Living Life in Rural Iowa

National Preparedness Month takes place every September. Becoming more aware of preparedness is beneficial for everyone. Whether you are new to prepping or a seasoned veteran, preparedness is a very important component to anyone's emergency plans.

Why do I think you should prepare? Because it makes good sense! Prepping is a logical thing to do to be ready for any emergency, crisis, or disaster that may come into your path. Prepping doesn't just involve the big catastrophes. It also involves the daily life problems that could sideline anyone - injuries, cancer, death of close loved ones, job loss, divorce, and more. Anything that could make an impact on your life is something you can prepare for.

Prepping really helps me deal with daily life better. If I can't buy groceries for a few weeks, I know I have enough food to cover those two weeks. That knowledge alone gives a sense of peace and gets rid of any anxiety or worry I have about that situation. Challenging myself to lear…

The consensus among most of us now is that the world and our country are absolutely going in the wrong direction. We see a trend towards self-sufficiency and more, but we are being taxed, fined, and forced to pay fees for everything we want to do. Local and county governments have taken this a step further and want you to beg their permission for even building on your own property. They decide if you can have animals in town. They will tell you what you want in your own front yard.

How ridiculous!

The list goes on, but we are being ruled by our own government instead of the government listening to the needs of the people. We are supposed to be a constitutional republic but are making a fast slide into socialism and tyranny. Our own government is being ruled by corporations and other external forces. We don't really have a voice anymore. (I'm keeping the politics out of this and please keep it out of the comments.)

So where does that leave us? We need a revolution, but I am not re…

(Sunday musings are my opinions and point of views of things going on in my head, my heart, and in the world. Right or wrong, they are how I feel. I hope to keep this up every week, but this is the first in the series.)

Interesting title, eh? I am feeling that right now.

This world is an interesting place right now. There is so much going on politically, socially, and economically that we don't even know where to focus on. Nevermind the weird weather patterns and "strange" events going on throughout the country with earthquakes, heavy snow, heat waves, and exceptional amounts of rain. I think they are attributing this to a solar minimum, but the theories abound.

I usually encourage people to be prepared for things that would naturally occur in their area as well as anything that could impact their lives. However, I am thinking we should take prepping another step further now. Why?

The world is a crazy place right now. Being a student of history, every generation and decade o…

Technology is a wonderful tool that can be used for the greater good as well as being used for less than honest intentions. We are using it or partaking of it every day and most of us use it almost every minute of the day. It has become a part of our lives whether we like it or not.

Technology can be used for reading and downloading documents and books that we wouldn't normally have access to even ten years ago. I remember in high school almost twenty-five years ago that the internet was just becoming a thing to use for research, but we still relied on periodical journals, indexes, card catalogs, and files kept by the librarians for research. We even used encyclopedias for research and basic data. To say that we didn't have all the options then that we do have nowadays is an understatement.

To say that was a bad thing is not true. We might have had more limited resources, but everything was on paper. Information could still be easily accessed. It was time-consuming to do the res…

Are you sending off a kid to college this fall? Or will be in a few years? This is a good time to get your kid sent off on a good foundation. If you are a prepper, you will add a few more things to their pile of things that need to go with them.

I have a tendency to go a little overboard sometimes, but I want to make sure that my kid has enough food as well as other emergency items while at college. My kids are used to my food storage at home and I want them to also have some food stored at college. You know, just in case.

You are probably thinking, "We have just paid or have gotten enough scholarships to pay for an overpriced meal plan. Why do they need more food?"

Well, why do you stockpile food?

Dorm rooms are not very big. They are about the size of an average bedroom and they manage to fit two kids, two beds, two closets, two desks, and two dressers in them. You still need to get their stuff in there too. Most colleges put the beds on lofts now when greatly improves floor s…

We talk a lot about what we need to acquire and purchase as people who live the various lifestyles of prepping, homesteading, and the combination of the two. We talk about what we shouldn't buy as frugal people and sustainability learners. Somewhere in the middle though, we need to understand that we need to get back the phrase that most of us should live by.

"Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without."
That phrase hangs on the wall of my office in the form of a printable. I look at it almost every day and sometimes I still forget to apply it. However, the kids were gone for two and a half weeks on vacation with their father's side of the family this summer. I found myself unconsciously living that phrase.

I only bought groceries once while they were gone. I went back to the store the day they came back. Otherwise, I was going through our food stores and seeing what needed to be eaten. I would set those items on the kitchen counter in an effort to remember to make …

Many preppers have some kind of fuel as part of their short-term and long-term preps. For many short-term situations and crisis, fuel can be a good idea to include in your preps. A fuel like propane can last longer than other refined fuels due to its nature of being used a vapor in some applications and a liquid in other applications.

I deal with propane every day. I work for an agricultural cooperative, but my primary responsibility is dealing with propane and other refined fuels. We advise customers every day on uses of propane, safety procedures, and general maintenance. We set tanks, deliver fuel, service systems, perform leak checks, and install some heaters and small appliances. We all have to take classes on handling propane safely as well as being able to respond to emergencies. We are not only accountable to our customers, but insurance companies as well.

For this post, I am concentrating heavily on propane. However, this advice and information can be applied to other refined f…