There's no such thing as construction waste to the fabricator / DIYer

(I don't look forward to moving 100+ pieces of tube and 10+ sheets of steel and angle iron... L O L!!)

You can also burn the outside for fire.
I wonder if those are actual beans on the inside and if they are still edible...

first, it takes about 400 beanie babies to make a usable mattress.

second, no, there aren't actual bean inside beanie babies; they're little white plastic balls.

and i'll say up front that i own one beanie babie: Radar the Bat, because it's awesome.

Hmm, and just how would you define "normal society"? I've had to live in some pretty abnormal locations (for me anyways) that those around me at the time considered the status quo, and I can tell you for sure and for certain my living habits and conditions would not compare well to those of my neighbors.

Just because I am surrounded by sheep doesn't mean I must also become one. Of course I ain't gonna go advertising that I am not like the prey around me, but what they don't know, right?...

Semantics. As always, propriety can only be judged in retrospect.

Yes, I suppose one man's normal is another man's paranoia

I could never get away with the way I carried myself back in Eastern Washington when I was living in New Jersey. You must adapt to at least appear to fit in, which is wise no matter the ambience. Just like in boot camp, standing out in the crowd, for whatever reason, ends up making you a target for the scrutiny of those who's interest you would just as soon not prefer to hold.

When does preparedness become paranoia? When your preparations exceed your neighbors', I suppose.

Jeff

I kind of agree with Ironraven's thoughts.

If you wanted to have three-hundred pounds of rice or thousands of rounds of ammo in your closet, and that bothers no one else and does not have any detrimental effects in your life, then it should not be thought of as a problem. There is to some extent going to be issues with people being the other way, when not having any preparations leads them to worry to such an extent that it does have detrimental effects. Stopping drinking water so that you threaten your own health is beyond preparedness, it seems to be the exact opposite. Spending all your money on being prepared for something that may never come is also beyond preparedness. The thing is to try to find the balance that's right for you.

And for some, they may need to change the society in which they live, in order to live they want to anyway. If you wanted to live a self-sufficient, grow-your-own-food kind lifestyle and do it in New York City, it's going to be tough for you to do it and not be considered really weird. In other times and places, doing anythign but would be considered weird. Now, if you can live a weird lifestyle and still function without harm to you or others, that may also not be a problem. many do not have the make up that would allow them to live such a lifestyle.

Dear God, I must be a closeted supervillain.

What I mean is if you make the choice to by MREs rather than pay the light bill, you've got a problem. If you can't walk into the mall without carrying three knives and axe (seen someone try), you've got a problem. If you don't understand why the movie theatre won't let you buy a ticket when you have a .45 strapped openly to your thigh, you've got a problem.

THAT is what I mean by functioning within normal society. When preparedness turns from a hobby/investment as it for most of us, and becomes something so obsessive that you just don't fit, you've got over the deep end. It's like the difference between someone who likes a drink at the end of the day, and the guy who shows up for work drunk after drinking his breakfast.