A Small Victory

I know I haven't been as focused this week on my doom and gloom posts. I wrote one post about the current turmoil at work and while I doubt it is over yet and I am sure after the fit I threw they will be constantly giving thought to how to get rid of me. At least the first round saw a minor victory on my part.

The manager I am dealing with has zero tolerance for anyone putting a monkey wrench into his plans so I am sure he will be gunning for me from now on but in order to cover his own butt he had to make some official statements. In short I had been filling a position for almost a year now and he wanted it for one of his buddies and basically cut me off at the knees. He went so far as to make sure that when my license was due to be renewed for that particular type of lift that the yearly re-certification was not scheduled and therefore my license expired.

The trouble is my review, which was given one day before the position was posted and my license expired, was all favorable. In order to cover this he had to admit openly in front of the HR guy that I in fact was the official backup operator for that lift type and therefore had to relent and re-certify me as well. End result is I don't get the job, not that I was ever going to anyway, but I at least get the re-certification and now official documented time when I get on that lift.

As I said not a huge victory but watching them make stuff up and knowing I at least had a point was a small satisfaction. Besides the position is not an easy one. Even one accident will end your time quick so we will see.

I also witnessed another dirty trick by the company today. A young lady who had just started working with us about nine months ago got pregnant (Not at work I assure you) and has missed four days of work but hasn't been there a full year yet. The unusual thing they did this time was tell her yesterday they were going to fire her today and suggest she not bother to show up. My best guess is they were hoping she would not show up and then do the paperwork as if she had simply quit and therefore avoid any unemployment claim.

How anyone can manage to keep a job under the conditions this massive unemployment is creating is beyond me. Five years ago the company I work for couldn't manage to hire people who could read or write because the conditions were so bad and now they can get away with every dirty trick in the book and still have five new applicants waiting to come in.

Just another side of the Age of Austerity I guess.

I should get the bee post up tomorrow MB

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!

Burrowed Time

Everyone seems to be predicting much harder times in the near future. From Ol' Georgie Soros to the suites at the IMF....

There will be Riots on the Streets of America

Ya whatever dude.

Europe is falling fast even the usual banner wavers of recovery seem to know it now. Come to think of it I haven't seen too many feel good fortune tellers spinning tales either lately. Where is Krugman these days?

I have entered a new phase at work and I am beginning to wonder if I will even have a job from one week to the next to be honest. I got my review a few weeks ago and even a raise to go along with it, praising me highly for filling a position which was a step above my pay grade and then the very next day the position I had been reviewed for filling was posted and I was told I was not eligible to apply for it. WTF? We been on a hiring freeze for close to 3 years now which is why I was filling the position, they were not allowed to post it.

I still can't figure that one out but I saw the nephew of one of the managers interviewing for the position so I have a pretty good idea whats going to go down shortly. I certainly have seen this scenario play out several times with others and since I have reached maximum paygrade now, I am at the top of any managers hit list, especially those who get a cut off the top for coming in under budget. The last few bottom end management and lift operator jobs that have been filled have all went to brothers, sisters (Even a twin sister) or nephews if you can believe it. At this phase of collapse jobs which were sneered at before have now become the cut-throat edge of employment competition . What a sad day.

My best guess is I will be booted out to the dirtiest, most tedious, and worst job they can find to put me in shortly. I have weathered that storm before. Managers and supervisors at my warehouse have a turnover rate only slightly less than an Obama staffer. Most of them don't last in any one department more than a year or so but sometimes they recycle through and come back to haunt you. Their main form of attack is doing everything they can to get you to quit but I am a tough nut to crack in that regard.

This time maybe different however because the rumors I been hearing is the main office is coming to an end of the list for fantasy production and the warehouse is full to the gills. The temp hires were panicking as another rumor was floating around that they were going to be let go a month early. Perhaps I maybe joining them this year who knows? I am not overly worried because I have always known that my job would be a casualty at some point during this long painful collapse. It is just a matter of time one way or another.

By the end of this month as near as I can figure the company I work for will be at less than 25% in employee numbers and down to about 50% in rented or owned space over what they were at in 2007. Falling from more than 1500 employees per shift to about 350 as I figure it now. Two satellite warehouses have been closed, two sub-departments have been sold and plant managers are now being utilized as department heads. In retrospect I am surprised I have lasted as long as I have driving my lift around.

Just another chapter in the chronicle of collapse. This time a bit more personal than my usual but another sign of the times none-the-less.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!!

It's the Unexpected that will Get Us

I must admit I am still at a complete loss trying to figure out how all these major companies from Kodak to Sears, airlines to cupcake companies, can be declaring bankruptcy and laying off thousands yet the unemployment numbers keep going down. Actually I imagine it has a lot to do with government creative figuring and those 99 weekers falling off the dole but I have not seen the unofficial watchdogs raising their actual numbers either.

Smoke and mirror games like this leave us open to unexpected emergencies more than anything else. Just like day to day emergencies are what usually bring those living beyond their means crashing into reality with repossessed cars and foreclosed homes. Whether you are a middle aged manager in debt to the gills or a government that cannot afford your spending it is the unexpected disasters that will finally bring you down. When your available funds shrink, a major bridge suddenly showing support damage can look an awful lot like a flat tire you cannot afford to get fixed. Do you hold off paying those education grants or fix the bridge? Do you fix the tire and then short the mortgage payment? You get the idea.

How this effects you and I, the prepared individual or family is another matter. Suddenly that wind or ice storm that knocked down a few hundred trees takes a week or more to clear off the roads where before it was done in a day. Common road maintenance that would close an intersection for a few days now lasts a month or more. Roads that were once plowed clear within a few hours are now left impassable for a day or two.

Our preps will be tested in small ways at first. A day or two here and there as the Age of Austerity continues. As an example a year ago this February during the big Mid West snow storm that was labeled "Snowmeggedon" we were completely blocked in by abandoned cars that had been ditched in my drive. We have seen that much snow many times in the past but last year after a major cut in employees the road crews were overwhelmed. Technically we did not have to rely on our stored preps unless you count firewood but will a storm of that magnitude last a day or two longer this year if it hits?

While we have our long term storage in order. We may be ready with enough ammo to hold off zombie attacks for months, this is not how it will start. Aside from what I will call our deep preps we must always remain stocked for the short term as well and watch out for the little emergencies which will now become much worse as the decline continues.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!!

Sunday Reading - Pulp (Non) Fiction

I came across this little report late last night. Unfortunately the article leaves more questions unanswered than it offers up. All we have to work with are theories and guess work and due to the nature of the incident my bet is we won't hear anything else about this story until months or years down the road.


Police: Robber Killed in SC Waffle House Shooting

Lt. Tony Ivey says two men entered the restaurant early Saturday morning and at least one was carrying a handgun. A customer with a concealed weapons permit drew his gun, and fired when 1 of the suspects pointed the weapon at him.

I am reminded of that scene in "Pulp Fiction" where Tim Roth's character is discussing the various pro's of robbing an establishments customers and pointing out that a restaurant would be a good place to do so. The whole time I am thinking to myself WHAT? You're an idiot because everyone needs to eat and you never know what you're going to get in the form of potential victims. Sure enough they found someone more prepared in attitude and armament then themselves in that restaurant.

Of course the would be robber in this true story didn't have many years of wisdom under his belt either so maybe he just didn't see the flaw in that plan....

Maybe he never saw the movie?

Spartanburg County Coroner Charles Clevenger identified the dead man as Dante Lamont Williams of Roebuck, who turned 19 years old on Saturday.

So now we know the robber was a young black male. Wanna place bets on what the defending CCW permit holder was?

Incidents like this should constantly be on our radar yet I have not seen a report about a CCW holder defending him or herself in a long time. Certainly the local and state laws and attitudes will provide us with differing outcomes but at least in South Carolina we are not reading that the CCW holder has been arrested or charged with anything yet.

Honestly I am surprised we do not see more stores like this but then again most of the killings, beatings and attacks have taken place in liberal/progressive gun law strongholds and the victims have been the sheeple that can live under such tyranny to begin with. In many cases they may have even supported the very social engineering laws that killed them. This example seems to have taken place in a more conservative area.

As law enforcement coverage withdraws and the Age of Austerity continues my bet is we are going to see more of this. Just the two facts of less LEO coverage and greater gun sales makes the incident that much more likely to occur without even considering the psychological aspects of people prepping for and expecting an overall collapse.

At first we will see the usual outrage and comments about how the would be felon was "such a good boy". After a few more incidents we will see race baiters like Jesse this or whomever proclaiming loudly that these incidents are racially motivated. The CCW hero will be attacked with civil lawsuits bankrolled by the NAACP or some other group who will encourage the dead suspects family to file using sympathy and cold hard cash.

Yet as services and infra-structure continue to decline the power of the courts will dwindle as well and eventually defending oneself and others may not be the financial and legal minefield it has become today.

Just as my recent experience at the brushfire close to my outter apiary showed the local LEO's do not have the manpower to control everything with a police-state attitude anymore. Attitudes will have to change (Even political/government group attitudes) last I heard my local county deputies are not even responding to fender benders and are very lax about following up on minor theft calls as well.

Each and everyday all of us, especially those of us further out, are being left more and more on our own and are going to have to provide our own protection and defense.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!

C'mon Seriously?

Throughout history one can find any manner of odd laws or customs, especially in a society in decline. Take the Easter Islander's tree envy theory or the Roman Bachelor tax as examples. The list is endless but I do not ever remember reading about a society that tried to legislate and humanize the removal of vermin. Perhaps I am wrong or missed one somewhere. I am sure the mega brain readers that stop by here (Like Russell or Winston Or Matt) may know of something similar if it ever existed but I don't know of one.

Yet here we are, debt over flowing, welfare state growing, infra-structure crumbling and the more liberal of local governments wants to spend even more burrowed money on humanely exterminating disease carrying vermin. I guess it makes sense that Washington D.C. thinks this is important since they don't spend their own money anyway.

Maryland Delegate moves to ban rat trafficking

McDonough’s move will come after a flurry of attacks against the District's Wildlife Protection Act of 2010, which mandates that animal control companies use humane methods when handling animals. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli set off the firestorm when he publicly worried that the law would lead to a mass relocation by exterminators of D.C. rats into his state.

Of course we will get the usual response that it doesn't really apply to rats or some such. Who cares? Rats, feral dogs and cats, rabid raccoons, feral pigs, invading bears. Gimme a break we do not need to spend money we don't have on protecting the rights of animals. Maybe we should instead weed out those animal control officers or exterminators that get a bit too much pleasure out of killing animals in senseless and sadistic ways and then let the adults deal with it in a respectful manner like we have had to since time began. HUH?

Speaking of vermin:

Vietnam Vet Randomly Attacked by Teens (video)

Just guess the scenario. People (especially old White guys) need to seriously arm themselves.

The comments are a bit encouraging as it seems perhaps people are beginning to wake up a bit.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!

Any 2012 Experiment Ideas?

I been wracking my brain trying to come up with suitable survival and sustainable living experiments for 2012. Provided of course this isn't the year we move out of the experimental stage and into the live or else part of this collapse I currently have only one experiment set in stone and that is swarm traps.

My plan for this Spring and Early Summer is to place at least eight swarm traps baited with lemon grass oil or crushed Bee Balm. I currently have four traps completed (except for painting) so I will need to get started on the last four soon. The picture above is of the first trap I built and each box may in the end vary a bit as I am trying to use as many left over wood pieces as possible. Basically these boxes allow me to put three langstroth frames in each trap which should make transferring any bees caught much easier. They will also include a removable lid and an attached hanger that I can simply place over a small branch cut off or even a large nail if there is nothing else.

I tested this design late last Summer and Fall with no incident of a trap getting blown down. I did have a rather unfortunate encounter with a snake and a couple of pissed off birds so some sort of entrance screen maybe needed.

I still have not come up with a good idea for the garden or homestead experiments I usually run.

In the past we have conducted an experiment on bean plants to see approximately how many we would need to produce a years worth of dried beans. A modified three sisters experiment (which failed miserably). The ongoing cucumber and bean breeding experiment which has turned a previously bush bean variety into a pole climber. The bean trellis which was an extension of the breeding experiment. The modified potato ditch for planting which worked better than anything else for growing potatoes in our clay soil. Finally the solar panel and battery bank experiment which has been a great success.

The only unfinished project is currently the rain water catchment and cistern system. On the back burners are chickens and welding but I cannot see anyway to combine these projects with an experiment like I did the solar panels. I also plan on expanding the raised beds again but I no longer count that as a full blown project since it is typically an afternoon thing at the most.

Perhaps I will take a shot at some scattered plant/forget/harvest gardening. This would entail planting some hardy vegetable plants in scattered locations and then allowing them to go mostly untended to see how they produce. Knowledge of this type could prove useful in several survival scenarios that could play out especially if you are forced to abandon your Small-Hold for whatever reason and hide out for a while.

I am going to have to give the matter some more thought. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!

Ouch!!! that Opposite Reaction thing Hurts

Way back in the good ol' days while I was in Army AIT training there was this guy who no one liked and I mean no one. He had this huge chip on his shoulder and was just the biggest asshat that ever walked the face of the earth. He even went so far as to insult the cadre sergeant that was assigned to our section. Late that night the guy finally pushed one of us to the breaking point and the whole thing came to blows. What struck me the most about that fight wasn't who won (It wasn't the asshat I assure you) but before the noise got to a level that would attract attention our self propelled gun engine (M-109 A2) suddenly burst into life and all anyone could hear throughout the training battery was the extremely loud revving of that 440 HP turbo charged diesel engine.

Of course it wasn't uncommon to crank the engine up every few hours but the timing for that particular start up was uncanny. I should also mention that at that point in our training there was only one soldier authorized to fire up that engine or even be in the drivers access tube since the rest of us were all new recruits so to speak. I think you understand who provided cover noise here.

Needless to say the next couple of weeks were a lot more pleasant since Asshat kept his mouth shut from there on out.

The equal and opposite reaction is the foundation the age of austerity is built on. It is the time where our choices as a society come back to us. A few articles I have come across the last couple of days highlights certain reactions all to clearly for me.

Costa Concordia cruise ship crash: Men pushed past women and children to get to lifeboats

He added: “My wife got on lifeboat No 17 and we got as many women and ­children on as possible. But later there was quite a lot of panic from the men who were forcing their way onto the boats. The men were stressed and panicking. They were pushing in front of women who should have got on first. There was a real danger of people being crushed.”

Women who should have gotten on first? Uhmmm excuse me? Sorry but equality is equality sweetheart the new SOP is simply children first and the women better be volunteering to wait the same as the men.

To be honest I am too traditional myself to actually do that. Not because I think it is wrong but because I am old enough to have been programed that way. I can't help it. I also know enough women who do not deserve the title of feminist that I will not punish them for the actions of the rest. BUT!!! I will not look down on men who react that way either. As I said a simple opposite reaction. I will let you read into it what you wish. I will also be more than happy to debate the whole affair as well. When you trade the protection of men for the independence of the government husband you get back what you pay for eventually.

Idaho grocers seek to ease food stamp rush

I had to seriously laugh at this one....

BOISE – Idaho’s grocery stores are putting up $100,000 of their own money and asking state lawmakers to change back to multiday distribution of food stamps each month, saying the current system has forced them to throw out a million dollars’ worth of food over the past two years.

The reason: When the benefits are released on the first day of each month, the lines in stores get so long some people abandon their full carts. All the frozen food in the carts can’t be restocked and goes to waste.

So instead of staffing more cashiers these retailers want to blame the system. The reaction here will just keep going. More food stamps equals more pressure at cash in time, which causes the stores to complain and more customers to abandon their carts, causing more food to spoil. I can also think of another public service funded by the government. Health care. Isn't it interesting how the more government money is thrown into something the more the price rises?

2012 will see more and more of these reactions hitting closer to home. The age of austerity is heating up and the force is growing.

Keep Surviving Everyone!!!