Category: #TBJSPatreon

Just Ring The Bell…

Posted on by bigjohn

Woke up getting news I didn’t expect to ever thought would have happened. Damn it, won’t 2021 ever go away?

Guys, suicide is NOT the answer. It is the other end of the spectrum and leaves so many more questions than answers and a whole lot of pain for those who love you. Communication is key and if you need to talk, there are many ways I can be contacted. A lot of people know this and it you don’t, now you do. Pick a preferred method listed on my website (Www.thebigjohnshow.com), call me direct if you have my number, message me here, email, ect…, telling me you need to talk. I have spent hours, even in the middle of the night talking with folks who were total strangers helping them out. It is not an inconvenience to help someone see the way out of their darkest hour. I’m not a counselor by any means, but sometimes you just need someone to talk with, somebody to help you see there is daylight on a cloudy day.

We all have struggles in our daily lives (i.e. I am struggling to find employment in this area which makes for a hell of an emotional ride daily), but the only thing we can do is keep marching forward. Yeah, it is a tough time in our country, but you are NOT alone in this. Sometimes asking the advice from a total stranger while waiting for your ride to pick you up is worth gold because that person has been where you are in that moment. You never know until you try.

One of my favorite wrestlers, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, once gave the advice I heard so often as a cliche, but hearing him say it in the context he did, it made perfect sense: if you’re afraid or unsure of doing something, “just ring the bell”. That is all you need to do. Something in his mind changes when he does hear it and believe me, something as simple as that actually works for me. Someone says something that sets you off, you may hear an imaginary bell go off in your head, and suddenly you may be giving that person a piece of your mind (or a foot in their behind), but sometime it is just that simple to flick that switch that alters your thought process from bad to better. Just getting it off your chest and clearing your mind is the most important (sometimes hardest) decision you can make. Just ring the bell…

 

Coming Up Short?

Posted on by bigjohn

 

     For people worried about the coin shortage: “The Federal Reserve continues to work with the U.S. Mint and others in the industry to keep coins circulating. As a first step, a temporary cap was imposed in June 2020 on the orders depository institutions place for coins with the Federal Reserve to ensure that the supply was fairly distributed. Because coin circulation patterns have not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, caps were reinstated in May 2021. We continue to closely monitor orders and deposits from depository institutions as well as U.S. Mint production. The U.S. Coin Task Force, which was formed in July 2020 to identify, implement, and promote actions to address disruptions to coin circulation, continues to meet regularly until coin circulation normalizes”, according to the Federal Reserve (https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/why-do-us-coins-seem-to-be-in-short-supply-coin-shortage.htm).

 

     Now if you want to talk about something that can have a major impact of world economy, you won’t have to look any further than what the transportation industry used every day: Gasoline and Oil. When you have a problem in the oil industry, it can affect a huge amount of other industries, but more important, lives are at stake. Remember the fuel crunch of the late 1970’s? (https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/energy-crisis) Fast forward to the present time and see a headline pop out of the news cycles that talk about fuel shortages happening in countries that are fuel efficient. That can be pretty scary feeling considering how depended out country is on foreign sources. For about a week, they’ve been talking Fuel shortages in the U.K.? If you think this can’t / won’t happen in the United States, you need to talk with the long-haul truck drivers. https://nypost.com/2021/09/21/uk-fuel-crisis-could-cause-turkey-shortage-ahead-of-holidays/

 

“In the gas market, inventories are 5% below the pre-pandemic seasonal average in the United States and 15% below average in Europe. Front-month gas futures prices have risen 140% in the United States, more than 500% in Europe, and more than 600% in Northeast Asia, compared with the same time last year. On the oil side, U.S. commercial petroleum stocks are 5% below the pre-pandemic seasonal average and commercial inventories across the OECD are also around 5% below the 2015-2019 seasonal average.” (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/worldwide-energy-shortage-shows-up-surging-coal-gas-oil-prices-kemp-2021-09-24/)

 

     Several things affected should come to mind when (not if) this happens in the next quarter or in January / February:

  • Transportation (yes, even Electric Vehicles)
  • Food (fast food to grocery stores)
  • Water (Portable drinking water tanks and waste trucks)
  • Emergency Services (Police, Ambulances, Fire Trucks)
  • Medicines (Over-the-counter to prescriptions)
  • Materials (Metals, Wood, Plastics, Fabrics, ect…)
  • Jobs (food delivery drivers to truck drivers for starters)
  • Manufacturing / Production Facilities
  • Most Utility companies (Electric, Water, Natural Gas)
  • Hospitals / Clinics / Doctors / Nurses / Practitioners Offices

 

    Now you should be asking who all do you know that would be affected by this scenario? Children, Elderly, Disabled / Handicapped, or just someone who has limited or next-to-no income? Churches and charity organizations should be monitoring this possibility very closely over the next several months, although it won’t take that long to feel the effects. In my humble opinion, the effects would be felt almost instantaneous. The fear of missing out on having food and medical for family members and loved ones will be the driving force of a lot of people, especially those who are already struggling to get the things needed on a daily basis. 

 

    Unfortunately, there will be those nefarious people who will use this moment of weakness to drive up the black market and make a few extra bucks from people panicking for what they need. This will be a serious motivational tool for crime to go up as well. Stealing, racketeering, riots in the streets like we’ve seen last summer courtesy of groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa. If you think that was bad, what do you think will happen when you have the working people riot who can’t go to work and provide for their families? Can you blame them for raiding a local grocery store? Sure, they could probably go onto state food assistance, but who’s going to pay for that when people can’t pay their taxes because they can’t go to or find work? What if their only job was at a store that got raided by a group of rioting shoplifters who decided to burn the place down? Mom and Pop business won’t stand a chance in the big cities. 

 

     This is some pretty heavy, serious stuff the think about. This is why I am telling you all to get prepared now for what is possibly coming. Stocking up of canned goods and learning how to grow a garden isn’t a bad thing. It shouldn’t be looked upon as Taboo. My parents and grand parents knew how to do this for their families. It was part of their way of life. These are valuable skills that could save a generation. Your family is worth saving and that is why I try to warn people of what I see as a possible outcome in the near future. We have become so energy dependent on foreign sources that it can and will cripple our economy to the point of a grinding halt if we aren’t prepared by bracing for the impact. For those of you who don’t know, it will be a massive culture shock to you and your loved ones, but there are very important steps you can do to reduce the size of impact it will have on your lives. Think of everyday items you need today and start stocking up. Find medicines that are over-the-counter that could be a substitute for a prescription that doesn’t cause harmful side-effects, start stocking up on foods that have a longer shelf date, find alternative ways to have electricity or invest in drinking water filter systems.

 

     Study up on things that teach you how to grow your own vegetables and hunting. If you can, find someone who is living off the grid and make friends with them. Find someone who is able to find alternative ways to communicate, such as Ham Radio (I am KF5UUV) or CB Radio (truckers use them often), and study up on plant-based medicines. Aloe plants work wonders on burns and cuts. My grandmother used to cup up an Aloe plant leaf and put it on my road rashes after I crashed my bicycle and skateboard as a kid. Whenever I have an asthma attack and don’t have my inhaler, I try using the steam method: take a bunch of steaming hot water in a sink or a boiling pot, put a tall over your head and breath in the steam. If I didn’t have that option, then I would try to find a mind plant and inhale the scent to relieve my symptoms. One of the reasons why I love being around mint plants.

 

     You would be amazed at all the natural remedies that you would not only save money on, but don’t need a prescription either. Please remember that I am not a doctor or medical professional of any type, I am just someone who was lucky enough to be from a family that knew a thing or two about survival and they didn’t know any other way to live during struggling times. The men in my family history had strong military backgrounds and the women in my family had strong survival / healing backgrounds. I am nowhere near what they were, but that is because I didn’t go through what they did, but I think that my time is coming soon with everything else going on in our country.