Preparedness With Steven

It's tearing the fabric of our society apart right down the seams before our very eyes.    This is not a new thing.    It didn't just start in the last 4 years.  It's been brewing and building up over the last 20 plus years.  Many of you may be old enough to remember the hotly contested presidential election of Gore and W. Bush in 2000.  It came right down to the wire, so close it was difficult to call who really won.  The debate went on for weeks with no clear winner.  Sound familiar??  But in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that W. Bush did indeed win the election by a slim margin.  To me, that was the start of when partisan politics really started to heat up in the public square so to speak.   And it's only increased with vigor since then!    The polarization of the country over Trump has only added fuel to the fire of this divide.  But it wasn't the start.  It was there before and increasing. ...

  In the past few days, I could not look at social media without seeing a video pop up about President Biden falling down several times while climbing the steps to Air Force One.  It's tough to watch and I can't help but feel deeply concerned for his health.   To me, he just does not look well.   Let me be clear.  This has nothing to do with whether or not I agree with his policies since taking office. But he is our President and leader of the most powerful nation on the earth.  The President of the United States of America.  The most demanding job in the world in my opinion.  I can't imagine the stress and pressure it brings.  I want my President the be cogent, alert and cognitively functioning at all times.  It's not just intelligence.  It's judgment, discernment, memory, compassion and toughness that is so important in this position.   Is he really cogntively fit for this position? I am no medica expert, but f...

Top 5 Preps to Survive a Deep Freeze 2021 USA. Would You be Ready? M uch of the USA was plunged into a  deep freeze  a few weeks ago. Even parts of the deep south felt this one. In Texas, the  sub-zero  temps and winter storm extended all the way to its southern borders! It left millions without  power  for days on end and made travel next to impossible. At least 5 people died, several froze to death inside their homes. Now there are reports of  food  and  water  shortages at grocery stores were due to the disruption in the supply chain.  https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-food-supply-power-outage/ This is why we  prepare . Weather is one of those forces of nature that is so difficult to predict. I live in Georgia, so we were lucky with this one. The arctic train of freeze stopped right at our doorstep.   Much of the state of  Texas  experienced rolling blackouts, so hours at a time with no power ...

  Yes, you read that right In case you start seeing zombies wandering around, the CDC has issued guidance for how to be prepared in such an event. I have to stay I find this story amusing. Obviously, the CDC is using this as a tongue and cheek way of getting people to think about being prepared for any natural or man made disaster. Here is a link to the story  https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/ This story still makes me ch u ckle a bit. Especially the part that talks about having enough water and food stored up for at least  3  days. Umm pardon me, but for most prepper type people, 3 days of provisions is the bare minimum at any given time. Think at least 6 months! So a few days is enough time to allow authorities to investigate the zombie outbreak and solve the problem?  I don’t think so. Is it realistic anyway ? I know it’s talked about often and people seem to have a fascination with zombies. This has been th...

S now, ice storms, children home from school, Covid lock downs but you have a family to feed. Tired of the same old? Eating out is  expensive  and if you have it delivered, tack on a few more dollars! Our children are grown now and no longer live with us, but we still keep eating out to just one or two times per week. We like to prepare something on Sundays that we can eat off for at least half of the week. We have tried many but we have several favorites for the this time of the year. They are winter friendly, taste good, simple to make and use very common household ingredients. I could go into so many meal options, but the following is our top 3. The first one is a nice  twist  on the traditional  spaghetti . Chickenetti  is one of those satisfying meals that is filling but at the same time is not unhealthy. My wife is gluten-free so we use GF pasta and cream of mushroom soup. If you are trying to watch your  sodium  intake just opt for a lower ...

  Baking, an underrated skill when it comes to Prepping As preppers, many of us often get too caught up in things we can buy and store. We don't spend enough time learning valuable skills that would be needed in a SHTF situation or even a Covid lockdown, prolonged natural disaster or power outage.  Yes, it is very important to stock up on food, water, bullets, beans and bandages. But having certain skills can be just as important and can make you a highly sought after team member if things go sideways. In my opinion, one of the most underrated of these skills is  baking.  Yes, I said baking. Think about it. If you are all good and stocked up on beans, rice, spam and other non perishables, having somebody that is good at whipping up a cake or pie is gold!  What if electricity and google is not available? You probably won’t have access to store bought sweets or baked goods. After a while, you will want variety in your diet and a nice cake, pie or bread from ...

  N ew or recent to Prepping? It's been on your mind but no action yet? OK, even if you aren’t new to prepping, this could be helpful to you. So, unless you have been living under a large rock for the past year, you most likely have had at least a thought about preparing for tough times. Say an extended lockdown , civil unrest, widespread power outage , martial law in your area, travel restrictions or even a natural event like a snowstorm that leaves you in the dark and unable to get out and about for days. Just get started It’s never too late to start prepping. And it really does not take as long as you may think to get a nice little start. Here is what I would start doing now and would not break your back account: When you are grocery shopping, pick up one or two extra non perishable items, like canned goods, rice, honey, sugar, flour, candy, peanut butter, anything that has a long shelf life that you will actually eat even if there was not an emergency. This is how I started out...

  Why I became a Prepper. As a husband and father, I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I need to make sure we are prepared for  basic emergencies . Things like a temporary  power outage  or being stranded in the event your vehicle breaks down and you’re waiting on help. In the Spring of 2015, we experienced a severe  thunderstorm  that knocked out our power for 3 days. It’s amazing how much we take something like  electricity  for granted, until you go through it for several days as a family of 4 plus 2 dogs. We made it through just fine, but it was more stressful and uncomfortable than it should have been. But that event made me pause and think . What if the power outage had lasted much longer? A week or more? What an event occurs that results in a majority of the  electrical grid  being down for weeks or months? That would also result in the loss of your running municipal  water supply. I realized that we were  woe...