Wednesday, 2 August 2017

By on August 2nd, 2017 in personal, prepping

08:31 – It was 63.1F (17.3C) when I took Colin out at 0625, clear and calm.

We got more bottles filled yesterday, with more on the schedule for today. Barbara is off to the gym this morning and will make her weekly supermarket run on the way home. Ordinarily, she does that Fridays, but Sparta will be a mess this Friday with roads blocked off for a music festival.

While Barbara was volunteering yesterday afternoon, I took a break from filling bottles to fill other bottles. I got 50 pounds (23 kilos) of cornmeal transferred from the paper sacks it came in to 2-liter soft drink bottles, at 3.5 pounds (1.59 kilos) per bottle. Now I just need to get those bottles labeled, oxygen absorbers in them, and move them to the downstairs LTS food storage room.

In terms of weight and calories, that 50 pounds of cornmeal translates to about 85,000 calories and one person-month’s worth of food. A few people have taken issue with me calculating LTS food stocks on that basis rather than in terms of meals, so I’ll say that that 50 pounds of cornmeal also equates to about 120 batches of cornbread, or 10 batches a month for a year.


Starting last weekend, we’ve had a strange dog running loose in the neighborhood. It looks like a miniature Malamute, with the Malamute face and both eyes blue. It comes right up on our porch and looks in the front door, which drives Colin nuts.

Monday and yesterday, it showed up about 0730, which leads us to believe that someone down the road from us owns it and is letting it out loose in the morning. It has no collar, which is actually the norm around here. Most people around here don’t put collars on their dogs, and allow them to run free. In fact, of everyone we know who has a dog, we’re the only ones whose dog wears a collar. Lori told us yesterday when she delivered the mail that her dogs don’t have collars and run free. Gene, Bonnie’s nephew, stopped by to visit yesterday and said the same about his dog. Gene and Lori both said that all their neighbors recognized their dogs and no one cared about them running loose since they weren’t bothering anyone.

But Barbara was worried that someone had dumped this dog, which happens all too frequently, not just here but also down in Winston. So she called Animal Control, who said they’d send someone out with a trap. She was afraid that the dog would be hit by a car, although we noticed that, like Colin, this dog looks both ways before it crosses the road.

I really didn’t want Animal Control involved. This dog is a puppy. Barbara noticed that it still has its puppy needle-teeth, and it behaves like a puppy. It’s not aggressive. It just wants to play. I was concerned that if Animal Control picked it up, it’d end up being euthanized. And if the puppy belongs to a neighbor down the road, the last thing we want to do is steal those people’s dog.

Three guys from Animal Control showed up yesterday afternoon with a trap. I told them that after talking about it with Barbara we’d decided that we didn’t want to trap the dog. It’s not bothering anyone, and we were just concerned about its welfare. I said I’d prefer just to keep an eye on the puppy to make sure it wasn’t abandoned or in distress. They agreed that that was the best solution, and said they didn’t normally trap dogs unless they were aggressive, causing damage, or worrying livestock. So I apologized for getting them out here needlessly and they said just to call if we needed them.

Bonnie’s former house is to close Friday. My guess is that Grace will be moving in over the weekend. She starts work this month as a first-year teacher at Sparta Elementary School. The kids go back August 21st, and teachers start before that, so she doesn’t have much time to get moved in and settled before she starts work. Grace loves dogs, and has been dogless for the last four years when she was away at college. If it does turn out that this puppy was abandoned, it wouldn’t surprise me if Grace decided to give it a home.

52 Comments and discussion on "Wednesday, 2 August 2017"

  1. DadCooks says:

    That dog may be a sign from Bonnie for Grace.

    Hit 108-degrees yesterday, supposed to be higher today.

    Super super flaming blood red Sun this morning. Among the boldest reds I can recall seeing.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    Hit 108-degrees yesterday, supposed to be higher today.

    In Tri-cities? Wow.

    The Medford forecast is 114 today. They hit 109 yesterday.

    Austin has Tampa’s August weather today. 90 and rain.

  3. SteveF says:

    That dog may be a sign from Bonnie for Grace.

    Reincarnation’s a thing, you know. Sure, the reincarnatee might not remember the past life and there might be no indication whatsoever that the reincarnation soul of your loved one is in the new container, but you just gotta believe.

    Grace needs to take care of that poor, lost soul just as if she were caring for Bonnie. Because she is!

  4. Harold says:

    Hit 85f here in North Mississippi yesterday and the same is expected today. In fact, the weather guessers think it will be in the low to mid 80’s (f) for the next 10 days. This is unusually mild for early august which is normally 10f warmer here. No complaints from me.

    Elderly traditionally prefer warmer climes but my wife and I (still mid 60’s) HATE hot weather. We spent far too long in Hong Kong where the heat & humidity was stifling almost year round. We loved HK except for the weather (and pollution).

    My son was given a medical discharge from the Marines because he has Raynaud’s syndrome that makes him unable to operate in cold weather. He LOVES the heat.

  5. DadCooks says:

    Temperatures in the Tri-Cities commonly vary by 10-degrees or more. We have what seems like a bazzillion micro-climates; based on altitude (hotter the higher) and relation to hills/mountains. In the summer cooler at the bases due to breezes down the hills/mountains. These temperatures are the opposite in the Fall and Winter. That is why our orchards are at the base and only part way up the hills/mountains.

    I’ll take 100-degress in the Tri-Cities any day opposed to 80 in Seattle or Portland. Too much humidity and too many “sweaty people” (liberal SJWs).

    Add:
    @SteveF, be careful, your soft side is showing.
    “Grace needs to take care of that poor, lost soul just as if she were caring for Bonnie. Because she is!”

  6. Harold says:

    I had a second issue with my Harley Dresser last week. Pulled up to a stop and the dammed thing began to lean left, wanted to lie down. It’s 700+ pounds so I was struggling to get it back upright and pulled something in my left wrist. Last month I had the same issue but my wife was riding on the back, adding her 160 pounds up high, and I couldn’t keep it up. I laid it over and dumped her on the ground. Had something in my right wrist go “snap” that time. I called my son and told him that I was just not able to handle the big bike while at rest anymore and I wanted to know if he wanted to have it. He said he already had three and I should look at this solution. http://www.landingear.com/
    This looks perfect! It exactly solves my issue of keeping the monster upright at stops. Has anyone heard of or tried this? I’ll let everyone know how mine works out once I can get it installed.
    Getting old sucks.

  7. SteveF says:

    @SteveF, be careful, your soft side is showing.

    That side is soft only because it’s so full of shit.

    re motorcycles, that’s one reason I never liked road bikes, especially the big, comfortable, luxury bikes. Yep, fellow, your Goldwing goes 800 pounds before the tank of gas and the stuff in the saddlebags, and if it goes down you need two people to help you set it back up.

    Dirt bikes are fun, and light enough that I can right it myself or even carry the damned thing back to civilization if there’s a real problem. I still prefer bicycles, though.

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    Quick rain shower here yesterday afternoon, but otherwise it’s been warm and sunny. Shad e is wonderful, sun is like a blowtorch. We are in an area where the thunderstorms just swirl around us most of the time.

    Boat tour got postponed to today.

    Swype gets worse with every update. It picks thou instead of you, tho instead of to, and fur instead of for. Who uses thou?

    N

  9. Harold says:

    SteveF: There’s two sides to every story.
    I’ve been riding since 1968, big bikes since 1970, and the only times I hurt myself were on dirt bikes. I am looking forward to these “landing gear” hydraulic automatic retracting / deploying wheels. It’s either that or sell my dresser and buy a trike and I don’t like the way a trike feels. You steer it around a corner not lean into it. And yes, there are the new two front wheels trikes but my wife would literally NEVER set on one. She decided to marry me when I pulled up in front of her parents house on my Sportster for a date and we have been a Harley family ever since.

  10. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    “I called my son and told him that I was just not able to handle the big bike while at rest anymore”

    Reminds me of Debbie, whom I dated/lived with in 1979, right before I moved down to Winston. At the time, I was riding a Honda 750F superbike (0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds). One day, she decided she wanted to learn to ride it. She was 98 pounds dripping wet, so I had my reservations, but I let her do it.

    I took her out to a vacant parking lot and let her give it a try. Her only exposure to bikes had been riding behind me, but she did very well. Never even came close to dropping it. At the time in Pennsylvania, anyone with an adult driver’s license could legally ride a bike. Eventually I got comfortable enough that I borrowed a friend’s bike and the two of us went out riding on the road.

    I was absolutely stunned when we pulled up at a red light and she just sat there without putting a foot down. She did the same thing several more times during the first road ride. When we got back to her apartment after dropping my friend’s bike off with him, I told her that it was traditional when one came to a stop to put down your left foot for balance. Her response was, “Why would anyone do that?” She thought it was perfectly normal to have balance so perfect that she could sit on a stationary bike and maintain her balance without so much as a wobble.

  11. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    “Who uses thou?”

    Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art you, Romeo?

    Just ain’t the same …

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    I don’t recall activating the Shakespearean dialect Plugin……

    N

  13. SteveF says:

    Who needs a Shakespeare plugin when Dave H
    And I make reg’lar comments on this site?

  14. RickH says:

    Re comments yesterday about a ‘like/dislike’ button for comments….there is one available that has good reviews, and the developer is active (updates happen regularly): https://wordpress.org/plugins/comments-like-dislike/ .

    You want, @RBT?

    No Shakespeare plugin that I can find, though.

  15. Greg Norton says:

    I’ll take 100-degress in the Tri-Cities any day opposed to 80 in Seattle or Portland. Too much humidity and too many “sweaty people” (liberal SJWs).

    A couple of times, when conditions were just right in Vantucky, we had a “lake effect” winter storm off the Columbia, easily a foot of snow while Portland received a couple of inches..

    Austin wants to be Portland, but, in Texas, the homeless are not permitted to bathe in the fountains in public parks … yet.

  16. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    “You want, @RBT?”

    Thanks, but no. Actually, I periodically get emails from my hosting company telling me that my site is exceeding allowable CPU utilization and that I should disable some plugins on WordPress (or more to a dedicated machine, which is what they really want).

    I disabled pretty much everything except five or six ones that are important to me. I even considered disabling the scroll-to-top plugin. I’m not sure but I think the Search Everything plugin was the real problem. I disabled it two or three months ago and haven’t gotten email recently to say my site is overloading the CPU.

  17. SteveF says:

    the Search Everything plugin

    Yah, that would do it…

  18. MrAtoz says:

    I read on Drudge that President tRump is working on revamping immigration where applicants have to bring skills and speak English. We can thank Teddy “hick, hick” Kennedy for just the opposite. Now sick, lame, lazy douchnozzles can be citizens. We have enough of those already.

  19. Harold says:

    immigration where applicants have to bring skills and speak English

    That what I like about the New Zealand immigration law. Fluency is English is a core requirement. The town of Christchurch is full of ESL schools to help hopeful immigrants meet that tick-box. And you must have one or more of the currently required skills to get a work visa.

  20. Miles_Teg says:

    Think climate change isn’t a job creation scheme? We need more climate scientists…

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/australia-needs-more-climate-scientists-review-urges/8767004

  21. SteveF says:

    Fluency is English is a core requirement.

    Allegedly for immigration into the US, as well. That’s how the law is written (or was; I haven’t checked lately). In practice…

    Some years ago my wife asked me to help an old woman practice her English before she applied for US citizenship or maybe a green card. She had a list of questions and responses on a card, and she’d memorized them, and just needed someone to ask the questions in a different accent than she was used to. OK… But I didn’t realize these were canned question/response and so I mixed up the questions a bit, asking the same thing with a different word order and such. That messed her up very badly, as she really didn’t speak English. My wife bitched at me for doing it wrong (which resulted in a withdrawal of my assistance) and I later learned that the old woman had passed her English proficiency test.

  22. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Actually, requiring anyone who resides in the US to understand/speak/read/write English at a traditional 12th-grade level (from, say, the 50’s) would be a great way not only to avoid any undesirable immigrants but to get rid of undesirable citizens. If you can’t pass the test, you get sent to Mexico, whether you’re hispanic, black urban youth, muslim, etc. etc. Let Mexico deal with the mess. And pay the costs. We’ve been dealing with their mess for decades. And paying the costs.

  23. SteveF says:

    So, I’m reading and considering RBT’s proposal there, and I can’t say as I see a single thing wrong with it. Oh, sure I’m sure it’s racist and sexist and just filled with other unspecified hate crimes, but that’s more a selling point than a problem.

  24. lynn says:

    re motorcycles, that’s one reason I never liked road bikes, especially the big, comfortable, luxury bikes. Yep, fellow, your Goldwing goes 800 pounds before the tank of gas and the stuff in the saddlebags, and if it goes down you need two people to help you set it back up.

    I had no problems picking up my 2003 Honda Valkyrie. I dropped it twice in parking lots FORGETTING to put the kickstand down before getting off. The owner manual had an illustrated procedure starting with putting your back to the bike and “walking” it up using the brake. Worked perfectly and I had hard bags and a windshield. Well over 800 lbs with the six carbs, etc.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Valkyrie

  25. Dave Hardy says:

    Implementing that 1950s-era 12th-grade English requirement would also dispose of a large percentage of Normals here nowadays; ask me how I know.

    WRT Shakespeare, forget it. I bet I could pick out any ten kids at random around here and find several or all of them w/o the faintest clue who he was or what he did. But that also probably goes for Paul Revere and Robert E. Lee.

    I don’t see any improvement coming anytime soon but:

    ““If you can look into the seeds of time,
    And say which grain will grow and which will not,
    Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
    Your favours nor your hate.”

    From that nasty and evil Scottish play

  26. lynn says:

    So, I’m reading and considering RBT’s proposal there, and I can’t say as I see a single thing wrong with it. Oh, sure I’m sure it’s racist and sexist and just filled with other unspecified hate crimes, but that’s more a selling point than a problem.

    I have a problem with it. Lets stop immigration for a while like we did from 1925 ? to 1965 and get some assimilation done.

  27. JimL says:

    I’m with Mr Lynn 100%. Assimilation is good for the soul. Of the country.

  28. Harold says:

    While I admire the commenters here who don’t struggle with righting a 750+ pound road bike loaded with all the options, I can no longer do so. Age, broken bones, and arthritis have taken their toll. I will be getting the Landing Gear device installed in a couple of months and reporting the results. I do NOT want to suffer the embarrassment of dropping my bike (and my wife) at a stop sign again. It was embarrassing and painful. With retirement on the nearing horizon, I want to be able to spend more time on the road again.

  29. Dave Hardy says:

    Shit, that 1950’s-era 12th-grade test of English would also get rid of a huge number of “Normals,” I’m afraid. Ask me how I know.

    And Shakespeare is so far beyond…but soft, what light from yonder window breaks?, etc. There ain’t no light, not nowadays. And the putative Normals entrusted with teaching and interpreting and putting on Shakespeare plays have made it all a sorry running joke for decades now. So be it.

  30. lynn says:

    While I admire the commenters here who don’t struggle with righting a 750+ pound road bike loaded with all the options, I can no longer do so. Age, broken bones, and arthritis have taken their toll. I will be getting the Landing Gear device installed in a couple of months and reporting the results. I do NOT want to suffer the embarrassment of dropping my bike (and my wife) at a stop sign again. It was embarrassing and painful. With retirement on the nearing horizon, I want to be able to spend more time on the road again.

    BTW, go for it ! I sold my Valkyrie back in 2005 as it was too expensive to keep around and bought my wife a new Honda Civic with the savings.

    And I am now remembering that the Valkyrie has a way lower center of gravity than a Harley. If you got it up a little bit then you got a big help from gravity due to that low slung flat 6.

    I don’t ride anymore since I have vertigo from two days before my heart incident in 2009. When I turn my head to look behind me, I now get dizzy sometimes. OK in a car, very bad on a bike.

  31. SteveF says:

    but soft, what light from yonder window breaks?

    I fear ’tis naught but moon o’ Wallyhog
    And that we serenade the wrong window.

  32. Dave Hardy says:

    Yikes.

    But Mr. SteveF wins the innernet today!

  33. Dave Hardy says:

    From the Movies About Detroit Department:

    http://takimag.com/article/riot_acting_steve_sailer/print#axzz4odP6D1Fh

    I well remember those times. The current times are as nothing by comparison, WRT city riots and suchlike.

    And Kathryn Bigelow is HOT:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/films/2017/03/07/PD2565518bigelow-large_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqM37qcIWR9CtrqmiMdQVx7GgZsKRM61G_uzE98AngWck.jpg

  34. MrAtoz says:

    Ha ha!

    Libturds are flipping out over President tRump’s proposed immigration reform. Here’s Stephen Miller answering Jim Acosta’s question. Well, he tries to as Acosta begins to debate him and disagree. Journalist at his worst. Ask questions and get answers used to be the norm. Now “journalists” go on rants. He should never get to ask another question.

    After battle with Jim Acosta, Stephen Miller gets called a Nazi, white supremacist and Hannibal Lecter

    It is now raycis, xxxphobic, cis-hetero WHITEY! to require immigrants to speak English and have skills BEFORE they apply for citizenship.

    I love President tRump!

    HT Twitcy

  35. MrAtoz says:

    I have a problem with it. Lets stop immigration for a while like we did from 1925 ? to 1965 and get some assimilation done.

    Ack! Trigger warning, sir! Safe space alert! Rayciss! Rayciss! XXX-a-Phobe!

    Libturdian judges have already ruled you can’t do that! Why, because those same judges are creating laws from the bench. The Constitution is now bird cage liner. Why even have a Congress when you can rule the country from the bench.

    Come one, come all! And bring your lazy, no good family with you.

  36. DadCooks says:

    Any new Tax Bill needs to include two very important provisions.

    First, income tax can only be a flat 9%. The gooberment is not above God and is therefore not entitled to a tithe.

    Second we must be allowed to specify where our taxes go and how much. If a gooberment agency or “entitlement” cannot exist on what We The People provide for it then that agency or entitlement should be dissolved.

    For the libaturds and SJWs who whine and cry about the immigrants, chiiiiildren, poor, and the illegals take 90% of whatever the make and whatever their assets are and create Poor Farms for them all to live in. I suggest these Poor Farms be located on some currently unpopulated Aleutian Islands.

  37. Achmed says:

    Come one, come all! And bring your lazy, no good family with you.

    All four wives, my 23 kids, my parents, and my four sets of in-laws ? How about my six brothers and their four wives each ? How about my 21 brothers-in-laws and their many wives ? BTW, I cannot afford to support myself, much less all of these other people. And we need several apartments, cars, and walking around money.

  38. lynn says:

    I love President tRump!

    I keep on telling you, he had me at conservative SCOTUS justice Neil Gorsuch. Everything else is gravy. Including the other four SCOTUS justices that he will get to nominate over the next 7.5 years.

  39. MrAtoz says:

    All we need now is Kennedy to retire and Gingsburg to kick!

  40. lynn says:

    Whatever happened to Chuck the radio guy ? I wanted to tell him that Rush Limbaugh is starting his 30th year in the radio business.
    http://www.wnd.com/2017/08/rush-limbaugh-celebrates-radio-shows-30th-year/

    “He’s the most listened-to talk-radio host in the U.S., the man “behind the golden EIB microphone” credited with single-handedly saving AM radio and paving the way for a powerful, alternative voice to the liberal establishment media.”

    “Three decades ago on this day, Aug. 1, 1988, he began broadcasting “The Rush Limbaugh Show” on flagship WABC in New York City.”

  41. IT_Pro says:

    All this talk of immigration brings to mind this song:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgOHOHKBEqE

  42. Dave Hardy says:

    ” BTW, I cannot afford to support myself, much less all of these other people. And we need several apartments, cars, and walking around money.”

    Bienvenue, effendi! Welcome! I strongly suggest you contact Mrs. Hillary Clinton at your earliest opportunity; she and her husband run a multi-billion-dollar Foundation and own vast properties on the East Coast. There are also many other members of the mainstream media and Democratic and Republican intelligentsia who would be overwhelmed with happiness at accommodating you and your wonderful families.

    ” Including the other four SCOTUS justices that he will get to nominate over the next 7.5 years.”

    “All we need now is Kennedy to retire and Gingsburg to kick!”

    Dreamers.

    He doesn’t “have” me yet, not by a long shot. He needs to back way the fuck off the jingo war rap ASAP and quit poking at the Russians, Iranians, Chicoms and NORKs. We got way more than enough on our plates right here at home. He also needs to declare total war on the progs, SJWs, RINOs, Dems, et. al. and think strongly in terms of Carthago delenda est.”

    Also dump the CIA and Feebies and Homeland Insecurity and put all the national intel functions back under DOD, along with the VA.

    And shit-can BATF immediately and come out like a lion in defense of all ten Bill of Rights amendments but especially the Second.

  43. SteveF says:

    Kagan’s entirely a piece of crap and Sotomayor is on balance a piece of crap. And Roberts has shown either that “they” have something on him or that he loves him some blatantly unconstitutional government control.

    It’s similar to Congress, Presidents, bureaucrats, police, public school teachers, and any group of government employees: it’s the corrupt, venal, or incompetent 80% who make the rest look bad.

  44. Dave Hardy says:

    I was figuring more like 95% but I could be wrong. Never happened before, but I could be.

  45. SteveF says:

    “80%” comes from New Steve. Reformed Steve. Kinder, gentler Steve. Compassionate conservative Steve.

    OK, you got me. Even I couldn’t keep a straight face while shoveling that load of manure.

  46. lynn says:

    It’s similar to Congress, Presidents, bureaucrats, police, public school teachers, and any group of government employees: it’s the corrupt, venal, or incompetent 80% who make the rest look bad.

    One of my son’s favorite sayings is that any organization of more than a 1,000 people is a scam.

  47. Miles_Teg says:

    If an adult should be able to end their own life how about an 11 year old?

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-03/mental-health-problems-facing-young-people/8759454?WT.ac=statenews_wa

  48. Dave Hardy says:

    “If an adult should be able to end their own life how about an 11 year old?”

    No to both cases. I recognize that adults will do whatever they want anyway but I’m against it. And certainly not a kid; enough is enough with all this crazy shit. Get him and his mom some help; I’ll fly down and counsel them both, on the fly, winging it.

    In other, quite unrelated nooz, I tried finding something worth watching on Netflix that I hadn’t already seen and came up empty. Back to reading books and listening to the radios.

  49. Miles_Teg says:

    “And Kathryn Bigelow is HOT”

    She looks like a guy who’s just had a cut and tuck job. Honey, you need more lady hormones…

  50. DadCooks says:

    Entertaining, truthful, link there @IT_Pro.

    WRT:
    “If an adult should be able to end their own life how about an 11 year old?”

    The “mental health” profession is driving mental health problems with their PC and snowflake counseling (and don’t leave out gender identity). Add to that the uppers and downers they prescribe like candy and you have a couple of generations (make that MANY) of people who have no judgement or moral compass and cannot deal with the realities of life.

    Unfortunately most of these people are too far gone and are a burden on sane society (there are less and less of us each day). Since we can no longer have safe spaces for people with mental problems (REAL residence hospitals) we just continue to compound harm on harm and wonder why.

  51. Dave Hardy says:

    Mr.DadCooks hits the proverbial nail on the head. We sowed the wind and we will reap the whirlwind in this dope-obsessed and therapeutic culture.

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