Water, Water everywhere...

To compliment the massive food storage order we placed some time back, we have opted to purchase some new water tanks from Sure Water Tanks of Utah. We purchased two of the 275 Gallon water tanks, which gives us about 1.5 gallons per day for a year. This is still not enough to support the whole family for a years time, so we will work to add additional tanks in the future. We went with the Sure Water Tank for several reasons. The first being that it fits through standard doorways. The second being that it holds 275 Gallons and only takes up 7 Sq. Ft. Check out the following table:









We used to use the 55 Gallon tanks, but they are a pain to refresh and take up a lot of space.

Next preparedness purchase will be a generator that runs on Diesel and Natural Gas.

New Challenger - now tucked away for the winter

I have been getting beat up for not having some pictures up of the new Challenger. Here are some shots that Glen M. took while in town. Thanks to him as I haven't taken the time to take my own pictures :)

Pumpkin Carving...eh...Mopar on the mind

What do you think of the pumpkin this year...

How fast is your house?

We were looking at taking advantage of a 1.1 Million dollar house that we could have probably picked up and finished for about 500k. It was a beautiful house with suspended garage and 12' ceilings in the basement. The views from this house are second to none and the layout was perfect. But then I started thinking, how fast can a house really go?? Surely for that price it shoudl be able to do 0-60 in under 5 seconds?? It turns out that houses aren't fast...in fact, the average speed of a house is about 1/8 inch every 30 years...

So, I decided to go out any buy my dream car instead. You may remember the post below from March of 2008, which is when they announced the new 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8.

http://dougmoller.blogspot.com/2008/03/nice-rear-end.html

So I don't have pictures yet, but I purchased the Hemi Orange Limited Edition Challenger shown in my other post. This baby comes with a 6.1 Litre Hemi V8 that puts out 425hp stock. I don't have accurate estimates on the 0-60, but it is under 5 seconds. It has the MyGIG that plays movies, nav, Hard Drive, etc...

Doing my part to stimulate the economy :)

The only thing certain is change

"Springfield (KMTR) – The Springfield campus of Symantec Inc., was locked down after a suspicious substance was found.
Hazmat crews were called out around 3:30 p.m. and the building was put into lockdown until about 7:40 p.m. Employees were notified by email that they could not enter or leave the building while police and firefighters dealt with the substance.
Fire officials say an employee opened a letter that had some white powder inside the envelop and a letter which said, "Anyone who comes in contact with this letter is infected with anthrax. Cris Paden, spokesman for the Cupertino, Calif. company, says there is no confirmation what the substance is.
Reports say 30 employees were isolated in the mailroom and the heating and air conditioning system were turned off.
About 1,200 people were reported to be in the building during the five-hour lock down."

Went to Springfield, Oregon for a Symantec Corporate training session. Ended up stuck at work until about 8:00pm due to the Anthrax scare. The powder ended up being sugar...real funny...some people are such idiots.

Here's a video of the hazmat crew:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=34622087

Employees gathering in the cafe for some free food...
The news finally came in...it was just sugar...

My co-worker Rhett and I decided to do some sightseeing on the last day in order to blow off some steam after training.


A little car surfing on the rental...

This picture was taken at Dexter Lake



This lot was for sale for about 150k. Nice lake view :)

I have been feeling impressed lately that I need to get my food storage in order. My impressions are less around a global or national emergency as they are around being prepared for whatever comes our way (earthquake, loss of job, etc.) and to be obedient to the suggestions of my church leaders. To try and reduce the cost of replenishment and to promote easy preparation we decided to go with Mountain House freeze dried food. I ordered from The Ready Store, as they appear to have some of the best prices that I could find online.

I prefer to have freeze dried food over dehydrated food as it retains nutrients, texture and tastes better that dehydrated food. Freeze dried food is also much easier/faster to reconstitute for consumption. The meals that we got from Mountain House are full entrées, so one does not have to worry about putting together a meal with different ingredients. Mountain House has been a leader in foods for backpackers and campers for many years.

Kacy and I plan to keep about 3 to 4 months of "regular" food in the house and make up the rest of the year with Mountain House foods, Wheat, Rice, Cereal (rotated) and powdered drinks (milk, juice, etc.). Most food storage that contains dairy is only good for ~ 5 to 8 years, so we will be rotating those items more frequently.

I can't fathom the idea of my children or wife going through long term hunger...man, thinking about the little ones going through that kind of pain makes my eyes well up. So, what did this all cost...well...about $3400...yeah...ouch. I just look at it like insurance investment. We are truly blessed and are so grateful that we have the means to make this purchase!!

Thank you to the government for wasting our tax dollars in the form of an "economic stimulus" check :) Sorry, I guess we actually borrowed the 160 Billion dollars, so it will be our future tax dollars (and our children's) that will pay for this debacle.

P.S. - There are several less expensive alternatives to food storage. By no means do I characterize our method as being the best or only way to go. However, we found this to be the most convenient and useful means for our family. I recommend that you go to REI or your local camping store and pick up a pouch containing a Mountain House freeze dried entrée . The actual long term food storage items come in #10 cans, but you can do some taste testing with the pouches.

Rev. James T. Meeks & Tony Rezko

One of Barack Obama's chosen delegates and reported "close advisor"



I have heard people (generally his supporters) say that Barack is a good guy. I'm not sure what to think. Now again, we have a reported close advisor and a confirmed delegate of Barack Obama making the comments above? Again, it isn't like this guy was sharing his opinion with friends in a conversation, he was preaching this from the pulpit at Salem Baptist Church in Chicago. I just don't understand "ministers" that preach hatred...not just against different races, but also against their own race. Is it wrong to judge others by the company that they keep?

He was interviewed in regards to his comments and he isn't apologetic at all??? He doesn't have a problem calling people of his own race/faith/etc. House Ni@@@@s???

The interview:


I know that I am influenced (to varying degrees) by the conversations I have with my friends. I am not saying that people should not associate with those who have differing viewpoints; however, you have to draw a line at some point, especially if you are vying for a position that is supposed to represent the majority of America.

I am just plain confused as to why Barack has so much support from the voting population. Maybe I am a minority in America...

Then there is the issue with Tony Rezko. I just don't know if this guy has Integrity...maybe it is the media making things seem worse than they are, but over 80% of the media (reportedly) are extremely liberal. Here is a write-up regarding the Tony Rezko situation:

"The indictment of Rezko on federal charges has drawn attention to his relationship with Illinois Senator Barack Obama, though Obama has not been charged with wrongdoing.[16][8] In 1990, after Obama was named head of the Harvard Law Review, Rezmar Corp. offered him a job should he decide to return to Chicago, and although Obama turned that offer down he later did take a job, which he held from 1993 to 2002, with Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland [17], a law firm representing Rezko, Rezmar, and community groups in partnership with Rezmar, that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding. The firm's then senior partner, Allison S. Davis, was a member of the Chicago Plan Commission and went into business with Rezko, developing homes.[8] On July 31, 1995 the first ever political contributions to Obama were $300 from a lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.[18] Starting in 2003 Rezko was on Obama's U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, which raised more than $14 million.[8] Obama has since identified over $250,000 in campaign contributions to various Obama campaigns as coming from Rezko or close associates, and has in consequence donated almost two thirds of that amount to charity. Also, in 2005 Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago for $1.65M ($300,000 below the original price) on the same day that Tony Rezko's wife, Rita Rezko, purchased the adjoining empty lot from the same sellers for the full asking price.[19] Obama acknowledged bringing his interest in the property to Rezko's attention,[20][21] but denied any coordination of offers. According to Obama, while the properties had originally been a single property, the previous owners decided to sell the land as two separate lots, but made it a condition of the sales that they be closed on the same date. Obama's said that the properties had been on the market for months, that his offer was the best of two bids, and that Ms. Rezko's bid was matched by another offer, also of $625,000, so that she could not have purchased the property for less.[22] It had been reported that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling, before Obama bought a 10 foot (3.0 m) wide strip of Ms. Rezko's property for $104,500, $60,000 above the assessed value, in 2006.[19][8] According to Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mark Brown, "Rezko definitely did Obama a favor by selling him the 10-foot strip of land, making his own parcel less attractive for development."[23] Obama acknowledges that the exchange may have created the appearance of impropriety, and stated "I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it."[22] "