Chillin' with my sons watching the 1984 version of Godzilla, glad that a long weekend is here. You know, for all the zombie preparedness we do, you think there'd be a few more people worried about ol' big green Godzilla. Maybe that's what they prep for in Japan? Or maybe they've just realize that there's not much you can do to prepare for 80 feet of giant atomic lizard.
The market has not done well this week, post-Obama election, which shows you what the general consensus among the markets is. The largest single day drop of the year came the day after the elections.
The fiscal cliff is looming before us, with a real risk of recession if they don't deal with it - and deal with it well. If taxes are raised, most businesses will have to trim some of their costs, and personnel is the largest expense for most businesses. We'll see if Washington reaches some sort of compromise, but businesses and investors everywhere are concerned.
Last time around, everyone and their grandma went out and bought up guns and ammo that they were sure was going to shortly get the ban. I don't see an assault weapons ban 2 at the top of the Dem's agenda, and it's something that not even the masses favor these days. Yes, no one wants to have the mass shooting psychos that we've had, but there's a realization among many that a law isn't going to stop a determined crazy person. With a Repulican controlled House, I don't see a gun ban happening in the immediate future.
I DID buy a 10 pack of P-Mags on election night--it's been something that I've been meaning to do; with the new generation of P-Mags coming out, there's some screaming deals on Gen 2s out there. I was a bit concerned that prices would inflate for the next few months. Initially, that doesn't look to be the case.
Ammo looks to still be available in normal variety and at normal prices. We may even see some Veteran's Day sales. If anyone spots some good deals on XM193, lemme know.
We got two 55-gallon water barrels, a couple weeks back. Guy we know is moving and gave 'em away, free of charge. Free is a good price for anything.
I'm looking at picking up some additional web gear. My main means for carrying space mags is my plate carrier, which leaves me with not much if I want to run without a plate carrier. A chest rig can be worn atop the plate carrier, or as a standalone if needed. The Esstac Load Bearing Boar is pricey, but exactly what I want.
I also need to suck it up and buy some new outdoors-y clothes and boots. Some BDUs, wool stuff, etc. My current stuff is old, wearing out, or cheap-ish crap. Clothes are oft overlooked, and being an average dude, I have a hard time pulling the trigger on decent clothes.
Blog-wise, I'm planning on an e-book, looking at a couple new series and DIY articles, and a few other projects in the works Taking a bunch of pictures and hopefully getting some writing in this long weekend. Thanks to all for your support - there'd be no T-Blog without you guys!
That's it from me--what about you guys and gals? What are you working on?
Edited to Add: It looks like many online retailers are getting hit pretty hard for business. Maybe not the full scale we saw in '08, or maybe it's just taking a while to get rolling...
Edited to Add Pt. 2: I'm seeing a lot of "we're busy, expect delayed shipping" notices for ammo dealers. Midway is limiting purchases to 10 boxes per kind of ammo. Lots of others are starting to run low on certain kinds...I was going to restock my plinking/practice 9mm supply with a trip or two to Wal-Mart, but I ordered up a case off Midway at similar prices, and because they had it in stock. Last time around, Wal-Mart was cleared out for a long, long time.
But, it looks like we might be facing some measure of what we saw in 2008 all over again. I'm a bit surprised, really -- with the Republicans controlling the House, I don't see any bans coming down, but if people are going to go nuts and buy, you can't stop 'em.
Really, I don't even know what kind of priority a gun ban is for Obama - during the debates, he mostly dodged around the question about an assault weapons ban, citing Saturday Night Specials as killers in Chicago (gun control working there, huh?) and the need to use education as a way to prevent violence. He said, if I remember right, he would sign an assault weapons ban if it came across his desk, but there's no large demand for that currently.