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Went to the movies last night. Bought a ticket and noticed a price discrepancy from the listed price and what I was charged. I asked the high-school-age drone behind the counter what was up. His reply…”Senior discount.”

Doubleyew. Tee. Eff.?????

Look, I admit my hair has got more salt than pepper than it did a few years ago, but I am nowhere..nowhere….near ‘senior discount’ age. Part of me was offended and part of me wondered what else I could get away with.

But…I can’t deny that age comes on apace. Thirty-year freeze drieds are actually coming up on their ‘Best By’ dates, guns that were cheap and plentiful when I bough them are now collectors items, naps have a lot more appeal than they used to, and I spend a goodly amount of time waiting for the Advil to kick in. Apparently, somewhere, I got old.

I’m not stupid enough to think I’ll live forever. And, of course, I know that eventually it comes for us all. But, man, it sucks to be reminded of it.

But, reminded I was…and last month I updated my will. Because, as it turns out, part of getting old means acquiring a lot of stuff. Houses, land, gold, money, guns, vehicles, etc, etc. And I will set it all on fire before I let it fall into the hands of the state. In fact, sometimes I feel I should have some sort of fail-deadly switch to implode the place, wipe the accounts, purge the drives, and that sort of thing.

But, I did the next best thing and paid way too much to an attorney to write up some ‘final wishes’. It was all pretty straightforward. There’s only a small handful of people I want to leave stuff to and if for some reason they are unaccepting or unable to receive it, then it goes to the charity of my choice.

As I’ve mentioned before, if I go to my death without ever having had to use any of the ammo, freeze drieds, body armour, kerosene, chest seals, or parachute flares….well, I’ll consider that a victory.

But, realistically, and statistically, I’ve got about another 25 years left on the clock. Sure, I could have an aneurysm tomorrow, or get hit by a bus next week, but so far it’s been a somewhat quiet (in terms of life threatening events) existence these last few years.

But…senior discount. That still rubs me the wrong way.

In Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” one of the characters muses how civilians think things are ‘at peace’ because no one they know is involved in the fighting. As a military man, the character knows that there’s never really ‘peace’..there’s always a fight going on somewhere…it’s just that you don’t know about it, so you think everything is peaceful.

Right now, in my world, there is food in the freezer, the lights come on, the water flows, there’s money in the bank, clothes on my back, and gas in the tank. All must be right in the world, yes? Of course not. There are people in hurricane-ravaged areas eating MRE’s and crapping in portapotties, there are people overseas working to keep gas prices high, there’s morons in Washington blindly groping around for ‘mandates’, and there is always some idiot somewhere who is off his meds and on his way to a WalMart. So, yeah, it’s quiet in my immediate vicinity but does that mean it’s quiet everywhere else? Heck no.

So…gotta fight that complacency. Be conscious of the fact (and it is a fact, m’friends) that it can all change Just. Like. That. <snaps fingers> Yeah, its a nice day today and the sun is out….so what? You know life isn’t always gonna be like that. Go out and do something that you’ll thank yourself for later.

That’s a trick question because, realistically and literally, there is always one more thing that a person can do to increase their resilience. You’re never really “done”…you’re simply at a more prepared stage than you were previously. Admittedly, there is a point where you’re just gilding the lilly but I don’t think I’m quite there yet.

But, after having been doing this for a couple decades what could possibly be left to accomplish? Well, the absolute biggest is the crowning jewel of any survivalist’s career – the BOL. That sweet little innocent-looking cabin in the middle of nowhere that is more heavily fortified, stocked, and hardened than Cheyenne Mountain. That one is going to take some serious planning and a metric buttload of cash.

Other than that rather expensive to-do list item, I’m fairly well set on most things. I mean, if there’s anything I think I really truly need at this point I can just buy it. I still need to get a nice radio setup for keeping tabs on the world, and it would be nice to have a larger stash of precious metals, but other than that I think I’m pretty set on things. I could always upgrade and increase the amounts of some things…food, ammo, cash, etc., but they’re at levels right now that I’m comfortable with and I’d rather funnel my resources into getting that nice chunk of Middle O’ Nowhere.

No one is every ‘fully prepared’, in my opinion. However, I’m satisfied enough with what I have now that, while I recognize there’s always room to add more depth to the stockpiles, I have no problem focusing resources into other projects.

It hasn’t always been this way, though. I remember when every $25 can of freeze drieds, and every $150 SKS, was a struggle to justify to my limited budget. But, I’ve hit the point in my life where I can drop a few hundred bucks here and there every so often for things that I want. Didn’t always be like that, though…..there were some pretty tight times back there.

Overall, though…I have absolutely no regrets about spending what I’ve spent over the years. I have literally thousands of dollars of freeze drieds and if I never wind up needing them I will still consider it money well spent. Like insurance, it gives me peace of mind and reduces risk. That has a value.

I also have no regrets because I see where the social zeitgeist is going and I’m pleased to say that I can sit back and watch everyone else scramble for freeze drieds, gas cans, ammo, and other gear. Those decades of picking up gear here and there have paid off in that I don’t have to deal with the scarcity and pricing issues that the Johnny-come-latelies have to face.

If you’ve been a survivalist for more than a few years, I trust that you are in a similar position. And if you’re new to the scene..well…don’t be discouraged.

One of the nice things about blogging for twenty years is that I can go back and check details that would otherwise be lost in time.

The Augason storage food I mentioned yesterday? The price on the potato shreds is the same as it was last year. Interestingly, though, the butter powder is $2.50 cheaper than it was last year.

Storage food is insurance. Certainly it’s a nice hedge against the day the zombies arrive, Xenu comes back, the Chinese invade, the race war starts,  and the comet hits. But it’s also a comfort against job loss, economic troubles, and supply issues. In general, like all insurance, one of it’s great benefits is the peace of mind it offers.

We seldom see hunger in this country to the point that exists in other countries. (We’re the only country with obese poor people, so you know food isn’t exactly a problem for us.) But while as a nation we virtually never experience hunger, we can (and do) as individuals…we suffer individual setbacks like job losses, crippling injuries, etc. And while there may be miles of aisles of food at the Walmart, there may be none to be had by you. So….yes, a form of insurance.

Preaching to the choir, I know, but let’s be real….too many people emphasize the sexy gun stuff and under-emphasize the unsexy things like food. But your gonna eat a lot more often than you’re going to shoot things in most crises. So…yeah, lay back some .223 but spend at least as much in time, effort, and money on food as well.

This came in email today;

I was wondering how you came to decide on your quota/budget/allocations you do for things like gold, silver, ammo, IRA’s, cash, storage food etc.  You just figure a percentage of income to each category or?  Was wondering if you did some research to arrive at your system or perhaps you have tweaked it over the years?

If you go hiking in Texas and then go hiking in Colorado, the environment must be exactly the same, right? I mean..you hike in Texas, you hike in Colorado…hiking is the same everywhere, right?

Darwin: No.

Seems pretty stupid on its face, but here it is:

“These hikers said they did not understand why it was so cold and rainy in Colorado, because it has been ‘so hot in Texas’ where they hike all the time,” rescuers said.

Mother Nature has no no sense of humour about these things. Look, it’s 90 degrees out this weekend and even though sitting in my truck is like being in an oven I still carry a heavy coat, rain poncho, sleeping bag, and other cold/wet weather gear in my truckbox….year-round.

But, interestingly, there is a bit of a cautionary tale and lesson here: just because something went one way when you experienced it does not necessarily mean that a similar experience will beget similar results. Hiking in Colorado doesn’t mean you will have the same experience as hiking in Texas…so plan accordingly. The lesson there is that just because you survived [name of experience] last time doesn’t mean that you will this time.

Made it through the inflationary period of the late 1970’s? And its gas shortages? That doesn’t mean that you’ll weather the current one. The things you did to mitigate negative outcomes that time may not work as well this time. As the guys at the brokerages say – “Past performance is no guarantee of future results“. Don’t get complacent and think that just because you made it through the last blackout, shortage, pandemic, hurricane, etc. that you will therefore make it though the next one by doing the same thing.

The military has that saying about how we’re always planning to fight the last war. The implication being that we assume the next one will be like the last one and therefore whatver we learned from the last one will stand us in good stead on the next one. Sometimes that’s true. But survivalism isn’t about trusting to ‘Usually’ and ‘sometimes’.

Drove up to Lowe’s the other day but they were closed for the Easter holiday. Ok, no big deal. What was terribly interesting though was that the closing up process including getting on a forklift and stacking pallets of heavy materials about nine feet high in front of the doors and loading entrances. Clearly, they are not taking chances on crash-n-snatch robberies. I understand this sort of thing is SOP in more urban locations, but its the first time I’ve seen that sort of thing out here.

Interestingly, the CostCo across the street from Lowe’s also appears to be…hardening…itself. Their remodel included moving the main entrance to the facility and that main entrance is now ‘picket fenced’ with concrete bollards every six feet or so to, presumably, prevent someone from crashing the place in a vehicle, looting, and scooting.

Once, when the Hells Angels were in town many years ago, I actually recall CostCo having a shotgun-toting guard at the front entrance. Never saw that again until about a year or so ago in the panic phase of the Wuhan Flu epidemic.

Heinlein said that one of the signs of a sick society, one that was on the decline, was the breakdown of civility and manners. I look around at the balkanization, increasing crime rates, the apologists trying to justify it, the social zeitgeist, and I am certain that I am not “better off than I was four years ago”, to borrow from Reagan…at least not socially.

I can’t say if it will ever get better but I can feel fairly certain that it will continue, if not get worse. All I can do is take measures to protect myself and my interests. I can’t change the course we are on, and I probably don’t want to. Sometimes to make an omelette, you’ve gotta break a few legs. Perhaps if this decline hits enough people hard enough they’ll shake off their indifference and step up to the plate….change laws, change politicians, change direction. Not holding my breath, but you never know.

We’ve all heard people in the preparedness community ask this particular question: “How do I meet like-minded people?”

As I’ve said before – if you have an interest and are active in a field that appeals to surivivalists (guns, backpacking, military/LE, radio, ‘primitive’ camping, being a Mormon, etc.) you probably already know several survivalists and just aren’t aware of it. But, may times you discover, in a casual conversation, that the person you are engaging with is on the same wavelength. Todays example comes form me standing at the deli counter picking up some chicken strips for lunch. The kid behind the counter takes my order….

Him: Three chicken strips today?
Me: Yeah, thanks. How are you doin’ today?
Him:I saw today wheat is up 33%.
Me: Hmm. Well, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
Him:Yeah. I’m trying to put some stuff back.
Me:Yeah, me too. I just cleaned out two cases of canning lids from aisle 6.
Him: Me and my brother can. We’ve been doing a lot of canning lately. I need to get water, though.

And we chit chat for another minute about the topic of socking away food against inflationary increases and filling up propane tanks this weekend.

Thats how it happens. No secret handshakes, no coded ‘Want to meet’ ads in Craigslist, no Friday night meetup at the VFW. It happens organically all the time…just keep your ears and eyes open. Tribe recognizes tribe.