09:41 – It was 27.5F (-2.5C) when when I took Colin out around 0730 this morning. The forecast snow still hasn’t showed up, although they swear it’s supposed to show up this afternoon and evening, this time for sure. Barbara is off to the gym. When she gets back, we’ll start on yet more kit stuff.
Someone emailed me to ask what kind of oils to buy for LTS. The truth is, it doesn’t matter much. All of the common oils are reasonably shelf-stable. Keep them in sealed glass or plastic containers at room temperature or below out of direct sunlight and they’ll remain good for years.
In general, the more saturated the oil/fat, the longer it’ll store. The most saturated common oil is coconut oil, which is about 91% saturated fats. It stores on the shelf indefinitely. Some brands don’t even put a best-by date on their containers. After that, the solid fats like lard and shortening have the longest shelf lives, but even common oils like peanut, olive, and soybean are good for several years at room temperature and much longer if refrigerated or frozen. Most people who do much cooking at home go through enough cooking oil that shelf-life shouldn’t be a problem.
Answering that email prompted me to eyeball our LTS lipids inventory. We were a bit light for comfort, so I ordered a 3-gallon container of peanut oil from Walmart, as well as another dozen cans of Keystone canned pork. Three gallons (12 liters) of oil is sufficient for one person/year.
There was a lot of discussion about IQ in the comments yesterday, including a link to Fred Reed blathering on about it. What Fred doesn’t get, something he has in common with most people, is that mean IQ doesn’t matter. The IQ of groups differs, but all that really matters is that a population has enough really, really smart people to do the science and invent things. Once that’s done, the averagely bright can implement.
For centuries, the group with the highest IQ has been the Ashkenazim, with a mean IQ of about 115, or one standard deviation above the mean for the general population. (Not the Sephardim, whose mean IQ is about 100.) Then there’s the Chinese and Koreans, at about 105 mean. (Not the Japanese or other east Asians, who again average about 100.)
There are also differences between men and women. The mean IQ of men species-wide is probably about 101 to 101.5, with women at 98.5 to 99. That difference is trivial overall. What really matters is that the standard deviation for men is much larger than that for women. That in turn means that at the extremes of the bell curve, men are dramatically overrepresented relative to women, both on the smart end and the stupid end. In other words, the curve for men is a lot flatter than that for women, who tend to cluster centrally.
But it isn’t only IQ that matters. White European culture and particularly white northwest European culture overwhelmingly dominates intellectual and scientific matters not just because it’s had a good number of really smart people through the centuries, but because of the English language and even more critically a heritage of political, economic, and intellectual freedom.
Yes, the Chinese (and India) have more really bright people than the US does. But both are hampered by their languages and by their historic lack of freedom to innovate and to profit from those innovations. In short, freedom to create and profit is as important as IQ.
* * * * *
For the period since World War II, the biggest technological factor helping the Anglosphere is that computers the world over are programmed in languages based on English. All of the non-programmers here may be shocked by this, but that doesn’t change the validity of it.
If our culture and language were still based on ancient Rome we’d probably be at Alpha Centauri by now.
You left out the most important freedom that they lack and that is under attack from the left in the West today. The right to be wrong.
Worse yet, the PC’ness of the bureaucrats in public education today mandate impossible solutions to correct educational shortfalls.
1. A solution to a problem cannot implemented until a correct diagnosis is made.
2. PC’ness does not allow the correct identification of the source.
3. For example, they use the term “failing schools” while they will never characterize the children as “failing”. They want to place the blame on teachers.
Miles_Teg: RE: “be at Alpha Centari by now”
Miles … the Romans could NOT have even concived of a binar based computer because they didn’t have ZERO. The Roman Numerals artificially hobbled Roman mathematical capabilities.
Yup, the Repuglicans and the Demorats are definitely two sides of the same party. “New GOP bill lets companies force you to take genetic tests, lets them share results with third parties”
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/245707-new-gop-bill-lets-companies-force-take-genetic-tests-share-results
Any genetic testing should be private information.
@harold, and some people believe that the chinese system of counting gives them an advantage in math.
But if that was true, Japanese would face a hardship because they’ve got dozens of systems for counting, depending on what is being counted.
The west had the christian idea that the whole world was ours to exploit, use and MULTIPLY. The protestant work ethic was a real thing and helped enormously. the ability in america to fail repeatedly and not be a ‘failure’ helped. The frontier, and the culture of abundance helped.
Lots of things contributed, but in modern times, the Reformation, and the colonies, and in the US the westward expansion, seem to me to be the driving factors. Add in some appealing clever myths, Horatio Alger, the ‘self-made man’, the celebration of ‘rugged individualism’ and you get the US of the 50-70s. After that, you see those very things attacked and minimized.
NOT coincidentally, the rise of trade unionism, attacks on religion, moral relativism, deconstruction, marxism in all its forms, attacks on the traditional family, and loss of faith in government and institutions, all contribute and reinforce each other in their attacks on what worked astoundingly well to raise the global standard of living for decades.
nick
FLASHLIGHTS
Make note of the promo code in the article to get a discount.
http://deals.kinja.com/anker-makes-flashlights-now-and-theyre-all-on-sale-tod-1793210979
Feels like christmas break here, I slept in, the heat is running, kid1 is watching “home alone” on tv, and french toast is on the menu….. (and I was opening presents)
and in other news, WINTER is still a thing in the north east.
RUN AND HIDE IN TERROR beta pussies! The soft white cold god is angry at you and will SMITE YOU! FEAR HIM!!!11!!11!!!!!! FFFFEEEEAAAARRRRRR HHHIIIIIIMMMMM!!!!!!!!
Yup, used to be called “winter”.
n
15 here and:
“WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW IN EFFECT TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY Snow is expected to develop Tuesday morning, becoming heavy at times Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday night with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour possible. The Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes are expected to be especially difficult. Steady snow will continue through Wednesday evening.”
And as Mr. nick says in jocular fashion; this is just winter. As a kid and young guy I remember this sort of weather was a constant factor throughout winter; it would snow almost daily, and in appreciable amounts, too. I made money shoveling driveways for five bucks a pop back then, sometimes doing three or four per day, big money for a kid back then. (and I’d do those same peoples’ lawns in the summer, which I liked less; too damn hot, humid and buggy; so I was sent to SEA for my sins).
Mostly sunny so far here but that weather warning was for this zipcode so tomorrow and Wednesday should be special; I intend to get out early and often with the SnowJoe electric blower, but carefully, so I don’t do myself further injury to my back. And haht, I guess.
If the power goes out, I’m still good: got candles, lamps and FLASHLIGHTS, food, water, the woodstove, batteries, radios, books to read, and fairly decent defense capability.
Which reminds me that I need to get our propane tank filled. When we ordered propane, we originally ordered the 220-gallon tank, which they fill to 200 gallons. They were out of the 220’s, so they actually installed a 330. But their computer wouldn’t let them fill it to 300 gallons because it was convinced that it was only a 220-gallon tank. So they delivered the 330 prefilled to 200. That means we have 100 gallons of free space, plus whatever we’ve used since they installed it in mid-December. I’m guessing we may have used maybe two gallons a week since then. We only use propane for the cooktop, which burns 15,000 BTU/hr on the largest burner. We’d get six hours per gallon from that burner, and I doubt we use it even two hours per day. So my guess is that we’re down 25 gallons at this point.
What is this snow you speak of? I didn’t see any in The Keys, nor here, in Lost Wages.
Poor MrAtoz; but wait: weren’t you stationed at Camp Drum in the Vampire State for a while???
They get snow over there, lots of it.
WRT to propane tanks; I wonder how many gallons would get used running a generator in two scenarios:
1.) Running the house as though there was no power outage, i.e., fridge, stove, computers, lights, etc. and for how long?
2.) Only running it for a few minutes daily for the well pump and otherwise living here like it was 1900. No juice for anything else. Batteries on the radios and FLASHLIGHTS but sooner or later running out of them or the ability to charge them. So down to candles, smoke signals, and sneakerNET. We’d still be able to cook with the woodstove and our PK Grill and hopefully working on some kinda barter system for food. And eventually, of course, we’d run outta propane or gasoline, so would need to have a manual pump on the well.
“What is this snow you speak of? I didn’t see any in The Keys, nor here, in Lost Wages.”
That’s just the way it is with snow, if it’s not one thing, it’s another, but it’s always something.
Walking my dog an hour about 1 mile from the coast about 50 feet AMSL, I could see snow on the mountains about 50 miles away at 7,000 feet AMSL.
Walking my dog an hour about 1 mile from the coast about 50 feet AMSL, I could see snow on the mountains about 50 miles away at 7,000 feet AMSL.
Oh. Is that the white stuff I see on the mountain tops around here?
With friends like these, who need enemies:
US military leak exposes “holy grail” of security clearance files
This wouldn’t of happened on Mr. Ray’s watch.
FLASHLIGHTS
“”Make note of the promo code in the article to get a discount.
http://deals.kinja.com/anker-makes-flashlights-now-and-theyre-all-on-sale-tod-1793210979“”
I have all three of those Anker flashlights. All are good.
LC 90 is best deal for price, size and weight, and battery.
RE: Weather – My grandmother, born 1889, used to tell stories of her childhood in Souther Missouri near the Elk River. She said the Elk would regularly freeze hard enough for waggons to cross on the ice every winter. She also described more than once watching a big glowing ball (ball lightning) roll lazly UP the river “bouncing” from shore to shore till it went out of sight. She also would NEVER speak on the phone in a thunderstorm becasue, as a child, she watched ball lightening come out of wall mounted crank phone and float accross the room to explode on the oppisite wall.
Phone co says not to use the phone during storms….
A generator burns more propane by volume. Propane has about 91,600 BTUs per gallon because a gallon only weighs about 4.3 pounds. IOW, you get about 73% of the heat energy from a gallon of propane that you do from a gallon of gasoline. OIOW, you need about 1.37 gallons of propane to equal a gallon of gasoline.
Our well pump draws about 1,300 W running (plus much more momentarily for start-up, of course). I calculated that we could run the 5 KW generator twice a day for maybe 10 minutes each time (well has 5 to 6 gallon/minute flow rate) to keep us in water reasonably well. That’s roughly 25% of the generator’s maximum output. It burns something like 1.3 gallons/hour at full load, and roughly proportionally less at partial load. I figured at 1,300W it’d burn maybe a third of a gallon per hour or roughly a pint a day. Call it a gallon a week, which means a 5-gallon gas can would last about a month. With what we always have in vehicle tanks, we could get along for at least four to six months using electricity only to pump water. I’ve actually considered installing a larger pressure tank to minimize the number of runs. We have a 32-gallon pressure tank now. Replacing it with a much larger one is on my low-priority list.
Thanks much for that clarification and also crunching the numbers, Dr. Bob. When we get our own generator here this year, by hook or by crook, I’m planning to site two 100-gallon propane tanks next to it and several 5-gallon gasoline containers elsewhere. Just running our well pump for 10-15 minutes a day and we’d be good for water for three-and-a-half years. I’d probably only do that in a real SHTF scenario; otherwise, as with shorter power outages from storms or even cyber-attacks, we’d also run other stuff besides the well pump. I’m thinking the fridge, one computer, and the radios. We could get by OK w/o the electric stove.
But again, we’ll be faced during a long-term SHTF, with trying to work out some kind of barter arrangement for food and firewood here. Assuming we make it into our 80s, we’re not gonna be cut out any longer for hoeing down gardens and cutting and hauling firewood. And that’s also assuming no major injuries or illnesses that knock us down for the count.
Has anyone anywhere discussed WTF old bastards like us are gonna do WRT to prepping? We won’t be able to haul wood or water or hump a ruck with a rifle and all the ammo anymore.
The traditional occupations of the old folks are
mind the kids so the adults can do work
teach the next generation
small work, piece work (carving, fixing, sewing, weeding)
help with food prep
arbitrate with your superior wisdom
n
(not counting the ever popular, die lonely and alone.)
Not to mention doing stuff that’s too dangerous for younger folks, e.g., exposing yourself to ionizing radiation if necessary.
Or pulling the trigger on the Stazi
RE: Generator Fuel
Way back when in the 70’s I began as a “survivalist” I was concerned about the long term availability of fuel for powering rotating devices such as generators. I like Hydro but it’s not as easy as it looks and needs just the right physical location (river / stream / lake ) etc. So I decided that steam should be the next easiest. Anything that burns (or even solar) can be the fuel. But I have not seen much if anything about small steam plants in the last 30 years. in the 70’s there were several available from India but I don’t see them imported today. What is your thought on steam as an energy source?
In a low-tech environment, I think it’s an excellent choice.
Agreed with both Dr. Bob and Mr. Harold; I see steam energy as a potential renaissance of electrical power in a low-tech environment. My dad started out as a boiler and turbine guy and went from handling operations with coal to insurance inspections on steam plants, throughout southern New England in the 1950s and 1960s. I got to tag along on some of those, and I wish I could remember if they had countenanced my skipping skool for those capers, or that they just took place during skool holidays or something. I thought that was just the cat’s whiskers when it happened, and he’d take me to lunch at some diner and I still remember those meals, the Western omelet in particular. And homemade corned beef hash. Or just hot dogs.
We’ve got several good-sized free-flowing rivers here in Vermont, plus a host of smaller streams and falls. There are even vestiges and ruins of previously running steam power plants in several locations. For us up here it’d be the Mississiquoi River, which opens out into a large estuary/marsh terrain on Lake Champlain just a tad north of us here. And a 6,000-acre wildlife refuge.
“… e.g., exposing yourself to ionizing radiation if necessary.”
When did this suddenly become an old folks’ activity? Hell no, we won’ t go, Dr. Bob.
I’m OK with Mr. nick’s list and as piece-work chit I’d probably be reloading ammo and fixing/customizing firearms. Also helping out with commo and network stuff. And cooking the grub. Wife can mind the brats and sew.
Shooting Stasi fummamuckers would also be a special treat.
Snowmageddon, if you listen to folks that don’t know how to handle it.
For us? Tuesday.
““… e.g., exposing yourself to ionizing radiation if necessary.”
When did this suddenly become an old folks’ activity? Hell no, we won’ t go, Dr. Bob.”
I stole that from a circa-1962 nuclear war survival manual. It may have been _BOSDEC: The Concrete Curtain_, but I’m not sure. At any rate, the idea was that every human has what amounts to a lifetime ionizing radiation budget, and that cancers and other eventual damage from radiation exposure take time to develop. If it’s necessary to go outside shelter and be exposed to X number of RADs, the damage done to a 60-year-old is much less serious than that done to a 20-year-old, both because the 60 YO is past child-bearing age, and because the damage will take longer to manifest than that 60 YO is going to live anyway.
MrAtoz is living proof that Algor was right and we’re looking at “a world without winter” and Global Warming is REAAALLLL!!!!!!! and we’re all gonna die.
We could always expose snowflakes, SJWs, and other libtards to the ionizing radiation. True, they won’t have any useful skills that would make it worthwhile to expose them to it but we can do it anyway, just for fun.
“…the 60 YO is past child-bearing age, and because the damage will take longer to manifest than that 60 YO is going to live anyway.”
Oh, well then; fine. I’ll volunteer right now for that chit. Long as I don’t get any symptoms of anything in my “declining” years.
“…we can do it anyway, just for fun.”
Clearing rubble at Fukishima and Chernobyl and any other sites seems like it would be a good way to deal with these idiots. I’d save that kinda stuff for the really hardcore lefty bastards. The rest could be useful here rebuilding roads, dams and bridges and the rest of our crumbling infrastructure. Old farts like Noam Chomsky and Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn could be put to use sewing chain gang uniforms, repairing chains, sweeping up, chit like that. All on a 1,000-calorie feed per day.
“Gee that’s really harsh and sounds like a fascist concentration camp, Mr. OFD!”
“Yeah, isn’t that pretty much what you assholes had/have in mind for us??”
“Walking my dog an hour about 1 mile from the coast about 50 feet AMSL, I could see snow on the mountains about 50 miles away at 7,000 feet AMSL.
Oh. Is that the white stuff I see on the mountain tops around here?”
Roger that! It’s called Charleston Peak, I’ve been up there!
“The traditional occupations of the old folks are…..”
Going out in the backyard now to prep for getting tomato seedlings in for the season. Not about saving money by not buying at store. It’s about picking a ripe, fresh Big Boy for a BLT or a Cherry variety for a salad.
Cowboy Slim, DOB: ’38
What is your thought on steam as an energy source?
How about a Stirling Engine?
“How about a Stirling Engine?”
Yup.
“How about a Stirling Engine?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
I had no idea what that is, so…I looked it up on the innernet!!!
Looks like it could be pretty useful for certain applications. But for mass power generation to run a village or small town or a city, I’d look to steam. Assuming a low-tech landscape.
By rights the old man should be around to explain all this chit to me, but the bugger checked out early.
You can power a Stirling engine with any heat energy source, including steam, solar, etc.
Yeah, that’s one of the highlights that appealed to me when I did my mini-class on it at Wikipedia and a couple of other sites. I don’t have STEM training and am stuck at the arithmetic and plane geometry level of high skool math, but I dig gadgets and messing around with machines and gadgets that work and do something useful. Must have caught some of that appeal from my dad. It’s also funny that three out of four brothers in my family went into IT. (only one is still working in it, though, the youngest of the three)
RE: Generator Fuel
Way back when in the 70’s I began as a “survivalist” I was concerned about the long term availability of fuel for powering rotating devices such as generators. I like Hydro but it’s not as easy as it looks and needs just the right physical location (river / stream / lake ) etc. So I decided that steam should be the next easiest. Anything that burns (or even solar) can be the fuel. But I have not seen much if anything about small steam plants in the last 30 years. in the 70’s there were several available from India but I don’t see them imported today. What is your thought on steam as an energy source?
How small and how efficient do you want to go ? Marine coal boilers can burn most solid fuels at a steam pressure of 600 to 800 psia and a temperature of 800 to 850 F. Tough to get them smaller than 100,000 lb/hr of steam. Lots of auxiliaries are needed such as boiler feed pumps, condenser hotwell pumps, steam condenser, steam air ejectors, cooling water pumps, boiler forced draft fans, etc. Efficiency of 25% on a good day.
Or, one can always use an old steam locomotive engine. Needs lots of clean water because there is an open steam cycle, all steam is blown off to the atmosphere from the pistons. Efficiency of 10% to 15% on a good day.
“Meanwhile in Florida, the alligators have developed sign making skills.”
http://imgur.com/gallery/k43G3R8
You don’t hear anything about steam because the boiler certs and requirements are crazy. BUT if you spend some time on steam forums, there are lots of guys ready to power up steam. Festival of Steam in upper NY is a good show, I’ve linked it before, but most places have some steam aficionados somewhere….
A one cylinder ‘hit or miss’ engine is a good choice. It’s about as basic as internal combustion gets and will run on anything that burns. Every farm used to have at least one to run everything from the churn to the washing machine.
n
Or a traction engine!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_engine
I don’t have STEM training
I’d count your IT experience as STEM.
Or a traction engine!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_engine
Cool !
I used to have model of those when I was a kid. You filled the boiler with water, poured ethanol into bottom of the boiler fuel pan, lit it, built up a head of steam and walked it around the house. It was totally cool but boring after a while. Kinda something like this but way, way, way cheaper, no pressure gauge, no safety valve, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Wilsco-Hobby-Technik-Classic-Working-Locomobile/dp/B0000WPAHQ/
Not Festival, Pageant–
Join us at the 57th Annual Pageant of Steam
August 9, 2017 · August 10, 2017 · August 11, 2017 · August 12, 2017
http://www.pageantofsteam.org/pageant-of-steam/
Thanks for that, nick. I didn’t know about it, but my daughter and I are both interested.
We have family that owns a campground in Canadagua or nearby, and we were accidentally there for the Pageant a couple of years ago. Lots of great engines. There was a steam shovel that kids could control (while an adult was also in the cab), tractor engines, a lot of collections, the shingle shop, everywhere the smell of steam, and the powerhouse. They’ve got a big stationary engine that drives a generator. The Stator is about 12 ft across….
n
There is nothing so cool as a big stationary engine, slowly, and quietly, chuffing along, without a shake or rattle, and the oily steam…..
“I’d count your IT experience as STEM.”
Only peripherally. Real STEM in IT is computer science and computer engineering; I was/am just a low-level sys admin drone, just like I was a low-level machine operator drone in factories long ago or, longer ago than that, a machine gunner. The smart guys were flying the aircraft or navigating for it. I just killed commies. In the wrong country.
That steam festival is about six hours southwest of us, down in the tropics near Rochester. I’m interested in checking it out and will ask Mrs. OFD if she wants to tag along; she spent part of her childhood living with Jesuits in Syracuse.
After the the S hits the F we can all go back to cruisin’ around in our steam wagons! 🙂
Imagine, a vehicle that requires both a driver and a stoker! These were apparently fairly common a century ago.
It’ll probably be back to horses and carts and wagons up here if S really does hit the F for a long time. Horses, cows and oxen are all over the place. And there are people who raise and use draft horses and oxen on their farms. Plus some real old-timey tractors.
And here are some lovely late night/early morning thoughts:
” Those who haven’t read the Cliff Notes version of what was in Vault 7 should really take a look. Consider the fact that you currently live under a regime that does not consider you an enemy of the state. That will change. Public opinion still matters to the statists, because they still need to convince 50,000+ people to switch their vote in three years. Once that is achieved, and it will be, the massive levers of power get turned over to an angry, embarrassed and deeply offended party that is still seething about Trump. I’ll give you three guesses as to who feels the brunt of that hatred, dear reader.”
https://virginiafreemen.com/2017/03/13/the-coming-retribution/
So we have maybe four years, if that, and eight years at best, probably, to get our ducks lined up. We’ll probably have a better idea on this by the holiday formerly known as Christmas.
Nowhere near NY or TX, the Old Thresher’s Reunion for steam powered ag equipment is held Labor Day weekend in Mt. Pleasant, IA. I remember visiting it several times as a wee lad. Wikipedia says there is a museum open all year, too.
My paternal grandparents lived in Iowa and we road tripped there every summer. So, in the late 60’s also got a tour of John Deere’s foundry (in July!) and tractor assembly line in Waterloo. Dad liked taking us on plant tours. I remember Hershey’s chocolate, Kellog’s in Michigan, Miller brewery in Milwaukee (hick!) among others. Didn’t get to see the GE jet engine factory/test facility in Cincinnati, substituting Duncan Hines instead, but was vastly amused that the School for the Deaf was next door.
OFD wrote:
“…down in the tropics near Rochester.”
Rochester NY?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-14/new-york-lake-house-encased-in-ice-freezing-weather/8351928
That’s the Algor version of tropics, Miles_Teg. Whenever he’s scheduled to give a talk on runaway warming, his speech is snowed out. Any place that he says will never see snow again gets covered by a glacier. It happens often enough that there are rumors that Disney pays him to not talk about California or Florida. “Nice little park you have here. Be a shame if it got covered in ice.”
When we moved here (North West Mississippi) 8 years ago, I noted a small steam sawmill in a nearby pasture. It looked abandoned, weeds growing up etc. Last year I was driving by and watched two old fellas feeding logs into the big circular saw while the steam plant chuffed away. I guess they only use it when they need it …
When we moved here (North West Mississippi) 8 years ago, I noted a small steam sawmill in a nearby pasture. It looked abandoned, weeds growing up etc. Last year I was driving by and watched two old fellas feeding logs into the big circular saw while the steam plant chuffed away. I guess they only use it when they need it …
Hey, that steam powered sawmill is biomass appropriate as I assume that it is powered by tree remainders and sawdust ! Algore would be so proud.