The Beginning Prepper

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen 

The other day, I was going through a storage cupboard to find things my late wife had purchased but never had a chance to use. A few were past the "use by" date, some from even before she passed away. A few canned goods were past due.

I took a notion to check online about expiration dates; it seems I heard that there is a kind of grace period. Very much so! In fact, if people check for damage, rust, bad smells, and so forth, most canned foods will last indefinitely.

Preppers are people who prepare for anticipated disasters, stockpiling food and such. My beginner level is unimpressive. Here are some thoughts on it.
Prepping pantry photo by Cowboy Bob Sorensen, modified with FotoSketcher
"People have safely used canned stuff that is sometimes decades out of date, Cowboy Bob. Why do they even have expiration dates?

I can think of a few reasons. One is they may be required by the government. Also, self-preservation in case something is damaged and the contamination is slow and a customer gets sick. Third, they are just trying to get people to throw something away and buy more, but I kind of doubt that.

As for expiration dates on other things, I won't address those except to say to use your own discretion. Anybody know about how long jars of goods will last? I'm thinking of things like pasta sauce and those kinds of jars.

We went off the trail, didn't we? Back to the canned things. The videos and sites I came across are from preppers. Those are people who prepare for disasters or emergency conditions. The first I heard of them was "Y2K," where people were afraid that there would be an apocalypse because computers were not programmed for the year 2000. This was parodied on The Simpsons. People were stockpiling food that would last long-term, getting guns and ammunition, packing bug-out-bags, and more. It would be nice to have space to store things beyond my one-bedroom apartment...

Ever notice that the "Zombie Apocalypse" idea is strictly Hollywood? Some believe that manufactured fiction.

Preppers crossed my radar again when my beloved wife Charlene was passing along "news" just after the 2020 election. She was told that Donald Trump would be triumphantly returned to the Oval Office by the military, Hillary Clinton was executed and what people were seeing was a clone, and other outlandish ideas. (I never found references from reputable sources for any of that stuff that amazed her.) There are rumbles that something is going to happen in September 2024 or thereabouts, so preppers are quite visible, especially on YouTube.

Note that preppers come in all sorts of varieties. Some are nuts, like those who float clone stories and fear zombies.

People may laugh at Christians who prepare for eventualities or go to doctors, misunderstanding and misrepresenting our faith. No, it is not unchristian or unbiblical to get treatment or be prepared. Going to extremes and even making the family suffer because more supplies need to be stuffed in the basement, yes, that is harmful. But there is nothing wrong with because cautious as long as those making preparations are living in their means.

As for me, I wonder a little bit if "something's coming" because many folks are agitated. I'm thinking of having stuff that will last a long time, and I can get into it when I feel like it. More, it will be useful if the power goes out for any length of time, we get hit with a blizzard, or something feasible. I'm just at the beginning prepper level. There are some weapons here, and I want another portable stove so I can heat up food without electricity.

I want to leave you with this. Have you seen that graphic with text about Grandma saving, washing, and reusing aluminum foil? It says we'll understand it ourselves through personal experience soon enough. Or something like that. Here is a video the preppers should watch. It has some food ideas from the Great Depression that sound good to me, and a few that I'll give a miss:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where Does It Stop?

Image
I was going to give these topics a rest, but something came up. On a previous post, Zach made a comment, and I am excerpting it here. His first sentence is an answer to a question I had asked him. Hope you're not embarrassed, but I want to give you a more complete response than the comments section would allow: My lack of belief in the supernatural is pretty much complete - I have never seen any reason to attribute a supernatural cause to phenomena. I suppose I rule out supernatural explanations because once you let one in, where do you stop? I look at an event I do not understand and go immediately to natural causes. Even if I can't figure it out, I still would assume it had a natural explanation. I'm worried that if someone started attributing causes to supernatural events, they would skip over the whole 'natural cause' thing and go straight for the supernatural, because technically everything is potentially explainable by an omnipotent being, no? ...
Read more

The Religion of Atheism

Image
In many practical aspects, atheism is a religion. "How can you say that, Cowboy Bob? Atheism is a lack of belief in gods". Yeah, sure. That's the cop-out redefinition, not the real definition . Except not all atheists got the memo , and some are confused. As I was saying, in many practical aspects, atheism is a religion . It is a philosophy of life and conduct, and has many of the trappings of organized religion. Although atheists will tell you that they believe in "reason", they actually have a religion that is based on faith. A lot of it. I can't go there, Girlfriend. In the United States, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that atheism is a religion The US Supreme Court ruled that atheism is a religion . Secular Humanism (a masque for atheism), received comments from the US Supreme Court that it is a religion (one of these groups wanted tax-exempt status as a religion) Atheists adore their religious leaders like Richard "...
Read more

The Amazing Super Powers of the Mighty Atheist™

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Years ago, I wrote "atheist" on Twitter, and one cautioned me about using that word because I risked "calling down the thunder". We know that they can be ornery cusses even on their good days, but I was unaware of the intellectual prowess and wisdom of The Mighty Atheist™, dwarfing that of a mere theist. What I had yet to learn, however, is that they also have super powers that are even magical at times. Now I know better. Christians and creationists, I hope you heed this warning! Graphic modified from  Clker clipart As with other super powers, those of The Mighty Atheist™ are difficult to categorize. Not all atheists and evolutionists have the same powers to the same degree, and there is no special school for gifted atheists under a professor so they can develop their abilities. Like logical fallacies, powers often blend and overlap. Let's saddle up and ride over yonder to Deception Pass where the atheists, atheopaths, anti-crea...
Read more