Author: timothyfrench15

Hello, my name is Timothy French.

An atmospheric dust veil and the hunger years

An atmospheric dust veil covered the earth in the years 535/536 CE and brought about death and hunger to millions.

It is believed to have been caused by volcanic eruptions in the tropics or an impact disaster from space; regardless, the devastation had to be overcome by those with the will to survive.

The words from those who wrote about it tell a story we may live someday if another deathly dust veil encircles our world.

The Byzantine historian Procopius recorded of 536, in his report on the wars with the Vandals.

“For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear nor such as it is accustomed to shed. And from the time when this thing happened, men were free neither from war nor pestilence nor any other thing leading to death.”

As you can see in his description, the people at that time had resorted to waring with one another as a pestilence (a fatal epidemic disease) fell upon them. Starvation was pushing them to their moral limits just as we would be today.

Michael the Syrian, of Byzantine, also wrote of the veil.

“The sun was eclipsed for 18 months. For only three hours in the morning, it would give light, but a light that resembled neither day nor night.”

In his writings, we see that the sun only gave light for three hours in the morning. Can you imagine the fear most people would have felt not knowing the cause fo their suffering?

A cloud, dust veil, or dry fog that darkened the earth for a year was mention by others, saying that it caused cold, drought, and food shortages.

Michael the Syrian also wrote.

“During that year, fruit did not reach the point of maturity, and all the land became as though transformed into something half-alive, or like someone suffering from a long illness.”

The Gaelic Irish Annals recorded the following:

“A failure of bread in the year 536 AD” – the Annals of Ulster

“A failure of bread from the years 536–539 AD” – the Annals of Inisfallen

It also snowed in August of that year, in China, which ruined crops in Qingzhou and other provinces, and a dense, dry fog entered Eygpt.

The 536 events and ensuing famine may have also been responsible for the deposition of hoards of gold by Scandinavian elites at the end of the Migration Period. Their gold appears to no longer hold value for them as they sacrifice it to appease the gods trying to get the sunlight back.

Nothing was more important to them than the life-giving rays of the sun.

Other various historical sources from the sixth century describe “a sun that hardly cast a shadow.”

Some today believe this event could be the source of the Legend of the Fimbuwinter, the harsh, cold period of three years of winter without a summer that takes place before Ragnarock, the twilight of the gods–the end of the known world and the birth of a new era.

I can certainly believe the people of that time must have felt as if they were reborn into a new era after the veil lifted returning life to the planet.

Will the sun be taken away from us again one day? I don’t know, but there is no need to live in fear because there is nothing we can do about it. What we can do is live a prepared life and strengthen our minds to become the survivors of our time.

A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid and water obscuring the sun and raising earth’s albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a massive, particularly explosive volcanic eruption. Long-term cooling effects are primarily dependent upon the injection of sulfur gasses into the stratosphere, where they undergo a series of reactions to create sulfuric acid, which can nucleate and form aerosols. Volcanic stratospheric aerosols cool the surface by reflecting solar radiation and warm the stratosphere by absorbing terrestrial radiation. The variations in atmospheric warming and cooling results in changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulation. Reference Wikipedia.com

Do you think you can live in an RV after a societal collapse​

I just watched the “RV Nomads” movie on YouTube, and one small segment caught my attention. In it, they insinuated that some people were living the full-time RV lifestyle because of a chaotic society that might collapse someday.

Well, I hate to break it to them, but living in an RV after a societal collapse is the worst place you want be, even if you are off-grid.

The off-grid RV’ers and van dwellers all seem to think they are living outside the matrix, but what they are doing does not even come close to being self-sufficient. If the grid goes down, they go down with it.

Most do not have the skills needed to survive outdoors without a resupply source. They need gas stations, propane, cell service, and electronic banking. Food from grocery stores, auto parts stores, and the just in time delivery trucks that make it all possible. Some even need Walmarts to shit in, and gym memberships to shower. They may think their living outside the matrix, but the truth is they cannot live without it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love RVing, and even recommend having one to bug-out in for a localized disaster. But let the grid go down, and you’re going to want a secure home base or survival retreat because life on the road is going to get real.

So unless you have some impressive survival skills that will allow you to live off the land for an extended period. You need to get a plan or hope you happen to be in the perfect “end of the world” location when it all comes tumbling down.

On this day, January 13th, in 1943, Hitler declares “Total War.”

On this day in 1943, Hitler declares “Total War.”

Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party. As leader, he attacked the Treaty of Versailles, promoted Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-communism. His charismatic oratory backed by Nazi propaganda found a receptive audience in Germany during the Great Depression.

Appointed chancellor in 1933, Hitler quickly consolidated power. Appointing himself Führer. In 1934 he soon turned Germany into a totalitarian one-party dictatorship.

Hitler and the Nazi regime were responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. The number of civilians killed was unprecedented and constitutes the deadliest conflict in human history.

Socialism never turns out to be a utopia and quickly becomes an authoritarian form of government.

Authoritarianism is marked by “indefinite political tenure” of the ruler or ruling party (often in a one-party state) or other authority.

Don’t ever give up your individual rights for a false promise.

What would happen if you lost all your clothing during a disaster

At a frontier trading post in eighteenth-century America, you would find rolls of fabric for trade right alongside tools, guns, and other items. Traders did not have the luxury of going to a nearby clothing store. They very often had to make their clothes — something most people cannot do today.

So what would happen if you lost all your clothing during a disaster? Well, if it were a localized disaster relief agencies would be there to help, but what if it was a nationwide years-long event?

I had not given this question much thought in the past, but lack of clothing is a real problem after disasters like floods, fires, and hurricanes. During hurricane Katrina, I saw families getting in fights with one another over a pair of shoes like it was “Black Friday” at the relief shelter.

So how could people, with closets full of clothing, end up with none?

1 – Clothing could end up destroyed or contaminated.

2 – The disaster could be so devastating that it goes on for years, and they get worn out.

Either way, to get more, you would need to do one of the following.

1 – Use the rolls of fabric you stored with your other emergency supplies to make new clothing. Assuming you have the tools and skills to do so.

2 – Barter with other survivors if you have something of value.

3 – Loot. Now, this might not be a problem. If a significant portion of the population died quickly, but it’s a dangerous path to take regardless.

So what’s your plan, do you have one? Have you ever thought about clothing as a barter item?

A cycle that needs to be broken

The following is a quote by Michael Hopf. I changed the word men to people because I feel it pertains to all of us.

“Hard times create strong people. Strong people create good times. Good times create weak people. And, weak people create hard times.”

This has been the cycle for many nations, and I fear America is becoming a land of weak people.

We need to break the cycle, prepare, and be strong again.

Who is responsible for your survival during a disaster

Who is responsible for your survival during a disaster?

You are, each of us is responsible for our own survival before, during, and after a disaster.

If help is needed, your neighbors would most likely be the first on-scene to assist.

Next in would be your local emergency workers, so it is essential to make sure your town has a robust emergency preparedness plan.

Relief agencies would also begin to help out at this time.

During a major disaster, your county would be called in to help as well.

State emergency management resources would step up if the county was unable to stabilize the incident.

And finally, your state’s governor would make a request for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) if they became overwhelmed.

As you can see, there is a lot of help out there for you, but you don’t want to be that person whose only preparedness plan is to wait for help. GET PREPARED TODAY!

How to store eggs for eight months without refrigeration.

How to store eggs

If you want to add eggs to your food storage plan, follow these steps.

Number 1 – Buy a bag of lime; there are two types, quicklime and hydrated lime. You want, hydrated. Hydrated lime, sometimes called slaked lime, is quicklime to which water has been added until all the oxides of calcium and magnesium have been converted to hydroxides.

Number 2 – Get a food-grade container big enough to hold the number of eggs you want to preserve.

Number 3 – Spread a thin layer of lime in the bottom of the container.

Number 4 – Pre-mix 1 ounce of lime into 1 quart of water.

Number 5 – Fill the container with eggs.

Number 6 – Pour the pre-mixed lime solution into the container.

Number 7 – Pre-mix another quart if the container has not filled to the top.

Number 8 – Pour a thin layer of olive oil on top to help with water evaporation if your container is not airtight.

Number 9 – Seal the container with a lid, and you’ll have eggs for a least 8 months.

This method of preservation was used before refrigeration and will keep almost all of your eggs good for eight months.

Here’s another way

Just place your eggs in a bucket and cover them with wood ash. The eggs may take on an ash taste, but 80 percent of them will still be edible after eight months in storage.

And finally, just in case you were wondering, eggshells are porous, which allows bacteria and mold spores to get in and spoil the egg. The porous shells also let moisture out, which ruins the egg over time. All preservations methods are trying to prevent this from happening.

Honey, the ultimate survival food

Honey is a great long-term storage food that can be collected from wild bee colonies or domesticated beehives. An average hive produces around 65 pounds of honey.

Ripe, freshly collected, high-quality honey at 68 °F should flow from a knife in a straight stream, without breaking into separate drops. When poured, it should form small, temporary layers that disappear quickly, indicating high viscosity. If it does not form temporary layers, it has high water content and will not be suitable for long-term storage. The amount of water absorbed by honey depends on the relative humidity.

The honey has to be stored in sealed containers to prevent fermentation, which usually begins if the honey’s water content rises much above 25%. The average moisture content of floral honey is around 17% and cannot have more than 18.6% water content to qualify for the U.S. Grade A standard.

When buying honey from a beekeeper, you will typically not get a jar with an expiration stamp. However, honey sold in supermarkets will have this stamp because of commercial requirements.

Honey jars stamped with the “best before date” suggests a shelf life of 2 to 5 years. This “best before date” on the jar helps in indicating “freshness” of the honey and in a way signals to the customers whether or not the honey jar has been sitting on the shelf for too long; nobody wants to buy honey that is already years old even if it lasts forever.

The quickest way to get you amateur radio (HAM) license

In the US, there are three amateur radio license classes—Technician, General, and Extra. You can get one or all depending on what you want to do.

The quickest way to get licensed is to focus on the Technician class

The Technician class license is the entry-level license of choice for most new ham radio operators. To earn the Technician license requires passing one examination totaling 35 questions on radio theory, regulations, and operating practices.

Get your Technician license in 5 easy steps

Number 1 – Download the free “Ham Tech” app to your phone or buy one of the many ham radio examinations apps.

Number 2 – Open the “Ham Tech” app in your spare time and take the practice exams under each topic until you have the correct answers memorized. If you do not entirely understand the reasoning behind some of the answers, don’t worry. You can get more in-depth after you get licensed.

Number 3 – Find out where the next amateur radio license exam will be in your area by going to the ARRL site and entering your zip code.

Number 4 – Show up on the date of the exam and take the test.

The Technician license exam is a 35-question test drawn from the question pool you have been studying in the “Ham Tech” app.

The question pool is divided into 10 groups. The groups are subdivided into question topics. There are 35 topics represented in the question pool. One question will be randomly selected from each topic to make up a Technician exam. You must correctly answer a minimum of 26 questions on the exam to obtain a Technician license.

Exam sessions are conducted by volunteers working under the direction of the FCC and a Volunteer Exam Coordinator (VEC). There will likely be a charge for taking the exam. The exam fee is set by the VEC and is usually $15 or less.

Number 5 – After you pass the exam, the VIC will give you all the information you need to finish the process.

I got my Technician class license this way. I hope this will relieve you of some of the stress many people have about this process. It is not a hard test. You can do it.


Having your amateur radio license will give you one more way to communicate during a disaster.