, and we can't have an unimmunized dog running around.  Once we caught him and fed him regularly and provided him with a doghouse on the edge of the forest, he seemed happier.  However, his initial response was always to cowar when someone held their hand above his head intended to pet him.  We always believed that Angus had been abused as a hunting dog, and probably didn't want to be found by the original owner.  We were very surprised when we took Angus to the vet for a check up, a rabies shot a heartworm test and some immunizations, when the vet told us that she thought he was very old. She told us that she believed him to be about 14. She thought that if we gave him the good care we provide to all our other dogs and animals that he could live another several years, and that the end of his life would be spent securely and happily.  We were happy to care for this small and gentle dog.
                 Time passed, and we moved to a new farm taking all of our animals with us.  Angus adjusted, in part because he had Rosheen as a kennel mate.   Rosheen  (Irish Gaelic spelling is Roisin)  is a Jack Russell Terrier who enjoyed keeping company with Angus.    Over time,  my parents passed, Daniel passed, Daniel's elderly large dogs Jake and Mark passed. Chickens and roosters passed, but Angus remained.  The vet would check him each year and tell us that she didn't think he would make it through the Winter.  In 2009, we build a really lovely kennel for all the dogs which had separate kennel rooms for all of them, and a fenced enclosure for them outside.   Ro and Angus shared a kennel room.
                  Although Angus had always been skittish, he did recover from his prior abuse somewhat. When we would pat him, he would at first cowar, and then remember that we wouldn't hit him and that he was safe to allow us to pet him. A couple of years ago, he developed a new problem.   At night, he would tear apart in the inside of his kennel room, knock over the food dish, and sometimes even the water bucket.  He would growl and bark at things that did not seem to be there. This behavior prompted a post on my other blog concerning canine dementia.   The vet said that there is a medication which is sometimes of assistance in canine dementia but she wondered if this truly ancient dog could detoxify such a thing. We decided to continue to love and cherish him, and keep him with Rosheen in order not to make changes in his world which would lead to furthur disorientation. The vet said that this was not surprising, since he is after all, 24 years old by her estimation.  He continued to recognize us and although he was slim, he still had a hearty appetite. We continued rabies shots every three years, and heartworm and worm prevention.
                   The last three weeks we knew that he was nearing the end of his life.  He would look for places to hide in the kennel and outside it. We could comfort him, but he was up all night, and slept during the day. Once, I couldn't wake him easily and wondered if he were dead.  Almost deaf now, he was still jumping and happy when he saw us, and he never turned down a small milkbone dog biscuit. As with all the elderly dogs, we put a coat on them at night, to keep them comfortable when the temperature drops.

Sweet Angus really enjoyed the snow.  He also liked to eat some of it.

                   This morning my husband called me as soon as he went out to feed dogs.  Angus was in the fenced enclosure outside his kennel.  He still had his coat on, but it was muddy, and he seemed disoriented.  By the time I got down there, he had a grand mal seizure, the first we had ever seen.  We promptly put him on a transport board with a chux on it, covered him with a blanket and moved him down to the heated barn room which functions as our animal ICU.   The seizure ended and he seemed calm, as most post-ictal creatures are.  However, he could not move normally.  We believe him to have had a massive stroke over night.   Unlike human beings, dogs can recover from strokes. I have had several who have and who lived several years afterward.  However, if Angus is as old as the vet suspects, then the kindest thing probably would be to allow him to pass. Initially is heart rate and breathing were regular, and I sat with him as he lay in a nice warm bed with a soft blanket over him.  Then, as the morning went by, the respirations changed. Although they were regular, they were occurring less often. The distance between each respiration lengthened and I knew that today would be the day he would leave us.  Even though he likely could not hear us, we played soft Christmas music in the barn. I told him how much we had enjoyed having him at the farm and that we would see him again.  We told him that he owed us nothing, and could pass on to Jesus, and to Daniel and that he would again see the other dogs that he knew as part of our farm.  Angus passed with one more deep expiration at 11:51 am.   He is the only one of our dogs whose picture appears in my book Rational Preparedness (p.65 for those of you who have it.)   He will be missed by both the animals on the farm, and also by the human beings.

This is the link to the earlier post on canine dementia from my other blog Rational Preparedness: The Blog which concerns Angus:

 http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-it-canine-dementia.html

Interestingly, this is the second pet I have had who passed during the playing of this song. Susan, our 14 year old golden retriever/cocker spanel passed during this song as it softly played in 2006.