- Okay, let’s start out with some nice stories. (The “nice” in this onecomes quite a ways below the headline.)
- A pair of Muslim cab drivers save a bagel shop.
- Anybody here use these emergency foods?
- “What do a bunch of old Jews know about living forever?”
- Looks like a useful book to keep on hand
- Sigh. “The more things change …” They were writing stories like this onejust before 9-11, too. And a coupla months later, the nation was full of robotic government worshippers.
- Truer words …
- “The science of lasting happiness.”
- I don’t usually have the patience to watch a 39-minute video. Nor the interest to watch a sermon. So when a friend sent this link I put it off for a few days. But you know, this is good for anybody who is overstressed, particularly anybody in a leadership position. Funny in some spots, too. “Dead Leader Running.”
As to the SOS foods. Yes.
We have product number 5 purchased through Emergency Essentials. These were added based on the fact that I had eaten them before (while TAD on a Coast Guard Ship) and they weren’t bad.
They stack well, one pack divides among 3 people nicely, the bars are individually wrapped providing a way to carry them after the larger pack is opened, and the exterior packaging is almost puncture proof. They are heavier than traditional protein bars, but provide a nice base at the bottom of the smaller Alice bags and will not be crushed to powder by doing so.
The packaging is however not easily disposed of through burning, so ensure you have a trenching tool to bury them and avoid the “Hansel and Gretal” effect if you are being chased by the U.N. – lol.
They are textured a bit different (think very dense shortbread cookie) and water is a must as a side dish.
“And they said it couldn’t be done.”
I’m impressed by the two Muslims who took over the Jewish bagel shop. There are many good people in this world, decent, caring, and honest — if only bigotry and ulterior motives would get out of the way and let us find them.
I think the secret(if you want to call it that) to both happiness and longetivity is finding what works for you, not just what everyone expects from you. It’s possible you might tick off a few people in the process,but you can’t make the world happy.
Thanks for the Dead Man Walking link. I’m not sure I would have clicked on it, let alone watched it, if I’d read what you said about it. But I was in a hurry (hmmmmm?) and clicked on it without knowing what it was. It was excellent.
Switch up a few words in the Ai Weiwei story and it could have been a totally believable tale about the IRS.
Not sure if you had already seen this, but from Tony Nester’s site re: SOS food:
These are the best-tasting rations we have found and we even use them on our fieldcourses. They are designed to sustain life until rescue or additional food is available. I’ve found that I can live off these for about 2.5 days while on the move and then my body is screaming for a burger. Survival rations are intended to carry you through a short-term crisis such as an urban disaster and these rations make an excellent addition to a Bail-Out Kit. In fact, we include these in our commercial Bail-Out Kits. The baked, fortified food bars taste like shortbread, in my opinion, are easily digestible and, most importantly, does not increase thirst. They may be safely stored up to 5 years under all climatic conditions – ranging from desert to arctic. The bars are ready to go without preparation and can be eaten straight up or pounded up and mixed into a porridge.
One 3600 calorie package contains 9 individually wrapped servings (400 calories each).
http://www.urbanskills.net/Subjects/Books/book.htm
Hi, Claire,
I meant to address this earlier, but I’ve got a few projects going that tied me up (do an Amazon search on my name for a couple of hints to some of it). Regarding the SOS Food Lab products:
“SOS Emergency Food Ration”
As A.G. mentioned these are good for short term or bug out situations. I agree on the taste; these are essentially giant sugar cookies. But, while they are acceptable for long term _storage_, they should not be confused with long term nutrition. Again, as A.G. said they tend not to increase thirst; that’s because they are very low protein (protein requires more water to digest and assimilate than carbohydrates). Your regular readers probably realize this, but newcomers stumbling across your blog might not, so I thought it was worth bringing up.
The “New Millenium Energy Bar” does include protein, for those who want something a little more complete. They also taste fairly good (but with a bit of what I call a “chemically” after-taste). These are more like the “energy bars” you see at the supermarket. Due to price, I wouldn’t recommend stocking these for your X years’ supply of “Termite Apocalypse(tm)” food.
Bear
On that Scientific American article – hard to have faith in the happiness researcher – Sonja Lyubomirsky – when she commutes 140 miles a day to work.
She thinks that a Prius will help the long jaunts – -but she’d probably be a helluva lot happier driving an old Ford and living next to campus.
I sent my favorite “Old Jew” (an Ashkenazim staring 100 in the face) the NY Times link. She is the one who knew Ayn Rand and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Thought you may find the following exchange interesting:
TM: My FAther made it to 88. My Mother got to 96.
AG: Had they had access to the healthcare we now have, they probably would have lived to be 100. They lived well beyond the average of their generation.
///Her response was classic “T”, and is copied here with a little bit of my commentary added to aid in clarification. The last line is typical “Jewish Mother” ;)///
TM: In writing my [yet to be published] autobio I realize my parents were way beyod their generation in lifestyle and eating. Before we went to school all four of the children were on the floor with my Mother doing our exercise. We spent summers sharing a bungalow with a relative in Midland Beach because my Mother was certain ocean bathing was healthy. When we lived in NYC, our apartment was always on the top floor so that with open windows, we didn’t get the stench from the street and also had access to the roof where Mom hung her wash to dry and we played. The properrty that Mom found in NJ had enough land so that we could grow fruits and vegetables, enough to preserve for the winter months. We had a cow and chickens. In fron t of the house was a fish pond/ The fish were removed to make a wading pool. When Pop discovered a well on the property that we could use for free water, he built a pool 33 feet long, l3 feet wide with grading 3 to 6 feet. No chemicals were used. Water ran into it constantly and
every Sumday the water was replaced. Under the fruit trees we had three levels of horizontal chinning bars .
We didn’t know how poor we were. We were taught that everything is made by somebody and we were somebodies.[!!] We each had our own set of basic tools, hammer., screw driver and saw. All of us were taught to sew.
Pop died laughing. He was telling a joke. [Later, after she was hurt…]Mom willed herself to die. She fell and broke her hip. She needed support to walk. “My wings have been clipped. Time to go.”
My #1 son is a theoretical astro physicist. Part of his brain is on the moon. [As a college student he invented a widget that was used by the Apollo program]. He is presently building his second
home. He drew the plans , installed the electricity etc. My #2 son doesn’t use repair people. He too builds cabinets etc. My granchildren’s mothers were not raised by my parents
Oh, I also sent her your “Freedom Tomorrow” piece. This started a conversation on the dirty tricks of the statists (ACORN, etc). An excerpt from that is this jem:
T: In my youth my Father was very active in politics. The opposing party bought votes for $5 each and a ride to the polls. It was hard to get them out of office.
I remember wearing my Mom’s beaded gown (used pillow to help me fill it) standing under a street light singing [political]
lyrics my Father [re]wrote to popular tunes. When I attracted enough of a crowd, my Father started to talk .