A Rewarding Month

July has been a good month here at Selous Scout's lair. It starts out with a 3 payday month, so one payday is devoted to preps and catching up on some of the bills.

Then, surprisingly, I get a bonus check as the company I work for is BUSY and making a profit. It is strange to see the difference between our industry and the plight of those who are getting laid off in droves.

My last car payment has been paid so an extra $325 a month is available to pay down debt, stock up on food and perhaps later become a land payment. I am at least a year behind on the preps I wanted to have on hand so I may earmark a large percentage for that.

I went to a moving sale last weekend and scored on the following items:
Large electric smoker $10
Stainless steel HD pots and pans with lids $10
3 pairs excellent shape steel toed work boots $5
Glass top L-shape computer desk $20
2.5 gallon gas can, free
5 gallon gas can, free
Kerosene heater, free
2 new server room outlet strips (3 prong plug), free

Last payday I added to my food store 20 lbs. each rice and pinto beans. I also purchased 25 lbs of all purpose flour for $4.99.

I like knives, always have. This month I added a Becker BK-7 to my collection. If you are familiar with knives you know that this and other Becker models are becoming hard to find as they have become a collectors item. Since they are no longer made it has become tougher to find them for a reasonable price. Now I have mine. HoooAhhhh!!

It is hotter than blazes here today, 102 by the weather sites. The thermometer on my front, north facing porch said 108. I suspect that my camper reflects some heat back onto the porch, but 108!
Yikes!

I am hiding out in my bedroom during this heat wave as I installed AC in all three bedrooms the week before all this heat. Usually I am behind the curve preparing for the summer heat, but this year I made sure I had adequate fans and now AC to relieve the miserability quotient.

Now, time to sit back and drink a ice cold beer.

Word on the Street

I stopped at the store on my way home from work on monday to pick up some items I was planning for dinner. As I walked into the store I passed by a Man and his wife (presumed) talking with a second man. As I passed by I overheard the words "training for civil unrest".

I paused in my step and looked back at the trio, then resumed my path into the store. I stopped again inside the store at which time my curiosity overcame my discretion and I walked back out to the trio. Unceromoniously butting into their conversation I asked "Did I just hear you just say Civil Unrest?"

The (apparent) husband replied "No, I didn't say that".

My reply, "I could have sworn I heard you say that!"

Him "Ok, I did say that but I was just joking"

Me "The way things are going, it may be a real event soon"

I then left them to their conversation.

The second man had a ex military look to him, or perhaps he was a LEO. His hair was close cropped but not extremely short. Perhaps they were both LEO's. They didn't say, I didn't ask. They didn't seem to want to share their insights with me.

While I never did hear what exactly they were talking about, the fact that someone is training for "Civil Unrest" and it is being openly talked about on the streets is a cause for a bit of concern. Thankfully I don't live in a highly populated area of the northwest where it could become a major concern.

The Witching Hour

2:00 am
The Witching Hour

Those who work dayshift are asleep.
But not the Goblins.

They run around after dark until people begin to arise for work.
They steal.
They vandalize.
They are drinking and doing drugs.
They disturb your sleep patterns with all their goblin noise until you are exhausted.

They are the unemployed teenagers of your neighborhood.
They are meth-heads looking for something to steal to support their habit.
They might even be of your own household.

Goblins.

This morning at 2:00 am they began with their program.
Tires screeching, sub-woofers booming out bass rythym of (c)rap music.
Loud voices, laughter, anger.
Car doors closing nearby.

I sleep with the window open and a fan drawing cool night air into my room to help cool the house down from the heat of the day.

I got up to investigate the noises (and my bladder was complaining). I went to the front door and turned off the motion activated light, then opened the door, stepping out onto the porch. I could see a car down the block pulled up on the wrong side of the street.

As I was looking at the car I noticed a movement off to my right. Someone wearing a dark colored hoody was walking in front of my house. As I watched them, they cut in back of my Grand Am and walked between my Nissan PU and my Samurai towards the gate for my backyard.

I closed the door and went to get my slippers and a flashlight. I spent a few seconds trying to decide on the bat or a B.F. knife. I grabbed the aluminum baseball bat. I then headed out the door to confront the intruder.

Alas, I took to long to get squared away and they had already left. A Sheriff's vehicle then pulled up in front of the car across the street and turned on its blinking lights. The officer got out and dealt with the Goblins in the car.

Damn! I was looking for some payback for all the thieving that has gone on, but not this time!

My lesson learned from this is to never go investigate noises unprepared to deal with issues that may arise. If I had prepared myself before going to check out the noises, I could have followed the shadowy figure to my gate and confronted them with flashlight and bat.

In the future those items will be at hand as I investigate Goblin noises. I will also carry 2 nylon wire ties as handcuffs for anyone I may subdue through Citizens Arrest.

This month is my last payment on my Pontiac, so now I am going to get the surviellance cameras I have desired for so long. The combined value of everything that has been stolen or vandalized would have paid for the system easily. But when you don't have the funds, you can't do the preps that you want.

Mugged!

Monday, July 6th, my oldest son was mugged as he waited for a bus at the bus terminal. He and a friend made the mistake of leaving the terminal for a smoke and consequently he was mugged.

His assailant was a Nigga. Not an African American, nor a Black American, but a Nigga, complete with lip stud, two piercings in one ear and baggy Nigga pants. Now I don't usually use that term to refer to people of color, but after listening to the crap music my eldest listens to, Nigga this and Nigga that, pop a cap on yo ass, I felt that this individual was well within that description.

Don't get me wrong, I have friends that are African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and other ethnicities. I don't feel that I am racist. I hate everyone equally. Seriously though, when I found out about him being mugged, my first thought was payback. That quickly passed with the rationalization that this person would be impossible to find in a city of 200,000 people.

It seems that the boys were out smoking in an area with no surviellance cameras when this "Nigga" ran up and punched my son in the face, knocking him down. They fought a bit, but with being hit hard first, my son was dazed and didn't have it in him to put up much resistance, therefore he was beat-up pretty much.

The Nigga then took his wallet and removed the money he had, throwing the wallet at him and spitting on him. He then ran off. The boys went back to the bus terminal and caught the bus home, rather than sticking around and filing a police report.

I expect that as things get worse, this kind of thing will become more common, even in the smaller towns. The police can't protect you, and in most cases you are wasting your time filling out the police report as nothing will ever come of it. My son learned a valuable lesson, and I was extremely relieved that he had not been injured worse, or even killed in the incident. Now I am evaluating non-lethal protection for him to carry, such as a stun gun and/or pepper spray.

There is one other odd thing that happened that day. I had a feeling come over me at work that something was wrong. I passed it off as being hungry or tired and ingnored it the rest of the day. Next time I will call my boys and warn them to be on the lookout for anything out of the norm. It may save them from harm.

Too Cool!

Now this sounds just too cool!


Safir Arms .410 AR-15 Upper With Mag [D10L1] No Rifling smooth bore Hunting barrel, Used for Semi-auto only comes with one 5rd mag .410 Caliber, Works best with Winchester or Federal 2 3/4 shells, Made In Turkey $579.99

Cope's Distributing

Check it out!.They have got other great gear also, for reasonable prices. I am not compensated or affiliated with Cope's. Just a happy customer!

Add this to your collection of uppers (6.8, 9mm, etc...) for the AR family. I am willing to bet that a 20 or 30 round mag can be modded for use also. Nothing like a potential 15+ rnd .410 mag loaded up with slugs and buckshot to ruin someones or somethings day!
Hoooahhh!