09:27 – We’re building more science kit subassemblies today, which we’ll be doing pretty much every day for the next two or three months. I issued purchase orders yesterday for a couple thousand dollars worth of components, which covers most of what we were short of.
We’ve devoted most of our time this week to getting science kit subassemblies built for the autumn rush, so there hasn’t been much time for prepping activities. I did order and receive from Amazon a gallon of molasses, which is used in cooking and baking to turn white granulated sugar into brown sugar, at a ratio of one tablespoon of molasses per cup of white sugar, and a couple cans of high-temperature flat black spray paint, which we’ll use in converting 2-liter soda bottles into gardening pots for herbs and other plants that do well in containers.
After 35 years of drinking coffee only occasionally, I’ve started drinking it regularly. One, or sometimes two, 10-ounce (~300 mL) mugs every morning. I’ve been playing around with different concentrations, and I’ve decided that 10 grams of ground coffee is enough for a 10-ounce mug. That means I get about 45 mugs per pound, or about 135 mugs per 3-pound can. At about $12 per three-pound can, Costco-branded Columbian coffee is about as good as any I’ve tried, and three of those cans is a one-year supply for one person, assuming one 10-ounce cup per day. Barbara and Frances don’t drink coffee. Al drinks much more than I do, but he also likes his coffee much weaker than I do, so six or seven cans should be plenty for the two of us. In the metal cans, the coffee has a long rated shelf life and I’m sure it’d still be fine for at least several years past the best-by date, so there’s no real down-side to keeping a good supply in our LTS pantry.