Cooler and just as wet as always, probably. [not so much, 76F and 98%RH]
It got HOT and slimy wet yesterday. Really unpleasant. I did get a couple of things done, or at least started.
I am working on moving stuff, putting stuff away, and organizing so I can get rid of a bunch of stuff. I got some of that accomplished. So much more to do though.
I made a couple of trips to the hardware store to try and advance my roof rack project. If I can get it installed, it won’t be in the driveway. Winner winner… I managed to get the bracketry installed on the truck. Maybe I’ll have time to try to get the rack on today.
I have auction pickups, so I might not get to it.
I need to do grocery shopping too. I couldn’t find any spaghetti for dinner Friday. That’s a prepper fail! In my defense, I took a bucket of pasta to my secondary location last week, so that’s where it ended up.
I picked up some veg for the garden. I got broccoli, cabbage, collards, and brussels sprouts. They are mostly supposed to be cold tolerant. I guess we’ll see. I got some shake on veg fertilizer too. I would like to add a couple of bags of dirt to at least 2 of the beds. Maybe I’ll get to that later today. I’ve had brussels sprouts develop a couple of little heads, and one year got a stalk of broccoli, so I’m hoping to get some result this year. For me, collards usually take a year to establish and then I harvest for a whole year. I don’t have any in the ground atm, just peppers, which are still producing. I was thinking of trying a potato tower this year, but I haven’t done anything about it yet. I still have the fence mounted “window boxes” to consider. I think I’ll try some salad greens again. Turnips and beets did well…
It’s easier to focus on the garden/yard/house/holidays, but man o man is it getting crazy in the world. (see the comments late yesterday for some examples) I think we’re on the downhill slide, and it will pick up speed rapidly. Look at Venezuela as a guide. Our post industrial cities aren’t in any better shape, our spending is out of control, the invaders are everywhere, as are the homeless. Trash piles up, and infrastructure falls down. Medieval diseases are returning, and so is the feudal system. Superstition and feelings replace science and rationality. Trump is buying us breathing room, a change to the slope, but I don’t think anyone can reverse the trend any time soon.
I can’t grow enough food. I suck at gardening. That is starting to really bug me.
It occurs to me that some of you might not be willing to share your progress for OPSEC reasons. If so, please consider using a new name and posting about your success or failure. And for any of the couples/families that RBT helped anonymously, I’d love to do an update post on your experiences. Drop me an email to my last name at aol dotcom. I’ll change or summarize whatever you’d like.
I hope I’m wrong. But I bet there were folks sitting in Venezuela hoping the same thing a year ago…
nick flandrey
I really don’t get Germany. Merkel does one thing, promising something. That result doesn’t happen, so she says “oops, that didn’t work” and promises that THIS time some thing else will work. Rinse and repeat. But still she’s in power.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/merkel-admits-german-multiculturalism-has-utterly-failed
She has destroyed the culture of her nation, but she still expects people to believe what she says as she pivots again.
n
Wow, we just got a downpour. Almost 3/4 inch in 15 minutes, and the temperature dropped 8 degrees F.
I hope is stops so I can get all the stuff done I need to do with my pickup truck. Hard to move electronics to auction in the rain.
n
She has destroyed the culture of her nation, but she still expects people to believe what she says as she pivots again.
IIRC, Merkel grew up in East Germany before the wall fell. I think part of the reason she is still in power is sympathy. People like a story. Overcoming adversity. Blah, blah, blah.
Plus, female. That obviously works there just like it works here.
Our garden this year was a success overall. The wife handles the growing, I handle making the bed. We have one raised bed – 4’x12′. She grew big and cherry tomatoes, green beans, some flowers for cutting, bell peppers, and gourds (for fall decorations.) Everything except the peppers did well.
Now she has broccoli and brussels sprouts planted. Those did well last year so I would expect the same this year.
I’ve promised that I’ll make another raised bed, but that may not happen until next spring. I also really want a compost bin.
I wonder what Mr. Chuck Waggoner thinks about Germany at this point in history?
I haven’t said anything about prepping I’ve done not because of OPSEC concerns but because there’s practically nothing to report. In the typical week I barely keep ahead of the chores and the bills and some weeks I don’t even manage that.
I haven’t reported any prepping progress because, truth be told, there hasn’t been much. Free cash vanished when I replaced the 15 yo Subaru. Stuffing any more supplies into my apartment would get me a fair chance for an unhappy TV appearance.
I have water filters for days, food in every room except the bathroom, TP and personal care supplies for a long time. There are a couple of secondary heat and cooking items that I’ve stored with all the propane I dare to keep in a wood frame building.
I have purchased a few hand tools of late, but that is somewhat gilding a lily. Like the fence multitool that is part hammer, part pliers. It went into the scavenger/ Bush bag in the car.
I can think of a few projects to accomplish with items on hand that wouldn’t cost much but have been procrastinating.
I am also certain that I am missing stockpile-able items that I will kick myself over. Have to become creative then.
“The American Deep State Would Sooner Sacrifice The Republic Than Lose Again To Donald Trump”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/american-deep-state-would-sooner-sacrifice-republic-lose-again-donald-trump
Why ?
I wonder what Mr. Chuck Waggoner thinks about Germany at this point in history?
Germany and Europe will be majority muslim in two generations. The invaders are flooding the countries with hungry babies.
Merkel: What Greg said. However, the current coalition government is very weak, and hence pretty ineffectual.
Remember that I was (inadvertently) attacked a few weeks ago. No surprise: they have identified the perp, and his name is Middle Eastern. Either an immigrant, or a kid of recent immigrants. Their culture is not our culture.
Brad, just curious if you would be in trouble if you had hurt the perp.
I was in the Paris subway about ten years ago, when one of our group fended off a pickpocket. I gave chase until I was sure nothing was stolen. Later, we found out that I might have been in some trouble if I had hurt him. The potential victim in our group was a retired police officer, and he would have broken the perp’s fingers or worse if he could have gotten a good grip. He was the one who contacted the gendarmes. He was told in no uncertain terms not to take matters into his own hands.
@nightraker, now is the time to work on skills and meeting people if you’ve got the basics done.
@Steve F, what, you mean freelance hero doesn’t pay in buckets of cash?
It’s good that you guys are prepped up!
Take a class, convert some money and ammo into noise and smoke!
N
Hero? Eh? At most I’m a vigilante when it comes to outright criminals and a good neighbor or fellow citizen when it comes to helping people who need it. And, no, it doesn’t pay well. The latter doesn’t pay at all (except for one neighbor helping to clear my driveway once, another neighbor bringing over steamed buns, and such like) and for the former, the typical mugger or rapist in my experience doesn’t carry enough cash to be worth going through his pockets and getting his funk all over you. Their weapons are garbage, probably not salable and not worth anything unless you need to frame someone with an illegal pistol, a need I’ve never had.
In my younger days, the 90s, I was doing a LOT of IT contract work in NYC. One evening I was strolling down Broadway and saw it was opening night of the Will Roger’s Follies. On a whim I asked if there were any tickets left. The cashier said they had a few single seats and gave me one for a great price. So I took a place in line waiting for the doors to open. Suddenly the woman behind me screams and yells “he took my purse” pointing to a man sprinting away. Without a thought I took off after him. We ran through crowds, down side streets, and I was gaining on him when I heard “Stop, hands up!”. Looking around I see a mounted cop with his gun out. I put my hands up and he gets down and cuffs me, telling me I am a purse snatcher. I tell him my story and he takes me back to the theater for the woman to ID. She tells the cop I am the one who chased the thief not the crook. Surprisingly, they let me loose and I made it in time to see the show. Many people have called me crazy for trying to catch the thief but I contend that if more of us stood up to crime we would have less of it.
I’m tired, I’m going to bed.
n