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@shagbark_hick
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I am a proud woodchuck, a Roman Catholic, and a North Country patriot. I write for a living at Hickman's Hinterlands at https://t.co/czRSBad12f
Joined May 2021
Cities, homes, restaurants, hospitals β all of them need warm, yellow-tinged lighting. I canβt think of a single place that has been improved by the introduction of white LEDβs.
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There's an Italian restaurant in Rome, NY that plays Frank Sinatra very loudly on the street from 9am to 11pm every single day. I once asked the owner why. He said:. "Sinatra is like poison to n____'s and junkies. They can't handle it. Keeps them off my block.". It felt like I'd.
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Why did we stop doing this?. It's not really that cruel. You sit there for a day and your friends feed you and then it's over. Costs the state nothing. Probably would stop the rampant petty crime in this country if we brought it back.
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Many do not realize that there are many viable businesses in rural America owned by an aging man who has no obvious successor. The guy probably wants to retire, the locals need the service he provides, but the business would be hard to sell because it is not managed according
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Whatever happened to the "wino"?.Is this a species of bum that is on the verge of extinction?. I mean a man, unemployed, often homeless, whose sole vice in life appears to be wine. Not beer, not heroin, not liquor -- wine. I used to see a few of them, but now I see none.
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For about 7 years, I lived with no fixed address. For 5 of those years, I was constantly traveling. Where the hell did I sleep? . About 7 nights in 10, I 'stealth camped' anywhere I could sleep without detection. In almost 2k nights out, I was caught <10 times. Megathread.1/25+
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Here's my advice to single American men who feel hopeless about ever finding a good woman to marry:. Take a month or two between jobs and drive across the USA. Stop at every gas station and truck stop, and eat every meal at diners during non-rush hours. Avoid cities; stop
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Falling in love should feel like an irrefutable proof of the existence of God and like a testament to His benevolent genius. Nothing about it is ambivalent or half-hearted, I am not 'of two minds' about her, I am unequivocally hers, forever, until my life is over. Period. 1/
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I've found that the younger a person is, the more likely they are to engage in this kind of behavior. Old farmers might visit an unexpected camper with coffee, see what you're he's up to, make sure he's not making a mess. Young guys want to go nuts, flash guns, burn shit down.
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I suspect that one could build a covert "pod" apartment in a large telecoms box illegally installed on a city street. Pick a rough area, wear an offical-looking uniform, install it, outfit for sleeping. Sneak in every night. Make $100k+ in city, no rent. No one would care. 1/2
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Foreigners should not be allowed to own land or homes in the USA. Period.
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My wife is now with child. By midsummer, God willing, we will be parents. The child will be born in the Adirondacks, in the house we're closing on this Friday. Just as I knew my river as a boy, our child will know our woods and bogs and creeks. He'll be given the best life I
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@skibidblackhole Sure, but not anywhere that humans live, relax, get together, enjoy life. Wal-Mart lighting is anti-human. What works in a laboratory should not be in one's house, on one's street, or in a restaurant. Ever.
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"I'm thinking about moving to the Bay Area"
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In your charity, please pray for my mother, who was admitted into the Oncology Urgent Care last night. EKG measured massive increases in lung metastases; morphine isn't helping, she's on oxygen awaiting a Cat Scan. Might be the beginning of the end. She's 51. God help her.
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I can't begin to describe the bizarre desolation of life on an icebreaker. You're in a rarely-transited, ever-changing, completely inhospitable place more barren than the desert. You are reminded every day that you have no business being where you are. It's a very weird feeling.
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Open container laws are a good example of the erosion of personal freedom in the US. Bogus laws invented by a pack of communist harpies that just don't have a chance of ever being repealed in spite of being useless laws. I propose a "ginger beer revolution". If everyone consumes
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Update -- Our offer was accepted!.
Well, gonna put an offer in on a house in the Adirondacks tomorrow. If we get it, it's likely to be our "forever" home.
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It's easy to knock "hippie communes" but once you've lived this way it's quite difficult to go back to "normal". Virtually everywhere I stayed in my adult life was some iteration of a collective, whether at anarchist squats or their oddly-similar antipode - military barracks. 1/
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One can visit France without ever leaving North America. A 1hr ferry from Newfoundland takes you to a foggy haven of cheap booze, rocky coastlines, French bread, and bars where you can still smoke inside. It's called Saint Pierre & Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France. 1/
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my uncle lived along the old Black River Canal in a run-down place he turned into an antique shop that ran on no set hours. he grew pot and made creepy sculptures from bones, wax, and rusty metal. "can't say I ever needed more than $15,000 a year to live like an aristocrat."
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This is part of why divorce is so evil. I grew up with my grandparents in a lovely old house. They always told me I'd inherit it -- til they got divorced and it was sold. Then I moved in with my mom in a beautiful canal-era house. Expected to inherit it -- til they divorced,
Controversial opinion: people shouldnβt move out of their ancestral homes. At the very least the home should stay in the family for the generations. The community should grow around them and improve with time. The home once paid off should belong to the family with no other
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Imagine: You buy the $49k house in Ogdensburg, NY. You take the $40k/yr part-time job as a TSA agent at the federally-subsidized airport there that only sees ~40 passengers per day. You're pulling $2500/mo. Your mortgage is $375. Your job is so easy you read all day at work.
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You will also become "interesting" forever - and thusly find yourself in the role of the court jester or clown. People will want your 'stories' but won't really understand, and after holding court and telling them all, you'll still be alone - and crave the road again. //end
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Tomorrow's the big day -- the day I buy a house outright, for cash. No bank loan, no interest. The average American spends ~33% of their post-tax income on housing each month, but I'll be spending less than 2% of mine. This is real freedom. I pray every American gets here.
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Whenever I serviced those boxes, if one was unfamiliar and appeared not to be under my jurisdiction, I ignored it. And in bad areas, it was obvious that the city (both NYC and NOLA) hardly ever audited these boxes or paid them any thought. You'd be hiding in plain sight. 2/2
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There are truly vast areas of the country where a man could reside covertly without detection for decades. Many hermits have been rumored to inhabit different backsets in my own town. Here's how you do it. 1/8
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Every time I've taken my mom to chemotherapy, the atmosphere is so depressing. These people are dying! Give them plush leather seats, wood walls, warm light, paintings, classical music. Let them be comfortable instead of making them feel like they've come to Wal-Mart to die.
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I met this guy last night on the Amtrak -- "The Traveling Gas Can Man". Talked til well past 2am. He said: "hitchhiking died in the 80's and I got tired of it, so I developed a method.". The method involves carrying nothing but a modified gas can containing only the barest
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From 1988 to 1998, Thomas Johnson lived in a 136 square foot underground home he illegally constructed on a Boy Scout camp on Nantucket Island, MA, one of the most expensive zip codes in the US. Once evicted, he transitioned to one of his many backup homes.
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"Yup, I control 2,500,000 gallons of water. Mostly read and drink coffee all day. It's quiet out here. Might get four boats a day. $520/week ain't much, but I'm happy. Sometimes my wife even comes and knits in the lockhouse and the kids do some fishing."
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Those who've studied primitives know they invariably spent a shocking amount of time in primordial idleness. I keep this ancient tradition alive by sitting for hours doing absolutely nothing. I don't read, or think, or talk to myself, or sing. Completely vacant, I gaze westward.
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One thing I notice about young people today is that they close the blinds. They exhibit a worldview that seems almost feverishly obsessed with privacy. Contrast this with my grandmother - who always loved making her home into a picturesque scene for passers-by at night. This
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First Tweet from the new house! The heat is on -- thermometer is headed for -5f tonight! Five feet of snow out there!. WE OWN IT!! . No banks, no interest. Shagbark HQ is up and running! God is good!!
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Well, I finally met him after 30 years. My father. Former Nazi gangmember and meth addict, a boozehound working for shit pay, suffering from gout. He hobbles around the carnival barking foul-mouthed orders. We drank without saying a word, wedged between the Tilt-O-Whirl and the
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In Lansford, ND, you can buy this house for $15k. It's a little rough but livable. In the same town, Northern Plains Railroad is hiring for $25-28/hr for a Utility Mech. No experience required. There's no 'housing shortage' -- there's a shortage of imagination and flexibility.
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Thinking about buying an absurdly cheap piece of land for my brother for his 16th birthday. Don't care where it is. If it's under $2k, I'll buy it and sign it over to him. Little man can strut around in High School saying "yes, I own property."
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Apparently Europe has a continent-wide network of long-distance walking paths. Only just learned about this today.
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The Herkimer diamond occurs only in a thin seam between the Adirondack Mountains and the Erie Canal. Yesterday, I put a tiny piece of the land I love most onto the finger of the woman I love most. She said yes!
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Never deceive yourself into imagining that what takes place on the internet is of no consequence in real life. Because of Twitter, I am now a married man. The very flowers of the springtime of our lives were planted online. Now we are watching them bloom "IRL".
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I grew up in a village in the deep woods of Upstate New York. My childhood was idyllic in ways none of us understood. We had no idea what we were about to lose. Many on here accuse me of having too romantic a view of rural America. Some even think it's a parody. But the fact is
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Consider Massena. It's a forgotten town at the northern extremity of New York State. Its a full 7 hours north of Manhattan, in the obscure and liminal border region with Canada. Its known for constant overcast, bitter winters, cheap real estate, and dim economic prospects. 1/11
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America's dying hinterlands are depressing to some. To me, they appear to offer the greatest opportunities ever afforded a single generation in our nation's history - if we move carefully and deliberately. (a hopeful thread).1/15
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The DMV can't touch anyone running this setup. I could get 35mph and was getting 100mpg. No license, no insurance, no inspection. Could drive drunk. Could fix it easily. Cops couldn't touch me. Motorized bikes are the best "deal" for transportation freedom in the US right now.
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One thing I donβt understand about travel culture in America is that many seem totally reticent to visit the heartland of our own country. I regularly meet people whoβve been to Prague, Paris, Berlin, London, Costa Rica, even Tokyo β often multiple times β but theyβve never once
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The desolation I am encountering in West Texas is almost overwhelming. This is without a doubt some of the most empty, harsh, lonesome country I've ever seen. I watch the thermometer climb a degree every ten minutes. There's no water anywhere. No traffic on the road. Even the
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There are many places on earth where it's "winter forever," such as the arctic. The tropics are "summer forever". There are even places like Quito Ecuador where they say it is like "spring forever.". But where is the "autumn forever" place?.It doesn't exist.
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My aunt's pet cow watches TV at the "tavern" they've built in their garage.
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When I was living on the street, I met quite a few people who took some interesting measures to stop being homeless. A "formula to get off the street" became clear:. 1. Save ~$3k - $5k cash by any means necessary. Usually by working with illegals and taking Craigslist jobs for a
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Not to poke the hornet's nest here, but I believe it's right to have compassion on these people. Coyotes are absolutely sick. These 'smugglers' are straight-up evil. The Coyotes are the problem -- not the migrants. Most of these guys are Central American and the desert is.
Tearful 18-year-old migrant abandoned by smugglers in Texas desert: βI want to go home to my motherβ
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My father, who I have never met and only recently even learned his name and reconnected with, called me last night. His boss's 23-year-old son killed himself. He said "I just wanted to make sure you're doing ok. I know I'm a fuckup, but I don't want you dead.".1/3
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Do these people not know that we tried permanent DST in 1974 and repealed it in less than a year because people HATED it?
The right move is to make it daylight savings permanently. I want sunlight in the evening, not at 6-7am. The sun goes down at 4pm in the winter here in Minnesota. It sucks.
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I think a lot of rural folks don't get why the whole "it's illegal to build this type of walkable dense urbanism" thing ultimately impacts rural places. If our few walkable dense city areas are "museumized" by regs that make it illegal to build new ones, they become luxury
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@grumpyoldgrunt It's just weird because it's not actually cruel at all, and it's not unusual because it was done forever. Sure, lefty people would hate it, but they seem to hate any enforcement of order. Their ideas are visibly failing.
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I often lose followers when I post about Catholicism. I don't care. I've made serious spiritual breakthroughs this month; I'm not "toning it down" for anyone. I would give away every single thing I have achieved for the sake of proclaiming the truth of Christ and His Church.
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I am literally doing this for Catholics. In the next 5-10 years, there will be a colder, cheaper, more isolated version of Steubenville, Ohio -- because I am strongly motivated to build it. Stay tuned.
Hear me out. Hundreds of smaller/sunsetting towns in the U.S. A bunch of us get together, move to towns like this, fix the place documentary style. Social media assisted American redevelopment. Bring back small town America.
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He said it'd be ok if I hated him. I told him I didn't. His dad was a pedo. He was a drug-addled dirt poor skinhead kid from SoCal. He had no way to know what to do for me. He was lost. I just told him I forgive him and I'll be a good dad. He was blown away. Forgiveness works.
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If I were a billionaire, I'd pick a poor, depressed town in the Adirondacks and become its patron. I'd fix every single dilapidated building, build an insanely ornate Gothic Church, and plant a gigantic, multi-thousand-acre plantation of pine nut pine trees that, in 30 years'
What would you do with your time if you were independently wealthy?. What would be your mission? Your purpose?.
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This flavor of problem-solving taps into something ancient in us; it exercises the brain and body in a way that atrophies in a drywall box with bills on the kitchen table. Life becomes hyper-real, and every single day the natural environment around you matters profoundly.
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What other Church can say this?. Daily Mass is one of the greatest aspects of Catholicism. I find it fascinating that we are, so far as I know, the only Christians who are worshipping together daily in our Churches.
It is estimated that about βfour-to-five Masses begin each second,β and that βthere are approximately 8-to-9,000 Masses going on at any momentβ around the world. Info: Fr. George W. Kosicki, CSB.
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There's been a "vibe shift.". Our decade of shameless anti-Americanism is over. The climate in which former NY governor Andrew Cuomo said "America was never that great" is finished. Being an American patriot is "in" again. Crank up the Rock 'n Roll. Have a cigarette. From here
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There are many who are very invested in proving that affordable housing doesn't exist in the US. If you show them affordable housing, they'll say "but there's no jobs there!". If you show them this $49k 3bd 1100 sq ft home in South Bend Indiana -- 90min from Chicago -- I'm not
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Nothing happened. If anything, this has gotten even easier than it was then. Most Americans just don't want to live in the places where this is possible anymore (ironically, including Detroit) because they are cracked out on reality-TV-tier ideas of what "success" looks like.
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I see this stuff and think of how much easier my life would be if I gave up on what I'm doing and moved to Europe. Why is it so hard to find or build a place where:. 1. The people are deeply American.2. They aren't flaming libs.3. Live a beautiful, non-strip-mall life. America.
This is community in Genoa that I've never seen, let alone, experienced in the US. This is the entire neighborhood turning out for the annual dinner. 1km long. Wealthy & poor eat together. Cause they live in close proximity, not apart. Drink wine. Everyone brings what they can.
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There are 4 generations in this photograph. Here, my dying mother, age 51, places her hand on her unborn grandchild -- a child she is extremely unlikely to meet. Next to her, my grandma, who'll become great-grandma the same summer her daughter dies. Cancer is a nightmare. I
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My grandfather taught me that carrying a firearm can and should be an amplifier of compassion. He was never afraid of bums, drunks, miscreants, or addicts -- he'd shake hands with them and take them out to lunch. This was because he had no fear. Not only could he hold his own in
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I was there. I was at the Vegas shooting, heard the shots ringing out down the street, and I can confirm that these audio clips are un-doctored and genuine. Easily the fishiest public event that has taken place in my life. I trust NONE of the mainstream narrative on it.
The Las Vegas Shooter Conspiracy EXPOSED. It was not a βbump stockβ itβs clearly a belt Fed M240 LMG. You cannot keep lying to the citizens.
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It's kind of crazy how a lot of people just don't get it. Could live with no bills, no car, no mortgage. Walk to daily Mass, read, smoke cheap cigars by the river. Take trains to Montreal; play the accordion on the porch. Sing to the children -- bring trout to your wife. You
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Mom's cancer is now officially terminal. 9% chance she makes it 5 years. She is very unlikely to see her two sons (my half-brothers) graduate high school. We are crestfallen. Pray for us.
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I'll never understand it. It's like a brain virus. "Cars = freedom" might be the dumbest formulation I've ever heard of in my life. They're so "free" that you need government permission to use them, and they can take it away at any time. Forced to buy insurance, forced to buy.
@shagbark_hick Love most of your content but this is an L. I get the sentiment, I really do. But the automobile represents a level of freedom most people on the planet donβt understand. Thatβs why the WEF is pushing so hard for public transport and EVs. You can be totally controlled when you.
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My mom got emergency surgery for colon cancer almost three years ago. Stage 3A. Since then, it's spread to her lungs, stomach, and lymph nodes, and her diagnosis was moved to stage 4. She's 50, raising two teenage sons. My grandmother just told me her condition is worsening
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Visited some property today. Dry cabin on a few acres of hardwood goatslope way up a steep 4x4 road. Totally hidden. Comes with propane fridge, gas range, and a woodstove. No power. Ten miles from town. Seriously considering putting an offer in. Please offer a prayer for us.
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The implications of this are truly massive. If he wins in a sweeping victory like Reagan did in 1980, this country will never be the same again. It may wind up being a permanent paradigm shift. It may just become cool for Americans to deeply love their country again.
BREAKING: Rasmussenβs head pollster, Mark Mitchell, suggests Trump is poised to secure a landslide victory that could resemble Ronald Reaganβs historic landslide win over Jimmy Carter in 1980.
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Few understand this feeling, but it gets me high. Empty, rainy, gloomy streets. Every building is decrepit, and basically everyone is elderly. No one's going to work even though it's a non-holiday weekday. You go to Stewarts, buy an Eggwich, and walk around all day, unemployed.
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~33,000cal worth of rice (20lbs) costs $10 at Wal-Mart. 20lbs of chicken legs (16,700cal, 2180g protein) goes for $16. That's 3wks of food for ~$26. Move-in ready homes are for sale for ~$30k in states where minimum wage is $14+. This is the BOTTOM. You can't fail unless you
@Ajakayemaryann we are actually living in the most prosperous time ever with more resources at our fingertips. There's never been a better time to have children in history.
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One flesh means one flesh. You mess with her, you mess with me. And if she's winning, I'm winning, too. All my life I've hoped for a "tribe," and now I found it. It's a tribe of two -- like a miniature nation. With that longing quenched, I'm a different man. Thank God for her.
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Well, gonna put an offer in on a house in the Adirondacks tomorrow. If we get it, it's likely to be our "forever" home.
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If anyone wonders why I post the things I post, it's because of these guys. The 23 y/o man who feels trapped by his circumstances needs to know that he can just make a change, and that the stakes are far lower than he thinks. He can ride a greyhound up to ND, flirt with a gal.
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Being anti-car is a right-wing position. It is one affirmation of the supremacy of natural order - the body, the beast, the muscle, unmitigated. Machines and middlemen are only a backdoor for tyrants. True vigor and virtue issues from effort, not from the pushing of buttons.
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Has anyone ever bought land that was not on the market by sending a letter to the owner?. I've maintained a meticulous list of all parcels that border the Erie Canal bike trail for the last 18 months, privileging those that are otherwise landlocked, with out-of-state owners. I've
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Today is the 234th birthday of the United States Coast Guard -- a branch of the US Military I served in for four years. When I enlisted, I was 25 years old. I had $0.17 to my name, 13 cavities, and had been homeless, traveling, and unemployed for my entire adult life. I was
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There were times where even 3-4 miles of walking didn't work - sprawling ghettos exist where you simply can't sleep. You need to keep walking all night. In those cases, I would have a coffee and screech to myself like a mental patient while walking. No one f*cks with crazy.
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I asked my grandmother about this. She said a large number of the working women she knows openly admit that working a job is easier than actually raising their kids. Even if they net nothing moneywise, and spend 100% of income on daycare, they'd still do it. Seems deranged IMO.
βWomen want to workβ.Why?.Remember when we got to live for free?.
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In so many cases, half of owning a successful small business boils down to ANSWERING THE PHONE. Where I live, there are ~6 garbage removal companies. I called all 6 just now and only one answered. Guess who's getting my business?.
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In one year in NY, a man could take 7 deer, 1 bear, 1 turkey, and tremendous amounts of beaver, grouse, duck, and squirrel - all legally on public land. He could also harvest hundreds of pounds of wild berries and fish a considerable amount as well. A European can't do this.
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Why did men stop sleeping like this? Nightshirts, sleeping caps, etc. -- where did they go? . At what point did men collectively say "screw it, I'm just gonna wear my underwear to bed like an absolute animal"?
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Every 'blind spot' offered an opportunity: If I alter my habits to put myself in the blind spots of the public and LEO's while asleep, I can exploit that 'loophole' and successfully sleep for free. The number one rule for the stealth camper is: You are now an early riser.
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My mom's on round 2 of chemo. She's got cancer in her colon, stomach, and lungs. The diagnosis is terminal. She's 50, and the chemo makes her profoundly sick and weak. This means that what feels like a normal hike with her, Keturah, and my two half-brothers is actually a gem.
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Make America Dark Again. No child should grow up without the Milky Way.
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The inner city required the greatest level of ingenuity due to constant traffic and eyeballs, and moreover - aggressive addicts who might try to rob you. I carried a hammock and a climbing harness for these times, exploiting the 'people never look up' rule. Absolutely wild.
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It's shocking how informal things are in the village we've moved to. No one has a surveyed lot. Property lines are fuzzy. Power company couldn't find the house at first as the roads aren't very well mapped. Turns out if a bunch of drunken lumberjacks turn a camp into a village
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$3,000 unrestricted half-acre in WV. No building codes. Owner will accept 50% down and 12-month payoff at $128/mo. Two miles from town -- walking distance to Kroger. Any desperate person in America only needs a bike, tent, a bus ticket, and $1,500 to start over. Incredible.
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This cabbage probably weighs 25lbs. Keturah paid $4. I was so proud I insisted we take a photograph.
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Just met a couple IRL in the American West who told me they are seriously considering moving to Far East Russia. They knew all the details, had plans, everything. I can't imagine they're alone. Time will tell. You can call me crazy, but frankly, I'm bullish on the whole thing.
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This is a guarantee I reckon. There's a schism incoming between Republicans who drink soda and never read books and Republicans who read books and never drink soda. Strip malls vs quadrangles. Megachurch vs Latin Mass. Hot pockets vs grass fed beef. Irreconcilable differences.
'The right' is probably going to fracture over the next decade like how 'the left' fractured over the previous one.
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Why did Russian-style masonry heaters never really take off in North America? They burn 1/5th of the wood of a stove, look great, and often have nooks to keep things warm, benches, beds, and hot water systems. I hear they're "expensive," but Russian peasants built them. How
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I think it's funny that skiing is considered a bourgeois thing in so many places. Where I grew up, there was a tiny ski slope. Season pass was $250. I skiied 90+ days per year there as a kid. We weren't rich. No one at that ski hill was. It was real working class ski culture.
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