Discovering Bucket-Sized Stoves and the Project Appleseed Rifleman Course

I recently attended a local preparedness expo. There were the expected solar generators, dehydrated food storage, and water storage businesses represented there and it was rather ho-hum until we saw a neat bucket-sized stove.

The guy who created this stove did it for people in developing countries who need safe, fuel efficient ways to cook food. This little stove gets maximum cook time from minimal fuel. It burns any solid biomass, eliminating the need for wasteful charcoal. It’s a great addition to earthquake/disaster preparedness arrangements. Yes, we bought one. I think Mr. Hot Stuff is looking forward to breaking it in when he returns from Big Red.

I also found out about this other organization called Project Appleseed. I am SO EXCITED! Project Appleseed is run by the Revolutionary War Veterans Association and teaches Revolutionary War history along with a rifle marksmanship course.  There’s one coming up in Kaysville, UT on Oct 21-22. It’s a $70 course but it’s only ten bucks for women and five for under age 21. Arctic Boy and I are going. When I told him about it, he gave a half-smile, nodded and said, “Cool.” (That’s stoic-teen-speak for “AWESOME!”)

Liberty Training Rifle for the Appleseed Shoot

In order for us to do this, we had to buy another Ruger 10-22. That was an interesting (code for long) experience. I will never complain about the long wait at the DMV again. Good Grief. Also, I don’t think Walmart is the best place to go for guns. 80% of the slowness was a result of their own procedures and lack of knowledge (the manager who really knew the ropes was on vacation for a week). If I buy another gun, I’m going to a gun shop, thankyouverymuch.

Now I’m just hoping that the cold I’ve got is all gone by the weekend of the new adventure and that the weather is nice. They move forward rain or shine, but I’d really prefer shine. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So now that I’ve triggered all the website censors in China, and probably been flagged by the Feds in the U.S., I think I’ll go have lunch!

winner-winner, chicken dinner

(Isn’t that a great tag-line for a vegetarian? LOL)

Back Again – Isn’t Life Grand!

We had a lot of fun on our Ten day New York trip and the weird bumps left from all the mosquito bites (my souvenirs) are almost all gone.

Mr. Hot Stuff has gone back to Big Red (China, not the gum) for the second time since we returned from our NY adventure. He’s hobnobbing with customers from Central America, and other parts of the world and doing the little “standardizing and reconciling” stuff that has to be done periodically, as well as meeting with people involved in the “supplier catastrophe” that started his oh-so-frequent-visits to Big Red.

Everyone else in the family is in the continental U.S. for the time being, all busy with school, work, etc.

I’ve been taking what some consider “extreme” measures to become healthier. I’ve been officially vegetarian for one month now. It’s a big trick to reprogram your mind about what “food” is especially when you don’t have any moral qualms about eating meat. I’ve had to employ the mantra, “I don’t consume animal hormones, I have enough of my own.” I know there are hormones in eggs and dairy products also, but when eating 80% raw food, it doesn’t leave much room for eggs/dairy to make a big impact. After all, I’m not going to eat 80% raw and then make the entire remaining 20% eggs and dairy (eew). I’d actually not be vegetarian, but eating meat these days causes so much physical pain that I just decided to listen to my body and not eat that stuff. One added benefit – down 20 lbs!

winner-winner, chicken dinner

John Galt Is Leaving New York State

Traveling in New York State

Traveling here has been interesting exciting depressing confusing disconcerting  fun but worrisome. Strangely enough, one of our more difficult issues has been getting meals. In the land of the free and the home of the fat (ie: modern America) you wouldn’t think that would be so difficult. Subway, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and KFC are ubiquitous world-wide after all. That being said, if you only want the same stuff you can get in your own town, why leave town at all? And so our family ventures out, Mr. Hot Stuff boldly going where we have never gone before, to explore new foods and dining experiences, while I bring a tempering influence on  his impulsiveness. While I like to try new foods and experience new places, I’ve seen enough Kitchen Nightmares shows to know that it’s important to love your own digestive health before you pity some poor sap’s flagging hole-in-the-wall restaurant. With those parameters established, we naively assumed that driving across one of the more populous parts of the country, we would be experiencing all kinds of gustatory adventures, and we have. The surprise has been how difficult it’s been to find these types of restaurants. We drive around a corner and see an inviting sign only to discover that yet another place has gone out of business. This happens over and over. Restaurants abandoned, wax paper cups and sandwich wrappers lying silently on the counters and shelves, waiting for someone to come fire up the stoves and reconnect the soda machines. Gas stations boarded up. Houses empty, barns vacant or falling down. Property for sale, trailer courts sprouting up like weeds – either booming or run-down – neither sort actually being a sign of prosperity. Down-town areas empty aside from a few shops white-knuckling out the bad economy.

Then we turn a corner and in the middle of a part of a town I’m scared to walk in, we come across an amazing restaurant run by a very friendly family, serving quality, excellent food. It was a halal Turkish restaurant. It was so welcoming and delicious, I felt guilty for not being able to eat more. (I was being Mrs. Huffenfeffer at the time and hadn’t actually even wanted to get out of the car – frankly a little concerned that it might not be safe to park there – but I was wrong.)

Great food! Friendly owners! Clean restaurant!

So, if you ever find yourself driving through Johnson City, NY, stop here during the daylight, and eat to your heart’s content. But hurry, I’m not sure how much longer they’ll last, God bless them.

At church last week, a man living in rural New York, said that his property taxes for his house are $300 per month. (Update: Upon further verification, I learned I’d misunderstood. The man’s house payment was $300 per month, his taxes were $600 per month.) His neighbor decided to fix up an old barn on his property rather than have it remain an eyesore and a fire-hazard had his property taxes go up by $3000 per year because of the improvement. I know of someone else who wanted to start some small businesses here but decided to go to a different state where the taxes and regulations were less oppressive and he could actually do some good without being punished for it. I wonder how many people here know who John Galt is?

winner-winner, chicken dinner

p.s. Soon, I’ll post cool photos and fun stuff we’ve done, but internet access is a little iffy on the road right now.

Baseline Budgeting – Washington D.C.’s Dirty Little Secret

WHAT??! Congress wants to cut French Toast Assistance! But my friend will suffer severe syrup deprivation if you do that! How could you be so heartless?

Here’s the dirty secret “they” don’t want you to know. Pretend last year’s budget for French Toast Assistance was $20,000 (keeping the numbers low – comparatively – to ease comprehension). The projected baseline budget for this year’s French Toast Assistance is $22,000, the increase includes a 5% increase for inflation and a 5% increase for ‘urgent’ projected growth. The problem is that Congress doesn’t have an additional $2000 (or 10%) to add to the program, “they” tell you that there is only enough to add $1000 (or 5%) to the French Toast Assistance Fund. Immediately upon hearing this, there is a giant outcry, “My friend will die of hypoglycemia if she is cut out of the French Toast Assistance Program!” “My uncle will lose weight and he can’t afford to buy new clothes! He’ll go naked!”

Hold. On. Did you notice the same thing I did? The French Toast Assistance Fund will be increased by 5%, but it’s being called a cut? Pardon me, but in my opinion, a 5% increase over previous spending is not a cut. It’s not even as austere as a family has to be, “Sorry, Sweetie, we don’t have the money for your Hot-Pockets Jeans this year, I guess you’ll have to stick with Aberzombie and Stitch brand instead. Maybe next year we’ll have the upgrades on the Bat-Camper paid off and you can have your Hot-Pockets Jeans.”

No, it’s not a real cut. The French Toast Assistance Fund will continue on expanding the waistline of citizens who depend on it to keep their pants up. Hopefully, this year life will improve for at least a few of those and they will find a way to either pay for their own French toast or they will be able to afford a smaller pair of jeans from the thrift store down the street when their waistline shrinks due to living a French-toast-deprived life.

Still don’t understand how a “cut” in the baseline budget isn’t really a cut at all? Go to this website here. “The Congressional Budget Office defines the baseline as a benchmark for measuring the budgetary effects of proposed changes in federal revenue or spending, with the assumption that current budgetary policies or current services are continued without change. The baseline includes automatic adjustments for inflation and anticipated increases in program participation. Baseline, or current services, budgeting, therefore builds automatic, future spending increases into Congress’s budgetary forecasts….” – Citizens Against Government Waste

I’d like to know why “they” never tell you this stuff?

winner-winner, chicken dinner

Note: I used a facetious example and pretend numbers here to illustrate my point. I am not intending to dismiss the real-life-difficulty of anyone who suffers from uncontrollable waistline expansion due to increased budgetary spending. I understand. It’s not your fault.

Consequences of “What Can It Hurt” and “Not My Responsibility” Philosophy – Train Wreck in China

“Who Me? I didn’t do anything.”

You expect to hear that from children, but not from adults.

This train wreck is heart-breaking. More heart-breaking are the Chinese government’s apparent attempts to cover up the causes and resistance to give answers about why safety procedures were not followed.

In a country where it seems as though the “life expectancy” of buildings built in the last 20 years is roughly, oh, about 20 years, people living in the hastily developed areas have good cause to be worried.  Even the newest buildings cannot always be relied upon. (Check out this story.)

I think the general operating philosophy in China is, “What could it hurt?”  ”What could it hurt if I lie, steal, cheat, take a bribe, put ‘extenders’ in the cement mix or baby formula, or only make friends who are ‘useful’ to me?” Indeed. Look at what it hurts. Then ask yourself, what’s the price for your soul? Integrity counts. Even in the “little” things.

“What can it hurt?” has a correlary set of actions called “It’s not my responsibility.” It’s not my responsibility to worry about whether the paperwork is correct/true; it’s not my responsibility to clean the bathroom properly; it’s not my responsibility to report illegal dumping into the river; it’s not my responsibility to stop a man beating up his girlfriend; it’s not my responsibility to throw my trash in the waste bin; it’s not my responsibility to make sure my kid doesn’t cheat in school’…. Right. If not you, then who?

The train collision was one of several high-profile public transportation accidents in China recently. Early Friday morning, 41 people were killed when an overloaded bus caught fire in central Henan Province. Earlier this month, an escalator at a new subway station in Beijing collapsed, killing one person and injuring 28. Last week alone, four bridges collapsed in various Chinese cities.

via Train Wreck in China Heightens Unease on Safety Standards – NYTimes.com.

Do we want this to be us, America? What are you doing to stop it?

winner-winner, chicken dinner

China’s murky ownership rules: Who owns what? | The Economist

What. A. Mess.  Nonetheless, I’m sure it’s just the beginning. The Chinese Government is not content unless it is exerting complete control. – winner-winner, chicken dinner

OWNERSHIP is rarely straightforward in China. After Mao Zedong died and land was opened up for commercial development, each plot came with only a 50-year government lease. No one knows what will happen when those leases expire. Yet building projects continue apace.

Foreign investors face a similar conundrum. Several Chinese industries, such as mining, steel, education, telecommunications and the internet, are both capital-hungry and politically sensitive. They need foreign investment, but the law bans foreigners from owning stakes in them.

Eager investors and canny locals have found ways around the rules. Perhaps the most important is the creation of a complex investment vehicle called a “variable interest entity” (VIE).

via China’s murky ownership rules: Who owns what? | The Economist.

Awesome Nascar Prayer – Boogity Boogity Boogity!

I heard this on KLove Radio while I was out running this morning and laughed for a whole block. Pastor Joe Nelms gave the prayer at a Nascar event in Tennessee, giving thanks for the race sponsors by name and his “smokin’ hot wife.”

Lord, I thank you for genuine people and the ways they brighten my day. Boogity Boogity Boogity… AMEN!

winner-winner, chicken dinner