09:40 – Five weeks until the election, and the pot is bubbling. I suspect we’re going to see a lot of nasty stuff on both sides as the election gets closer. Barbara brought home a sample ballot yesterday. The front side lists partisan races; the reverse lists non-partisan races. That seemed normal, until I noticed that most of the “non-partisan” races listed two candidates, one labeled “Republican” and the other “Democrat”. I may, for the first time in my life, vote straight-ticket Republican. I remember my mother telling me, fifty years or more ago, “A Republican will never steal as much as a Democrat will give away.” That’s as true now as it was then.
The guys finished pouring the driveway yesterday. It took four full concrete mixers and a partial load on a fifth. We were able to walk on it last night, but they told us not to allow any vehicles on it for 10 days. The weather was ideal for concrete work yesterday and overnight, cool and dampish. I was going to go out periodically and spray the surface to keep it damp, but it looks like that won’t be necessary.
We had a bulk order yesterday that wiped out our inventory of the smaller CK01B chemistry kits, so it’s a high priority to get more of those built. We also have an order likely for a dozen full forensic science kits that we’ll need to ship as soon as we get the purchase order. Our stock on those is reasonable, but if that order comes through we’ll need to get started on building more of them. I also got a query yesterday from the editor of a magazine targeted at high-school and college forensic science teachers, asking for permission to reprint a couple of the labs from the forensic science book in their next issue. I of course granted permission, which really wasn’t even necessary since the book is published under a creative-commons license. The magazine has 18,000 subscribers, so we’re likely to see increased order volumes on the forensic science kits.
With everything else going on, prepping still continues. We have 45 three-liter bottles that I rescued when we moved up here from Winston. Those need to be cleaned and sanitized before we fill them. The 3-liter bottles are good for flour and other fluffy stuff, which is a PITA to get into the narrower-mouth 2-liter bottles. Each 3-liter bottle will hold about five pounds of flour, so the 45 we have on hand are enough for more than 200 pounds of flour.
Preparing them for use is pretty straight-forward. We’ll fill both sides of the kitchen sink with sudsy water with some chlorine bleach added. After a quick run through both sides of the sink, we’ll invert the bottles to let them drain. We can air-dry them or use silica gel beads or dry white rice to get rid of the last vestiges of moisture in them and then use a funnel we’ll make from the top half of a 2-liter bottle to fill them. After labeling them, we’ll stick them on the LTS pantry shelves.
Is the Libertarian candidate not much good?
He’s not really a libertarian. More like a Republican who’s liberal socially.
But the real issue is either Trump or Clinton is going to win the election, and Clinton would be disastrous. No one really knows what Trump will do, but we all know exactly what Clinton will do. I’ll take the unknown in preference to a Clinton administration, as would anyone with any sense who’s not a member of the underclass.
“Is the Libertarian candidate not much good?”
When have ANY of them been much good? It’s long been a fringe party, if one can even call it that, with multiple squabbling factions, some really odd ducks running for office from time to time, and zero chance at all for any national office. Look at the two national “candidates” here now; William “Pink Floyd” Weld, and Gary Johnson, both of them rather odd ducks.
Maybe a Libertarian candidate could snag a local town or city council office, possibly a state rep or state senator, but that’s about it. Otherwise, they tend to spend their time bitching at each other and arguing about arcane Austrian School economics issues and if you disagree with one or more of them, why, they’ll EXCOMMUNICATE you from their little faction. Like medieval scholastics concerning how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or some of my fellow “traditionalist” Roman Catholics squabbling over the color of the priest’s vestments on the Third Sunday After Easter and what some obscure clause means in the Summa Theologica.
Um, why is Russia holding nuclear war drills with 40,000,000 people ?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1907902/russia-holds-massive-nuclear-war-exercise-involving-40million-people-as-military-tensions-rise-with-us/
Oh, good. Just what we need.
Got preps?
WRT Libertarians: If you want to hear some folks who espouse to be real Libertarians, with a fair amount of anarchists thrown in, listen to Free Talk Live: https://www.freetalklive.com/
They “pod cast” all their shows for free so you can go back and listen whenever you want. These folks are deep into the New Hampshire (they call it “The Shire”) Free State Project.
They have some interesting callers, some are almost daily repeaters, good for a laugh and/or a WTF.
Take a listen to last night’s (Monday, October 3, 2016) (https://www.freetalklive.com/podcast/2016-10-03), you can download to listen later or listen on line. There was a good discussion on why we shouldn’t elect a Libertarian President, basically you need local Libertarians and Libertarian Representatives and Senators first.
Even when I was a member of the Libertarian National Committee during the 1980 presidential campaign, I thought that libertarians as a party had no real future. I thought then, and I still think, that libertarians should seek to take over the Republican Party.
Nolan (I think) at the time did a pretty comprehensive survey, which determined that libertarianism, at 25%+, was the second largest political belief system in the US, behind populism but well ahead of true conservatives (at 15%) and true liberals (at 10%).
WRT a nuclear exchange: Iran and/or North Korea will fire the first shots and Russia will wait to see our response, which, I am sad to say, that today would be nothing.
On a more pleasant subject, today is the usual Taco Tuesday, however it is extra special in that it is National Taco Day. So I am going to use some Keystone canned beef in my usual taco recipe to see if the family notices any difference.
Edit: Almost forgot, it is also National Vodka Day.
Reference: http://checkitday.com/
“Nolan (I think) at the time did a pretty comprehensive survey, which determined that libertarianism, at 25%+, was the second largest political belief system in the US, behind populism but well ahead of true conservatives (at 15%) and true liberals (at 10%).”
Uh, yeah; is that anything like taking that stupid little libertarian test online (with like four or five questions, max) where we all turn out to be libertarians and just didn’t know it? And that Shire Project caper over in NH is doomed; why? Because half the state is now made up of former Massholes, dating back to the 1980s, hoping to avoid taxes and buy cheaper real estate. Plus no one much gives a chit.
If I still drank, I’d wash down a dozen tacos today with a quart of vodka. Luckily, I won’t be doing either, and my intestines and other systems will thank me accordingly.
Off to mess with the bank, the car dealership, and eventually, either today or tomorrow, yet another fingerprint card for the Feds. Waste of time, probably, but due diligence. Sooner I get through these latest charades, the sooner I can get back to getting in shape again and the five-page to-do list for the house and preps.
And national night out….
At least as we do it here in TX, where it’s too hot during the normal time.
n
my intestines and other systems will thank me accordingly
As will anyone within a 25 click radius. EPA may send you a thank you card as will the air quality alert people.
Is the Libertarian candidate not much good?
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, is all about new global warming taxes as he firmly believes in this graph:
http://xkcd.com/1732/
We must stop Global Warming as we are going to all burn up !!!
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1907902/russia-holds-massive-nuclear-war-exercise-involving-40million-people-as-military-tensions-rise-with-us/
Oh, good. Just what we need.
Got preps?
Where do I get a Geiger counter and a 2 year stay bunker for twenty people ?
EDIT: And I want this bunker please (a fairly funny movie concerning a serious error in judgement):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124298/
WRT a nuclear exchange: Iran and/or North Korea will fire the first shots and Russia will wait to see our response, which, I am sad to say, that today would be nothing.
Sorry, no. That means that we will nuke Syria.
@Dave Hardy said: “And that Shire Project caper over in NH is doomed”
I tend to agree for the reason you state but also for the fact of the record high heroin use in NH. Could it possibly be that the majority of the Libertarian Free Staters really only support the drugs for all platform? Well, IMHO, that is what the problem is with too many who call themselves Libertarians.
WRT tacos: my recipe is very mild, my wife cannot take much spice as 50+ years of asthma inhalers have destroyed her mouth and tongue. I only use pure ancho chili powder, but, as with all chilies, the heat can vary greatly so I carefully sample each package before I use it. I have found a local Mexican Market that has very consistent ancho chili powder. Since the kids and I like things hotter I have several different hot sauces to spice things up.
The view from abroad: Everyone still living in their bubbles.
– The alt-right, flyover territory, the white middle class – all rooting for Trump, and convinced of the coming Trumpslide. This includes most of my family in the US, all of whom live in flyover territory.
– Meanwhile, both coasts, apparently including most of the media, are utterly convinced that the first group is suffering some sort of mass hallucination, because everyone they know calls Trump a racist. I mean, how could anyone possibly…?
So: who is hallucinating? Alternatively, whose bubble is bigger, and will actually go vote? The one source that has a serious motivation to be objective are the bookies. A few months ago they showed Trump’s odds as 10:1 against. The last couple of weeks, they’ve been pretty steady around 2.5:1 against, so his chances have improved.
Is there really an impending Trumpslide? Time will tell…
“As will anyone within a 25 click radius.”
Yup, my whole AO up here. I aim to please. Which is one reason I’m always careful when taking a whizz.
“We must stop Global Warming as we are going to all burn up !!!”
Right. Meanwhile we’ll have longer growing seasons here in the north country and me and the wife will be moving to Labrador or Greenland. And planting LOTS of trees.
Once again, we have to go to the UK Daily Mail for the real news:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3819617/How-President-Obama-worried-Hillary-Clinton-s-health-set-secret-medical-check-Walter-Reed-refused-fearing-LEAKING-HEART-VALVE-arrhythmia-exposed.html#ixzz4M7m9r55i
Edit: WOW, I shared this on my FaceCrack page (which I only allow my family in as “friends”) and FaceCrack immediately removed it.
“Is there really an impending Trumpslide? Time will tell…”
Anything can happen in the next five weeks. ANYTHING. This has been a crazy year and “campaign” so fah. My girl Barnhardt thinks Trump will either intentionally self-destruct or lose anyway, as no one in their right mind would want to pilot the Titanic. (or the Hindenburg) for the next four to eight years. And the coastal elites and Cloud People are all just assuming that THEIR girl is a done deal.
I still maintain that if she gets in, we’ll end up with more and worse wars overseas and intensified repression at home. If he does, the cities are likely to explode, and on one hand, who cares, sit back and enjoy the show. OTOH, a lot of them have critical infrastructure that, if damaged or destroyed, affects the rest of us.
And I note that Mrs. OFD seems to be thinking about going out of her way this time to make sure she can vote, via absentee ballot if she’s away on a gig, etc., etc. As I mentioned before, she’s drunk the Trump-as-fascist-anti-Christ kool-aid and despite knowing the bulk of the bad things Killary has done, thinks SHE’S the lesser evil. Whereas I think the opposite. And there we have it.
I keep saying Trump hasn’t killed anybody yet and is unlikely to start another war. This has zero effect, apparently. I mention some of the Killary chit and it’s “right-wing propaganda” from those terrible sites and emails I get.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see and watch all the chit go down.
“…FaceCrack immediately removed it.”
Surprise! FaceCrack, Google, Twits Inc., and probably all the big tech firms and banksters are totally in the bag for Killary.
Keep it up and you’ll be bounced right off there completely, kemosabe.
WRT a nuclear exchange: Iran and/or North Korea will fire the first shots and Russia will wait to see our response, which, I am sad to say, that today would be nothing.
And, I still think the first nuclear exchange will be between Pakistan and India. Brothers are always the worst fighting.
I shared this on my FaceCrack page (which I only allow my family in as “friends”) and FaceCrack immediately removed it.
I just put it on my page. Let’s see how long it lasts.
Surprise! FaceCrack, Google, Twits Inc., and probably all the big tech firms and banksters are totally in the bag for Killary.
Naturally Amazon/Bezos with the WaPost, and I’d toss Costco upper management into that category as well.
My mother and father showed up last night for the guest room. Mom has a tremendous shiner around her left eye and five stitches. They were at the car dealership last week and she took a dive while walking around, nailing the corner of the salesman’s desk. The salesman kept supplying her with new compresses while selling Dad a new sedan. Dad wanted a new truck but she cannot get in a truck anymore without assistance. Getting her in and out of my Expedition the weekend before last was a serious effort. Mom is 75 and Dad is 78. I hate watching my parents decline.
Anything can happen in the next five weeks. ANYTHING. This has been a crazy year and “campaign” so fah. My girl Barnhardt thinks Trump will either intentionally self-destruct or lose anyway, as no one in their right mind would want to pilot the Titanic. (or the Hindenburg) for the next four to eight years. And the coastal elites and Cloud People are all just assuming that THEIR girl is a done deal.
Hillary started a war in Libya and a war in Syria. The Syrian thing is getting very serious as the Russians are starting to get very, very, very upset.
What has Trump done ? Called a few names. Built a LOT of hotels, condos, and golf courses.
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/151288850856/presidential-temperament
@Ray Thompson said: “I just put it on my page. Let’s see how long it lasts.”
I am now locked out from “sharing” anything on my FaceCrack page. I must have shared my limit of Deplorable posts.
Plus the Democrat will steal just as much as the Republican.
“, as no one in their right mind would want to pilot the Titanic. (or the Hindenburg) for the next four to eight years. ”
I used to think this too, but the evidence is against it. Look at every big company that ever got in trouble- they found SOMEONE who was willing to step in and run it. For a certain personality, the challenge of the thing has its own appeal.
Sure it would be nice to be Bill Clinton, and ride the successful changes of the Reagan years, but for every up cycle there is a down cycle. The Lightbringer managed to avoid the pain due to “blame Bush,” outrageous lies, and the central banks’ complicity.
All the chickens are gonna come home to roost, and that’s gonna be an unenviable time to be in charge, especially with a hostile bureaucracy and hostile legislative branch.
nick
Sorry, no. That means that we will nuke Syria.
Cankles will probably nuke Texas for not voting for her.
If someone gives me a roast from their deer or their neighbor’s pig, how long do I need to pressure-cook it to get rid of MRSA other nasties? At 5,000′.
A campfire can lick flames up the side of an ordinary pressure cooker to eat up the gasket. There are cookers with the gasket around the curve, on the protected top side of the lid.
“Pew: Most Americans Don’t Believe in ‘Scientific Consensus’ on Climate Change”
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lauretta-brown/pew-most-americans-dont-believe-scientific-consensus-climate-change
Wow ! Americans are smarter than I thought.
“Pew: Most Americans Don’t Believe in ‘Scientific Consensus’ on Climate Change”
Will somebody please tell California that.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sd-me-air-law-20160919-story.html
“Pew: Most Americans Don’t Believe in ‘Scientific Consensus’ on Climate Change”
Will somebody please tell California that.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/sd-me-air-law-20160919-story.html
I’ve written off Kali anyway. Just wait until the civil war in Mexico and four million refugees come across the border in a month, that should be a total mess.
Why just California? Arizona, New Mexico and Texas will get their share. All four are already infiltrated.
TX still has guns and a strong active history as a Republic. Texans have a strong sense of identity.
n
Why just California? Arizona, New Mexico and Texas will get their share. All four are already infiltrated.
I am just hoping that we in TX do not get our fair share of the refugees. Kali has the reputation of all the free bennies, I am hoping that those act as an attractor.
I suspect Texas would get more refugees than those other states combined.
We’ve got a lot more border, that’s for sure.
n
I suspect Texas would get more refugees than those other states combined.
We’ve got a lot more border, that’s for sure.
Right into some of the most Godforsaken country in the USA. The area between El Paso and Brownsville is downright inhospitable. Little water, no food, lots of rattlesnakes, and hostile Texans tired of burying the bodies.
Little water, no food, lots of rattlesnakes, and hostile Texans tired of burying the bodies.
Sounds like Mexico.
I suspect Texas would get more refugees than those other states combined.
At a certain point, if pushed hard enough, Texas succession will stop being a fringe interest concept.
I think that I’ve mentioned before that I saw “joke” Republic of Texas currency mock ups at the money printing facility outside Fort Worth this past Spring. I asked a staff member, “Getting ready for something?”
The deadpan response was, “No comment.”
Wife and I have nothing but the best possible wishes for genuine Texans and the great Lone Star State. I can well imagine it will be the first to actually and successfully secede from the Empire.
I’d dearly love to see northern Nova Anglia and the north country region of the Vampire State secede, too, and maybe link up with the Canadian Maritimes at some point. Establish friendly relations with the sovereign state/province of Quebec. And tell southern Nova Anglia to just go ahead and hook up with NYC, NJ and Delaware.
I figure the capitals of Novacadia will be Vergennes, VT or Concord, NH, Fredericton, Noveau Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
We’ll of course also hook up with Newfoundland, Labrador and Baffin Island.
What does what most Americans believe have to do with Californians? It’s not like California has been part of America for the past few decades.
Establish friendly relations with the sovereign state/province of Quebec.
I’ve heard that the rest of the Canadian provinces are praying that Quebec secedes.
Wife and I have nothing but the best possible wishes for genuine Texans and the great Lone Star State. I can well imagine it will be the first to actually and successfully secede from the Empire.
What is a genuine Texan ? I am fourth generation on both sides, does that count ? Or is a genuine Texan a state of mind ?
“Son, never ask a man if he is from Texas. If he is, he’ll tell you. If he isn’t, don’t embarrass him.”
I’ve seen this bumper sticker a few times: “I was not born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could”.
https://www.txtraders.com/shop/item.aspx/i-wasnt-born-here-texas-bumper-sticker/
BTW, Texas seceded from the Empire in 1862. That did not go so well. My uncle’s grandfather drove a team of mules pulling a cannon from east Texas to Virginia. They ate the mules in the winter of 1864 ?
My parents flew up to Newfoundland today through Toronto to go to some of the Celtic ??? fall festivals. They left my house at 4:15am to catch a 7am flight at Bush Intercontinental.
“It’s not like California has been part of America for the past few decades.”
Neither has Maffachufetts, despite the lie they put on their license plates (The Spirit of America).
“…praying that Quebec secedes.”
As much a chance of that as Scotland leaving the U.K.
” I am fourth generation on both sides, does that count ?”
You bet, podna. I am 16th-generation Maffachufetts and more than that if I include my Wampanoag ancestors. But the Commonwealth has gone down the rabbit hole, and buh-bye, fummamuckers. I just wish my siblings would GTFO ASAP.
“… some of the Celtic ??? fall festivals.”
Yup, they do those every year throughout the Maritimes and then almost every week, at least, informal céilidhs, often with just several members of a family, and often multiple generations. Could be French, Irish or Scottish stuff. Or a combination thereof. Boy, that’s a long-ass flight or series of flights; God bless ’em!
Yup, they do those every year throughout the Maritimes and then almost every week, at least, informal céilidhs, often with just several members of a family, and often multiple generations. Could be French, Irish or Scottish stuff. Or a combination thereof. Boy, that’s a long-ass flight or series of flights; God bless ’em!
The ‘rents were in Toronto before noon Houston time. Who needs an inheritance ?
Noon Houston time would be close to Toronto time, IIRC, but an hour later here, IIRC. I keep forgetting ’cause wife is all over the time zones and even she can’t remember which one she’s in.
An inheritance? ? ?
@nick flandrey said: “Texans have a strong sense of identity.”
Only those Texans who have manure outside their boots rather than the neo-Texans who have manure in their boots :poo:
Hey kidz! 43 million immigrants here in a country of 330 million; you do the math.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/census-record-42.4m-immigrants-23-of-school-kids-muslims-biggest-jump/article/2603543
What could possibly go wrong?
Get ready for sharia, praying to the moon demon five times a day, and ordering up some nice black burkhas for your womynfolk. It’ll be OK, though; you’ll be able to beat on them when they get outta line or mouth off to ya. And if your daughter gets raped, you’ll have to kill HER, of course, the dishonor, oh my.
But somehow I don’t think this chit is gonna fly. Still a chit-ton of angry and bitter Anglo-Saxons and Celts, clinging to their guns and their religion….
Worth reading the article for the pictures.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3822012/Anxiety-high-US-coast-residents-eye-Hurricane-Matthew.html
people are buying gennies and gas cans, but no extension cords. (and gas lines are around the block)
They’re buying batteries, but not a lot, and looking at flashlights like they’ve never seen one before.
They’re buying plywood but no screws or nails.
They’re freaked out ‘cuz the bottled water is sold out, but THE FREAKING WATER IS STILL COMING OUT OF THE TAPS.
Worth looking at the pix from the already affected islands too. Man those are some shitholes.
nick
Oh and according to my 7 yo and her friends:
When Trump wins, he’s going to kill hilllarry clinton
Trump wants to build a big wall to keep mexicans out and he’ll kill all the ones here already.
Obama reduced the size of the army and we don’t have enough army to fight (she’s right on this one.)
Trump will win.
n
They’re buying batteries, but not a lot, and looking at flashlights like they’ve never seen one before.
You didn’t capitalize FLASHLIGHTS, so microaggression.
Apparently, the VP debate moderator is a fem hispanizoid Libturdian who agrees with Kaine and questions pEnce. No surprise from CBS. Why even have a debate.
When tRump wins, he’ll be assasinated along with pEnce.
So for areas like that in Floriduh, we can expect hordes of panicky derps buying SOME shit, in panic mode, and cleaning out the store shelves, but not ALL the stuff they’d need to make it work. Typical. In a real dire SHTF scenario nationwide, we’re likely to see MASS die-offs, in the millions and tens of millions, at least. Which, of course, is fine with our regime.
“When Trump wins, he’s going to kill hilllarry clinton”
At the least he should initiate criminal proceedings and possibly a trial for treason. But he’ll probably let bygones be bygones and let her swan around to rake in more tens of millions from speeches and foreign contributions to her Foundation. Except she may not survive long enough to do that.
“Trump wants to build a big wall to keep mexicans out and he’ll kill all the ones here already”
He COULD build a decent wall, like other countries have done, or he could go the RBT-recommended route, which I seconded; basically fields of fire. 43 million immigrants here already, which is what, roughly 1/8 of the pop in just a few short years. And they wanna bring in more tens of millions, preferably Stone Age peasants and musloid scum. If the ones here already get killed, it will be by each other, or when the civil war kicks off and shit gets really real.
“Obama reduced the size of the army and we don’t have enough army to fight”
Fight who? Reduce it some more, close most of the foreign bases, bring almost all the troops home and secure our borders and coastlines and vital national infrastructure. Ramp up cyber war and space war capabilities, and mainly rely on our nukular subs to control the sea lanes and country in general, with immediate and terminal retaliation for anyone who fucks with us here. No state actors involved? Send Delta and Seal killer teams out after them.
“Trump will win.”
He might. And then we’ll see the cities blow up so as to make the late 60s riots look like the teddy bears’ beach picnic. With expansions into the burbs. We have professional commie agitators using Soros billions to foment this shit and no shortage of young male fighters with nothing much else to do. I’d also expect more “lone wolf” musloid attacks all over the place.
Or he might not, in which case it’s World War IV abroad and final and permanent gutting of our Bill of Rights, especially Numbers One, Two, Four and Five. We’ll have a de facto militarized police state and near total surveillance on us. With martial law where the regime deems it necessary. Most of the nasty and virulent posters on this board will probably be shut down, accounts closed, property seized, and then they’ll be taken away somewhere and something or other done with them. Did I say “them?” I meant US. Except I intend to go out in a blaze of glory, first.
Off to the local PD tomorrow to get fingerprint cards, again, to send to the Feds, who must already have a file cabinet drawer full of them or on a CD or stick somewhere by now. Then back here to attempt mowing the lawn, probably take hours, with sit-downs every twenty minutes.
Thursday off to the VA, two hours each way, for another MRI and x-rays. We sincerely hope they can do something for me then and there; it’s been six months straight of more or less constant pain and mobility dysfunction. I don’t need this shit at age 63. Too much left to do.
Nick writes: “TX still has guns and a strong active history as a Republic. Texans have a strong sense of identity.”
As a Texan (born in Amarillo), I wish I agreed with you. Unfortunately, I think its the same story as New Hampshire and Massachusetts: too many immigrants. Austin has been conquered by the Left Coast, Dallas and all of its suburbs by the East Coast. Plus lots of ordinary, middle-class Texans have been infected by Progressivism, which is a pretty virulent disease.
If you offered Texas a hard choice, something that would upset the federal government, you would probably have more support than in any other state. And I’ll bet that support would still be a tiny minority. Look at the secession movement: while it does exist, it has never risen above the level of a joke. When I lived there, I always wished people would take it seriously; if nothing else, one could use it as leverage with the feddies.
To answer Lynn’s question, I’ll accept that being Texan is a state of mind. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have been born there. If Texas were to secede, I might just ask for citizenship, despite having handed back my US passport some years ago. Won’t happen, though…too many damned Yankees (a perjorative indicating attitude more than geography).
“A campfire can lick flames up the side of an ordinary pressure cooker to eat up the gasket. There are cookers with the gasket around the curve, on the protected top side of the lid.”
If your fire has flames licking to the rim of a pot, it’s probably too big and vigourous a fire for cooking on, especially if all you need do is keep a pressure-cooker up to pressure. Most people completely overestimate the size of fire necessary for cooking: a cosy, warm camp fire =/= a cooking fire. There’s a good explanation here:
http://castbullet.com/cooking/gng.htm
The Space Coast is doing the crazy because of the storm. Water is largely sold out, but the trucks are still running. Gas Stations are looking OK, so far. Weird things running out, like they are buying whatever is on the shelf.
Seven cases of bottled water and I will fill 4 five gallon jugs tonight. I’ll dig out all the flashlights and charge the spare batteries and the Baofeng-8. Weather radio is already charged. Still have to put up the shutters. We have over 24 hours more to prepare before TS force winds, so no worries.
The only fear is it making a left turn and getting the full brunt of a Category 4 storm. That would be bad. Or it going stationary and we really do get the 30 inches of rain one weather person forecast.
Our thoughts are with you guys.
Up here in the western NC mountains, our forecast for Matthew is breezy with less than an inch of rain. It takes one hell of a hurricane to significantly affect even the Triad, let alone us up here.
Another article of conventional wisdom that makes you feel better about prepping but is so full of holes you could fly a drone thru it.
https://survivalblog.com/how-to-find-food-in-your-own-backyard-by-z-m/
Here’s what the author suggests “can fill your belly with food as well!”
Red Clover
{snip}
You can eat the little flowers raw or use the dried florets to make tea.
— yup, strip the whole yard bare and get a cup of flowers. Or wait a week and make a cup of tea
Chicory
{snip}
this weed is incredibly tasty and versatile. When harvesting, try to pick the younger leaves, as they’ll be less bitter.
{snip}
The taproot can be used as well. If you dry, roast, and grind them, you can use them as a coffee substitute, just like you’ll find in New Orleans.
–One cup of salad today, or some erzatz coffee in a couple of weeks.
Crabapples
{snip}
You know these little guys as the notorious blobs that end up all over your sidewalk every fall. … they’re extremely tart.
–nope not in my neighborhood
{snip}
… and probably a bit more of the tartness. .
Dandelions
{snip}
The leaves get more bitter as they grow larger (read: extremely bitter), but if you can get them while they’re young they’re fantastic.
{snip}
Once you develop a taste for the bitterness, you won’t be able to get enough.
{snip}
Like chicory, you can use the roots of dandelions for a coffee substitute as well. Dry, roast, and grind the roots, and you’ll be on your way to a beverage that’s at the midway point between a coffee and a tea.
— this time you might get a plate full, once. Oh, or wait a month and have a cup of tea
Acorns
{snip}
The key to making acorns edible is to get rid of all of the tannins inside of them.
{snip}
Tannins make the acorn incredibly bitter. …. After you boil them, you end up with a pretty pleasant nut meat that can easily fill some bellies.
— if you have thought to put up some acorns when they were in season, or get lucky with your apocalypse, you might actually get some food in you, if you’ve got huge amounts of clean water that is…
Wild Garlic
{snip}
—as a flavoring agent, yes. Food in your belly? No
Kousa Dogwood
{snip}
If you live in the South,
— and if you don’t you are out of luck
{snip}
The skin is pretty bitter, so they’re gonna taste better if you can avoid that part.
— anyone seeing a theme here?
— here’s a thought, the best way to fill your belly with food from the backyard is to PLANT A GARDEN. At a minimum, plant whatever fruit trees grow in your area. Sure, a garden and fruit trees depend on being in season for useful food, but so does all that foraging, and you are a LOT more likely to recoup the calories spent eating from the garden.
–better yet, STORE FOOD.
nick
“— anyone seeing a theme here?”
Preppers are [b]bitter[/b] and clinging, perhaps.
Preppers are deporable, bitter, and clinging, perhaps.
There, fixed it for you @Denis, with editorial addition.
BTW I assumed you were trying to bold “bitter”. WordPress uses the “less than” and “greater than” signs where you were using the square brackets.
/@Dads editor mode off 😉
A lot of “natural” food is unsavory. Evolution, you know. For some unfathomable reason, plants which don’t get eaten are more likely to pass on their genes.
There’s a reason that hunter-gatherers need at least 100x the land as the same number of farmers. “Nature’s bounty” doesn’t provide a whole lot to eat, even if you include insects and fungus.
The ‘rents were in Toronto before noon Houston time. Who needs an inheritance ?
An inheritance? ? ?
The ‘rents are blowing through all their cash with a two week international trip every quarter.
–better yet, STORE FOOD.
–better yet, STORE FOOD and HIDE FOOD.
Fixed that for you.
From the spouse, the sugar ants, the real ants, the cockroaches, the neighbors, the food police after the singularity, etc, etc, etc. I am trying to figure where I could put a pallet of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli. I figure it covers several of the major food groups.
Yeah, you could live on Chef Boyardee ravioli, although we have only two or three dozen cans of it on our LTS shelves.
“The ‘rents are blowing through all their cash with a two week international trip every quarter.”
Ah, I get it now. So do they have that cute bumpah sticka that sez “We’re Spending Our Grandchildrens’ Inheritance!”?
“Yeah, you could live on Chef Boyardee ravioli…”
When you’re hungry even that stuff will taste great. When we got ravioli or spaghetti back in our skool lunches a zillion years ago, they always supplied Italian bread with peanut butter and to this day that’s what I do, too. But we get more upscale ravioli and spaghetti so fah these days…
Yeah, you could live on Chef Boyardee ravioli, although we have only two or three dozen cans of it on our LTS shelves.
I figure that Chef Boyardee ravioli is WAY better than boiled acorns. Of course, one could eat processed acorns in fried squirrel like my grandfather did growing up.
And I would also like to have a pallet of canned Lefleur green peas. Variety and more vitamins.
A man can dream, right ?
When you’re hungry even that stuff will taste great. When we got ravioli or spaghetti back in our skool lunches a zillion years ago, they always supplied Italian bread with peanut butter and to this day that’s what I do, too. But we get more upscale ravioli and spaghetti so fah these days…
I am worried about cooking after the singularity. First, significant fuel storage is difficult, very difficult. Then there is the smell of cooking food. When all your neighbors are starving, a nice spaghetti or pancakes cooking on the back patio will probably draw more neighbors than flies.
But we get more upscale ravioli and spaghetti so fah these days…
Very snooty of you, sir. I love Beefaroni. I could live on chili-mac. Hard on the ‘hole after a while, though.
Lynn, you’re using “singularity” in a singular way. If the purpose of your words is communication, you may wish to use the standard meanings.
“First, significant fuel storage is difficult, very difficult.”
Wait. You live in Texas. Isn’t it like 100 degrees there all the time? No need to cook; just set the cans out on the driveway for an hour and Bob’s yer uncle. Open ’em up and dig in! Hell, we gotta use slow cookers up here, man!
But yeah, we have a woodstove that we can also cook ON and IN, if the need arises, and may just do it anyway this winter to see how good it works.
Canned chili I find acceptable, canned pasta not much. I’m sure it’s the italian in me – snob yes. But as everyone says, ‘When you get hungry enough’.
All in all there is so much canned goods out there from every category it’s probably the easiest thing for most peeps to store and then later consume. I know it cheaper to store the raw goods but this often seems to go back to the idea of some primitive or pioneer cooking. When thing are bad opening a can and chowing down, hot or cold, may be all there’s time for.
Don’t forget solar ovens. You can build one (or several) for next to nothing. For something more permanent than cardboard boxes, you can use standard 1″ boards and thin plywood or masonite, aluminum foil, black spray paint, and either glass or plastic glazing. (I have a box of very large oven-safe plastic bags on the shelf.)
In full sun, even in winter, it’ll get hot enough in there to sterilize water, cook soups and stews, etc. You can even bake bread.
“When thing are bad opening a can and chowing down, hot or cold, may be all there’s time for.”
Sure. That’s why I keep a fair amount of canned soups, stews, hash, etc. on the shelves. But I also have several ways of cooking/baking, from a woodstove to a rocket stove to Coleman stoves to our propane grill to (components for) solar ovens. And I want to add to that by getting a big propane tank installed and replacing our electric stovetop with a propane one.
We talk a lot around here about normalcy bias and its effects while things remain relatively normal. But normalcy bias doesn’t disappear if a catastrophe does occur. People who think/behave based on their normalcy bias die in huge numbers during any critical emergency. They not only can’t accept that a critical emergency may occur; when one does occur, they can’t accept that it has occurred. They continue to act as they did before.
And before we all go patting ourselves on the back for our lack of normalcy bias, keep in mind that we’re as subject to it as anyone else. That hit home after our recent power failure. I already knew the power had failed when I walked into the kitchen, but that didn’t stop me from flipping the light switch. A trivial example, certainly, but it’s just such unthinking actions that end up killing people in a real emergency.
And despite what I just wrote, my actual point was that in a critical emergency it’s very important to keep things as close to normal as possible. When things are normal or at least close to it, people can continue to function. In a real emergency where everything changes, many people simply can’t deal with it and end up sitting in the corner almost catatonic. I’ve actually seen this happen, and the emergency wasn’t even a very big deal.
So, yeah, I want to be able to continue to cook and bake as normally as possible for as long as possible. It’s just one more thing I can prepare to do to help keep things as normal as possible.
“it’s very important to keep things as close to normal as possible.”
This in spades.
My whole first tier of preps are based on this.
Sure, we’re getting electricity from the gennie, and cooking on the grill and the colman stove, but we’re eating the things we normally eat, drinking the things we normally drink.
We’re going to bed earlier, and it’s warmer in the house than we’d like, and darker. But we can still read in bed, and see in the toilet.
We were very little inconvenienced for the 14 days without power, and 3 without water, esp when considered against other folks’ experiences, and our own worst case.
It pays tremendous dividends to just keep going with minor changes.
nick
BTW, using your preps helps with this by coming from the other side of the issue. If you ALREADY do taco night from pouch meat, it won’t be a change. Ditto for the occasional cookout. My dad never fried anything stinky in the house, he used the colman or the fry daddy outside. Use your grill. Use your turkey frying ring to do a clam boil or to heat water. Use your cast iron!
Yeah, I’m still trying to get Barbara to use our cast-iron skillets, Dutch ovens, etc. routinely, but she’s used to her Calphalon non-stick skillets and pots. It probably doesn’t help that the cast-iron stuff weighs so much, but at least she’s using it sometimes and she was surprised by just how non-stick seasoned cast-iron cookware is. Even buying new Lodge stuff is reasonably inexpensive, and I plan to add more of it incrementally. At least we’ll have it if the SHTF.
I use my 3 inch deep “chicken fryer” the most often. It’s deep enough that an inch of oil won’t spatter out all over the stove, so it works for ‘hillbilly donuts.’
It also works for southern fried chicken of course.
I use it to brown meat before putting it in the slow cooker. Stew meat, or slab of pot roast are much tastier when browned first, and it doesn’t add much time or effort to the dish.
I use it for seared Ahi tuna steaks too, very yummy.
nick
Alright, tech question. I didn’t get everything copied off my Buffalo Terastation NAS, and now it won’t boot at all. The blink code is bad controller either lan or hd. I get 2 green HD lights, and 2 stay dark with a beep and click click repeating over and over.
Can I just move the drives to another one of the same enclosures?
If not, there is mention of a linux distro with mdsomething to mount the 4 drives in a pc and read them that way. Anyone know anything about this?
I probably have everything on the NAS on other hard drives, but don’t really want to go on a treasure hunt if I can avoid it.
nick
Can I just move the drives to another one of the same enclosures?
Maybe if it was the exact same system. I’ve read that one little change in the OS or RAID and it will probably format everything. Maybe call Buffalo? Are they still around?
If it was a two drive mirror you can just connect the drive by itself to a spare SATA connection. If it was multi-drive striping, no.
Raid 5,
4 identical drives.
buffalo is still around, sorta, but not helpful.
The exact same model is available on ebay at the moment…
n
Lynn, you’re using “singularity” in a singular way. If the purpose of your words is communication, you may wish to use the standard meanings.
I am using singularity for “apocalyptic trigger event”. I take it that does not work ?
“…But we can still read in bed, and see in the toilet.”
I get it that being normalized and having a FLASHLIGHT to read in bed is great, but why ya gotta see in the toilet?
Get a toilet set with built in lights. Kohler. Soft close feature or whatever they call it, anti-slam lid, anyway. $50 at Home Depot. A bit more than I care to pay.
Sadly, the display model did not work. I didn’t see a way to install batteries. Perhaps it has a charging dock.
What the heck, I can turn the sink water on… the aerator has a small generator powering several bluish/white LEDs. Perhaps better than a FLASHLIGHT. The faucet was not my idea.
i should have sayed “see in the terlet” or see in the BATHROOM.
In an extended power outage, that REALLY Fing DARK walk to the smallest room was actually where we used the LED lanterns the most.
n
In an extended power outage, that REALLY Fing DARK walk to the smallest room was actually where we used the LED lanterns the most.
I have stashed LED lanterns in the most used toilets and common areas. They are very needful and appreciated when the lights go out. I have 6 or 7 of them now. Probably need more. Those four D cells are heavy !
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-CPX-Rugged-Lantern-X-Large/dp/B00VTJJ5DE/
I got a toilet seat from Sams Club with the anti-slam feature for $20. It is cool and only took me about an hour to figure out how to install it using the Chinese hieroglyphics. I went back for more after six months and being Sams Club, they do not sell it anymore. No lights though.
I want lights and music to blast on after a successful elimination!
A few things we’ve gotten had instructions obviously translated from Chinese or Japanese. Badly translated. We’d have been better off if the instructions had been left in their original language.
I recall off-brand boomboxes back in the day with lights that flashed like a disco. Perhaps eBay?
By “off-brand” I mean not Panasonic or Sony. Sure, a few other now dead brands were ok but most of that shit sucked for sound quality.