Taking a Moment to Write Something

It doesn't take that long to write something, especially today when I can dictate what I want to write into my cell phone and edit it later. I can write close to 1000 words in about 20 minutes if I just open the project in my phone and start speaking.

The problem is I don't know exactly what I want to write about at any given moment. I have hundreds of ideas and I write them down in my notebook but I don't always have the desire to write those things when I feel like it's time to write. So today I just opened up Blogger and started speaking.

Finding things to talk about is not supposed to be difficult. As a human being we have millions of opinions at any one time. These opinions are just that, opinions. Everyone has their own opinion and they don't always have to coincide. This is one reason politics is such a big field. Everybody has their own thoughts about different issues.

I try to write about things that are happening to me at that specific moment. Like a week ago I had to destroy two wasps nests in my shed. That turned into a pretty decent blog post. Then I upgraded it to a hubpage.

If I don't plan what I'm going to write then the blog posts will turn into something like this. It is more of a stream of consciousness. It's what I'm thinking at that given moment. It may not always make perfect sense but it's what I'm thinking about today. It's something that I am interested in and if I'm interested in it, there's a pretty good chance that someone else out there is interested in it as well.

They say if you want to be a writer you need to write every day. This means you have to sit down and write something even if you can't seem to put words about the project you're working on at that given time on paper. If you can't come up with something then maybe you just need to talk. You just need to express what is going on inside your head and if you can do that then maybe that will unclog whatever it is that's going on in your mind.

I'm hoping this will help me find a way to just write something whenever I have a moment to actually dictate into my phone.

Chernobyl Made Monsters?

The Christian Science Monitor stated yesterday on their website that wildlife is thriving in the landscape around Chernobyl. I think this is a fun idea. I'm sure there's plenty of wildlife there and the animals that stay there long term will probably have health issues and may actually die at an early age because of the radiation.

I like to think about this place as a thriving zone for mutations. Out of the thousands of animals that live in this area, how many of them will grow into a new creature, a new species, maybe even one that could surpass us on the food chain.

What would happen if we went into this area to see if humans could live there again and are met with a new kind of life form who did not want to give up their land. Maybe they are telekinetic and can throw things at us with their minds. Maybe they are stronger than us and can withstand bullets. Maybe they can shoot lasers from their eyes. The story ideas are endless.

A to Z Challenge: F - Fire Kits

It's come to my attention most people do not know how to start a fire without the help of a match or a lighter. This is a skill that we have lost because of the convenience of these simple tools that easily create fire.

It's important to learn different ways to start a fire. You may not be able to get your hands on matches or a lighter when you are stuck outside. The fact is you might just run out of fuel or matches and the only way you can get a campfire or a fireplace started is by finding a different way to start one.

I keep a striker in my bug out bag. I also have one built-in to a bracelet that I wear. The bracelet works two fold. It is made out of paracord. You can unravel the paracord if you need rope for some reason. The striker is inside the latch which allows me to scrape a spark into a pile of kindling. 

I like to keep a Ziploc bag of cotton balls covered in Vaseline. These are great kindling to get a camp fire started. They will burn for a minute or two. If you build a campfire right you will only need a couple of strikes from your fire stick and a ball of cotton with Vaseline and you will have your fire started.

I've seen people use 9 V batteries with a scour pad. This pad is made out of metal and will ignite itself when you touch it to both contacts of the 9 V battery. It will actually burn for short amount of time. If you can get some other tender burning with it then your fire will start.

I've seen people carrying mirrors and magnifying glasses to start a fire. It's not as easy as other methods but if that's all you have at the time it will start a fire. You should have some jute string or some other kind of cotton material that will burn easily.

One of my favorite ways to keep a fire kit together is to pack it all as tight as I can inside of a Altoids tin. I will wrap the outside of it with some duct tape to keep the water out. The duct tape also comes in handy when I need it for something else.

A to Z Challenge: E - Electricity

Electricity is one of those things we take for granted. Society has built huge infrastructures that power entire cities and communities all at once. There are even redundancies for when parts of the grid fail, the other parts will help out the failing parts. There are balances and checks to make sure there's enough electricity to provide everyone with the power that they want.

If something happens and society breaks down and the grid stops powering our communities, then we will have to provide our own electricity. Electricity has only been around for 150 years or so. People have lit their homes with candles before that or just went to bed when it got dark. We should know how to light our house when it becomes dark and there's no electricity. We should have ways to let the light in.

We can create our own electricity. We can use batteries that are recharged by solar panels or wind power. I've seen generators running on rivers using paddlewheels. You can provide enough electricity to bring a little bit of light to your nighttime wanderings. 

You can always have flashlights available to walk around at night. You can charge these with batteries, but I find the best way to charge them are with hand cranks. They don't last as long per use but the batteries die a whole lot slower than using regular batteries. You might also learn how use propane lamps or other types of gas lamps. Candles made out of Crisco or crayons have been used in the past to help light homes at night.

Electricity runs your refrigerator. This is one of those things you need to learn how to live without. A refrigerator keeps things fresh longer. If you have to use what you produce right away, you don't really need a refrigerator. You can pick your salads from your garden and eat them.

I guess if you lose the Internet, you will probably not need your computer or your cell phone or your iPad or any of those other devices that need to be recharged every day. When you're not reliant on the power grid to recharge your tools then you find other things to occupy your time that don't require electricity. You might find the need for electricity a lot less of a necessity.

You might Need it for a radio or TV to listen to the news to see what's going on and to prepare yourself for any worsening conditions that might be moving your direction. This is also a way to be prepared. You can get TVs that can run on batteries or TVs that you can plug into your car. 

It's always good to have a generator. If we run the generator it makes loud noises and then you give away your position, so having a generator has its own problems. Even if you were far away from any other people you may still find it difficult to keep enough gasoline to run that generator. You may have to teach yourself how to make biodiesel.

A to Z Challenge: DIY

Learning to do things yourself is very important when you're in an emergency situation. When everybody's thinking about their own well-being, they're less likely to come out to you to help you fix problems on your homestead. It is a good idea to learn a little bit about everything that you own. 

You should learn how your septic system works. You should learn a little bit about electricity and how your electrical system runs. You should be able to fix small wiring issues throughout your home. You should be able to build power supplies and windmills and turbines of some sort. These skills are invaluable when no one else can provide you with that kind of power.

You should learn how to trap and skin animals. If you can't get your meat from the grocery store you should be able to find it in your backyard. If you live in an urban area you should probably own chickens or rabbits. They will provide you with meat and eggs for several years if you plan things right.

Most people have tried gardening but to provide enough food for your family you need to be efficient at it. You have to be able to grow the plants that will sustain you through all seasons of the year. Know what will grow in late fall and know how to prepare and can your vegetables so they will help you survive the winter time. If you can't get these items at a grocery store these skills will come in handy.

Be able to make repairs to your home. Know how to fix a leak on your roof that way when it rains you're not sitting in a house that's getting wet. Know how to cut down trees that are threatening to fall on your property. These things can become a danger if you let them go and not having outside help will put your family at risk.

Learn how to do proper maintenance to your vehicle. It is a good idea to have a car that is simple enough for you to be able to make repairs to it. Have extra parts to replace like the water pump or the fuel filter and extra parts to make regular oil changes to your car. You should have spare tires and extra rims in case you damage your car on your homestead.

Hone your carpentry skills so you can build extra buildings onto your property. Learn how to build underground shelters and find ways to make enhancements that will increase the quality of your family's life in emergency situation.

A to Z Challenge: C - Chickens

Part of being ready for any emergency that might happen is knowing where your food is going to come from. If you have space on your property you should own some sort of livestock. I've seen people own rabbits but the easiest livestock I know to raise are chickens. They don't need a lot of space to survive and they will eat the greens you don't eat in your yard. You can also feed them chicken feed from your local feed store.

If you decide to raise chickens you need to learn as much as you can about them. It is very easy for chickens to catch diseases from other birds. You want to avoid contact from your neighbors birds or birds that you bring in from a supplier until you know the chickens are healthy.

I don't usually raise roosters because they make a lot of noise and my neighbors live pretty close. Hens are awesome because they lay eggs. You can figure one hen can lay one egg about every to every other day. I think this is the best reason for owning chickens. The eggs give you protein and many other nutrients you need to survive each day. If you have 4 to 6 chickens you will have enough eggs to feed a family of four for several years as long as your chickens are healthy and fed.

When your chickens get old enough and stop laying eggs then it's time to use them for their meat. Many people get attached to their chickens and treat them as pets. This makes it difficult for them to be killed and used for dinner. This is a hard fact of life to learn where your food actually comes from. It's my opinion that kids should be taught this lesson early. they might get attached to certain animals, but that animal is there to feed the family and they need to know that.

Have fun with your chickens. If you have a fenced in yard you can let them roam around. I've known farmers who let their chickens roam all over their yard without a fence and they come back because they know where they are being fed. The only problem with this is you have to worry about wild animals killing your chickens, eating them. They are easy prey and because they flock together it's simple for a coyote, wolf or even a neighbor's dog to pick one off.

If you can visit a friends homestead who owns chickens, this is the best place to learn how to raise them. You can see what your friends do and build upon their knowledge. If you can learn from them, I think the first-hand experience is better than any book you might be able to pick up. Learn what they do and mimic what works

AtoZ Challenge: B - Bug Out Bag

One of the basic ways you can prep is by building a bug out bag. This bag contains everything you need to survive for at least 72 hours. What you put in it is entirely up to you depending on your lifestyle and what you need to survive.

I believe there are five major things you need in your bug out bag. These items include food, water, clothes, a knife, and a way to start a campfire. If you have all of these things then I think most people will be able to survive for 72 hours without too much trouble. Can you fit all of this in one bag? Absolutely.

For clothes you only need an extra pair socks and underwear. It's sometimes good to have an extra shirt. If you have room feel free to put in a spare pair of jeans. You want a pair of jeans because when walking through the woods or through rough terrain you want to protect your legs as much as possible.

Food can get expensive and take up a lot of space. You can get creative by buying power bars and MREs. You don't need a lot of food to survive for three days. You can stick a box of pop tarts, three or four cans of beans or Chef Boyardee, a box of power bars, and maybe some hard candy of some sort that will give you that burst of energy when you need it. You're not really worried about nutrition at this point. You just want to survive 72 hours. I'm more worried about fending off the hunger pangs.

You can keep several bottles of water in your bag. Water gets heavy so you want to be careful how much you carry. You also want to have enough to survive. If you don't have water, you can dehydrate really fast especially if you are hiking or climbing. I will keep two bottles of water in the side pouch of my backpack. I will also keep one or two ways to filter or clean water so I don't have to carry gallons of water. If I can keep a water bottle with a biofilter built in then I can drink water from any river, lake or stream. If I can carry chlorine tablets I can clean water pretty easily by adding a tablet to a jug of water.

A knife is an important tool to have with you all the time, not just an emergency. I always keep a pocket knife on my keychain. I use it several times a week. I use it to cut into boxes or wedge something out of my shoe or hundreds of different things that might come up in my life. I try to keep it sharp. There are many types of knives you can carry but a pocketknife is probably the most versatile. It's also one you can keep in your pocket and no one has to know that you're actually carrying it. You can keep a hunting or camping knife in your backpack but if you get caught by the law carrying a knife that's longer than what is legal then you might get in trouble. It's better to carry something that's legal for the public to carry.

I like to keep several different ways to start a campfire in my bug out bag. I keep a lighter and a box of matches in my bag but I also keep a battery and tinfoil or a striker of some sort with cotton balls covered in Vaseline. These are ways you can get a fire started pretty easily and in a pinch. If you can wrap these items up in some kind of container or even just plastic wrap to keep them dry then stuff them in the front pocket of your backpack then you'll be set and you won't have to think about it again. The only time you will need them is if you need to start a campfire.

There are many other things you can put in your bug out bag other than these five items. You can keep a radio or some kind of signaling device so if you were stranded somewhere you can signal far distances. You can keep a compass and a map in your bag so you know your way around the area you live. You can add a first aid kit in case you get hurt. All these things are important but the more things you put in your bug out bag the bigger that pack will have to be and most likely the heavier it will be. My suggestion to you is to pack smart and have that bug out bag ready at all times and in a spot that's easy to grab and go.

April AtoZ Challenge: Apocolypse

It is funny when the average person thinks about prepping, they think most people are prepping for the Apocolypse. That could not be further from the truth. Most people who prep are more interested in having what they need in case of a storm or a job loss or a fire or some other incident that might make it hard to get supplies, food and utilities.

If there was an Apocolypse and you wanted to prep for it, you would have a problem collecting food that will last more than a few years. An Apocolypse usually means forever or at least decades. Most canned foods have an expiration date that is only 2-3 years out. They might last longer than that but do you want to take the risk?

If you want to survive indefinitely, you want to have a garden and farm animals that will procreate, a homestead that will feed itself. If you can make that happen , and you build a way to protect that homestead you might be ready for the end of the world as we know it.

Would you live in a tiny house?

By now I think everyone has heard of the tiny house craze. Some people want to know they can live in the smallest possible space. Some want to live on less than their means. Some want to save the planet by not endulging in the consumer debt trap. Some people build a tiny house as a place to vacation and get away from the rest of the world.

I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a home the size of my kitchen. It is not a lot of space. Humans don't need a lot of indoor space. We just want to live indoors where we can control the temperature. My ancestors did not have that luxury. 

My great-great-grandparents had a large family who lived in a two room cabin. The rooms were connected by a breezeway. I am sure they spent most of their day outside, only coming inside to sleep and to heal. I bet they did most of their cooking outside on a fire. They were farmers, so their diet was mostly vegetables.

I wonder what tiny houses will look like in the future. I think you will be able to buy one for a few thousand dollars. You will be able to pull it with your car and park it anywhere. 

I can see hundreds of tiny houses settled in one area. When your kids get old enough you help them build their own tiny house. They live near you then move the house to their own property when they turn 18 years old. 

I am sure most people will always want big elaborate homes but as the major population find it harder and harder to live in debt, we may have to live in smaller homes.

Finding Time to Write Everyday

Writing four books in a month can be taxing on your time. I find moments throughout the day to put words on paper. Having to work 40 hours a week and pick up kids from school and spend time with the family in the evening including making dinner and doing laundry and making sure the house is clean and taking care of the pets it can sometimes be hard to find enough time to write down 1000 or more words every day.

There are several times during the day I actually write. I find I can write about 1000 words in about a half hour to an hour if I dictate into my phone. If I take 20 minutes on my lunch break I can write a section or two. Since I'm only having to write 400-500 words at a time I can do a section on my lunch break and maybe a section before I go inside sitting in my car.

It might not be appetizing to everybody but I find a lot of my best time to write is while I'm sitting in the bathroom doing my business. A lot of people like to read while they sit on the toilet. I like to write. If you're able to write down everything you're thinking as you speak it, you can be surprised how much you can get written.

I make time whenever I can find it. If I'm sitting in front of the TV by myself, I try to notice that moment and pause the TV and write instead. The problem is making myself aware I'm sitting in front of the television doing nothing. Sometimes I don't feel like writing and I have to force myself to pick up my phone and speak a few words into the document.

I have a lot of these moments. If I'm working out in the yard, I tend to take a lot of breaks. I don't want to work hard when I'm at home. That's why I go to work. I will sit in a chair and enjoy the outdoors. The weather may be beautiful and sitting outside dictating into my phone while I enjoy nature is one of the coolest things I think anyone can experience.

The Fourth Book I'm Writing is on Twitter

I use Twitter a lot. Mostly I use it to post quotes and Haiku and information about my books. I try my best to get involved with other people who are interested in prepping or writing. 

Just like Facebook I find that Twitter struggles when I'm posting the same stuff all the time. I wondered if I could actually write a book 140 characters at a time. I know a lot of people do this. They write stories using a couple sentences at a time. They create a narrative that will make people continue to read their work.

The book I'm writing right now is about unique garden containers. I came up with 21 different kinds of containers you can use that are not traditional flower pots or your normal buckets. I thought coming up with different kinds of ideas for each one of these containers will help gardeners like myself who are trying to make things easier on themselves and cut the cost of gardening down to the bare minimum.

If I write 7 to 10 different tweets about one chapter, one kind of unique garden container, then I won't ever have to repeat myself. People can read what I'm posting and when I start a new book next month they will read new posts about a completely different subject. This means I will always have something to talk about and the information will be fresh and people will be happy that I'm not just repeating myself over and over and over again like many of the Twitter people out there do today.

The only downside to writing a book on Twitter is your wordcount tends to be a lot less than if you were writing it on a blog or Facebook. Since you only get 140 characters, you might have about 30 words total for each post. This may mean that when I go to edit the finished book, I may have to add a lot more information to help explain my thoughts and expand on the tweets.

Third Book Written on My Facebook Fan Page

I built my personal fan page about three or four years ago. I barely do anything with it. This is not good when you're a writer and you expect to keep your readers up-to-date with what you're doing or at least tell them what's going on in your life. I thought about finding a way to post on my fan page. Writing a book on it seemed like a logical idea.

I picked a subject that not necessarily goes with what I'm doing in my life other than helping the local Cub Scout pack. I thought writing a book about the different games you can play with small groups of children might help someone out there who is having a hard time coming up with things to do with their kids.

What I'm hoping by posting a short chapter on my Facebook fan page every day is to provide regular useful information. If I can give people a reason to come by the fan page, or like the fan page, then maybe they will help spread the fact that I am here and I have a fan page and the books I write are available and maybe I will get more exposure in that way.

If none of this happens, then at least I've written another book during the course of the month and the information is there on Facebook if anybody ever wants to read it. I think it would be a good habit for me to continue to write and provide new information for the readers each and every month. If nobody wants to take it that is OK. At least I am providing the information.

Second Book Written Here on My Blog

The second way I intend to write a book is through posts on my blog. You're reading this here because I have posted each chapter as a separate post. I figure if I can write a chapter each day, post it on my blog then I will have a book within a month. My books tend to be about 24 to 30 chapters long.

I'm trying to post everyday so I can provide my readers something they can read. If I can post every day for a month I'll have a book but I will also have given quality information to the people who like to read my blog. Because I'm writing about the same subject they will be more likely to read every day. 

I discovered if I try to write a blog while I'm trying to write a book, one, if not both of them suffer. I think about one and start writing, then forget about the other. If I don't focus on a certain project then the information I have on that project will start to suffer. Writing a book seems to give me the drive to create content for my blog. If I can focus on that information then I will be able to go onto the next part of the book the following day

Having constant content for my blog will also draw traffic. If people see that I am constantly writing something new, they may bookmark it and come back often. I have an RSS feed which means they may subscribe to that feed and my blog posts will be automatically forwarded to them. This particular blog has an email sign up which will send each post to your inbox whenever I post something new.

I try to think about new things or alternate parts of the same subject. Like tomorrow, I will be talking about Facebook. I want to talk about how I'm using that platform to write another book. So I'm giving information to the readers on how they might have the ability to do the same thing on their different platforms.

First Book for this Month Written on Google Docs

I'm going to attempt to write for books this month. When I say books, I'm talking about 10,000 words or so for each of them. That means I'll be writing about 40 to 50,000 words this month between the four books. I think I can write all four of them at the same time using different platforms.

The first book I will be writing I intend to write on Google Docs. The reason I want to use Google Docs is because it is online, on the cloud. I can use my cell phone or the computer to write it and not worry about transferring the document. The other reason I want to write this on a program that is not seen by the public is so when I post it on Amazon I can set it as a KDP Select publication. It will be a book specifically published on Amazon and nowhere else. In a perfect world this would mean Amazon would help me promote it even if only a little bit.

I've already started this book and I'm several sections into it. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of March. I outlined this book in 21 sections plus an introduction and a conclusion. I should be able to finish it by the end of the month. The hope is to be ready to start four more books in the month of April. 

When I write a book on Google Docs I start by outlining a one-page synopsis for the entire book in my hand written notebook. I use one line for each section. Each section ends up being about 200 words. I average between 4 to 7 paragraphs. I try to make it short enough to get the point across but long enough to feel like the information is adequately presented. 

When I use Google docs I write with my cell phone most of the time. I like using the dictation feature on my iPhone. I find I can write 10 times faster than typing it. I also don't have to bring out the entire laptop and try to find a comfortable place to sit down and type. All I have to do is dictate into my phone. 

Challenging Characters

I have designed many stories around an idea, around a concept, an event. Then I build the characters to fit that story. This makes for a great story, but sometimes the characters suffer. The story steals some of the depth from them. This is when outlining your characters might be a good idea.

I have tried several ways to flush out specific characters. I find if I don't, they all start to sound the same. My favorite way to learn details about the life and personality of a character is to interview them. I will ask them questions about their past and how they will react to the events going on in the story. I might ask them about their feelings about other characters in the story. I always find interesting aspects to them I never knew was there.

Other ways to get to know your character is to outline the lifetime of that character. Decide what needs to be to make the story work.

BRAINS: Do You Really Need Them to Write

This past week I have been reading the book called, "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. A lot of the words he writes is higher-end, Very educated. The book was published back in the 50s when being an author was reserved for the most educated people.

I don't think we need that kind of education these days when it comes to writing. Most people want to read books that are on their level. If we write above that level, we begin to lose readers and the majority of people will not read past what they don't understand. 

When I was growing up we were taught if we came across words we didn't understand, we should look them up in the dictionary. I don't know if they suggest that anymore. Many people will ask Google what something means if they don't understand a word. I think the majority of people just ignore words they don't understand. 

When we're writing books, it is fun to play around with words and phrases. It is fun to challenge your readers. But I think they have to be few and far between otherwise your reader will put down the book. I'm not sure if this is true for everybody but I think the general consensus will be the same.

Awesome Author Ambition

My goal at the beginning of the year was to write, edit and publish a 10,000 word book every 2 weeks. This would mean I would have 2 new books published on Amazon KDP every month.

I was able to publish one book in January and I think I will have a second one published tomorrow on March 2nd. Procrastination is a big problem in my world. I find any excuse to ignore my writing. 

I have notebooks full of outlines. I have the time now that my schedule has changed. I just need to spin an hour or two consistently everyday and get the writing done. I know I have things to say. No one will hear me if I don't get it down in the iPhone screen. 

I think this daily blogging in April will be an awesome way to get my thoughts down, to write something to get myself started. The posts don't need to be long. They just need to have a good nugget people will want to read. Here is to a great month. 

Today's three tasks

I got an email this week called "The 3x333 Method." Written by Jason Zook. It is about completing three tasks a day. Not just any tasks, but tasks leading me towards my ultimate goals. This was an interesting thought. The email said if I took on three tasks every day, I would have more than 1000 tasks completed at the end of the year.

This morning I made a list of the things I wanted to complete today. Most of them were chores that needed to be done around the house but I made sure I added my three tasks towards my writing to this list. One of them was extremely ambitious and the other two were more along the vein of self-promotion.

The ambitious one was editing and an entire book I finished a few months ago. The book has been sitting in my WIP folder for a while. I finally finished editing the "Prep in the Rain" book two weekends ago and this one was next on the list. It's about 6000 words and I thought I could edit it in one day. I wanted to finish editing it and build the cover today but I had too many other chores to complete around the house. That's one of the downsides to writing at home.

I got about two thirds of the way through editing this book. I feel pretty good about it. I think one more good session and I will be able to complete the book. Then all I will have to do is build a cover and post it on Amazon. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get the last third done tonight. I have things going on with the family and I have to be up at 4 o'clock in the morning to go to the day job. It probably will get put off until I have an hour at home later in the week.

One of the other things I wanted to do was spend a little time on Twitter searching for other preppers who would be interested in my "Prep in the Rain" book. I think I found a few people to interact with. I'm not going so far as to ask them to purchase my book. They will get that introduction if they come to my Twitter feed. What I am doing is trying to interact with what they're saying on their feed. If I can make a connection then they might be more interested in who I am and what I'm writing.

The third item I wanted to do was based on a Kindle book I found yesterday called "5 Minute Marketing for Authors" by Barb Asselin. It was about five minute tasks that you can complete quickly during your busy day. One of them was about setting a free promotion on one of my books. What I usually do when I do those free promotions is promote it for five days for free. This book suggested I promote it one day at a time every three weeks for the full 90 days. This will allow me to space out the five days and hopefully reach more readers. I set that up for one of my other books. It will be an experiment to see if it will actually work. I don't know if it will but that's the whole point of experiments.

I'm thinking about this three tasks per day and wondering if I should post a blog post every day telling you what I did. I think these tasks will become redundant so I may not do it every day. The tasks will be regular and probably the same kind of tasks each day. If I find something else interesting as I'm experimenting with this process I will post about it and let you know what I am finding. I hope you guys have a great day and keep writing.

"Prep in the Rain is Now FREE

A few months ago I was sitting inside the house feeling a little cabin fever because of several weeks of constant rain. If it wasn't raining the ground was just so muddy you couldn't walk on it. I began to feel like I wasn't getting anything accomplished at home. 

I was inspired by this moment to write a book about the things you can do as a prepper when you can't be outside. If it's raining and you are stuck indoors, what kind of things can you do to help prepare yourself and your family for emergencies.

I had the book written in a few days but set it aside for almost 3 months before I finally decided to edit it and build a cover for it. Now it's available on Amazon.com as a Kindle ebook. It is available at regular price for $.99. (if you are reading this between February 11 and February 16, 2016 the book is free to download.)

Seven Crazy Conspiracies?

I've been thinking about doing some research on conspiracy theories. There are a lot of them out there and people believe they are being watched or controlled by the government. Some of the things I've heard might be probable but I'm not sure how realistic they are.

What if the government was forcing you to consume fluoride. We are taught at a young age that we must brush our teeth 2 to 3 times a day. We're not supposed to swallow toothpaste with fluoride in it. it's supposed to be spit back out when we're done brushing. The water that we drink that comes from the city is supplemented with fluoride. The government tells you that you need this chemical to help strengthen your teeth. Some people think fluoride is a chemical the government uses for mind control. It makes the population more susceptible to following directions. People think the government is using fluoride to cut down on civil disobedience and help everybody to fall in line.

Fingerprints are unique to every person. Whenever a crime is committed fingerprints are the first thing the detectives are looking for to point a finger at the person who committed the crime. Not everyone has fingerprints in the system. I was thinking about it the other day. Most of us, as kids, were taken to the police station for a field trip. We were all fingerprinted and a pack made for parents in case we ever were lost or kidnapped. I wonder if these fingerprints they took were put in a national database so if we ever did commit a crime they would be able to find us just by searching the database and matching our fingerprints to what they have on file.

We are on camera numerous times throughout the day. There are cameras at traffic lights. There are cameras at all the banks and many stores. It's almost impossible to go a day without being recorded in some fashion. What if the government was keeping tabs on us by watching us on these video cameras. What if they have access to 99% of the cameras in the market. All they have to do is pull up the footage of where we were and follow us from street to street to see where we ended up at. They are able to find you no matter where you go.

Almost every new car built these days have some sort of Wi-Fi or satellite connection capabilities. You can send and receive signals from your car and many of the services that provide this functionality can control different aspects of your car. I have heard of policemen calling OnStar to kill the engine of a car they were pursuing. This means all they have to do is make a phone call and your car will stop dead in its tracks. There will be no more long police chases. The other thing that scares me about this is people can hack into your car. What if someone decided they wanted to use your car to stop someone else. If you're driving somewhere what's to say you don't lose control of your car because the hacker hacked into your system and started driving your vehicle to where they wanted to. It's kind of like auto cyber hijacking.

Most of us use credit cards every day to pay for food and gas and anything else we need in life. We don't think about the fact that everything we purchase is documented. There's even a documentation of each specific item at each specific store. This means if the government wanted to they could take the information from each store and connect it to you for the course of your lifetime. They can figure out what you buy and make assumptions as to who you are and what you're capable of just because of what you purchased. So if you're a gun or knife enthusiast they will watch you more then someone who buys yarn and tinker toys. I would not be surprised if this is what our FBI and CIA do to keep our country safe. It might be a breach of security but is it something they can do and they might do on a regular basis.

How advanced is our government? I think about the fact that the Stealth bomber was a secret for 15 to 20 years before we actually knew it existed. It makes you wonder what other technology they have today that we don't know about. Maybe they've already created an artificial intelligence that can make decisions on the fly. Makes me wonder if they have been going into space more than NASA and the other space agencies have let on. Maybe the government already has a base on the Darkside of the moon waiting to take action on unexpected aliens or even other countries. I wonder if the Internet is really a government creation to create an artificial intelligence that grows biologically through the electrical impulses of the network. Maybe they have a way to control that AI.

Subliminal advertising was proven effective and then banned from use because of the brainwashing capabilities of the technique. The government would be able to control 300 million people with the use of television and radio people listen to every day. Can you imagine all the government would have to do is put a subliminal message on the emergency broadcast system and the majority of people would follow that directive. Even if they're not putting the subliminal messages in the advertising, what they could be doing is replaying over and over and over again what they want you to see. That's why I think it's a big point for presidential candidates to play their commercials as many times as possible. The more publicity they can get and the more you see them, the more likely you will be to vote for them. They are trying to sway the vote by getting people who really don't care who wins the election to vote for them. If they can get their name in their minds more often, the more likely they are to vote that way.

I'm not sure any if this is really happening. They are conspiracies that I have heard about and know people who believe them wholeheartedly. I just try to live my life and hope that the government doesn't try to take advantage of me as a person. The government itself is powerful and much bigger than one single person. I'm not sure what they are capable of and whether or not they would truly do something like that to their people.

Why Do People Get Crazy When the Weather Gets Bad

I work at a grocery store. Every time a bat storm rolls in, people scatter and buy out all the basics like milk, water bread and eggs. The storm that moved in yesterday caused nearly twice the sales as normal. It was great for business but meant everyone had to work twice as hard to provide adequate service. 

There are several reasons people go on a buying frenzy when the weather threatens. They might feel the don't have enough food to last for a few days. I know a lot of people don't cook at home anymore. Families keep little food in their pantry because they order out everyday.  When they realize they will not be able to order out for a day or two, they feel they must buy enough food for a week or two, just in case. 

If they would always keep about a weeks worth of goon in their pantry, they would be fine during a storm. There are a lot of canned foods and rice and pasta that will keep for a long time. They might get tired of the foods if that is all they have to eat for a week, but it will keep you alive.

People rush to the gas stations before storms. Many of these stations run out of gas and can't help their customers. If they would refill their tanks when they get to a gal tank, then they will be ok when a storm shows its teeth. They could keep a 5 gallon gas can full at home. Use it when your tank gets a little to low.

There are other things you can do when a storm comes. Fill your tub or 5gallon buckets with water. If you lose power or the city water gets contaminated then you will have water to drink. 

Have games ready to play with your family. If it's going to be cold, turn up your heat in case the power goes out. I don't like candles, but make sure you have plenty of flashlights. 

4 Things You Can Do When One of Your Favorite Celebrities Die

We have lost some significant actors this week. It can be like losing a grandfather or an uncle when a celebrity we watch and fall in love with dies. Sometimes we feel like we need to do something, make some sort of statement about how we feel about the deceased. Here are a few ideas:

1. Write about him. Tell us a story or two about his work has affected your life. What did they act in that affected you in a  profound way. Post this story on Facebook or on a blog to let the world to read. Your story might touch someone else.

2. Donate money to his favorite charity. Research what he was passionate about and make a donation to the cause.

3. Get together with friends and watch those movies he was brilliant in. Enjoy them. Talk about them and make them relevant to your lives.

4. Visit a landmark made famous by your celebrity. Find his star on Broadway. Visit a theater he acted in. Go to the theme park that has the famous school of witchcraft he taught at for 8 movies.

Stop Flooding My Shed

I have an old shed. It came with the house. It's in pretty good shape other than it doesn't put up with a lot of rain. The roof itself is in good shape. There are no leaks in the roof and most of the time it's nice and dry inside. .

I've noticed it floods every time it rains hard. Water seems to puddle up around the base and seep into the sides. There are some boards missing on the outside base of the shed. The plywood near the ground has started to rot away. This means water and small rodents can get inside the shed.

Standing water will damage things in the shed. Anything I have sitting on the floor will have water damage. Right now there are metal tools and plastic storage containers sitting on the floor. I think I can create some kind of storage apparatus for the tools. I haven't done it yet but it should be an easy project when I take the time to do it. 

The storage containers, I have figured out a way to get them off the ground. There were some edging pavers that the last owner of the house left in the shed. I was able to line them up on the ground and place a storage containers on top of them. This allows them to stand off the floor about 4 inches. I expect water will not be able to touch them.

I want to find a way to get the lawnmower and the pressure washer off the ground. Eventually water will damage the wheels and I will have to replace them. That's not something I want to do so I'm thinking about building some kind of ramps to lift the lawn equipment. I also have several gas cans and an empty propane tank that will get damaged if they sit in water too long. I have to figure out a way to handle that as well.

I think the reason the shed is  flooding because there's no gutter system on the roof.  I think the water is running off the roof, landing into big puddles along the side of the shed and then seeping inder the walls. The water does not drain away fast enough to keep from going where it's not wanted. I thought of several ways to handle this water. I thought about getting a drainage system outside the shed under the ground but that seems like a lot of work. I think the best idea would be to install a gutter system that hangs off the eve of the shed and collect the water as it runs off the roof.

I also need to re-trim the outside. It looks like somebody has pulled off the old trim along the base of the shed. I'm guessing it rotted and came loose. No one ever replaced it. That's something I need to do. Once I replace this it will also help keep the water out of the shed.

If I can get these repairs done or said will be useful again. I have stuff in it now but if I don't get these repairs done in a timely manner the stuff in the shed will start to mildew and crack and and the stuff in the shed will be ruined. I need to make these repairs within the next week or so.

Dangers of everything being on the cloud

The cloud has become very convenient. We keep everything there these days. We like the ability to get to our music and documents and movies from any computer terminal or cell phone or tablet that we have at the time. If we keep all that information on one computer at home it would be difficult to get when we needed it, where we needed it. 

Almost all music, books and movies can be found on the Internet. We can find just about anything we want these days if we search hard enough. We can find movies and books and music and PDFs about any subject that we want to learn about. Many places it's perfectly legal to download either for free or we might have to spend a little money to get them. If we were not the most honest people we could search and download these items for free without paying for them. Many people do but it's not necessarily the right thing to do.

What happens if the Internet dies. My question is what happens if something causes the Internet to disappear. I know it's very unlikely because the Internet is based upon millions of computers linked together but there are couple of scenarios I think could happen, could cause a massive breakdown of the World Wide Web.

There are plenty of people and organizations who have the ability to create a Super Internet virus, to design a piece of software that would go in and dismantle every machine connected to the Internet. There are other groups and organizations who are working their hardest to keep this from happening. What if one day someone gets this virus moving and the Internet takes itself apart from the inside out.

A massive EMP is unlikely to wipe out the electronics of the entire world. There are many people who have created back ups and protection to keep their machines from being affected by EMPs. There is one EMP that could destroy all the technology we know today. I think it will come from a solar flare, a solar storm that can radiate and cause huge damage to the way we live today. If we do have something of this magnitude happen, I think we lose the majority of humanity, life being extinguished from the radiation. The loss of all the information on the Internet may be the least of our worries.

if we lost the Internet completely, I think the event would rival the loss we had from the fires in the library of Alexandria. The Library of Alexandria was a place created for learning, a center for thinkers and artists in the Greek and Roman times. Over the course of 300 or 400 years, the information there grew to huge proportions. Several different times it was partially destroyed and in at one point, stories say it was almost completely destroyed. It was considered the greatest loss of human thought and information collected up to that point.

I think something like this could happen to us since were putting everything in digital format. I wander if something will eventually happen that will destroy all the digital information or cause a massive loss of the bits and bytes that are only kept in one or two places. Is it something we will lose and never get back?

I wonder, How can we back up the Internet? The biggest way would be to have multiple locations for the same information. If one place gets destroyed, you have the back ups in other places. I think it would be a good idea to keep books in a printed format. Maybe in a hundred years someone will find it and be able to read it.