47F and wet out. Jeez, I thought we were done with this. Guess not.
Mostly my preps this week were garden and food.
State of the garden- no plantings, but some maintenance. Apple trees are budding. Grape vines are budding and have been pruned. Citrus has been pruned for size and shape (gotta keep them short and flat) and the Meyer Lemon is flowering. Blueberries- some of the plants are flowering. Peach is budding. Rain barrels are full.
BTW, Costco has rain barrels on sale in the stores. They will hold water for drinking too, but you will need a good filter. You’ve already got one of those right?
I replaced a bunch of canned goods, one month worth of veg and fruit, and added some bulk.
Bought a tabletop propane grill yesterday for $10 in almost unused condition. One is none and all that. I’ve got lots of ways to cook. Goodwill had Sterno “Emergency cooking kits” which consisted of one can sterno, a pot holder, and instructions. No a bad idea if you don’t have any other cooking backup.
The new firepit arrived but I haven’t set it up yet. The kids can’t wait to try out the cooking grill on it.
I tried to use my LilBuddy heater and broke off the valve. I’ll find a replacement. I did get parts for the kerosene heater I picked up- still cheaper than new. It needed the battery box and cover. Found an online supplier with parts for pretty much all kerosene heaters and ordered. Prices were good and I got the parts in less than a week.
Also received the new cap for the water tank I bought last week. Need to get that cleaned and sterilized, then placed and filled.
Picked up some wheeled gas cans and some EOTW /rebuilding civ books for the reference library. Long shot but cheap insurance.
IRL I joined a group of hams for a weekly lunch, and I joined the Citizens Police Academy for our city police. The one’s with the issues in the news. I expect to meet at least one interesting person, maybe 2 or 3. It should open up training opportunities and volunteer opportunities too.
I guess it’s been a productive week or two. Certainly went by quickly enough.
So what did you do to make yourselves more comfortable as the world turns, and time slips away like sands through an hourglass?
n
The only prepping I did this week was prepping our 2019 holidays. I booked our April Italian trip, business class of course, and a visit to Orlando in June with a Cruise. I have always wanted to see Turks & Caicos islands since I heard that John Glenn splashed down off Grand Turk after his orbital flight in Friendship-7. I even had cards printed when I was 19 saying “Harold Combs – In Transit – Turks Caicos”. Now I will check that off my bucket list. But the cruise is mainly for our Great Granddaughter who was so thrilled with the cruise last year she wanted to go again. So I turned in some of my air-miles and put together the Orlando trip. We are expecting this year to be the last we will be able to travel freely with my wife’s failing health so we want to make the most of it.
On the 14th we will close on our final home. A nice place on the golf course in the small (pop 3500) town of Wewoka OK. It ticked all our boxes for single story, large rooms, wide halls and doorways (wheelchair ready) and a huge kitchen. It also has a large storm shelter (bunker) under the garage extension to store my toys and plenty of space for my Harleys and a workshop. I will have to swap out the electric cooktop with gas and install a whole house generator but no rush. Since I don’t plan to retire and move there for another year, my son will move into it out of the his current rent house leaving us free to remodel that house and raise the rent.
I broke down and bought a Dash Cam for my commute car. Will install it this weekend. I am wiring it with an ODB connector so it can stay powered when the car is parked. We have had some car break-in lately in our sub division as the trolls keep moving south from Memphis. I have outside cameras but this will provide more coverage both on and off the road.
I am happy to report that Oklahoma has just become a Constitutional Carry state.
https://freebeacon.com/issues/oklahoma-becomes-15th-permitless-gun-carry-state/
The past 3-weeks we have been “un-prepping” because of Snowmageddon I, II, and III. February 2019 broke 100-year weather records for snow and low temperatures for Kennewick WA, as well as the surrounding cities and counties of Southeast WA State and Northeast OR State.
Global warming my donkey’s rear-end. The “problem” is the Pacific underwater volcanoes raising the ocean temperatures; messing with the ocean currents, fish, whales, ice flows, Polar Bears, Jet Stream, etc. Magnetic North Pole movement is also a contributing factor (look at the ancient Ice Ages and what the North Pole was doing). Man is not even a drop in the ocean.
Snowing again this morning, even though the “educated” weather people said we were done. NOT I say. The Spring floods are going to be record-setting.
We will have a lot of re-stocking to do once the stores get re-supplied. We could live normally for another 4 to 5-weeks on our remaining “normal” food stocks before having to dip into long-term-storage (LTS) stuff.
Human activity is GREENING the earth.
Carbon Dioxide gas has a lot to do with this.
You want a greener planet, keep driving those SUVs.
https://www.foxnews.com/science/earth-is-greener-today-than-it-was-20-years-ago-thanks-to-human-activity-counterintuitive-nasa-study-shows?fbclid=IwAR2NA9vTJ0b1fSRHULG0q3PpkfcWnRQWoci7GM12mRLnRS1uN26rj0i1Ssc
” Man is not even a drop in the ocean.”
— this has been my arguement all along, what are we compared to Mt St. Helen’s? What hubris has man….
“We will have a lot of re-stocking to do once the stores get re-supplied. We could live normally for another 4 to 5-weeks on our remaining “normal” food stocks before having to dip into long-term-storage (LTS) stuff. ”
— SUCCESS!
–call it ‘rotating your stores’
n
And what about the deforestation of europe before the rise of coal? Or all the subsequent coal burning that made the air in big cities intolerable?
n
@harold, I’ve got three dash cams, one for each vehicle, just waiting for the time to install….
n
Total fraud:
1. Reported three days ago that Feb. 2019 was the coldest in LA in the last 60 years.
2. Reported yesterday that Feb. 2019 was the coldest in 140 years. Not one day over 70°F.
3. OTOH, 140 years ago was when the started collecting temperature data. Possibly the coldest Feb. in several centuries, huh?
Got my Sling TV up and going on both my living room Sony TV with a Roku unit and my upstairs bedroom desktop PC, both WiFi connected. Will watch NASCAR Truck race on FS1 tonight.
Sling also has DVR function for an additional $5/mo. Also works OK.
Spectrum bill down $120/mo and Sling is $20 for a net savings of $90/mo.
Need to save up for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tax increases and federally mandated evehicles.
Need to save up for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tax increases and federally mandated evehicles.
Don’t forget the complete rebuild of your house for energy efficiency.
The last time the Progs held the house, I remember them talking about mandating a Federal energy audit with mandatory door/window replacement for every home.
Federal home inspection … from the folks who brought you the TSA.
We are actually looking at replacing a few windows at our house, the the process is beyond painful, especially when dealing with big chain contractors. I had to flat out tell one company I didn’t want a sales pitch which involved my balls getting broken when the salesperson pitted my wife and I against each other in order to get the upsell.
The company didn’t deny the tactic.
Anecdotes are not evidence, but some data is eye-popping.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/03/01/1811212/australias-hottest-summer-beats-previous-record-by-large-margin
Re: Fed home inspection: Kiss my fanny. Government is a necessary evil. Overbearing government is unnecessary.
The Swan Eaters: “Can I see your rats ?”
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/03/01
This comment is hilarious:
“You can barbecue rats, boil them, broil them, bake them, saute them. There’s rat-kabobs, rat creole, rat gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple rat, lemon rat, coconut rat, pepper rat, rat soup, rat stew, rat salad, rat and potatoes, rat burger, rat sandwich…”
2020 is shaping up to be an election year of crazies that will make Trump look like the only sane person in the race.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/jay-inslee-announces-climate-focused-2020-presidential-run-does-he-stand-a-chance/
@SteveF
@Lynn…Noticed that your daughter’s review of my “Light Blink” book is now visible on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NAsUVW .
Nicely-written review. Her comments about the book content made me chuckle. Please pass along my thanks … reviews are an important part of self-publishing.
Also tell her that I am working on Book 2. At about 40K words (first draft), and I think I have figured out the general ideas for the ending.
Sunny day today; hit 50F as I write this (1130am PST). Blue skies, just a few clouds. And I am noticing scattered crows/ravens outside, with a few perching on the tall pine trees outside my house. They like to perch at the very top of the tree for a few minutes, then fly off.
Not sure if the sighting of crows is related to the “Light Blink” Book Two writing I am doing….
Human activity is GREENING the earth.
Carbon Dioxide gas has a lot to do with this.
You want a greener planet, keep driving those SUVs.
https://www.foxnews.com/science/earth-is-greener-today-than-it-was-20-years-ago-thanks-to-human-activity-counterintuitive-nasa-study-shows
Thanks ! I shared that on my favorite SF book review place where I am the only AGW denier.
@Lynn …
Noticed that your daughter’s review of my “Light Blink” book is now visible on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NAsUVW .
That is SteveF’s daughter. Wow, she reviews like she is 25.
Global warming my donkey’s rear-end. The “problem” is the Pacific underwater volcanoes raising the ocean temperatures; messing with the ocean currents, fish, whales, ice flows, Polar Bears, Jet Stream, etc. Magnetic North Pole movement is also a contributing factor (look at the ancient Ice Ages and what the North Pole was doing). Man is not even a drop in the ocean.
Somewhere, I read recently that insects on the Earth out mass humans by well over 100X. If true, then their contribution to the environment might be consequential also.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-bugs-of-the-world-could-squish-us-all/
Freefall: “Apparently, ph 7 tap water smells very different from ph 9 reactor water”
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3300/fc03245.htm
Who knew ?
“What Really Happened at the Trump-Kim Summit”
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2019/02/28/what-really-happened-at-the-trump-kim-summit/
Trump has my permission to bomb Rocket Man’s nuclear facilities. All of them. Plus the missile facilities.
BTW, I just loved the treasonous dumbocrats holding hearings in congress with that idiot liar Michael Cohen while Trump is overseas holding talks with a dictator who is threatening to nuke parts of the USA.
this is wrong.
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/01/699481953/court-ruling-renews-debate-on-women-and-the-draft
“You can barbecue rats, boil them, broil them, bake them, saute them. There’s rat-kabobs, rat creole, rat gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple rat, lemon rat, coconut rat, pepper rat, rat soup, rat stew, rat salad, rat and potatoes, rat burger, rat sandwich…”
Isn’t that “Forest Gump”?
this is wrong.
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/01/699481953/court-ruling-renews-debate-on-women-and-the-draft
Why ?
Just wait until the Equal Rights Amendment gets one more state.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/01/19/equal-rights-amendment-why-arizona-could-state-put-over-top/2605903002/
“Congress sent the ERA to the states in 1972, when women’s equality issues were at the forefront of a national debate. The movement lost steam after not obtaining the approval from 38 states by the 1982 deadline Congress had set.”
“But the issue was revived in 2017, when Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Illinois followed and became the 37th state last year.”
Freefall: “Apparently, ph 7 tap water smells very different from ph 9 reactor water”
Pacific storms have smelled “off” to me since 2011. The odor was stronger in Vantucky, present practically 24/7, but those storms roll through Texas occasionally.
Anytime we get a Pacific storm in Austin, I know where the water vapor originated.
The Gulf and Atlantic storms are not the same.
It’s wrong because women shouldn’t be in combat in the first place. They should not be in combat roles.
Women should be protected. Men should protect them. Taking all the other arguments out, it’s because women take 2-3 years to bring a baby to toddling & can let them go. Men take all of 15 minutes (if that). Men are built to protect women.
Yes, I’m a chauvinist. Big effing deal. I’m going to continue to treat women like they are more important than men to my dying day.
this is wrong.
Either abolish the registration or add women, even if they serve in non-combat capacity. Lots of parachutes need packing in wars.
The female Prog challenger to our wheezebag Congresscritter last year was all gung ho about “opening doors” and fighting wars. The Dems need to make up their friggin minds — tell the REMFs at MacDill to find a new hobby besides starting wars or make women eligible for the draft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_IN92taj50
Don’t feel bad for MJ. She lost, but she’s back opening the doors to her C suite office at Dell.
this is wrong.
Yes. But the feminists have yelled about “equal rights” for as long as I can remember, at least 50 years, well, have another scoop of “equal rights”.
I never had to register. They did away with the requirement about six months before my 18th and re-instated it about six months after my 25th or 26th birthday. Not like they were going to take me… four 6 inch pins in a thigh bone fixed that option. I tried to enlist. The AF said see the Navy. The Navy said see the Army. The Army said see the Marines. Four pins in leg? Funny guy. Sure… be a Marine. Become crazy like my Dad. Suribachi, Korea, and ‘Nam. No thank you. (Dad approved of my choice.)
“You can barbecue rats, boil them, broil them, bake them, saute them. There’s rat-kabobs, rat creole, rat gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple rat, lemon rat, coconut rat, pepper rat, rat soup, rat stew, rat salad, rat and potatoes, rat burger, rat sandwich…”
Isn’t that “Forest Gump”?
Yup, Bubba Blue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykelti_Williamson
Wrong is wrong. I don’t give a rats ass what some shit-head progressive libber wants. I won’t let them do that to my wife, my daughters, granddaughters, and all the other women that don’t deserve to be treated that way.
Drafting women is wrong.
Women should be protected. Men should protect them. Taking all the other arguments out, it’s because women take 2-3 years to bring a baby to toddling & can let them go. Men take all of 15 minutes (if that). Men are built to protect women.
Absolutely.
In Florida, we call them “golf curses”.
Bardmoor is simultaneously a surprise and not unexpected. The big problem with golf curses is that the novelty of a course wears off after a while, and the ones surrouned by houses have no room to change the layout.
https://www.tampabay.com/business/bye-bye-bardmoor-golf-courses-disappear-as-developers-seek-a-new-kind-of-green-20190301/
Still, wow. Bardmoor was there when we moved to FL in the early 70s.
Over The Hedge: “take me to your leader”
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/02/24
Heh. Political but still funny until you try to read intent.
Bardmoor is simultaneously a surprise and not unexpected. The big problem with golf curses is that the novelty of a course wears off after a while, and the ones surrouned by houses have no room to change the layout.
https://www.tampabay.com/business/bye-bye-bardmoor-golf-courses-disappear-as-developers-seek-a-new-kind-of-green-20190301/
If there are eagle nests in the golf course then they can forget about redeveloping it. A landscaper friend of mine once advised if you see a eagles beginning a nest in a tree on your property, wait until the eagles leave and chainsaw the tree down.
Anytime we get a Pacific storm in Austin, I know where the water vapor originated.
I don’t know that smell.
The Gulf and Atlantic storms are not the same.
Hurricane rain 60 miles northwest from downtown Austin smells “salty green”. Most of the rain here comes from the southwest… across Big Bend and West Texas.
Freefall: “killed by fluffy space piranhas”
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3300/fc03246.htm
At least the fluffy space piranha is cute. I don’t want to see Sam, “tentacle boy”, without his spacesuit.
The move of the chicken coop to use as a place to feed the cats is taking a while. Clearing brush, mostly. I need to use the chainsaw to remove a dead tree. Haul some cinder blocks from the stack. I’ll get it done.
Meanwhile, since the emu have discovered cat chow, I’ve been feeding the cats under the feed shed. The cats are cool with this. Then one of the birds figured out where the food was. 🙂
Emu have necks longer than my arm. A few milk crates in the way seem to work. Today, anyway.
Meanwhile, since the emu have discovered cat chow, I’ve been feeding the cats under the feed shed. The cats are cool with this. Then one of the birds figured out where the food was.
If you don’t feed the cats will they eat the rats ? Or the emus ?
@JimL: What a stud!
I take part of 15 minutes….
n
“Anytime we get a Pacific storm in Austin, I know where the water vapor originated.”
I don’t know that smell.
Most people can’t smell it. My wife thought I was nuts until one of her patients, a Westinghouse consultant on the Fukushima cleanup, assured her that I wasn’t imagining things. Though, he wouldn’t elaborate further.
It is a metallic/sweet smell to me.
If there are eagle nests in the golf course then they can forget about redeveloping it. A landscaper friend of mine once advised if you see a eagles beginning a nest in a tree on your property, wait until the eagles leave and chainsaw the tree down.
Florida. Things happen.
Also, that golf course dates back to the early 70s so the chemicals dumped on it by the groundskeepers were probably beyond what would be acceptable today. Any wildlife on the course beyond gators and muscovie ducks got nuked.
More retail carnage–
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6758287/Gap-create-2-independently-publicly-traded-companies.html
n
More retail carnage–
Gap and Old Navy separating makes sense. I’m surprised it didn’t happen earlier.
We buy a lot of things for our kids at Old Navy. I can’t remember the last time we went in any of the other Gap brands’ stores.
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but one of my rules of thumb in teaching at the university level is that the 30-something walking into class in Athleta will not only cheat, but that person will be the ring leader of organized cheating within the department. I’ve seen it at three separate universities since the yoga wear as street wear fad started.
Note I did not make a distinction about male/female. I haven’t seen a male of that age range walk into my class wearing Athleta, but I will grant that it could happen. I’d still apply the same rule of thumb.
“Killer Deal: Sling TV Just Dropped to $15 Per Month”
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-sling-tv-deals,news-29528.html
“There’s never been a better time to ditch cable. First, Hulu announces its lowering its price from $7.99/month to $5.99/month. Now, Sling TV is offering new subscribers 40 percent off its streaming services during the first three months of membership. ”
OK, I never predicted cage matches between the various streaming services. I wonder when DirecTV will join those.
ATT owns Directv, so probably never. But hey, they totally revamped their cellular plans to make them simpler, and allow use as a hotspot without any extra charges. Of COURSE they didn’t tell me and billed me for a less capable plan that costed more for a full YEAR.
I still don’t think streaming makes sense from a bandwidth utilization standpoint, vs. cable, but I ditched my cable and don’t miss it.
Even though we have video thru amazon prime, we’ve never found anything to watch on it. The kids watch netflix, wife doesn’t watch anything, and I watch free youtube.
n
“Anti-gun Democrats Should be Concerned About What Happened in the House”
https://gunowners.org/alert22819/
“As much as they tried to put a brave face on their 240-190 final passage vote on H.R. 8, the truth is that — thanks to your activism — virtually every Republican opposed the bill.”
“And that means anti-gun Democrats face a HUGE uphill battle in getting enough Senate Republicans to support the National Gun Registry, a bill which would mandate Universal Background Checks. For more on what was in the bill, go here.”
Not gonna happen in the Senate.
ATT owns Directv, so probably never. But hey, they totally revamped their cellular plans to make them simpler, and allow use as a hotspot without any extra charges. Of COURSE they didn’t tell me and billed me for a less capable plan that costed more for a full YEAR.
DirecTV is losing 1 to 2% of their customers each MONTH right now. And ATT just moved them over to the ATT website. Kinda in your face thing.
The big problem I see with the Democrats losing their minds, it gives the RINO GOP a free pass. How you gonna not vote for the same losers they run every time, if the alternative is bug-eyed batsh!t crazy? you can’t “teach them a lesson” so they aren’t gonna get challenged.
There are a whole bunch of traitors that need ‘no’ votes but no way can you do it.
n
The big problem I see with the Democrats losing their minds, it gives the RINO GOP a free pass. How you gonna not vote for the same losers they run every time, if the alternative is bug-eyed batsh!t crazy? you can’t “teach them a lesson” so they aren’t gonna get challenged.
GOP != conservative. Has been that way for two generations. Even Reagan had fight his own RINOs, starting with his own vice president.
The week that locusts ate? I can’t believe it’s already weekend again – not sure what happened. Lots of domestic chores this weekend.
I read that some crazy researchers want to increase the earth’s albedo, for a mere $200 million or so. Muck with systems we don’t understand, on the only planet we have. Real bright. Anyway, warming is a lot better than cooling.
Despite that, I’m all for reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, for all sorts of reasons. Dumping all that CO2 into the atmosphere probably isn’t clever, since we *don’t* understand climate processes. Oil is a great feedstock for lots of things – burning it is just wasteful. Burning coal is worse. Go nuclear, that’s the obvious (and ultimately only) answer, imho.
I still don’t think streaming makes sense from a bandwidth utilization standpoint, vs. cable, but I ditched my cable and don’t miss it.
The streaming services generally work through Akamai which places servers in strategic locations which are, in network terms, “close” to the playback point.
Long term, bandwidth isn’t the issue as much as energy consumption, especially with streaming music over the Internet. People don’t stream video every hour of the day, but many people have music running all the time at work.
I saw the results of a study somewhere proving that playing a CD actually consumes less energy than streaming audio. Certainly distribution of music via radio is more efficient.
Despite that, I’m all for reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, for all sorts of reasons. Dumping all that CO2 into the atmosphere probably isn’t clever, since we *don’t* understand climate processes. Oil is a great feedstock for lots of things – burning it is just wasteful. Burning coal is worse. Go nuclear, that’s the obvious (and ultimately only) answer, imho.
I am going to get concerned when the CO2 hits 1,000 ppm in 2300 AD or so. Otherwise known as 0.1% of the atmosphere.