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I’m working with my wife of 25 years to pack up the family home of the last ~20 years. I’ve never understood more that men and women are from different planets than I do right now. I was watching this old video before blowing up with frustration and it made me laugh. I’m sure many have seen it previously, but it really does capture the differences that have never been more evident to me than they are right now.

Happy wife happy life

@1LtCAP good advice here. To expand on it a bit: Water- you can find water on sale often for as little as $3 a case. No it won't be from tropical springs or Norwegian glaciers but it will keep you alive. Shelf life? I happened to find some bottled water in my garage that was at least 5 years old. Nothing special, not a big name brand and stored at ambient temperature in an unheated garage. Tasted fine, drank it didn't get sick. You can spice up your survival drinking with some Crystal Lite. Small package makes 4 or 5 gallons. No calories but tastes better. Also good for killing the chlorine taste if you wind up chemically treating water. Pre-sweetened Kool Aid worked well in Vietnam. I also bought a few cases of Arizona Iced Tea that was on sale recently. Dated use by 3/2019. I'm sure I'll rotate it out by then. Food- you don't need Wise Foods or MREs. Long ago I learned a can of Beefaroni or Campbell's minestrone soup even cold was a welcome change to C rations. Most canned food has a use by date of about 2 years. Not that it goes bad. As long as the can isn't bulging or rusty it's probably going to be okay. Some foods will absorb the liquid and get mushy or pick up a metallic taste. But it won't kill you or make you sick. Canned food is edible way past the date on the can. I ate C rations that were years old in the 60s. Saw some with Lucky Strike in the green pack they stopped making in 1942. All of this reminds me of something that happened a few years ago. I was involved in a ,surveillance that ran from about 6am to 10pm one day. Started in NJ, went out to Queens, and back to NJ. We had no opportunity to stop and get something to eat as we had to be ready to roll when the subject did. I kept some MRE meals in my trunk and figured this was one of the times to use them. No chance to use the heater so was I was eating it cold. I offered one to the new guy who was with me in my car. He looked at the food and said "I can't eat that crap". I responded "then you aren't hungry enough". Generators- many seem interested in generators that will run their entire house. That's good and will keep you comfortable. But what happens if it breaks down? I have 2 small and a larger generator. Rotating them I can keep my refrigerator and freezer going and have some power left for lights and other stuff. I can still do that if one of them goes down. As long as I have gas. If all my vehicles are full that's almost 100 gallons. If I have to evacuate my E350 can go 4-500 miles and carry enough stuff to keep me going for at least a couple of weeks (if I take all my range stuff out of it). I guess I never considered myself as a prepper but maybe I am.

Fishnut "nailed" it! Stop your bitchin', boys. If your biggest complaint is that every so often you have to lug the stuff that your S.O. has collected to make your house a "home", make it festive at the holidays, make it welcoming to your friends and family, etc. - you're a lucky man indeed! Count your blessings. I too laughed in amazement at the video... I mean, that guy was being such an unfeeling, bossy jerk, wasn't he?

Lol. I passed training but maybe need to take the continuing education. Lol.

Dear, dear Rob! She can't admit "she's" wrong... because it's always your fault! My god, man... you've been married how many years...? 25 you say...? And I have to explain this simple, fundamental truth to you? You have failed the obligatory man training program. Back to school with you! Seriously though, good luck with the move. Try not to kill each other. Remember, you'll be laughing about these stories in a couple of weeks.

I got the free sample from Wise. It was a lot smaller than the pictures. But anyway, I open the ouch for some sort of noodle dish and a small packet came out. I sprinkled it on thinking it was seasoning. It was dissicant!!

here's the thing. what is it? 1 gallon per day per person? of water. not too overly hard to find room for that. food.....just buy canned food. i believe a lot of the chefboyardee(or howeverthehell it's spelled) raviolis, spaghettios, etc can be eaten straight outta the can if need be. otherwise, what needs cooking can be done on a wood stove or over a small fire. not hard to find room for a couple weeks worth of canned food. gas,,,,,,,however many cars you own should ALWAYS be half tank or more. bite the bullet one time and fill 'er up. after that get it set in your mind that the 1/2 mark on your gauge is the empty mark. even if the poop hits when you've got only a half tank.....you're gonna be in better condition fuel-wise than a goodly 80% of the other drivers out there. if you've got a shed or separate garage, it's not hard to find storage room for a couple jerry cans of gas. just remember to rotate it a min. of once a year. you can possibly go longer, but stick to 1 year to be safe. lights......pay the extra bucks for a good one. this is an area where you truly get what you pay for. buy that 3.99 endcap special, and you're gonna get a 3.99 light that'll more than likely fail before you even get to use it much. streamlight has a fantastic lineup. i've sworn by them at the shop for over 10 years. the only reason i've had to replace one is 'cause i lost it. there's also another one....sabre. they make a good led work light, which is good for room lighting. i average about 4-5 hours runtime on those when using em under the hood. same thing....they take a pretty hefty beating, but they're not as durable as the streamlights. i've replaced a few of the sabers over the 10 years i've had my shop. anyway....that's my buzzed(apparently hoppes does that to me) 2 cents for the night.

Maybe I'm just lucky (I'm totally lucky ) but I don't have any of these issues . My wife rules! Ask @medic2264

I only have have basic rails but I use the magpul vfg. I keep my 4 fingers to pull the rifle in and my thumb rests on the light mount to operate the flashlight. Very comfortable and natural for me. On my spr I didn't want a grip to protrude out from my handguard so I went with the afg. Seems to work well in that role.

I just had this same issue with my gf. We moved our old place and a full storage unit into my new house. Some of the things she wanted to keep were absolutely ridiculous. We banged heads but she finally started letting go of the junk. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Sorry John - I loathe the grip pod. I wouldn't take one if it was free. If I want a bipod, I'll get a bipod. After much time behind a gun I have learned that I much prefer handstops to vert grips. I started with full size vertical grips like the Tangodown that I grabbed full-retard (like a broomstick). I found my accuracy diminished as I tended to torque the grip and roll the rifle a few degrees inboard. My wrist and arm got tired faster as the hand position was uncomfortable for long periods. As I got tired, my elbows started creeping up into a chicken wing, which is less stable than a tight elbow down stance and also affected accuracy. Finally, the grip was a snag hazard on my gear and the environment. Then I moved to the TD Stubby on 1913 rails and the Magpul VFG for direct connect to MOE Hand guards as I learned a thing or two and progressed to a thumbs forward/thumb break grip. This was a much better choice and I didn't need a the full length of the grip anymore. The shorter grip hung up on stuff less and the new hand position was much more comfortable and didn't cause me to torque the rifle as much or chicken wing giving me better hits for a longer amount of time. As I shot more and more I found myself going to more of a C-Clamp. No, not the Chris Costa hyper extended elbow crap - just a normal comfortable arm extension with some bend in my elbow and my thumb over the top of the rail. It was less fatiguing when spending long amounts of time holding the gun at a ready position instead of shooting and still kept my hand in a position to work my light, drive the gun faster, and control the muzzle. This led me to want a handguard that was as slim as possible and a vertical grip was contraindicated. I tried a few thicker triangular shaped hand stops - like the Magpul AFG. They just wouldn't do either as it made me open my hand up too much and cause me too lose some grip strength. I wanted just a slight bump out in the back so I had something to pull against with the heel of my hand and as little material as along the tube under my hand so I could get my thumb over the top without opening my hand so much. I finally settled on the below: If it was MLOK, the Magpul MLOK Handstop is my answer. For 1913 rails I prefer the LaRue Hand stop. I also like and and have used the Magpul XTM Handstop kit. For the Key Mod I am looking at either the BCM KAG or the Strike Industries Link Curved Foregrip. I am not 100% yet but these seem to be the best options I have found so far that are KM compatible and have the attributes I am looking for. I am still looking at KM options (I prefer MLOK but the LaRue deal came with Keymod) so this may change. If they made the Magpul Handstop in Keymod, I would be all over it.

High rise? Nooo. She's right on the water. I told her she's got to GTFO of there. I suggested the heating oil. Not sure if she has natural gas or oil.

That makes sense! Good insight. I do see dads and daughters at ranges pretty frequently. Not only is it nice bonding time and potentially a lifelong shared hobby, but I'm guessing some dads might view it as an extension of their "protector" role - by teaching their daughters how to protect themselves!

OK, that would tick me off too. But, hey... YOU fixed it! Well done! Now, doesn't that make you feel better? (And what did we all do before those color-matching machines? I freaking LOVE those...)

I’m not bitching, not really, and it ain’t over lugging stuff. It was an issue that I almost couldn’t fix without real time and expense. She was touching up walls with the wrong paint and I don’t have the original custom color we used. I was very clear in the contract that I wouldn’t fill nail holes from hanging or touch that up. My wife knew this, didn’t listen, and lots of fun ensued. Thanks the guys at Riccardi paint in Parsipanny I was able to cut a piece of the wall out, they colored matched it, I patched and repainted all of the mistakes. A whole Saturday shot for a problem that wasn’t necessary. My frustration was my wife’s lack of understanding the gravity of touching up paint that covers an enormous connected sections of the house. My real frustration is that with all the work to do I didn’t need to torch all night and today dealing with something not in the tight schedule.

magpul AFG2 or the RVG are nice for not much money. if you want a longer vertical grip that barely adds any perceivable weight, you can get a KAC for under 10 bucks.

http://grippod.com/ Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I saw that article elsewhere. I think one thing it misses, which you would if you weren't a shooter, is that you are getting more women shooters because dads are more involved in raising the kids in modern households. Range time becomes quality time, and for whatever reason, more daughters are there than sons taking advantage of such.

Avoid the big, heavy ones. Anything else is based on feel, cost, application of rifle, and preferences.

I hear ya. I suck it up every Christmas when I drag out 20+ big storage crates & boxes of CRAP so she can think about what comes out....and almost as bad for other holidays ugh. I dread moving time big time. Should be a rule- if something hasnt been used in 5 (3?) yrs toss it!

It really depends on the storage container. I would NEVER trust Poland spring bottles stored for more than a few years. Plastic is porous, and those bottles are just way too thin. I keep a bunch of empty 1 gallon water jugs and fill them up a day or two prior to an event. That's usually just back up water too in case the genset dumps on me and I can't pull water from my well. Generator is only for pulling water, intermittent use for the fridge and the occasional shower needed to fire up the oil furnace... My wood stove keeps the rest of the house warm. My family thought I was crazy moving a bit west with home heating oil, a water well, and a septic system.... We'll see where they end up during a natural disaster. Haha Also, get a generator with an idle control if you can. I had to get a large genset for the well pump starting surge, but it conserves gas when the power draw is low. It's also a terrible idea to run your entire house on "dirty" electricity.

This is so true. Keep your mouth shut and suck it up. Perhaps you can blow off steam, somehow and somewhere, at the end of each day. I rented a 30 yard dumpster and promised to repurchase old decorations, dishes, and furniture. You'll be surprised how refreshing and cleansing it can be to throw out 20 years of stuff. We filled that sucker. Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

The only issue I've researched with bottled water/ long term is uv degradation of the plastic. So, keep it out of the sun. Im with Griz on geny size. Bigger means more gas. I view it as a back up, not a comfort sustainer. Needs vs wants. My 20 gallons is stored outside away from buildings, with startron added( I've found it's the best). And between mowing and snowblowing or other yard rentals, I'll go through it in a year. I make sure I'm stocked on gas if we have a storm coming. Modern era, we have advanced warning. Radar, satellite etc, could you imagine this storm in the 20's? Exponentially higher loss of life numbers

I store on avg. about 40 gallons of gas. Just filled up all the cans. Next summer if I haven't used it, it goes right into the car, and refill the cans. If there is a threat coming I just make sure to fill any empty cans that were used. Gas can be stored for 2 years and be relatively fresh with an ethenol stabilizer. But there is no reason to store gas for long periods of time, unless somehow you manage not to use any. Even bottled water is said to have a shelf life of only two years.

Joel Osteen sends his prayers to Florida.

@T Bill...I'm not familiar with PA's law... but unless I'm totally misunderstanding the article, Florida's law sounds like it EXPANDS (not restricts) gun owner rights during the emergency. This law makes it LEGAL to have a concealed carry firearm (even if you lack the CC permit which would normally be required) while you're making your exodus during a mandatory evacuation.

All the 2A groups in NJ fight amongst themselves. Part of the problem is that a lot of gun owners only care about shooting their shotguns at the trap & skeet range or bolt action rifles on lead sleds. The hunting groups don't care about right to carry, normal capacity magazines, pistol grips, etc. We don't stick together and we're our own worst enemies.

ive had one of these for the last 4 or so years without issue. Carries both mine and my wifes stuff http://www.midwayusa.com/product/939221689/midwayusa-competition-range-bag-system