79F and 85%RH this morning. Forecasts are for part cloud and rain later. We haven’t gotten any rain from the Gulf storm yet. The wind pattern has changed completely and is blowing from north to south because of the storm, but nothing wet so far. Radar shows it all still parked over New Orleans. Talk about ‘sit and spin’…
Today is the monthly meeting for my non-prepping hobby. I’ll be heading out to that soon. It’s nice to get out and share something with a group, and it’s nice to have something unrelated to how I spend much of my free time.
Speaking of preps–
The garden continues. Zukes and cukes are still not dead, but aren’t really thriving either. Vines are developing, and growing a bit, but other folks are getting veg off theirs already.
Tomatoes have packed it in. The roma plant must not be getting watered and is a shriveled stick. I didn’t look at the garden for a few days and that was a few days too many for the tomatoes. The other two plants are still green and growing but no fruit.
Citrus continues as before. The Meyer will have a bumper crop, the orange may have one surviving fruit, no lime, grapefruit, or orange on the other plant.
Apples are developing on the one tree. Two of them. Which is better than most of my trees in the second year. Peach tree is looking better and leafy, but no fruit.
Grape vines got their leaves back after the caterpillar attack, but what grapes there were are long gone.
Blueberries are done. Final yield was maybe a cup and half but youngest daughter loved going out there and picking them every other day. I never saw the plants at the big box store, so didn’t get to replace the dead plant. Bird netting helped a lot. I’ll be picking up more when I see it. It’s not expensive and will help you get your crop for your family, instead of the critters.
Been a while since I talked about ‘stuff’. This week I got machetes for the vehicle kits, a couple more coleman lanterns, a big pot for the propane ring, another 40 gallons of water storage, wheels for my other new storage tank,
It’s time to rebuild some of my first aid kits, especially the two big ones for the house. Tape and adhesive ages out, even if the other stuff can be stretched in time. I’ve been going through battery powered stuff too and changing batteries.
Lots of stuff at the secondary location is aged out too. I’ll be shifting some stores from the house to there, and rotating stuff back here. Some stuff I’ll simply be replacing like the rice and flour. I forgot that I had a dozen square water storage containers over there. I really should refill those.
I need to rotate and expand the gasoline storage too. Hurricane season is here and I haven’t expanded to my seasonal storage comfort zone. The trucks are all full at the moment, and the highway signs are reminding people that there is a big storm in the Gulf and they should fill up on gas. Good advice at any time.
So, what have you done to prep lately? Some folks are doing a nice job of expanding their preparedness, but I always like hearing from everyone….
nick
My wife received her first real paycheck in four years this week.
The last place briefly restored some of a 20% cut after I finished grad school started at CGI, and notified them that we had secondary medical benefits. However, they pulled the money again six months later when management got comfortable that we weren’t going to do anything about her income situation.
One thing at a time …
Currently in NYC. It is going to suck being here for a week. Some sight seeing with the family. Wall to wall bars, jewelry stores, eateries. I guess *going out* is what the chillins’ do here.
I tried to watch Plugs’ speech on a news site. What a disaster. He should drop out now if that’s the best he can do. Worse than Cankles. Couldn’t put two words together to make a coherent thought. Fcuk tRump all the way through. Yeah, Plugs’ will bring world order after tRump. I stopped watching it was so cringe worthy.
I tried to watch Plugs’ speech on a news site. What a disaster. He should drop out now if that’s the best he can do. Worse than Cankles. Couldn’t put two words together to make a coherent thought. Fcuk tRump all the way through. Yeah, Plugs’ will bring world order after tRump. I stopped watching it was so cringe worthy.
Plugs will be done by September. The op research on his son’s activities in Ukraine and China is too ugly for him to survive past the start of the serious campaign season in the run up to New Hampshire and Iowa.
It doesn’t really cost them time and money to let him have a last hurrah for the next six weeks. Several of the other declared Presidential candidates are just hit men for Plugs in case he gets any ideas that he might snag the nomination, and I include Kamala Harris in that category.
I don’t think the Dem establishment has a clue as to what to do about Trump now that he survived Russiagate. The only way Trump loses now is to start another shooting war.
Currently in NYC. It is going to suck being here for a week. Some sight seeing with the family. Wall to wall bars, jewelry stores, eateries. I guess *going out* is what the chillins’ do here.
Avocado toast every night!
I picked up our youngest at Girl Scout camp yesterday.
No singing of “The Grandfather’s Clock” this year. It is a “trigger” for girls who don’t have grandfathers.
No wonder girls want to join Boy Scouts.
MrsAtoz is giving the opening keynote and Spike Lee and Crazy Eyes aren’t here. I’m missing selfies with them, dammit! They better show.
MrsAtoz is giving the opening keynote and Spike Lee and Crazy Eyes aren’t here. I’m missing selfies with them, dammit! They better show.
What? No Moochelle?
I fear that is the Dems real plan for 2020.
Fingers crossed that Barry is a non event. I don’t want to spend another Labor Day morning sitting in a gas line just to get home because of a fake shortage story.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-07-11-tropical-storm-barry-hurricane-forecast-gulf-coast-new-orleans
Well, the Mooch threw Plugs under the bus with “Barack and I will endorse whoever the nominee is…” Of course, that’s what they all say, but, to shrug off Plugs, Obola’s VP for eight long years, tells you what they think of his chance of beating tRump.
Plus, former ICE Director burns Crazy Eyes to the ground during her grandstanding “I need to be sworn in to testify about my important crying at the detention facilities”. She couldn’t even speak, had to reply on Twitter. That shows you she can’t debate at all.
Well, the Mooch threw Plugs under the bus with “Barack and I will endorse whoever the nominee is…” Of course, that’s what they all say, but, to shrug off Plugs, Obola’s VP for eight long years, tells you what they think of his chance of beating tRump.
Back when he was halfway respectable and the DLC held sway in the party following the 1988 Dukakis debacle, Biden leaned into Anita Hill a little too hard during the Clarence Thomas hearings in the opnion of many race pimps.
That shows you she can’t debate at all.
By the time the cocktail waitress is eligible, the debates will be irrelevant, fringe events carried on Fox News and, maybe, MSNBC.
If he stays smart, Gov. DeSantis in Florida will be a factor in 2024. Harvard trained JAG lawyer vs. cocktail waitress would be a fun pasting to watch, but no one will care.
I still believe her goal is the Joy Behar seat on “The View”.
Fingers crossed that Barry is a non event.
Currently in the Crescent City: Sunshine with intermittent light rain.
@mediumwave, what does your rainfall total look like?
n
My prepping this week was re-stocking the pantry. After I cool off, I’ll get it on the shelves.
Temp says 88F. Feels like 100F. Sticky.
@Nick: rainfall: 0.5 in. so far in the ‘burbs west of New Orleans.
Currently raining with occasional wind gusts up to 20 mph.
Apropos @Nick’s post of the 11th in re the difference between human smuggling and sex trafficking, ESR has a post on the importance of naming things correctly: The Rectification of Names
As usual with ESR’s posts, the comments are as informative as the post itself.
Oh, other prepping stuff this past week:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/599864/remington-thunderbolt-ammunition-22-long-rifle-40-grain-lead-round-nose-box-of-500-bulk
$14.99 a box. Free shipping on orders over $49. Yeah, it’s not $8 for a milk carton package containing 750 or so from WalMart…. but that was maybe 15 years ago, too.
Some reviews say it shoots dirty. I’ve had no problems. How hard is it to shove an oily rag down the barrel after plinking cans with the Henry or any of the old bolt action .22s here?
Anyway. 3000 rounds are on the way. “eye roll” It’s only six boxes!
edit: This is “bulk”. They sell the same for more but packed in boxes of 50. I went for the lowest price.
WWL-TV, New Orleans:
LIVE UPDATES: Barry weakens back to tropical storm after landfall
A question for the hive mind, re: sold state drives. Are there any brands which are measure-ably better / more reliable than others? NewEgg has a Hyundai 240 gigabyte drive for $27. It’s a 2.5″ form factor, so it’ll fit in my laptop. Any comparison to the more name brand Seagate / Western Digital / Hitachi / Crucial / PNY? There are a lot of brands I’m not familiar with, I assume they are shall we say “less stringent” about quality & lifespan, but I honestly don’t know good from bad. Thanks.
I have bought all of four SSDs. I went with Western Digital. The Blue series. Because, Western Digital.
Well, ladies and germs, if there ever was even the slightest sliver of a scintilla of doubt, it’s gone now: AOC’s Chief-Of-Staff Admits Green New Deal About Implementing Socialism
Also no doubt Crazy Eyes is a puppet.
I wouldn’t put my hand up inside that for all the money in Monterrey.
Oh, who’m I kidding, give me a glove….
n
oh, rain started here about half an hour ago. Gently but steady.
n
Re ssd’s. I’ve used Samsung with good success, and wd. The ssd in my desktop is an intel. No problems and plenty fast. I’ve been tempted to buy one of those Hyundai drives just to try it out. Maybe I could use it on my son’s minecraft server – don’t need a lot of disk space there. Just what I needed – more toys. Wait, who am I kidding…..
If you are following the news, a substation fire took out 45,000 customers electric in mid town NYC. Guess where I’m at? Life sucks then you die. We were at least in the 4th floor lounge and can take the stairs. Generator has overhead lights and elevators running but we’re not taking them.
Rain stopped. Gauge says 1/8 inch.
Kids are watching MIB II. I forgot how funny those movies are
n
Front page news mratoz…
“Major power outages hit Manhattan: Terrifying images emerge of thousands stuck in pitch black subways and elevators across the city, as Broadway shows are cancelled and restaurants turn to candlelight after ‘transformer fire'”
Are you terrified yet? They used the scare quotes around transformer fire….
n
added– oh, maybe this is why the quotes..
“The outage comes on the anniversary of the 1977 New York City outage that left most of the city without power. ”
kind of a strange coincidence…
I assume they are shall we say “less stringent” about quality & lifespan, but I honestly don’t know good from bad. Thanks.
I’ve only bought Crucial SSDs. So far, so good.
My one gripe about Crucial is that firmware upgrades can be tough without Windows.
At least it is in the 70s. Could be a 100 in the shade.
I weep for the youth of today….
”
The nine D.I.Y skills you need to know by the time you turn 30
Hang a picture
Pot a plant
Clean your grout
Set up a smart home
Restore a piece of furniture
Paint a wall
Clean the gutters
Remove a carpet stain
Compost your kitchen scraps
”
Sweet jebus, cleansing fire inbound in 3, 2, 1, …..
n
Well, ladies and germs, if there ever was even the slightest sliver of a scintilla of doubt, it’s gone now.
Chakrabarti is the equivalent of Valerie Jarrett in the Obama administration, the evil behind the cocktail waitress. Ironically he and his group hail from Dallas IIRC.
Much like Jarrett, Chakrabarti knows he could never win running for office himself, especially in his home state, but not being white insulates him from strong scrutiny since he can always play the race card.
Texas has Progs, but they don’t win statewide … for now. My wife’s Prog associate in Vantucky had a husband who did something stinky politically in Fredericksburg in 2010, right after they moved there from Houston. Apparently, it was stunt so awful that the wife had to find a job in Portland.
I weep for the youth of today
LOL! “Get a Job” should be #1
More power to our hotel, but street/stop lights out. Lady stuck in elevator waiting n hotel. NYFD trying to haul her out.
The nine D.I.Y skills you need to know by the time you turn 30
I’m 50 and I’ve never composted.
And I had someone out to clean the gutters on the second story roof edge. I know my limitations.
I wish I had paid the $90 to have my garbage disposal installed by a pro. The learning experience consumed two weekends and four trips to Home Depot/Lowes.
The nine D.I.Y skills you need to know by the time you turn 30
I’m 71. I’ve hung a picture and cleaned my gutters, but nowadays I tend to delegate home repairs and the like to those younger and more energetic than me. Plus, I calculate that it’s cheaper to pay people to do things for me rather than possibly incur the medical bills resulting from an overestimation of my dwindling physical abilities.
Barry or no Barry, the beer will be delivered to Bourbon St.! 😀
Um yeah, but your not 30 anymore. At thirty, did ANYONE compost their kitchen scraps? And how is that DIY?
Hang a picture?
What about change a toilet flush mechanism? Change a tire or the oil in your car? Build a bookshelf? When I look thru old how to books aimed at kids I want to rampage on these hothouse flowers… kids were building go carts, working on minibikes, using tools, ffs.
And whether you do it or not, who needs to LEARN to clean a gutter? you empty out any muck. It’s like “learning” to empty a bucket….
n
A question for the hive mind, re: sold state drives. Are there any brands which are measure-ably better / more reliable than others?
I have bought a dozen Intel SSDs and a couple of WD SSDs. All are fine and none have failed.
The Intels are freaking fast.
something weird going on here–
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7244315/Police-kill-man-allegedly-attacking-immigration-prison.html
“Rifle-toting man who threw incendiary devices at a Washington state immigration jail killed after four police officers opened fire at him
A man with a rifle threw incendiary devices at a Washington immigration jail
The incident took place at 4am, six hours after a peaceful rally was held there
Four police officers responded, warned the man and opened fire at him
The man was later found dead at the scene after having been shot
The officers were not wearing body cameras, but there is surveillance footage
It’s unclear what the man’s motives were for attacking the immigration center ”
n
… It’s unclear what the man’s motives were for attacking the immigration center”
Perhaps Jordan Peterson’s phrase applies here: “Ideologically possessed.”
Barry or no Barry, the beer will be delivered to Bourbon St.!
https://wwl.radio.com/articles/ap-news/latest-new-orleans-may-dodge-heaviest-rains
Oh man, Mambo’s Gumbo Bar looks freaking awesome. Road trip !
Wait, there is a hurricane in the Big Easy. Maybe it is time to sneak down to Little Daddy’s Gumbo Bar in Galveston.
” in Galveston.”
Um, hurricane in the Gulf! Even a little baby one… is still a hurricane.
n
going to bed, gonna sleep in.
n
Barry or no Barry, the beer will be delivered to Bourbon St.!
A hurricane isn’t serious in Key West unless Sloppy Joes gets evacuated.
https://sloppyjoes.com/cam-bar/
something weird going on here–
Tacoma. A lot of “Cops” episodes were filmed there running south through Pierce County to JB Lewis-McCord.
And I’ve written before about the strange GPS drop outs in I-5 in the area.
Depending on how much tin foil headgear you own, you may or may not buy all the conspiracy theories about the Feds activities in the area and that Lewis-McCord will be a concentration camp and population liquidation center when the SHTF.
I believe *something* goes on at Lewis-McCord and that the corridor along with the Columbia Gorge will be Prog territory in a grid down situation. However, the fun will only last as long as it takes for the hoards to arrive from Vancouver, BC, pouring down from Bellingham looking for food.
Closer to home, ICE runs a detention facility like that in Taylor, not far from our test site. Chinese.
Perhaps Jordan Peterson’s phrase applies here: “Ideologically possessed.”
Lots of that up and down I-5 in the distopia between Seattle/Tacoma and Portland.
Once the timber industry shut down, the big employers became Native American casinos, Great Wolf Lodge (right next to one of the casino’s) and various government entities. Beyond that is retail living off of the affore-mentioned payrolls and activity related to vacation homes scattered around the lakes.
The power of OpenALPR.
Scarier surveillance tech is coming. One type of sensor in particular which we have in R&D right now frightens me, but I’ve yet to see it work. Once I see our version work, the clock starts ticking for an open source equivalent.
Five years. If that.
https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/automatic-license-plate-readers-hoa-police-openalpr.html
Local police are already asking and getting permission to access private IP cameras. Not just in public spaces like airports and streets either.
iSpy has a plug in for ANPR.
Many (not very expensive) IP surveillance cams come with ‘analytics’ onboard that include detection of object removal, object abandonment, loitering, aggression, unusual movement, people counting, line crossing, and facial recognition. They have AI that can do those things (and automatically tag video) across the whole of their VMS (video management system, ie all the recorded video)
I want ANPR for my cul d sac. I’ve thought about people counting and facial recognition (by camera) for our rec association.
All the tech gets pushed downward and moores law makes it affordable.
At the same time, people will develop counters to some of it, esp. as it becomes widespread. I remember a show where they were investigating the Klan, and an FBI agent is commenting (as he looks thru photos of meeting attendee vehicles) that they always seem to have mud splashed “randomly” across the license plate.
In his Freehold series, Michael Z. Williamson writes about ways to counter DNA sniffers and similar (as yet) fantasy tech. He’s doing some interesting thinking, he has teams of saboteurs destroy earth’s economy and kill millions by attacking infrastructure. Take away the SF window dressing, and there is good stuff there for a defender. *cough*
n
added- Freehold is onsale free for kindle atm
https://www.amazon.com/Freehold-Book-Michael-Z-Williamson-ebook/dp/B00BEQLTZY/