10:11 – We made a run down to Winston-Salem yesterday. We dropped Colin off at the old house, Barbara dropped me off at the dentist and then went on to get her hair cut. She picked me up, we made a Costco run, picked up Colin and a load of stuff at the old house, and headed home.
The only shelf-stable stuff I got at Costco was 100 pounds each of white sugar and bread flour and 20 pounds of oatmeal. That totaled $84 and about 375,000 calories, which is a 4 to 5 person-month supply of calories, although obviously not nutritionally balanced. We’ll repackage all of that in 2-liter soda bottles over the coming week.
As we were driving down the mountain yesterday, the check-engine light came on in the Trooper. It’s a 1993 model, although with only 135,000 miles on it. We called a local mechanic when we got back. He said to call back this morning and talk to Lynn, which I did. He said he was booked solid for the coming week, which is always a good sign, but he’d try to take a quick look at it on Thursday. If it’s something minor, which he suspects it is, he may be able to fix the problem on the spot. Otherwise, he’ll have to work it into his schedule sometime next week.
I’d intended to call our realtor and get her recommendation for a mechanic, but Barbara felt strongly that we should just call B&T Tire and Automotive. She’d met Bob (the B in B&T) when she was out looking for a Christmas tree and stopped there to get directions to the tree farm. She really liked Bob, who’s about our age, and said she instinctively trusted him. So I called B&T yesterday when we got back from Winston and ended up talking to Travis (the T), who told me to call back today and ask for Lynn.
The thing is, Sparta is like any small town anywhere. As a local, one can trust just about any local business, because word gets around fast. It’s in everyone’s self interest to deal honestly with other locals. So the first time we deal with a local business, I make it a point of telling them that we’ve just moved to Sparta and (more importantly) that we’re now full-time residents.
Good deal; that does sound like a minor issue; we’ve had it light up on a couple of our vehicles over the years and it amounted to nothing much. I’m bringing the RAV4 in today for the tire pressure light; tires, and one in particular, keep losing pressure; not sure what’s going on yet.
Overcast; we’re expecting temps to hit close to 50 tomorrow with rain and strong winds. Locals are saying we may have an “early” spring, but we’ve been hammered before in late April, so we’ll see.
Early spring?
It’s what Phil says that counts.
I’d believe a groundhog before I’d believe a politician. Oh wait, it is a politician that is the groundhog’s mouthpiece. Oh well, be prepared.
Good lord
“Denise Bunsey attended the January class in Westervillewith her parents.
Afterward,the 36-year-oldguidance counselor said the most important lesson was that people have options even in worst-case scenarios.
‘Despite what’s going on, you really have to have the mindset of, ‘I will survive this and I will do anything I can to survive this,”” Bunsey said. ‘I never thought about it in that way.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3428165/Run-Hide-Fight-Americans-packing-classes-survive-shooting-popularity-increase-San-Bernardino-massacre.html
She never thought of it that way….
nick
Mr. OFD – if you have alloy wheels, I would point to them first. I have yet to have a vehicle with alloys that didn’t have trouble with air pressure. I don’t know if it’s the valve seat or a problem with the bead seat, as I gave up tire work 25+ years ago. I just know that they always suck.
Funny – the steel rimmed vehicles never have that problem. So I go with steel every time I have a choice.
Thanks, Mr. JimL; I will bring that up with the techies at the dealership in about an hour or so. Interesting.
I like the cah OK and this is the only problem we’ve had with it in the eighteen months we’ve owned it; but I’ll still be looking around for an older 4wd pickup truck with manual tranny in the near fewchah and I bet it’ll have steel wheels.
My Tacoma has steel rims and tire pressure indicators with no problem after 3 years. MrsAtoz’s “Battle Wagon” Escalade has fancy alloy rims, of course. No tire pressure indicator problems after 1 year.
Can I take Hillary’s Iowa people with me to Vegas, “Coin toss broke 6 Clinton-Sanders deadlocks in Iowa — and Hillary won each time” ? That is simply amazing.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/coin-toss-broke-6-clinton-sanders-deadlocks-in-iowa-and-hillary-won-each-time-2016-02-02
Yeah, right.
I’m bringing the RAV4 in today
The wife has vetoed the RAV4 hydrid. She just cannot get comfortable in the driver’s seat as the headrest pokes her head forward.
So, we are looking at the next candidate, a Subaru Forester. Maybe we will do something this summer. I’ve got to amortize the $5K we spent on fixing the 2005 Honda Civic first (that was a bad investment!).
Well, you would expect that to happen one time in 2^6 attempts.
I wish I’d never sold my 1979 Jeep CJ-7.
Here’s a weird story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3427465/Federal-agents-report-finding-8-pipe-bombs-mans-home.html
The guy was ratted out by his boss. They both worked at Patriot Armor. In fact, the arrestee appears to have been the president of Patriot Armor. Both he and his boss had issues — “Ramos has a criminal history including charges for domestic violence, battery and cocaine possession.
His former boss O’Neill also has a criminal history, including a prior felony conviction for transfer of destructive devices (pipe bombs) in 2002.”
So one pipe bomber rats out another. And they both appear to be in leadership roles at Patriot. Which is even weirder.
nick
Further reading:
http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/83824317-story
Note the lessons to learn here. “He told them he was part of a militia.” — SHUT UP!
He transferred a short barreled shotgun — STOP DOING THIS and don’t TALK about it!
‘course, given the otherwise spotty reporting– he’s pictured with an AR but the article says AK several times– maybe there’s nothing true in the whole article.
AAANNnnnndd, wow, I need some brain bleach. A couple of hits on the search for more info led me to some wonderful lefty blogs.
I am not surprised, but I’m sure disgusted.
All the things they accuse the right of, in spades. Racism. Classism, hate speech, demonization, slanted reporting, opinion masquerading as fact. And the comments sections- yikes.
nick
Oh, and thanks asshat for giving ammo to opfor.
one in particular, keep losing pressure
I would guess the valve stem unless there has been damage to the rim.
if you have alloy wheels, I would point to them first
All my vehicles have alloy wheels, even prior vehicles. Never had an issue with any of them. Not even with the spare which basically sat in the trunk unused for five years.
Lawnmower (Cub ZTR) has a problem with the front wheels. Sometimes a turn will cause the bead to separate. Not difficult to reseat but does require removal of the tire. Cub I think recommended 15 pounds in the front wheel. Solved that problem by jacking the pressure to 40 PSI. Not recommended for a road vehicle.
On a different note, just got this from FedEx, in part:
“FedEx will be operating in Santa Clara and San Francisco, CA areas during Super Bowl 50 festivities from February 2 to February 7, 2016. Some customers in Santa Clara and San Francisco, CA areas may experience service delays or disruptions during this time because of government security measures in place for Super Bowl 50. We encourage all customers shipping into the area to check with your recipients to understand their locations relative to the security zones”
For a look at what your tax dollars are providing:
http://www.dhs.gov/blog/2015/01/30/securing-super-bowl
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/1/super-bowl-50-surveillance-systems-and-60-agencies/
http://abc7news.com/sports/massive-security-training-held-at-levis-stadium/1088153/
I know people who will be working there. There is no way in hell you would get me within 100miles of this non-sense. A whole lotta rights restrictions are about to happen, and the fools will be panting for it….
nick
@ray,
“Not difficult to reseat but does require removal of the tire. ”
I use a trick for reseating the beads. ratchet strap around the tire, in the center of the tread. Tighten the strap until the bead is back against the rim. Inflate. Gradually release the strap as you inflate.
A little soapy water helps along the rim, and check for nicks or dents.
If the tire isn’t big, or is nice and squishy, a rope tied in a loop, or a webbing strap will work with a big screwdriver stuck thru to twist the loop tighter.
A little practice and this is way quicker than removing the wheel. Oh, and it’s better if you jack it up so the tire isn’t deformed.
nick
I’ve done this for everything from a tractor to my hand cart.
The DHS will secure the Super Bowl…and break down your front door guns a blazin’, no questions asked.
I know people who will be working there. There is no way in hell you would get me within 100miles of this non-sense. A whole lotta rights restrictions are about to happen, and the fools will be panting for it….
You are gonna be 20 miles away from that nonsense in 2017 if you live where I think you live:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_LI
I use a trick for reseating the beads
I just remove the valve stem, blow lots of air from the compressor, and wiggle the tire. Works for the small tire on the front of the mower.
ratchet strap around the tire
I will try that next time.
I really don’t want to try the starter fluid trick.
The only shelf-stable stuff I got at Costco was 100 pounds each of white sugar and bread flour and 20 pounds of oatmeal.
Why not buy bread flour already packaged in a #10 can from Augason?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Emergency-Food-Honey-White-Bread-Roll-Mix-58-oz/22985152
and
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Emergency-Food-Honey-Wheat-Bread-Roll-Mix-58-oz/22985151
But you have to have oil, water and yeast also: “Augason Farms Honey White Bread & Roll Mix is a delicious, healthy mix that can be used in a variety of ways. It is simple to make, just add water, oil, and yeast.”
It also says a shelf life of ten years. I would guess getting the oil and yeast to last anywhere near that long would be a pain.
Well, 100 pounds of bread flour at Costco totaled $26, or $0.26/lb. The AF stuff is pre-made bread mix rather than just flour. I could get white flour in #10 cans from the LDS HSC, but it costs $3 for a 4 pound can, or $0.75 per pound, which is about three times as much as Costco. I can repackage it myself for a lot less and get the same 10+ year shelf life.
Yeast and oil, stored frozen, will last a lot longer than 10 years.
You are gonna be 20 miles away from that nonsense in 2017 if you live where I think you live:
I’m even closer, just a few miles. It wasn’t a problem for us when it was held there before. I also lived about 5 blocks from the G8 summit they held at Rice a while back. The only effect was that our patrol service wasn’t available during the summit, since the off-duty cops that staffed it were unavailable as they were patrolling the area for the summit.
OFD is pretty dahn sure they’ll never run the SB in Vermont. Or the G8 Summit.
OFD will now try that coin toss thing with lottery tickets and numbers. Hey, works for Cankles, amirite?
The tire thing on the RAV4 was a broken screw found in the right rear passenger tire, no doubt from when Princess had it for two days recently and drove Lord knows where with it. (the problems with vehicles tend to almost always show up after she’s had one of them, go figger…)
Dealership made sure pressure was good in all four plus the spare, replaced the front wiper inserts, did the oil change, inspection, etc, in less than an hour, while I surfed my Kindle books in the waiting room and read up on possible replacements for the Big Brother innernet, i.e., packet radio, mesh networks and FidoNet. Remember FidoNet? Yeah.
I’m still giving thought to voting for Bernie on Super Tuesday. He may need a few here in Texas.
Well, 100 pounds of bread flour at Costco totaled $26, or $0.26/lb. The AF stuff is pre-made bread mix rather than just flour. I could get white flour in #10 cans from the LDS HSC, but it costs $3 for a 4 pound can, or $0.75 per pound, which is about three times as much as Costco. I can repackage it myself for a lot less and get the same 10+ year shelf life.
Me, I’ll never get the repackaging done as I am getting LAZY. So I need the #10 cans.
Yeast and oil, stored frozen, will last a lot longer than 10 years.
I do need to get a couple of small chest freezers from Sam’s Club and throw them in the garage. One for “stuff” and one for the wife cause I know that she will want that immediately.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/5-cf-chest-freezer-haier/prod11990075.ip
Well, get everything from your nearest LDS HSC, if they offer it. Their price will be about half what for-profit companies like AF charge.
[snip] The tire thing on the RAV4 was a broken screw found in the right rear passenger tire, [snip]
I had a lady pull up in my business’ parking lot once with a flat tire. When I looked at the tire, she had somehow taken the head of a 3/8″ bolt through the tire while driving down the main highway. I told her the tire was probably ruined and offered to help with the spare, but she simply called AAA and had them do it. Just a freak thing.
[snip] Yeast and oil, stored frozen, will last a lot longer than 10 years. [snip]
How does one propose to keep them frozen in a worst case scenario?
“It’s Over for Mrs. Clinton” by Rush Limbaugh
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/02/02/it_s_over_for_mrs_clinton
“RUSH: I have to tell you, whether she knows it or not, it’s over for Hillary Clinton. I don’t know if that means she doesn’t get the nomination or if she does and doesn’t win the general. ”
And, it is interesting that the most conservative guy in the Republican clown car won in Iowa. I still think the Cruz is not electable in the general election but, I have been wrong many times before.
_The Toymaker (Holding Their Own)_ (Volume 10) by Joe Nobody
http://www.amazon.com/Toymaker-Holding-Their-Own-10/dp/1939473292/
Book number ten of an eleven book post-apocalyptic series. The book format is trade paperback, my favorite, and is POD (print on demand).
It has been a rough two years since the financial and biological warfare fall of the USA. Almost two thirds of the population has died due to starvation and disease. The survivors are barely getting by and the various regions are splitting apart.
The Texas Alliance is slowly rebuilding and even reintroducing the concept of cash money. But getting along with the neighbors is proving to be difficult.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (99 reviews)
Rush could be right; sorta depends on if she gets indicted and how the MSM spins it either way.
On the other side of the Party, Trump just keeps rolling along; an Iowa “defeat” by four points ain’t gonna stop him. NH could be interesting.
And depending on what happens in the nay-shun and the world at large over the next four years, we’re unfortunately likely to see most of these clowns back again then. And even more sadly, that’s probably not as bad as what alternative scenarios might develop between now and then.
depends on if she gets indicted
Will never happen. If it gets close the Clinton mafia will be pulling some skeletons out of the closet, offering political favors with comfy appointments. The slick machine the Clintons have created will not let something as trivial as the law get in their way.
unfortunately likely to see most of these clowns back again
Consider this scenario. The wife of Monica Lewinsky’s ex boyfriend appoints obuttwad as her running mate. By some slim chance she gets elected. Now someone with some balls in the FBI, CIA, NSA, XXX gets miffed because they got slighted in the political favor department. This person presses enough buttons to get charges against the bitch queen, she abdicates her throne “for the good of the country”. Guess what, Obuttwad is now in for another term.
Frightening, simply frightening.
Of course it is entirely likely that the person from the three letter goon squad simply disappears with no trace while eating a hamburger at McDonalds.
“If it gets close the Clinton mafia will be pulling some skeletons out of the closet, offering political favors with comfy appointments. The slick machine the Clintons have created will not let something as trivial as the law get in their way.”
Well, let’s see if the Snake Department can come up with a better excuse than “she didn’t know how to use email on a computer.” Or maybe that’s all they need. What would anyone else do about it? The Feebie director said he’d resign if she isn’t indicted; we shall see.
“The slick machine the Clintons have created will not let something as trivial as the law get in their way.”
That was one of his nicknames back then, Slick Willie. And they’re both lawyers, too. Another reason to whack ’em all, just to make sure we stamp out all the evil. Or at least a good chunk of it.
“Consider this scenario.”
Damn, that’s a pretty good one, Mr. Ray; even my paranoid tinfoil-hat mind didn’t think of it. And I can’t offhand think of any legal or Constitutional problem with it, not that that would hinder these pieces of shit in the slightest.
“…it is entirely likely that the person from the three letter goon squad simply disappears with no trace while eating a hamburger at McDonalds.”
Entirely a coincidence, like the coin-tossing caper. Of course that person might simply keel over on his own from eating that ratburger.
RIP, Vince Foster, and Lord knows how many others.
Consider this scenario. The wife of Monica Lewinsky’s ex boyfriend appoints obuttwad as her running mate.
Nah. She is going to appoint Obola to be the Chief Justice of SCOTUS to replace John Roberts who suddenly has to step down “for personal reasons”. Oh yeah, Obola will be pardoning her for all past and future violations of any and all laws of the USA. We just know about the email, I am fairly sure that she has other transgressions that have not come to light yet. For instance, the Clinton Foundation looks dirty from the get go.
BTW, I told my wife the other night that I think that Obola will be pardoning all drug dealers, drug users, drug transporters, drug this, and drug that before he leaves office. To my amazement, she said that she would not be surprised.
He IS pardoning them. He HAS pardoned them.
Slick Willy pardoned a bunch of drug dealers too.
Not sure about the Bushes, but wouldn’t be surprised.
nick
Some prepping stuff.
Spent too much time over the weekend assembling some shelves. I now have enough shelves to put all my close at hand food in trays and on shelves. Looks like I’ve got 60 days of easy meals stacked. Not as much as many, but I can see them at a glance now. One tray, 30 cans meat, one tray 30 cans veg, breakfast, bulk milk powder, one tray fruit per 60 meals.
It could be stretched a LOT by simply adding rice or noodles.
It doesn’t count any bulk ingredients.
Now that they are organized, I can easily see what I need to do next. (other than organizing the bulk, and the secondary location.)
Got some good stuff at sales over the weekend too.
Time to get the kids in bed though,
nick
He IS pardoning them. He HAS pardoned them.
I think that Obola will pardon ALL of them. ALL drug dealers, drug users, drug transporters, drug this, and drug that.
Can Obola pardon all of the illegal aliens and make them citizens?
Jimmy Carter is our biggest pardoner in history by pardoning all of the Vietnam era draft dodgers. Can Obola exceed this?
“…to replace John Roberts who suddenly has to step down “for personal reasons”.”
More likely one of them who retires, Thomas, Scalia, the midget witch who falls asleep during various events, who knows?
“…the Clinton Foundation looks dirty from the get go.”
They’ve both been dirty since their time at Yale together. Thieving parasites and grifters, at the very least, and later, a serial rapist and adulterer, and both war criminals.
“…Obola will be pardoning all drug dealers, drug users, drug transporters, drug this, and drug that before he leaves office.”
And probably hadji terrorist scum, too.
“Not sure about the Bushes, but wouldn’t be surprised.”
All dirty since the days of Prescott, well before Larry Klinton and his lovely wife Bruno.
“Can Obola exceed this?”
Oh hell yeah, if he puts his little Bolshevik musloid mind to it.
Trump LIVE right now down the road (way down the road) in Milford, NH:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ysZmSKrpac
Patrick’s latest:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/02/patrick-j-buchanan/age-populism/
“And they’re both lawyers, too. Another reason to whack ’em all, just to make sure we stamp out all the evil.”
Nah, I think we should give them a bit more time to repent. You wouldn’t want to send them straight to hell, would you?
Another reason to switch from google:
“Google to show the WRONG search results to would-be terrorists: Search engine will post anti-radicalisation links in place of extremist material
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3428807/Google-WRONG-search-results-terrorists-Search-engine-post-anti-radicalisation-links-place-extremist-material.html”
If they do it for terror, they can do it for any viewpoint. And they are notorious lefties.
nick
“You wouldn’t want to send them straight to hell, would you?”
You say that as though it was a bad thing…
“And they are notorious lefties.”
As is the clown prince of FaceCrack, now one of the richest assholes in the world, generated originally from screwing over his Harvard classmates and now he does it to hundreds of millions. Sorta like little Billy Gates, stiffing his partners back in the day and going on to do pretty much the same thing to hundreds of millions. Now they spy on us for Big Brother and gladly, too.
I’m now on another email service and as soon as it looks like it’s working well, I’m dumping my two gmail accounts; already did so with my two inactive FaceCrack accounts. Never got on Twitter or any other social network. And I rarely use the Google search engine anymore; gotta figure something out for the Tube, though. So far I’m liking the offshore VPN, too. Jitsi instead of Skype, and of course, Tor.
Niven & Pournelle’s “Inferno” makes hell sound like the kind of place I might like to visit. As Benny or Allen, though. Would really want it to be transient in nature.
“Would really want it to be transient in nature.”
Unlikely.
But then again, His mercy is potentially a factor. A mystery.
Unicorn Grove:
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3147
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3148
Disturb the female battle robot at your own risk!
All lawyers are evil.
Except mine.
All lawyers are evil.
Most politicians are lawyers.
ergo…
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
“Henry VI, Part 2”
Then let’s go after the left-over political hacks, the financial speculators, most corporate CEOs (like whoever runs Dropbox, where they’ve decided to go after Diversity instead of merit, like pretty much everyplace else these days), college and university humanities and social “science” faculty, publik skool administrators and teacher unions, and boatloads of artists, musicians and other “creative” types.
We’ll draft the underclass swarms for these tasks and then we’ll get rid of them, too.
Yeah, but in Henry VI, the lawyers were kind of the good guys.
That must have been a period when Eddie de Vere was involved in some lawsuit or other.
I wish I’d never sold my 1979 Jeep CJ-7.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=413284562
“1985 CJ 7 Excellent condition and well maintained. Interior coated with rhino lining. Also Includes wench and hard top.”
I think I would rather get the winch instead of the wench.
That’s $700 more than I paid for my 79 CJ-7 new.
“I think I would rather get the winch instead of the wench.”
Depends on the wench.
That’s $700 more than I paid for my 79 CJ-7 new.
Newer model. 🙂
I wonder if it is a rust-bucket. Dad owned a 1971? CJ-? with the 304? V8 and 3-speed on the floor. It had a fire once and the dude fixing it managed to wire the electrical system backwards. If you turned on any of the accessories, such as the windshield wipers, that would instantly kill the engine. Was a little traumatic at 50 mph.
I’m sorry, but I find that hard to believe. @ 50 mph, no 1970s era radio would be loud enough to hear over the road noise in the Jeep.