# Am I the only one



## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

who is feeling on the verge of panic? 

The worse the news is from the Middle East, the news from DC, even my own legislature which is hard at work on FOUR laws about using a cell phone while driving instead of dealing with an economy about to crash......the more worried and tense I become.

I go in a grocery store and wince at the prices, knowing that the price increases posted here on HT, are going to be my own about two weeks out. 

Each time I drive by a gas station and see the price up another six or eight cents, the more resolved I am to be efficient in my "must do" errands. Even tho my little SUV gets 24 mpg +, I remember how much it hurt when a fill up was $65. It's coming and I realize it.

When I buy my animal feed, I realize I am going to paying double or triple very shortly......based upon what I have been hearing from others. Heck, you can hardly buy any sacked formula for under $15 as it is right now. 

Whats going to happen next? 

I don't know! That's the most disturbing thing, and partly why I am getting a little frantic. I have been stocking as much as possible as quickly as possible (even though I was relatively well stocked before) because I just have this feeling it's going to get real bad up here, real quick.

Anyone else feeling the panic?


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

I am FRUSTRATED...its been rough around here for a couple weeks and today was heartbreaking(long story, personal)....and yesterday we had fuel oil delivered! OUCH!

It seems the more I do, the more I do and the less money I have...I don't know how lazy people are making it.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Yes. I feel it.

Saw gas go up .10 since this time last night.

Seeing the news, all over. Basicly loosing optimistic outlook.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Yes, I feel it. We have a short time left until everyone feels it. Get the things you really need. No more time to think of TP and such. Think of feeding yourself and animals. Your dogs need to slowly learn to eat less and less meat. What do you need if you don't have elec. because of the cost. Narrow everything down to the last things you cannot exist without, then go up to luxury from there.


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

And if I remember correctly, it was Nero who caused the fires to begin with.

Sound familiar to anyone?


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## fancy1 (Dec 15, 2010)

Pouncer, I've felt that panic for the last couple of weeks. Perhaps it's just a little bit of everything - global affairs, fuel and food prices, tax time... 

The sensible side of me says to take a deep breath and do what I'm able. We're fairly well stocked and would be okay. 
Then the panic starts - do we have enough xyz? What is the kids can't survive where they're at and come back home? Can we take care of them as well? 
Sensible side says: "you'll never have enough, so do what you're able. Smile a little more too.
Panic side says: "but what if.... " and "I want MORE ammo" and... the list goes on.

So, we're siding with caution and stocking more than we usually do. The greenhouse is larger this year, and the flower beds are replaced with lovely veggie beds. More lamp oil stored than we've ever had before too. And much more.

We're not in a full out panic, but we're very aware of what's going on in the world. We try to weed through the good and bad, and apply what we can to our own lives. Hope for the best, prep for the worst. 

Fancy


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

The hardest part about TEOTWAWKI for many of us is pretending that we're not thrilled to be right.


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

Ernie, I won't be thrilled, I will be too busy dealing with stuff to have that luxury. I have decent stores, lots of jars (enough to hold the contents of my freezers) and have tucked away this and that. Feed for the critters is my next buy. 

I am giving up a bunch of my tax return to the fuel company, it was $3.29 a gallon the last time they topped the tank. We get monthly fills until April, so one or two more fills and we should be good until fall with some left, I hope. 

I only have one serious "hole" in the prep department, which is the well. It's deep and I can't seem to find anything that we could use to bring up water from it. Not sure what the static level is, either. But it went 212 deep. We've never even come close to losing pressure, it tested at about 20 gpm so I'm hopeful the static level is up there a ways. But there is a pond/swamp behind the property.....

We have firewood, but I am thinking of having my hub get more chains and oil, just in case. Plus a carb rebuild kit too. 

Summer projects include plating what fruits will grow here, and seeing if I can somehow manage to double my garden space-which is only about 30 x 25. 

Just feeling a lot of pressure to "get ready", you know?


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

I dont think i've started to panic yet. But I did get a little nervous monday at the feed & seed store. I asked if they had the seeds in yet for the garden. The answer was yes but they wont sell any seeds unless its time for them to be planted. I cant figure that one out!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

TripleD said:


> I dont think i've started to panic yet. But I did get a little nervous monday at the feed & seed store. I asked if they had the seeds in yet for the garden. The answer was yes but they wont sell any seeds unless its time for them to be planted. I cant figure that one out!


Yeah, that doesn't make much sense but some of those mom and pop seed stores can be flaky. A couple of years ago I stopped in one of our local ones and asked for some garlic bulbs in the fall. I got a tongue-chewing from the owner about how everyone SHE knows plants them in the spring, not the fall and how I needed to get with the program.

I backed away slowly from the garden nazi and never set foot in there again.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Panic...not even worried. Not much I can do about it that I haven't already done. No plans to travel this summer other than when someone else is paying for it. (so much for my trip out West!) Truthfully, I don't think we're at the end yet. I fully expect things to get better for awhile. (okay...who wants the rose colored glasses now?)

The seeds thing...that can be a CYA. You sell the seeds/plants/roots in Winter, and some doofus plants them too early and the seeds don't sprout (think CORN planted in Feb or PEAS planted in July). Now Doofus comes in and rants about how your seeds suck and he wants his money back. 

If someone gives me grief about it being too early, I just say "greenhouse".


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## Jugum (Mar 14, 2008)

No Sir you are not the only one . But on a lighter note I bought a Minneapolis Moline two row planter today for $40.


Jug


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I succumbed to the panic on Friday. I was fit to be tied.
And even the even DH is feeling the crunch of concern.
So.. to calm myself I have worked hard 2 days straight in the garden extension that will more than double the size.
I candled the muscovy duck eggs in the incubator and fussed at DH that I NEED shelves for seed starting! (The wall that held my beautiful shelves is gone.)
We talked about the feed plants we will be growing this year.

We don't burn a lot of gas in the car and we don't buy a lot of food from the store and prefer salvage grocery or our pantry/freezer. We rarely buy new clothes, choosing thrift shopping instead.
We will not be hit as hard as some others.
I can breathe again..for now.

But yes, I do feel the panic.. but I try to work through it constructively because panic never saved anyone from anything.


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## Marabunta (Feb 24, 2011)

Not quite panic, but an ever-growing feeling of urgency...Urgency to buy more of what will keep, urgency to get more money out of unreliable federal reserve notes and into whatever I can afford that'll hold value, urgency to get my little plot of land in shape to provide something worth eating, and urgency to learn some skills that'll serve me well no matter what's coming.

In short, urgency to become ever more self-reliant and less dependent on systems which are manifestly undependable and looking shakier all the time.

Okay, CLOSE to panic. But panic can be staved off by action, and mine is staved off by the will to oppose the shredding of my country and by the determination to not be any more a victim of it than I can avoid.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

It is a mom and pop store. I've been doing business with them for over 8 years. Milo , Millet & Sunflower seeds for a 20 acre dove field. I buy all my carhartt there as well. I might try the green house thing. Thanks...


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

When I feel a tinge of concern (haven't pushed the big red panic button yet) I get an extra month of beans, rice, sugar, and other luxury goods (like canned jams, jellies, peanut butters). I feel better afterwards.

When I feel panic, I'll hook up the 18' trailer and head to town...


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Panic, no.....but I don't panic easy. 

Guarded, yep. Working on getting a few more basics stocked higher. Trying to ignore DH's comment that we should go on vacation with our tax refund (hope I can gently persuade him differently), buying clothes further ahead for kids (especially winter clothes), and just chugging forward.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

I'm not in a panic or feeling the need to stock anymore than I already have. That sudden panic happened for me a couple of years ago and I have had all this time to get prepared. My concern is for family and friends who will be overwhelmed with what they see as a sudden change of reality. And I hope that's the extent of what's bad. I don't want to think about having to deal with a massive natural disaster, although I know that is a possibility. It will take all the strength I have to deal with a financial one.


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## Helena (May 10, 2002)

Totally understand..have felt all you all are feeling...but I remind myself ..That God is already in tomorrow...So..I need to have faith. God Bless...


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

No, no panic here. I KNOW I will die one day, as all here will and all whom I love and care about.

I prep to make the present and the transition less uncomfortable but, I know the end result.


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## OnlyMe (Oct 10, 2010)

Same here ~ my worry increased this week as well. To be honest I tend to worry a lot, it just jumped to the next level recently.

I was a little iffy on picking up a few extra preps this week but then decided to go for it ~ I figured if I got it now it was one less trip to the store later. I'd been running low on Cream of Tartar too so I ended up picking it up today for $7.50. I know it's steep but I figured if I put it back I might regret it & my mind said "Just Do It". 

We all have stuff to fall back on but I suppose inherent in being a prepper (or simply trying to be a good housewife - how I see myself) is that you never feel "done".


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Just starting prepping so my pantry has very little in it yet. Been feeling the panic for sure.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

I think the thing that makes me most twitchy is that more and more I'm starting to hear it not just from the Glenn Beck's of the world, but now from the mainstream too. All around me normal folks are starting to wake up and worry. (Not just the tinfoil types like me). The sheeple are starting to get nervous. They're not doing anything about it yet, they don't know what to do. They're starting to poke their noses in the air to smell the smoke. What will it take to panic them? 
Yes, we've discussed it a lot lately; All of us would rather be wrong about where our country is going and what is coming ahead. Prepare more than your pantrys, prepare your prayer life, too. We're all gonna need more of that.


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

I have no doubt it's all going to crap pretty quick. Not my faith in God, but my country.
So, I use what God gave me my head, my heart, my hands!!! And I plan and work to prep! Just got my dehydrated eggs from beprepared.com yesterday...

I get that sick-' queasy roller coasters almost to the top of the hill feeling of dread when I let myself get fearful of what I can not control. So many times a day I shake my head at the world gone completely crazy- upside down. I'm cable/internet news addicted, but then I turn it off when I realise I'm not learning anythng new and the rehash is messing with my anxiety level. 

I've prepped quite a bit to get us through any initial SHTF scenario....but then I worry that I am dillusional about that. When ever DH gets paid I go out and stock stock stock up even more. He is totally okay with that. He has thanked me over and over for paying attention when he wasn't ready to do so...I come from depression era thinking family who became Mother Earth News readers/primitive campers/ live rural parents....I have a leg up on some skills...or at least the attitude and know how. I'm versatile...maybe a little eccentric *(heck, I go camping with packgoats!). That will serve me well! 

I am also blessed with the resources our family has by virtue of having a FIL who's been stuck in a 1929 mentality his whole life. He's wonderful, as is my canning crazy MIL. I'm the edible-medicinal herb/ livestock knowledgeable person of the family. I'm certain my one neighbor is a prepper though she never lets on...she's gotta be. My other neighbor is a deer hunter -ninja, and the other neighbor is a Nat'l Guard guy. The other neighbor's up the road are family and they are prepping too. 

I run a small church food pantry and together we have fed 12 families for a week... in the last two weeks. There's already a lot of people running out of food, before the months end... Today I fought the fear of giving some of my own food away- but I did it anyway.. Just a handful of easy to fix and eat items for little kids whose dad is trying to feed them while the momma is up to Cleveland Clinic fighting brain/breast cancer. They will not know who gave it to them.

My young adult son is a rescuer who has fallen in love with a needy girl who is a little older, married in high school and the guy went off and made a baby with someone else= divorced recently, and with three little children. I'm sensing I may be a grandma before long.YIKES. At least I really like her and see that she is a good fit for this family....still...YIKES. That means four more people to take in- they are NOT ready to be self sufficient. Her parents are nice, but totally clueless and fully absorbed in some kind of depression /walking in circles, doing nothing constructive but wringing their hands at whatever the drama of the day is....


I am blessed, and I am fearful of this country's future...it's being torn apart by an Evil that's been planning it's demise for a loooong time. That more than anything upsets my calm. 

-scrt crk


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## Pam6 (Apr 9, 2009)

I was feeling major panic last week but once I got stocked up on more food and a few other items the the panic started to ease up. So the more I get stocked up the less panic I have.


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

Pouncer, don't panic... just get ready as you can and learn as much as possible. I'm up here in Alaska too, galoline is $4.39 in my town for the cheap stuff, butter is $4.95, milk $5.99 and so it goes, but the mortgage comes first. And I'm still making $9.00 an hour. I just put in an order from Azure that's $500 more than usual for the same groceries. *BUT I wouldn't live anywhere else in this disastrous economy!
I've spent the last 30 years learning where the wild food is, where wild medicine is and how to use it, how to make warm clothes from the fur and hides of my food. I don't think it's going to be one bit easy and certainly no picnic if/when that supply barge doesn't up here, but I know I can live without it if I have to. I don't know where you are, but if I can help, I sure will!*


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

GrammasCabin, I have heard of other people ordering from Azure, can you PM the details?

I am in the Mat Su Valley, you must be near to the Bush? Considering the prices and the road system, not many places you can be, lol I too, can make it for quite a while if the barges stop, thank heavens. Won't be pretty or easy, but we're better off by far than many. 

And who knows, I might be able to help you a little bit too 

And to the rest, no I am not panicking. Not yet....just feeling a lot a tension and of course worry.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Pouncer said:


> Ernie, I won't be thrilled, I will be too busy dealing with stuff to have that luxury. I have decent stores, lots of jars (enough to hold the contents of my freezers) and have tucked away this and that. Feed for the critters is my next buy.
> 
> I am giving up a bunch of my tax return to the fuel company, it was $3.29 a gallon the last time they topped the tank. We get monthly fills until April, so one or two more fills and we should be good until fall with some left, I hope.
> 
> ...




for your water needs.......

www.bisonpumps.com


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

No, not panicking, but my prep to-do list has greater urgency than ever. I feel the need to add gasoline storage, especially. I can pay the high price for it as long as I can get to work and earn a living. Make gas limited and unavailable, and all bets are off. No work, means no way to finish paying off the mortgage, because I'm sure if gas is gone, the markets have also crashed and I won't even be able to borrow from my 403b to pay off my home. That does worry me.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

I have been stocking up a LOT. I just went to Sam's and filled the cart with canned soup and canned vegetables.
I am feeling very, very unsettled. We are hopefully closing on the new house in 3 weeks and I will feel much more comfortable once we get settled in and are in a more rural location. 
It has become more and more crowded here with the added preps, seeds trays and moving boxes everywhere.
It would be easier to wait until we move to buy more preps, but like I said, I feel very uneasy and can't help but act upon my gut feelings.


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

Pouncer, I'm 15 miles south of Wrangell in the southeast islands. www.azurestandard.com is where I get what I can't find or grow. If you have a minimum order of $500 they deliver free (from Oregon) to the barge in jSeattle. You pay the freight from there which for me is $60 a pallet no matter the weight ..up from $40 a year ago, but still way cheap and so much healtheir than local grocery carp. They've always been able to stack my order on one pallet, no matter what. Most of my orders are 1,000 lb or more. You'll have to register to check prices but they're a great outfit, never had any spam email as a result.
Sometimes I'm just short of a few things but have no trouble finding nearby friends ready to add to my order for free delivery.

I'm feeling tension too, Pouncer as are the rest of us. I'm quite frankly scared for the day that barge doesn't show up cause I know it's coming. When it's even a day late here the shelves in the stores are empty. What are folks going to do that shop daily for meals and don't know how to harvest the wilds?! How are we going to respond when it's a choice of feeding our own or helping the grasshoppers?

Sorry to be selective here. For the rest of you folks, Azure delivers top quality organic and chemical free bulk foods at no charge to drop-off points all the way to Colorado. No, I don't work for them!!! lol I've been getting my food there foe more than 30 years. My personal opinion is food is worth more than gold RIGHT NOW!


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

I only read about halfway down the page, and I realized something----I'm worn out with worrying about things.

Panic? Not right this minute, no. I've had maybe strong tinges of anxiety occasionally, off and on for about the last year. But panic? Not yet, anyway. 

I/we have prepped, and stocked up, and been careful with our meager money, and thought and talked about various things.... and y'all know what? I'm worn out from it. I'm tired of worrying about 'what if we can't buy food'? "what if one of us gets sick" etc etc etc. I am just exhausted with worrying about things. I don't know what else we could do to become more prepared. Stock up on more food, more necessary items, more clothes, shoes, etc. But ultimately, I have absolutely ZERO way of predicting with 100% accuracy WHEN, or WHERE, or HOW things might crumble around me, and exactly WHAT would crumble. I have resigned myself to the fact that if we can't pay the electric, water, and phone, we'll be able to do without. It won't be fun, or comfortable, but we will make it somehow. 

That's all I can think anymore, is that we'll make it somehow.

And if it comes to jackbooted government thugs coming to take me away to prison... well, that's another discussion entirely.


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

Oops, wild blueberry wine just took control. No worries. Nite Nite.
Love, Gremma


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm worried enough about fuel and food that I am applying for a job, planning all trips to the cabin with friends to split fuel costs, driving my regular fuel vehicle instead of my diesel and planning to keep fish that I usually catch and release. I did get a caribou tag for Aug and so did my son! Moose is across the counter harvest tag. I should get 250-1000 pounds of meat!


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I don't think I panic, but it's like a heavy feeling in the air - like before a storm hits. They sky still looks good, but you are starting to feel the difference in the air more and more. And soon the wall of dark clouds will be seen and moving in before the storm breaks.

So more a pressure.


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## TheMrs (Jun 11, 2008)

I'm not ready to claim 'panic,' but I will say that DH and I are getting very, very 'anxious.' We've been dropping a lot of money lately on things like canned foods, OTC meds, seeds, raw honey, rice...things we already have, but would like to have MORE of.

I'm also ordering things online that I've been putting off. I want to get my orders in before shipping rates get any higher.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

I'm not panicked and I'm not anxious. 

One does what one can and then deals with things as best they can.

Being panicked and being anxious doesn't change a thing. It just wears a body down.

Mike


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2011)

Folks, 

Our nation has been through a ---- sight tougher situation than what we're presently facing. No one is sitting down to Sunday dinner just in time to get the news from Hawaii that our nation is entering a very much for-real global war.

No one is reading in the paper that their state has just seceded from the Union and the call for volunteers for its defense is going out.

No one is reading in the paper that our president is asking for a declaration of war against a major power because we believe they just blew up and sank one of our capital naval vessels in their harbor.

Things are looking gloomy at the moment. There is considerable reason for concern. But only concern. There is still time for anyone with sense enough to do so to get about the business of preparing.

We are a forum of survivalists and preppers. We should be setting the example for all those who are to come newly aware of the need to and interested in getting ready. Panic or even near panic is NEVER productive. 

This is stiff upper lip time. We take things calmly and with resolution to do what needs to be done. Panic is for the witless and the unprepared when they suddenly see the need and fear that it's too late to do anything meaningful about it. 

Those people are not us.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

A.T. Hagan said:


> Folks,
> 
> Our nation has been through a ---- sight tougher situation than what we're presently facing. No one is sitting down to Sunday dinner just in time to get the news from Hawaii that our nation is entering a very much for-real global war.
> 
> ...


thanks Alan -
Guess we all need to take heart.


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

I was lurking in this thread, too. Thank you, Alan for the encouragement. Just the sort of calm, manly encouragement we women need . I know what to do, I just have to keep at it. All the worrying wastes energy. I do find that prayer helps a lot, asking God for clarity of thought and to help me order each day rightly. It's a struggle, but giving in to my emotions prevents progress.


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## farmermom4 (Feb 17, 2007)

I lurk mostly, but every now and then I will comment. I am not worried, just concerned about what I am seeing, still waiting for people I know to become aware. I just need to stay more focused, life happens and you get side tracked, or at least I do, lol!
I am re-focusing and moving forward in a positive manner, as Alan said, we have already been through alot, we will hopefully get through these times without too much pain.


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

Folks, I think that it's just that most Alaskans (lonelytree, GrammasCabin, etc) are more than acutely aware of the tenuous nature of supply here.

When I was a child, we used to make trips "into town" aka Fairbanks, every three or four months. Mom would spend hours sitting down with a calendar and planning meals, and then add up what we needed to buy when we got there. It wasn't that unusual to find many empty spaces on the shelves and no produce but some very sorry looking root vegetables. This is due to the occasional barge being lost at sea on the way up from Seattle. 

Alaskans are at the mercy of shipping costs like no other place in America except Hawaii. A couple years back I was importing compressed hay for resale.....at that time, the fuel surcharge was running about 24 percent. That's what is charged over the contracted rate for the container. 

Most people in Alaska don't have the experience of "no freight" like those of us who lived here years back, or who live in Bush communities where delivery depends on weather or ice/river conditions. We're at the end of a very long supply chain, and any upset is going to have significant impacts.

It's not only prudent to prep here, it is acting with the knowledge that the threads that hold our lives here, can be unraveled easily. JMO.


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## Aintlifegrand (Jun 3, 2005)

Yesterday we went in town and met a lot of family... we had a nice lunch at a favorite greek/lebanese rest..then we went to the grocery store and leisurely shopped...I was just buying what we wanted..what looked good.. fun food as I call it. I looked at my DH and DS who went with me and told them both..." We will look back on this day and remember it as the best of times"...We all feel on the edge from many directions.. I am very aware of the friviously fun things we do now as being one of the few last times we do this or that...I would not use the word panic as must as resigned.


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## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

A.T. Hagan said:


> We are a forum of survivalists and preppers. We should be setting the example for all those who are to come newly aware of the need to and interested in getting ready. Panic or even near panic is NEVER productive.
> 
> This is stiff upper lip time. We take things calmly and with resolution to do what needs to be done. Panic is for the witless and the unprepared when they suddenly see the need and fear that it's too late to do anything meaningful about it.
> 
> Those people are not us.


Hear, hear!!!


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## Ohiogal (Mar 15, 2007)

Pouncer, 
I'm there with you on all this. This weekend, I'm heading off to buy fencing, lumber and a few more stock gates before the @#$%^ hits the fan. Which for my area of the country, becomes a reality when people realize that things are collapsing. The rising fuel prices are already putting a lot of pressure on shipping and the local communities.
So I can see why things are looking grimmer for Alaskans.
The best you can do is stay calm, and if possible, take advantage of the good deals and keep to the plan. 
Ohiogal


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Don't sweat the small stuff. As one of many that went through the oil embargo in the early seventies, I can't get real excited over some of the same stuff we're seeing today.

However this is a real potential problem that can render all your prepping useless if you live in the wrong place. Yep! Sun spots as in the lack of can be a big problem especially when idiot governments and the financial community is focused on global warming as a way of increasing taxes and inventing a new way to perpetuate financial pillage with the complicity of corporations which are only too happy to comply since they can pass all of the costs on to us.

http://www.livescience.com/13052-missing-sunspots-sun-mystery.html


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## Rainy (Jan 21, 2010)

Thank you Alan.... I go through spells, i panic and then think No i can't do that i know better. My Dad use to say when everything and everyone else around you is falling apart, that is the time to keep your head on straight, and then you can fall apart later.


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

I almost had a panic moment in the grocery store last week. It was all I could do to keep myself from just sweeping all the beans and canned goods off the shelf.

I had to take a deep breath and only took what I could afford that week. Two pounds of lentils, flour, extra baking powder. 

Just tell yourself, one step at a time.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I'm not anywhere near panic, but I do wish about 99% of the world population would just vanish (of course I'd want to be able to choose the 1% that stays)


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I will feel better when The snow is off the ground here. Usually by now I am out digging a little and setting up my trellises.
The rabbit manure is extra deep inside the rabbitry and needs to be spread on the garden and there is ice stopping me from using the green house door.
Good news is the rabbits are having lots of bunnies.
But like A.T. Hagan said we have faced alot in this country and my dh and I have been through a bit in our life time. But we are still here. Difference is we are prepared this time. So when every we feel a bit of panic we just tell each other to keep doing what we are doing. And don't forget to pray for those less fortunate than we are.


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## TheMrs (Jun 11, 2008)

Thanks for the reminder Alan. I continue to pray that DH and I will listen to God's guidance in our decision-making. I want to be sure that we're using the blessings we've been given in a way that's pleasing to Him. 

The "motherly instict" or whatever you want to call it in me often gets tempted with thoughts of "I need to do more to make sure my children aren't hungry, thirsty, in pain, or without shelter." It's easy to get wrapped up in that worry...for me anyway.

I needed the reminder to take a deep breath and rationally wonder, "What can I realistically do today for our family?" Thanks.



A.T. Hagan said:


> Folks,
> 
> Our nation has been through a ---- sight tougher situation than what we're presently facing. No one is sitting down to Sunday dinner just in time to get the news from Hawaii that our nation is entering a very much for-real global war.
> 
> ...


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

Good call, Alan. My people were "stiff-upper-lip" people. I just wish I had the knowledge that they possessed. Our life is so cushy compared to theirs.
Aintlifegrand--I understand resigned. Many of us have been angry, frustrated, fearful, and have worked through the stages of grief for the loss of our country and a way of life that our children may not know. When you come out of the other side of grief, resigned and acceptance is what is left.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I'd like to hear perspective from preppers w/o kids? Do you have the same drive to prep if you know you will not have someone really depending on you? i am kidless, and i feel a need to prep but then I sometimes think "what's the point?" since it would be just me really, if tshtf, and then I feel that big panic. DH would not last long, he needs meds to function and he can not get them ahead of time as a stock up as most of the meds are controlled substance. He has no intrest in prepping anyway, even if he could. But I've got to wonder, in a TEOTW senario, would it be worth it for prepping? i would not want to be alone, trully, I would be zombie bait. These are things I think about.


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

bourbonred, you are so right.....It's for that reason, my son and I went on a big vacation last year, and I just spent spent spent. I knew it would be the last time we'd go. It's why my husband is traveling to California in about two weeks, to see his family and especially his stepfather who he loves very much.

I know that the times of plenty I was fortunate to grow up in, are disappearing and it's why I am constantly attempting to teach my 12 yo son how to do things. The more he knows about how to garden, take care of animals, process foods and so forth, the better his chances will be in the uncertain future. 

A couple years back he was "helping" me pot up some tomatoes in the greenhouse. Like any young boy, he didn't want to be there and wasn't paying close attention. I stopped him short by pointing out that to some people....that may be ALL the food that they have! The light really went off, that this work with the garden and greenhouse means not being hungry....or more realistically, not as hungry  

He's quit making comments about the amount of stuff in my pantry though...so I am getting there!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Pouncer said:


> Folks, I think that it's just that most Alaskans (lonelytree, GrammasCabin, etc) are more than acutely aware of the tenuous nature of supply here.
> 
> When I was a child, we used to make trips "into town" aka Fairbanks, every three or four months. Mom would spend hours sitting down with a calendar and planning meals, and then add up what we needed to buy when we got there. It wasn't that unusual to find many empty spaces on the shelves and no produce but some very sorry looking root vegetables. This is due to the occasional barge being lost at sea on the way up from Seattle.
> 
> ...


I spent a summer working out of Nome... the one grocery store there would rarely have anything green or fresh. Always plenty of basic staples though. Most every 'luxury good' would be stripped when one of the foreign ships would let their crews come into town. I learned to live on Pilot bread and butter that summer... :happy0035:


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

NickieL said:


> I'd like to hear perspective from preppers w/o kids? Do you have the same drive to prep if you know you will not have someone really depending on you? i am kidless, and i feel a need to prep but then I sometimes think "what's the point?" since it would be just me really, if tshtf, and then I feel that big panic. DH would not last long, he needs meds to function and he can not get them ahead of time as a stock up as most of the meds are controlled substance. He has no intrest in prepping anyway, even if he could. But I've got to wonder, in a TEOTW senario, would it be worth it for prepping? i would not want to be alone, trully, I would be zombie bait. These are things I think about.


DH and I don't have children. We prep together though. Neither of us is on any meds. TEOTW is not what we really prep for though...not the true end anyway. We prep for economic difficulties (like now) for job loss or bad weather that keeps us from being able to get out. An emergency isn't always the end of the world. 
Step down off the ledge and regroup. It isn't really as bad as you are letting yourself think. Just take each day one step at a time because if you don't, you will make yourself crazy and no amount of prepping will matter.


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## Browncoat (Jun 8, 2009)

AngieM2 said:


> I don't think I panic, but it's like a heavy feeling in the air - like before a storm hits. They sky still looks good, but you are starting to feel the difference in the air more and more. And soon the wall of dark clouds will be seen and moving in before the storm breaks.
> 
> So more a pressure.


Not panicking either, but agree about that heavy feeling, just waiting for something to happen. If I let myself worry too much about what's already happening and what may happen, it can get very heavy indeed. Any time I think it's about to get overwhelming, that's when I make the decision to buckle down and do even more, the best that I can. Even if I don't have all the preps or skills that I want, I realize I have more than just about everyone else around me, and that's comforting. Not in the sense that "hey, I've got more than you," but that if someone needs food or help, I can provide it or teach someone else how to get it. We need to continue getting/doing as much as possible, but also need to realize how far we've come and how much better off we are than most, and be thankful that God has given us the foresight to prepare so that, hopefully, we WILL be able to survive and possibly teach others to do the same.


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## Ohiogal (Mar 15, 2007)

No kids here. I'm prepping because that is what I was taught to do as a child. I keep the "tradition" going, and I'm of the opinion that I'll be teaching others survival skills like gardening and seed saving because that is where God is calling me to do. 
We each have a gift of certain skills, so make use of them.


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## melissa78 (Oct 14, 2010)

My sense of foreboding has been not so much for what I do or don't have, but I am seeing scores of "day-to-dayers" around me, and protecting what i have ina shtf scenario.


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## bigfoot2you (Oct 3, 2007)

GrammasCabin said:


> Oops, wild blueberry wine just took control. No worries. Nite Nite.
> Love, Gremma


ROFL :smiley-laughing013:


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

NickiL, we don't have children living here, but we wouldn't be surprised if somewhere along the way we took in a few. Most likely, they would be our own grandkids, but we can easily see having others that might need our help. DH really isn't into the food prep other than what we've always done. But he does take the housing part real serious and wants to make sure we have more than one option for shelter and heat if needed. 

And I hear you on the medications and not being able to stock ahead for certain drugs. DH has that same problem. We try not to worry about it too much and keep a good stock of the medicines that we can stock ahead.


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## machinist (Aug 3, 2010)

Not a panic, but we ARE in high gear on our preps. I do feel the urgency from world events. Fuel and food are going to be more expensive, the dollar is generally losing buying power, the US is insolvent, and my wife and I are on Social Security. 

But we have fall-back positions. Our efforts are going into whatever will PRODUCE something we need--food, water, and home heat have already been addressed, and I'm working on solar electric and solar hot water. We have the water pumping problem solved by a hand pump and gravity drain on our cistern. 

I see our buying power eroding daily, and we are on a fixed income. That can change, however, if required. We could re-open our home business, a farm repair shop. I don't want to do that because of my physical limits, but can if needed. 

Our folks lived through the Dirty Thirties and taught us how it is done.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Ok, since it's soooo slow here at work, I sat down and made a list of things I want to do to prep and things that I'm pretty sure I can accomplish if I put my mind to it, just to give me a bit more direction and to help keep the feeling of panic at bay. Can't do it all at once or as fast as I'd like to BUT it's something....


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## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

NickieL said:


> Ok, since it's soooo slow here at work, I sat down and made a list of things I want to do to prep and things that I'm pretty sure I can accomplish if I put my mind to it, just to give me a bit more direction and to help keep the feeling of panic at bay. Can't do it all at once or as fast as I'd like to BUT it's something....


I need to do that - at the end of last month I finally got hubby sort of on board but we are no where near where I would like to be. I've been sick for the past week and can barely see straight long enough to get basic chores completed. Hoping I will be clear headed enough by this weekend to sit down with him and really knock out a good planning list.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

I always feel better when I put it on paper--it just gives me direction.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

As an older person, you bet I'm at the _brink_ of panic. Not quite panic yet, but totally overwhelmed! 

I'm overwhelmed that the social security check isn't going any where near as far any more (in fact less and less each and every month), and knowing that at some point in the very near future, it will no longer even begin to cover our basic needs (and we still have an adopted minor child at home).

Overwhelmed and disgusted that our elected officials are at war with each other and 'compromise' is no longer in their vocabulary.

Overwhelmed that the whole world seems to be going absolutely crazy and there's no stopping it.

Overwhelmed that all it will take is one wingnut to let loose some event where, at any moment, we will be listening to a broadcast about the entire world being at war.

Overwhelmed that crime and drugs is overtaking our country and no one seems to want to stand up against it.

Overwhelmed that America is going down the tubes and no two people can even agree on what to do about it.

But most of all, I'm overwhelmed that whatever this dark cloud that's brewing is moving at a faster pace than I've ever seen in my lifetime. I get up in the morning, almost afraid to turn on the national news to see what's happened overnight!


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## Explorer (Dec 2, 2003)

NickieL said:


> I'd like to hear perspective from preppers w/o kids? Do you have the same drive to prep if you know you will not have someone really depending on you? i am kidless, and i feel a need to prep but then I sometimes think "what's the point?" since it would be just me really, if tshtf, and then I feel that big panic. DH would not last long, he needs meds to function and he can not get them ahead of time as a stock up as most of the meds are controlled substance. He has no intrest in prepping anyway, even if he could. But I've got to wonder, in a TEOTW senario, would it be worth it for prepping? i would not want to be alone, trully, I would be zombie bait. These are things I think about.


Yes. I am single without any kids. About a year ago I had three years worth of food and household supplies stocked up. In the past year besides what I have used for myself I have given almost two years worth away. A great niece's husband was killed in a auto accident leaving her with two little girls. I gave her about a years worth (six months + for them) to tide her over. Another relatives husband went 'crazy' and brought home a new 'wife'. I helped her move out and rented her an apartment and gave her and her kids another years worth of food. 

So, yes even though I have no kids I prep for the unknown.


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## Txrider (Jun 25, 2010)

I don't work myself up over things I cannot control, fear and panic does nobody any good.


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## cc (Jun 4, 2006)

A.T. Hagan said:


> Folks,
> 
> Our nation has been through a ---- sight tougher situation than what we're presently facing. No one is sitting down to Sunday dinner just in time to get the news from Hawaii that our nation is entering a very much for-real global war.
> 
> ...


Add my thanks too! You are so right and this is very well said. We are kind of middle of the road preppers, don't have as much as we would like to have but could happily (or least relatively happy) live off what we have for 3 months or so. Guess that would give time for the garden to start to come in.
I think all of us get that panic feeling deep in our gut once in awhile and just need someone to calm us down, kind of like kids who are afraid of the dark, we don't know what is there and it is scary.


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

NickieL said:


> I'd like to hear perspective from preppers w/o kids? Do you have the same drive to prep if you know you will not have someone really depending on you? i am kidless, and i feel a need to prep but then I sometimes think "what's the point?" since it would be just me really, if tshtf, and then I feel that big panic. DH would not last long, he needs meds to function and he can not get them ahead of time as a stock up as most of the meds are controlled substance. He has no intrest in prepping anyway, even if he could. But I've got to wonder, in a TEOTW senario, would it be worth it for prepping? i would not want to be alone, trully, I would be zombie bait. These are things I think about.


You never know if you might end up helping a child or children or other adults. In reading about pioneers to our West, you see so many stories of unrelated folks working together and sometimes marrying for the good of children or other dependent people.


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## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

Karen said:


> As an older person, you bet I'm at the _brink_ of panic. Not quite panic yet, but totally overwhelmed!
> 
> I'm overwhelmed that the social security check isn't going any where near as far any more (in fact less and less each and every month), and knowing that at some point in the very near future, it will no longer even begin to cover our basic needs (and we still have an adopted minor child at home).
> 
> ...


Wow - you summed up how I feel completely. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in how I feel. The family members that used to mock me for prepping and thinking about the future are now behind me 1000% and even coming up with their own ideas for enlarging the garden, alternative methods of feeding the livestock, etc.

I too, have a feeling of dread, but I do have a feeling of panic/anxiety, because the unknown makes everyone feel that way. I agree with you that all it will take is 1 nut case to pull something major somewhere and not only will the world be at war, but things like martial law and freezing of the internet/cell phones and bank holidays happening and food/fuel/utility disruptions may overnight be a fact of life that we just cannot adequately prepare for, and when we see it on the news happening around the world in country after country after country, I think it only heightens our sense of fear because deep down we know it could (and probably will) happen here at some point in time. I feel that people's feeling of uneasiness and fear at not being prepped adquately comes from trying to mentally prepare for ANY scenario and survive it. Consciously we know that is not possible, but unconsciously we all hear those little voices in the back of heads saying "what if (fill in the blank) happens, I didn't prep for that!!" I personally know that I cannot prepare for EVERY eventuality, but it's Murphy's Law -- the ONE thing you didn't prep for will happen, and I think we all fear that scenario will happen to us.

The local grocery store has canned veggies for $0.69 each with no limit, so tomorrow morning I'm going to go and take some of my prepping $$ and stock up on what I can afford. We all must keep telling ourselves that we can only do what we can do, but until that little voice in our heads shuts up and stops nagging us, I think we will all have at least a twinge of anxiety. Maybe panic isn't the right word to use, but sometimes we can't help feeling that way anyway.
But, then again, it may work to our advantage to actually give in a little to the panic -- it will help us prep faster instead of having the idea that we have all the time in the world because it could NEVER happen here.


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## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

Explorer said:


> Yes. I am single without any kids. About a year ago I had three years worth of food and household supplies stocked up. In the past year besides what I have used for myself I have given almost two years worth away. A great niece's husband was killed in a auto accident leaving her with two little girls. I gave her about a years worth (six months + for them) to tide her over. Another relatives husband went 'crazy' and brought home a new 'wife'. I helped her move out and rented her an apartment and gave her and her kids another years worth of food.
> 
> So, yes even though I have no kids I prep for the unknown.


You are a very kind person to help them so unselfishly.


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