I noticed that silver was below $20 for the first time in quite a while. I’ve already purchased my quota of silver for the year so that money is going to other things….but even with silver at $20, the premium is dang near 23%. Look, I know that the premium is what the store makes money on, but, dammit, $4.50/oz seems a bit high for silver that, pre-covid, was a buck and a half over.
A better question is why, during inflationary times, precious metals are hitting such lows? The easy answer, of course, is that ‘the markets are being manipulated’. Maybe. I honestly haven’t examined it. But I do know that I feel a bit more secure with a bunch of gold and silver sitting in the bottom of the safe.
Which reminds me, my water heater puked it’s guts out last night. now, since I have a pretty healthy emergency fund I can literally just write a check and not lose any sleep over it. In fact, this happened several years ago with a different water heater I had. The difference now is that after calling several plumbing outfits here in town, the earliest they can get me in is in two weeks. Two weeks???? They blame ‘staffing issues’. When the heck did the US become a Third World country? This is a country where it used to be you could order anything you wanted and it would done in two days, tops. Now its “staffing’ and ‘supply chain issues’ and ‘nobody wants to work’. It’s a slow descent into Third World-ism, but its a descent all the same.
While I fully agree that the news cycle brings us a lot of things these days…Supreme Court decisions, ‘mass shootings’, etc….don’t take your eye off what impacts you the most: this economic donkey show that the Biden people have foisted upon us.
About the only glimmer of hope seen lately is that gas prices are, a smidgen lower than what they were a week ago. Speaking of market manipulation, how much do you want to bet that gas prices will miraculously decrease just in time for the elections?
That would be a sucker bet.
Just like us ever having an election again. As long as what happened two years ago is corrected we will be having selections. Oh there will be choice, but ever again will they let someone unapproved be elected.
Magic numbers are a socialist-democrats main game.
Given the sock puppet just promised the unions a bailout of their pension funds why expect anything less?
Bread and circuses was about BUYING VOTES and keeping the mobs sated.
Works until you run out of bread. Then all hell breaks out.
We are so screwed. Hyperinflation here we come.
Hire people to replace a water heater? My Dad would reconstitute himself from his ashes & kick my ass if I thought about such a thing–if I hadn’t already killed myself in shame.
Funny you should say that – I just replaced my hot water heater two weeks ago. I’m getting kind of old to be moving things like that by myself, and my shoulder still hurts from that effort, but I could have written a check. The point is we should be practicing self-sufficiency all the time. When the balloon goes up, we won’t have a choice. I knew that the old one was going to need to be replaced, so I bought a replacement two years ago (and saved about 25% over the cost of the same model today).
Look at it as a chance to learn something new. Swapping a water heater isn’t that hard. The worst part is getting rid of the old one. I hadn’t done one in years and it only took me 1 1/2 hours.
Yep, me too, 2 weeks, but I was fortunate I did not have an emergency situation replacing our HW heater. The old one was 17 yrs old and I didnt want to chance it leaking out and creating a bigger problem. I even kept the old one in case theres ever a problem with the new one on a Sunday afternoon. BTW gone are the days you can get a new HW heater installed for $600, these days it cost more just for the heater at the plumbing supply house.
So I wonder if they will be able to lower gas prices by October, when I read today that portions of the Strategic Oil Reserve are being shipped to the EU and China? I mean really? Our enemy is getting a cut of our reserve?
Here is where prepper community comes in. I sincerely mean that, not in snark at all. If you aren’t up to doing the job yourself, who do you know who can? It doesn’t take a plumber, licensed, bonded, and insured, to replace a water heater.
I did it some years ago by going to big box store, getting one in a box, along with new copper flex hose connections, onto a cart and took it home. The hard part was draining the old one as the drain valve was a rusty mess at the bottom. I even networked to a scrap metal guy who took the old one free of charge, and he came to my driveway for it.
I was telling my tale of woe to a co-worker, and he snarked at me: “You get a permit for that?” I just answered: “You hush your mouth.” We both laughed. A few years later when we sold the place, the home inspection determined that it lacked an “earthquake strap” bolted to the wall. That was easy and cheap to fix.
I’m trying to spend about $100k on improvements to my BOL and I can’t even get contractors to call me back or answer emails.
What I started on was ordering and buying the stuff I’ll eventually need, so that when we can finally start, I’m not waiting for the supply chain. Even that is hard, as they don’t really believe I mean it. BUY THE PUMPS, BUY THE TANKS. FFS, put them in the driveway if we have to. “No, I’ll be able to get them when we need them.” He did buy and hold the one thing he didn’t think he could get so that was something.
I waited a couple of months for my A/C contractor to get the materials and parts he needed for my house, and then I had no real choice about brands. The system is Carrier and works well, and I’m glad to have the new system and not a 20yo failing system, but months? And ‘take what you can get’? Yeah, we’re sliding down the slope and faster every day.
If you need something in the next two years, buy it now. Or start trying to buy it now. My wife works in construction with manufacturers and they are cutting back their product lines, and now quoting TWO YEARS before delivery on stuff that used to be stocking items. It’s starting to affect projects big and small and the delays will ripple out.
Be flexible, and be willing to accept substitutions. And buy it if you see it.
n
I’m sorry man – that’s brutal. God bless.
If it’s an electric HWH, you can do it yourself. Not a big deal.
Gas……depends on how much you like your eyebrows…
That’s the plan. A One Third World Government. Where I work all the American customer service workers have been replaced by call centers in the Third World. You now get Third World customer service. Your issue may be fixed by the fourth or fifth transfer as reps are selected not for competence but for nepotism.
Staffing and supply chain issues is another term for ‘bad management’. There were companies that hedged against the pandemic and got along just fine, they had astute people running the show and weren’t fat, dumb and happy running their business clueless to possible disruptions with inventory supply.
They also leave off key information when they use the ‘nobody wants to work’ excuse. That statement is more complete with ‘..for the wages the company is paying…’
The pimple in our economic skin keeps growing, it’s going to pop sometime and when it does that gold and silver we have saved will be our ointment.
I definitely feel your pain, or similar. Two days ago, here in Hotlanta my heat pump AC unit died while I was on a short grocery run. The soonest anyone could show up is today “between noon and six, and it will be $95.00 for the service call which will not be included in the final bill”. So, depending upon when the guy arrives, what he finds and if he has or can get the parts/units I may have AC in a couple of days. It’s going to be 94 today with 80% plus humidity. Fortunately, like you my emergency fund can cover it even if the entire system has to be replaced. All I can hope is the supply chain has what is needed. Gray Fox
It’s common knowledge that it is prudent to assemble a cache of spare parts in the event of breakdown.
But spare water heaters? Closest I come is a Zodi.
I am doing a bathroom remodel at the moment.
I can concur that finding any kind of skilled trade help is extremely difficult. A lot of that is probably due to retirements. Younglings are being told in high school that the ONLY way to make a good living is by getting a college degree. Such lies. Yet, here we are.
Your water heater scenario is an excellent candidate for a DIY project. They have really gone up in price lately, just for the part, $800 for a decent one. Yikes! But it is a remove/ replace job, so technically not to bad.
If you are connected with copper water pipes, a couple of sweat solders and you’re good. 1st time I did my own water heater, I added three, sweat-on ball valves and created a bypass. With a family of 5 at the time, they did not have the patience for me to turn off the entire house water supply for several hours (I work slow).
I drained the old one, rolled it out the door, and rolled in the new one. A couple new pipes and some slip sleeves soldered in and voila’!
Many youtube vids on sweat soldering.
Or, maybe yours is plumbed with plastic. A bit different of connection method, but very do-able.
If electric – plug & play. If gas, connector should be pretty universal.
If you can’t sweat copper worth a damn, you can always get compression fittings. Especially hand if you’re working in tight quarters.
I’ve noticed recently that while the spot price of silver is dropping significantly, the “in hand” price has barely moved.
I wonder what is happening in the silver market? Several years ago when this happened, I later read that one large financial institution was about to lose their shirt in silver and the price dropped just in time for them to avoid a large loss…
I’m keeping an eye on it, but the premiums have gotten so crazy they put me off – for example, many places Silver Eagles are still over $30, which means a 50+% premium!
Gold is dropping also, and large coins I can get for a 8 to 15% premium, but small ones, particularly 1/10th ounce gold eagles also have 50% premiums.
Right now I’m focusing on getting caught up in some other areas.
You’re exactly right. The “in-hand” price hasn’t moved a bit. I surmise that means supply is quite tight, or dealers could never get away with those prices.
Spot price is a fraud.
Yep I went looking today and two different places were wanting $10 over spot for rounds and $12 over spot for eagles. There is high demand for precious metals. Neither place had much inventory.
Replacing a water heater is not hard – do it yourself.
Since I am not a plumber, I would not replace anything that has gas or propane as a fuel source. Lack of experience could lead to a gas leak or an unexpected explosion during the connecting of copper piping with a torch. There are somethings that should actually be left to the professionals.
You mean, you didn’t have triply redundant spare water heaters?
Actually, Im gonna see if the plumber can rig a T between them so that if one heater craps out, I can shunt water from the good one into the bad one. Also buying a propane portable heater/shower unit.
Having a second water heater plumbed-in — using the opposite energy source as the first — is not a bad idea. You can use electric or gas based on what is cheaper at the time, and you also have another 40 or 50 gallons of stored water accessible if the water supply goes out.
But if you’re needing to replace a heater, consider an inline / ‘on-demand’ water heater. You lose the potentially useful tank(s) full of water, but you’re only heating the water when you need it, not using energy to keep it hot all the time. They cost about the same as tank water heaters, take up less space and are easy to install.
The Zodi camping unit that sits on a 2-burner camp stove is not bad. And It’s not difficult or expensive to make a DIY version: about 50 feet of 1/4 inch copper line, bent into a coil using a tube bending spring tool, and a sheet metal box to cover it and improve heating efficiency, with a few vent holes drilled in the top.
Used one of the Zodis for several years at a remote site — beat a long drive to civilization, and no sweating and getting covered with dust on the drive back. Only improvement I would make to the Zodi is changing from a cylindrical coil to a slightly wasp-waisted coil, so a piece of copper wire could be soldered or even just wrapped on the bottom of the coil to provide a path for condensation (water vapor from the burning gas condensing on the copper tubing full of cold water) to run down the wire and drip away from the stove — I had some visible corrosion to the stove burners after a couple of years. I had one of the older models which used a horizontal coil of tubing, the newer model may be using a pair of vertical coils that provide a built-in path for condensation to run down?
We were going through a water heater every 5 years or so with the hard water here. We installed a Rinnai tankless water heater that runs on propane, works great and no more tanks. Now we store food where the tank once was.
Pro tip: whenever I need a few gallons of hot water to mop the floors or wash the car, I use the hose bib on the bottom of the water heater. It helps keep sediments clear off the bottom and it seems to last longer.
I have a good plumber on speed dial and always take good care of him when he comes to my rescue.
I own a propane guy.
When I was in the gun racket, I used to get him what no one else could and did it for cost.
I have a broken baseboard hot water line at 1800 on a Sunday on 3-day weekend; no sweat, he’s there in 30-45 minutes with the truck and his gear.
Wife makes him food, I slip him some ammo, he gives me a fair bill and time to pay if if needed.
You should -always- “..have guy for….”; your propane guy, your truck guy, your roofing guy, whatever.
Find the guy, treat him with respect and treat him right and when things go sideways, he’ll be there.
It’s a two-way street; be someone else’s guy.
In a world of ‘tribes’ you want to be welcomed and respected by the ” ‘trades’ tribe”.
Better hope your guy is good as a propane plant in Oklahoma blew up yesterday, got full tanks?
Also buying a propane portable heater/shower unit.
I’ve been using the CampLux propane instant hot water heater at my BOL. We’ve got a septic issue, so we’ve been showering on the back patio with a hose and this heater-
https://www.amazon.com/Camplux-Outdoor-Portable-Tankless-Propane/dp/B08Z8D2XZQ
I bought it years ago as a hurricane prep, left it in the box, and when I got it out it worked perfectly. Gets hot in seconds, makes plenty of water for a shower. The on/off switch in the handle of the sprayer is stiff so we just turn on the water at the hose bib. The bad reviews seemed to be about leaving it to freeze with water inside, which will wreck it.
If you set it up semi-permanently, put a valve in the supply hose right at the heater, and screw everything down to a board or the wall. The connections have warnings all over them about stressing them and improper tightening that tell me you don’t want them moving around much. It’s handy to have everything within reach so you can adjust the temp of the water on the fly.
It will blow out in wind that isn’t super strong, and suggests not using it on windy days, but that was only a problem one night so far.
It’s cheap enough to be on everyone’s prep list. Can be used to make hot water for washing dishes or clothes too. Cleaning up after a hot day working and getting filthy is so much better with hot water.
If you want extra prepping, there is one kit that includes a 12v demand pump so you can pump water from a barrel or other non-pressurized source and use it with the heater.
I’ve had no issues with this model with daily weekend use for the last couple of months, but if you don’t like this model, definitely consider some other one. Hot water is civilization.
n
Do you have a link for the 12 pump please.
Thanks
Went to a local coin shop a couple weeks ago to check stock and prices.
They wanted $14.00 over spot. Geez– I passed
We had to replace our water heater back just before Covid , I was going to do it myself , I’d done it before so no big deal , I went to the Orange Box Store to get one but all the gas ones said see Customer Service , So I did and they told me I have to pay for it and a licensed plumber has to install it and he would get the permit and it would be a couple of days , Because it’s gas and that’s the regulations for code .
Well ours was just leaking but still works , I spent 3 days sweating it wouldn’t bust loose . The plumber showed up on time did the job and pinned the permit on the wall and said a inspector will call me to set up a day and time to come look at it . He called , Came out checked it , Signed off on it .
Thanks to the demented vegetable in the White House we have gone from the most productive nation on the planet to beggar nation status. Begging our enemies for oil and baby formula. This is what the left and their Liberal World Order has brought us to in less then 15 months.
Now the press is finally asking the question as to why this election stealing Dumbass is sending oil ( a million barrels) to China and Europe as well as other Asian countries. And it just so happens the company that number one crackhead son started is heavily invested in…….wait for it…….the Chinese National Oil company. Any surprise. Also out this week is the suspicion that the Biden family is involved with a world wide sex trafficking operation as well as many suspicious bank actions that should lead to a massive investigation.
With what the Obama/ Biden Regime was doing before. Billions in cash on pallets given to Iran. And in light of the fact Obama has been buying multiple multi million dollar estates on Marxist Vineyards, in the Dysfunctional Cesspool that is Washington and Hawaii. Seems he is cashing in on a huge kickback. Biden as well.
What about the recent seizures of fentynal coming across the border. And the sex traffickers bringing in children. Seems that might be a source for some cash payments given to certain people for the assistance. Two siezures earlier this month captured enough of the drug to kill every man woman and child in this country 11 times over.
There have been rumors out there for a couple of years about state Democrat parties along the border are taking money from drug cartels in exchange for doing what they can to keep the border open and unprotected.
The party of Marx needs to be brought to justice. It’s always been an evil party. And it’s gotten worse. To the point they hate America and her people. Especially the middle class. Which Dummy is intent on destroying. The current jobs report is horseshit. When you consider that nearly two thirds were from already employed people having to take second jobs.
We are in deep shit. I see only two ways out and neither are anything close to optional.
+1 on DIY, nothing like doing a good job and knowing it is done to your satisfaction. Don’t forget shutoff valves in and out,makes service/replacement plug and play. Biggest thing is maintenance,drain sediment at least once a year, replace anode rod every year or three(based on akalinity of water) (make sure clearance overhead to allow new rod),last water heater lasted over 30 years ymmv. Get the parts when you buy tank as nothing says planned obsolescence as no parts available. Saw silver drop the other day as I was waiting for delivery of a order, premiums are high but still on sale(what else has dropped in price?). Did you notice the Georgia Guidestone bombing and demolition? Odd how it was under 24hr surveillance but no suspects /arrests and it was demolished before a real investigation could be done, maybe someone didn’t like their plans to be widely known. Murdering 7,500,000,000 people might cause a little upset,might even react like the Dutch farmers.
Michigan Prepper,
Who will investigate, prosecute?
This FBI?
BATFE(sarc), Sheriff if it was a tourist draw. Local cops might want to know if someone is blowing things up.
There haven’t been any new comments on this post for several days, but just now I was catching up on Rawles at Survivalblog.com and he wrote a short piece with observations about the current whacko silver market. For those interested, you can find Rawles’ comments at:
https://survivalblog.com/2022/07/10/the-bidenized-silver-market/
Here’s the conclusion:
“My advice on silver: Stack it deep, and stack it soon, while spot silver is priced so absurdly low. But definitely shop around, to find dealers that offer low premiums!” – JWR
Here in the San Jose CA area there are guys that specialize in water heater installations. The difference in what they pay for the tank and what you can buy it for pretty much pays for the labor. On top of which is seems every time the boss has to replace one, the codes change, so he just farms it out.
One of the properties is a 4plex, and the flex lines only last maybe two years before they rot away. The building has no real grounding system. All the pipes into and out of the property are plastic, even though it’s at least 50 yo. So, I put ball valves in both the inlet and outlet pipes so I wouldn’t have to drain the whole building. Had to have that tank replaced, and the plumber took both handles off those valves and covered them with foam insulation. There is no such thing as universal ball valve handles. Good luck if they get lost. Next time I install any ball valve, it gets the permanent type of loctite on the handle screw, and the screw drive ground off or filled. Idiots.