PREPS AND FIGHTING

It's colder than I need it to be outside. A little windy too. And it is snowing! The lake is frozen and the snow is blowin' and I am indoors where any rational person ought to be.

The wife got us some preps yesterday. She was on a vegetable mission. We can always use some more vegetables so I just wished her happy prepping and off she went. She told me when she got home that her main thought was to get COLORFUL vegetables. Bright red tomatoes. Deep green Kale and Spinach and Mustard greens. Dark and black Beans. Dark red Beets. Good orange Sweet Potatoes. Even some Mandarin Oranges. Her idea of doing this is that the color of a vegetable will tell you what it's main ingredient is, nutrition wise. Sounds reasonable to me and I am most happy to see a few cans of preps enter our stash domain. The fact that this is supposed to be the healthy stuff is a great bonus. She did well.

I do not think that the Obama National Security Force will be out checking our pantries in the future. The rewards would be too devastating in relation to the loses. We scrimp and save to get our meager stash and Obama ain't gonna take it from us. Just sitting here looking outside and it is snowing like a bitch and my wife is fixing to go to an art show up in Indy today. Good luck, honey. I ain't got my 4WD pick-up truck anymore if you get into trouble. I can't come get you. It is time to bug in and stay the hell away from Indy and keep yourself safe and warm. She WILL wear a full length down coat. I am adamant about that. The cats are denned up and not even showing themselves today. THEY know what the hell is going on and they have bugged in. The wife has gone down to old Fred's place to fix him breakfast. She will make it there and back just fine. I have already eaten my daily dose of Oatmeal and Raisins. Put in a little butter and salt and you be rockin'.

Humans are funny in what they will risk. My wife will prep and forage and learn herbs and their different preparations all of that but she will go to a stupid art show in Indy with her friend on a blizzard day. Go figure. It goes along with Mickey Creekmore or Jim Dakin talking about people selling their travel trailer so that they can sleep under a bridge when their house gets foreclosed upon. Normally bright, intelligent people will do some of the dumbest things imaginable. It's like their mental transmission starts slipping for no reason. I wonder how many of us do these things?

I wrote a response to Dragon the other day on his rant about roadblocks. Here it is.
*
I live on a road that is the only way IN and OUT of the valley. It would take a bulldozer to get in any other way, unless you wanted to hike. On the road itself there are numerous places to block the road that would be advantageous to an ambush. And the block would be whole trees fallen across the road. If you leave the tops on them they are tough to move. Cutting them into logs would make them a lot easier to handle by an interloper. Actually, if anyone has a dozer at home or a skidder, the best way to block would be to drop the tree, root-wad and all. Real tough to deal with if you have three or four in a cluster. It goes without saying that there are places where a block would work and places it would be a waste of time. The idea would be to stop the traffic and then kill everyone trying to get around the block. Shotguns work well for this. But roadblocks are as good as you know how to use them. They ain't permanent and they can be gotten around. But the first timers confronting them could be easy pickings. I like to rig ambushes. I just don't have the explosives it would take to really make one a totally formidable exercise in human wastage. And would blow them to smithereens, my friend! Then it's clean up the area and get ready for the next party. The Old Man had a vision about a mob who came to the valley and we met them and told them to get the fuck out and they would not go away. So we killed every fucking one of them and left the bodies in the road for the next batch to see. My kind of operation. Roadblocks can be neat things. You were a little hard on them, but maybe the Dummies need some hesitancy in that area.
*
I like to plan military operations and I don't like to cross Dragon, but I can see instances where a roadblock would be practical and useful. There are no rules of warfare. You merely do what you can to win. All is fair and no one can punish you for what you do. If you win then your enemy CAN'T punish you and if you lose then you will most likely be dead and thus not subject to punishment. So do what it takes to win. I remember what my son said to me when he was a teenager and I was thinking of having him take Karate. He said he didn't want to learn a style because it would force him to follow a pattern that might get him hurt or cause him to lose. He just wanted to do what it took to win. I accepted his words and I note his many victories in the area of physical combat. He just does what it takes to win. I merely stressed to him the concept of his punch beginning where ever his hand was when he decided to throw it. No getting into a stance or posturing. If you're picking your nose when you decide to fight, then that is where the punch begins. I also taught him to keep his kicks low. To hell with those staged fights in the movies where a guy throws a full round-house kick and knocks his opponent completely clueless. A high kick will put your foot within the area your opponent can get a grasp of it. And if he can get your foot in his hands he owns you. Those were the two things I taught my son. I used to walk past him and hold up my hand and say "Hit it!" and BLAM, he would smack it at once. I was pleased to note that his punches stung very well when he hit my hand. I don't know where he learned those head butts but he has left some mighty uncomfortable opponents holding their noses to stop the flow of blood.

Take care and stay alive.

Michael

mboone@rtccom.net