09:46 – Barbara yanked out our pathetic broccoli plants the other day. Their leaves looked moth-eaten, and there were no heads developing. Lori, our mail carrier, is just the latest person to tell us that broccoli doesn’t do well up here. Too bad. Barbara and I both like broccoli.
We need to figure out by trial what works for us and what doesn’t, but that’s true of any gardener anywhere. The climate here is definitely different from Winston-Salem. I just realized yesterday that our first frost and first snow up here will probably occur in September, while it’s still summer. It reminds me a bit of growing up in New Castle, PA, where one year I remember there were still traces of snow on the ground on my birthday, in early June.
Email from Jason. He and Jessica now each have a shotgun. They decided to pay the extra price to get Remington 870 pumps. Both are in 20 gauge for ammunition commonality. Jason’s is a standard model, and Jessica’s is a youth model to suit her smaller frame. They also picked up 20 boxes of buckshot to give them 50 rounds per gun as a starting point.
Given that they both work and they have a young child to care for, Jessica convinced Jason that they didn’t have time to repackage bulk staples, so they decided to make a run or runs to their nearest LDS Home Storage Center and pick up a bunch of dry staples in #10 cans. That costs more than buying 50-pound bags of stuff and repackaging it themselves, but they both considered that a worthwhile trade-off. That fits well with the considerable amount of food they’ve already bought at Sam’s, most of which is canned. At my recommendation, they’re buying a lot of white flour rather than wheat. It’s rated at only a 10-year shelf life, but in fact it’ll be good for far longer and it’s much more convenient to use, particularly under emergency conditions. That also means they don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a good mill.
They do plan to repackage some stuff at home, mainly dry staples that the LDS HSC doesn’t offer. And they’re already putting together an order for Augason Farms stuff in #10 cans and pails. To address the water issue, they’ve already bought several foil packages of HTH for water purification, as well as a Sawyer PointZeroTwo micro-filter. They have easy access to surface water, so an ongoing source of water won’t be a problem. Their goal is to have a one-year supply of food for their family complete in the next 30 days. I suspect they’ll achieve that goal.
With Jen, Brittany, and now Jason/Jessica, I’m seeing an interesting phenomenon. I’ve been exchanging email with newbie preppers for a long time, but there seems to be a new sense of urgency. Instead of just thinking about it and talking about it, a lot more people seem to be actually doing something about it. I suspect the BLM rioting, muslim terrorism, police shootings, and the upcoming election have something to do with that.
Someone just HAD to say out loud that smallpox was eradicated in the wild….
n
“I suspect the BLM rioting, muslim terrorism, police shootings, and the upcoming election have something to do with that.”
There it is. And absolutely ANYTHING can happen in the next eleven weeks leading up to the “election,” and then there’s Black Friday and the whole T-Day to Xmas and New Year’s potential for mischief followed by the Inauguration.
Look like our next expense issues will be the windows on the shed/studio so Mrs. OFD can ramp up her jewelry biz; getting the septic tank guys in; and getting an electrician in here. I’ll be quizzing the latter on generator possibilities and watching what he or she does while they’re here. We’ll probably also replace the back door, part of the frame, strike plate and lockset.
Other than that, it’s prepping for several months w/o power during a bitterly cold snowy winter, per usual, with the icing on the cake being the potential for goblins becoming more aggressive with B&E’s and home invasions, and/or running into them in public settings.
“”Scientists warn the deadly disease smallpox could re-emerge in Siberia
The permafrost is melting close to where infected bodies were buried””
I also saw something about a kid getting anthrax from a thawed reindeer,
I think.
I also saw something about a kid getting anthrax from a thawed reindeer,
I think.
I saw that, too. I wonder what ELSE is buried up there?
Given they agency involved, there might be a bunch of other stuff. The soviets were known for experimenting on marginalized populations
“Boris Kershengolts, deputy director for research at the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone in Yakutsk,”
WSJ: “If tTrump doesn’t change by Labor Day, he should step aside for Mike Pence.”
One of the dumber editorials. Pence is unknown and would have NO chance of beating Cankles. Is the WSJ in the tank for Cankles?
“” I wonder what ELSE is buried up there?””
Some US base in Greenland is about to expose buried
frozen hazmats, including nuclear?
My truck registration renewal:
Registration: $33.00
Government: $270.00
Supplemental Government: $67.00
Technology Fee: $1.00
Total: $371.00
Notice the registration is only $33.00 WTF, over?
WTF is right! Is there a breakdown on those ‘Gov’ fees? California does include theirs. Everything from DMV to CHP to roads (aren’t those already taxed?) to call boxes to official bribes.
Any wonder piling this shit on causes tax revolts.
Got a letter from the Fort Bend County Environmental Health Department Saturday. My contractor has not taken the yearly BOD and TSS samples from my waste treatment system at the office property and submitted to them. So, I have 60 days to get it done or I get a Class C misdemeanor. Another 60 days and I get a Class B misdemeanor. Another 60 days and I get a Class A misdemeanor (probably go to jail at that point).
The contractor just called me back. He promised to get it done this week so we both don’t go to to jail.
And, FBCEHD calls the septic tank an OSSF. An Aerobic On-Site Sewage Facility that serves a commercial building or two or more residential buildings. In this case, three commercial buildings. Five toilets being used by up to 25 people per day. That is a lot of poop. And I am thinking about adding more buildings / toilets.
Oh, yeah, annual smog check another $10 plus driving around to get it and the reg sticker.
Yeah my smog (every 2 years here) took about $100 for the initial and two retests. $200 for a new catalytic converter. The reg was only $89, older Honda Accord. 275K miles but everything works and the body and interior are in good shape.
But now I have to replace the AC compressor. Started getting weaker a couple of weeks ago, now not doing much at all. That’s just for me.
My registration per vehicle is $24.00 a year. Total. No inspection, not based on value. Boat costs another $30.00 a year. Boat trailer is not registered and does not have to be registered.
The Twins and I started binge watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix. We love it! A juvenile 80’s setting X-Files, SciFi, horror show. Except for the evil government scientists killing people with SILENCED weapons.
I’m moving to Tennessee. Is there State income tax there.
“Someone just HAD to say out loud that smallpox was eradicated in the wild….”
“During the 1890s, a major epidemic of smallpox occurred in a town near the Kolyma River in eastern Siberia, Russia.”
And during the 1930s-60s that area was also the site of various camps of the old Soviet gulag.
“Any wonder piling this shit on causes tax revolts.”
That, and a few other things, lately. But it’s the ATTITUDE that really pisses people off now, the fact that they now laugh at us and hold us in utter contempt and loathing OPENLY.
Keep pushing, fummamuckers, keep pushing. Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
Is there State income tax there
Not on regular earnings. There is a Hall Tax which taxes your dividends and interest that do not come from a credit union. But beware, the sales tax is 9.75% on everything including food. Only thing exempt is medical.
We’re not far from Tennessee and only a few miles from Virginia, so we can get the best of all three states if we happen to be traveling in the area. It’s almost but not quite worth driving the five miles or so to the VA state line to get cheaper gas.
It’s worth $0.10/gallon to me. Truck gets about 12 mpg, so 10 miles round trip would be $1.91. 26 gallon tank would save me $0.69.
Unfortunately, cheap gas simply isn’t close enough unless I’m driving through for some other reason.
I hate driving in Virginia. I’m always looking over my shoulder for a Warthog when I see those signs: “Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft”
Is there State income tax there
Not on regular earnings. There is a Hall Tax which taxes your dividends and interest that do not come from a credit union. But beware, the sales tax is 9.75% on everything including food. Only thing exempt is medical.
No income taxes on personal income, earned or unearned in The Great State of Texas. But there is a 0.5% tax on business income above $500,000 in the state (does not included income from outside the state) (that is a rough approximation of the tax). And the sales tax is 8.25% and excludes food and medicine.
My truck registration renewal:
Registration: $33.00
Government: $270.00
Supplemental Government: $67.00
Technology Fee: $1.00
Total: $371.00
This is about $80 / year in The Great State of Texas. And the annual inspection is $27.
“I’m always looking over my shoulder for a Warthog when I see those signs: “Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft”
We see those signs on one of the very long, straight and flat stretches between the border and Moh-ree-all and I always catch myself looking in the sky for drones or a French Mirage fighter. Dunno if they even use French Mirage fighters; we should ask wife’s cousin, who is a helicopter avionics tech for the Canadian Forces somewhere.
In other nooz, the Gov has called out the National Guard for the riots in Milwaukee, and earlier the county sheriff, one David Clarke, had requested that help. Sheriff Clarke is an outstanding American patriot and Second Amendment supporter, by the way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Clarke_Jr.
Clarke for President 2016 to whenever
I guess our Canadian neighbors use these now:
http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/aircraft-current/cf-188.page
And this is what I was blathering about:
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=228
And rat cheer is what ol’ OFD rode around on a good while back:
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/uh-1.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lE_BbE_8E8
No income taxes on personal income, earned or unearned in The Great State of Texas
I remember that well. Got stung by the state of Oregon for one year while in the USAF stationed at Randolph AFB (Universal City). Failed to change my home of residence. I had a TX driver’s license, had registered to vote in TX, done what I thought I should. But no, Oregon said I needed fill out some form, have it signed by the USAF, and sent to the state. Stuck me with a significant tax bill. I had not been in Oregon for more than a week in six years. Considered myself lucky they did not stick more me for the other years. It was that $10K reenlistment bonus that put me over the edge.
And the sales tax is 8.25% and excludes food and medicine
Arriving from TX to TN I went to the store to get a gallon of milk. Price was $1.95 for the gallon. I handed the cashier $2.00 expecting change. But no, I was short and had to pay more. Shocked me that food was taxed, probably one of the most unfair and regressive taxes on the poor you could have.
At one time the tax rate was 8.75%. But the TN house passed a temporary (as it was presented to the masses) increase to 9.75% to fund education. This was about 1990. Of course the tax increase is still there as no source of revenue for the government is temporary.
I hate driving in Virginia. I’m always looking over my shoulder for a Warthog when I see those signs: “Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft”
My Freeport, TX grandfather was a coast watcher during WW II besides his day job at the Dow Chemical Plant making magnesium. He and the pilot would squeeze into a Piper Cub on Sunday mornings at 4 am, hoping to catch a German sub still up charging the batteries before dawn. They never did though. My grandfather ended up bolting a large camera to the Piper and taking coast pictures. He ended up building a photo processing lab and producing 36 inch pictures for people of their land. That was his side business for 30 years.
At one time the tax rate was 8.75%. But the TN house passed a temporary (as it was presented to the masses) increase to 9.75% to fund education. This was about 1990. Of course the tax increase is still there as no source of revenue for the government is temporary.
All taxes are “temporary”. The temporary federal phone tax dates back to the Spanish-American war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_telephone_excise_tax
I love the pictures of the upstanding dead guy in Milwaukee. Thug to the max. Good riddance.
“Donald Trump Just Overtook The Democrats On Gay Rights”
http://www.breitbart.com/milo/2016/08/15/republicans-just-overtook-dems-gay-rights/
“Trump’s plan is to introduce a screening process for prospective immigrants to the U.S., testing their ideological commitment to western values like women’s rights, gay rights, and religious pluralism. It’s a brilliant plan. I’m especially inclined to say it’s brilliant because it may have been partly inspired by me.”
“I’m comfortable with people who are uncomfortable with gays, as long as they don’t want to kill us, maim us or throw us off rooftops. (Permission for lesser violence is available upon application.) For leftists, the reverse appears to be true — they’re uncomfortable with people who are uncomfortable with gays, unless they want to kill us and maim us and throw us off rooftops.”
“Thus, decline to bake a cake for some lesbians and you are a heinous bigot. Murder 50 fags and injure 50 more and you’re a tragic victim, probably reacting to islamophobia, whose dad will be invited to stand behind Hillary Clinton at a rally.”
Interesting. And this Milo guy appears to be gay. Very gay. I wonder if anyone in the LGBTXYZABC community will listen to him ?
Dream on. Those rules are only for white men. Everyone else on the left’s social victim category gets a pass. Didn’t you see the POC only roommate controversy?
http://www.dailywire.com/news/8259/poc-only-college-students-now-openly-refusing-live-james-barrett
He’s pretty typical of most of my gay friends, who are no more prog than I am. None, for example, would force a fundie baker to bake a cake for a gay wedding. Like most people, they just want to live their lives.
“Interesting. And this Milo guy appears to be gay. Very gay.”
Milo is indeed very gay but he’s kind of a right-winger, won’t suffer fools gladly, and isn’t afraid to piss off the usual suspect lefties and progs and SJWs. Justin Raimondo over at Chronicles and antiwar.com is another one.
He calls himself “A Dangerous Faggot.”
He’s not afraid of using confrontational language and turning the tables on homosexual activist types and radicals. The usual suspects find him a difficult target. And he’s prayed together with Protestant fundie groups, sincerely, too.
Off to primary care MD for followup tomorrow, PT Wednesday AM, VA disability “exam” next Monday, more PT, etc., etc. Our dawg off to vet tomorrow for facial/jaw infection from who knows where.
Planting grass in new topsoil area and getting 3+ cords of firewood delivered by the end of the week. Fully half our back yard is unusable for growing anything, mainly due to shade trees, but also septic/leach field. And it isn’t a huge yard to begin with, but Mrs. OFD loved the house and always dreamed of having one on a lake, so here we are. Means for the short term, more storage, and for the long term, hooking up with local farms for possible co-op arrangement with an acre here and there of garden plots. And also getting connected to local CSAs.
Meanwhile I’ve signed up for the Vermont Master Composter class next month and on the list for Master Gardener.
Along with various NRA firearms instructor classes and maybe Project Appleseed this fall somewhere; none scheduled for VT or NH and MA and NY are problematic for several reasons. Might have to bag it for a while. I mainly wanted to recon it for a weekend and then bring the wife.
Auto registration in Florida is based on weight; my 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan cost me $73.80 for 2016. This includes a surcharge for a specialty plate which promotes a cause near & dear to my heart. There’s no statewide inspection. When we had one years ago the system was rife with corruption.
Florida has no income tax, and one good thing that Jeb did as governor was eliminate the intangibles tax. This hit small business owners & investors particularly hard, as it was levied on the value of stocks, bonds, notes, etc. Sales tax is 6%, with options for the county & city to add on, but it does not include groceries or medicines. Restaurant meals, soft drinks, candy, and other edibles that you can live without are taxed.
Re Canadian aircraft. The USAF used to have a fighter contest here, bringing in units from all over and always at least one allied fighter squad. One year the Canadians showed up in their F-18s (a “Navy” plane, looked down on by the USAF) and shot the place up, winning first place going away.
I do not have any gay friends at the moment that I know of. I do know of a guy at church who has dropped the gay lifestyle and is looking for a wife who does not mind his HIV+ status.
I read several of Milo’s columns. And agree with most of them, basically live and let live. Except Muslims as they seem to be dangerous. And not in a good way.
Specialty vehicle plates in Texas are expensive, over $100/year last time I looked.
For $50 you can get a retro California black plate with yellow lettering. I’ve been seeing them mostly on all black cars, you know the ones that are black with black trim, numbers and wheels.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-california-black-license-plates-20150622-story.html
@lynn
There’s no such thing as a “gay lifestyle” any more than there’s a “straight lifestyle”. Being gay isn’t a choice, it’s genetically programmed.
@RBT, having spent a couple of decades in entertainment and theatre, there very much is a “Gay Lifestyle.” The underlying attraction to same sex partners may be genetic (I believe it is, at least on the level of predisposition) but how it’s expressed in society is definitely ‘lifestyle.’
n
I would only point out that there is the obvious “gay lifestyle” that we see mostly, much of it generated by an extremely simpatico MSM, which involves a lot of flamboyance and too often, rampant promiscuity (speaking of the male version) and too often, pedophilia. Then there are the nice, quiet, safe couples who live in peace and just want to be left alone and who are wonderful people, etc., etc., and those are the anecdotal personal acquaintances, friends and relatives some of us trot out, as though to imply that ALL of them are like that, which is far from the case.
A tiny minority in total, and I reckon an even tinier one that is genetically predisposed. Yet chit-tons of inordinately ubiquitous influence throughout culture and society nowadays. You’ve heard of “Negro Fatigue?” There is also “Gay Fatigue.”
And “Immigrant Fatigue.”
You’re arguing semantics. Sure, there are behaviors, mannerisms, and so on that immediately suggest “gay”, but my point was that being gay is not a decision any more than being straight is.
I will admit that I dislike flagrantly gay mannerisms, but that’s simply because I dislike anyone who makes a point that way.
Gays are no more likely to molest children than straight people are. If anything, they’re less likely to do so.
My personal experience suggests that they are willing to push the acceptable age downward more openly that straights. For a while it was a badge of honor to have “helped” some (very) young man discover his gay sexuality. I’ve been out of that scene for over a decade so maybe norms have shifted, but I doubt it.
nick
Yes, according to the best analyses of crime statistics that I could find when I wrote about this some years ago. That is, unless you had different age of consent or other laws for homosexual sex than for heterosexual, which many states did. In that case, the numbers were skewed. There was also the problem of reporting the stats as well as charges being filed for actual violations as well as charges falsely being filed solely because of the ick factor on the part of the police or prosecutors or parents.
The first part was not my experience and I never heard of the second part. However, my contact with the male gay community was tangential at best — my first wife was a musician* and a number of her colleagues were flamboyant homosexuals. I’ve had several male and female acquaintances who were gay, but they were just people who happened to be homosexual, not “out, proud, and loud” artsy types who loved drawing attention to themselves.
* Well, that’s how she still thinks of herself. Never made more than pocket change at it and was never dedicated enough to put enough time into practicing, but she’s a musician, just ask her.