If there is one thing I can assure everyone about this time around it is that the collapse will not be televised. It was barely reported on during O'Bumboes first disaster so the Democratic propaganda wing certainly ain't gonna let anyone know what is happening now this time around. The stakes are much higher now with 10 more years of covered up failures behind em. We are already see it with the false jobs reports and cherry picking financial data for things like home and auto sales. They are going to make everything seem to be doing better by attempting to hide it from the masses. For instance papering over the auto sales for January by using cherry picked data I mentioned the other day.
My observations right now remind me more of the early scamdemic around here more than anything else. The part before they started handing out free money and many people were worried about how they were going to pay their bills but afraid to get out much and spend what they got.
People are slowly adapting to the higher prices and changing their lifestyles but are not convinced it is really happening yet. A lot of snap decisions, purchases and trips are put on hold and some clearly unsustainable activities (like using gallons of gas just to cruise around) are being curtailed and the media of course are suppressing or selectively reporting only the good news.
Why not? They can blame a lot on just the weather in many places.
But let me assure you traffic patterns and the general load on places is lessening at least around here. Even if demand isn't I noticed this week a complete lack of pet food almost everywhere. I was flat out told by a few of the employees that they just didn't get the delivery they were suppose to. These shortages are going to be just like rolling blackouts I imagine at first so not overly alert any one region. Spread em out.
This is actually better than most of the world deserves in reality. Give the clueless a bit of time to adjust before things get really bad.
Anyway we are getting a taste of the bad side of February in Missouri yesterday and today. Rain and cold. I didn't check my gauges but the goat feeders had a good 3 or more inches of water in em just from over night.
Of course cold is kinda an over statement it still got up to almost 50 degrees here this afternoon. But wet. Let me tell you. This is why I opened the big pasture back up as the barn lot was already like wading on a mud flat. The poor sheep had to come up to the feeders and were sinking in a few inches already so I try everything I can to keep em out of the mud as much as possible. I have found the best way to do that is to get em off the barn lots and back into the large fields as much as possible. I know makes sense and all but I dislike seeing live stock in total mud feeding lots.
Ya easy for me to say when all I have left is 10 retired old sheep too.
Once I opened the fields back up to them hay consumption dropped to zero. I had about 3/4's of the last bale out there left last week and I still have 3/4's there today. So far I haven't had to go hiking to find Lilly even once either. They all seem to be staying up close and make enough noise when I go to feed em grain that even deaf, blind Lilly knows it is time and comes trotting up at her rather slow pace. In fact I have been rather lax on my death patrols too. Only the oldest two ewes even kinda sorta look like they might be getting a bit thin and I don't know about other sheep but the ones we have left LOVE these temperatures. They now routinely can be seen bouncing around and flopping into the air like hooked trout once again. Our sheep have always preferred 40 to 50 degree daytime and upper 20's and 30's at night temps. I guess if I had carry all that wool around I would like it.
Other than that a bit of wind damage I am going to have to go fix soon but everything is still going good even if it is wet. The chickens are not happy about the new feed but they came up to the porch today demanding some cat food so they are adapting to the lesser numbers it seems.
Soon I will get em some new friends I hope.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
"They are going to make everything seem to be doing better by attempting to hide it from the masses."
ReplyDeleteTheir dilemma is that you can't hide the truth from the masses when the masses actually LIVING reality EVERY DAY; even THEIR OWN VOTING BASE!
My wife noticed the pet food shortage as well. As with our other preps, we tend to stay as far ahead of this as possible. My chickens are an issue though. I tried buying ahead but found that even when kept in steel trashcans in Hefty bags tied tight, the feed gets infested with bugs by the time I'm looking to use it. The eggs are probably already in the feed when I get it. Regardless of the cause, the bugs render the feed inedible, and my money wasted. I used to freeze the feed bags before putting them in the cans to kill the bugs and eggs, but I had to press the freezer into service for people food when the Plandemic started. My son feeds his chickens Purina Dog Chow and they're laying like crazy. My hens won't touch the stuff. Even if I grind it up, the only takers are the sparrows and ground squirrels.
I use kerosene heaters in the house to minimize running the furnace. Kerosene has become unobtainium in the Wild West! I know a lot of that stock has been diverted to colder climes, but SHEESH; the nights get cold here too! Last year I paid around $34.00 for a five-gallon jug. It's at $65.00 now, if you can find it! Like I said... Reality...
Did you get more chickens? Last I heard you were down to the rooster and a solo hen?
DeleteI don't understand your issue with buggy chicken feed. My chickens chase down and eat every bug they can find. Maggots, worms, spiders, cut open roadkill, even small field mice are doomed with my hens.
My Grandmother fed her hens with scraps, cracked corn, field peas coarsely ground a 2-1 ration IIRC free feeding and mostly it seemed the IRON RAKE in the compost piles.
Chickens would sprint there as soon as she picked up the rake for the best bugs and worms.
Grandma got a big laugh when she had me do it for the first time, freaked me out to be swarmed by chickens.
I've read the ingredients in Purina Dog chow and understand why chickens should do well on it. Better level of protein than laying mash.
What our chickens don;t like is the crumbles. They only want scratch and they really just pick a certain select types of grains out of it mostly they just free range otherwise but they like that scatch and expect a hand out when they come to the porch too,,, Or else :)
DeleteNo haven't replaced the lost hens yet I am gonna wait till it is warmer.
The problem with the bugs in the feed is not the bugs, but their excrement. The excrement causes mold to grow in the feed and renders it inedible. You can SMELL the results of bugs in the feed even before you start finding bugs. The hens won't touch it, and I don't blame them!
DeleteWe feed the hens table scraps, and they free range during the day as soon as it's late enough that the coyotes have bedded down. That's becoming an issue as well, as the coyotes are getting bolder around humans and are hunting during the day. Once your flock's on their speed dial, they'll return every day!
My grandmother lived in the Weimar Republic during the period of hyperinflation. With our national debt at 32 trillion dollars, how can our future be any different? There will come a time when it will be mathematically impossible to even pay the interest on the debt.
ReplyDeleteAnon - As I understand it and was explained to me in small words years ago until it kinda made sense is the US exported most of the actual inflation we should have had through the petro dollar agreement because all countries had to buy dollars to purchase energy around the world. With that major tool and some fine tuning the government could always manage to keep inflation at bay for most Americans and it worked until we began getting literal idiots that think everything that happened before the year 2010 was just old White Men being racist. Once this type got incharge there is no way hiding from reality. We are feeling reality now IMO. Guess we will see.
DeletePP, the cracks are widening. Large companies are laying off now; the downstream impacts of that in the businesses that are supported by them are still ahead of us.
ReplyDeleteAs part of my annual re-alignment for our finances, I did a value on my 201X Mazda. Average value is now about $800 - were I to be in an accident the car likely would be totaled as the insurance would not pay. And with that kind of value, I surely cannot take that money and buy a new car.
I think even people who were not otherwise aware of it know something is off, even if they cannot put a finger on it.
TB - Good point. It is going to take a bit more time for people to finally see how bad it is yet and resilience is going to be the key here.
DeleteOddly I've scheduled my little 08 for yearly inspection. Hoping it's fine and maybe with some new tires off I go for another year.
ReplyDeleteNormally I'd not even feel concerned. It feels like that odd colored sky just before a nasty storm.