frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Dec 27, 2021 13:43:13 GMT 10
This time of year I usually assess what I have learnt or achieved throughout the year, and set goals for the following year.
2021 had some unique challenges for me. The State I live in was in lockdown for 6 months, local and interstate travel restrictions of some type were in place most of the year. My mother passed away early in the year, and the fascist premier of Qld wouldn't let me cross the border to see her before she died. A funeral service was impossible, with family spread throughout the country. Progress on my retreats was limited, with travel restrictions for the second half of the year, but my annual prepper meet was successfully held during a rare window of opportunity, with attendees from NSW, Qld and Tasmania. Only those from WA were unable to attend. I made some progress at both retreats, but I'm behind schedule. Most of the infrastructure is in place, just finishing the final fitout, painting, etc.
I saw how our government reacts to pandemic, how our leaders encourage citizens to turn on each other, how people react to fear, and how so many people are gullible. I realised that a lot of my close friends aren't suitable candidates for my group during or post event, but also saw which of my friends are independent thinkers and willing to stand up and fight against tyranny. Better to learn this now than during a real event.
Covid has been more a scamdemic than a pandemic. Hardly any deaths, it hasn't tested my preps at all. All it has done is show me how government and society reacts, and how I can reduce the personal impact of that reaction.
I expect 2022 will be more of the same, although probably fewer lockdowns. My goal is to finish those projects already started, add some water storage capacity to both retreats, have another successful annual meet, and continue developing my network.
How was everyone else's year?
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tactile
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Post by tactile on Dec 27, 2021 14:45:13 GMT 10
2021 and the lockdowns helped me confirm that I much prefer Highland than Speyside (a close second), Islands, Islay or Lowlands.
That's my year in review...
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snafu
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Post by snafu on Dec 27, 2021 18:53:01 GMT 10
sorry to hear that you were unable to be with your mum as she passed. Pale o shite and all state gov will have to answer for this in the future i hope.
very good analysis of 2021 too.
I just know that i made a lot more money and spent it in the right places this year, a bit more than last year. I never thought i would be able to keep a large stash of food either, but $18k can go a long way!
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Dec 27, 2021 18:59:44 GMT 10
My mum and step dad are approaching 90, and ive discussed with my wife that we cant go to a funeral as they are 900 km south of us and i might not get back if this rogue State Govt slaps on a snap lock-down. It takes 18 hrs to get home and my place is here, looking after my family and farm. That's the reality of this plandemic.
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snafu
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Post by snafu on Dec 27, 2021 19:07:23 GMT 10
malewithtail, friend of mine only had the vaccines so they could travel the 1000kms into nsw to see newborn this coming march, i wonder if by then a booster will be needed to live and move freely in Australia?
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Dec 27, 2021 19:16:40 GMT 10
Boosters continue the gravy train for the Pharma companies, more profits from a captive audience, especially when they are made compulsory to keep your vaccination passport up to date.
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Post by Joey on Dec 27, 2021 20:38:42 GMT 10
I learnt that people are animals that everybody should be wary of. From the government/media encouraging everybody to turn on each other, to state governments weaponising their police forces under "health orders" and handing out huge fines to add to their dwindling coffers due to the lockdowns eating into the GST/traffic fine revenues. Down to my personal interaction with a total cnut of a snake who showed his true colours. Moving into next year, I'll be putting more effort into health and my car and family. With my new roster (no thanks to the aforementioned snake) I no longer have the available time to spend on my business so will be looking to either cut my losses and close it or try and sell it off to someone who can invest in the time needed to keep it going as I just can't get any progress on tackling to huge backlog of orders I currently have with only 1-2 days of the week free to do anything and even than its hard enough to get motivated enough to get any started.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Dec 28, 2021 7:32:27 GMT 10
I know what it is like to be in business and work full time.I had to sell my company as I couldn't devote the time needed to it, along with job commitments and family.I felt a commitment to those who wanted my services, but I couldn't help due to time constraints. Even now, after being out of it for over 18 years, I still have ex customers ringing asking for help. I have also decided not to do any more of the same sort of work up here as time is so short and the pressure of getting prepped is so strong, I just cant do them both. I have a couple of jobs to finish off,then its concentrating on the farm and preps.
I'm an absolute, off the wall, fanatical moderate.
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norseman
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Post by norseman on Dec 28, 2021 8:13:34 GMT 10
2021 further strengthened and reinforced my long held belief (widely known by some "regulars" here) that 90% of the human race are time wasting, bottom feeders! The trick is not to be part of that 90% and then dedicate yourself to being in the remaining 10%. Once there only associate with people in that cohort! How will I know who they are you may ask?.....Don't stress when you meet them you'll know!
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Dec 28, 2021 9:08:21 GMT 10
2021 further strengthened and reinforced my long held belief (widely known by some "regulars" here) that 90% of the human race are time wasting bottom feeders! The trick is not to be part of that 90% and then dedicate yourself to being in the top 10% and once there only associate with people in that cohort! How will I know who they are you may ask?.....Don't stress when you meet one you'll know! It's interesting how that 10% seem to locate each other. One of the few benefits of social media. And when you do meet, it's always nice to bring a gift, like a 1200rd case of 7.62 x 39 🤣
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Post by Stealth on Dec 30, 2021 19:20:32 GMT 10
Despite my best efforts to blindly avoid the bleeding obvious this year I decided that being so restricted locationally when it comes to my career means only one thing. We can never have our goal of living on a country block and being self sustaining while I'm doing what I'm doing. I've been in love with my job for many years, but being restricted by my job in so many ways has caused all kinds of future planning to go on hold.
Well, I got sick of it. I've retrained and start a new job in the new year. I'll be making a good chunk of cash more which will help us to put together a larger deposit than we already have. The plan is to buy a property (probably not our forever home JUST yet, but it'll at least get us on the right side of the country) and lease it out until we can move into it ourselves. That means making our jobs into remote working roles which we should hopefully be able to achieve within the next few years. We're planning to pay off the house entirely with a combination of slamming the mortgage and putting the rent money into it as well.
Move house, then figure out what we want to do with a bush block. For the first time in several years we're able to have a five year plan again. It's a bloody good feeling to know where you're going and how you're going to get there!
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Beno
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Post by Beno on Dec 30, 2021 19:38:09 GMT 10
Well done and good luck. A word of wisdom, don’t be too keen to move to the bush block. Work ya butt off, have fun, travel with work then when you feel you are ready to slow down move to the bush block. I bought my block a few years ago but i feel like all the other old buggers in my valley, retired. I’m seriously thinking of going back to the desert to further my career and have a boot load of fun at the same time. I’ve got too much spring in my step to stay here and if it really goes balls up then i can always come back to the farm.
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Post by Stealth on Dec 31, 2021 19:17:17 GMT 10
Well done and good luck. A word of wisdom, don’t be too keen to move to the bush block. Work ya butt off, have fun, travel with work then when you feel you are ready to slow down move to the bush block. I bought my block a few years ago but i feel like all the other old buggers in my valley, retired. I’m seriously thinking of going back to the desert to further my career and have a boot load of fun at the same time. I’ve got too much spring in my step to stay here and if it really goes balls up then i can always come back to the farm. Good point, well made. I think our only plans for the bush block for the next decade (at this stage) will be getting a good home orchard going, and using it for an occasional camping site for family and friends. We plan to make regular trips to see what we're working with and what native bushtucker plants will grow well there, but otherwise we don't have any huge plans for building or cultivating at this stage purely because we haven't even bought a house in the area that we want to buy yet. But I'll gladly take suggestions on long term things to do when we finally buy one, because I assume there's going to be a lot of stuff I won't even consider. And there's something to be said for semi-retirement. I'm not convinced I'll ever fully retire by choice, I think I'd get insanely bored. Then again with a bush block and self-sufficiency I assume I won't have the TIME to get bored rofl.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Jan 1, 2022 7:53:04 GMT 10
Semi retirement is the way to go, if you are reasonably handy at repairing equipment, or building, work is everywhere out here. I work 1 to 2 days a week at different things, and my kids have various casual jobs ranging from fruit picking, to bar maid at the local, so jobs abound in the bush. Having run my own renewables installation company (solar, wind, hydro etc) for many, many years, I am being continually asked to install/upgrade power systems. Cash jobs, and add having 60 odd bee hives that produce over 1,000 kg honey a year, we live comfortably. The biggest expense is fuel, but WTSHTF, we wont be traveling anyway, so the only fuel needed will be for the tractor and generators. (A 12 kva diesel and 8.5 kva Honda running gas and petrol). Storing several years of diesel to run the tractor, with stabilizer added, is easy and safe in a separate shed fitted with lightning arresters. The local tip is a great resource, and lots of stuff can be repurposed from others junk. Dont overlook getting armed either, not only for the zombie apocalypse, but for more mundane tasks like protecting stock from foxes and wild dogs. My preference is a 22, fitted with a sound attenuator, scope and red dot sight. A 12 G with adapters to put 22 and 223 etc, through it is also handy. Don't forget water, dams and tanks are a must, solar pumped of course, and header tanks to give pressure without running the pump at night. We have our own on farm fire truck and trailer with 1,550 liters water, pump and hoses, all compatible with the RFS gear. Get used to pathetic phone reception, and satellite is the only viable internet connection available. After all, you moved to escape from the city, so grin and bear it. Independent radio comms for all members of the troop,(UHF), as well as a powerful receiver setup, EMP proofed, is advisable. Ham comms is even better. I'm setting up . CTV wireless surveillance for the property boundaries, all solar powered with automatic movement sensing.(Ive already caught one fox attempting to access the chook trailers). Nuff for now, happy new year again to all.
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried !
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Jan 1, 2022 18:23:26 GMT 10
We are trying to treat this covid stuff as a dry run for the real thing, testing ideas, and checking/using preps. Defensive weapons were an issue, since remedied with CCTV and a totally passive audio parabolic dish set up. Re evaluating our water situation with dams and gravity feed tanks for gardens, calculating the amount of fuels needed for growing crops now I have some data as to fuel consumption of the tractor when working hard with the cultivator.(Did you know there is 4 man years of labor energy in one 44 gallon, 205 liter, drum of diesel ?) Taken the first tentative steps into crypto, as a "just in case" backup. I wish all a happy and prosperous new year, and that the world settles down.
To succeed in Politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.
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hd1340
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Post by hd1340 on Jan 2, 2022 10:05:14 GMT 10
Definitely agree with the dry run theory. We did a lot of self evaluation. Whilst we would have loved to stay in Tassie all our property and most of our family are in WA. When my previous employer offered me a role back in WA,99% day shift Mon - Fri, in a town where my parents and sister live(sister was a nurse in the Air Force for a while,so potentially value and things to learn there), also still own 2 properties here factor in the bonus in Oct and the salary is more than double what I was on in Tassie. They also paid for the move so it really was a no-brainer. The Mon-Fri day shift has already allowed me to complete a few of the hundreds of ideas and projects constantly spinning around in my head. Pretty happy with what we have achieved in the few weeks back in our own place.
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drjenner
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Post by drjenner on Jan 3, 2022 8:00:44 GMT 10
2021 was a blur, and pretty much the same as 2020 for me. Got a new job 3 hours north of where I live now, found 48 acres and are beginning the process of developing the land to live off it. So much work to be done. Working towards being out of the hospital and on to something else as this current path is just not sustainable in the long term. I'm too young to even semi-retire at this point, but the husband quit his urgent care job, and is now semi-retired thank goodness.
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Jan 3, 2022 9:01:16 GMT 10
That's one serious commute, DrJenner.
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drjenner
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Post by drjenner on Jan 3, 2022 10:25:01 GMT 10
Haha frostbite, I stay in my travel trailer while on call. Lonely days, but much easier commute until we can relocate to the property!
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Jan 3, 2022 14:30:42 GMT 10
I met a young couple whilst in NZ about 5 years ago, both doctors, one based in LA, the other in San Fran. The commute too long for either of them, so they only spent weekends or whatever time they had off together. Nice couple, their arrangement seemed to work. Not the smartest pair though. They were on the same tour of a winery with us, which ended about 5 hours before our bus was scheduled to pick us up. Mrs and I stayed at the winery, got well drunk on the local drop whilst enjoying a huge meat & cheese platter. The doctor couple opted for a bike ride, and spent most of the afternoon unsuccessfully trying to shelter under a little roof from very heavy rain. Poor buggers.
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