When I was a kid I noticed that when we took out animals to the vet to get patched up, they didn’t last long afterward. It wasn’t the fault of the care they received, but fate. There’s maybe a natural law that after you’ve invested a lot of money in an animal, then it must expire sooner.

That’s why I told my children that our pets would not be going to the vet. If they live, they live. I get them their shots, but otherwise, nothing. In practice that is just talk though. I actually do take them in as needed when I have pets.

The natural law spills over, though as I discovered when I had so many cars one after another. It was no use storing supplies ahead if they were make and model specific. The car would just be gone by the time they might be needed. That happened several times.

I kept MG parts right up until they could actually be of value when the internet turned the whole world into a big specialty shop. I still have new parts for an Explorer, a Miata, a Jeep, and a Maxima. I’ll probably never use most of them.

On the other hand, I have practical items on the shelf for my antique Land Rover, seeing as how getting parts requires internet for the most part. So I have rebuild kits for the starter, fuel pump, and brake system. I have spare rear axles, and many other odds and ends. Somehow it just seems right for that car and it hasn’t triggered any destructive natural law, thank goodness. The vehicle still works. Maybe that’s because I’ve poured money into it since the day it came to me. Not for repairs so much as enhancements. I got a hoop set, canvas top, and tail gate at a garage sale. Added back the radiator cowl. tied down the battery. installed a couple of lock boxes. etc. etc. etc.

Here in the studio I wanted to make sure I “had” in the case of poverty or bad fortune. For me, that doesn’t mean money, it means supplies. So I’ve got boxes and boxes of pencils, trays of erasers, and over a hundred yards of cotton duck canvas. I’ve had a large number of stout stretcher bars milled for me by a wood worker.

By thinking ahead, you win some and lose some. Food storage is a mixed bag because vermin, weather, and time can destroy the value of your buffer. I just recently threw away a large number of cans after dumping the milk, soup, sauces, and pastes. The cans were stamped, “Best before the Civil War” and The fifty pound bag of flour that just hosted little winged bugs is on the compost after six years. I don’t know about the Spam ‘meat parts’. That’s love hate.

Today I saw the hand of a comic book artist applied to a sketch of one of his dragons and in his hand was something I didn’t know I could buy – a lead holder with over 5mm thick lead. It can be had in 2b, 4b and 6b and I must have one! Ordering now.

Meanwhile, I own over 500 ticonderoga school pencils. If this doesn’t make themn obsolete, it will surely make all my ebony and ticonderoga “first pencil” collection redundant.  And who knows, I may switch to wood panels for my paintings. The big pencils  have their advantages, but this discovery may make them obsolete. Wood panels might make all that canvas and the expensive milled wood unnecessary.

I’ve even had mixed results with savings. After much diligence and sacrifice, all it takes to dissolve savings, equity, and credit is a health problem or the introduction of a criminal mind into one’s inner circle. That can be remedied via divorce, but all you get to keep is your soul. They take the rest.

So I still amass excess where I can and take my chances. The problems with that compete with the advantages. Those who “have” also have choices. Those who have nothing have mobility. Forced mobility in some cases.

“Stuff” and “valuables” can waste your time as you maintain them and they can rob you of security as you worry about losing them to thieves. Law suits can be avoided by having nothing because the sewer (misspell intended) will rightly assess that there will be no payoff for the nobel effort to extract your substance via litigation. On the other hand, having the means to defend yourself can also fend off the fleas and dogs of society. It means that if I want a painting that’s a certain size I can build the canvas from existing supplies and not wait to have it made at high cost.

Sometimes, it’s a gamble either way. Maybe the best course is to just make sure there are reserves in time and means so that if something does drain away then you can replenish and if a threat does arise you can defend against it. That’s what this is all about, really. Reserves are just meant to keep you in play when there’s been an uneven reduction of what you need.

One thing I believe should be kept well stocked is a reserve of good will with the people around you. What can that ever hurt? Nothing at all!