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Guest Post: Bugging Out of the D.C. Burbs
Guest Post: Bugging Out of the D.C. Burbs
by
Mrs. Cog
(And now a few words from my better half on creating a lifestyle change we can live with. - Cognitive Dissonance)
If there is one thing I dramatically misjudged during the great looting of the past five years, it has been the depth of the bag of tricks the banksters and politicians could use to perpetuate the game. How many times have we said in the threads here at Zero Hedge "This is it. Cue the deer Tyler"? We fall for it again and again. The dungeon masters are so artful in their game to pit us against each other simply because it works. If we are focused on "them" we are not focused on "us." Whether it is them at the NSA or the perceived enemies of the state, the state itself, or the crooks at 33 Liberty, our angry energy is collected and dispelled in ranting threads which are largely unproductive at bringing about any real change. In the end, we can only change ourselves. I think self reliance is perhaps the most important act of revolutionary change available.
Whether change comes roaring into our lives express freight train style via collapse or as a crumbling away of the periphery of what we thought made our individual world stable, the leading edge of the storm is here. Change is here whether we like it or not. Options are still available, but it is getting harder and harder to maneuver. Cog and I have elected to completely change our lifestyle so that we can at least try to deflect or redirect the nature of the change rather than waiting for it to be forced upon us.
After spending many months choosing the criteria we would use to best position our family for the future, there were several discoveries. There is no shortage of cheaply priced homes for sale in very rural areas. Although it is not "the norm" yet, other city folks are bugging out (permanently) to live in the sticks. Within a week of putting our new home under contract there were two other contingent cash offers on it. We had considered waiting to buy because the prices would be dropping dramatically when that shadow inventory hits the market. But we don't really know that for certain.
If inflation has set in when the excess housing inventory becomes available then we could miss the opportunity to buy at today's prices. What if capital controls (something we cannot accurately time) prevent us from moving funds around to pay for the property? We actually liquidated some of our PMs so that we would have no mortgage, considering it the act of trading one precious tangible asset for another. What if it becomes illegal or a huge red flag to sell physical gold or silver? The truth is no one really knows just what future constraints the banking or political elite will impose upon us so we have chosen to err on the side of caution.
Conversations we’ve had with a wide variety of people were by far the most revealing aspect of our decision to move. While interviewing the first moving company representative we found that there was an unusual trend going on in the DC area. People were moving in and out in droves, a phenomenon we were told usually only occurs immediately after a presidential election brings a change in leadership to usher out the old and in with the new. Not only were people moving out of DC to all the usual places such as the West Coast, Texas, and Florida, but there was a large and peculiar exodus to strange out of the way locations such as Montana, Colorado and the Dakotas. She was at a loss to explain why.
Our neighbors, mostly employees of the Federal government or companies who support it, have had interesting reactions to our news about moving far away. When we get to the part where we somewhat tactfully say, "we don't think things will be improving anytime soon with the economy or other conditions in this country..." everyone nods vehemently in agreement. They know. They, like us, support the very system that is bringing about our social destruction, yet we are all bound to operate within it. Complete strangers who we strike up conversations with, like vendors who come to work on our current house and see our boxes ready to move, all understand why we would leave a nice, large condo and move to a house on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I keep expecting someone to ask if we have lost our minds, but no one does. The cat appears to be out of the bag.
Of our numerous encounters with present and former government workers, the more "inside" their experience and knowledge (their naturally gained intel) the more adamant their agreement is that indeed something wicked this way comes. One former Special Forces and FBI employee, now a small businessman, practically said run. <Talk about confirmation endorphins clobbering you over the head.> Thank you sir, I am in scadaddling mode!
This whole self sufficiency thing isn't easy either. Having heirloom (non hybrid) seeds doesn't imply organic gardening knowledge, let alone the ability to preserve the food and the seeds for next season. I have spent more time in the past year reading about herbal, alternative and emergency medicine than reading charts or attempting to trade. Although I have no intention of deliberately living without electricity (the new place has DSL and central heat/air), I am trying to prepare to take us off grid if only to combat future soaring energy costs. Hand tools for the garden, manual systems to cut logs for the “water” wood stove, solar panels for certain necessities... I am still astounded as I learn how "not" self sufficient I have lived my entire life without ever realizing it.
Acquiring the tools and the knowledge to begin living this way has been an adventure unto itself. It turns out it is far less expensive to buy books than to use all the printer ink and paper to print and retain, then learn the new skills we’ll need. Although I will certainly use it as long as I can, I am not depending upon electricity to enable me to read my .pdf eBooks and articles because that would require me to rely on outside help, in this case the power company. It's now evident to me that I am going to need many books to understand how people lived before the age of modern convenience and specialization. I am discovering that the actual tools needed are not what I thought they would be.
One recent purchase was a grain mill that can be powered manually or electrically. The mill will enable me to make our own flour from alternative grains I can grow or purchase in bulk and then store. After all it would be silly to be making maple syrup from our trees if we didn't have pancakes to dribble the syrup on. We also have a gluten intolerant child and I am not going to gamble that specialty foods will always be available or affordable to feed her in the future. Turns out there are really only three decent brands of hand operated grain mills available and they vary dramatically in quality and price. Do you think there will be any available when the first hint of a real food crisis finally takes hold in the mainstream media? How about solar ovens, dehydrators, pressure canners and the like?
There’s also the matter of being able to acquire what you need. Over the last year we have learned that many home improvement items from the big box stores are defective, warped, substandard, you name it. This includes brand name products. Quality control is not what it used to be. Things are made out of cheaper materials than in the past. In addition, processing the transactions for various purchases seems to be glitching more often. Cog was none too happy when his check/debit card was double billed for a tractor just a few weeks ago. This was done by a major corporation who kicked him around to several different departments without solving the problem. Thank goodness he IS Cog and could finally resort to his mind control powers in order to get resolution lol.
Step by step we are accomplishing what we set out to do, but it has taken a great deal of patience. For everything we set in motion we expect it to go wrong at some point and it often does. Just getting our utilities turned on with the services we were assured were available became a major problem. We consciously steeled ourselves for these types of troubles when we made the decision to purchase a home at the end of a back road, off a back road, off the back road on a mountain. If we had not learned to anticipate these problems I am not sure how we would have mentally handled all the roadblocks. I cannot imagine trying to do what we have done in the past six months in a year or two from now.
After all the effort and work towards establishing a new lifestyle it turns out that where we are going WE are "them." We are the “city folk” who think they can make a go of it in the country. We are the ones who used to work for banks and play in the stock market and think we have answers. We are the new people at the farmer's market with a funny accent and strange ideas and clothes. We are the one's invading the bunny, turkey, deer and bear stomping grounds. It turns out "they" is a relative term. It is not lost upon us that we have our work cut out in order to begin to fit in to our new community and show our value as good neighbors.
Our new digs are not exactly Galt's Gulch, completely independent from a decaying society, but one step at a time we are withdrawing our consent from the system we were indoctrinated into from birth to rely upon. At some point, with someone somewhere, the simple act of withdrawing will be the snowflake in the avalanche that will be the end of the long con, at least this leg of it. I know that I can once again sleep peacefully at night, knowing that we are working towards depending only on ourselves going forward.
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Wow so your old avatar was not Mrs. Cog?
That is correct Davey. I have talked with most of you before with my original avatar and still do.
So I guess you really aren't Marla??
Million Dollar Bonus?
Well done, m'lady.
Amazing, no, Rocky? What a treat for a Sunday evening, uh, no a Monday morning...
I am completely in awe of this.
I hope, one day, that somehow, we all get to meet. I am sure it's a pipe dream, but what the hell, I need to hang my hat on something. I would love to buy you two a drink and get the full story.
That is truly awesome.
+1
For a really good idea...
I hope, one day, that somehow, we all get to meet. -- fonzannoon
+1 if we meet at our hobby farms. +.01 if we meet at re-education camps.
There is probably a special camp (err... re-education center... my bad) for ZH'ers. Ha ha.
Amazing story Cog's. Wow.
I wish I had the support from within my family to make such a dramatic move/change.
Have fun and thanks for sharing the article here today. See you around the site.
"oh, hey! never thought i'd me all of you at the re-education camps!" to be "xia fanged" in China is to "brought down" by being set to work with the rice farmers. Only in America do you move by "becoming one." thanks Ben Bernanke!
Awesome indeed. Good luck in your new home guys.
ps. Flax bread is delicious.
Best of luck, Cogses...be nice to the Russian troops when they come a-knocking:
http://www.eutimes.net/2013/06/obama-requests-15000-russian-troops-for-u...
That is a BUNK blog hosted on colocrossing. Same shit as godaddy. Not an authoritative domain name.
Give it a rest.
Yes I red arrowed you for the disinformation.
Yes.......this really is Mrs. Cog guest posting here on Zero Hedge. Enjoy. :)
Good luck in your journey Mr. and Mrs. Cog.
Hearty Thanks for that.
Splitting away from your accustomed lives is a very difficult thing to contemplate let alone achieve.
Ourselves have moved away from "well ordered civilisation" a land with a long and proud history and its own currency to a continent not too familiar to "you lot up north".
Apart from everything being called something else, and the legal and tax systems and stuff being "why on earth don't they do it like we (hold on there bud)" the minutiae of how people address each other and how you can get people to fix something are vastly different.
Then there is the emotional impact which keeps draining away at reserves just when you need to start on something else (like a driving licence for example).
And as you mentioned you are recognised as strangers from out there. How this is to be dealt with relates to your personal integrity and humility.
There will always be shocks to absorb ... but good luck to you :-)
For Mr and Mrs Cog:
Nice. No noise ordinances here... can play it loudly. Thank you.
I keep a weather eye on the horizon,
back to the wall
I like to know who's coming through the door,
that's all
It's the old army training kicking in
I'm not complaining,
it's the world we live in
Blarney and Malarkey,
they're a devious firm
Take you to the cleaners and let you burn
The help is breaking dishes in the kitchen,
thanks a lot
We hired the worst dishwasher this place ever got
Hidden below the radar
They want to spoil our fun
In the meantime I'm cleaning my gun
Remember it got so cold ice froze up the tank
We lit a fire beneath her just so she would crank
Keep a weather eye on the horizon
Tap the stone glass now and then
We got a case of old damnation
For when you get here, my friend [
We can have ourselves
A party before they come
In the meantime I'm cleaning my gun
We had women and a mirror ball,
we had a DJ
He used to eat pretty much all that came his way
Ever since the goons came in
took apart the place
I keep a tire iron in the corner just in case
Hang a little magic bullet
on a little chain
Keep me safe from the chilly winds
and out of the rain
We're gonna might need bullets
should we get stuck
Any which way,
we're gonna need a little luck
You can still get gas in heaven
And drink in kingdom come
In the meantime I'm cleaning my gun
Godspeed.
Very cool approach to your new life. One question: What if your wrong?
What if this whole restructuring takes decades to happen?
So just make sure you live the moments with joy in your new world.
BTW I live in another capital city and am having the same thoughts.
I want to hear more from Mrs. COG!!!
They are most certainly wrong--nothing plays out the way you think it will, especially at the macro level. It's fine to change your life by moving, it's psycho to do it becasue of some paranoia about monetary collapse or whatever. Find a hobby already.
"One question: What if your wrong?"
If we are "wrong" at worst we will have co-created a great place to live the rest of our lives together. This is such a beautiful place to live. At times it is simply breathtaking.
If we are right at worst we will have co-created a great place to live the rest of our lives together. This is such a beautiful place to live. At times it is simply breathtaking.
@Cog Dis
Congratulations to Mrs. Cog, you and the whole family. It's been a long time coming, old friend. I moved "back home" to the sticks over a decade ago and haven't looked back. And on the question of being right or wrong - I would rather live with the land than inside a video game fantasy world. Thoreau has his good points and his bad points, but Walden Pond is a window onto a fuller existence for modern mankind.
I too have a closing end of July(principle residence)- after awaiting patiently for the echo bubble! I have a second property that has a 3 season cabin located in the wrong climate(MN). Just too brutal for me. Southern bound...
http://brainerd.craigslist.org/reo/3893391942.html
But, the skills learned with no running water and wood burning heat are invalueable. To be up north living "a hundred year ago existence" is the experience. One appreciates the luxuries-running water, flush toilets and thermostats, but quickly understands that those conveniences are the addiction and peril of what you "left behind". Bathing from a bucket and cooking on a wood burning stove is the life! Splitting wood and preserving game is the price for true indepence.
The cabin/acres is for sale. Then the quest begins and from what you post and I observe these properties of hobby farm status are not as readily availible as a year ago. We are not alone! But that is good and yes my rural neighbors are way more intune with reality that my clueless burbite grazers...
Your post is very timely and appreciated...
Ps. there is no wrong-just what is right for you.
Cold, hot--it's all a state of mind. If you can't survive in MN, you can't survive period.
Our biggest disagreement/debate is whether things will change suddenly or over a longer period of time. Cog's answer to me was his "Perhaps a Crumble" series (see http://www.zerohedge.com/blogs/cognitive-dissonance ) earlier this year. In a nutshell, Cog broke my crystal ball and we don't know how long it will take to "restructure." We will be as ready as we can for change to come on whatever timeline. I am more than happy to get positioned too early rather than too late. I personally think it will be sooner, but I have been wrong for four years so...
Nobody knows if or when things will go really bad.
It can be argued that for a lot of people it is bad now, especially if they had a decent job and now nothing. Or, there's the many prediction types, some of whom make a lot of money off the fear of things going bad, but it's relative for each person/family.
Mrs Cog I applaud you. I can offer you this. Don't worry about fitting right in. As time progresses, you will be meeting more and more new neighbors who come from city and are in your new neighborhood for exactly the same reasons as you. Country people are friendly as long as you are willing to learn what they have to offer, and over time have something to offer them. From your and Mr Cog's post I have the impression that you have all of that well in hand and it won't be long before you will be included in social events [not because they have to but because they like you] that will raise your comfort level much moreso than in the city [where you might get invited because they have to, not because they like you].
I also believe the SHTF will be sooner rather than later. It sounds though that you and Mr Cog have planned your move very well and are quickly adapting to life in the country. That alone will put you in a better position of riding out whatever the storm may bring. There is nothing like picking your own vegetables and fruits to serve at your table regardless of whatever inflationary pressures are being brought to bare on food prices nor how many stores are looted for basic food items.
I'm extremely excited and happy for both you and Mr Cog. I absolutely wish you both the very best, and hope every ZH poster reads this thread and looks at it as a possibility for themselves and their families.
Thank you RS for your kind words of encouragement. My motivation for writing this was the hope that it might spur creative juices to consider the possibilities still available.
I personally think the collapse (SHTF) is often an individual event. People who have lost their home, their job, find themselves unable to find work when they are trying in earnest, they would tell you the collapse has already happened. Proximity always depends upon where the person stands who is doing the evaluating. I imagine it always feels like a mac truck just mowed them down.
That is very true. To support this, it is getting more and more difficult to find camp sites in state and national forests as well as on military bases because 1]more and more people are living in trailers and RVs of all kinds and take up residence there [most have a thirty day rule so every thirty days camp sites are changed], and 2] "geographic bachelorhood" is becoming more and more necessary for families as fathers and mothers seek employment across the country while their families stay in the home. My husband and I now have to reserve a site four weeks in advance regardless of where we want to camp which is no great stress to us, but imagine what it must be like for people who lost their homes and jobs and now live in a trailer. I guess they should be regarded as "lucky" when compared to people who have to live in tents.
I maybe completely wrong about this, but I think people can ignore the mac truck phenomena as long as it doesn't mow them or their friends/family down. As time progresses, the likelihood of this mattering to a lot of people will increase, such as the trend of adult children and their families moving back in with their parents.
I believe your thread will inspire people to re-examine alternatives as to how they are planning for their future both immediate and long-term. As Mr Cog said, the best and worst outcome is that you live in a beautiful place that will enable you to be more independent and more reliant on yourselves. I can't think of any more valuable lesson to teach your children.
+1
For...
...people can ignore the mac truck phenomena as long as it doesn't mow them or their friends/family down... -- RSloane
I am sorrounded by two kinds of people. The first kind are the people who look like they are doing great on the surface, and don't see the mac truck that will eventually mow them down. The second kind are the people who rely on the first kind to provide tax revenue to support their lavish lifestyles.
It freaks me out. I do plan on getting outta here, I wonder if this rise in interest rates already brought the tide too high to swim for it.
I congratulated Mr. Cog above, and while reading the thread I encountered you Mrs. Cog. Congratulations to you both. Best of luck. I am going to make a fairly good guess that courtesy and positive involvement with your new neighbors will, in the end, work out just fine. It took a while for me when I moved as a kid to The South from "Yankeeland", but it worked out just fine. It will for you all too.
Mrs. Cog, I love the Peratt instability for an avatar. There is nothing cooler or more desirable in a woman than intelligence.
Huge fan off the Thunderbolts Project and electric universe. Makes the whole Ponzi thingy seem so... small.
Mrs. Cog - more avatar applause. I like it. I was looking for a possible xtra-terrestial reason for choosing now to detonate the casino that's worked out so well for so long for the PTB. What if the PTB, having better access to info, inspiring projects like the arctic seedbank, knows something we don't know about why now is the good time to pull the plug? And so I found the Electric Universe. Great stuff.
The extra-terrestial event with potential is the diminishing sun and associated solar system changes. Are the chem trails to trap heat becasue the sun will trump all carbon related warming? As shown by the ENA ribbon, we are cruising into something unique to our recent past, a gas bubble boundry that appears 2-dimensional, a plane.
I love the electric sun stuff. The sun is basicly hollow?!? The corona is orders of magnitude hotter the the internal sun ... where the hydorgen bombs were supposed to be going off.
Lot's of new pairs of dimes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Re. the post. Good move! I could never be caged in a condo. In fact if I don't live in a wood building, with the wind moving through it, I don't feel right. Terracing a slope for planting today.
My advice is get planting. Our goal is to always have tasty, interesting, highly nutrious things growning and coming into season around us. Trees take time to fruit.
Find the local people who know how to forage. Mushrooms for instance.
Good luck in your new endeavor.
Welcome aboard....even if you have a funny accent!
Hopefully you ended up in one of the JWR redoubt states.
Ya'll have the funny accent. I speak proper English Hillbilly.
<But one look in the mirror and it's obvious we ain't from round here. However I am beginning to warm up to plaid.>
I started over 40 years ago doing the "back to the land" thing up in the mountains and islands of British Columbia after escaping the NixonNazis and Detroit.
I'm still in "learning mode".
After a few years you'll be just another "HillBilly."
Enjoy your new status.
People are just people no matter where you go.
If the SHTF a rifle and a shitload of ammo and cheap whiskey will get you alot further than a Bible
Good luck with that Otto
I agree. 22LR will be the new currency of a post SHTF world. My wife and friends think I'm nuts when I tell them that but small game will be what's on the menu soon enough for many folks if things unfold like the rolling bones say they will.
Don't overlook the old fashioned "wrist rocket" type of sling shot, or variants thereof.
https://www.youtube.com/user/JoergSprave?feature=watch
@jOnx, will your menu be diverse? I assume you live in a multi-ethnic area and that should provide you with plenty of fresh meat when needed. I plan on trying apply the old world swedish method of preserving fish to fresh meat. I guess a shot of Malort after dinner helps the lutevisk go down, the lutevisk go down, the lutevisk go down, just a shot of malort will help the lutevisk go down, in a most delightful way. Ok, I borrowed that from Mary Poppins.
actually a good high power air rifle is going to be highly valued to me- followed closely by a good crossbow.
quiet is good. Small game is what people live off of for the most part. Air rifle works great for that.
Hunting for food for survival is a myth. Trapping is the only way to feed a family.
Except that hunting the varmints that invade your garden is double-plus-good (deer, groundhog, squirrel, rabbit...) Plant a garden for the wildlife and they will come to you. :)