09:27 – We’re building more science kit subassemblies today, which we’ll be doing pretty much every day for the next two or three months. I issued purchase orders yesterday for a couple thousand dollars worth of components, which covers most of what we were short of.
We’ve devoted most of our time this week to getting science kit subassemblies built for the autumn rush, so there hasn’t been much time for prepping activities. I did order and receive from Amazon a gallon of molasses, which is used in cooking and baking to turn white granulated sugar into brown sugar, at a ratio of one tablespoon of molasses per cup of white sugar, and a couple cans of high-temperature flat black spray paint, which we’ll use in converting 2-liter soda bottles into gardening pots for herbs and other plants that do well in containers.
After 35 years of drinking coffee only occasionally, I’ve started drinking it regularly. One, or sometimes two, 10-ounce (~300 mL) mugs every morning. I’ve been playing around with different concentrations, and I’ve decided that 10 grams of ground coffee is enough for a 10-ounce mug. That means I get about 45 mugs per pound, or about 135 mugs per 3-pound can. At about $12 per three-pound can, Costco-branded Columbian coffee is about as good as any I’ve tried, and three of those cans is a one-year supply for one person, assuming one 10-ounce cup per day. Barbara and Frances don’t drink coffee. Al drinks much more than I do, but he also likes his coffee much weaker than I do, so six or seven cans should be plenty for the two of us. In the metal cans, the coffee has a long rated shelf life and I’m sure it’d still be fine for at least several years past the best-by date, so there’s no real down-side to keeping a good supply in our LTS pantry.
I make my one cup a day with 1/3 cup coffee grounds, 24 oz water.
3 splendas and a 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
Yum.
For LTS I’ve got the Costco cans, and I’ve added the Starbucks instant to all my boxes of mountain house. (only buy when costco has the instant on deep discount.)
I buy some locally roasted and packaged coffee and mix 2 different roasts to get a rich very dark coffee. It’s half the cost of the premium ground coffees and tastes much better. When it’s on sale, I bulk up and vac seal the foil bags.
n
(it’s a luxury, but an affordable one that I’ll continue as long as possible. post shtf, caffeine is a vital supply.)
24 oz water
That’s a lot of aqua Mr. Nick.
After 35 years of drinking coffee only occasionally
My Mom loves “Folgers Crystals” the freeze dried stuff. How would that be for a long term storage prep in a de-oxygenated mylar bag?
I’m actually going to order some instant coffee to test.
Mr atoz eats his coffee with a damp spoon straight from the jar!
N
I thought the paint was for a solar oven. Using paint to prevent roots growing to where they get light? High temperature why?
Sigh…
A formerly civilised tea drinker starts town the road to ruin. Soon you’ll be a liberal Democrat… 🙁
The black paint is used in solar ovens, which is why I ordered the high-temperature stuff. But it’s also useful in making 2-liter bottles opaque so that algae and other gunk don’t grow in them.
OFD don’t drink no coffee or tea and no booze and don’t do drugz and don’t sing, dance or go to the movies. But I cuss a LOT. Can I still join the jihad?
Differences between jihad and other stuff, explained by an apostate:
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/In-defense-of-dissidence-8438
“Now It’s a Fair Fight”
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/145354924661/now-its-a-fair-fight
“It appears that the Clinton campaign has wisely decided to abandon its claim to reason, facts, and other losing strategies, and go “full fear” as their persuasion theme. The idea is that pairing Trump with nuclear war will make him unelectable.”
“That could work!”
The wife and I buy 8 O’clock 100% Colombian coffee beans for the home and office and grind them up as necessary.
http://www.amazon.com/Eight-OClock-Colombian-Coffee-40-Ounce/dp/B003GVBN1A/
We are in trouble when the singularity happens as our coffee grinders are electric and so are our coffee pots. We also use the coffee brewer with the internal carafe so you just push your cup against the dispenser and it fills for you:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Programmable-Brewstation-48464/dp/B001K66LPQ/
Yes, I am cheap and lazy XXXX frugal.
“The idea is that pairing Trump with nuclear war will make him unelectable.”
Oh sure, from the former Goldwater Girl, too; that’s what they did to him. Pics of mushroom clouds on the tee-vee, etc. OFD remembers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k
An ad approved by LBJ, of course, a serial adulterer, rapist, pervert, drunk, murderer, and war criminal, like another more recent President, both of them Dem Party scum.
“OFD don’t drink no coffee or tea and no booze and don’t do drugz and don’t sing, dance or go to the movies.”
Q. Why are Methodists against pre-marital sex?
A. It might lead to dancing.
“An ad approved by LBJ, of course, a serial adulterer, rapist, pervert, drunk, murderer, and war criminal, like another more recent President, both of them Dem Party scum.”
You forgot “ballot rigger”.
Why don’t southern baptists have sex standing up?
People might think they were dancing.
I forgot to mention that my coffee plan after the singularity is to just chew and eat the coffee beans. I had a programmer working for me back in the 2000s who would get a coffee cup, fill it half full of coffee beans, and eat those as the day progressed. He described it as a tremendous buzz.
Of course, that is assuming that I survive the singularity event should it be quick. My thought that is that we are in the singularity event right now, progressing over a 15 to 30 year period.
WA State has out Californicated Californication. It’s over folks.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/01/washington-state-to-teach-transgenderism-to-kindergartners/
“You forgot “ballot rigger”.”
Yeah, that’s right; like Saint Jack. And the current crop of criminal psychopaths.
“…we are in the singularity event right now, progressing over a 15 to 30 year period.”
Which singularity is that?
“WA State has out Californicated Californication. It’s over folks.”
Seems to be mostly a coastal elites thing, with a few scattered outbreaks of this psychosis in the “flyover country” regions, again, mostly cities.
There will be a reckoning; I sincerely hope that dissenting parents and other citizens are keeping track of names, dates, places, addresses, plate numbers, etc. for the scum who produce these various novelties and innovations.
More outrage in education. These “children” are now scared for life.
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/student-unfurls-confederate-flag-declares-white-privilege-day/
If the nest to last sentence statement was really true this would not have been an issue. This is just another example of selective tolerance: “Fostering an educational community based on tolerance and respect is of the utmost importance to the administration, faculty and staff at Nicolet.”
Just wait — WA State will end up with a court-imposed income tax to fund the Californication. The legislature is already held in contempt by the state supreme court over education funding, a fine of $100k/day since 2014.
Next year. 2018 at the latest.
We don’t miss the place.
And I don’t miss the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Maffachufetts, either. Too bad most of my family is still down there and the spouses won’t even CONSIDER moving out, period. And if they DID move, it would be to warmer states, away from the terrible, terrible cold and snow.
If we, for some odd reason, moved at all, it would be further NORTH.
“We are in trouble when the singularity happens as our coffee grinders are electric…”
This simple and compact coffee grinder should be in your SHTF prepping inventory:
http://www.amazon.com/Bruntmor-Portable-Ceramic-Grinder-Stainless/dp/B00XPVEKXY
As well as this device to make real coffee:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018RY8H0/ref=ice_ac_a_t_dpn
“…we are in the singularity event right now, progressing over a 15 to 30 year period.”
Which singularity is that?
The cultural and financial failure of the USA. They have both accelerated recently and may accelerate yet again. The end game will not be quick nor merciful but is some 10 to 20 years away.
Heinlein called this the “Crazy Years” and postulated that it would last from 1960 to 2016. Of course, he thought that the last American presidential election would be in 2012 but it looks like we may have one this year.
OK, I’ll buy that. The cultural failure has been accelerating since the Glorious Sixties, but it was kicked off by the commie infiltrations dating back to the 1930s, and their Long March since, mainly focused on the public education system and media. The financial failure is in progress, and there is absolutely no way now to recover from it, no matter how much fiat currency they print or how many defaults on the debt they declare, whether it’s their phony “official” figure of $19-20 trillion or the real one of ten times that.
The frosting on the cake is that there is no way to adequately govern an empire this huge and the eventual breakup in inevitable. The question is whether or not this will be the LAST empire.
“We are in trouble when the singularity happens as our coffee grinders are electric…”
This simple and compact coffee grinder should be in your SHTF prepping inventory:
http://www.amazon.com/Bruntmor-Portable-Ceramic-Grinder-Stainless/dp/B00XPVEKXY
As well as this device to make real coffee:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018RY8H0/ref=ice_ac_a_t_dpn
Do you use both of these? My experience with this kind of stuff is that I break it on the first usage.
The Brazos river has now dropped a half foot from its new peak.
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=HGX&gage=RMOT2
I am beginning to think that the railroad in front of my office complex on FM 2759 has washed out. There is a creek that flows under the railroad tracks that they are desperately working on. There are a lot of BNSF trucks there and at least one 18 wheeler of huge rocks (2 to 3 ft in diameter) that they are apparently throwing in the creek. Not good.
The frosting on the cake is that there is no way to adequately govern an empire this huge and the eventual breakup in inevitable. The question is whether or not this will be the LAST empire.
Heinlein postulated that the next form of our government would be a theocratic dictatorship with a prophet as our dear leader. And his 18 virgins.
Pray that this does not happen.
Rush says that Trump is now living in Hillary’s head rent free.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/06/03/attacks_on_trump_backfire
That just sounds nasty to me.
Nehemiah Scudder is coming!
Do you use both of these?
I’ve owned the Aerobie for years and use it on and off. Plastic, but it lasts. You need paper filter disks. Stock those also.
I think the best answer for LTS coffee is Folger’s Instant Crystals. I’m guess they will last forever properly packed.
I think we’re gonna get the charismatic strongman from Tom Kratman’s Caliphate hopefully without the dirty bombs in American cities.
n
Nehemiah Scudder is coming!
Maybe his name was really Mitt Romney? And he failed to takeover.
Trump’s got the 18 virgin thing going on. Have you _seen_ his latest wife? Whew. Maybe money can buy happiness xxxxxxxx horniness.
I have one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Granite-Ware-6006-1-3-Quart-Coffee/dp/B000RA3Z0K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464987149&sr=8-2&keywords=campfire+coffee
but this is even better
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000015167-Camping-Coffee-Maker/dp/B001K7IDVU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464987459&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=coleman+campstove+coffee+maker
I want to change out our electric cooktop for a gas stove but the cost of the Jenn-air downdraft range is expensive! Maybe it is time though. Otherwise I would have to break out our Coleman stove or propane bbq grill to make coffee with the local grid down.
https://jennair.com/appliances/details/JGD3430BS
@lynn: “Do you use both of these? My experience with this kind of stuff is that I break it on the first usage.”
Yes, I do use both but only occasionally. I would agree that they appear to not be heavy duty and they aren’t. They are holding up well and are not showing an signs of wear after 5-years. I am always looking for something else, but these are the best I have found so far.
YMMV
102°F at 3:30 today, 80°F in the house using only evaporative cooler. Could be better but still avoiding the AC and the high electric use.
pool at 86°F but water drops about an inch a day with this heat and dryness. I have one of those low flow diverters on the cooler pump to stop mineral buildup and direct it to the pool to help compensate.
So every once in a while the news gets it right:
Headline–
“Hillary’s angels! Clinton takes foreign policy speech victory lap with the help of limousine liberals Elizabeth Banks, Sally Field, Mary Steenburgen and more ”
Not exactly a flattering term.
n
WRT coffee.
I could run my small drip maker off a battery and inverter if needed. I usually run the gennie in the morning while we cook and start our day for the micro, coffee and toast.
If I can’t do that, I have a variety of percolators, both corningware, and metal, from high style to campfire simple. I also have a big and a small french press that can be used for coffee tea or chai.
i know there are reasons most everyone stopped percolating, but needs must….
nick
(beyond all that I’ve got the starbucks instant….)
Well that camp percolator makes lousy coffee but better than none. The Coleman camp drip work great, just slow. Had the drip about ten years and that’s all I use for coffee while camping. The percolator however makes an excellent hot water vessel on the camp stove for those that like tea, chocolate or oatmeal and so we still take it along.
“Hillary’s angels! Clinton takes foreign policy speech victory lap with the help of limousine liberals Elizabeth Banks, Sally Field, Mary Steenburgen and more ”
Susan Sarandon used to be on the stage until she dumped Cankles and went full commie with The Bern. The best comment “If the stage collapsed, would anyone care?”
Damn it Janet!
RHPS is going to done live on Fox this fall.
I want to change out our electric cooktop for a gas stove but the cost of the Jenn-air downdraft range is expensive!
We had one of those with a popup vent system. Didn’t work well. When we moved to our present house and ripped out the 1950s galley kitchen, we put in a dual fuel range from Dacor with a matching hood. Works much better. I recommend a cooktop with hood if it will work.
Yep, I’ve got an electric with the popup downdraft, Dacor, in an island. The splash shield works, and the downdraft works ok on any short pan or frying. For any tall pot, everything goes above the downdraft.
If I had my choice, I’d have a gas range with a hood.
If the previous owner had just spent an extra $20 and 1/2 hour and put the gas line in as long as they were breaking the slab for the vent, I’d be swapping out tomorrow. I can’t believe people don’t have the foresight to do something like that. I ALWAYS run an extra line, more if I’ll never be able to get back into an area.
nick
I want to change out our electric cooktop for a gas stove but the cost of the Jenn-air downdraft range is expensive!
We had one of those with a popup vent system. Didn’t work well. When we moved to our present house and ripped out the 1950s galley kitchen, we put in a dual fuel range from Dacor with a matching hood. Works much better. I recommend a cooktop with hood if it will work.
My brother had one of the Dacors with the popup vent. Never again. The little motor to raise it died fairly quickly and they went to the pull it up manually method after one or two changeouts.
But the Jennair downdraft cooktop does not use a popup vent. Instead, the vent is in the middle of the cooktop and works well.
If the previous owner had just spent an extra $20 and 1/2 hour and put the gas line in as long as they were breaking the slab for the vent, I’d be swapping out tomorrow. I can’t believe people don’t have the foresight to do something like that. I ALWAYS run an extra line, more if I’ll never be able to get back into an area.
At least I do have the cooktop gas line in my 2003 Perry home. I also put gas back into the house addition last year, especially for the gas furnace and a possible gas clothes dryer. Cost me at least $1,000 since they were cutting black pipe and putting it in the attic (about a 50 ft run). The plumber really liked doing that in August.
Seems like a lot of new homes are putting in freestanding stoves with both the cooktop and the oven. I would prefer that. And, the 36 inch wide stove instead of 30 inch wide.
RHPS = Rocky Horror Picture Show? I predict that show will go about 5 episodes and disappear.
Speaking of horror picture shows…
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/hatespeech-9/#respond
Also saw a pic of Cankles and Larry Klinton at some Memorial Day shindig somewhere; she was wearing John Lennon-style shades and looked her usual piggish; he was staring at the camera, and there indeed was a picture of sheer evil. What a nasty mofo that piece of shit is. Hell can’t come round soon enough for the both of them.
And from They Do It Out of Love Department:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/06/dhs-quietly-moving-releasing-vanloads-illegal-aliens-away-border/#comment-2711224387
How many ISIS guys and gals in YOUR AO?
“The next five months could alter the future course of this country. Stay tuned.”
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/06/03/funniest-bls-report-ever/
http://preparedgunowners.com/?p=1462
OK, I accept the challenge, one mo’ fo’ Friday night:
“Leaders face a no-win dilemma: any change of course will crash the system, but maintaining the current course will also crash the system.”
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjune16/collapse6-16.html
OFD’s revised estimate of the peak singularity event/s: five months to maybe three years.
RHPS will be a special, not a series. Thought it was going to be live, but not so. I think it will follow the musical, not the movie – the musical had a few extra songs.
Seems like a lot of new homes are putting in freestanding stoves with both the cooktop and the oven. I would prefer that. And, the 36 inch wide stove instead of 30 inch wide.
That’s what we did – the 36″ Dacor range with gas cooktop and broiler, electric convection oven. The convection is really good for roasting and the like. Not for short things like pizza. We also have a separate oven.
Well, slow week for prepping.
Had an active shooter just a couple of miles away. Need to update the programming in my radios. The online scanner app picked up the slack.
Got an estimate for repairs to my surplus auction whole house generator, and authorized those repairs. Need to get serious about where and when to install it.
Bought 2 flammables storage cabinets for storing my gasoline and colman fuel. The storms kept me from picking them up, so that’s on the agenda for next week.
Storms kept me from working on my surveillance system.
I got in a small spot of gardening, pulling weeds, training the grapes up the arbor, and tying up various plants. I’m getting peppers, tomatoes, japanese eggplant, carrots, and the occasional beet. Collards are coming nicely, and I might get a broccoli head. I haven’t gotten any seeds in the ground this spring. The orange tree has one or 2 fruits, but the lemon, lime, and the new (still in pot) grapefruit are carrying fruit. The peach is struggling and still hasn’t gotten it’s full foliage in. I’ve got a bit of kale, but not much.
My back is recovered, pretty much back to just my normal issues. I’m gonna have to start stretching again, and get some sort of regularly scheduled exercise. Gettin old is a bitch.
I am very slowly working on getting my office/ workspace/ ham shack cleaned up. It’s very slow going. I was able to re-cap a power supply board that’s been on my desk for a couple of months. Felt good to fight the inertia and get something OFF the pile.
I spent some time working on the LTS area in the garage. I put some food on the shelves, and did some cleanup. I’ve got enough medical supplies that I need a real way to store and organize them, something better than jamming them into gym bags and stacking them under the workbench.
School is out, so my routine changes to support the kids’ activities. Don’t know what that will do to my normal schedule. It will either help me get stuff done, by getting me moving, or it will F up my day by having to be somewhere in the middle of the afternoon.
Sales have been slim pickins the last couple of weeks. There was a sale this week with a bunch of ham gear, but it was a 100 mile round trip, and they never got back to me about whether the gear is still there, or if it sold. I don’t think I’ll be doing that drive in the morning unless I hear back. (Even if the radios are overpriced, there is usually lots of other small stuff that costs a ton, but doesn’t look like much, so it’s priced reasonably. And there should be reference books too.)
All in all, I feel a bit lethargic on some areas, for instance I haven’t shot or bought ammo in a while, and I’m ok on food (except pure LTS bulk), while I’m feeling a vague stressed out panic in other areas. I need to seriously sell a ton of crap to make room and raise money. I think I’ll focus on that for a while. It feels good to move that stuff out. I also need to start chipping away at the pile of broken stuff that needs fixing. I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, but it feels like every one thing is dependent on three others getting done first. I know I just need to DO IT, and get started. It’s hard to keep up the pace though. Perhaps this is just a necessary pause that has gone on a bit too long. Time to kick it in the ass.
Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
nick
“I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, but it feels like every one thing is dependent on three others getting done first. I know I just need to DO IT, and get started. It’s hard to keep up the pace though.”
Ditto, and I still have the back issues; can only move around or stand on my feet for twenty minutes at a time. But I’ve been making some progress on the back yard and garden stuff, as has wife, while the weather is still good. Reports are that we’ll have rain all this next week. Once that kicks in, I’ll head back up to the attic work space and get cracking on that again, woefully behind my joke of a schedule.
You never know how big your F-150 crew cab is until you clay the entire vehicle and then wax. Four passes over the entire vehicle (clay bar, wipe dry, wax on, wipe off). Helps to do so with a strong light (LED of course) while doing the waxing and removing the wax. The clay stuff is amazing and will remove most of the embedded dirt including insect droppings that are common here. When I take the vehicle out in the sun you best be wearing shades.
Make a prioritized list of the stuff you need to do. Break the overwhelmingly big tasks down into smaller tasks. Post the list where you can see it. Cross things off when they are done so you can see your progress.
Question: Why do you plan (or prep) when nothing ever goes as planned?
Answer: Because when you have a plan, and the plan changes, it’s much easier to look at the plan and figure out how you are going to amend it than it is to try to figure out how to deal with the change when you have no plan.
I think RBT is completely right about the slow slide toward dystopia. Or as I tend to think of it, the increasing level of volatility. My wife and I have made wonderful progress in our preparations to deal with financial volatility in the past few years, but we overlooked one thing. What happens I find out my job is going away at the end of the summer? Didn’t have a plan for that. By Monday we will have a plan for that…
Global warming at its best – I’ve turned the heat back on, and it’s June. Don’t think I’ve heated in June before.
Working piles of overtime this month, unplanned, but the customer for one of my projects is trying to pull the schedule forward by 6 months or so. There’s supposed to be a series of student projects for this company, but now one piece has to be finished RIGHT NOW. Seeing as I’m the only person with both programming skills and an overview of what needs done, I’m programming as fast as I can…
Apropos of nothing at all: on another forum, someone was ranting about how you can’t criticize urban blacks until you’ve spent a day as a slave. Huh? I pointed out that no black in the US today has ever been a slave, nor have their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents – and probably farther back than that. Instead of blaming the distant past for their problems, maybe people should actually do something about their problems. You can imagine the horrified reactions…
A buddy of mine was at work at a good job with two middle class blacks were talking. One of the blacks was complaining about something, and the other pointed at my (white) friend and said, that white guy over there is the only one of us who ever picked cotton a day in his life.
I like one of the current memes circulating, “I never owned slaves and you never picked cotton. Time to move on.”
Given that my ancestors moved here AFTER slavery had been abolished, I’ve got exactly ZERO guilt.
Talking with a stranger last weekend (about schools) and she stated, quite emphatically, that she was tired of being called a racist and NO LONGER CARES if someone does. The magic words are losing their power thru overuse.
Woe to the FSA when the guilt and silencing no longer works with the majority….
nick
Moochelle also brought up slavery at her latest NY commencement: “I live in a house built by slaves…”
Is it no wonder US Blacks can’t get anywhere in life? Even our leaders build the chip on their shoulders with crap like this. I read an article on DM about some idea to build an artificial island off Africa or Indonesia somewhere and send all “immigrants” there to start there own country. Where do I send my donation?
“Given that my ancestors moved here AFTER slavery had been abolished, I’ve got exactly ZERO guilt.”
Haha. My ancestors were here long before that, but they mostly became Quakers in the 17th-C and later ran stations on the Underground Railroad, so not only do I have ZERO guilt, anyone who tries to guilt-trip me can kiss my New England Yankee ass.
My dad’s family mostly arrived from Germany after the ACW. My mom’s were Society of Friends and had a stop on the underground railroad in Indiana. A couple black sheep served in the Union Army. One supposedly ended up at the Andersonville POW camp and lived.
My mother’s mother was a Bradford, as in Bradford, PA and the Mayflower’s Governor Bradford. Her husband’s family Fulkerson started here with Dirk Volkertson of New Amsterdam, so they’ve also been here since the beginning. Her grandfather’s house, where she grew up, was a stop on the Underground Railroad on the way to Lake Erie and boats to Canada. I don’t know the service history of her family, but I’m guessing several were in the Northern armies. I suppose it’s possible that several of her ancestors owned slaves when it was legal in the North.
I never checked my dad’s family history (my grandmother on that side wasn’t interested in genealogy as my mother’s mother was), but ISTR that at least one of his ancestors fought for the North in the WBTS. I doubt that any on that side of my family ever owned slaves, unless it was 1,000 years ago in the old country.
So you’ve got Governor Bradford in your family tree, at least; and I’ve got, on my dad’s side, Governors Carver, Dudley and Bradstreet, and the poet Ann Bradstreet. Also have Ben Franklin, what a character! Gotta admit: it takes a big set or outright lunacy to stand out in a t-storm holding a key attached to a flying kite. Not to mention thumbing one’s nose at the Brits when it was a prison and hanging offense.
WRT Families: details would take too long, but a common thread since our beginnings in Central and Western Europe and the Norse Lands was that we hedged our bets and fought on both sides. This carried over to our early arrivals before the Revolution, again fighting on both sides. And on and on until the Civil War which was the last time we fought on both sides. There is a contrary streak in our blood and a resistance to authority like Kings and others.
My favorite Uncle was my Grandfather’s older brother, he loved to argue/debate and would always take a position opposite of your’s. I learned a lot from him.
Shoot. I’m of Irish descent on my Mother’s side. As likely as not I’m a descendant of slaves.
Not that I care, really. I’ve never been one, and I don’t care to dwell on the past.