57F and sunny. 72%RH which is the driest it’s been in a month.
The kids are sure today is a holiday with presents. Nope.
I have wrapped one present so far. I’ve got many left to go.
Time to feed the family though, then more work to clean up and get the house presentable for the holidays….
n
Well I miss having my daughter here to do my wrapping. I think she did a couple for her mom while here yesterday.
Government shut down and who misses it? According to a poll on Fox 50% blame Trump and 37& the dems. I call it thanks not blame.
Regarding earthquakes (and I’m not claiming any knowledge
of Geology), it’s worthwhile to note that the recent quake near
Ray occurred in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (Southern
Appalachian Seismic Zone) which is geologically isolated from
the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Tennessee_Seismic_Zone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone
It still ain’t a bad idea for anybody and everybody to do some
basic earthquake prepping!
Of course, most prepping is just simply prepping… but some
quake specific fixes work for other issues, maybe. Consider
that a heavy shelf unit that is fastened securely to the wall
also is much less likely to squash a kid who might try to climb
on it… and so on.
And DON’T hang heavy pictures or mirrors over your bed!
The main difference for earthquake preps is to store them outside the house, either in a lightweight shed, or in tight containers. And you want gloves and [entry tools] hammer, crowbar, big pry bar, etc outside so you can get back into the house or rubble.
n
Thanks Nick.
I needed that reminder to put some eggs in other than the big basket
of the house itself…
Hard hat, goggles, dust mask, FLASHLIGHTS, jeans and boots…
Yep, if your house gets collapsed, you’ll need some things that are easy to dig out.
I spent 13 years in Southern California, and managed to miss the big quakes, Oakland, and Northridge. Plenty of small shakers though….
n
Also quake specific, you want a utility turn off wrench, and it should be stored by your gas meter.
search for ’emergency gas shut off tool’ will get you some examples. You can put an adjustable there, but it will rust, and might spark.
something like this may be gimmicky, or may be legit, I’ve never tried
https://www.amazon.com/SurvivalKitsOnline-515100-Earthquakes-Hurricanes-Emergencies/dp/B000NYDEPQ
One thing that all the relief crews learned here, early on, is not to rely on your cell phone for navigation. An independent GPS box would have helped the out of towners find their way around while cell networks were down, and of course paper maps don’t ever lose service. The local electric people had to lead convoys and say “Okay, you’ve got everything between these streets” and leave some sort of marker because of course all the street sign were (and many still are) gone.
Good thinking on the spark prevention with a dedicated gas meter tool.
Most water and gas valves can be turned off with adjustable wrench
or channel-locks, but the bronze or aluminum or even plastic tool is
not a bad idea for gas.
I don’t like to leave a wrench too obviously handy for vandals, though.
Also, have a lock handy, to lock gas off, if appropriate.
Fretting further, it would be good to have some sort of escape kit (ready to
grab when you duck under the coffee table) to get OUT of the house.
One thing that all the relief crews learned here, early on, is not to rely on your cell phone for navigation. An independent GPS box would have helped the out of towners find their way around while cell networks were down, and of course paper maps don’t ever lose service. The local electric people had to lead convoys and say “Okay, you’ve got everything between these streets” and leave some sort of marker because of course all the street sign were (and many still are) gone.
The FDroid repository for Android phones has OsmAnd, a decent map app which will cache as much of the world as you need, limited only by storage. The app will cache to the SD card installed in the phone.
Over The Hedge: heated toilet seats
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2018/12/23
Oh no !
Breaking Cat News: anchoring people down
https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2018/12/23
Heh.
My wife thought heated car seats would be ridiculous in Texas. She was wrong! They are the awesome!
Heated toilet seat, I might never leave the house…..
n
Banging away at the little jobs, got the IKEA stuff switched over for my office unit. I need to modify my existing drawer fronts to replace the light colored ones that came with my auction win, but that can wait a bit.
Cleaning, organizing, fixing….
n
I passed 200,000 miles today on my 2005 Ford Expedition on the way home from church. Until this year, it was a rock solid vehicle with not many repairs needed. The major repairs this year were a re-manufactured automatic transmission for $4,125 (three year Ford warranty at any dealer) and a air conditioning front evaporator for $1,700. The 5.4L V8 burns about a quart of oil every 1,500 miles or so which I consider to be excellent. The vehicle electronics are getting dodgy, especially the steering wheel control buttons.
I’ve been trying to decide what I am going to do with the vehicle. I just do not know at this time as I just do not want a new truck payment right now. I do want to buy a new F-150 4×4 crew cab when I do. Maybe even with the 2.7L V6 biturbo for the excellent gas mileage.
Heated toilet seat, I might never leave the house…..
Hey, is a heated toilet seat for the wife the ultimate Christmas gift ? Bemis Radiance Heated Night Light Plastic Toilet Seat, Elongated, White, H1900NL 000 for $139. Where do you plug in the seat though ? I don’t feel comfortable running an electric cord into the toilet area.
https://www.amazon.com/Bemis-Radiance-Elongated-H1900NL-000/dp/B07533MJPN/?tag=ttgnet-20
Back in the day, the boss bought a Panasonic whizzbang t’seat at the outlook mall. Bidet, heater, fan and other features with a nice remote. He wanted it placed in our converted from an apartment office bathroom. The handy guys ran a GFCI outlet via wiremold and Bob’s your fathers brother.
OTOH, Amazon has “Neo 185 Luxe Bidet” for ~$40. No heat, pressure supplied by “T” from toilet water supply. Stretches TP supply.
“Dem congressman: Force gun owners to get rid of assault weapons”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/dem-congressman-force-gun-owners-sell-assault-weapons-n871066
You know, most days I think that the USA would never have another civil war. And then on some days …
Dateline on that article is May…
This is the same gun grabber that suggested that gun owners couldn’t fight back because “we got the nukes”. Or in other words, give up your guns or we will kill you.
Which Larry Correia addressed in his inimitable way here:
http://monsterhunternation.com/2018/11/19/the-2nd-amendment-is-obsolete-says-congressman-who-wants-to-nuke-omaha/
n
BTW, I can’t think of a better argument for keeping my guns than the government saying, “give us your guns or we’ll kill you.”
OTOH, Amazon has “Neo 185 Luxe Bidet” for ~$40. No heat, pressure supplied by “T” from toilet water supply. Stretches TP supply.
Not going to work /here/ since the water supply is from a well with the pump set at 160 or so feet down. Garden hose water is too cold in the Summer to use for a rinse off after mowing. I can’t imagine squirting my backside in the winter and liking it. 🙂
BTW, I can’t think of a better argument for keeping my guns than the government saying, “give us your guns or we’ll kill you.”
If it gets to baseball bats and sling shots, well, we will win anyway.
I called my ISP yesterday. The tech dude said “there is a crew working on the tower”. AKA, you have an answer, have a nice day.
This is the same gun grabber that suggested that gun owners couldn’t fight back because “we got the nukes”. Or in other words, give up your guns or we will kill you.
The “We got the nukes” meme goes back a bit. I remember before we left Portland I overheard the idiot husband of my wife’s prog associate tell someone, “They’re (Tea Party) dreaming if they think they will take to the hills and go ‘Wolverines’ on the US Government.”
That was Christmas 2013. I imagine that Idiot is AntiFa these days.
(Driving home from his house, I had my “That’s It” moment about living in Vantucky. My wife knew she had to find a job in Texas or Florida by the time school let out or I was going anyway.)
“SpaceX Launches Super-Accurate Next-Gen GPS Satellite for US Air Force”
https://www.space.com/42774-spacex-launches-next-gen-gps-satellite.html
“The first advanced, next-generation “GPS III” satellite soared into space today (Dec. 23) atop a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 8:51 a.m. EST (1351 GMT) after nearly a week of delays. The spacecraft, dubbed “Vespucci,” was deployed into medium Earth orbit about 2 hours after liftoff.”
“The successful GPS III SV01 mission marked SpaceX’s 21st and final launch of 2018, beating the company’s 2017 flight rate of 18 launches.”
Totally cool ! Like I’ve said before, we live in awesome times.
I would love to go watch one of the Falcon Heavy launches in 2019. The wife and I tried to watch the space shuttle taking off once but it got delayed out of our window.
Went out for dinner, then drove around the neighborhood looking at lights. There are a lot more houses lit up now than when we moved here 10 years ago. Even the people who just hung a decoration or two, or a string of lights are making an effort. It’s nice to see.
One guy owns both sides of a block, and does a big drive thru setup every year. He adds and makes changes every year to keep it fresh. Lots of people drive over to see it. Kids love it. The theme for the last couple of years is the “Candyland” game. Candy and Christmas, what could be better to a 9yo?
n
I would love to go watch one of the Falcon Heavy launches in 2019. The wife and I tried to watch the space shuttle taking off once but it got delayed out of our window.
If the launch is scrubbed, there’s always Gatorland. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw47xav_-lA
The theme for the last couple of years is the “Candyland” game. Candy and Christmas, what could be better to a 9yo?
I remember playing Candyland with the wife and kids some 25+ years ago. I don’t remember what the game was like though.
VERY basic, uses color matching to advance your piece around the map and ‘thru’ the themed lands on the board. There are a couple of places where you can be sent back, so a bit of Chutes and ladders…
No counting is required. The older boards had better art, IMHO, but the kids liked the art on the new game just as well.
n
Google maps on Android allows you to preload maps for a given area. I keep the Houston area loaded. Every so often it asks you to reload to get updates. I even preloaded maps for the cities in Europe we visited last year.