Costco's gold bars sell out within hours

No. Would be fairly illegal, but no, shouldn’t smell. If it does, you have made a mistake.

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Just wait for the weekend samples and build up your hoard over time. :man_shrugging:

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Hey Doc, do you need (quick glance over polycule) … an IT tech, two librarians (one with an anthropology degree, one with her MLS), and a vision therapist? :laughing:

And this is where we hit a downside to polyamory. If we really did have this kind of situation, who goes along with whom? (That list leaves out a partner and hasn’t even gotten to partners of partners!) I’m not actually worried that anyone would be left alone or without support, but that’s not the same as being part of my group that I help and protect. We already had a taste of this during the lockdowns and it’s difficult.

In any case, I don’t think any of us needs to stop off and buy CostCo Gold, even if that does sound like a good band name.

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No, but bunkers lack windows, so…

Fart Farting GIF by DrSquatchSoapCo

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Yep, and making reasonable food people want to eat out of whatever slim pickin’s are available. If everything collapses, I hope that and knowing how to grow and preserve food, would be enough to get by.

I wouldn’t want their fucking gold, I would want food, shoes and a coat for winter. My partner is a tinker, mechanic and all around fix-it guy, basically the one I want on my side if everything goes to shit.

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… For normal people, maybe. For this house? maybe a couple months.

Yup; same reason why that bottle of vegetable oil that doesn’t get used up will go rancid after a while. (which smells really bad, lemme tell ya…)

working tools are worth FAR more than gold, guns, or ammo in an actual post-apocolyctic scenario.

Those kits? are bulk-packed MREs, and assume a good supply of potable water and (presumably) a heat source. and I’m pretty sure there’s a thread here about how delicious MRES are… /sarcasm

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It’s not illegal in Michigan. Maybe I now know what I want for x-mas this year…and I shall become the Queen of Booze!

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dr strangelove film GIF

I actually didn’t mind them, but I only had them during base exercises. As a taste sensation, they’d get old really quickly, although the tiny bottles of hot sauce did help. I actually liked the freeze dried fruit puck, especially the odd sensation as you eat one. They reminded me a bit of Pop Rocks, only without so much of the pop part. (These experiences are also from 30 years ago, so I suspect current versions are a little different.)

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In my thought experiments, which I devoutly hope will never come to pass, it’s rarely your profession that will determine your value. (I am aware that mine may be an exception to this rule, but…) It will be the odd bits and bobs you’ve picked up along the way. I have learned how to turn a tree into lumber with hand tools. I have learned to turn fresh fruit into hooch. I grow a fair selection of medicinal herbs in my garden. I collect, restore and use old hand powered woodworking tools. I do not have the skills to make it very long alone, but between my own collection of skills and my wife’s we will be OK for quite some time. I am not one who has fallen victim to the “lone wolf” mythos. Humans survive as communities, or they don’t survive at all. (And, honestly, librarians may be one of the most valued professions available. If tech goes down and we have to go back to printed pages, they will be the wizards of the new age!)

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And if you’re worried about the smell just put it in a room with plenty of ventilation.

still_bug_out00

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Solid gold semi-automatic rifles sound like the perfect prepper catnip.

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I just Googled “gold AR-15”. Many grifters are already on that money-making scheme.

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Absolutely! And I’m not just saying that because of my partners, but I am in awe of the organization skills I so often see. (My nesting partner is definitely the “mom friend” of our polycule, which is even more amazing since most of us are caretaker personalities.) I describe myself as an IT tech, but since most of my experience has been in the places with very limited budgets, I will admit I sell myself rather short with that description. Tech lasts a lot longer if you know how to repair it and not just replace it with something new out of the box!

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Large scale society allows the (relative) luxury of specialization, which is what jobs are after all. One person does one relatively delimited thing, and outsources the rest of that annoying “necessary to stay alive” stuff to a bunch of other people each specialized in one-ish aspect of that. (And yes, even at this level libertarian philosophy has collapsed onto a quivering pile.) Societal breakdown on a large scale would force a lot of people to become generalists focused on subsistence tasks - rendering “what was your job before the [insert reason for societal collapse]” a relatively disconnected question from the question of survival. Useful skills, on the other hand - knitting, sewing, weaving, carpentry, cooking, farming, canning, fermenting, repair and maintenance, the list goes on and on and on - would be… well, useful. But while some jobs come with skills like that, a lot don’t, but a lot of people also have those skills outside of work. So yes, I think you’re entirely right that people’s professions wouldn’t be particularly determinative of their worth in a situation like that.

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Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where the bunker wasn’t big enough to shelter everyone from the comet:

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I was gonna say Saving Private Ryan when Miller reveals that he was a schoolteacher, but your example is much more fun…

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So - about a week’s worth?

Nutella makes terrific emergency brownies:

  • 2/3 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ cups Nutella
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 170 Celsius (160C fan). Line and grease a 20cm square baking dish.
  2. Mix Nutella, eggs, and vanilla until combined (you might want to tickle the Nutella for a few seconds in the microwave on very low power to slacken it somewhat - a FEW seconds).
  3. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and soda.
  4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
  5. Add the chocolate chips.
  6. Pour into the baking dish.
  7. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, but start checking 5 minutes or so beforehand.
  8. BROWNIES!
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Decades ago, when I was just learning blacksmithing, an old smith retired, sold all his big ticket tools, and still had half of a cargo containers worth of . . . stuff. I bought it, threw out three pickup loads of old papers, busted boxes, and other trash, put the stuff I’d actually use in the shop, and have a basement half filled with old hand tools I’m preserving and restoring as the mood hits me. Should the “Big Oops” hit, I guess I’ll hang out the blacksmithing shingle and trade with those who need (looks around at random) a set of cobblers tools and anvils, old-style kerosene blowtorches, or some really beefy C-clamps. Or, more likely, downsize to an apartment and spend too much effort trying to sell them before hauling them off for scrap.

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slow clap indeed.

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I’ve seen James Hoffman talking about how to first mix the freeze dried grounds with cool water and only then add hot water. I wondered if I had been doing it all wrong, on camping trips, and when I first moved into my apartment, etc. Tried it. Nope. Still the same. I’ll drink it, but just dunno.

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