Hello from Houston

[Iamzeke]

Sojer asked me to register. I chose to because I still get the occasional urge to post.

For those whop don't know me, I'm sure this is a lame intro from some nobody. For those who hung out at SB forums I need no introduction. I come with serious baggage from SB.

I'm here to help. I can help in plenty of places. As this thread progresses I'll inform you more about me. I think my baggage requires an introductory period, so I can engage w/o dealing with the past, and the membership can give me feedback in regard to how much they care to see my content.

Basically, I'm a mixed bag as a member to any forum. I'm highly opinionated and controversial for not going along just to get along. On the flipside, I can offer some of the best insight you may have ever seen on a stupid large number of topics. Yes, everyone hates a know-it-all, even if they are right. Worse is that I dislike them too, when they are actually not right. I'm also far too blunt. I'm not being rude by being blunt. I just can't feel comfortable tossing in placating conversation when I'm trying to get to the point. The more social typers might call me a bit "on the spectrum" for aspergers, but I see it more like talking to Elon Musk. No, I'm not him, nor am I even remotely in his class, but when you live inside your brain dealing with problems, the problem becomes the focus, instead of the social interaction going on. But I can get along fine with most folks if you just engage with me honestly and earnestly.

Well, that's the emotional introduction. I'll cover my history in later posts.

 

[Peanut]

Welcome to the Forum! Pull up a chair!

 

[Iamzeke]

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[SoJer]

Excellent! Welcome to the Adults Prepping Forum.. Glad ya made it over..

Folks, stay tuned for Outstanding, well-researched / Solid info on:

- Good info on 'What plastics are 'safe' for LTS'ing Water' (and which are Not so much - and Why..)
- Best ways to 'disinfect' questionable / known-unsafe water (in-particular Chem / Heavy-metal contam. considerations), Best-practice Filtration discussions, etc
- Why Not "Pool Shock" / regular Bleach discussions and info..
- Best-practices for Safe LTS of Oils, Fats, and 'oil-Containing products', such as our beloved Peanut Butter, to Avoid Rancidity (and Why..)
- Some choc-full of 'Life lessons' - yet hilarious - accounts from the 'Gunny Files' (..and Thank You for Your Service

..and Many more 'Gems', that I have personally appreciated learning from, from 'Zeke'.. Besides, it's good to have someone Else to help me 'play Chess with Aerindel'.. <ducks>

Anyhoo, I'll put the Mic down now, and shuddup..
jd

 

[Pearl]

Welcome, looking forward to getting to know you!!

 

[Iamzeke]

I need to figure on this forum out how to quote.......

Thanks for the welcome, Soljer. Btw, the automated reply from Angie on joining, I actually replied to and referred her to you. Tell her the truth about my baggage, ok? Site owners don't need to put up with crap, but then I've never been willing to put up with it either. Yet situationally it never works out that clean. I guess we play this by ear. I just know that there will be less of my input for a goodly while, in order for everyone to get used to me. 2nd Btw, I liked the "adult prepping" comment because you know how I won't suffer the ego children. Criticism, even towards me, is a truly wonderful thing to get the real answers accomplished, but we all know too many have to protect their status, instead of just solving the situation.

Anyway, I figure to import some stuff from outside to cover those areas that you see my strengths in. I'll tweak to avoid the plagiarism hassle. It's seems silly that copying my own created content from elsewhere might cause someone to cry about copyright, but it is what it is. That copying yourself is seen as a crime, is absurd, but no need to fight that silly battle every day, right?

Tomorrow I'll post my background, so that people see why I can weigh into so much on prepping in general, but I do see how what served me so well there isn't exactly a dovetail fit here. Being a prepping and survival advisor on a high level of confidence, is not an expert on homesteading. Yeah, I can contribute in a strong manner, but someone with decades as a rural homesteader will definitely know things I'm just plain ignorant about. I won't call myself a dilettante in regards to rural living, but the fact that I spend 250-300 days a year in "large metropolitan living" is what it is. Imagine me being adamant about advice for brown bears constantly raiding the trash bins to Ariendel, right? He hasn't even seen this post and I hear him snickering already. Maybe being slightly out of my element here will actually be a good thing.

But you know me, Sojer, I'm here for the food. It's the food/water area to keeps calling me to post. For all that I can weigh in on, it's the kitchen that urges me to post. Otherwise I'd just quit the prepping forums as not worth the trouble. I just need to always remember my goal. Solve ignorance so that otherwise smart people survive and prosper. Cultural Darwinism. Society needs more Bunkerbusters passing their efforts down the line to those making a real effort. (RIP)

 

[Caribou]

If Sojer recommends you, you are welcome indeed.

 

[SoJer]

I need to figure on this forum out how to quote.....

If ya just hit "Reply" - then edit (copy/paste the "[ QUOTE ]" and "[ /QUOTE ]" (just take those Extra spaces out, there... around what ya wanna comment on) accordingly, it's pretty much the same as over-yonder..

Btw, the automated reply from Angie on joining, I actually replied to and referred her to you. Tell her the truth about my baggage, ok? Site owners don't need to put up with crap, but then I've never been willing to put up with it either. Yet situationally it never works out that clean. I guess we play this by ear.

Ehh, IF she even asks (which she has not..) a) I certainly Will "tell her the Truth" (which is simply that Some people just aren't going to 'survive very long' into SHTF / TEOTWAWKI, etc, because, for Pete's sake - if people cannot 'Handle' - even "Strong" differences of Opinion in a 'virtual world' like the Internet (withOut taking it all 'personal' and having to go soak in epsom salts the rest of the night, because 'butthurt' ) - well.. How in the World do they think they're going to Actually Handle Real World Horrors and Threats, when we All (invariably) Face them out there??

..Thus, any 'baggage' should be considered Highly 'subjective', and therefore, taken with a Quarry of salt.

And b) The 'past is the past - and any 'puddles of sick' left behind at SB - should just Stay there.. Here, it's a 'blank canvas', so.. I, for one, look Forward to your 'paintings', herein.

2nd Btw, I liked the "adult prepping" comment because you know how I won't suffer the ego children. Criticism, even towards me, is a truly wonderful thing to get the real answers accomplished, but we all know too many have to protect their status, instead of just solving the situation.

Thankfully, I have observed little-to-None of that, Here.. I think you'll find it quite Refreshing (I know I have, and in-spite of some 'sparring' I've even gotten into, here, Oops.. (Ehh, blame it on 'Italian Blood'..

Tomorrow I'll post my background, so that people see why I can weigh into so much on prepping in general, but I do see how what served me so well there isn't exactly a dovetail fit here. ...Maybe being slightly out of my element here will actually be a good thing.

A 'photo-puzzle' only fits together, in aggregate, One Way - which is dependent on those 'tabs and sockets' being Complementary - offsetting what's 'surplus' on One, and 'lacking' on another.. So, I have No Doubt you'll Learn as much as you'll Teach..

But you know me... I'm here for the food. It's the food/water area to keeps calling me to post.

OMG, Yes!! How could I have neglected to mention that! Some of yer Recipes are nothing short of Legendary (especially on the Fish / seafood-front So, giddy up!...

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/soup-recipes.280/What Are You Having For Dinner

I invited 'NY Min' over here, also, but.. She was kinda like 'Thanks for the invite, but Meh - maybe I'll peruse / join-up someday, but not likely now' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ...'Ya can lead a Min to Water, but... '

Society needs more Bunkerbusters passing their efforts down the line to those making a real effort. (RIP)

Amen to That. That Gent was probably one of the Greatest 'Paramounts' of Prepping / Survivalism / Self-Sufficiency / Homesteading / Mining & Logging, etc, and the value of being a Lifelong Insatiable Learner.. He would have been absolutely Treasured, here.. Yep, RIP, BB..

Cya out there, Chief..
jd

 

[jennifermartonllc]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[Bacpacker]

Welcome to the forum. SoJer is good people. So I'm good with that

 

[Amish Heart]

Welcome from Kansas

 

[Cascadian]

Welcome from Oregon.

 

[Morgan101]

Welcome from Eastern Missouri. Good to have you with us. I think it is safe to say we all differ on many topics, and welcome opinions as long as they are respectful. No name calling or personal attacks. A recommendation from Sojer ranks pretty high in my book. Welcome aboard.

 

[Spikedriver]

Welcome from Iowa!

 

[Alaskajohn]

Hey buddy, glad you made it over here from there!

Yes, this is the adult forum and you should fit in well.

Welcome!

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Welcome.
Who were ya over at SB? Same name?
I've been a member there for over a decade, but pretty much quit posting 5 years or so ago. Too many idiots over there.
My screen name is the same both places.

 

[dademoss]

Welcome from Ohio!

 

[phideaux]

Howdy from the frozen tundra of West KY.


Jim

 

[The Lazy L]

Howdy and welcome!

 

[TeeJ]

Welcome from Utah!

 

[havasu]

Sorry for being late to the welcome party.

 

[Weedygarden]

Hi IamZeke. Welcome!

I recognize you from SB. I've been a member there for more than a decade, maybe since 2008, with a different user name. I know you to be a very active member there. You are the 14th most active member with 30,718 posts, while MikeK is the most active with 68,758 posts. I don't know if we even have that many posts here, total. This forum is just a little over 4 years old.

I am not an active member there because there are a couple of people there who always know better than everyone else and HAVE to say so, every time. We don't have people like that here. We discuss and question each other back and forth and share ideas here with few exceptions. We are also kind to one another and if we are not, we are out. There are posts at SB that would have been gone long ago if I was an admin or moderator there, as well as the posters. There are a few people over there who truly hate one another and have to bash everything the other person says. Yuck.

Here's one topic that we have discussed and that was discussed there, that had different attitudes and opinions about: milk for storage. Here, we've had great discussions about things, such as UHT milk while at SB, there is a know it all who is all about powdered milk and smacks down comments about UHT. IMHO, there is no need to smack down anyone's opinion, but you can disagree with them and say what works for you. And not everything that we might disagree with has to be commented on, IMHO.

How many of you know that there are 153,000 members at Survivalist Boards? We do not even have 1,000 here, now. Survivalist Boards has been around for so much longer that HCL, and was sold a year or so ago by Kevin, who started it. GrizzlyetteAdams is an admin or moderator there, and a member here.


Hope to see some good and positive posts, IamZeke!

 

[dademoss]

Been a "member" at SB since 2010, but somehow never seemed to get engaged in the discussions. It must pop in searches, so I join/login, read, leech and move on

 

[snappy1]

Hi! Welcome from Mississippi. You come highly recommended. Good to meet you!

 

[Iamzeke]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes, everyone.

I see a few old SB members in the mix too. Most noting the usual problems with that place. As the biggest survival site, it is a magnet. SB didn't used to be like that, but growth snowballed there and it spiraled out of control. I'd say it would be wise for membership and the owners here to note what happened there and to build in the right curbs early to keep this place manageable as it grows. Politics is a real problem there. Even the mostly conservative crowd there finds out that even that spectrum is rather wide. So you end up with a lot of arguments in what some would call an echo chamber for the right-bent types. Of course, that practically invites the more rabid on the left spectrum to visit in order to troll. The end result is a zoo.

Keeping a wet blanket on politics here will serve this place well as time goes by. I noted the politics and religion boards are invite-only here. That seems like a good start on the problem. I hope the ownership here doesn't tie their hands with too many written rules on those areas that might accidentally tie their hands later if those areas end up needing wholesale cleanup to get things to simmer down. Sometimes ownership at a forum just needs to say that it's their website and they are tired of the trash going on. Don't let "barracks lawyers" tie management's hands.

Myself, I won't be asking for invites to those two boards. Any urge to wade into politics can already be satisfied on a million places online anyway. I certainly don't need another. As for faith, any disagreement there never leads to a cordial meeting of the minds involved. That's just looking for trouble.

I also hope this place never gets a "Darkside" type section, like SB has. What a cesspit that is there.


So with that I'll note that I'm from Houston. Born there when it was a fair sized cow town of almost a million spread over a massive area about the size of a smaller New England state back in the 60's. WW2 had brought the oil industry and it was beginning to grow. NASA arrived to give it name recognition. Living at the edge of town I had new suburbia on one side and cattle ranches on the other. Then the Rust Belt collapsed in the 70's and here came the Yankees in droves. These were not the true northeastern Yankee types, but the Midwesterners who wanted to actually work. Then the Latinos and Vietnamese flooded in after that, and now the whole world wants to live here. Now we sit at 6-7 million in the wider metro area and have the widest demographic range of almost every large US city. We still haven't filled up the county yet though. By the time this city looks as dense as say NYC, we'll be many times more populous because we have 4 times the land room NYC has just in our county, and still have the surrounding counties to fill. This city will be a monster metropolis someday because we aren't land constrained like most other large global megacities. Yeah, I won't be homesteading here. But I do have a nice BOL camp in East Texas that lets me escape. I suppose if I had ever done the family thing then I would have migrated to my camp for good about a decade ago. But at 60 years old and no wife/kids then I'll likely stick around the big city. I'll be needing all those city conveniences and hospitals soon enough. Getting old sucks but it is better than the alternative.

But for all that I'm still very much pro-homesteading rurally for families. My youth of spending all my free time wandering the ranches and playing in the dirt convinced me it is the way to raise kids. Better for kids to spend their Saturday afternoon with a long stick on a deer trail rather than running the street alley gauntlet to get home from the corner store. Did both in my youth and I know which way is more wholesome.

Yep, I'll get around to who I actually am later tonight but this post is already a TLDR.

 

[snappy1]

I lived in Houston ( Sharpstown) in the mid to late 70's. Great town back then! More recently, Startzville in the Hill country. Still love TX!

 

[viking]

Hello and welcome from out in the woods of S.W. Oregon, yeah I could be considered blunt and opinionated, I figure that being on this planet for over 79 years entitles me to be so but then again I try to be nice to people as it doesn't fell good to think people consider me a jerk, so I strive to control any smart assness I may have. There is an Ignore system, don't know if I've ever been on someones Ignore list, I strive not to be that bad to end up there. Anyway, there is tons of great info here and if you can add to it, all the better, it might just be something someone needs, so it's good to see you here.

 

[Neb]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes, everyone.

I see a few old SB members in the mix too. Most noting the usual problems with that place. As the biggest survival site, it is a magnet. SB didn't used to be like that, but growth snowballed there and it spiraled out of control. I'd say it would be wise for membership and the owners here to note what happened there and to build in the right curbs early to keep this place manageable as it grows. Politics is a real problem there. Even the mostly conservative crowd there finds out that even that spectrum is rather wide. So you end up with a lot of arguments in what some would call an echo chamber for the right-bent types. Of course, that practically invites the more rabid on the left spectrum to visit in order to troll. The end result is a zoo.

Keeping a wet blanket on politics here will serve this place well as time goes by. I noted the politics and religion boards are invite-only here. That seems like a good start on the problem. I hope the ownership here doesn't tie their hands with too many written rules on those areas that might accidentally tie their hands later if those areas end up needing wholesale cleanup to get things to simmer down. Sometimes ownership at a forum just needs to say that it's their website and they are tired of the trash going on. Don't let "barracks lawyers" tie management's hands.

Myself, I won't be asking for invites to those two boards. Any urge to wade into politics can already be satisfied on a million places online anyway. I certainly don't need another. As for faith, any disagreement there never leads to a cordial meeting of the minds involved. That's just looking for trouble.

I also hope this place never gets a "Darkside" type section, like SB has. What a cesspit that is there.


So with that I'll note that I'm from Houston. Born there when it was a fair sized cow town of almost a million spread over a massive area about the size of a smaller New England state back in the 60's. WW2 had brought the oil industry and it was beginning to grow. NASA arrived to give it name recognition. Living at the edge of town I had new suburbia on one side and cattle ranches on the other. Then the Rust Belt collapsed in the 70's and here came the Yankees in droves. These were not the true northeastern Yankee types, but the Midwesterners who wanted to actually work. Then the Latinos and Vietnamese flooded in after that, and now the whole world wants to live here. Now we sit at 6-7 million in the wider metro area and have the widest demographic range of almost every large US city. We still haven't filled up the county yet though. By the time this city looks as dense as say NYC, we'll be many times more populous because we have 4 times the land room NYC has just in our county, and still have the surrounding counties to fill. This city will be a monster metropolis someday because we aren't land constrained like most other large global megacities. Yeah, I won't be homesteading here. But I do have a nice BOL camp in East Texas that lets me escape. I suppose if I had ever done the family thing then I would have migrated to my camp for good about a decade ago. But at 60 years old and no wife/kids then I'll likely stick around the big city. I'll be needing all those city conveniences and hospitals soon enough. Getting old sucks but it is better than the alternative.

But for all that I'm still very much pro-homesteading rurally for families. My youth of spending all my free time wandering the ranches and playing in the dirt convinced me it is the way to raise kids. Better for kids to spend their Saturday afternoon with a long stick on a deer trail rather than running the street alley gauntlet to get home from the corner store. Did both in my youth and I know which way is more wholesome.

Yep, I'll get around to who I actually am later tonight but this post is already a TLDR.

I like your attitude so far...

Knowing what you believe and why you believe it goes a long way.

Ben

 

[Iamzeke]

So about me then.

Back in the 70's it was common to get a job as an early teen. Later at the start of high school I started off as a dishwasher and worked my way up to line cooking, which created my lifelong love of cooking. As older teens are apt to do, I got a wild hair and chose to join the Marines. Did that for 5 years until deployment injuries finished that off. Back then there was no GI Bill, so I took some college classes and became a pharmacy tech. Doing that for income, I went to night college and earned a BS in Industrial Engineering. With no real love of partying, I've made a habit to take extra jobs and have basically been working multiple gigs at the same time all my working life. My main job has been engineering at the chemical refineries on the Texas coast, mostly in heavy construction of plant facilities and major repairs as a project manager. With the constant ups and down of the oil industry I never wanted to loose my fallback of working in hospital pharmacies. So I started donating a day or two a week at the VA hospital pharmacy, starting in the late 80's, and have been doing that ever since. Since I'm a disabled vet, it helps to have that kind of insider access. VA hospital horror stories you hear have some merit and so I do my part to reduce that, and get better treatment access. For the 90's and the 00's I still usually had a weekend day and a weekly evening to spare, so I'd get side gigs in what I term technical retail. Electronics stores, Lowes, UHaul, and the like. Because my professional licenses for engineering and hospital work require mandatory continuing education, I've never actually stopped being a part time college student. Once you have one degree then similar and lesser degrees tend to require far less classes to earn a new sheepskin. Now I have 2BS and a half dozen associate degrees, all technical or science areas. Go to college one night a week for a few decades after your first sheepskin and you'll be amazed at what you rack up. I guess I'm up around 240 college credit hours by now. Crazy thing is that for all those sheepskins and more credit time than a doctorate has, I never got a high school diploma. I walked out of high school in 11th grade bored to tears.

When you spend your time working and learning and forgo family and social scene, you tend to pile up on skill sets. So when someone says I'm a know-it-all, they just don't realize how much time they sink in family and social matters. I've had twice the "productive" life than most people my age. Romance, kids, and a big circle of friends really do eat up a lot of a lifespan. I'm not faulting anyone for not living my way though. Life isn't a practice run and the goal is to be buried satisfied with how you lived. I suppose I've missed plenty of what some people consider important to them, but it's not like I know what I've missed. My sisters have great kids, so my bloodline legacy aspect is covered well. My family has prospered from my efforts. My lifestyle creates a lot of challenge and stimulus, and all the work has remunerated me well enough. I have all the "things" I choose to want.

I do have my hobbies though. Living alone, I can putter any hour of night or day in my well stocked garage workshop. I do love to get out to fish and hunt. This place is an outdoor sportsman's paradise. Salt or freshwater fishing abounds here. Deer hunting is good, even if the deer are smaller here. Feral hog hunting is insane here. We can't kill them all fast enough. Throw in some range time, occasional hikes and camping, plus visits to my camp. And finally there is my kitchen and backyard garden. I'm only bored if I feel like being bored.