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Category: prepping

Sat. April 25, 2020 – Saturday, in the park, I think it was the 4th of July….

Should be a nice day.  [72F sunny and blue sky @10am]

Yesterday was another beautiful day, but it did get HOT.  100F in the sun and in my driveway.  Caught me a bit by surprise as I was moving from shade to sun and there was a nice breeze.  Realized I was panting and went inside to cool down for a while.

I was busy doing yard work and cleaning and organizing.  I mowed the back yard.  I don’t want the lawn guys back there,  too much to see that isn’t there during normal times.  Plus, I don’t want the guys shedding virus and spitting all over the place.   So I mow, and blow, and yesterday I also did some edging.

In the garden, the cabbage seems to be doing well.  The broccoli is still alive, and growing, and the brussel sprouts are alive, but haven’t really changed size.   Last year’s pepper plants are heavy with sweet delicious peppers.  This year’s are growing well too.  The tomato plants still live, but haven’t flowered or set fruit.  Potato plants continue their vigorous growth, although there are fewer plants in each tower bag.  The onion sets seem to have taken hold and are growing.  There is attrition due to something, squirrels mostly.  I think I’ll be lucky to get ten whole onions in the fall.  No sprouts from any of my seeds yet.

The citrus trees all have fruit this year.  Every tree, which has never happened before.  I don’t know how many will make it to harvest, and I’m betting only a few oranges, but maybe I’ll get grapefruit and limes this year!  The peach tree is fully leafed in and the remaining apple tree is struggling to get leafed.  The trees in the store were covered in leaves weeks ago.

The blueberry sticks have all set fruit.   Maybe we’ll double our yield this year and get a full cup?  Kids have fun with them anyway.  The grapevines are growing.  The one is vigorous, the other died back to a foot from the ground.  No fruit from that one this year, maybe no new vines.  Haven’t had any of my grape nemesis caterpillars show so far, but I’m vigilant.

Take any opportunity you get to add to your long term and medium term food supply.  These processing plant shutdowns will likely continue, and we’ll probably see transportation issues or teamster type issues at cross docks and transfer agents.  Someone needs to unload the trucks, and that almost always means a guy on a forklift.  It’s not a hard job but it is demanding.  Essential workers are getting sick, and I expect that will get worse as the restrictions ease.

I’m glad to hear reports that stores have restocked, and that goods are available.  Take advantage of that so that NEXT time, you won’t be caught short.   Even if we’re on the downside of this, and I don’t think we are, TPTB are starting to talk about the second wave.  China has locked down even more people again, something like 11M so far.

The third world is starting to really see their first wave sweeping through.  It’s gonna be a tsunami soon.   FWIW, we have been getting a LOT of food from those third world nations.  That’s where all the ‘out of season’ fruit and veg comes from.  (And the Imperial Valley in Cali which relies on the same sort of labor.)  I expect that will get disrupted soon, and the extent, if the wuflu is unchecked, could mean no laborers to pick the crops, no way to get them here, and we’re back to thinking that citrus at Christmas is a Big Deal ™.  I remember as a kid when getting a case of oranges or grapefruit at Christmas was a nice corporate gift, and my dad was happy to get a single orange as his Christmas gift when he was a kid.

The bottom line is that this thing is still spreading, and growing, and there is no effective treatment.   People are still dying, and we’re discovering that maybe the survivors are not escaping unscathed either.  You don’t want to get it.   In the US, I expect that we’ll see localized outbreaks that grow rapidly, and then recede, and it will be going on for a long time, as the hotspots move around.   We are about to experimentally determine the amount of economic contact vs public health isolation that the country is willing to accept.  Like any other human endeavor, that process is going to be messy, but we’ll also figure it out.

Keep in mind that if there were no more infections starting today, we’ll still have more than 760K cases that will need to resolve, and the totals would  continue to rise for the next month at least.  If even 5% of those cases die, that’s an additional 37K added to the 50K so far.  IF no new cases were added.  New cases will continue to be added for some time though.

So, stay in, stay safe.

nick

 

Oh, and today marks my 15th year as a married man.  Short time compared to some of you, but something I never spent much time thinking about when I was younger.  I married well, and I can only hope she feels the same 🙂

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Tues. April 21, 2020 – holy cow, this is kicking the hornet’s nest

Cool, warm, sunny, humid, and  probably all in the same day.

Yesterday was another gorgeous day, once the sun came out.  I was able to get some stuff in the driveway dried out, between the breeze, sun, and slightly lower humidity.  I’m hoping for more of the same today.

Citrus continues to grow, added about 3 inches of dirt to the potato towers, and I think my other planting is still ok.  Damn tree rats dig in the garden, but I think the mounds I built were undisturbed.

I did some moving and cleaning in the garage, and brought another 3 flats of cans out of the dark and into the light…. and then scrubbed them.   Thoroughly.  Something is eating the poison block in my rat bait, after it sat there for a month unmolested.   I’ll have to put some extra bait out and refresh the block.  I really don’t want any rats at this point.  Too much food out.

Which brings up the conundrum, do I take an opportunity to restock?  Or do we just get a bit more hardcore and start with powdered milk, liquid eggs, and mostly canned for fruit and veg?  For that matter, I’d like to get more meat in the freezer, despite the increase in prices.  And by more meat, I’d like about 30 or 40 pounds.  I’d really like more, but don’t even have the room for that much.  I normally have 6 dozen eggs in the garage fridge, 10 pounds of ham, anything I haven’t broken down and frozen yet, 6 pounds of shredded cheese, a bit of beer and wine, soda, bread  etc.  and most of that is gone.   Looking in the freezer, I’m short chicken and steaks too.

Does it make a difference if I can get it delivered or curbside, and don’t have to go into the store?  Yes, I think it does from an isolation and disease risk point of view.  But it certainly costs more and selection is limited.

Both my wife and I have work obligations outside the house this week.  My main customer has a bunch of issues that need to be resolved in person.  My wife has to make a site visit for a project.  If we’re breaking isolation anyway, shouldn’t we restock too?  Or should we just minimize our exposure, do the job and get home?

It all depends on how you judge the current risk of infection, the long term outlook for the economy, availability of product, inflation, deflation, and other variables too.  Simply staying home and getting hard core on eating preps is the easiest and least risky choice.  UNLESS things are going to be worse in 2-3 months.  Re-stocking buys another couple of months beyond that point.

Decisions.  Risk.  Reward.

Dinner was spaghetti noodles, frozen meatballs, the last of the leftover ribeye roast, and surprise! leftover birthday cake from the bottom of the freezer for dessert.

Stay in, stay safe.

 

nick

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Wed. April 15, 2020 – Tax day. Hah, fooled ya! H/T to wuflu…

Sunny, windy and cool.

Yesterday was just like Monday, possibly even nicer as it was just a bit cooler.  I’m hoping for more of the same today.

I did some more yard work, added dirt to the potato towers, pruned the grape vine that didn’t recover from this winter, sprinkled fertilizer on the raised beds and potted plants, and bundled more of the crepe murdered branches.  Watered everything.

I then went into the driveway to move more food from bins under the tarp to my new shelves.  Oh lordy.  I knew one bin was a loss, full of moldy boxes.  I was NOT prepared for the bin full of rusty cans, sewage, and huge maggoty looking things.*  About 150 cans destroyed.  Burst, rusted thru, totally rusted, and all missing paper labels.  One can of spam, one jar of peanut butter, one jar of spaghetti sauce, and one bottle of oil are about all that was salvageable and I’m not really sure I even want to wash them…  About $200 worth of food, maybe more.  The ‘moldy’ bin had a dozen pouches of meat, possibly recoverable, but just thrown out, one case of Kraft mac n cheese, a couple dozen freeze dried side dishes, and a bunch of hamburger helper.  All rotten and damp and moldy.  Not a cheap bin to lose.   Those black bins suck for long term storage in changing conditions.  Call it another $200 lost.

I did move two bins worth of dry goods to the shelves and got rid of a whole pallet under the tarps.  Two, possibly three bins left for tomorrow.  It’s worth mentioning that these bins were stacked three high, and were under tarps and in the shade the whole time.  I don’t think any water got into them directly, I think the changing temps and humid air “pumped” moist air in where it later condensed and couldn’t get back out.  The same bins at my secondary location where the temps were indoor temps with some A/C in the summer and no real cold in the winter were fine, and kept the food dry and safe.  The ones full of cans were the worst in my driveway.  I think the thermal mass of the cans is just that much higher and makes the problem worse.

Dinner was Taco Tuesday.   Fixin’s from the fridge.  Meat from pouches with best by of 2016.  The pouches were pre-seasoned “taco crumbles” hamburger, and pork carnitas chunks from Brazil.  Delicious and unchanged from new.  Dessert was Easter candy.

Some encouraging reports from ERs around the country, but that’s probably because the current restrictions are working.  Keep the faith, stay sane.

Stay in and stay safe.

 

nick

 

*I picked up the cans and threw them in the trash but have no idea what to do with the 2 inches of black water in the bin.  The stench is incredible, and I sure don’t want that in my driveway or yard.  I poured half a gallon of bleach in the bin and left it for today.  I might pour it in the gutter in the street, and then wash my truck to move the stink along.  I’d pour it into the sewer directly if I could do it without a dozen neighbors watching.

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Mon. April 13, 2020 – another holiday

Warmer, perhaps no rain after all.

Ended up with a beautiful and hot day yesterday.  Sun came out and everything.  It was quite breezy and comfortable in the shade.  101F in the sun.  90F in the shade.

I assembled the can sorters, and moved a bunch of cans around.  I am sorting and organizing and finding more food every time I move a box.  That’s a good thing, btw.

Second order effects are starting to be seen from covid 19.   Food processors are closing.  They kept working and their staff kept coming in, and they are developing clusters of infection.  It is a model for what would be happening in ALL the businesses if people were coming in to work and school.  I know it sucks, but Tyson had ~24 in their cluster, the other place had double that, and that’s just the ones they know so far.  That could be YOUR workplace, your co-workers, you.

Breadlines, crime, violence.  More 2nd and 3rd order effects.

Things are gonna get tougher before they get better.

Keep thinking about what you need to do if this lasts for a few more months, with the social situation deteriorating the whole time.  How long until we see infrastructure failures if the work crews start having the same problems the meat processors are having?   Every cop that coughs today will be out for at least 2 and maybe 5 weeks.  Then their shift partner will be out too.  Think about what a cluster will do to the regional medical center in Bugflock, ID.  I’d love to think we’re approaching ‘peak’ but no one has given any indication why they think this is it… other than models that haven’t been accurate yet.

What is the effect of missing the chance to slaughter your animals?  Are there other processors?  Have you got feed to keep them healthy for another week or month?  What about starting next season’s ‘crop’ if you can’t sell this season’s?  Will the animals be too big? too old?  Can you get enough money to cover the additional expenses?  What happens if the answers are “no”?

There are a million ways this whole thing can go sideways, very quickly.  Small steps to position ourselves should pay larger  dividends later.  Figure out what you need to do.

As always, stay in, stay safe!

 

nick

 

added- forgot to say, dinner was 5 pound bone on ribeye roast from the freezer (2017- vac sealed and frozen), garlic mashed potatoes (fresh), canned green beans (2016 with added garlic, onion, and bacon crumbles), baked shelf stable bread loaf (costco 3 pack), and for dessert- personal pies (2016 canned dark cherry pie filling, readymade pie crust, baked in little ramekins .  I love making the little ‘pies’.

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Tues. Mar. 31, 2020 – some stuff got done, but progress is slow

Cooler and possibility of rain.

Yesterday was overcast and partly sunny late, but didn’t rain. So humid that the concrete was wet though.

I did some work on the pile in the driveway, and cleaned out a couple of my “window box” planters on the fence. If they dry out today, I’ll get some new dirt in them and some veg planted later.

I did get the second potato tower planted, and my onion starters in the ground. I had to remove some chives and some grass that had invaded the bed.

I had a small tree with two trunks die on one half, so I got out the saw and trimmed that back. Looks like woodpeckers made holes, then ants got in. They started attacking the remaining trunk too, so I shaved away the loose bark and sprayed the wound with nursery sealer. Hopefully that will save what’s left. It’s a nice ornamental tree in front of the house and I don’t want to lose it.

While I had the saw out, I did some pruning and cut up some medium sized branches that were waiting for me to get to them. There are a bunch of crepe myrtles and japanese cherry trees in the back yard that constantly need cutting back. They are under the utility lines and grow fast. I try to do all that sort of thing at the same time, so even if it wasn’t top of my list, I needed to do the dead tree in the front, which means spending a bit of time in back too. It’s always something.

In other news.

If you haven’t looked at the numbers for the wuflu in a couple of days, please take a look. This thing is growing and spreading. We MAY be slowing the growth, but that only extends the time it will take to get to saturation, it doesn’t prevent it. NYFC went from one case to 100 to 67K with 1300 deaths so far. That’s like 1 in 100 diagnosed, and more deaths to come. People are not being smart about this. They lined up to see the hospital ship FFS. They are loading bodies into freezer trucks. In NYC. In the USA.

Aesop has had cases in his ER and more are coming. Several people here have mentioned one or two degree of separation cases. Meanwhile, TPTB are working their way through the CDC’s Pandemic Checklist. They haven’t gotten to the part where they bring staff families inside the perimeter and fort up, but they are headed down the list toward that. https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2018/02/16/fri-feb-16-2018-pandemic-flu-preparedness/ Read that to see where this could be heading.

While I don’t think this is a panic engineered to allow the Deep State and tyranny to take over the US, it’s undeniable that certain people are using it to advance their long standing agendas, and the Constitution be damned. I encourage you all to push back against that without pushing any other agenda. Just point out the places where they are overstepping. And just in case, look to your arms. Figure out where you stand and what, if anything, you are not willing to tolerate.

No matter how this plays out politically, it’s already changing your local security situation. Jails are being emptied, and cops have stopped trying to control crime. They want to live through this as much as anyone, and I can understand that, even as I curse it. You may be much more responsible for your own safety and security than you are used to being. Get your mindset ready. Get your tools ready.

Whether a nothing burger or a society killer, this thing is here and the world around us has changed. I don’t know if we can get back to where we were, or even farther towards where we wish we were, but I know that right now, right here, it’s different. Get your head in the game and get used to the new rules.

Stay in, stay safe.

nick

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Mon. Mar. 30, 2020 – another week, always more to do

Cooler and damp. Rain in the forecast. We’ll see.

I don’t think we got more than a tenth of an inch in the last two days, despite the forecast. I’ve been watering potted plants and the raised beds. I’ve got work to do on the sprinkler system before I can turn it on. Subsequently the grass in front doesn’t look great. The grass in back was so high and dense my mower was almost stalled by it, and I had to cut half widths.

If it doesn’t rain, I’ll be doing more in the driveway. If it does rain, maybe some inside work. Kids will be doing school makework, wife is still working from home.

I’m not used to having people in the house during the week. Everyone is making adjustments. It’s really hard to believe we’re in the middle of a slow motion disaster. Commander Zero is feeling the same weirdness over at his place. Lights are on, weather is nice, and that’s strange. Looking at news coming out of NYC and looking at New Orleans, as well as overseas, I’m still convinced this is the real deal. I can understand that people who haven’t been immersed in this and seen the run up might find it all hard to believe. Even if you don’t pay attention for a few days, the exponential growth can fool you.

It’s coming. It’s real. It will be devastating for the hospital system.

While there are promising leads, getting it bad still means risking death.

Stay in, stay safe.

nick

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Sun. Mar. 29, 2020 – almost done with March

Cooler and wet.

Never really got rain yesterday but it stayed wet all afternoon and evening. Kids and wife ‘camped’ in a tent in the back yard. I hurt too much to do that if I don’t sleep in my bed.

I got some work done in the garden despite the heavy mist. Cleaned up an area next to a raised bed, transplanted 3 tomato plants, planted one trash bag potato tower.

My cabbage is currently thriving, but my broccoli has ‘bolted’. I cut it back and am hoping for a second growth.

Meyer Lemon tree has flowers already. We just picked the lemons a week or so ago.

Blueberry bushes flowered and look to be setting berries. I worked on the bamboo to support the bird netting. The bushes aren’t exactly thriving, but it’s neat to have some berries in season. The bird net means I’ll get them and not the thieving wildlife.

Old pepper plants continue to fruit. New peppers need transplanting. Maybe today.

No sign of sprouting for my radishes or turnips yet, nor the mixed herbs.

I need to get my onion sets in the ground and get some other veg in too. Maybe today.

If the weather clears I’ll be working in the driveway moving stuff around too.

Breakfast today is hillbilly donuts. Tube biscuits, cut with a shot glass to donuts and holes, fried up in peanut oil in my cast iron. Then shake in a bag of powdered sugar, cinnamon, or chocolate powder. Or do all three. Special treat for the family. Makes a mess with the oil, but I filter and save the oil just for donuts. It lasts a long time.

Dinner last night was spiral slice ham, baked potatoes, cabbage saute’d with onion, and mango cobbler for dessert. All but the cabbage and cobbler mix was from Costco.

I better get to it.

Stay in, stay safe. Get your garden started!

nick

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Thur. Mar. 26, 2020 – home now, and for a while

Warm, trending to hot, and still somewhat damp.

Yesterday got pretty hot. High 80s, maybe low 90s, certainly in the sun. I was sweating almost instantly.

Made my last run to my secondary storage. Grabbed almost everything, except the weird medical and medical PPEs. I’ll donate those if they need them and will accept them. No one should have a complaint if I’m driving to get med supplies.

Now I have to get the piles sorted, and shelve the stuff. I’ve got a lot of paper goods to find a home for.

I opened a 5 pound bag of sugar with expire date of 2016. Tiny black spots. Not a lot, and only dead bugs but some, tiny little bugs. I got a second bag from the same tub, and it was 1/2 fine. One half had little black spots. Sugar doesn’t go bad, but it might have bugs…

I’ll spot check the rice and flour as needed. This was my DEEP backup from the ebola ’14 scare, and I expected that I’d have failures. So far I’ve found fewer than I expected. Cool, dark, consistent temps, and fairly dry storage conditions certainly help.

Once I’ve got everything put away, I need to continue with the generator projects and rotating the stored water. I should have all I need for the parts I’m doing. I’ve also got a couple of cams to get up. Then all the other projects that don’t involve trips to Home Depot need to be done.

Lots of cleaning and sorting, and I guess I’ll try listing stuff on ebay too. As long as people have money and hope, they’ll probably keep buying. I expect that window is short and will close soon.

Security issues are my next concern.

I hope all of you are where you need to be, or will get there soon. It’s time to pull up the drawbridge.

Stop going out and playing in it. Stay home, stay safe.

nick

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Mon. Mar. 23, 2020 – School days, school days, dear old …..

Cooler and still wet.

Got up to the 80s yesterday but stayed mostly overcast all day.

I did get some stuff done, but slept in and lost the whole morning.

Today my plan is to leave the house. I’ve got to go to my secondary and pick stuff up. We might get locked down at any point and I’ve got stuff there I’d rather have here. Can’t get to it, then I don’t own it. Also worried about protecting it over there. It’s only about 10 miles, but it’s into town. Not the direction I want to go if things get bad. I might leave water jugs and Mountain House there as backup, because there isn’t more than a couple of weeks of MH, and staying there means we’re near the end anyway.

I’d also like to make one last run through the Home Depot and Lowes stores. I would like more garden. Call me paranoid, but I want to actually eat out of the garden this year. That means more soil, lots more. Also some stuff for the gennie, and a couple of things for security upgrades around the house.

If I’m risking it, I might try for some fresh milk and cream and veg while I’m at it. Not high on the list, but if possible maybe at a CVS or somewhere without crowds. Not sure if anywhere will be crowd free, if we’re gonna be locked down. No way I was going out on Sunday though.

If I’m out, it might be the last time for a while. I’m curious, but not enough to actually shop or just go looking, if I don’t have to. And I really don’t have to, truth be told. It will help the family though.

Speaking of family, kids are supposed to be getting back to school today. Well, learning anyway. ISD sent out what we were hoping would be a lesson plan, but it’s just a bunch of websites. F me, that’s what I hated about their NORMAL plan. Can’t pin them down on what to teach in what order. FFS, why would that be different this year from last? Or the last 10 years? Do they really not have anything? We can’t even ‘teach to the test’ because the test is a big mystery. Or the email could just be poorly designed and what I want is there somewhere that I’ll find with a better read through. I’m not betting on that though.

I’ll be carrying a new tool while out and about. I picked up a cheap stun gun disguised as a flashlight. I wanted a non-lethal alternative. I haven’t tried it on myself, but it makes impressive noise and arcs. Hopefully, like my pistol, I’ll never need it. Nice to have choices though.

Wish I could be sure I was making smart choices today….

Start settling in for the long term. Get your security posture straight. Get set for the new normal.

nick

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Wed. Mar. 18, 2020 – plugging away

Warmer and damp. We’re on the edge of a system according to the big picture FEMA guys, so we’ll either get rain or we won’t.

Didn’t get rain yesterday. Nice day. Got hot in the afternoon and sunny.

I did get some of the area under the patio roof cleaned up. I’ll finish that today and move shelves and food there. Then I’ll tackle more of the garage and driveway.

I sold 10 boxes of stuff yesterday, and one TV remote. Busy day, without making much money. Wife worked from home. Kids bugged us both.

I had a pickup order in with the USPS to get 6 boxes when my regular mail arrived. Carrier did not get out of the truck. On his way out of the cul de sac I stopped him and asked if he or someone else would be picking up my boxes. He was supposed to and he “forgot”. I chatted with him, and he sees any knock on from CV as an opportunity. He’s convinced the chinese built and released the bug. I asked him about masks and gloves (he was wearing gloves) and he repeated what the counter clerks said, he has to buy his own gloves. I got him a box and reminded him I sometimes call for pickup. Today I expect he will do the pickup without ‘forgetting’. That’s just another step on the decline, bribing people to do what they are supposed to do anyway. Hey, maybe I’ll give him a box of masks too.

It’s very weird sitting here all day with everyone home and most of my urgency past. Feels like a very rare weekend with no commitments. Yet, I know I need to be doing things while we can. The invisible menace is invisible. All of my instincts are screaming at me to keep getting ready for “it”. But with this threat, every contact is potentially devastating. People in the neighborhood are walking with their babies and other moms. People are breaking isolation all around me. It feels weird and wrong to just sit here isolated. I should be out shopping. I should be out working. I should be doing SOMETHING… but if I do, the clock restarts every time.

So we wait for an antibody test, and that will take the uncertainty away.

Until then, Market-ticker.org has a bunch of math and insists that we’re doing it wrong. I only skimmed but found a couple of places where he’s either wrong or ignoring uncertainty. We should know definitively in a week or so, and the consequences for not acting were huge.

Keep to yourselves! Stay away from crowds (and everyone else). Keep stacking while you can, if you can.

nick

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