Today is a recounting of a conversation between Tactical Redneck and me about long-term solutions on the homestead versus short-term fixes. When is it best to invest the time and $$ for a permanent solution? When not? What if you cannot come to consensus on this?

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Livestream Schedule

Tuesday at 1pm Central: Interview with Lana Stenner on planning for an absence from a busy farm
Wednesday Live with Rob Kaiser and John Willis
No Friday Livestream due to the Food Forest Event (AWESOME INTERVIEW SHOW INSTEAD!)

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

Lamb has arrived! (Those who purchased it, check your inboxes later today for instructions) 170 lbs meat
Freezer audit season in advance of deer and beef season
Freeze Drying Milk and other surplus
FD Beef Used Yesterday
Pantry Moths

Weekly Shopping Report, 10/23/2022

We made our usual shopping trip on Saturday, visiting four stores. Traffic was light. I did not see or hear any signs of stress, like muttered remarks or arguments, in fact I saw the usual courtesy, such as one man motioning a woman ahead of him when another line opened, even though he was closer to it, and she had a cart with more stuff.

The first stop was Dollar Tree. The food coolers are essentially empty, and the drink coolers are also becoming sparse. The food aisles still look full. There was an employee setting out boxes to restock in some aisles, but I did not see what types of products were in them. Sonia found some craft items, and I grabbed a drink.

Next was Hobby Lobby. I didn't see anything unusual in there; shelves looked full as usual.

Home Depot was third. A 2x4x8 was $3.75; I think that's the same as last week, which was down from the week before's $3.98. I noticed the addition of their own batteries on an island, a brand called "HDX." They are alkaline, but made in China, so I'd expect them to leak. Other brands looked at the same levels as last week; not full, but much better than the week before.

Aldi was last. I noticed higher prices on many breads, milk, and eggs. We found what we wanted, except for the cantaloupe, which looked wrinkly and decrepit. I'm keeping an eye on tomato products due to what I've been hearing about shortages, but they still seem to have a normal amount of soups and sauces. They also had canned ham again, for the first time in months, so we got two. Their new cashier is still awaiting bite training, and may have been the only person I recall seeing muzzled.

Untainted gasoline remains at $4.199/gallon, and I believe I saw $3.399 for the corrupted stuff.

Frugality Tip

From Margo: Here's a simple little tip to extend the life of your metal outdoor chairs. Grab a bottle of nail polish and paint the little rust spots. You will get extra years out of your chairs. I have a pair of chairs I got off the curb 3 years ago and for $1.00 bottle of nail polish, we can still use them without leaning on sharp rusty spots. As long as the seat is still good, every 6 months or so I'll paint over the rust spots with nail polish.

Operation Independence

Picked up the lamb (tracked those miles!)

Main topic of the Show: Short Term or Permanent Fix?

The Story of Friday Night

When do you do things long term vs short term?

Money evaluation
Time evaluation
Damage that happens while something is not fixed
Never ending things to do on a homestead
How does this relate to clutter? – A friend’s broken dryer –
What about the permanence of “the right” fix?

It depends is the answer we use all the time for so many questions and it fits here too.

Joel Salatin on temporary fences. Buy once cry once and the meat slicer. But the aggravation and time used to reset my event space has to stop now - and a temporary fix buys us the winter to set up the long-term repair shop.

It’s up to you.

Make it a great week!

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.

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Virtual and Augmented Reality with Edwon (Ep 65)