Reference Photo for Graphic Novel Concept

A surprisingly late snowfall made for a good photo shoot for reference for a graphic novel in the works. More on that soon...

Surviving New England Winters

One of the major insights missing from most people's eyes is why New Englanders complain about weather all-year round. New England is one of the few regions in the United States that fully experiences all four seasons with such style. Spring brings months of rain and mud, summer dumps humidity and sweltering heat, the fall brings 'leafers' and the winters as of late have been beyond brutal with unrelenting cold and snowfall.


This current winter (2014-2015) has been one of the toughest I've seen in my entire life. Going back further - people are saying this compares to the Blizzard of 1978. Towards the end of 2014 the winter was quick to start at first, hitting many with snow right before Thanksgiving causing countless families to lose power for Thanksgiving Day. After that it slowed down. The temperatures weren't terrible and snowfall was minimal till the end of 2014. Once 2015 started though it dumped on huge portions of New England. Many lost power or were trapped in areas of heavy snowfall. Also enough nights of negative or least single and double digit temperatures to remind people of the film: The Thing.

For many this has proved to be one of the most challenging and expensive winters to date and it certainly has been for us. Oil, electric and wood pellet usage have all skyrocketed and the risk for injury has been high throughout. Commuting to work in poor conditions is always dangerous, but even ice dams on the edges of roofs can be dangerous. While breaking up ice around the foundation of my house a 50 lb. icicle broke free from the edge of my roof and smashed my hand - bruising it and leaving it sore for about 3 days.

News reports of feet of snow and ice built on house roofs causing them to cave-in ran rampart causing panic among most. Products used to melt ice for roofs sold out within a hundred mile radius of us and prices for them doubled and almost tripled online by early February 2015.

All we could was hunker down and maintain our house as best as we could.  For the majority of January and February my backyard was inaccessible with thigh-height snow. 

Now that we're close to mid-March the main issue everyone is going to run into is basement flooding from all the melting snow once Spring rolls around.

All you can do is keep working at it, homeowners.

Let's just make it till the end, shall we?

Path to All Natural

[Challenging Road Ahead]

Slowly, but surely we're converting the consumables in our home to have less and less chemicals and artificial additives. First and foremost, we removed MSG from our daily diet, then sodium nitrite a couple years ago. Then it was the lessening of high fructose corn syrup. Now begins the removal of artificial colorings.

The challenge is inherent from the get-go. Any packaged food or drink from just about any grocery store will have at least one of these things. Without the time and freedom to make every single meal we eat from scratch this feat of all-natural eating will prove difficult. Until we live our lives at our dream homestead we'll be fighting against these problems for as long as we shop. In the meantime we can at least curb how much artificial ingredients we eat.

Nothing unnatural here

Trying the fluoride-free route

Bread products are notorious for additives

Cold Days at the Range

 Freezing rain in New Hampshire? Eh, doesn't bother me.

A Quiet New Years Eve

A good night to Bug-In.

Happy New Years, everyone! Let us wish for at least a tolerable 2015!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Broadminded Survival!

Be safe and have a Happy New Year as well!

Bug Out Scenario #001 - New England - Viral Pandemic - Prologue

[Practice in Paranoia - Truth in Fiction]

Autumn days swept by like dead leaves over quiet sidewalks. Inside old walls, baseboard heating clicked away to counter the dropping temperature. Fiona, our three-year-old Pit bull mix was curled up on the back of the living room couch like a cat. While sitting I leaned back, using her rump as a pillow. A low grumbling of displeasure came from her, so I immediately sat back up to leave her be.

The news was on and it was hard to avoid the repeated failures of the CDC. Containment of the virus seemed futile as cases began to exponentially pop up up all over the U.S. after Black Friday. I shut the TV off in frustration and brought my attention down to my coffee table, which had a disassembled hunting rifle on it. In the corner of the table a mug of tea steeped with curls of steam rising.

I clicked on the radio receiver and turned it to 99.5 Boston Classical. Giovanni Gabrieli's Canzon Duo Decimi Toni filled the room with beauty, although Fiona seemed less impressed with the noise. As I carefully wiped down the rifle's bolt, she stretched out and pushed past me to get off the couch. She shook and clicked across the wood floor to the nearest window. She used the warmed baseboard heating as a step-up in order to look outside. After a moment I leaned forward and noticed that it was the season's first snowfall that had caught her eye. I walked over and stood  motionless for a moment to see the snow building up fast and to see her eyes of curiosity meet mine.

I couldn't help but smile at least a little.

Photo by B. Cardoza (2013)

(Chapter 1 coming soon...)

-Written by Benjamin Cardoza

Average Pay versus Amount of Work in the US Corporate System

[Corporate Gain]

After working in and supporting the corporate machine for nearly a decade I have seen all kinds of levels of success and failure. As I work in the I.T. field it is easy to see huge areas of dysfunction and unbalance in companies that other areas of the business may be unaware of just because of the nature of our work.

I have come to the conclusion that in the majority of US-based corporations there is a point in climbing that pay grade and status ladder within your career where the amount of work usually doesn't match the amount of pay you receive. What I mean is after a certain level of status and title you get paid a lot to do very little, whereas those who get paid less end up working much more. Now that is not always the case - sometimes there are very high paying individuals in the capitalist machine that work just as hard as someone making a fraction of what they do. 
But normally what I've seen is if you're the CEO, President or VP of a big company you'll probably be spending more time on vacation than actually doing real work and your pay is much higher than your minion underlings.

Below is my of rough idea of the amount of work vs. pay from my personal experience.  You may have a different opinion or experience than me though.

Pay/Work Ratio Chart:

*Low Pay - Hovering around Minimum Wage
*Low-Mid Pay - $10-$12 per hour
*Mid Pay - $16-$25 per hour
(↑Here exists the gap between the majority of the middle and upper class↓)
*High Pay - $60+ per hour

I must note that the numbers at the bottom of my graph don't really represent specific data or amounts, but rather just a visual range that makes it easy to understand my ideology on the matter. Also the Pay/Work Ratio wage amounts reflect an overall average in the U.S., as I understand that specific geographic areas may consider certain pay-grades low or high within the different socioeconomic classes.

I, myself have been sitting in what I consider the Low-Mid to Mid Pay range for the duration of my IT career and for the most part my work loads have definitely been on the higher end of the average. Everyone has different experiences in the US corporate machine, but I feel that for the most part these are universal truths...

World News - Russia's Flexing Muscles

[Cold War Part Deux]

Since the Russian challenge against Georgia in 2008 Vladimir Putin has been making some huge pushes for ramping up the Russian military backbone. For months reports have come in about a high presence of Russian military aircraft repeatedly buzzing around their neighbor's airspace. Production of tanks, armored vehicles and weapons is all up and even writer Nikolas K. Gvosdev entitled his recent November 2014 article on the subject: The Bear Awakens: Russia's Military Is Back.

Royal Netherlands Air Force intercepted this Russian Sukhoi

Today, there is an agreed-upon ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and the Pro-Russian rebels, but that hasn't stopped the violence. According to a recent UN report over 4,300 people have died, with almost one million displaced since the ignition of the conflict back in April. 

Gone are the days of thinking of Russia as a broke and weak state living in the shadow of its former glory. Putin's push towards a modern military infrastructure hasn't been empty talk. "The rhetoric has been matched by a concurrent allocation of resources; Russia is now engaged in its largest military buildup since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than two decades ago, with major increases in defense spending budgeted each year to 2020."¹

Russia's hand in retaking ex-Soviet satellite states

These are scary times as very soon Russia will be once again become a major player in the military super power game. "The growing size and sophistication of the yearly joint maneuvers with the Chinese army and navy have all worked to resurrect the image of Russia as a military threat."¹

While people are concerned about what new smartphone to get for the holidays, around the world this is happening...

Just be prepared for more news about Russia increasing their border strength and showing their military might in a number of unpleasant ways. It really does seem like Putin is planning on returning the Russian Federation back to the powerhouse days of the Soviet Union. So is the world really ready for another Cold War?





¹ Nikolas K. Gvosdev (2014). The Bear Awakens: Russia's Military Is Back. The National Interest.

Hodgepodge Cooking - Breakfast or Lunch Concept

• Sliced Italian sausage
• Shredded cheddar
• Spanish rice
• Black beans
• Spinach
• Salsa

All in a spinach tortilla with Goya Guava nectar. 

Never underestimate a man's ability to throw together random leftovers from the fridge...

Alternate Heat - Winter Months Part III\Endless Projects - Part III

[Dual Post]

Since August of 2014 I've been see-sawing back and forth between wood stoves and pellet stoves for alternative heating. At first, going back even to the summer I thought of going to the wood stove route - even to the point of picking up one used. On top of that I picked up a new wood stove fireplace insert in August from a local vendor, but found out it was too big to properly be installed.

So I backtracked and changed plans... brought the wood stove back for store credit and got a high quality pellet stove in its place. The fireplace is still just a fireplace and the installed pellet stove sits at the opposite end of our house. Our used wood stove we got this past summer is sitting dormant for now until we find a proper place to utilize it.

Newly setup LOPI AGP Pellet Stove

Upon cutting into our living room's wall to port the pellet stove's exhaust vent out we discovered a rather depressing fact: no insulation in the walls. There is literally nothing, it's actually hollow between the exterior and drywall. Looking back on last year's winter it now makes sense as to why that room was so cold and why we used so much oil. So that brings up another project that we'll have to tackle next year - blown-in insulation and\or insulate underneath the exterior siding. Both are expensive and time-consuming.

Hard to say what we'll do next in terms of projects as this year has been especially tough and expensive for the number of things we're trying to accomplish in our 150+ year old house.

Survival Foods - Country of Origin

[A Question of Quality]

In my pantry there are a wide variety of food items: canned fish, legumes, pastas, rice, fruit, meat all in just about every color of the rainbow. After some serious consideration I am now narrowing down my food-search going forward based on the product's country of origin. With some items I feel as though it really matters where the food comes from. Now down the line in a SHTF scenario I probably won't care what country produced and packaged my food as long as it gives me sustenance, but for now I'd like to stay as healthy as possible.

You'll find that some items are very hard to find outside of certain countries depending on where you are in North America or elsewhere. In New England I find it is hard to get certain fruits and vegetables that aren't from Mexico or South America. For example: one of my favorites is avocado, but they are more often from Chile rather than domestic.

Fish products from Southeast Asia and the EU

Basic rule of thumb is try to stick to US and EU foods as they are subject to a much higher standard of quality, especially Europe. Many pesticides and preservatives approved by the FDA in the United States are outlawed in most of Europe, meaning that their food and drink industry meet a higher set of standards. So if I'm getting canned fish from say Denmark or Germany you can bet your bottom dollar it's at the very least as good, if not better than what you can get from the U.S. or even Canada. I've personally eaten in Denmark and Germany and can say firsthand that the quality of food - especially with fish and livestock is very noticeable over what you can find in a U.S. grocery store.

With Chinese distributed foods I feel a bit of unease. China is still a developing superpower - and by that I mean the infrastructure is still evolving and the government still has many holes in it. My main concern is the unknown and very unbalanced set of standards for quality of foods. Not only that, but the prevalent and ever-increasing levels of pollution as well. There's a laundry list of food safety incidents that are worth looking at just for China. With something like canned or packaged tuna from China - pollution and improper handling should immediately come to mind.

Thai Iced Tea bought locally

 
Obviously the same can go for fish from Japan, not that Japan really ever had issues with food quality, but after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011 all fish should be avoided from Japan and surrounding areas. It may seem obvious, but people still make sushi from fish around Japan that are most likely irradiated. Never underestimate the power of ignorance.

Travel farther south to a country like Thailand and I feel slightly more comfortable about the food. Little has been criticized from Southeast Asia in terms of food quality so it seems to be a safer nook - for now at least. Although in comparison to China quite a few countries look pretty good.

The best thing to do is to learn a bit about different countries and their food standards before buying certain products.

Gas Masks - SGE 400/3 (Update)

[Stereotypical Fear in a Capitalist Regime]

SO FINALLY after over a month the SGE 400/3 Gas mask I ordered FINALLY shipped. I put in the order on October 8th and today, the 21st of November it shipped. Can you believe that? When I called them mid-last month wondering what the status was the sales person told me (in a rather rude tone) that thousands of orders had been put in in a very short period of time and literally everything was back-ordered.

It's the perfect combination of the ease of modern capitalistic consumerism and that classic easy-spun public fear in the U.S. (of Ebola) that lead to this ridiculous situation. And of course shipping may be delayed because of winter storms. Maybe I'll get it just in time for Christmas and conduct a holiday review of it.

Ugh...

Original Post

Living With an Old Truck

[Personal Guide]

There is something to be said about owning an older truck. It can give you a sense of pride, a source of fun and even income if you're handy enough. Now for the sake of this post my definition of an "old truck" is, at this point a truck that is at least 15 years or rather anything pre-2000's.

Why Old Trucks?
For one - old trucks are cool. The boxier, bulkier and louder they are - the cooler they become. If I saw a '78 International Scout rumbling down the street I'd consider that the epitome of "cool". Less complexity - the fewer electronics and electrically-assisted aspects the fewer things to go wrong.  Dogs love trucks, so why shouldn't you? Remember the old Nissan commercials with the adage: Dogs love trucks!

 

Trucks nowadays find themselves the victim of what the rest of the automotive industry has been geared to: conformity. Everyone prescribes to the same designs, functions and features. I understand that there is a level of refinement and evolution from whence we came, but would it kill manufacturers to be a little more unique? I find myself either at first mistaking one truck for another or just not caring because "it looks like everything else".

I like the idea of a blue collar truck that is just meant for working. You haul, move, pull and push stuff around and generally do all the things the regular car can't. This isn't a daily commuter or for milk runs, this is for bringing home heavy duty building supplies and then plowing snow out of your neighbor's driveways.

Challenges
Old trucks rust - A LOT. The robust materials they are built out of are unfortunately susceptible to rust and rot unless you live in a very dry environment. I've lived in New England my entire life and all I've ever experienced is old rusty trucks and cars on the road. Not only do old trucks have the tendency to rust they also have more wear because of their uses and natural habitat.  Every aspect of the suspension gets more use and abuse than the average car because of the weight of the truck and the loads it can haul and tow. Same goes for the engine, transmission and transfer case if it's a 4x4.

Regardless of make or model get used to this sight

It definitely helps to be mechanical if you are going to own and keep an old truck. Most older models will often have a good base market for parts so finding replacements shouldn't be the issue, just make sure you or someone you know can install them properly.

Early implemented electronics are finicky too, but more often than not it's non-essential items.

Do Your Research!
I cannot stress this enough - research before buying! Always know what you're getting into before you smack down that wad of cash for an old truck. Know what the availability and price of parts is, know what breaks the most often and how to fix it and know how far your truck can go.

Personal Experience
I've owned two "old" trucks so far. A 1993 Chevrolet Blazer Tahoe 4x4 and more recently a 1998 Nissan Frontier XE 4x4 (both mentioned and pictured in my Bug Out Vehicle Part 2 post). For the price and effort both had done me well - currently I still own and use the Frontier and just only a day before writing this post I have just finished replacing the oil pan with the help of a good friend.

With all the time and effort it's still worth it especially if you own land or a house. A truck is an key part of being a Do-It-Yourself-er and considering the money you can save it's worth it in the long run. Beyond everything else older trucks are just a joy to own, drive and (usually) work on.

The Art of "Hodgepodge Cooking"

[Shoestring Cooking]

When things aren't looking good outside your home I find that cooking to be almost as important as practicing your marksmanship at the range. In the past I've mentioned the importance of your cooking capability and how it can play a big role in survival for when the grocery store shelves go empty and your bugging in. Not only do the general basics of cooking have high value, but also the ability to mix and match seemingly random food items to make a meal.

A good example of this skill is the competitive cooking show Chopped. Obviously this is more for high-range restaurant quality meals, but it does offer some interesting ideas on how to mix seemingly unrelated foodstuffs into elegant and very edible entrees. I have been mixing and matching foods into small and sometime even large meals for myself for quite a few years now. With a wife with an opposite schedule I often find myself cooking for one rather than two. Preferably I am not going to spend money and gas to go out and get food alone all the time, but rather put something together for myself in the comfort of my own home. Sometimes I'll cook a full meal and leave leftovers for her for when she does get home, but other times I'll just throw something creative together.

I'll pull from random leftovers in the fridge, something neglected in the freezer and maybe something in the pantry that I totally forgot about for a couple months. Your mind has to be able to see the individual parts as a completed whole and go the extra step of understanding what it will taste like altogether. Not everybody has this innate understanding, and even if you do it requires LOTS of consistent practice - much like spending time on the range.

I look at my meals in a way that I know that if I was in a situation where food wasn't readily available I could sustain myself and be relatively healthy with each meal as opposed to just consuming calories for sustenance. You may not always have a box of pasta and a can or bottle of tomato sauce to whip up dinner in a jiffy. There may only be a few things left in your house to eat or the things you have may not at first glance seem to match up into a cohesive meal idea at first.

There exists literature and obviously even televised shows about this subject that are easy for just about anybody to access and learn from and it is surprisingly important skill to have. So I say... go ahead and try it!

Below is one of my examples of "Hodgepodge Cooking":

"Poor Man's Stir Fry"

From the Fridge:
Leftover Bamboo Shoots
Lettuce from salad
Sweet Peppers
Sriracha Sauce

From the Freezer: 
Crab Rangoon

From the Pantry: 
Canned scallops
Bean thread noodles