After Chris’ warning today, what are you thinking?

My financial assets are split about evenly between PMs and commercial bonds at the moment.  The bonds are in a 401k fund so my options are limited, but I think I will put them in the US bond fund, which I see as cash equivalent at the moment.  Any critique of that strategy is welcome.

Aside from that, we are heavily into gardening season and thinking of acquiring some more chickens.  Otherwise, life goes on pretty much as it has for the last few years.  Day to day watching the gyrations of the world economy and getting my most valuable input from this site.

Doug

About the same as I felt when the Nuclear and Economic Meltdown Alert was issued following Fukushima. 

I am more concerned about the apparent case of peach scab I have on my trees and wondering if it's too late for a sulfur fungicide application.....?

Trav - I share your appreciation for finding this site and adding resiliency to my home based on the actionable information shared amongst the many members here. 

I also understand your concern.....I just don't share it.

I've always been the 5 CEP outlier so this shouldn't be much of a surprise to most of you.....

   I  just keeping on planting seeds ...  hauling  manure ... pulling weeds  etc.   Feeding the calves , feed the chickens , feed the rabbits  ,feed  the family .   There is just so much one CAN do !!  Doing the best with what we have .   The fruit trees are LOADED as well as the grape vines , berry bushes , nut trees and such .   

   Because  we personally went the way of the world years ago and have some debt   we have to pay the piper ...Our Paychecks will not increase so  our Debt will slooooowly  go away .    Looking at every little thing that we can cut back so to put money and effort into self sufficiency .      For us this will not be some great  jack pot  to save the day .   It is what it is .  Our worry is not going to change a thing .

   Doing unto  our neighbors as we would have them do unto us ....  it is well  with my soul  and I WILL count it all joy  .  

FM 

surprise, yes, thats what i feel. constant surprise that sheeple trust "the" system. alarmed?no. I trust Dogs will find the source of what i suspect to be critter feces on the peach. I trust my farm to sustain me and mine. the sun will rise and weather will occur. I think I'll meet Safewrite for coffee.

robie, husband father farmer optometrist

I own a few guns and a few dozen ounces of silver. I'm finishing my degree. I've wondered if the next crash will be in the next year or years from now. Sounds like within a year, then.

Nothing I'm doing is changing. It is nice to try and have some kind of feel for timing.

To take a snapshot in time this post kept me up til midnight and I wandered into my IRA and took some steps that I'd been hemming & hawing about.  Imagine the scene - late night computer screen glow on the face of a worried father & husband...and one voice says "you should never make trades when you're tired and upset and worried" and the other voice says "dammit - how many times do we need to walk up to the cliff?  Do you trust these markets or not? Are you in or out?"   ~ But today's outlook is one of relief, for having taken action.  I'm now free to move on to the next thing...one less thing on the To Do list.    

Concur with an earlier post that emotions make poor bedfellows when dealing in markets & investing, but at some point I just reach that ENOUGH! moment and begin to take action.   The CM.com site offers what you might say is a calm approach to a dire subject.  Flipping channels over to TruthNeverTold or ZeroHedge and one can feel the anger begin to furl one's brown - they should make Mouse Meters to measure one's stress while at a computer terminal!  "Chris' latest post registered a 7 on my Mouse Meter!!!   According to the (supposed) Mouse Meter handy cross reference computer placard one should not make epic decisions with a reading of 6 or above."  

We are truly thankful we found this website about 7 months ago.  I probably spent too much time trying to convince friends & family that I discovered something profoud, insightful and potentially frightful at times, and that they needed to interrupt their lives to dig into this.  Guess I needed affirmation as I struggled to get it and then relay it.   I think I've come a long way in understanding and and ability to tell the story.  I'm finding - as Chris pointed out from his own journey - that there's peace and joy in the doing.   It's a trap to spend too much time in the sometimes worrysome blogosphere.   

;)

That piece of land next to my farm is still for sale....

At some point in the next couple of weeks I want to buy the long term storage seeds....but the list of things I should be doing is severely limited due to a very strapped money situation.  We just aren't in the right place with our jobs/funds to do 90% of what we want to be doing.  One thing at a time. One prep at a time. And the universe will unfold as it may.

I am far from a gardener, but here is my thought.

I bought one can of the survival seeds and keep in in my refrigerator, but after thinking things over I decided that it would be better to find seeds that are intended to grow in my local area and to practice growing them.

For the long term I will buy a couple year's worth of extra seeds of each type that I am successful in growing, seal them in a mylar bag and keep them in the refrigerator.  I will also practice saving seeds from each harvest.  Note that some plants have a two year seed collecting cycle.

It might be good to have a can or two of the generic seeds, but if you are planning on cracking the can open and planting in an emergency without practicing first and knowing that the seeds are good for your area you are leaving a lot to chance.

Joe 

Sager, I want to be you when I grow up! (Tho' Xena is still a strong contender!:)

Joe, this is exactly what I have done the last 3 or so years, and it has been a very valuable learning experience.  As any of the people who are accomplished gardeners/farmers on this site can tell you (and I'm not one of them!:), there is an incredible amount to learn.  Much of it is trial and error and experience over time, so the sooner you start accumulating experience, the better. 

I learned so much about what crops grow well in my area and soil (I'm in the northeast US), and what do not (at least for me).  E.g., things that did not grow well for for me (and it may just be my lack of proper treatemnent) included: navy beans and soy beans.  Broccoli and corn grew for me, but seemed to take up so much space in my small garden for the amount of output, that I don't know if they are worth it. 

But other things have thrived, and have taught me they have a potential place in building up food resiliency: black beans (productive like crazy), potatoes, asparagus (what beats a perrenial green veg first thing every spring?), swisschard, and black currants (vit C) are among the plants doing very very well.  Currants are somewhat bitter tasting compared to the sweet berries we are used to (blueberries, etc.).  But they absolutely thrive in my yard -they bore fruit the first season- and have significant vitamin and medicinal value*.  So there you go.

Then there are all those other pesky thing to learn about, like watering, care & feeding,  maintaining plant health (from insect, diseases, etc.), pruning, harvesting, preserving....  it is a lot of work, and there is a lot to learn about the rhythm of it all, and getting things done and done right in the timeframe available.  I've been better at learning the front end of it all, but am still sorely lacking still in learning the storing/preserving side of things (the price of trying to live 2 lives at once -.the old and the new!)

Learn while you can, and while the cost and consequences of mistakes are low.

Best of luck,

pinecarr

*

"Black currants are berries that grow on a small shrub that is native to Europe and northern Asia. Also known as cassis, the fruit is high in vitamin C. In fact, during World War II when citrus was in short supply on the home front, residents of Great Britain were encouraged to grow blackcurrants in their garden so they wouldn't miss this important nutrient. Used externally as well as taken internally for its obvious nutritional value, this a very important herbal medicine.'

http://www.digherbs.com/black-currant.html 

I think a lot of people who are "aware" - including me - have (or have had) the wrong priorities.

For a long time, since 2007, I was overly worried about my retirement savings and trying to buy THINGS to prepare, and what would happen if I lost my job.

But I recently realized that I need to follow Aaron Moyer's emphasis (see his post about Every Day Carry - EDC). Yes, things are important. Investments are important. But my primary focus - and where I should expend the most amount of time and effort - is to work on building skills, experience, and physical abilities FIRST. Then supplement with the proper tools to augment those skills - as I would know better.

I sure could become more physically fit, increase my stamina and strength. I sure could increase my skills in situational awareness, first aid, self-defense, shooting skills, gardening, foraging, scrounging, haggling, jury-rigging, mechanical repair. These are never-ending skills that take practice and experience to build.

THEN I would know the tools and equipment and supplies and possible store of wealth I would need to have on hand, have by me, cover weaknesses, etc.

Gold and silver and investments are a priority, but they really are not the immediate priority and I should not spend more time on thinking about them or worrying about them.

Besides, if you have the skills and can survive, you may as well come across someone who would trade you a gold coin or his wife's wedding ring for some food or a tool. Farmers during the hyper-inflationary Weimar Republic had it good. In one book I read, one traded a few sacks of potatoes for a grand piano. Gonzalo Lira has tells a story about someone in Chile getting an apartment for a working used car. A community member here, who lived through the fall of the Soviet Union, mentioned how her family traded some herloom silverware passed down for generations for a garden plot, and grew potatoes and other vegetables that were much, much more valuable to them for food and trade.

Yes, you'll need some precious metals. They are a portable form of wealth, after all. You'll likely be saving your gold and silver for the doctor who can operate on your family member. (In fact, if I were a doctor, I wouldn't bother to save much gold or silver at all. I'd make sure I first had portable sterilizing equipment and surgical kits - especially tools that don't rely on electricity - and know how to use them. The gold and food and goods will follow.)

I'm thinking inertia is a big thing, we may yet see more years like the past few. Make hay while the sun shines. That's what I'm thinking.

Poet

Very well put.  No one knows how this will unravel, so continue the lifestyle change.  Which reminds me, I need more firewood.

Had an epiphany in recent days.  Work has been very slow and I was getting concerned about that.  I have enough to retire but I'd like to build up a cushion to help my kids secure a better future, if needed.  Then I started re-examining the situation and the old adage that every crisis presents an opportunity.  The one thing I've never had enough of is free time.  Well, I've had more free time as of late and rather than scurrying hither and thither and doing this and that, I realized that it was time for some quiet, still, spiritual introspection.  And once again, the realization that this whole global crisis is essentially spiritual in nature came to light.  The Es are just a reflection of that and nothing more.  I had lunch with a friend who is a Buddhist and we had a great discussion about this very issue.  I had a family vacation coming up that I was beginning to stress about because of its cost, time away from work, etc.  Well, I went on vacation anyway (money and time be damned) and resolved myself not to think of work, finances, the news, the internet, or any other area of attention that would detract from being fully present and enjoying the vacation.  Truthfully, it was one of the best vacations I've ever had.  My mind and body calmed down and allowed me to enjoy the richness and beauty of this world, live in the moment, and let go of the fear.  The world is what we make of it.  If we chose to live in fear, we'll get just that.  If we embrace the beauty, love, peace, and joy of the earth and the people who live here, we'll get more of that.  I'm prepped as far as is reasonable and any more would begin to enter into the realm of the neurotic and I chose not to go there.  My Buddhist friend was telling me about his sister who has 40,000 gallons of propane stored in underground tanks, more weapons and ammo than a National Guard Armory, old EMP-proof vehicles, and grows every kind of food imaginable, etc., etc., but still she and her family have no peace.  I'm interested in living, not surviving.  And I'm not interested in getting caught up in the frenzies and worries of the world and blown this way and this by this opinion and that prediction.  You do what is reasonable and prudent to do and then move on and enjoy life.  As I've said in the past, you prepare for the worst but also prepare for the best.  That which is suitable for both is that which I will do.  And in preparation for life, as well as for death, the spirit takes precedence over the mind which takes precedence over the body.        

Frodo - "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened"

Gandalf - "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

True words that carry deep meaning for me as I walk this path to a different way of life.