Fun Stuff

Coming Soon to a survival shelter near you

/ Shane / 3 Comments

You know how you want to stock up your Zombie Apocalypse bunker, but you (r wife) just never quite (lets you) get the time to go around and actually get the supplies? Well, now you can just pick them up next time you’re out shopping.

Costco now offers the complete 3-month, 2-person Food Supply with 55-gallon Barrel Water Storage System, for the low, low price of $999.99 (because there’s no way I would pay $1,000 for it). We’re talking “4,251 Total Servings which Averages Over 2,000 Calories Per Person Per Day”. My question is, how much space does it actually take up? It seems like it must be huge.

I will give them credit, they do have nice, colorful marketing images. It looks downright cheery!

Apocalypse with a Smile!

I have to wonder, though, if the cheeriness and marketing is really appealing to the target market. I’m not sure those colorful cans would go with the average survivalist shelter decor.

In case you are nervous about plunking your money down, good news! There are reviews. Nobody has given it less than a full 5 star rating. Looks like a winner!

Link via Sara.

Brutal Knitting

/ Shane / 2 Comments

SOME people might consider knitting to be sort of a, shall we say, “soft” hobby. Not something you would find a tough guy or girl doing. However, those people have obviously never seen some of the things they’re making over at Brutal Knitting.

Check out some of the ski masks they have going on over there, each which would set you back around $150 or so.

They also make other collectable type things, besides ski masks, such as a knitted Skeletor, or some sort of surreal hamburger/jellyfish hybrid:

Way cool. Sara, take some notes and get knitting!

I always wondered about this…

/ Shane / 2 Comments

You know how you’ll see a pack of Rayovac batteries on the rack next to the Energizers and Duracells, and they’ll be half the price? But you end up getting the Energizers, because you think, “Yeah, but how long are those Rayovac’s going to last?”

Well, science has confirmed you should go with the Rayovacs! There are even charts!

Basically, there isn’t much difference between any of the batteries tested; the cheap ones perform as well as the expensive ones. The only exception was the Energizer Advanced Lithium batteries, which were way better that other batteries. However, they are about 4 times better than the other batteries, but they are more than 4 times as expensive as other batteries.

In other words, buy cheap.

Once I was in a battery research mode, I was on a roll.

What about refrigerating your batteries? I’ve heard that can make them last longer. Nope. You just need to keep them under 100 degrees. In fact, they have to reach room temp to work anyway, so cooling them isn’t all that helpful.

But what about buying recyclable batteries? They’re so expensive and they seem like the stop recharging almost immediately.

And while a 4-pack of NiMH batteries will typically cost $4, while a 20 pack of alkalines might cost $9, you’ll save a minimum of 100 disposables for every rechargeable you use.

I guess that answers that question. Just make sure you get NiMH batteries and not toxin-spewing NiCd. They’re cheaper and better in every way.

Link via John, but Sara says everybody already knew this stuff anyway.

Religion Makes You Fat

/ Shane / Leave a comment

It’s true. And it’s science.

Young people who are active in their religion are more likely to become obese by the time they reach middle age, according to a new study. Participants who go to church at least once a week were found to be about twice as likely to have a higher body mass index than those who attended infrequently or not at all.

Specifically:

Young adults age 20 to 32 who were on the high end of religious involvement were 50% more likely to be obese by the time they hit middle age compared with those in the “none” category. This was true even after researchers adjusted for sex, age, race, education, income and the participants’ body mass index at the start of the study.

The study didn’t give a very satisfying reason as to why this might be. Maybe there is some other correlation not accounted for. For example, people who tend to be religious might also tend to *ahem* live in a certain area of the country known for fried food.

Or maybe there are more calories in those host wafers after all.

Link via Sara, so you can direct all outrage to her.

Wanted: One Parasite

/ Shane / 1 Comment

My allergies are already starting up for the season, but it turns out there is an easy solution. All I need is a parasite. How hard can it be to find a parasite?

Jasper Lawrence so desperately wanted to be infected with a hookworm that he traveled to Africa and walked barefoot alongside open latrines in Cameroon to get one.

So you might think to yourself, how in the world could having a parasite help me with my allergies? There’s actual science:

…humans historically developed an immune designed to account for parasites in the body.

But in the last 150 years, the industrialized world’s clean food supply and plumbing suddenly removed parasites from people’s bodies. In response, researchers now widely think that people’s immune systems stopped developing properly.

…As a result some people’s immune systems go off kilter and misfire against their own bodies creating autoimmune disorders such as allergies, asthma, or inflammatory bowel disease.

Well, thanks but no thanks. Parasites are about the most disgusting, scariest thing I can think of. Waaay worse than allergies (at least my level of allergies).

Link via Sara