Almost no one is born a prepper and spent their whole life being a prepper. Instead, it is usually some major disruption in a person's life that shakes them out of the complacent stupor that is modern life Mic, Brian, Jeff, and Andrew share what it was that turned them into preppers. They also share what their biggest hurdles had been, and mistakes they will they could have avoided.

This podcast! needs You! Ad revenue would barely cover a ValueMeal™. Your support, via virtual coffees and memberships are what keep it going. Show your support by buying Mic a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee or by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep Mic going.

On Matt's return from the library, and his narrow escape, he comes across discarded pallets. Building material for an outhouse. Back at his hillside, Matt spade-tills his corn patch and plants his seed, but needs water with no rain in sight. While borrowing buckets from Abi for river water, she tells him of her grandfather's dried up well farther up the hillside. Matt begins digging it out, in hopes of a closer water source.

Leave a comment and a rating wherever you're listening to this story. 5-star ratings help boost this story's visibility. Comments help Mic know he's not just narrating to an empty room. (He wonders, sometimes)

AND Your support helps keep these stories coming. The ad revenue is pitifully small. Help Mic out by buying him a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee 

Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 7 of the Matt's Restart prequel. You could read ahead too, when you become a member! 

Mic, Brian, and Jeff and joined by Andrew to continue their look at the upheaval Peter Zeihan foresees. Two more of those ramifications that will (and are already starting to) effect the average citizens are, the hourglass-shaped employment model and the potential explosion of immigration when people in the poorer regions try to get into the regions that fared better. Decreased cultural assimilation points to a balkanization of once-common cultures.

Support this podcast! Ad revenue is pitifully small. Mic spends hours each week creating content for your listening pleasure. Show your support by buying Mic a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee or by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep Mic going.

The supplies Matt arrived with are running thin. He has to head into a store for more. The local grocery store / truck stop / hardware store had garden tools and seeds so he can grow his own food. Matt stocked up, though he realizes he has no real idea how to about gardening. On the way back home, he spots the little library of the village of Warren. Its one computer with firewalled internet was not much help with how to grow corn. The very plain young woman librarian found him the perfect beginner book but he could not check it out. Matt eventually noticed that Erin, the librarian was attracted to him.

Patreon introduced a new feature late last year. Quips would be short form public posts — a bit like tweets — that could include text, photo, and video. These were supposed to help content creators be more visible.

https://www.patreon.com/mic_roland/posts/159390657

https://www.patreon.com/mic_roland/posts/165100471

https://www.patreon.com/mic_roland/posts/165476323

https://www.patreon.com/mic_roland/posts/166016126

https://www.patreon.com/mic_roland/posts/166431457

---

Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical analyst, predicts that the globally integrated just-in-time world trade that we've all become accustomed to (for the past 80 years), will devolve into regional (and less connected) trading blocks. Mic, Brian, and Jeff look at three ramifications that the average American might face, if Zeihan is right. One, is pharmaceuticals. China produces 90% of the world's Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients. What happens when that source is cut off, or severely restricted? A second sector is food. While the US can produce most of its food needs, much is imported. Does what you like to eat come from overseas?

Peter Zeihan's Patreon Page - Many free videos

The Doom depends on YOU! YOU can help keep these informative DoomCasts getting recorded. Show your support by buying Mic a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee or by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the Doom coming.

This is the prequel to the novelette, Refuge Mountain. You could consider it all part of the same story, just told in two different sections. This part takes place 4 years before the outage featured in the Siege of New Hampshire series. It follows Matt as he starts his life over, trying to live as a hermit in the mountains. In this chapter, Matt leaves his old home of Manchester behind, with all his worldly possessions in his pickup. He finds out fairly quickly that his meager 401k cash-out will not get him much, if anything. He follows a tip to a widow living near Mount Moosilaukee who might have some acres to sell.

Show Your Support. Your support helps keep these stories coming. The ad revenue is pitifully small. Help Mic out by buying him a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee 

Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 5 of the Matt's Restart prequel. You could read ahead too, when you become a member! 

If hiding in a bunker, subsisting on stored supplies, has some significant problems, what about staying on the surface and growing more food? Mic, Brian, and Jeff discuss some of the challenges wrapped up in the grow-your-own model. For one, it's a lot more work than a lot of people realize. Many a neophyte homesteader have given up on the lifestyle because it was more work than it was idyllic. Group efforts are good — the distribution of labor, efficiencies of specialization, etc. – but many of those fail for depending upon a single charismatic leader, or for organizing as a commune. Mic asks the guys what they would do differently.

Support this podcast! Ad revenue is pitifully small. Mic spends hours each week creating content for your listening pleasure. Show your support by buying Mic a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee or by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep Mic going.

The final chapter of Refuge Mountain. Matt is awakened with the news that Morgan had disappeared again. He realizes that he had been holding onto a false hope that somehow he could regain his ex-wife. He had to move on. While Matt and Nicole are ferrying jars of food from the hiding place to his proper root cellar, a group of townsfolk come up his driveway. They had been discussing their future and had a proposal to announce to Matt.

Show Mic you enjoyed this story! Buy him a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee 

Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 4 of "Matt's Restart" -- the prequel to Refuge Mountain. You could read ahead too, when you become a member! 

The rich and famous are building million dollar bunkers. Developers are creating bunker condos or luxury Bug Out Locations in underground (former) military sites. One such developer project: Vivos xPoint in South Dakota has only a small population of year round residents thus far, but it has already begun to suffer troubles, both physical and legal. The whole project looks like it will fail. What lessons might we all learn from xPoint about bunkerism and community? Mic, Jeff, and Brian share their thoughts and suggestions.

Links:

Futurism article: Apocalypse Bunker Failure —

Wallstreet Journal story on same community (behind paywall, if you have it)

Another Futurism article on the rich buying/building bunkers generally.

Canadian Prepper commentary on the same xPoint  problems.

Vivos XPoint Sales Promo Website:

Keep the Doom coming! YOU can help keep these informative DoomCasts informing you. Show your support by buying Mic a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee or by becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a monthly member at Buy Me A Coffee, to keep the Doom light shining.

The moment of truth had arrived. Corniel's assault forces move in on the gate of Cliffhaven. A track loader with improvised armor plate is to pull open the gate. A small strike time is to rush in and neutralize the defenders. After that, two dozen conscripts are to move in to haul away the food, supplies and anything else of value. Corniel's team had not planned on there being a handful of defenders in the woods behind them. When the gate is breached and strike time rush in, Matt and his ad hoc crew must act.

Show Your Support. You're enjoying the story, you know you are. This is the exciting part! Give Mic a metaphorical fist bump by buying him a cup of virtual coffee at  Buy Me A Coffee 

Monthly supporters on Patreon and BMAC will be getting chapter 3 of the Matt's Restart prequel. You could read ahead too, when you become a member!