09:35 – Barbara is off to the gym and supermarket. She spent the night last night at Bonnie’s our 88-year-old neighbor. Bonnie fell a few weeks ago and fractured her hip. Her local family are trying to keep someone with her 24 hours a day until she’s fully recovered, but providing 24-hour coverage isn’t easy for people who have their own responsibilities. So Barbara and Vickie, our neighbor on the other side, are doing what they can to help out. When she returned home this morning, Barbara said that Bonnie was doing well, and she thinks she’ll be okay by herself now. Bonnie does have a fell-and-can’t-get-up pendant, so she can summon help if necessary.
We made dinner again last night from only LTS food. Baked spaghetti, and we made up enough for at least two meals and probably three for the two of us. Baked spaghetti, which we made up in vegetarian form. It was quite good, even without any meat. After dinner, Barbara cooked up a pound of ground beef and added it to the leftovers before freezing them in two portions. I’ll be interested in seeing what it’s like with meat in it.
The recipe called for a jar of Cheez-Whiz or similar, so we made up some cheese dip with the Augason Farms Cheese Blend Powder. It tasted fine, but it needed more water. AF provides a recipe to make up cheese sauce and another to make up cheese dip. The latter specifies equal amounts of the cheese powder and water, and the former uses a higher proportion of water. I used 1.5 cups of the powder with 1.5 cups of water to make up two cups of cheese dip because I figured the cheese dip recipe would more closely resemble the Cheez-Whiz stuff. As it turned out, a 1:1 ratio is way too much cheese powder even for a dip. The next time we use the cheese powder, I’ll be mixing it with more water.
Prepping stuff from walmart.com and costco.com is starting to stack up in the foyer. In the last week, I’ve ordered and/or received a 26-pound bucket of Augason Farms Brown Rice, several #10 cans of Augason Farms Potato Shreds, another can of AF Cheese Blend Powder to replace the one we just opened, several different kinds of canned mushrooms to test, some spices we don’t currently stock, two 24-can cases of Costco canned chicken, two dozen quart wide-mouth Ball jars, a Victorio apple corer/peeler/slicer, a Lodge 8-quart deep cast-iron camping dutch oven with lid lifter, and a partridge in a pear tree.
On our next trip down to Costco, I want to restock a lot of items we’ve been using for the last year or so without replacing. Stuff like spaghetti sauce, applesauce, canned vegetables, and so on, as well as more bulk staples–bags of flour, sugar, rice, oats, etc.
So, what did you guys do to prep this week?
Back to work on science kits.
Well, I picked up a couple of reference books, one a beginning textbook on electricity and electronics, one a camping and wilderness survival book. Got a couple of medical reference books too.
Grabbed a stovetop toast rack for camping and another thermos bottle. Think I’m good on thermos bottles now. Oh, got one of those countertop butane stove burner things, and a camping cookware set of nested pots. A small backpack stove was in with the pots, but I haven’t even looked at it yet.
Life jumped up and bit this week. Had to call in a pro for our AC and of course it was on a weekend, $850. Turns out R-22 is expensive. Wife decided we needed a new fridge, $1700 (40% off sale), and my truck needs brakes, shocks, and tires, $$$$$.
On the plus side, I sold an upper that has been on consignment for a long time. I sold a radio but have had to open an unpaid item claim. Don’t bid if you don’t want the item people.
All the honey do stuff slowed my prepping down.
Garden is coasting along. Still have a bunch of carrots, even have one brussel sprout plant producing little nubs. Collards are really taking off, we should have a fine crop this fall. I even got a single blackberry off my vine, with a few more red ones getting ready. For an invasive weed, it’s not exactly thriving. Limes are delicious. Lemons are coming along. No peaches this year, no grapefruit, and only the one orange. Once again, I’m reminded that I’d be starving if I was relying on my garden for food.
I’ve got a huge pile of projects stacking up and it’s beginning to feel overwhelming. I need to start chopping away at some of them. Unfortunately it’s been ungodly hot and most of them are outdoors and involve heavy lifting or ladders. I’m just not working on a ladder or in the attic in this heat, and the heat limits the amount of time I can spend working on the ground stuff. Sucks to get old, but the alternative doesn’t appeal.
nick
Oh, yeah. I also ordered a 13-foot fruit picker from Walmart.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Flexrake-LRB190-13-Fruit-Picker/23501838
Barbara wanted it as much for making it easier to pick apples that are nearer the trunk as she did for getting high ones. We’ll get plenty of apples from this one tree just by picking the lower part of the tree. The upper part has lots and lots of apples on it, but birds have to eat, too.
I made a serviceable picker from an old creamer container (cut the side out & a notch at the top) and screwed it to a longer pole. Works great for our apples.
We have 3 classes of apples:
1. Eat ’em. Good for about 3 months of eating.
2. Freeze ’em. Apple pies & crumbles.
3. Juice ’em. Not good enough for anything else, but makes some great cider.
Won’t be ready until mid-late September, but busy when we get ’em.
How do you process them for freezing?
Trump in NW PA today. A friend commented (loudly & publicly) that they should make note of all the attendees so they can be rounded up later.
How could that possibly be misconstrued?
Oh, yeah. I also have two kilos of loose tea on order.
“So, what did you guys do to prep this week?”
lol. Not much. Did what was probably my last bit of prepping for another corporate IT drone job and good riddance. They don’t want a 63-year-old hippie geezer? Their loss.
So. I did manage to obtain a new Leatherman Signal w/complete bit set and bit extender, which will be EDC on my belt from now on. I stocked up a bit on some more canned goods and staples. I have to remember to keep picking up 3-gallon water packs every time I go to the store. And lobbying for the generator. Also looking into possible rainwater collection options for next season.
Got an A-C window unit so I can bear to work up in the attic space and assemble and configure a whole slew of projects up there.
Did my physical therapy appointments which are designed to strengthen abdominal and back muscles and increase flexibility and have re-started my fast walks around the immediate village AO.
Signed up for the Vermont Master Composter course which is coming up next month and am on the wait list for the Vermont Master Gardener classes. Will probably sign up for the bicycle mechanics classes, too, but not sure when. Gotta ramp up the ham radio license study again, too; there’s an event Saturday up the road with the local ham club but I have too much chit to do here and then I gotta pick up Mrs. OFD at the airport that day and probably during a continuous driving rain storm and standing wotta on the roads.
Signed up for the first in a series of NRA certification classes held at the gun range just up the road, stretching over the next year. Will get Mrs. OFD involved in that, too. And looking to schedule a Project Appleseed weekend somewhere in New England or north-country NY in the next six to eight months. And continuing my certified CCW Instructor course and paperwork for CCW licenses in VA and UT. Plus the FFL.
Gotta clean up my adjoining table in the office here and get back to listening to SW and scanner and grok how to configure antennas for better reception.
Off shortly to bring the RAV4 in for routine maintenance and look at the now always-on tire pressure light and some damage to the driver’s side mudflap assembly. Will bring along the Kindle and do another couple of hours of reading prep-related books on it.
Heavy rain started overnight and continuing, hallelujah!
“How could that possibly be misconstrued?”
It can’t. But we make similar statements and worse right here on this board for the opposing forces.
Goes to show the DEEP divide, polarization and increasingly take-no-prisoners attitude developing in this country. Playing out in shit-gets-real format now in Europe. But that can’t happen here, of course. Oh wait.
Dunno how JimL does it, but we prep apples for freezing, by coring and slicing them, and adding some lemon juice to reduce browning, and then vac-packing them. Some people peel their apples, but we never do.
When you thaw them, they release a lot of juice, which we drain off first (for drinking). The result is fewer problems with runny pies. The apples are then pretty soft, which makes packing them into a pie a lot easier.
I ordered a #10 Augason of Potato Shreds, Chopped Onions and Diced Red & Green Peppers. I’m going to try rehydrating in a Thermos and make Potatoes O’Brien. Also a can of Scrambled Egg Mix. I’ll add some dehydrated sausage/crumbles and see how a complete bfast works out. I’ll test it out on my 91 year old Mom. lol! the wiener dog, too.
@Brad – just about the same thing, but we have a peeler/slicer/corer deal (manual) that does most of the hard work for us. The peels & cores go into the press to get juiced.
Never did the lemon juice, but should. You’re right about the juice when thawing.
I did manage to obtain a new Leatherman Signal w/complete bit set and bit extender,
I have the Charge Ti with the extras I got as a gift. I already had the base Charge Ti. I prefer to just use the pocket clip and carry in my right front pocket. I use it every day for something. I rarely use the “extras” so they and the other Ti stay in a leather pouch ready for check bag travel.
“. But we make similar statements and worse right here on this board for the opposing forces.”
Not really, most of the comments here are about the ruling class, not ordinary folks who support the candidate. Different thing entirely.
n
“Not really, most of the comments here are about the ruling class, not ordinary folks who support the candidate. Different thing entirely.”
Yeah, point taken, but there have been comments, and I’ve made them, too, about getting rid of the Cankles supporters and FSA types, along with the usual progs and SJWs, most of whom are NOT members of the ruling class, but useful idiots and dupes.
Well yeah, round up the FSA because they are violent and useless, not because of their political beliefs.
n
Oh boy, found a new local online auction site… no idea what is typical for this site, but right now prices are so low it’s stealing. 6 days left, so that could change but at least I won’t be up against my normal opposite numbers in the surplus auctions. Really weird mix of household, business, and wholesale lots too. TONS of good resale and keeper items. Whoo hooo.
n
No URL?
Hater.
Mom always makes a chunky applesauce. Peeled and cored with an apple peeler, cooked, mashed, add sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Bagged and frozen. Works great and tastes fantastic.
I’m trying to come up with reasons why incendiary statements here are different than incendiary statements there.
I got nuthin’.
Some days we’re on fire.
No url as it’s a local “estate sale” auction with local pickup or use a pack and ship company only.
I almost linked, but thought it might be to gloat-y 🙂 (military miniatures currently under a dollar each that sell on ebay for $50-80 and they’re small so easy to stock and ship, $400 electronic curve tracer for $2, bass guitar amp $250 currently $1, yamaha pro amp $2, etc. Lots of camping and shooting accessories too.
Since I’ve never used this auction site before, I don’t know if I should be excited or not, because in the end, it could be full of lurkers who will bid in the last few minutes. Some of the auctions are like that.
nick
“Some days we’re on fire.”
You betcha. Bunch dam haters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLUGsn-NOis
From my email just now from Samuel Culper’s sitrep:
“Bottom Line Up Front: The Bottom Line Up Front will be added to each EXSUM as an opportunity for me to share my most pressing thoughts. This week’s BLUF is that I continue to be concerned about the Trump campaign. I’m concerned about both candidates, and I think that neither candidate is going to be particularly effective at solving this nation’s problems. According to some sources, there’s an “emergency meeting” scheduled for today between Trump campaign officials and GOP officials, after a brutal two weeks for Trump as he lags behind in the polls. This week, investor Doug Kass was on Bloomberg predicting that Trump will drop out of the race because “he doesn’t like to lose.” Some may balk, but I think it’s a distinct possibility. Trump complains that he’s not being treated fairly and he won’t get a fair shot at the election, and he leaves. Or his children, who apparently have the greatest influence on him, urge him to focus on the family business instead and Trump leaves the campaign. I’m not saying that it will happen, but I don’t think we can exclude it from the list of potential outcomes, either.”
What would the GOP rumpswabs do then??? Probably try to run Calgary Ted or Mittens or Jebster again, who would, of course, be GUARANTEED to lose, and lose BIG, against HRC. And probably the play they had in mind all along.
edited by the writer later:
” Friday’s “Emergency” meeting between Trump, GOP”
“Trump campaign and GOP officials are scheduled to have what one source called an “emergency meeting” today. Sources close to the GOP claim that the meeting is to plot a turnaround for the Trump campaign after slipping heavily in the polls this week to Clinton. Clinton currently leads Trump in Ohio by 2.6 points, up from 0.8 last week. A Republican has never won the presidency without carrying Ohio.”
“Clinton also leads by 5 points in Florida, where the Trump campaign is getting a slow start. Trump currently has only one field office in Florida, which will be a difficult state to win. Unless something drastic happens to turn around the campaign, I think Trump is headed for a loss in November.””
Rush said this morning that exiting voters were asked at last election in 2012, who cared for them the most ? It was 19% said yes for Mittens and 81% said yes for Obola. Scary stuff there. Nobody in the RINO party cares about people as much as Trump does.
Especially not Ted or Jeb. Ted is all about convert or die and I am not sure what Jeb is about.
I still think Trump is going to win an honest election. But, people are obviously trying to rig the election right now.
“PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton’s protective wall around Chappaqua estate”
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/photos-hillary-clintons-protective-wall-around-chappaqua-estate/
Nice place. Like the wall.
” Friday’s “Emergency” meeting between Trump, GOP”
“Trump campaign and GOP officials are scheduled to have what one source called an “emergency meeting” today. Sources close to the GOP claim that the meeting is to plot a turnaround for the Trump campaign after slipping heavily in the polls this week to Clinton. Clinton currently leads Trump in Ohio by 2.6 points, up from 0.8 last week. A Republican has never won the presidency without carrying Ohio.”
Trump is not going to do anything that the RINOs suggest. For some reason, he is fund raising with them which I regard to be foolish.
And I do not believe any of the current polls. There is a big nationwide poll on the first Tuesday in November that I will believe.
Maybe the GOP will get off their collective dead WHITEY! country club asses and back tRump 100%. I think he would have a real chance of winning then. But, no, anybody or thing that will knock them out of power and take away their $$$ will not get any support. I know the RINO/GOP Redumblicans are mad because it’s their turn to destroy the country while raking in millions. At least we’re getting rid of the fukstik Harry Reid. I’m sure he’ll be up to no good here in NV trying to screw us dirt peeps out of our $$$.
This:
“There is a big nationwide poll on the first Tuesday in November that I will believe.”
Conflicts with this:
“But, people are obviously trying to rig the election right now.”
And just because Trump says he cares about people doesn’t mean he really does, just the same as when Cankles says it. Why WOULD they genuinely care? He’s a multi-billionaire and she’s well on her way, mainly through chiseling, grifting, mooching, outright theft, murder and treason.
They’re both Cloud People who aren’t really gonna do much of anything for the country or us Dirt People out here. We need to get that nonsense out of our minds immediately, if not sooner.
Here’s the deal: if she gets elected, life will get tougher for most of us thanks mainly to the increased repression and more wars. But most of us will not revolt or commit violent acts against the State.
If he gets elected, life will still get tougher for most of us, primarily due to the various groups like BLM, the FSA, SWJs and progs who WILL try to revolt and commit violent acts against the State, which will, of course, set up an escalating series of rebellion and repression with a lot of us caught in the middle. And we know from experience and history that the State’s hammer will tend to fall indiscriminately on the innocent and guilty alike. In our contemporary situation, more on the former, of course. It’s easier and it’s the Low-Hanging Fruit Theory of “law enforcement.”
So we’re basically screwed no matter which psychopath gets into the White House this time round. Which means: prep like a sumbitch anyway.
Hillary Bitch Clinton should be Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Yes, Miles_Teg, if this actually happens, you have permission to say Hillary’s ass is hot.
I trust Hillary to screw the USA for five million dollars. She is cheap.
I suspect that Trump will need a lot more to screw the USA. A lot more. Maybe more than Putin can pay.
Of course, there is always this:
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/what-i-saw-at-the-coup/
Especially not Ted or Jeb. Ted is all about convert or die and I am not sure what Jeb is about.
I lived in Florida most of my life, including the two terms that Jeb! (always include that exclamation mark) served as Governor.
Jeb! was an effective executive as Governor, but, to borrow a term from Bush Sr., he lacked “the vision thing”. As a result, the Jeb! administration was mostly about preserving status quo in Florida and cutting taxes around the edges.
I doubt President Jeb! would have repealed Doh-bamacare, but he’s smart enough to know that more wars would be a bad thing for his family name if nothing else. His son, George ‘P’ wants to run for TX governor down the road.
Essentially, Jeb! would have been Clinton lite. No sex scandal. Maybe better Supreme Court picks, but Roberts was a Bush Jr. appointment.
Seems like I heard that one can order from Costco website
without a membership. Is this so?
Ted and Jeb! both probably have concession speeches ready when they are asked to replace tRump (he’ll withdraw rather than lose yuuuuuge). At least tRump showed the RINOs that the dirt people have about had enough. If tRump loses and the Senate is lost, after 8 years of Canklesore, the Redumblican Party is dead. Cankles will jack personal income tax to 90%. The Klinton Krime Foundation insolates the Klintons from personal income tax. I’m sure they fly, live, eat, vacay on the KKF’s dime.
Roger Stone’s book on the Bush Crime Family has a ton of dirt on the Jebster, mostly involving narcotics trafficking, i.e. Klinton Lite. The family has been closely intertwined with the Klinton Krime family for years now. Obola is part of a different framework but with ideological and other ties to the Chicago Dem Machine and the same Alinsky playbook that Cankles has internalized.
The last half-decent and relatively untainted Presidents we’re had were Coolidge, and Grover Cleveland. Those days are gone forever.
Seems like I heard that one can order from Costco website
without a membership. Is this so?”
I believe so, but some items are unavailable to non-members, and non-members pay more for all items. (IIRC, Costco makes 100% of its profit from membership fees.)
Costco makes 100% of its profit from membership fees.
Costco attempts to keep the markup on items in the warehouses at around 3%. Membership fees provide operating cash flow to pay the vendors and employees while waiting for the merchandise to sell. They also make money from the credit card deals with (formerly) Amex and (now) Visa, and the auto buying program is actually a dealer marketing group that pays Costco for leads (don’t get me started on that ripoff).
I lived near the Costco HQ briefly a few years ago. They put nearly every dime back into the business so the offices are fairly spartan. The execs do dabble in WA State politics, however, and they sprayed enough money around to various Dem campaigns over the last decade that the corporate lobbyists literally wrote the current WA liquor laws in the wake of deregulation that purged the state booze stores about five years back.
OFD wrote:
” Those days are gone forever.”
We can bring those days back! Writein OFD!
“300-pound gator in garage catches homeowner off guard”
http://www.click2houston.com/news/300-pound-gator-in-garage-catches-homeowner-off-guard
This is about 15 miles away from my home.
This is about 15 miles away from my home.
Crikey!
(Couldn’t resist. RIP, Steve Irwin.)
We had a 9-10 footer in the lake behind our house in FL. He was there before the homes went in so he was quite shy about people. As long as no one feeds them, they are useful to have around to keep the local duck populations under control. Once they lose their fear of humans, however, things like the attack at Disney World happen.
Y’all can have all that chit down there. We’ll take our chances with the blizzards and ice storms and power outages like always.
Another story from that same page:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/woman-wearing-bikini-rescued-on-highway-by-trooper
And the cop actually said it was his JOB to keep her safe, and risked his own butt chasing after her; they both could have easily been splattered all over that highway in a nanosecond. He’ll need to be retrained, however; it’s not REALLY his job to keep us safe. It’s his job to go home at the end of his shift without a scratch, bruise or feeling bad. Obvious retro older guy; retrain or retire, pops. Your day is over.
@OFD and others…
This is an example of the kind of clever thing that you can make money with outside of the nine to five. This is a part to repair/replace the rotten plastic cable ends of the actuator cable that opens the door of my Ford truck. It’s a very common problem across their whole line and for a decade. Wrong plastic or just time, but they appear to fail regularly.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Door-Handle-Latch-Lock-Cable-Repair-Kit-for-Ford-Pick-Up-Vans-Rangers-SUVs-4-pcs/291640507487?_trksid=p5713.c100284.m3505&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D12%26asc%3D20140905073823%26meid%3De47e69a547a44a499b46cacd902c9cf1%26pid%3D100284%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D11%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D291640507487
Here’s another. This one addresses a security flaw that lets someone bypass your door lock and latch to open your door with a screwdriver.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/120945498288?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
If you’ve ever solved a problem for yourself it’s possible that others might need your solution. Micro manufacturing at home, with an online selling platform like etsy or eBay makes it possible to go directly and cheaply to the (relatively small number) prospective customer.
nick
Excellent ideas, tips and links from the fabulous Mr. nick again!
Mrs. OFD has a current etsy account for her online jewelry biz that she’s had precious little time to develop much further, and I’ve got an eBay account I’ve rarely used. I also have an Amazon Prime account and have had it for almost since the day they came up with it, which I use all the time.
And I just solved a stupid but show-stopping IT issue with Nethserver 6.8 running on CentOS 6.8 that was caused by a faulty instruction in the Nethserver install doc. And the guy I interviewed with the other day had never heard of Nethserver and noted it when I told him about it.
My neighbor specifically asked for my advice for items for a First Aid Kit for a beach trip, rental condo, with grandkids. Road trip safety is a bonus, of course.
She was proud that she had fixed up her son-in-law’s sorta-serious wound on the previous trip, and she wanted more suggested items.
I recalled my First Responder training, and I mostly said to be sure to have gauze pads and stretch gauze, to slap onto bleeding and wrap.
I suggested Israeli battle dressings, but actually I now realize that gauze pads (4 by 4s in the usual EMT speech, but other sizes work, too) and stretch gauze (Kerlix brand or generic) will handle most of the same issues, more cheaply and simply…
I’m going to give her print-outs or links to Red Cross and Mayo Clinic first aid kit lists, and some sorts of instructions. Anybody got some quick suggestions for all this?
I know that a lot of this has been addressed here, repeatedly, but please repeat again!
I think the Adventure Medical kits are a great start. Quality supplies, and thought out. I like the bigger kit (I think one week hiking?) for a basic start. Add a couple of rolls of kerlix and some 4x4s, and GLOVES. At least 3 pairs. Or just duplicate the list.
n
I’ve posted pretty extensively on my ‘blow out kit’ for my range bag (gun shot, serious wound) my car kits, and my home kits. A search with nick and first aid or kit should get them…
ADDED- finding the posts is harder than it looks. I looked at a bunch to try and find them, and didn’t.
If I have time, I’ll add more info here.
Don’t use Google to search. They no longer index comments. Duckduckgo sometimes finds comments, sometimes doesn’t. Your best bet, as an editor, is searching comments through the WordPress admin pages.
Yup, but it turns out that the word ‘kit’ is VERY frequent as is ‘first aid’ even when coupled with ‘nick’.
Even looking at ‘older posts’ assuming it’s been awhile since the discussion gives a whole bunch of hits. And the hits just point to @rbt’s original post, so you still have to scroll thru the comments. Unless I’m missing something??
nick
I thought that searching the comments searches comments one by one, displays (what the tool thinks is) the relevant snippet, and provides a link to the post+comments. You’d then need to search the page in your browser to get to the particular word.
If this particular installation doesn’t work that way or it’s not doing what you want, try asking RickH for help. Aside from knowing 10X as much as I about WordPress, he has access to the particular version+plugins and probably knows its quirks.
There’s also direct searching of the database with SQL, which is how I usually dig up comments that Duckduckgo doesn’t get to. Most likely you do not have that level of access to the Daynotes guts, nor should you be poking around with SQL queries unless you really really know what you’re doing.
Per comment from RBT, I’ve moved my response to @spook’s comment to its own post.
n