Cold again, after temps rose above freezing for a WHOLE DAY in Houston Texas… this globull warming is killing me.
It was 28F when I went to bed.
I spent yesterday doing silly things so you don’t have to. Strike that, I’m too short to fill those shoes.
I did do some experimenting, which I duly chronicled in the comments yesterday evening. The clothes came out clean and fresh smelling, and the kerosene heater I tested worked fine- except for being out of kerosene. I swear I have a white and yellow round 5 gallon can somewhere, but I couldn’t find it when I went looking. If I was desperate for heat, I’d siphon some from my other construction heater. I’m not desperate at all though, so I’ll just buy some the next time I see it. I like flexibility and redundancy for heat, water, and cooking. Honestly, all the other things too, but especially those.
I helped out several neighbors with plumbing issues and did some of my own. What made it possible was having the parts in storage. The local stores are empty of the kinds of things people need right now. Even pros can’t get parts. I’m a firm believer in having stuff you might need close by where you can lay hands on it. Like what? You know your gear and your stuff better than me, but I’ll list some here to start you thinking…
Plumbing parts.
I think you should have a variety of fittings and some pipe on hand in a couple of pipe sizes. They should be whatever you have in your house, and what is common in your area. Besides fittings and pipe, you should have the glues, tape, solder, and tools to put the parts to work in a simple repair. You should also have a toilet seat, toilet tank flush system replacement kit, toilet bolts, and a wax ring. You should have some of the flexible hoses to connect faucets and the toilet. Some of the quarter turn shut off valves, and a spare hose bib. Plumbers putty. Sprinkler parts if you have sprinklers, replacement heads, riser pipe, sharkbite repair fittings, and some sprinkler pipe fittings too, as well as at least one valve and solenoid. You should have some garden hose repair ends, and some other hose parts like washers and nozzles. If you have gas appliances, you should have at least one ‘gas appliance installation kit’. All of this and more will fit in one flip top bin…
Electrical parts.
You should have a couple of light switches, outlets, and at least one GFCI outlet that match what’s in your house. 25ft of Romex or similar for wire. Replacement ends for extension cords. 10ft of lamp cord and lamp repair parts, like a harp, a bulb socket, and a 2 prong plug. You should have light bulbs for all your fixtures. Tape and wire nuts. Next level, have a spare 20amp breaker for your panel.
Automobile parts.
At least one complete oil change for each vehicle. Replacement windshield wipers. A tire plug and patch kit, and a tire inflator. One headlight bulb. One set of tail light bulbs (assuming your vehicle uses bulbs). One complete filter change (air, cabin, oil). Spare fluids, including the “leak stop” ones for each system. Fuses that match your vehicle. If you can swing it, one set of mounted spare tires, but at least one extra tire (can be used, or one you took off, it’s an emergency backup after all.)
General repair parts.
Screws, nails, bolts, nuts, washers, “plumber’s tape”, bailing wire (rebar tie wire); glues (white glue, yellow woodworkers glue, cyanoacrylate (crazy glue), gorilla glue, five minute epoxy, and JBWeld metal repair); tape- masking, blue painters, good duct tape, electrical tape (3M only), zip ties, aluminum tape for ducts; a couple of 2x4s, and half a sheet of 3/4 plywood. Depending on where you are, you might want a piece of window glass and a glass cutter with a can of glazing compound and some points. Drywall compound and a leftover piece or a patch kit. And paint. Kilz primer, and some spray cans in black, white, brown, tan, your house color, and one florescent color. White latex interior paint or whatever your walls are.
Sewing and clothing repair parts.
This is a whole separate topic, but a selection of needles, stout black thread, a couple of buttons, shoe goo, a roll of velcro, some safety pins, and a few buttons salvaged off stuff you threw away are a minimum. I have 18″ of black thread on a needle wrapped around the golf pencil in my altoids tin everyday kit. SUPER handy to fix some web gear, or a tear. I also have a kit of iron on clothing patches in my travel bag for quick fixes of tears in clothes. ‘Fusible interfacing’ is like an iron on glue for cloth and can be used to hem pants, or attach patches.
And finally, buckets, lids, and plastic sheeting in clear and black.
It’s a big list but it doesn’t have to all show up at the same time. I bought most of mine at yard sales and estate sales, or by picking up more than I need when I go to the hardware store for a project. It took a while to build up a fairly comprehensive stack…
Ideally you already know how to use those parts to make simple repairs, but if you don’t, there are several good books on household repairs. Home Depot and lowes both have a display rack with some of the books and you can leaf through them to see what level they’re aimed at.. and Goodwill almost always has several of those types of books on the shelf. But even if you don’t have the skills, knowledge, or desire, you might need to have the part so that someone else can do the work. That is certainly playing out here in Houston this week.
The usual caveats apply, seek out expert advice if you don’t know what you’re doing, read books, watch videos, watch home improvement shows on tv, and consider what could go wrong before undertaking something new. That said, there is tremendous satisfaction in fixing things, and they are already broken, so sometimes you might as well give it a try. And sometimes, you might be the only one available TO try.
Keep stacking! It works!
nick