Preparedness for when

COOLTRIKERCHICK

thanks for the heads up MrsLW about the blog:beer::beer:
Will def be going back for updates

Katiep The wai I see it, ( I might be totally wrong) The Japanese are not going to say how bad it is, and yes they are going to say its under control, but lets face it we all know what governments are like, when it comes to telling us the truth, and why should Japan be any different...

GreyQueen

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

I agree nuatha, the rich will walk away virtually unscathed but the rest of us will be hit by huge interest hikes on mortgages, loans and credit cards. All they will be looking to fix will be the ponzi schemes that are the basis of banking in the world.
Better to try to pay off debts and put your money into things like food and seeds rather than in the dodgy banks.

I think you're bang on the money, BB. Interest rates are at historic lows, which many people haven't truly understood as being the exception rather than the rule. If people can't pay down debt at these rates, what the heck do you think will happen to people when the rates go up? Even about 10 years ago when I was working in debt advice there was a growing movement for creditors to apply for charging orders as a way of turning a non-secured loan or even credit card debt into a charge on the property.

I think you need to get out from under debt with all urgency, even if it means living very basically, in order to be positioned as well as you may for the trying times ahead. Practise as much self-reliance as possible, build skills and build interpersonal relationships. Dig up that lawn now and start thinking about the woodstove and the insulation and keeping your eyes very firmly on the essentials of life and not on the froth.

jk0, I'm in UNISON but a lot of my colleagues can't be arrised to pay the union sub but want to have the same rates of pay that the union negotiates. Not that you can negotiate very much these days with the labour market being awash with competant and hardworking unemployed peeps.

It was the same when my Dad was in the TGWU - people wouldn't pay the sub even though it was only the equivalent to about one pint of beer a week.

For the last couple of decades of their working lives, my parents worked in the same factory, part of the UK holdings of a US-based transnational company. When the subject of pay increases came up, the firm was unusually candid. They said they aimed to be in the top half-dozen payers for that kind of work in the area, but weren't going to pay any more than that unless they kept losing staff to other employers or couldn't recruit when necessary.

Ultimately, the "best" negotiating tactic is to be able to walk out and into a better job immediately, and without that risk hanging over the employer, there will be little incentive to increase pay levels. One of the greatest leaps forward in working conditons and pay was as a result of the Black Death killing so many of the potential workforce, centuries ago. Not that I want millions to die so that I can command a higher hourly rate, of course.

Or to be able to hold the country to ransom, such as being able to refuse to transport petrol and oil, like tanker drivers.

Of course, each employer who keeps wages down congratulates themselves on their prudence, and the economy as a whole starts to circle the drain as people haul back on the purse-strings and just buy the basics. Next year I won't be "buying" a holiday, even a cheapy break involving coach fares and campsites. I shall go off by the day on the pushbike and explore, or holiday on costa-del-allotmentino. More money in my pocket but bad news for those trying to make a living from the staycation spender.

I'm not going to be allowed to dismantle the armchair today; the folks intend to do it tomorrow morning ahead of the new-to-them one arriving tomorrow afternoon. Pants; I was looking forward to a little licensed vandalism............:rotfl:

ETA kate, great news about the Ghillie kettke. Pinecones are great and can be made even greater by being dried out thoroughly then dunked into melted candlewax (tie a string on them). I'd be a bit wary about burning old decking as I assume it would have been treated pre-purchase with fungicides? And possibly in use with other things? Mightn't be too healthy?

katep23

CTC, i've just finished reading the book by the ex-president of Olympus regarding the financial scandal there and, according to him, not only were the company not prepared to admit anything had gone on but the Japanese press were not prepared to print anything about the scandal. It took Japanese reporters working for publications outside Japan to actually get it into the press.

So seems like the culture is business as usual and don't admit there is a problem to the outside world.

katep23

GQ, thanks for the tip re the candle wax and pine cones; I have a number of old candles waiting to be melted down (and 2 pringle tubes snaffled from a party last week ) so when I get round to it I will try this.

Re the decking, not sure about it being treated but will mention it to my OH as he is more in the know.

Someone is offering a load of demi johns on freegle, including some tinted brown ones. Have requested them for cider making, fingers crossed. Then it's a case of waiting to find a cheap fruit press in a charity shop or car boot and next year we'll be well away

GreyQueen

I've just nipped down the parents' garden and harvested a half-carrier of pinecones. I picked the driest ones, but they're all pretty wet and closed up. I've spread them on a newspaper here for the next few hours until I pack them up and go home and then put them out to dry again.

Expect they'll take several days to reach maximum dryness and open fully and then I can dunk a few in the wax. Got a few candlestubs from a rellie and they're going to get me some from their church as they throw the stubs in the bins. :mad: Such profligacy; I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you.

Thought parents would remark on the pinecone episode but I guess they're used to my eccentricities by now.

boultdj

katep23 wrote: »

Someone is offering a load of demi johns on freegle, including some tinted brown ones. Have requested them for cider making, fingers crossed. Then it's a case of waiting to find a cheap fruit press in a charity shop or car boot and next year we'll be well away

You don't have to wait till next year, you can make wine with all sort's of stuff, I'v got an old boot's wine and brewing book, got stuff like tea wine,saultana/raisen wine, can't post any recipe's at the mo, OH is in bed and I don't want to wake him, I'm enjoying the peace and quite:rotfl:
Try using apple juice to make apple wine/cider with.

DawnW

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Not a happy burrefry today :(The living room looks like a tip because DH has opened up the fireplace ready for the stove to be fitted and we are really gutted because the stove we ordered is too big and is not going to fit without taking out the lintel and fitting a new one, that is not a job that DH feels qualified enough to do, we phoned the company yesterday so they know about it, and we have to go and take the measurements down to them and choose a smaller stove on the way back from the hospital tomorrow

I'm sure a smaller one will work just as well. Did the company recommend a specific one as being the optimum size for the room? Ours did, and we were surprised how small it is, for a quite large lounge and dining room (which has a large opening between, with folding doors that can be opened up - and we keep them open most of the time).

A larger one would have fitted into the available space, too.

It will still be lovely and toasty, you'll see. Plus probably a bit cheaper for a smaller one

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

I don't personally have a dog in this fight as I have never had any kind of debt, and such assets as I possess are outside the banking system so good luck with haircutting those, you thieving bankster scum.

This made me laugh, so accurate and so funny, thanks GQ :j

GreyQueen wrote: »

:T Would we be able to see a pic, please, Bob?

Bob, I'd love to see a pic too - I've just collected the makings of a haybox at the mo, though it'll be quite a while before I can get everything out to get it started, I promise I'll take photos ...

Perplexed_Pineapple

GQ, if I remember my history it was the Black Death that put paid to the feudal system where peasants were tied to the land and wages in towns were fixed by law. The 14th century is a very interesting period of history for people interested in social progress.
Thermometer says house is 12-13 degrees today, must get the kids to run around faster :rotfl::rotfl:
katiep, I used to make cider, rather than pressing the apples (windfalls mostly) I used to pulp them in a bucket with a thing a bit like the blades on a food processor, but bigger, that attached to a standard power drill, and strain the resulting pulp through a cloth. It seemed to work ok, the results were variably palatable but always alcoholic :beer: Hasn't been much foraged-fruit brewing this year, just the sloe gin and the chilli vodka
Financial resets, what we are seeing with the quantitative easing programme is effectively a partial reset. Inflation over the last decade has been about 34%; effectively both cash assets (savings) and debts have been devalued by about a third. If this were a purely local crisis the devualation of the pound would seriously hurt our ability to buy in raw materials like gas and oil but because it has affected the entire economically developed world the effect has been to reduce the value of fiat currency against tangible assets across the board. If we had wage inflation to balance commodity inflation we would be at high risk of an inflationary spiral leading to hyperinflation, but because wages have stood still (more or less) the greater danger now is deflation, especially in the Eurozone. It's enough to make your head spin thinking about it, so my attitude is to prepare for the likely worst case scenario. For us, that would be the combination of high interest rates (still have mortgage debt >> than savings) and high food prices (growing kids eat a lot :eek:) so am prepping as fast as we can by austerity living, paying off debt and looking for alternative ways of meeting basic needs. If TS doesn't HTF then in 10 years we'll be in a much better financial situation and have equipped us and the kids with some useful life skills.
Ps if anyone wants to work out how inflation has affected their savings or debts there is a useful calculator here:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html

dragonette

Hi CTC,

Had a discussion recently with a friend working with an environmental protection agency, radiation (even gamma) travels a max of 6m in water, alpha and beta much less than that.

Clearly locally contamination of the food chain is significant, but further afield should be safe. I know fish can migrate, but the levels will be too low to be a danger