Thanks! We've worked our butts off the past year. Digging holes in lava by hand is no small task. But we've planted more than 50 fruit trees, and in less than one year at least 30% are already productive. We have fresh juice and fruit every morning.

We still have about 50 mac nut trees, so although they are a bitch to crack by hand, we do have a source of oil and essential fatty acids. And when avocados are in season, they can't be eaten fast enough by the whole population here. Most of them rot on the ground.

The vege garden has been out of control and we can't give it away fast enough. My husband keeps joking, "but the seeds are so little." It helps that he has a green thumb. I would never have been able to do this by myself, so hats off to an old man who is willing to do massive amounts of physical labor every day. It was my idea and I made this whole adventure happen both financially and physically and told him he was either with me or without me, but I was packing up and going. Needless to say, he's here.

I figure we will be in a good position when the SHTF, but the biggest worry will be all of the have-nots in the area. We can help some, but not all of them. And as I've mentioned before, while we are working our butts off, most of our neighbors are drinking beer and watching ESPN. The other night the Twilight Zone episode about the bomb shelter and the neighbors who didn't prepare was on. Gave me the willies. There are a lot of retirees here who just don't seem to have a clue--they think they are going to live out there retirement with ease.

I do suspect that when TSHTF, many of the retirees will leave. Right now it is still very easy to fly back and forth to the mainland to see family/friends and get medical care that isn't available here. I think many of the retirees will go back to the continent to be close to family and medical care.

It's of note that the airline industry has had major fuel problems the past few years, with many airports running out of fuel. About 1 year ago, the main island carriers, Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines both cut back dramatically on inter-island flights. It should have been a wakeup call, but it wasn't. Since I'm a former air traffic controller, I kind of follow stuff related to the airline industry. It never ceases to amaze me at how ill-informed most everyone is. Pretty much everyone thinks it is and will forever be "business as usual."