paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Nov 2, 2017 20:45:57 GMT 10
Because Remmy is being mean and limiting us to a single cold war era song... I've chosen to cheat and post here.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Nov 1, 2017 19:21:41 GMT 10
I've pretty much lost all my photos from the past 10-15 years, I went full digital and a few key hard drive crashes coupled with some bad data management mean no photos...
I did however, while going through all my parents stuff this weekend find all my old photos from my teenage years and most of them still have their negatives! Coupled with a scanner I have a lot of work ahead of me. I also found a couple boxes of my grandfathers photography equipment, included were more slides than I could count and a couple projectors. I never met the man but hopefully I can through his photography. I think I need to force myself to print off photos so I don't go through the same thing again and leave nothing for the next generation.
I also found his 8mm video camera, an Eumig C3, made in the 50s.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Nov 1, 2017 18:46:02 GMT 10
I don't think I'd want to get involved in anything along these lines that wasn't an 'inside job'. Those things are far too big and complicated for my liking...
I have however spent far too much time contemplating a small container barge done up as a retreat. I'm a little obsessed with shipping container houses and I saw one once that was built on a small container barge that was built out of 4 shipping containers, it was arranged in a way that looked completely natural... yet contained a complete house within.
It's a daydream of course, I don't see it as ever happening... but one can dream.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 31, 2017 11:13:53 GMT 10
There is also flat bread and tortillas if you’re considering breads that can be stored. We opened a pkt of “mission” brand “street tacos” tonight - mini tortillas. They were beautiful and soft and good. I’ll definitely look out for this brand again. I would have bought these a while ago as I just buy a few packets when they’re on special, and they have a use by date of April 2018. If you can keep wraps as one of your regular meals it is very easy to rotate through them to use them before they go out of date. I think generally the tortilla type wraps have 6-12 months. That makes sense, thanks we do occasionally get the soft taco kits and they have quite a good shelf life, have never thought of them as prep foods through... Will have to pick up some more and get another rotation going!
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 27, 2017 14:21:40 GMT 10
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 22, 2017 19:48:22 GMT 10
I get this stuff at Coles, it's 500 grams and only $2.50 Given the shelf life and nutrition, what a bargain! also pre-sliced
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 22, 2017 19:33:10 GMT 10
Ooo... They look nice! Will keep an eye out.
I'm yet to attempt making my own rusks but have a few recipes set aside and it's on the todo list.
Aldi did some Dutch rusks for $2 a pack and I stocked up a bunch so am fairly safe for now... The only downside is I keep eating them with milk and sugar for an evening snack.
The other bread prep I've started is having a rotation of pumpernickle bread going. The shelf life is really good (like 12 months from memory) so makes a good solution. It's also amazingly tasty, filling and high in protein. I forgot how much I loved the stuff !
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 21, 2017 22:27:23 GMT 10
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 20, 2017 13:19:08 GMT 10
Could not agree more frost. When I was out west many of my mates worked the mines or rigs FIFO, 2-2, 3-1 even 4-1... I saw more break ups than happy marriages. Need to spend the time together or you don't really have a relationship. I'm earning WAY less than my potential at the moment only doing 25 hours a week but I get to be with my family and watch the kids grow instead of doing ridiculous levels of overtime like I was previously.
Good luck, self sufficient. Breakup is TEOTWAWKI for 2, (plus children if you have them). I hope you get through it mate.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 20, 2017 12:08:38 GMT 10
I Have been using purevpn for several years ... I can set my browsing origin to any country in the world. OK, now you've peaked my interest... There are a few things that this could be very handy for. Will have to do some research tonight...
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paranoia
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Email: para@ausprep.org
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Post by paranoia on Oct 20, 2017 10:48:53 GMT 10
I got a good laugh out of the wording of the headline...This is pretty much a non announcement and anyone who has been paying attention won't be surprised to hear China intends itself to be the global dominant power.
Totalitarian or no, there is one particular thing their government has that ours lacks and that's a plan that extends beyond half a decade... From my interactions with that culture they don't think in months or years but decades and generations.
How to prepare? Learn Chinese, teach your children Chinese... I believe there will be opportunities over the next few decades for those that can bridge the gap.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 18, 2017 23:10:08 GMT 10
Very good points, Peter.
Much of the 5.11 gear seem to be heavy on the pockets (for obvious reasons). I like the Ridgeline pants, marketed as for 'casual or covert'. Colour selection would be fairly critical also.
The other option is to find an appropriate pattern, source the fabric and have them made. That seems like a rabbit hole I'm not ready to go down... perhaps if they tick all the boxes and need to become my new normal lol.
The missus does have a new sewing space coming once I've finished the attic so I will be owed a couple of sewing projects...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 18, 2017 20:07:02 GMT 10
Weather is warming up again and after last weekend I'm questioning what I wear whilst shooting. Instead of making a new thread I thought I'd just zombie this one.
Jeans are getting a bit hot and I just don't do shorts.
For you 5.11 tactical pant wearers, are they significantly cooler than jeans for running around in the sun?
Anyone buy direct from 5.11 or best to go through resellers?
ammo9, did you ever get your Crye pants???
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 17, 2017 23:19:52 GMT 10
You do have a regular butcher, yes? If not, you're missing out. Getting to know your butcher well is where you get the good meat for the good prices...
I don't have a regular butcher... but I also don't buy meat.
I used to get beef from dad when they still had the property but these days we just go without.
I'll probably just have to stick to cooking salt or finally take my mate up on that offer of a trip to Costco.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 17, 2017 23:11:07 GMT 10
I did a big clean up of the general garden and the vertical herb garden. In the next couple of weeks I'll be planting more. It's amazing how much work a vertical garden involves; the tiny amount of dirt in each pot requires a lot of watering... if TSHTF I'll probably discard the herbs in it to save water.
I think of potted plants in the same way as keeping a small tropical fish tank. Anyone who's tried to keep fish ends up with a rather large tank as you realise the larger body of water holds temperature, ph, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate balance MUCH easier and you've got time before things go bad.
Take those same potted herbs that you need to water twice a day during a Perth summer and stick them in the ground, some of which will go wild if they're not in pure sand.
I gave up on outdoor potted gardening as it's just too much work. Unless you're REALLY hurting for space I don't see the reasoning behind it... My daughters still do it but anything that isn't a cactus/succulent dies after a couple months as they forget about it for a week here and there.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 13, 2017 22:31:55 GMT 10
The problem with salts labelled as "cooking salt" or "table salt" is that if they contain anti-caking agents that may affect the taste (and I'm guessing also the curing process). I only use rock salt or salt flakes for any curing or fermenting as I'm more sure it's pure. I've heard once from a USA source that some cooking & table salts contain sugar as well, but I'm yet to see that noted on an ingredient list... I would love to store rock salt, where do you get it from?? I can only find it for around 4x the price of regular cooking salt...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 12, 2017 18:47:05 GMT 10
All the dry cure recipes I've seen have called for a course salt (I'm unsure why) but have never been able to find any at a reasonable price/volume. All my salt storage is just lots of small bags of cheap coles/woolies cooking salt. Is this what you used?? What are your impressions on how a more course salt would go?? I look forward to pictures.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 6, 2017 22:10:51 GMT 10
They look good. Thanks for posting the details. They took a long time! But fruit smells lovely dehydrating, so it wouldn’t matter if the smell was in the house for a while. (Love the smell when I dehydrate orange slices. Not so good with cauliflower or broccoli.) Have you tried eating one? Or will you try rehydrating a couple? BTW, I don’t have a huge amount of dried fruit, but I have taken to storing some in the frig or freezer (depending on how long I think we might keep it). I still vac seal it first. When I read up on storage times for dried fruit it says only 6 months (although it sounds as though yours are a lot dryer and should keep longer), but the frig about doubles that, and my books say about 2 yrs in the freezer. I figure that really I probably have possibly double that - or at least a bit longer. I have some space in a chest freezer, so might as well keep it there (in vac sealed bags), with a couple of jars for easy back up access in the frig. When we open a jar it lives out of the frig. If we end up without power for an extended time the dried fruit that is frozen should still be good for its original expected life - 6-12 months. I won’t be trying to use it up quickly like other frozen food - it will just go on a shelf. Yeah the kitchen smelled amazing the whole time they were in there. Blueberries are my favourite so it was a pleasant few days. I would do them again just for the smell... Agreed broccoli was a little unpleasant.
I have eaten plenty, when I was 'checking them every 12 hours' I'd eat one or two of different sizes to get an idea of where I was at. They went from sultanas, to currants and eventually had the texture of what I imagine freeze dried food to have. No give in them, they shatter as you bite them and the flavour doesn't hit for a few seconds while it's rehydrating in your mouth. The flavour was SUPER intense though and almost a bit much.
I'm going to avoid the freezer at this stage purely to get a better understanding of what to expect. Based on how dry these were I'm hoping to get at least 5 years out of them. They're vac sealed at the moment but I will mylar them in smaller sized bags, date them and open a bag every six months to see where I'm at. If I can't get that 5 years out of them my plans will have to change to include freeze dried foods I guess...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 6, 2017 21:59:06 GMT 10
I dehydrate loads of stuff and use it in everyday life (mushrooms when I find them cheap, corn, capsicum, berries, applies, oranges and much more). I find they re hydrate super well. Use a lot of dried fruits in cakes and things as well as some yummy snacks. I also dehydrate some low fat meats for my dogs too, fresh chicken makes great dehydrated dog treats. I have some dehydrated cooked chicken I am keen to try but also slightly concerned about giving myself botulism! Yeah I don't do meat... If it ever came down to it I'd just go without. We keep enough vegetarian protein options that it's just easier to take that one off the list and not stock it up.
I'd be curious as to your process for mushrooms, I've always just bought dehydrated mushrooms at Chinatown but would love to do some myself. How do you process them?
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Oct 6, 2017 21:06:46 GMT 10
That's a great idea, thanks! Have been scratching my head deciding what to do with all those stems. I'm just finishing up 3kg red capsicum that I found for $3/kg on the way home from work and I still have all those stems in the fridge from last week. The family is all in bed and the night is still young so I reckon I'll give it a go.
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