The Urban Survivalist

It's been a long, hard nine months (OK so it wasn't that bad) but my wife finally had our daughter. Last week was probably worse than the last nine months combined. Last week we went in for an appointment and the doctors convinced us that she had to be induced. The wifey felt fine and the baby seemed to be OK but they were saying that the ultrasound was measuring low amniotic fluid. Her due date was still a week out but I wasn't going to argue. Anyway, a couple of days after starting the inducement they broke her water (where the midwife was vocally surprised by the amount of amniotic fluid). A few hours later they said that it was OK for her to start pushing. She had an epidural so she couldn't feel a thing. We were basically just watching the monitor and she was pushing when we told her to. After four hours they called a doctor in. We could see the crown of the baby's head but the doctor was skeptical that the baby was going to come out on her own. He w...

Apparently Phil Jones, the leading global warming "scientist" over at East Anglia University's Climatic Research Unit (yes the same Phil Jones who's email correspondence with fellow global warming scientists was exposed) recently did an interview with the BBC . Not only did he admit that the climate hasn't been warming for 15 years but he also admitted some interesting tidbits like how the Earth was probably warmer during medieval times (through no fault of man) and how he didn't bother to keep track of any of the information that he used to come to his conclusions. After all, there was just so much data to go through and he never thought that anyone would think to question him in the future. This article over at The Washington Post pretty much sums it up. This quote from the article says a lot: "Man is driven by his ego and finds it impossible to think even the weather is not all about him." Meanwhile, the glaciers in the Himalayas aren't a...

I bought this book before Christmas with the intention of giving it away as a gift. You can find a link to it in my affiliate links. There's another version out there but from what I can tell it was written by one of the four authors of this book. The cover looks similar but I'm not sure if it's the same book. Anyway, I was at Ross and it was sitting on the clearance book shelf. It was big and cheap. It looked to be easy to read. It had glossy pages with a lot of pictures. I thought it could be perfect for some less prep minded friends or family members so I picked it up. I never got around to really going through it before Christmas, though, so I decided not to give it away. I just didn't want to give any of my friends or family the equivalent of "Bear Gryll's Survival Guide" unintentionally. Anyway, after sitting in my office for over a month I finally picked it up a few days ago and started thumbing through it. To put it bluntly I was very i...

It's been a while since I've been to an ethnic market. Indian markets charge ridiculous prices for their "special aged rice". Besides the big, overpriced bags of rice there's just nothing interesting that they have to offer unless you're after some authentic Indian cuisine. It's impossible to identify anything in a latino market unless you speak Spanish. The prices are good as long as you know what you're buying, though. I don't. Asian markets, on the other hand, are worth checking out. If it comes in a bag then you can find it in a big bag. If it comes in a bottle then you can find it in a big bottle. If it comes in a can...well...you get the picture. You won't find a better selection of cheap rice anywhere. Herbs are sold in bulk for next to nothing. Most of what they sell is dried or otherwise preserved. You can count on everything being cheap and the employees tend to be very helpful. If you have an asian market nearby then I...

I haven't been watching much TV at all lately. In fact, I didn't even know about Armageddon Week on the History Channel. It really made me think about how long it's been since I turned on a TV for something besides PS3 or a movie considering that the History Channel is one of two or three stations that I actually watch. I haven't really been keeping up with the other blogs, either, so I missed it if everyone else has been talking about it. Anyway, last night I found myself bored with nothing to do so I decided to see what was on. Apocalypse Man immediately grabbed my attention. Right away I started picking out everything that most traditional survivalists would complain about as "bad advice" or "dumb ideas". After all, he began the show by telling people to find the nearest city in the event of a major disaster. Depending on the scenario that could be good advice, though. I've lived in the country. I've lived in small towns. I'...

There's a ton of stuff going on in the news. The Copenhagen summit was a flop. The world is freezing. A Republican might actually win the Senate race in MA (I'm crossing my fingers but I'm not holding my breath). Haiti was decimated by an earthquake. Obamacare is in danger. Every time I turn around there's something that's got my attention. I just haven't had time to comment on anything here. As for me, I didn't keep last year's new year's resolution. I dunno if it'll happen this year, either. I just can't bring myself to commit to the "junk land and travel trailer" plan. I'm leaning more towards the "buy a plot of land that I'll actually use and build a small but nice weekend cabin on it" plan. Unfortunately, a decent plot of land costs serious money and I refuse to go into debt to fund a retreat. The wife isn't too keen on the idea of dropping everything and moving to the boonies, either. My fir...

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Stay safe out there.