Cool and damp but maybe no rain? That would let things dry out a bit. There was still standing water last night after a full day without rain. There were some breaks in the overcast too, ‘poke your eyes out’ bright sun, but they didn’t last. Jacket weather all day. More of the same for today, most likely.
Did my pickup. Did some auction bidding. Really, low balling, so I didn’t win much. Bid on a 200w solar panel, but lost out. Bid on another 100w panel and won. I think I’m up to 6 100w panels now, still in boxes. Moving that project forward is now officially moving up the “do it when I can” list. I’m dropping out of the bidding at 50c per watt.
Moving my water collection and filtration ‘sorta plan’ forward is on the list too.
Immediate list items are more concerned with stuff around the house here in Houston. I’ve been neglecting some things too long.
The start of the new year is a good time to measure progress, reset goals, re-calibrate expectations, etc.
The high level pass at that is– I’m making good progress on the BOL, stabilizing what’s there, making improvements where we could, and most importantly, working to integrate into the community.
I’ve got food for us for at least 6 months with nothing coming in, and probably a lot longer than that. I don’t have an actual inventory, so it’s hard to say for sure, but there is a lot of food stacked here, there, and elsewhere.
I added to medical supplies, along a “community clinic” mode, and will continue to do so when it makes sense. For example, I don’t need 4 cases of sutures, but we might in aggregate. Ditto with some other things. I might not need an autoclave, but it doubles as a pressure canner…or maybe the other way around… I need to replace batteries in some of my AEDs, and I’ll be looking for more modern ones too. Science lab stuff might be ‘targets of opportunity’ if they fall in my lap.
I got as clean a bill of health as it’s possible to get this year, with tests and procedures to look for a lot of things- with no issues found.
I’ve been increasing our alternate power choices, adding to solar, gas generators, and storage. I need to go through the stored fuel and get that up to date, but that is less pressing than some other things.
I can provide drinking water from storage, and from stored materials, but I need to consider LONG term solutions too. Seems ‘one step too far’ but like most preps, there are benefits at lesser points too.
I’m looking to stack more butchery and processing stuff. I’m always looking for a Biro meat saw… and other things like tables, cutting boards, steam table pans, sharpening systems, etc. Also smoking, dehydrating, salting, etc. stuff for preservation. I’ve got some parts, some random bits and pieces, but no unified and tested method or system from end to end.
I have a dozen levels of redundancy in my cooking stacks, but not a solar oven. Maybe that will be the ‘add’ this year. Or maybe it will be more along the ‘smoke house’ line…
A lot of what I have is stacked here. Moving it to the BOL is going to be a priority. I won’t leave this place bare, but I need to acknowledge that we are building out the BOL to be a BOL and it needs to be equipped with what I’ve stacked up here.
There is a distinct lack of needful things at the BOL. I don’t have secure storage there yet, and that REALLY needs to be addressed. A friend might help out short term, and for a few things, but a real solution needs to be put into place.
Shelter, water, food, medical, defense, infrastructure, and social considerations, I’m working them, and encourage you to do so too. Get out of big cities. Start building or strengthening meatspace relationships. Increase your resilience and resources. Help yourself so that you can help others. Learn new skills, test old ones. Help the next generation, especially young men. They do the bulk of civilization building, and they have the strength and energy that we, more ‘seasoned’ individuals don’t have anymore. We can get through whatever bad thing is coming. And on a historical timeline, we are overdue for the next big bad.
Stack. It’ll help.
nick