Category: Random Stuff

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

82F and 88%RH and I believe it. Last night was like a wet blanket when I let the dog out. The radar clearly shows rotating storm in the gulf. Last night it was round, today it looks a bit squashed, but still clear rotation. New Orleans looks like it is still getting the brunt of the storm, although I haven’t gone looking for pictures or reports.

Community. Sometimes used in the sense of ‘a group of people that share similar interests and concerns’ (which is us by the way) and sometimes used in the sense of ‘the area we live in, and the people around us, who share some common needs or concerns based on our colocation’, the word and ideas are increasingly showing up in discussions about surviving what’s coming.

For years I lived here but didn’t engage at ALL with the community. Then we had kids in school. As the kids went out into the world, so my awareness and involvement expanded. Meatspace. Another idea, related, but a bit more brutal when distinguishing between our communities of interest, our voluntary communities, and the real world around us. (Meatspace baby, being the admonition to get out and engage that world around you, with the added idea that it will be very important soon (from WRSA)).

I took the admonition to heart and started engaging. I went to the PTA meetings, the school festivals (and volunteered for them and with the kids in the classrooms.) I went to the community meetings for our Capital Improvement Plan to learn what TPTB had in mind for our area physically. I went to the community meetings about crime, and the Positive Interaction Program with HPD where they shared some of the threats in our neighborhood and what they were doing about them. I talked with our City Councilwoman, listened to the Mayor, the city engineers, our local cops. I took the classes offered by our local police, first the Constable’s Office, and now the Houston PD. I learned to listen to the scanner to get more information (more accurately ‘data’) about what police ops were going on around me. And last night, I had a continuing education class with HPD specifically because of my previous classes (they are learning about you during those classes too.)

Since engaging with the community, I’ve learned a LOT more about the true state of my surroundings. I’ve learned about how our local politicians will be spending money in our area, about how much they care about US vs others. I’ve learned about some heinous crimes against children not two miles from home from our Councilwoman. I’ve learned from the scanner about major drug dealing in the surrounding area, about a known drug house in our neighborhood, and about the sort of people living in and around our neighborhood, specifically down to apartment complexes.

I’ve learned a bit about how the people policing our area think, what techniques and equipment they can use, what works for them and what doesn’t, and about their politics and loyalties. I’ve got personal contact info from some, and carry several business cards that might give someone going through my wallet on the roadside pause. I’ve got official ID, identifying me as a CERT member (an actual thing in our EMgmt structure) which puts me into an official chain of command. I’ve got ID from two of our main police forces, and while it clearly says I’m a civilian, it also says I’m a friendly, and supportive, and have been investigated/vetted/cleared. That opened up more opportunities to learn and participate in things not available to the general public.

Last night I learned a lot more about one of the scourges that plague mankind since, well, forever- slavery. It’s alive and well, still generating misery and money, and it’s happening in normal looking houses less than 3 miles from my home. I can almost guarantee it’s happening within 10 miles of where YOU live, whether it’s a worker in an ethnic restaurant, a massage parlor, or a truck stop, or a no tell motel near the freeway, or that apartment complex down the street. It’s being done by the same cast of characters as the illicit drug trade, and is expanding along with the illegal alien invasion. The organized cartels can move people or things, as long as they get paid (and can sample the goods) they don’t care what or who they move.

These are the people who you are stuck with when the sh!t gets real- the people already around you. And in the mean time, these are the people who will determine if you get new streets, increased policing, beautification projects, or any of the other benefits of civilization. They determine how the kids get educated. The other side, these are the people who will be looking at your stuff, deciding what to take- and that includes your wife and kids. These are the people who occupy the same space as us but whose worlds rarely intersect ours. Most of the time, that intersection won’t be to your benefit.

Get to know what is really going on around you. NOTICE things. Who are the homeless in your area? Where do they hang out? Any changes in that population? What areas around you are notorious with law enforcement? What are active nuisances? Who is just hanging out on a corner, minding his own business (the most dangerous thing in america- SOCMOB – almost always where they were just before getting shot and going to the ER.) Where are the murders? The prostitutes? Fights and drunkenness? Areas of lawlessness aren’t going to get BETTER as things around us get worse.

Meatspace baby. It’s where you LIVE and it needs more attention than you are probably giving it.

nick

Well, I’m pretty sure it’s not 105F which is where my weather station is stuck this morning. Forecast calls for rain throughout the day, and temps as high as 99F. I guess we’ll see. It looks like the start of a normal day outside at the moment, not a T-storm. We never did get rain here despite the rumbles.

The whole family has appointments to get their fangs cleaned this morning, as Bob would say. Time is flying by.

Mom’s estate sale should be today. I hope it empties the house.

And later tonight I will be attending a continuing ed class with HPD on Human Trafficking. That should be heartbreaking and enraging by turns.

In between, kids back to the rock climbing gym, me back to cleanup and chores, and the world continues it’s swirl…

n

79F and 96%RH this morning. It got hot yesterday but not as hot as some recent days. Wore my cool vest and set up my portable air conditioner and got some work done for a couple of hours.

As a result, I’ve got another pickup load for the auction, and more coming.

I’ve got the beginning of an idea rolling around in my empty gourd of a head. Not sure if it is going to lead anywhere, but it ties together “smart” thermostats, Boeings Max disaster, high efficiency clothes washers, and a couple of other things. What they all have in common is trying to use software and cleverness to solve a problem better addressed with the application of ‘stuff’.

With thermostats, you are better off spending a couple hundred bucks on air sealing and insulation to increase the performance of your home than getting clever with your HVAC. With the Max, it looks like Boeing tried to solve a physical issue (instability in flight) with cleverness, and with HE clothes washing, we all know you get a better result with old style washers that simply used more water, more agitation, more soap, etc. Once again, trying to replace stuff with cleverness.

Even in cars you find the same thing, only applied to the stuff instead of just a direct software approach (although the direct approach is present too). The steel has been made stronger, rather than using more. More strength comes from SHAPE than material, which is cleverness embodied physically.

None of it is necessarily bad in and of itself, but it adds cost, complexity, and most unforgivably, trades TIME for stuff. And as living creatures with a finite amount of time on the planet, stealing TIME while conserving stuff seems a pretty bad bargain to me.

Anyway, as I said, the ideas aren’t fully formed, but that’s where my head is at this morning.

nick

78F and 96%RH at almost 7am. Yesterday stayed hot all day and was wet blanket hot when I went to bed. Today should be more of the same.

I’m dealing with heat better than last year, in the sense that I am not getting overheated as quickly and the symptoms aren’t as severe. But I’m still not recovered completely from my prior heat injury. Our most likely disaster here is hurricane, and they happen in the summer, so prepping for the heat has as much concern for me as prepping for cold during a winter storm does for people in the north. I haven’t been doing as good a job as I should of USING my preps (fans, portacool, portable airconditioner) as I should. They’re preps, and should be “saved” for when they’re needed. Right? Wrong!

Dinner last night was Butter Chicken and rice from storage. Canned chicken, and one pan rice and sauce mix. Tasted great to me. Best by of 2016. Every bit was gone at the end of dinner.

Daughter wanted to try ramen noodles after seeing them in the store. I ate so many cheap ones in college that I can’t stand the smell of them, so I was reluctant. Well, she loves them. I guess I’ll stock some of the college student/asian/poor people’s staple. I know other preppers do, but I never saw the point. Their nutritional value is so low, and they are bulky. I shouldn’t be surprised, the kid likes pasta in all forms, and salty broth? Yum. . . . . I guess…. Point is, try new things, and maybe something is a classic for a reason.

Well I better get started on my day, I’ve got plenty to do, no matter what the heat is like.

n

78F and 98%RH. It was still well into the 80’s at midnight when I went to bed, and humid too. That’s after being over 100F in the shade, and 109F in the sun. I didn’t really get anything done outside yesterday…

Kids are at day camp this week which (in theory) should let me get a couple of things done. I’m hoping to get more cleanup and organizing done at my secondary location. I’m hoping to get some more stuff done outside here at the house. I’m sure things will pop up and thwart me at least once.

It’s almost time to start thinking about a fall garden. The learning curve is steep, start climbing.

With earthquakes on peoples’ minds, and hurricane season possibly heating up, wildfires won’t be far behind, and flooding is always possible. Add in pandemic, and our ongoing march to war, combined with geopolitical shifts and societal collapse, and it’s a good time to stock up…

n

93F and 93%RH at 1040am.

Neither back, nor bladder, nor babbling babies woke me today. I went to bed way late, having eaten dinner at 10pm, and went back to sleep when I did wake up.

I spent part of yesterday putting some of my dad’s stuff away. I’ll be doing that in stages as I move and make room for it. I did get a big preliminary thing cut up and moved out so I can get to more stuff for the auction. The fact I could stay in bed means I’m dehydrated from the work yesterday. Not good.

I’m working at my secondary location that I stocked during the last Ebola scare. A lot of it is panic buy food, and wasn’t properly stored. Canned goods are fine, but the rice, flour, sugar, and salt were just put into the big black tubs with the yellow lids and literally stacked. (They are plastic rectangular tubs, that are a bit thicker and tougher than other choices. They hold 26 or 27 gallons, and if you fill them to the lid they will stack and support a LOT of weight.) With weight on the lids they are nearly airtight. The sugar and salt are of course fine, but the rice is probably too old. If the flour isn’t riddled with bugs I’ll be shocked. No sign of vermin though.

Because my storage situation is NOT ideal, I just accept that I’m going to have losses due to heat, vermin, time, humidity, etc. I’ll keep track of the rice and flour I replace and this time I’ll use buckets and O2 absorbers.

I have a lot more food stored there than I realized.

Keep stacking, and keep rotating or checking too! Battery month– check and replace all batteries in stored equipment! Might be time to upgrade to LED flashlights too, if you still have some maglites around. LED bulbs work well in them.

nick

79F and 93%RH in Houston. Stayed hot all night.

And the west continued to shake, with Cali getting a 6.9 ~ 7.1 earthquake, and the warning that more are likely on the way.

If we get another in a more populated area, or take real damage from one, that will involve the efforts of a large percentage of our disaster response. And then we get a hurricane in the Gulf, or on the East coast… Folks, you are on your own for a minimum of 72 hours, and more likely a week in the event of a regional disaster.

If resources are tied up elsewhere or the disaster is widespread, help may be a lot longer coming. After the Cascadia Rising MASSEX in the Pac Northwest, FEMA changed their recommendation to TWO WEEKS of stuff to sustain yourself.

3 days or two weeks, those are baby steps. Get started! The lights are still on, and the stores are still full. Water, canned meat, canned veg, rice and pasta, and a way to cook it should be at the top of your TODO list if you aren’t already set. Your BOB should be double checked and ready to go (ask the wildfire victims about that, and the mudslide, and the flood…sometimes staying really isn’t an option.)

Everyone in the US lives near a hazard, be it pipeline, railroad, highway, forest, mountains, volcano, river, or coast. 90% of most populations live right on the edge of water…It can happen to you, and it does happen to people like you.

Now, I’ve got to check on some batteries, and repack some bags…

Stay PREPARED.

nick

77F and 99%RH this morning. That’s like freezing in the middle of winter. I expect we’ll be over 80 in an hour though. Forecast says over 96F by 10am… beautiful cool and breezy last night after dark. It got pretty stifling at dusk with no breeze, but then quickly got very nice (for TX in summer.)

Well, we’re almost half way through the year…

I have a couple of cherry sized Roma tomatoes on the bush, but that’s it for tomatoes. Grape vines are leafing out again so I think they will survive the caterpillars. The bed with the bleached out zukes has one dead plant and the other is getting lighter every day. Something wrong with the soil that I’m going to need professional help to solve there. Pepper plants from last year continue to provide more than I can eat. Nothing from THIS year’s plants though. Citrus is the same as last week, apples too. Nary a peach although the tree finally looks healthy and full. Cukes are spreading out and still alive, so we might see some veg from them later. Once again, we’d starve if we were counting on the garden. The curve is steep, start climbing.

Lots of seismic activity around the world lately. Who knows, a super volcano or massive quake might be much more likely than I personally planned. Make no mistake, a huge quake in Cali would have far reaching effects on all of us.

Commander Zero had a plumbing problem over at his place, and he reminds us all that FAR MORE personal SHTF problems are solved with greenbacks than bullets. Having your finances in order, and a cash reserve built up, will help you through your most likely disasters. You can usually sell some preps or other property, but you can save a step, time, and getting lower value out than in by having cash.

Speaking of finances and cash… I’m really worried. I think I might be seeing a sea change in the secondary economy, brought about by changes in the larger economy. Not GOOD changes either. My ebay selling has not recovered. I am making a tenth what I was 7 months ago. On the sourcing side, with a few exceptions, pricing is collapsing. With auctions that means few buyers, and little demand for the listed item. With one of my sellers I’m also seeing a shift from surplus sales to bankruptcy sales. Taken together these things could mean the collapse/depression/whatever its name is already begun. I even saw a reference in an article to the overabundance of people reselling (thrifting/yardsale/etc) as a job.

WRT stacking, despite global reasons for price inflation, pork has been on sale here. Stock up if you like it. If you like beef, the failure of the corn crop due to flooding in the Midwest may cause a sell off ahead of higher feed costs for producers. That will be followed by higher prices… and if you can eat out of your freezer, you should be immune to most of the ups and downs.

So, what have you guys done to prep? And if you’ve USED your preps this week, what worked? WHAT DIDN’T????

n

86F at 9:30 AM and 92%RH. Dang.

Today is the day we celebrate telling a bunch of fat, out of touch, distant and dismissive would be rulers that we had enough and weren’t going to take it any more.

Our founding fathers did it for a tiny percentage of the outrages we suffer daily.

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Bob always took some time on this day to talk about his independence from Windows and MS. I’ve long given up that fight, and I think most people have. There are only a few left who think of using a PC as something other than using an appliance to do a task. The hobbyists, the otaku, have moved on to other things. Software is in the late empire stage, along with the larger world.

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Go have some fun today. Spend time with family and friends. Remember that this day is a thumb in the eye to those who would rule free men.

nick

(do I need to add, be careful around crowds? Keep your situational awareness. Keep your eyes open for unusual activity. Know your exit path. Have the means to defend, or aid others close to hand. Live your life, but don’t be stupid or careless.)