Some personal opinions and thoughts

I'm just going to rant a bit here and you can feel free to comment, agree or laugh as your mood suits.

You could still buy gold if you want, I think it will go up another $100-150 during the next year without any help, it might go even higher and I'll just keep mine in the stash until I can't avoid using it. Silver is a little easier to find and might make more sense for daily purchases or trading. I don't expect it to gather the same amount of value but it's cheap compared to gold.

If you don't have a garden what the hell are you thinking? Grow something you like to eat even if it's in a couple pots on the patio, inside the sliding glass door (buy a cheap 3x5x18" shelf unit on wheels with 5 shelves) or on a window sill. If you have a yard and flower beds put something in there you can eat, if it's 'purty' that's a bonus, but even if it's potatoes it's food and your roof will likely provide the water it needs. Pansies and nasturtiums look great and the flowers are tasty in a salad even if they don't have a lot of calories.

Speaking of calories... When you purchase storage foods, animals or plant your garden consider what you're spending money on. Food has a few basic characteristics; nutrition, calories, flavor, mass (or fiber if you will), and fats if you can accept the differences. We love celery but it's a serious draw on water. It does have great fiber and can even be used for cordage, it adds some significant fiber to your diet, it can fill your void if needed, but it has zero effective calories and you could eat 10 lbs a day and die of starvation. Rabbits are a similar dead end, they are high in protein but have almost no fat. Tomatoes are high in sugar (carbs) and have other benefits but you just can't live on a single staple, balance is the key. You really need to handle all of the major 'food characteristics' for any kind of survival beyond the first month. Rice and beans will fill your tummy for a week or two, but $10 worth of spices and $30 worth of vegetables will make it taste a lot better if you actually have to eat it.

If you still have a job you need to suck up and stay with it, your odds of getting another job or a better job are slim to none and even if you did you would be low man on the totem pole. Last in are almost always first out unless you're seriously lucky. This will only get worse before it will get better, I think it will get much worse.

How many people can the government give money to before they drain our country of all worth (not that we have any left)? Once the US is giving just barely enough money every month for subsistence to 20% of the population where do you think the money is going to come from? The new health care options will only make it worse. Yes, it helps the people who have lost health benefits and I do feel for my friends and family that need the coverage, but the government is paying 2/3 of the cost!

Gas is headed back up, maybe not drastically but I think it will be consistant in it's increase and be fairly permanent, at least 2-3 years. The cheap stuff truly is gone and the hurt is being felt everywhere. Store some gas if it's your thing, if you want to store it for more than 6 months use a chemical to preserve it. I don't expect shortages unless the supply lines faulter.

Banks... I actually use a credit union and right now I trust it fairly completely. My whole check goes in there and I use a debit card to buy things. Even so most of my spare cash isn't in savings, it's either in food or goods or in FRNs stuck away in 'places'. I personally wouldn't leave a lot of wealth in a savings institution of any type. Banks can come and go as we've seen so often in the last year and honestly the FDIC is backed by what, a completely failed national financial system printing pretty green paper when they're low? Food and equipment are assets, gold and silver might eventually be worthwhile, FRN are just paper/linen and only good for today, tomorrow they may only be cheaper than firewood per pound.

Last tonight, will be a topic I have a hard time debating, not because I don't believe in them or have them myself but because they're so controversial, and hell, I'm a fence sitting libra. Guns baby, you do need guns and ammo. I'm not a militant SOB, honest, but I do believe people need to have the ability to protect themselves. For the last 9 years I've been a reserve police officer and I must admit I like to be the only person with a gun if there is a problem, but the next person (after my backup) I want to have a gun is anyone who supports the law. If you have a carry permit I trust you far more than I should. You went the extra mile to be legal and aboveboard and that means a lot to me. I do want to know if you have a ccw or are carrying, in most cases, it means you're a law abiding citizen and you deserve a break if everything else is equal. As a police officer I know that our coverage is decreasing locally. It's only going to get worse, even if our police departments don't want it to (we're not stupid), we want to provide more coverage, the powers that be just don't want to pay for it. In my opinion people need to be able and willing to protect themselves, you/we shouldn't rely on overtaxed , underpaid and unsupported public servants. While as a police officer, I'll do my best to protect your rights while you exercise them.

To you I wish a peaceful future, while I hope to prepare you and mine for one that likely won't be,

Rick