Cold and wet. [44F and 99%RH]
It was 48f last night when I went to bed, with ongoing occasional drizzle. Temps during the day were high 50s to mid 40s depending on time and location. Drizzle was a constant though it varied in intensity.
I ended up driving my Expedition when I’d have preferred the pickup. For a couple of days, I’ve been aware that the windshield washer fluid pump wasn’t working. And when I didn’t take the time to see what was wrong, I knew I’d pay later. So of COURSE I didn’t fix it when it was sunny and warm. Now, I was faced with fixing it in cold drizzle. I wimped out. I put the hitch mounted cargo carrier on the Expy and drove that. I really recommend a hitch mounted carrier if you have a receiver type hitch. It is very handy for extra capacity. I’ve used it on the wife’s Honda minivan for bins full of camping supplies. I’ve used it to carry bins full of tools and books from my dad’s stuff. I use it for the EZup and coolers for swim meets. And I’ve used it to carry a couple of generators now… It keeps mess and fumes out of the cargo area, and it’s a lot easier to load than the roof rack. Mine will fold up across the back of the truck to get out of the way when not in use. Again, recommended.
I also recommend taking care of vehicle maintenance issues as they arise.
On a separate note, I made some grilled chicken legs for dinner Monday night. The legs were frozen in Q1 2017 and were just the same as when they went into the deep freeze. They were in the manufacturer’s heavy vac pack, but could have used the extra protection of a seal-a-meal vac bag, if I’d realized how long they’d be in there. That would have protected them during all the handling and shifting around over the years.
The prepared naan bread was probably only in the freezer for a year.
A ready in 90 second pouch with some sort of bulgar wheat in tomato sauce that was at least a year old rounded out the menu. Tasted pretty good, for something I’ve never tried before. Even the wife thought it was an ok change of pace.
I love the freezer and vac bags, and on sale bulk food. That’s a winning combination. Yes, during TEOTWAWKI I’ll need to keep the freezer powered. There’s a plan for that. A tested and vetted plan. With some redundancy. Eventually, I’ll stop powering it, or we’ll eat all the contents. In any case, it’s a real force multiplier, and very convenient. Also, not super expensive and lets you save on food by buying in bulk. Frozen is part of my plan and works well for everything less than total collapse.
Now to get the kids and wife fed and out the door….
n