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Neb said:
Things have changed for us in the last year.

We live in an old mining town in a "patch" built by the mine consisting of about 25 houses. There is another patch 1/4 mile away on the other side of the valley.

Until this year we were just over the edge of the edges of the suburbs. If you drove past our hill you wouldn't know there are any houses up here. Most of the houses are owned by 8 different families that have lived here for about 3 generations or more. So there is a core group of families that have grown up together. My brother (the social animal) is confident that we can function as a small community if TSHTF.

There are a few renters that would move out if things got tough. I don't talk prepping with many save the ones that or of a similar mind. I suspect there are more preppers than just my brother and myself. Hopefully I never have to find out.

So our plan was/is to lay low secure access to the hill and let the unprepared pass us by in search of whatever they think will sustain them. I will omit the security plans... After the unprepared have starved eaten each other etc. we could then start to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. There arr farms within walking distance that could use good strong backs to operate if there is no access to fuel or energy. We have good access to water. There used to be a water powered mill at the bottom of the hill. There is a coal seam 100 feet from my house. So we think we had it covered (note past tense).

The coal company tried to get the permits to strip mine the hill across from us. The comunity shut that down. The coal company sold off the hill. I am currently sitting on the front porch looking at a hillside of lights in high dollar housing that was not there a year ago. Between houes, town house and apartments there 800 more units than this time last year. We went from 50 houses to 850!

We have been invaded by the suburbs!

Argh!!!!!

I have investigated selling off The Ridge and out near my son lives but it is hard to move from a house were 6 generations have lived.

Sorry about the long post. Can you sense my dilemma?

Thanks for reading.

Ben
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So sorry to hear of the changes around you. I read it, and reread it. Pretty rotten. I hope that you’ll be able to make the right choices and provide the place future generations will lovingly call ‘home’, a place of peace and security. I am reminded of Scott and Helen Nearing, Living the Good Life, who started over not once, but twice. They weren’t young, or rich. Hard, but doable. Hang in there.
 
Tootsie said:
So sorry to hear of the changes around you. I read it, and reread it. Pretty rotten. I hope that you’ll be able to make the right choices and provide the place future generations will lovingly call ‘home’, a place of peace and security. I am reminded of Scott and Helen Nearing, Living the Good Life, who started over not once, but twice. They weren’t young, or rich. Hard, but doable. Hang in there.
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Thanks.

I believe that like Abraham, God will provide a road.

Ben
 
Neb said:
But the best I could provide is Beverly hill billy's pickup of preps and tools.

Ben
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You will be surprised how valuable people that know how to do things, and how to make things work become, when SHTF.
Having the best genset is useless if you don't know how to make it run, or how to cable it.
The guy that does, quickly becomes a valuable, sought-after resource.
That's you. The guy with a pickup full of tools.:pickup:
The good news: we get to eat real good :thumbs:.
 
Just speaking off the record I have always thought that if things went wayyyyyy BAD (No law no nutting) when I was "ready to move" the first thing I would do would be to locate at truck (Real Truck not Pickup) n trailer to "borrow", use a transfer pump to fuel her up, then load her up and head west to @Neb 's; If that's a bust then follow his bread crumbs towards amish country. When I came here the moving company charged extra because of my tool boxes, but now I would say that has about doubled or trippled.
 
Moving companies are full of hooie. Hire a transport truck. They will haul up to 58000 lbs no questions asked for much less mula.. If I had known this sooner, the whole wood working shop and huge piles of lumber would have been on the road. But no, I was edumacated by moving companies over six moves. I got re edumacated at the end of loading on move number seven; didn't have time to correct a missed opportunity.

I bought and loaded my own containers. One weighed in at 35000 lbs. the other at 30000 lbs. Moving companies only allow 20000 lbs. Before charging extra for no good reason.

The trucking company said no problem and helped load more. Their rates were even discounted because I let them decide when to transport the containers so they could pick up a return load. They ended up keeping my crap for three months at no charge and just happened to deliver it on what ended up being my closing date.

I was so happy I didn't have to pay off loading and reloading at my son's place and yet another off loading after I finally found my school. It was win win for both sides.
 
That's great it worked out, Clem! We ended up giving away alot of stuff. And had shipping pods delivered that we'd fill and they would get dropped off at our farm. It worked out, but it was pricey.
 
Where I moved to, shipping pod service doesn't exist. The nearest little town is an hour away and the shopping mecca, is two and a half hours away. on topic, some new neighbors, from up the side road some where, came by this afternoon and gifted us with two steaks and a jar of cherry/raspberry jam. I am looking forward to trying both. If the steaks are good, we will buy a steer from them.

They hinted that the community would enjoy a BBQ pot luck in the spring. We hinted back that we would put a sign out front when the time was right.

I was told in a friendly way, that some people around here keep to themselves and that cows and other critters get loose on occasion. No problem, let me know if I can lend a hand.

I think we got the seal of approval. This is a remote area, and that is important.
 
I'm not going anywhere. After all the boxes I had to move into this house I swore that somebody would have to carry me out in a box before I moved again. Since we have lived in this house for 28 years almost to the day it has only gotten worse. That is your cross to bear when you are married to a hoarder.
 
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