Not Prepping

If one possesses a practical skill that’s not necessary for survival, but could be were accesses to the modernization which itself defines the individual possession of said skill unnecessary, to become inaccessible–is the possession of the skill prior to its inaccessibility considered prepper behavior?

Such a discussion walks a fine line.  My completely unnecessary gardening somehow doesn’t qualify as prepping, but storing water apparently does.

Well, as long as I’m stumbling along that delineation, I might as well ignore it entirely.

Stockpiling ammunition!

Yep, I went there.

Now I think I need lots of rice and multivitamins…

–Simon

…And Soon it Was

The great hunt of 2021!

When I bought my pistol, Joe bought a shotgun.  His first shotgun was tacticool, and to this I unleashed much razzing.

But now properly armed with the correct barrel, he finally shot his first quarry.  Huzzah!

I, however, missed the next squirrel.  3 times.  It was a jumpy bastard.  First time I missed with Big Iron.  I received my own share or razzing for that.

Big Iron

Eventually though…

A 6/7 success rate is still pretty good.  A kill’s a kill.  And despite the miss and the horribly hot weather, a day hunting is still a better day than one at work.

The squirrel itself was tasty, but again the sauce was a failure.  I just don’t think it’s possible to make good squirrel gravy.  Oh well.  Not the point of the trip, I suppose.  Manliness was achieved once again!

–Simon

Garbage Pile 3

I am behind on my posts, so following in such tradition, here’s a montage:

I bought a sword, for no practical reason. As a younger nerd, I couldn’t afford to, and now that I can, I know my past self would be very disappointed if I didn’t.  And yes, it’s functional carbon spring steel.
Weird tomato of the year
Finally got a milkweed to grow for the butterflies
My prize tomato, though not as big as last year.
More garden produce
And more garden produce
Can’t forget to document every rainbow
Visited a butterfly house
Back to school
Getting ready for hunting season
Birthdays!
And more garden produce
Prepping…I mean canning
I bought myself a pistol I’ve been wanting
And more garden produce
Treasure found with the metal detector

Whew!  And that’s the abbreviated list.  A lot can happen in 4 weeks.

–Simon

Approaching Middle Age (Part 1)

No one respects a young man.  Young women at least have the advantage of looking good (although I’m certain some would argue as to whether or not that’s actually advantageous), but a man is still primarily judged on experience and financial status, regardless his age.  I don’t make these rules up.  A woman’s worth is determined more by her appearance than a man, and a man more by his financial security.

So that 22-year old working at Home Depot?  No, no one wants your recommendation.  But if it’s a young woman, would you pretend to listen?

To further complicate matters, a newer generation of parents arrived who, having had significantly more access to livable wages and therefore able to dabble in self-actualization, decided to mold their collective MO and lecture the younger generation on the importance of finding happiness, but also simultaneously still judging harshly those whose finances delayed life event milestones of success.  Because the old expectations, entrenched for millennia due to their core function of species preservation, ran up against the new age philosophies that they permitted, yet never themselves vanished.

So it was that I discovered happiness couldn’t be derived from employment if I wished to obtain these financial life milestones, but still the available employment opportunities available to me significantly delayed them.  Marriage and home ownership were for so long an impossibility.  And, being a young man, the constant disregard for my professional knowledge by my elders served to keep me underemployed, which in turn reinforced my low socioeconomic status.  I was a failure in both forms: neither happy nor financially secure.

This is my generation’s dilemma: to be expected to adhere to the old and new ways simultaneously, even when the two are directly at odds.

Next up: Ammunition, cheese, and cars.