Below is a copy of the email i sent to my friends... some here may find it useful.

Good morning brothers and sisters below is a post from a Website I frequent. If you buy or keep Gold Or Silver this is an add that ran in the Smithsonian Magazine.

They are currently out of the gold coins and all years of the silver except 2009 and they are limiting 2009 to one per household . But at $12.50 it’s a great deal. That covers shipping and insurance as well. The company is 1st American reserve. Spot right now is 12.53. to buy from a dealer there would be mark up beyond that. its only one coin but still it’s a silver coin

Hope this is info you can use

Bro Mark Murray
http://mark-thespot.blogspot.com/

Appearing in an advertisement in the January 09 issue of Smithsonian magazine is an offer for a 2009 $12.50 ASE- limit one per household. Offer made by 1st American Reserve. The offer includes a free five year newsletter subscription and a free Baush and Lomb numismatic loup.

Or you can get the same fee offers if you buy a 2009 $5 gold American Eagle for $80.00.

No shipping fees listed.

Vault Verification: ASMTHNC0109 Call 1-888-324-2646

Keeping fit should be part of preparedness

If the stresses of the day have you down, what are you doing about it? One of my suggestions is to work off your frustrations, depressions, anxieties, fears, what have you. Its easy to say that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. But that really is the truth. No matter where you are when it comes to physical fitness I can tell you that life feels better the more you move. For us couch potatoes I found the best and easiest method to get back into a habit is to schedule it. What ever works best for you. For my self I like early mornings. That is my time. No one interrupts it as I wont let them. I take an hour each morning and do what ever program I've set up for myself.

Your programs can be what ever you choose. I don't run yet but when my weight hits the 200 lb mark I will start. Thats a goal i set for myself. Im almost there. For now I ride a stationary bike. ( a Schwinn airdyne) I also do resistance and body weight exercises. I mix these up doing one type one day and another type the next.

Riding the bike to nowhere can get boring so learn to spice it up a bit. Some folks watch TV while riding. My self? I like putting on the ear buds and playing fast past music and just zoning out to a beat that is about 130 to 150 bpm. I down load a lot of it from http://www.djsteveboy.com/mixes.html. its free and easy.

I think that you will find that being fitter gives you a better out look on life. Not to mention more stamina. So what can you do for better fitness? Here is a short list to get some ideas flowing. Go for a walk, start slow after a few days pick up the pace. Walk around the block, walk in the park, walk at the mall, or on you treadmill. Run, ride a bike or stationary bike, lift weights, use rubber tubing for resistance if you don't like weights. Do body weight exercises, push ups, burpees, squats and lunges. Situps and crunches are great for the abs and the hip flexors. Use a fitness ball, do yoga or pilates, rent or buy some tae bo disks or tapes. SPEED vacuum, what ever winds your binder.

In any kind of emergency being fit wont hurt and most often will be a help. Wether you need to evacute a store because of a fire or shooting or just dealing with sick children. Life happens, its easier to deal with when your stronger mentally and physically.

Cold

Its been cold here lately. At 4:00pm it currently 3 degrees. What do you keep in your car for a cold weather travel kit? I have a Rubbermaid container in my trunk that has a spare coat, gloves and hat, a blanket, candles matches and butane lighters. as well as some small tuna can sized heaters. Also i keep a small first aid kit and a rechargeable battery and air compressor combo that can jump start my car or inflate a tire as well as a snow shovel. When my kids were home I would never let them travel in the car during winter with out hat gloves/mittens and coat. Even if they didn't wear them they at least would have them available if the car broke down and the cold became an issue. Years ago outside of Aspen Colorado i was first on the scene of an accident in the mountains. A Volks wagon beetle had run through the guard rail and was spinning on its top. One occupant was out side the car wandering around the other was inside semi contiouse. Being late fall i had to crawl into the car and wrap my blanket around the victim and actually get in with him to help keep him warm while my fellow traveler flagged down a semi and used a CB to call for help. This was the mid 70's so no cells phone then. Keeping this guy still and warm was a priority. Having some basic gear with even just a blanket proved to be very helpful.
I cant say how many times ive jumped stranded motorist, or shoveled out myself or another stuck vehicle.

Winter is about half over but February and early March can be our snowiest months. If you dont have an emergency kit in your vihicle please consider putting one together. Throw in a few protien bars or energy bars, even a small tin to melt snow in so you can drink.

In the summer time you could change out a few items for more appropriate items. Like water, crackers, cookies, things that dont melt, Keep the blanket it could come in handy for things like shock. Or just every day warmth MN summer can be cool especially in damp weather. dont forget a poncho or other rain gear.

Just a few ideas to keep your minds working on preps

God Bless

computer is back up

Having back ups is great. One of the benefits is I didn’t have to try and recreate email addresses. All my book marks were there. I even re-installed all my programs. It was still a bit time consuming, but not like the old days that seemed to take me a week or more to get everything back to where I was. Now i have a clean faster computer. Its not that cluttered yet. I would certainly recommend backing up your computer and reformatting the hard drive periodically.

When Things Break

I'm writing this on my laptop as my main computer is down. Which brings me to another point of preparations. Do you know how to use the tools and equipment you have put aside? It does no good to have a generator stashed if you've never started it. Or to have family frequency walkie talkies that are still in the bubble wrap. What about your computer? Do you have your files backed up? Your important stuff on your hard drive, is it stored anywhere else? CD ROM's,? Flash drives,? Other portable drives?

I haven't yet figured out what is going on with my main PC but I will. And I know that everything on it that was important will only be lost until I get it up and running again then all my back ups will come into play.

Learn how to use your stuff. Learn how to use your computers. If something breaks, burns up, or just wears out learn how to replace it. It is cheaper than bringing it into a shop for repair. And there is satisfaction in knowing or learning how to fix something, whether its your plumbing, or electrical outlet, or increasing RAM in your computer. There are plenty of aids out there. Manuals online, and at the library. Bet there are a lot of experts in many fields just within your circle of friends. Well that is enough for now. I need to get back to my main PC. I kept it running well for 8 years now. Lets see if I can get a few more out of it.

Gasoline Storage

Gasoline. Seems lately the price are rising again. I'm not sure where there going this time but do you have any extra stored. If you can store gasoline its a good idea to store as much as you can and still follow the local laws. Metal cans are best to store in and a preservative is needed if your planning to store your gas for more that a few months. The best thing to use is a product called PRI-G. Its an additive that allows you to store gasoline for longer than normal. i have stored gasoline for up to a year with success. ( meaning it made my vehicle run fine). The best things to store gas in is metal container. I am currently am using plastic containers. I have had good luck so far but feel I am pushing my luck with plastic.

My strategy has been to keep enough on hand for an extra full tank. Its gasoline i don't use unless the price drops. Then I recycle it by adding it to my car and refill the containers right away. this keeps the gas in storage fresher, And allows me the piece of mind to know i have enough on hand to at least fill my tank one more time.

The economy and medicine

Medical

This economy is affecting lots of people in many ways. One is as people get laid off from there jobs they lose there medical insurance. Or as in the case of my last job it just didn’t provide medical insurance. What to do? My recommendation is as long as you have medical insurance DO NOT PUT ANYTHING OFF. Get your check ups done now, keep your dentist visits up to date. Take care of any procedures that need doing now. Tomorrow you could be laid off. There is always cobra. But that is very expensive.

If prescription medication is needed get it now. I have purchased many types of Rx drugs with out insurance and gotten some better deals because I have purchased 3 or 6 months worth at a time paying cash. ( I say better deals, I mean better than buying one months worth at a time) If you are paying cash make sure the pharmacy knows this in advance or they will assume your using your insurance. If you feel like you need many months worth of a Rx talk to your doctor. They may be able to help. Don’t be afraid to ask for samples. Allina has stopped giving out samples but they used to and it was very helpful.

Also don’t be afraid to stock up on the over the counter medications you may need for colds and flu and normal aches and pains. Again look at things that are generic, both in over the counter and in Rx. Most if not all work just as well. A good example is the equate brand of zinc lozenge….. They are manufactured by the same company that makes Cold Eeze.

Lets get started on an objective.

The purpose of this blog is to share good ideas with people as it concerns emergency preparations and the preparedness life style. Life in trying emergency scenarios doesn't have to be all Mad Max ( early Mel Gibson Movie).

What I would like to share is anything from food storage, recipes, whats on sale and where, things that you or I have done to make life easier for now or in the future.

I want this to be an exchange of ideas where everyone can participate. It shouldn't become just a recipe board or a food storage board, or a firearms board or even a jobs posting board. All these topics and more are needed and should be discussed here. I guess what I would like to see is what has worked in your home that your willing to share with anyone who comes here.

So to start this ball rolling I will start with what I know the best, that is food storage. Before the Dollar store here in Forest Lake closed down we did a lot of our shopping there for for food storage items. Things like pasta sauce we would buy faster than we could use and quickly built up a supply. We found things like Vigo brand red beans and rice at $.50 a package. Some items we were unfamiliar with so we would only buy one or two and test it to see if it was worth buying more. This was a true Dollar store where nothing was over a dollar. There may be other stores like this. I hope so but we haven't found as good a store to replace this one.

Another point to make is don't be so quick to dismiss store brands. Like my comment above try one or two first and see if you or your family will like them before buying more for the pantry. I have found that the store brands are as good as the national brands. Sometimes the store brands are made by the same company that produces the national brand.

Lets see where this takes us for now.
Bro Murray