Right now, we’re probably looking at 2-3 weeks until the first round of official data comes out that confirms we’re in a recession. This official declaration of recession doesn’t change any economic reality, but it does impact the psychology of the economy in ways that can really screw up your finances if you’re not prepared. The particular aspects that seem to be swirling around this recession are concerning in a few ways.
1) It has been a long time since our last recession, and people and companies seem to have forgotten how to operate in a dragging economy. 2) We haven’t shaken all of the supply chain weirdness that was induced by government covid restrictions. 3) Stagflation is here. 4) The macro leaders have signaled that they’re going to do the stupidest things. and 5) Those with power over the messaging and policies at the global level are stuck on destroying our economy through ESG bullshit.
What happens if you’ve been caught out by this? What do you do if you’ve done exactly nothing to prepare for this recession? Whether this is because of life circumstances, or simply lack of foresight, the reason why you’re not ready doesn’t matter. All that matters is what you do going forward. This article captures advice from a few of the Glibertariat for going from couch to not-completely-fucked-by-this-downturn as quickly as possible.
Multiple Commenters
Multiple commenters had variations of the same few short and sweet answers. They could all be boiled down to the same thing. Don’t panic. Keep planning your finances as if the recession isn’t about to happen.
There is value in this advice. Panicky people make stupid decisions. Don’t be panicky. Don’t do something stupid because you think the world is going to end before August.
Buy ammo.
Also, we’ve laid in quite a good supply of dry beans and rice, and the greenhouse is currently full of growing vegetables. The freezer is stocked with chicken, beef and pork, and I plan to start stuffing fish, birds and small game in there.
As long as one can eat, one can get through this.
I agree with Animal’s instinct to stock up on non-perishables. They’re not going to get any cheaper, and so long as you have a good place to store them, you can reduce your costs in the future by eating out of your stock if, for example, you’re laid off for an extended period.
Waffles
Ok, I will buy ammo
This is something that falls into Jack Spirko’s “build while everything is crumbling around you” philosophy. Unless you’re really paranoid about the collapse of civilization, you can probably find better use for your money right now. However, in 6-12 months if people are getting laid off and struggling to find work, ammo prices may significantly drop. People don’t tend to buy bullets when they can’t afford to feed their family*.
*until they do, and there’s nothing you can do in the next 3 weeks to prepare for that.
ZARDOZ
ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. ZARDOZ OFFERS THE FOLLOWING ADVICE; 1). KEEP THE GIFT OF THE GUN CLOSE BY, 2) STORE LARGE AMOUNTS OF GRAIN, 3) SEAL YOURSELF, ALONG WITH A FEW HUNDRED OTHER IMMORTALS, INSIDE A FORCE SHIELDED VORTEX. BE SURE TO INCLUDE A SUPERCOMPUTER CONTAINING ALL KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN RACE.
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
Geez, everybody is grabbing their guns and heaping up non-perishables… Should I be worries about something? Be careful when sealing yourself into a force shielded vortex or a nuclear missile silo that the ventilation shaft is clear of all debris, including birds nests and the remains of any campers STEVE SMITH tried to hide for later…erm… whatever he does to dead things.
EvilSheldon
Economic events don’t hit everywhere all at once. It’s highly likely, in the event of a serious collapse, that you’re going to want to go someplace else, either for work or to avoid an unsafe living situation.
So, make your the family car is in good working order. Get any deferred maintenance done soonest. Make sure the tires are in good shape, including the spare – replace them if they’re getting close to the wear limits. Same with the belts and hoses, the battery, and any other regular wear items.
If you have the ability to do so, stock up on some gas. If you can’t store gas, at least get some jerry cans that you can fill up on the way out of town. If you don’t have a set of jumper cables, now’s the time to get them and figure out how to use them. If you don’t know how to change your oil, emergency patch a tire, or replace a fan belt, now is the time to learn. Get the necessary tools and spare parts and keep them in your ride. Have drinking water, a blanket or two, a first aid kit, and a fire extinguisher in your car at all times.
If your registration or state inspection is getting close to the renewal, go ahead and get it renewed now. Better to do that stuff now, then when things are really starting to unravel.
Good point on getting the car into working order and getting your travel emergency provisions into good shape. That’s great advice whether or not an economic downturn is looming.
robodruid
I would think that you would want to have one vehicle that is not subject to a repossession.
A budget
A garden
A resume or side hustle.
The financial improvements are very apt. As Dave Ramsey says, priority 1 should be the “four walls” Shelter, car, food, basic clothing. Anything you can do to improve your footing in those categories should be considered.
Now may be a good time of year in your area to start some transplants for a fall crop. If that’s true, do it! If you need artificial help to keep the growing season going long enough, spend the $40 to get the supplies for a cheapo caterpillar tunnel.
UnCivilServant
Recession comes and recession goes. What you need to remember is to cook your long pork thoroughly, and to not eat the brain or spinal cord.
More seriously, being officially in a recession is just a label. Short term, you’ve not got time to prepare for the shocks, it’s a discipline that needs to be enacted years before you need it.
Yesterday was a great day to start in on those disciplines, but today is the next best day.
Swiss Servator
In addition to the non-perishables people have mentioned, keep a good stock of OTC meds you might need…and anything else that you suddenly might not be able to pick up, if you end up laid off. Have a cash earning side job….even if it is just a few hours a week.
[Swiss: I stuck my comment in whilst editing – I am sure trshy would have some primo snark for it].
Finally, I’ll give my $0.02 [insert lame inflation joke here].
We have no clue if this is going to be a short little blip or a downturn rivaling the Great Depression. You have no idea if you’ll come out the other side worse off, unscathed, or better off than you started. All that is known is that recessions tend to eat the unprepared for lunch and the panicky for dinner.
Proceed with caution. If you are in a tight financial situation, think about cutting your spending and piling up some cash over the next couple months. If you are highly dependent on the supply chain to bring your food to you, buy a bit extra of the non-perishables when you go to the store each time, and shove the extras in the back of the closet until you have a month or two worth of essentials on hand. If your essentials are leveraged, see what you can do to get ahead on them while you have an income. Can you pay minimums on the credit card and get 6 months ahead on your car payment by the end of the year?
Don’t panic. The worst may happen tomorrow, or you may never feel the worst of the impact. The fundamentals of personal finance, preparedness, and career planning are the same in good times and in bad. Panicky decisions usually come back to bite you.
Look for opportunities in the destruction. As I mentioned above, Jack Spirko is big on this. What can you do to take advantage of the situation and start up something that will last longer than the downturn?
Hopefully this is of help to people. What are you doing to prepare for the recession? What advice do you have for somebody who hasn’t even started preparing?
Buy crypto?
I keep thinking about it, but I am not convinced that it’s all it’s supporters say it is.
I prefer my unconventional currency-of-sorts to be tangible and shiny.
Money Cowrie!
And to achieve GlibFit status, I’m trying to stick to low-cowrie food.
No corporate scrip? I think I have some Disney Dollars somewhere.
I’d invest in lead (and powder and brass) first, then gold or silver, as a hedge on chaos. Crypto is no shelter for that, that’s more like gambling, so whatever you can afford to lose.
More or less my opinion on it.
Same. I put a few bucks in, but nothing I would miss. If it pays off, great. If not, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
My holdings of gold and silver are all physical metal, and are solely for “deep insurance” – if there is an economic/social collapse of sufficient magnitude that it becomes advantageous to pay for essentials with the shiny stuff, that’s what its for. And I’m betting on unbroken millenia of experience that when the S truly HTF, you can always exchange precious metals for goods and services. It may be a habit we have gotten out of, and the exchange rate may be crap, but if its overpay with silver coins for food, then overpay with silver coins I will.
I need to do this. I have some gold, but it’s not inflation hedge in my investment account rather than a true shtf store. Not counting my gold jewelry habit of course. (Presents for the wife)
How in a complete collapse would gold even be desirable?
Same way it always was? An easy store of value for trading.
Now, that assumes people willing to trade, which might not be the case for a good long while, depending on how complete the collapse is.
Every society above the hunter-gatherer level needs a medium of exchange. It ain’t gonna be fiat currency, so I’m betting the way I’m betting. What would you bet on? I note that even in the 20th century, there are a number of examples of societies where some people survived during serious austerity by paying for essentials in silver (mainly) or gold – occupied France, Argentina, others I am sure.
If it gets to the hunter-gatherer level, I ain’t making it anyway, not for long. Not in the Sonoran desert at my age.
I guess the disconnect for me is most people alive today have grown up not valuing gold in the same way historically. When zoomers are out roaming the streets looking for food and blue hair dye, will they want to carry around a heavy metal to use as an exchange? How do you convince that group who doesn’t even use paper money?
They’ll become convinced when the Boomers and GenXers demand it from them for the goods they want.
I don’t give a fuck what the zoomers do. I do care what the people with food and useful goods and services will accept.
I believe the riddled minds will snap to when they realize not a single person cares about them unless they have a good or service to offer and a means to pay in exchange
Ok sure, fuck the zoomers, but where is the evidence Gen X and Boomers would revert to gold? How much gold does the average wealthy person even own?
How much gold does the average wealthy person even own?
Not enough. I am more interested in what people will accept, not what they have. Maybe there’s not a critical mass of specie, in which case we’ll go to barter, I guess.
I’m also thinking the ammo stockpile is also a good source of trade goods.
Once 90% of people die off, I’m almost afraid there would be too much gold and silver rather than not enough…
Ok sure, fuck the zoomers
Barter it is.
Cigarettes
Alcohol and toilet paper.
Same here. Our physical represents about 5% of our total financial/asset portfolio (well, actually, it represents more now, ’cause the financial side of our port’s been hammered, thankyouverymuch governments of Earth, you incompetent and/or mendacious pricks and cuntes), and exists solely as a “long tail” insurance of last resort, along with some other stuff.
And like you say, I’d rather overpay for a few loaves of bread or a bag if rice or flour with silver than not be able to pay at all. Hunger sucks, yo.
**SIGH**
if rice = of rice
So, what’s a good place to purchase physical silver? Do you favor coins over bars, etc?
Seems like coins are a rip off, but maybe that doesn’t matter for your use case?
I’ve got coins – easier to trade with. Don’t recall where I got them – it was mail order (gulp), but they had an excellent reputation and delivered.
Like Own’ said, that’s a great skill to develop. The career/pay ceiling is almost certainly way higher there than in grocery. Anecdotally: I know 20-something year old welders, and a 55 year old, 30-year career meat cutter/meat department manager. The welders make more.
And skill at welding will transfer to other industries that may not dry up if the steel building does. Also, with your grocery store background, I’m sure you could easily get hired back into that if the welding gig didn’t turn out.
If your goal is to have metal for trade, I would say junk silver is the best bet. If your goal is to stockpile currency, probably 1-ounce gold coins, but that’s A LOT of money for a trade situation and then people will be cutting them up in 8ths.
fucking thread fail.
Junk silver is a good place. Old US coinage that has silver in it. It’s small enough for minor purchases, and has the added benefit of being more widely trusted as legit. Silver bars and bulion will be a bit more suspect, as well as needing to be cut into smaller pieces for small transactions.
There are many places that sell junk silver (US coins 90% silver).
I have been using SD Bullion.
I have dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars in junk silver.
And I have 1/10; 1/4; and 1/2 ounce gold coins.
So a range of coins to be able to make both large and small purchase in the after-times.
you can cover all your bases
Laaaame.
@kinnath
Thanks. They seem to have the best prices and a reasonable minium for free shipping.
You can also get fractional-sized silver and gold coins (although the gold’s more likely); availability right now is generally poor. I prefer coins simply because they’re recognizable and transportable, as well as easy to hide even on your person.
In any case, try to get a dealer that’s an official buyer of physical coins/bullion from various national mints, ’cause there’s no dodgy intermediaries to worry about. I use a dealer in Calgary which gets their physical Canadian stuff directly from the Royal Canadian Mint.
No. It’s hit its trough and settled. I doubt it’ll do anything but small daily fluctuations.
I’m sorry, we don’t accept Yen.
It would be 20 Chilean pesos (thanks to the peso taking a beating).
I own my van,
I just did a bunch of PM on it.
I have at least 3 months of non perishables in stock
A shit ton of ammo
A nd saving cash for a journey
Im concerned about living here in winter as a homeless person, so its back to the Sun
Gotta run, but I thought you’d all be super excited to hear I just submitted my most tedious post yet – the competing jurisprudential theories on how Supreme Court decisions like Dobbs should be applied!
Glad you clarified that it was your most tedius post, because I’ve got a lot of contenders for most tedious post.
This one sets the bar really high.
My nipples explode with delight!
So you’ve switched to LED piercings?
I couldn’t think of a reply.
Prepping for recession?
We’re trying to plan our vacation for this summer.
*shrug*
We’ve been feeling the pinch – I’ve been seeing less income from my antique/art/music hustle. People are just spending less money than before, looking for cheap bargains instead of the more upscale items I sold. Hence I’ve changed my inventory, selling cheaper items like CDs and smaller trinkets. It means less overall profit, but trying to increase sales via lower prices; ie more Kia than BMW.
On the spending front: we’ve decided not to move (higher interest rates and the insane house prices) but stay where we are since it’s – a) safe neighborhood where everyone know each other, and b) relative cheap to live here compared to some of the insanity we’ve seen for homes in the area.
We have also cut back on one of our favorite pastimes: eating out. We’ve also switched from Trader Joe’s to Aldi for cheap wine and basic food items. Also cut down on the expensive alcohol and have instead switched to cheaper vodka ‘n’ whiskey. Weed is thankfully cheap around here and, given my smoking habits, lasts a long time.
Gas prices – EF bought (with me providing a chunky down payment) me a VW Jetta S, the base of base cars – and it’s been a godsend for fuel consumption. I only fill up once a month versus the 2-3x with the ol’ Infiniti. That’s paid for itself regarding fuel costs.
Clothes? I buy from closeout and clearance sales via Sports Direct, a UK based company that has brands that I like.
Entertainment? Tubi has a huge selection of classic movies and old TV shows; you just have to suffer through commercials every once in awhile. Since it’s free, no subscription services.
When I got stuck overnight in ATL I bought some T-shirts at Target – they fit great, seem well made and are currently $3.
I’m stocking up…
So you’re buying long socks too?
Look who’s Pippi-ing up with the puns today!
Puns already? Darn it.
*strongly narrows gaze*
The socks weren’t bad either, now that you mention it…
I’m a bit particular when it comes to t-shirts; so many brands drive me crazy with their itchy – needs 10 washes! – feel. The autistic side of me? Dunno but I also hate labels on the neck and cut them off.
Avatar doesn’t check out.
Me too.
These are the printed-on type label.
I had just bought a sample pack from True Classic – I like these Target ones better and they were 1/3rd of the price.
Will go back to $6 after Wednesday, but I’d say take a flyer on one if you have a Target anywhere near you.
https://www.target.com/p/men-s-short-sleeve-v-neck-perfect-t-shirt-goodfellow-co/-/A-54282376?preselect=54185298#lnk=sametab
A tall size shirt?
Take my money.
People are just spending less money than before
Spending more, but less on discretionary.
I need to download and save all of these videos. Today I learned how to dig a well.
I watched that one yesterday.
He has good videos, and the parsley and thyme porkchops with mustard gravy has worked its way into our regular rotation.
I’ve joked that somehow we’ve become preppers without really intending too. Our very large garden is going strong, and we’ve been canning for years so our stock is pretty decent. During COVID we got in the habit of buying gallons of distilled water, and we should ramp that up a bit. We always buy meat on sale and we have 3 freezers to store it. Mostly we aren’t changing much, except to cut back on travel/vacations but that’s mostly due to gas prices.
“Look for opportunities in the destruction. As I mentioned above, Jack Spirko is big on this. What can you do to take advantage of the situation and start up something that will last longer than the downturn?”
We are still going forward with opening our gym, which hopefully falls under this category. The value of our home almost doubled, and we have no plans to move, so we opened a home equity line of credit at a very low rate that doesn’t need to be paid back for 30 years. Part of that will go to the gym, but they loaned us more than we expected so we have a nice cushion just in case. For the gym, we have all the equipment secured, and the LLC’s set up, so we just need a location. Our expenses will be rent, utilities, and interest on the loan. We have no supply chain issues. We are either very smart of very crazy, so time will tell.
Stocking up on canned goods, non-food items (toilet paper, saran wrap, etc.).
We bought some of these for water storage: https://www.waterbrick.org/
We’ve got a Berkey filter and a couple of five gallon Australian water jerry cans if the water utility collapses. And a pond (incredibly) less than a mile away that the Berkey can turn into potable water. And backup filters for the Berkey.
Oddly, I am better prepared for a total collapse than I am for a serious downturn. If the utilities give out, then I suspect the ammo stockpile will also be getting a workout. Not to my goal of 10K rounds yet, but I’m working on it.
What we don’t have, and what will be essential in a true SHTF condition, is a good local mutual support network. Without that, you’re screwed sooner rather than later. With that, you should have a fighting chance.
Oh, and I’m also on the waitlist for a natural gas generator. All of us with serious freezer/refrigerator capacity need to prepare for rolling blackouts.
The old man has one – it’s has been useful; especially when there was a winter storm that knocked out power all over the state. My family and I ended up staying at his house until we got power back.
Vegas Valley sits on a significant aquifer but its 300-1500 ft and I am on a development that is built on fill, so that won’t help if I need to get access to it.
DINKs checking in. We owe zero dollars to anyone for anything. We have a substantial cash position. My wife’s job gives us free (to us) housing and utilities.
I will drink whiskey and watch the world burn
Same, more or less.
Our urban location isn’t ideal for world-burning-watching, but we owe nothing to nobody (own a bit on the house – could pay it off if I so desired).
Lack of space for freezer chests for
hiding the bodiesstocking-up is also a concern, but we’re not moving anywhere anytime soon.Here we’ve got two chest freezers in the basement (one has been converted to hold three kegs, the other is food storage), only house debt (that we could pay off if we were so inclined, but with the low interest rate, why rush it), and if my tech skills are no longer needed, there’s plenty of breweries and bars that I could assist at.
‘Our urban location isn’t ideal for world-burning-watching’
Front row seats.
Yeah, so amongst 3 drivers, 3 cars and a pickup, all paid for, all caught up on maintenance (till the next unanticipated thing breaks).
Husband works for a bank with paperwork involving bankruptcy. I dropped $5k on a medical coding course so I can go out and get a real job while both of my current ones are drying up. Bad thing is, I’m kinda not getting a couple of concepts. So job-wise I’m a little precarious until I get done with my course. Healthcare and its revenue tracking is not going anywhere.
We have a little nest egg and will have some money soon to add to it.
Do not buy crypto. Like, gold, you can’t eat it, and, like prospecting for gold, it’ll bankrupt you in no time. I got out at its height and made a decent chunk of change, but IMO it’s settled and, like gold, its movement won’t be significant.
I have a weird thing about buying blankets at second-hand stores. I don’t know why. Blankets will be good barter items.
Our food storage mostly consists of things that need to be frozen so we keep a weather eye on our freezers because once we lost a good $1,000 of meat when a freezer broke and we didn’t know for a while. That. Stunk.
Mojeaux,
This comic came out today, and I thought you would appreciate it. This specific comic is SFW, but if you go to the main site, there are many that are not.
That series is still around? I recall it getting too mean-spirited and I stopped following it. I forget what year that was.
It is. Not even close to a regular schedule, but still getting updated a couple times a week.
I have a weird thing about buying blankets at second-hand stores. I don’t know why.
Trying to contract smallpox?
It’s okay. I’m vaxxed.
Ruh-roh.
Handing out “Monkeypox Blankets” to reduce the surplus population, eh?
@UCS
Amazon has their Fire tablets 1/2 off for Prime day.
As much as I love my Paperwhite, I would not buy a Fire if I wanted to not be in a walled garden that’s not even as useful as Apple. I have an iPad for work purposes. My phone has always been Android. Androids are much more versatile.
I’m a simple
tonman. It serves my needs.They’re perfect for what most people want – content consumption. For work and being creative, well no.
I just bought a paperwhite for my wife after enjoying mine for a few years. My daughter uses her fire, but the rest of us don’t. It’s underpowered, clunky, and way too limited.
Thanks. I got a refurb Samsung Galaxy since I wouldn’t have to jump through hoops for the limited use case I needed.
Got two cars and a trailer all paid for, both cars could pull the trailer. Two generators, one that is 4k the other is a 9k. Food storage is like Mojeaux, lots of frozen meats and lots of $$, however, we shifted to a lot of dry goods in the recent months. Rice 50lbs. 4 4lb bags of flour, 20lbs of salt, 6ish lbs of beans. In the garden, I have only been successful on green onion and mint. I am okay with that. I will try corn again with some advice I got from a friend, but that may not matter if we are moving.
One thing is I used to get on my wife for her seemingly OCD purchases every time she went to Wally World. It was always 2 bottles of mouthwash, 2-2packs of toothpaste, 2pack deodorant and 2 boxes of Goody’s. However, over the past 2 years, we have those staple items always available and I consider good items to have and not worry to purchase. Since she used to be a dental assistant, we also have 150 toothbrushes to dip into.
When my daughter was baking and we were preparing for me to be unemployed for 3 months, we stocked up on toothpaste and deodorant and dishwashing liquid and sponges like that. Was a lifesaver later.
After the apocalypse the Toothbrush War of 2032 came to pass.
Do you know how difficult it is to find hard-bristled toothbrushes? I buy in bulk from Amazon and have succeeded in converting my family.
^^^ Who can brush with those soft bristles? Your finger does a better job at that point.
Srsly. I have been lectured on the evils of the hard-bristled toothbrush, but I have also been given reluctant permission to present for a cleaning anydamntime I want. I go about every 2 years.
OMG yes. Damn near impossible to get hard toothbrushes. It’s some kind of dental conspiracy. I have no issues when I use those. Medium and soft toothbrushes don’t even remove food film. Also they lack the stiffness to be recycled into parts cleaning brushes later.
The girlfriend didn’t understand my strategy for dry goods was one in use, one in near storage, and another one packed away somewhere until she started to notice that we never ran out of little items (parchment paper, aluminum foil, toilet paper, etc.).
My GF rolled her eyes and told me I was overreacting when I started stocking up on essentials in late January of 2020. Later on she admitted I was right.
Yeah we are still eating cheap meats cause of our purchases. Only replenishing when on sale isn’t quite keeping up, but we won’t go hungry anytime soon.
Sounds something like my system for non-perishables:
When you open the last one, buy two more. I use this for all kinds of stuff – supplements, dog food, paper goods, etc. etc.
Two for one is a good strategy for building out the stash. When you need one, buy two. When you need two, buy four. Use the oldest one you have and store the rest. Eventually you have 6 months of essentials on hand.
Reduce costs, increase income. Figure out what you want to do, not necessarily what everyone says you should do. I’ve made a good career in a declining industry.
My plan Z is to move to Japan and open an English language school called レゴマ英語.
now, that’s the way you do that
Let me know if you need help and when they stop needing a COVID booster.
I probably picked the worst time to make a complete career change. I’m just hoping to have it done before it gets really bad. I won’t lie though, it’s keeping me awake at night.
A few of you have responded to my posts about gardening and chickens and I thank you for that.
My wife is an extreme extrovert and has already started to make good connections to our new local community and neighbors. That’s where we can get the most bang for our buck I imagine. It sounds selfish, but that’s how communities survive.
I’m starting to worry that I don’t have enough cash set aside for the upcoming move I have to make as well as starting a garden and chicken coop.
Also, a generator. Freezers and whatnot are great but if power becomes scarce (thinking rolling blackouts) they’ll need another power source.
Wife is also looking for part time work to bring in extra income.
5) Portable generator
4) Portable generator w/ manual transfer switch
3) Fixed generator w/ fuel tank and manual transfer switch
2) Fixed generator w/ fuel tank and auto start/auto transfer switch
1) Fixed generator sized for entire house load w/ fuel tank and auto start/auto transfer switch
I’m at #4. I’d like to be at #1 so I didn’t have to worry about that for my wife when traveling.
I am at #4 also. New house, especially in the areas we are looking for have propane tanks and generator hookups so it will be an investment. Need something quieter though.
I’m aiming for No. 1, only with piped gas rather than diesel or propane.
Outside natural gas relies on that supply to be working. Pumps need electricity and not as much of an issue in seismically stable AZ, pipes need to be unbroken.
If there’s no natural gas in the pipes, where is the LP going to come from?
That said, I’ll have to ask about a conversion kit for LP, though. If its not too spendy, probably not a bad backup plan if for some reason you can get LP but not natgas. Diesel is not an option for us, and diesel is being phased out hard by the greens anyway. You have to place your bets, and I’m betting on natgas being reliabily available.
where is the LP going to come from
I assume it would be stored in a tank on-site. Generators are useful in short term disruptions. If the power is out for a week or more, it’s time to move on to other ways to cope.
I meant, the LP you will need to refill the tank.
LP in a tank means you have a supply on hand, unlike a nat-gas pipe. Mine is 1000 gal underground. Currently we fill it about once a year (for our stove, dryer, water heater, and to supply the generator when needed). Obviously you only have access as long as trucks are moving and delivering.
Yes, communities. We haven’t been back to church since it shut down for covid. There are a couple of reasons for this that we’re still grappling with, but anyway, I miss my people. I miss that sense of community and shared goals. I miss the emotional and temporal safety net.
The church has been very helpful for us. Lots of like-minded people. Still trying to find one in our new community, but the whole area seems to be like-minded people so I’m not too worried about that part.
I don’t trust neighbors. Our current neighbors are friendly, but the one is very nosy and will ask you questions all day long. Seems rude not to answer, but I resent his expectation that he can demand information and that we will give it.
^^^ Super nice neighbors…both sides older Koreans so I know they will hop on the roof tops, but I don’t trust them to watch our backs. Across the street neighbor is our SHTF buddy (she once caught the HOA taking pictures of our trailer and she ‘brandished’ her firearm in a subtle manner). In-laws are just over the hill and we have a friend in the outskirts that we can retreat to.
There’s nothing wrong with being rude on purpose.
From what I can tell, one of the tightest communities around us are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There’s a temple not that far from the Casa Dean. The ones I’ve met have all been solid people, and I admit I envy their community.
GOA filed suit against NY over the new laws. In their “Statement of facts” they take a very absolutist stance I enjoy.
The road to madness! Someone could own a nuke. Or a cannon! Instead of just those fully automatic assault machine guns with the bayonet lugs and the thingy that goes up.
They are also challenging the character references requirement
And a lot of the mess from the “SAFE” Act garbage.
Dunno if you missed it, but I would be willing to sign one for you.
I did miss it.
At the moment, I’m watching the chaos. I don’t want to be caught in the middle of a confused and changing process either.
I am enjoying the writing of whoever composed this initial filing.
And thank you. I’ll bear that in mind for when I do file. There are some logistical hurdles since the references also need to sign the original form (in duplicate) to their individual reference forms.
I’m hoping the requirement just gets junked by the time this plays out.
Imagine four character references to be able to vote. Actually I can. It’s the kind of horseshit that was struck down a
halfthree quarters of a century ago.I’m in much better shape for this one than the last one. No debt, plenty of cash, etc. It feels a little different, and I’m still puzzled how we’re even cranking along.
I don’t have a ton of food stored, but I have camping/fishing/hunting stuff. I guess if I had to I could eat for awhile. (Who am I kidding, lol – three weeks tops)
If the SHTF for reals, I suspect all the food and ammo in the world won’t make any difference. I’ll be vaporized in the first strike.
Happy times!
We have debt, but manageable. Wife will hate me for saying, but plenty-o-cash on hand. Most of her customers have moved from digital payments to cash payments. We are okay with that. Her skills will do well in barter if SHTF
‘I’m still puzzled how we’re even cranking along.’
Same here. I must have some deep misunderstanding of the world. I guess, things keep going as long as people keep working.
I’m still hiring people.
Man, I’d PAY to go in the first blast.
Hit Launch
My house is JUST outside a blast radius.
Aren’t you in FC? Looks like later strikes take you guys too.
I am not within FtC city limits.
If I had warning, I would head up to Estes Park, just to be sure, because that fallout pattern depends on exact wind direction.
According to that I have an hour before they really start targeting Vegas since the scenario focuses on Hoover Dam and Groom Lake first.
Per that, Cleveland is a lower priority target then Akron, Dayton (makes sense), Columbus, and Toledo in Ohio.
Cheyenne gets hit hard, which makes sense, but is hilarious, because how could you tell?
Note: not a fan of Cheyenne.
Even Nellis is like 30+ minutes into that scenario. Given early warning and when they get around to it, the USAF can all of the assets elsewhere…that is silly.
If someone goes nuclear first strike, it won’t be a staggered attack, it will be an alpha strike – everything they can get into the air as fast as it can get into the air at as many targets as they can hit at once.
Because there is no second strike.
Subs and any aircraft they can loaded and up I thought are the 2nd strike capability
So your boomers are not in your first wave? How will you know where to target with those missiles?
So…how big is the typical blast radius? We’re kinda on the far side of town from Wright-Patt AFB, but maybe it’s time to consider edging a bit further away…
Depends on the payload and if air or surface burst. Looked like that site had all 1mt or less warheads
This will let you play with the details:
https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
I wonder about the fallout areas. I assume dark red is a death sentence, but are the pink areas as well, or more of an “you will get cancer in the near future” type of thing?
Gain an extra appendage and with a good roll of the dice, it might be extra useful with the ladies.
Even if it looks and talks like the late Abe Vigoda?
Burns and cancer.
Imagine what would happen to the supply chain. If you click on individual areas, many indicate ‘economic strikes’.
I’m surprised to see I’m actually safer than before I moved.
Based on that, I should have stayed in Bowling Green. Would hardly notice anything happened.
Why is Detroit a higher priority target than Buffalo? Detroit is practically farmland.
So are parts of buffalo.
I guess they still have enough heavy manufacturing.
I was wondering how the people in Niagara falls would even notice? Even the mutations from the fallout would be just like normal.
Based on that I’m in a survivable area. Neat. Guess I need more ammo.
https://thepreppingguide.com/gas-masks-you-need-in-a-nuclear-attack/
That map’s hilarious. 2 hours in and not a single Canadian city nuked? Edmonton alone has CFB Namao (Canadian Forces “Superbase”), Refinery Row (processes between 300K and 500K barrels oil/day), and Edmonton International Airport; all three are strategic targets that the Russians would want to deny any surviving American forces, so we’d get our asses handed to us.
Weirdly, we’d likely get a variable warhead strike (between 70-200 kilotons/warhead), which have outdoor unprotected minimum safe distances of 20 kilometres at maximum yield. Our house is 15.5 kilometres from the nearest target, so there’s a chance we’d survive it if we were inside when it happened, and we’re on the west end of the city, so we’d have to drive west to avoid prevailing winds fallout.
We do have a place 60 km west of the city we could bolt to. Not that it would help our long-term survival prospects, but baby steps, I guess.
Obligatory.
Whatevs, d00d. You seem to go there a lot.
Do I? I hadn’t noticed. You sure it was me?
2 hours in and not a single Canadian city nuked?
Why waste a nuke on a Canadian city or military base?
Don’t be a thickie. See “strategic assets which you would like to deny your enemies” as mentioned above. If there are remaining U.S. forces, and we aren’t nuked, I’m under no illusions that our base, airport and refineries wouldn’t be taken over by the U.S. at the first opportunity, sovereign nation be damned.
Dallas hadn’t been nuked by 30 minutes. Proving my point that Dallas is useless.
If they are surface strikes you are golden cause of the mountain range no?
Last I checked, there isn’t a mountain range running through the middle of my city.
Oh…for some reason on my phone I thought you were Hayek…my bad..we cool?
Those are the kind of things you would notice.
OBE: we were never “un-cool,” so yeah, we’re cool. ;-)
My wife asked me what to do if there was a nuke.
I said hopefully we get killed without knowing what happens, after that we would probably prepare to die.
She did not like that answer.
If movies and video games have taught me anything – start a raider gang because nobody wants to mess with the roving psychos with rotting bodies nailed to their vehicles.
My wife would be looking for the blind man with a bible.
You rang?
I’ll have an excellent view of, I would guess, two nukes going off over the air force base and the boneyard. Based on the blast radius website, somewhat to my surprise, I have a decent chance of surviving the initial strikes.
I’m mixed about that.
Me too. Basically no nukes unless someone decided to start targeting stuff that hadn’t been hit. Fucked as soon as society totally collapses or the winds shift from west to anything else, whichever comes first. Roll to your rifle.
Recession happens on a regular basis.
Stagflation, on the other hand, is a big fucking deal.
I just had an interview where they basically offered me the job in the first five minutes. Entry level welding/fabrication that I’ve been looking to get into for awhile now.
Problem is, the pay is about 25% less than what I make now and I get the impression that if higher interest rates are on the horizon, demand for fabricated steel buildings might dry up and I’d be first to get laid off. My current job is essentially recession proof (grocery store).
Less pay and less stability? What a deal!
Act now, before time runs out.
During the interview, I asked lots of questions about their ability to get material recently and if they’d noticed any declining interest in jobs and he said no. I don’t think he would lie, but I also don’t expect him to understand how correcting interest rates can dry everything up in an instant.
As OBE says below, it’s a good skill to have that can translate to many applications. I wish I had learned it much earlier because I’m about at my ceiling at my current job.
Around here, skilled welders make a lot of money. I suspect, and this may just be totally wrong, that the wage disadvantage is strictly because you are new and untried/untested at that trade (If I read you correctly). Taking that job and establishing a good reputation while continuing to build the skill will likely result in you being able to ask for more money at the same place in a year or so, or if that doesn’t happen, to move to a new employer at a higher wage after establishing yourself.
Moving into the higher-earning career track is often the right decision, even if an initial pay cut is involved.
Agreed. And a trade like welding is great because there are so many different job opportunities that open up if you can do it well.
From what I’ve heard from many other welders is that the only way to get consistent, considerable raises is to keep changing employers every couple of years. Even if you’re not doing anything more difficult.
What DB says, and depending on the size of the company, I would ask about any wage scales and if they have step increases. If they are decent sized, they want to get as many people on board as possible (hence the offer in the first 5 minutes) and keep them. If they get a rep for hiring anyone but not paying to retain, they are putting themselves at a disadvantage, bigly.
Yeah the last place I worked at had 2% raises after the 2007-2008 recession. And then kept them in place for a decade. That was maddening and one of the many reasons I left.
The first place I did logistics for, a Target DC, had a wage scale for the first two years of 5% ever three months. It started you pretty low (and most people were unskilled) , and at the end of it you were very well paid, and quite valuable. It was a pretty good system.
Yeah but that is one hell of a skill to build on…I think your potential is greater than the grocery store with that.
Like Own’ said, that’s a great skill to develop. The career/pay ceiling is almost certainly way higher there than in grocery. Anecdotally: I know 20-something year old welders, and a 55 year old, 30-year career meat cutter/meat department manager. The welders make more.
And skill at welding will transfer to other industries that may not dry up if the steel building does. Also, with your grocery store background, I’m sure you could easily get hired back into that if the welding gig didn’t turn out.
Plus we need an inhouse welder for our vehicles to place dead people onto while we rove the wastelands.
One of the things that attracted me to welding was the “myth” (for lack of a better word) that welders make tons of money. Like 100+/hour. That’s on the extreme end of pipeline welding where you get shipped off to the desert for 6 months or you own your own shop or business. Basic production welding is comparable to working the drive thru at your local Dunkin. I don’t have the drive to own my own business and my current life circumstances won’t allow me to get shipped off to work somewhere else (again, I wish I had started this earlier).
The tricky part will be, how long does it take me to learn the skills to break into that skilled shop or construction welder role that can earn me more than I make now as an assistant meat department manager.
Netflix star dies ‘suddenly’ aged 36
Suddenly seems to be going around and getting somebody every day.
Suddenly will be the #1 killer in the age group 18-40 in no time.
Suddenly is preferable to slowly.
Just need that one friend that will erase your browser history.
CDC is on it!
Its interesting to me that this group goes immediately to “catasatrophic collapse” rather than “ride out a (serious) downturn”. Cataastrophic collapses are more fun to think about/prepare for, but I really need to give some more thought to “serious downturn”.
Because most of us have been through downturns before. No real mystery there. Catastrophic collapse is a black hole.
More fun to think about, but my autistic brain jumps to “I just hope I’m one of the first to go.” My wife doesn’t like that. As much as I admire rugged individualism and ability to survive, it’s just not a skill I have. I have no qualms admitting that there are tons of critical points that I rely on to survive that I have no idea how to manage on my own. Maybe when I’m forced by circumstance I can learn, humans are surprisingly adaptable
I guess it depends on what the scale is. I don’t think there’ll be a catastrophic collapse, but rolling blackouts, difficulty accessing utilities, and food shortages are not out of the realm of possibility I think. Stack on the effects of the culture war, layoffs, and hunger and there’s a lot of potential for expanding pockets of violence. Perhaps not catastrophic and if we can overcome those things and put down the Marxists, we stand a chance of coming out even stronger. My primary focus is access to work, food, and water for when the shelves are bare. They may not all be bare at the same time, but if I can reduce the amount of travel to stores to restock then it lowers my chances of encountering violence.
In all fairness, I don’t think North American shelves will go bare — too much economic might. We’ll see continuing, puzzling, rotating shortages of stuff we used to take for granted.
Other nations destabilizing and causing conflicts we can’t avoid forever is my biggest (I think realistic) worry.
Yeah its more of a ‘what would I do!’ not what am I doing now. I already know what I am doing now. I want to play out what ifs for really bad days.
I remember the Carter years. The economy sucked, but our political class had some serious discussions about how to fix it.
This feels different because so much of it is absolutely intentional. Gas prices are way up because the Biden Administration intentionally drove them up. Inflation is up because both parties went on a completely unnecessary spending frenzy. They have no intention of changing their behavior on either topic. Instead they are doubling down on crazy green ideas designed to starve us.
This.
I can’t remember a time in my lifetime where the elites hated the average American so much.
It’s scary AF.
Preparing for the latter works for the former too.
Its a continuum, so to a point, it does. If I can get the damn generator installed, I’ll be OK for bad case scenarios (worst case scenarios, I’m not making it so I’m not wasting my time), but I’m feeling a little unprepared for some less-bad scenarios.
Glad to see you again, BTW.
Thank ya! Like-wise.
Things have been fairly shitty in the world so I came back here for the fun.
So, stagflation. Somebody explain like I’m 5, because…
We don’t have high unemployment. 3.6% at latest report. At least here, we have lots of jobs needing filled at usually twice minimum wage.
Lots of people choosing not to work at the wages being offered. I wonder if a correction is coming for the lower end of the labor scale.
I would like to see turnover #s. Many of our fellow small businesses are saying they can hire, but the people stop showing up after a couple of weeks.
I’ll let you know in a couple weeks.
The number of signs I see going up at the fast food places (and other entry level places) saying “work today, get paid today” is… disturbing.
FWIW, the quality of my newest hires is the best it’s been in over a year.
I’m okay with same day pay, but not in this environment for the same disturbing feeling.
I find it disturbing also, although in a hyperinflation environment, it might be necessary.
Seriously over simplified:
Recession reduces demand for goods and services. Employment drops, salaries/wages drop, prices drop. Recession is generally associated with lower inflation.
Boom economies increase demand for goods and services. Employment increases, salaries/wages increase, prices increase. Growth is generally associated with higher inflation.
Recession and high inflation are supposed to be mutually exclusive. Until Nixon/Carter proved if wasn’t. This spawned the word Stagflation (Stagnation/Inflation).
I am so fortunate to experience this twice in my life.
The cost of everything is spiraling upwards and there is not opportunity for advancement or increase income {this is the best case scenario}. Otherwise, you find yourself out of work; no chance to get a job; and the cost of everything is still spiraling upwards.
My boss is predicting that the coming recession will lead to higher unemployment – and consequently, higher delinquencies and charge-offs for us.
If all your costs are going up, you can’t afford as many employees.
We don’t have high unemployment. 3.6% at latest report.
In the current case, the FedGov is dumping trillions of dollars of fantasy money into the economy much of which (but not most of which) is going directly into the hands of consumers so that they don’t feel the impact of job loss or business shut down. Thus high inflation; lower production; and no unemployment (no reported unemployment). This is actually a worse situation than the Nixon/Carter/Reagan years of brutal stagflation.
So you’re saying that this is unprecedented and that there is no name for what we have at the moment.
Flag Station?
Well, they opened the recipe book and pulled out the recipe for making stagflation and doubled the batch size.
This time it is happening much, much faster than last time.
if the government wasn’t lying to us about both inflation and unemployment, it would be clear that we are approaching the conditions that Carter had just before he lost the election in 80.
And we went from prosperity to the “Carter Years” in two years instead of the 10+ years from Nixon to Ford to Carter.
And yes, it scares me.
We do have high(ish) unemployment – look at the labor force participation rate, which still hasn’t recovered. There are millions of people who used to have jobs who don’t right now. The unemployment numbers are people actively looking for jobs, and are suppressed by high welfare benefits (and other factors).
How much do you think this factors in?
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-04-14/homeschooling-surge-continues-despite-schools-reopening
My job is stable, so I’m not worried about that. I am concerned about shortages. At the store recently I have noticed 1) less variety – talked on zoom about garlic pickles not being available, also neighbor can’t find particular salad dressing, and my mom was complaining about not being able to find what she wanted. 2) I seem to remember items would be 4-5 deep on the shelf (pasta, soups) and now they are only 2-3 deep. This makes me think there is less inventory.
I was surprised to hear (and see for myself a week later) that our local supermarket is mostly devoid of peanut butter except some store-brand chunky and some artisan brands that are quite expensive.
Recall + manufacturing capacity is down…ya. We have that also in deep stock in the house.
I hadn’t heard of a PB recall. I don’t pay attention to the news much, though.
That’s mostly due to the JIF recall. Shelves are starting to fill back up around here.
But I heard somewhere that peanut crops are down. Haven’t looked it up to confirm
I don’t expect a collapse. I expect intermittent shortages on specific items – like this past winter/spring when salad wasn’t available. I also expect the variety to continue to decrease.
This is the most likely and I am okay with variety to shrink, but I think companies will continue to try to provide everything as if they have all the supply chain in the world and not just move to a core product.
I do think they will shrink variety now, but bring them back later
You don’t NEED twenty varieties of peanut butter!
I like sunflower seed butter.
Peanut butter can suck it.
Almond butter.
Oh, I like almond butter too and (over)stock it in the pantry. Sunflower seed has more flavor, imo.
Sun butter was THE thing for kindergarten for my daughter. All those worries about peanut allergies. The approved class sandwich was sun butter.
… also expect the variety to continue to decrease.
*Bernie Sanders does a jig*
I am not too worried about a SHTF doomsday scenario*, but I am worried about gov’t totally tanking in blue states, which I happen to live in. The real worry would be a total shut down of the higher ed system, as that is where my wife works, and through that insurance my very pricy medicine gets paid for. So, with that in mind, I am very glad that my wife is a gardener, with strong prepping tendencies. I am also glad I have a few very quiet means of squirrel and bird “hunting”. But, on the third hand, I know my wife is a spendy person, and it would be hard to get her to stop subscribing to everything under the sun. We are pretty well set financially, and while this house and one of the cars are financed, the other house is paid for, we have enough cash available to pay off my truck if needs be (interest rate is so low that we would rather the money be doing something else). Generator is paid for and tucked away, freezers are stocked, and we have quite a bit of camp fuel cannisters. I do need to replace the BBQ though. I have a side hustle/business much like Lord Humongous, and I too am feeling a bit of a slowdown. But, I deal in mantiques, so I can change things up pretty quick.
*in that case, everything goes out the window, prep wise. Ammo? Well, you don’t want to shoot anything because it is very noise. Fire? smoke during the day, light at night. Food? roving bands will be looking for it, and he first two things will draw them close. And lastly, I am medically dependent, so things go downhill for me real quick in that scenario.
Dammit dammit dammit dammit
The fuckers signed the contract, which means the project from hell is moving forward while we’re at the lowest staffing levels in the history of our unit (less than a third of the understaffed levels we were at when I arrived, and with multiple application areas covered by a single FTE or less.)
Of course, this means it’s going to fail in the same exact ways as all the previous projects, things will get messier instead of simpler, and we’ll be left trying to keep it together with bandaids.
If we had the people, we could stay current on things like patching and updates. You know, important stuff. almost all of our issues are the result of allowing the applications to age and not keeping current. Without it, we’ll just have another project from hell to fix the new application that’s supposed to fix all the old applications’ problems.
Sounds like a good time to see about getting the hell out of there.
Following up on some posts yesterday…1960 DDR beer shelf life:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2022/07/1960-ddr-shelf-life-of-beers.html
Order sandwiches for the shop. Sub place said they tried to call me, they didn’t. They said I gave wrong number, I didn’t. Showed them the online order that had the correct phone number. The order also said add-ons on the side.
They put mayo, mustard and all the add-ons on each sandwich rather than on the side. Now I’m getting that tray and another cause of their incompetence.
One of many reasons I prefer online ordering to phone ordering – you have the documentation of what you really asked for. Should make it easier at the other end, too, but too often they STILL can’t get it right. 😒
*Note to self – raid OBE’s shop for sammiches, come SHTF*
! These techs can put em down…30 sammies in, 10 left and that was just 4 of my techs
Nato and EU sound alarm over risk of Ukraine weapons smuggling
Gee, never saw that coming.
I saw a documentary with Nick Cage
Does this mean we all get select-fire AKs now?
Paywalled.
Last week I tossed out a big bundle of old meat from an accidental defrost moment.. Not mine but a friend. I put a game cam out to watch. Unfortunately I couldn’t find my infrared so I used another one that I’d never used before.
Today I picked the cam up, 556 pix, mostly daytime, some night but too dark to see anything. I expected to see a variety of critters.
First to show up was a turkey vulture, then another, finally after a couple days there were 7 vultures, nothing else. Then a raven and then another and the vultures started disappearing, 1 by 1. Soon it was down to 2 each ravens and vultures. Finally after about 3-4 days a fox showed up as daylight was coming.
The vultures could easily tear open the heavy vacuum pack plastic and clean out the bags totally slick. I picked up the cam today, not anything left to eat.
We had a snake run over on the road by our house. When I came back that evening, the vultures had completely picked it clean. Every rib (and there are a lot of them on a rattlesnake) was intact and in place. The only things missing from the skeleton were the head and the rattle. I still can’t figure that out. You’d thing they’d be the last things left, not the first things eaten.
We also had a quail smack into one of our windows a week or two ago, and die. About an hour later, a vulture roughly the size of a Piper Cub landed and chowed down, right next to the house. Those things are huge and ugly. When he was done, a frickin’ coyote, the scraggliest one I’ve ever seen, rolls up to get any scraps. After the coyote left, we noticed the other quail in the pair was still hanging around. Saddest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Pretty sure she hooked up with another pair, because we saw a group of three quail a few days later.
We have a surprising amount of quail. They usually have large families every spring. Well, to start with. By the time the little ones can fly, your typical family is down from eight quail babies to two or three. When they do their rounds, you can watch the attrition in real time – a family with eight a couple of days ago will have six, and then a day or two later, five, etc. The desert is a harsh and unforgiving place.
Dafuq.
What’s worse, the guy who beat her up, or the two guys who pushed her away from the door without stopping so they could go through?
Don’t know.
The end result of toddlers punching and kicking and cursing cops.
Race relations at an all-time low in my lifetime. Decades of hatred towards directed whites for political gain gets you here. He won’t be punished in a meaningful way. Reverse the races and it’s headline news and the white guy would be looking at decades in Federal prison for a hate crime.
This is how you get the Klan back along with their brand of vigilante justice.
I wish that poor girl had been armed.
That was so sudden and savage. Would it have made a difference?
I don’t know.
Moi aussi, but that’s basically an ambush, which means she had no suspicion that she was about to get beaten on. Even a well-trained and -armed cop would’ve probably been badly hurt.
In this instance, the perp needs to be found and, uhm . . . corrected.
This sort of thing is a regular occurrence in any large American city now.
“Your understanding is not required.”
– William Aprill
Please do not show me things like that anymore. I don’t know if I can continue to attempt to function in society if I think it’s just going to be that nihilistic. I need a daily ray of sunshine stat.
For you: https://youtu.be/rS57A_2yWg4
Awesome. It didn’t restore my faith in humanity so much as just make me want to be friends with only birds. But still awesome.
So, stagflation. Somebody explain like I’m 5, because…
Rising prices with little to no productivity growth. That’s how I’d define it.
Rising prices should create the incentive to increase output, but it doesn’t happen. Animal spirits, maybe? Unpredictable costs? government disincentives?
I was an undergrad in econ at the time. One professor was talking about the Phillips curve – he compared it to dropping a pencil as a demonstration of gravity. Then he said, now imagine when I drop this pencil that it floats up to the ceiling. That was how certain the profession had been about the Phillips curve (trading off employment against inflation).
BMW, not content to make overcomplicated repair-nightmares, doubles down on the retardation.
Pass.
Douchebags.
How hackable are those type of things? Easily reprogrammed through the OBD2 slot?
I don’t know, but I’m sure some clever lad will recognize a business opportunity.
They did that with Apple Play a while back. BMW CAN suck it. I doubt if it is easy or worthwhile to hack one of their overly complicated shit machines. Just buy something else. Bullshit like this is why people will migrate to classic cars.
I love heated seats and I love my 12-year-old BMW, but they can go pound sand if that’s the future of cars.
Let me state this clearly: Subscriptions are for periodicals. Not for software, not for more permanent media like books and audio and video recordings. And certainly not for fucking hardware.
I wouldn’t even pay for VW’s lame smart phone app sub.
VW is doing the same thing. Also can suck it.
I didn’t see any sub for my 2021 VW – but it is rental spec. No satellite radio. Hey-hey, anyone want to listen to FM? I gotcha covered.
I think the newer models were getting a couple years free for car net. Mine is a 2018.
Yes. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot with 365. They can also suck it. LibreOffice forever.
>>permanent media
something I still use. I still like to pull an old paperback off the shelf to re-read for the nth time. Or grab an LP or CD and listen to it. Or throw a DVD into the player.
I ran away from the BMW brand – love Mini Coopers but sheesh the cost of repair was too high. And my hands are too big to work on ’em myself.
These days I’ve been pining for an old Caprice with a small block chebby engine. And a carb.
They tried that in the US and stopped. Looks like they want to bring it back.
When BMW went to tech on wheels I lost interest.
Today was a good day to torture my son by watching the original Robocop. He fell asleep! Kids these days.
Living in the desert isn’t ideal for a recession. The water situation is OK for now with the underground aquifers, but the Bureau of Land Management is letting foreign companies come in directly adjacent to the town to build giant solar farms, and they need cooling water which they are pumping from our aquifers.
And of course the electricity will be going to California.
I don’t have a mortgage, which is a good place to be but electric bills are high.
We can still cut some luxuries: cheaper cellular plan, cut streaming services down to just one. And dining out can definitely be cut. We have gotten old enough we realize we don’t need to eat much anymore.