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Category: WuFlu

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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Tues. April 14, 2020 – shiny keys

Should be a nice day.  [65F and sunny]

Yesterday was cool, bordering on chilly in the morning, rising to very nice in the afternoon and evening.  Sunny, a bit gusty, but very nice day.

So I worked outside.  Re-potted two trees.  Re-potted the last of the new pepper plants.  Added soil to both of the big trash bag potato towers.  They seem to be growing well.  Watered the gardens and potted plants.  Moved some grass from the kids’ sandbox to bare spots in the front yard.  Don’t know if that will ‘take’ but willing to try for the little effort it took.  Cleaned the pond filter box and changed the media.  Pond looks nice with a bunch of lily pads and one (remaining) goldfish.  The goldfish that went walkabout got his final resting place today too.  He’d been in the fridge while I waited to see if the kids were going to need a full funeral for this one.  Nope.  So under the other fish’s marker he went.  Moved a bunch of saplings in pots out of the raised bed to get ready for whatever I can still plant.  I’m thinking root veg.  Carrots did well, so did turnips, and they store well, and freaking squashes and beans do not.

The cabbages are doing well.  The broccoli is spindly and weak.  The collards are still alive but not really growing.  On the other hand, I’ve got budding fruit on the orange and grapefruit trees.  That’s a first for the grapefruit since the year I planted it.  The lemon and limes look ok too.  The peach is finally almost leafed out, and the pecan tree is too.  The blueberries continue to ripen, what few there are.  Still, they are fun for the kids.

Nothing in the window boxes from the radishes, turnips, and beets yet.  Planted the onion starts and they look good, and planted some lettuce.  Never had any luck with lettuce, so we’ll see how it does.  Ate one golf ball sized tomato with dinner, one left in the fridge.  That would be typically all I get before the heat stops tomato production.  Harvested a couple more sweet peppers off the old plants.

I’ve got material to build another 12 ft of window box for the fence, and some still needs new dirt and seeds.  We’re supposed to have some clear days so I’ll be in the driveway working on that.

Meanwhile, the fridge in the garage is emptying out.  It has more empty shelves right now than in the last 10 years.  I guess I should clean it…  Freezer is still full, and the chest freezer too.  Kitchen fridge is starting to empty, freezer is still full.  Weird seeing the stocks dwindle way past the point I usually fill things back up.  I haven’t had this few eggs on hand in years.  I may move some other stuff to the fridge to extend shelf life.  Or depending on conditions, I might make a store run.  Sure don’t want to.

Dinner was frozen fish fillets, buttered, seasoned and baked, with asparagus chopped and saute’d in butter with onions and a splash of soy sauce, canned corn, and warmed up hawaiian rolls.   Yum.  I had my leftover personal pie under ice cream, and the kids ate Easter candy.

I slept late and woke more rested than I have in many days.  I hope that continues.

Stay in, stay safe.

 

nick

 

(oh, I noticed that my keyboard is both filthy, and I’ve worn the satin finish off the keys to the underlying shiny plastic.  They’ll be even shinier when I clean the freaking thing.)

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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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Sun. April 12, 2020 – Happy Easter

Cooler with promise of rain.

Yesterday was overcast and cool with occasional spatters of rain, but overall a nice day.

I got some more work done in the gardens and driveway.  Not what I needed to do or wanted to get done, but I’m finding it harder to get blocks of time to do stuff than I thought.

Did some minor housework.

Dinner was mini hamburgers from frozen hamburger.  I’d vac sealed the burger meat in 2018.  Perfectly fine and delicious with some additional seasoning.  The vac seal is the key to successful freezing.  No air or excess moisture can get in, so no ‘freezer burn’.  Chest freezer set at 0F helps too.  It’s a nice DEEP freeze.  Pasta-roni flavored spaghetti as a side with almost the last of the cottage cheese.

[I had a paragraph here that sounded strange from my mouth, so I cut it]

Let me just say, for all the believers here, you have my sincere best wishes on the feast of Easter.

Nick

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Sat. April 11, 2020 – gonna be Easter soon, hope the bunny is ‘essential’

 

Cool and clear, rain in the forecast.

Did not get as much done I hoped. Spent time reading fiction during the day. I don’t usually do that, because I’d get nothing done at all if it became a habit.

I did get a low voltage power line run through the attic to the back of the house. I got the IR emitter hung and thought everything was good to go. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing much IR in the camera image at night. There is a BIT of foliage, but not enough. Maybe the camera doesn’t have good IR capability. In any case, not the slam dunk I hoped for. (Looking at a different camera with good IR capability, it looks like a floodlight is on, so I think it’s the camera. Bummer. One more thing to look at changing.) In the process though, I found a setting that needed to be changed on the other camera that is looking at my front porch, so net-net it was a positive.

Started to get kinda warm up in the attic in the afternoon, despite the cooler outdoor temps. I managed to run another network line for new camera number two, if I can find a good way to mount it on my chimney. It’s the other new 8mpx camera to cover the other end of my street. With possibly sketchy neighbors on that side, I would like to have more coverage of the street. Camera’s not doing anyone any good sitting in a box, I might as well hang it.

Still have a lot of outdoor stuff to do, so I’m hoping the rain holds off again.

Dinner was leftovers. Wasting food is a lot more of an issue when you’re in a lifeboat…. which is the metaphor I’ve been using with the kids.

Take a bit of a break this weekend. Recharge mentally and physically. Do something nice with your other shut-ins….

Stay in, stay safe.

n

 

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Fri. April 10, 2020 – I’d say finally Friday, but it kinda snuck up on me

Cooler and damp.

 

Yesterday was miserably hot and pretty steamy.  Until the evening when the front came through and dropped temps into the low 70s and brought a bit of rain to clear the air.

I almost went out to bundle up some more sticks.  Almost.

Instead I went to bed early.  I’m still not feeling well, and I need extra sleep, which I’m not actually getting.

Spent yesterday hiding from the heat and doing as little as possible outside.  I did clean up some of my pruned tree branches.  I got the bird net put over the blueberries, so the humans might get a few more of the few berries this year.

Took the trash and recycling out, did a couple of loads of laundry.  Domestic needs continue despite the isolation.  I am wearing fewer shirts, since I’m not leaving the house and don’t need a ‘cover garment’.  For everyone in the house, pajamas are getting a lot more wear 🙂

Dinner was pork roast from the freezer, mashed potatoes from scratch, saute’d cabbage and onions from the ‘last run’, tube biscuits, and gravy from a packet.  Dessert was fresh baked cookies from frozen dough.

I didn’t get around to baking from scratch, but maybe today…

Oh, and can organizers arrived so I’ll be spending at least part of the day putting canned food away.

Folks, it’s only been a couple of weeks.  We’ve got a lot more ahead of us before this thing is through.  Cases are showing up in friends and relations, so we know it’s continuing to spread.  I don’t think the “peak” is going to be anytime soon, although it might peak locally for some folks.  But hey, what do I really know?  I know I’m going to continue to isolate myself and my family and that will create hardship, but NOTHING like getting the virus and being hospitalized would.  Aesop and RBT helped me get ready for just this sort of thing.  It would be stupid to throw out the plan when we’re just getting started.

 

So stay in, stay safe, start your garden.  And think about what you need to do if this continues…

 

nick

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Thur. April 9, 2020 – hopefully a nice day

 

Warm and damp.

Yesterday was hot and steamy. Started out reasonably enough but soon was hot. And steamy. Did I mention steamy? And hot?

Morning was still overcast and rain was forecast so I didn’t do much outside until after lunch. Then it was yard work, garden, and trees.

If the trees weren’t going to shade the garden, I’d have left them, but I need the sun on the raised beds. And with hurricane season only a short time away, I went ahead and trimmed near the utility lines, since I had the saw and ladder out.

I’m debating whether to do the tree trimming on the oak in the front yard or not. I usually trim back the branches over the house, and every couple of years I get out the rope saw and take down some dead wood high up in the tree. There are other things that are a priority but if I’m in the zone and have the tools out anyway….

I need to get back to my driveway/garage storage and organize party. I need to get whatever seeds I hope to plant this year in the ground. I usually plant seedlings from Lowes or HD, but I’m not going shopping ATM. I’ve got seeds. I’m a bit surprised at some of the stories I’m seeing of seeds being sold out, both in the stores and online. I guess maybe I’m not the only one hoping to get a garden in this year. Whatever the motivation, I’m glad that others are planting. The learning curve is steep.

Chickens are sold out too. Hmm.

Too many people are too invested in particular outcomes for me to believe 99% of the reporting on wuflu right now. I’m just going to stay the course, watch for primary sources of indirect and secondary indicators, and act as if my life depended on it.

The wuflu won’t be the end of everything, nor will the economic impacts, nor will the cultural impacts. As a nation we’ve been through worse versions of all those things. WE may not survive, and WE may not return to a world we expect, but PEOPLE will. And they will muddle through or prosper or not. I intend to make it through. What’s on the other side I can’t predict, as I think this is one of those times when everything changes. I thought that last year, and haven’t changed my mind. War, pestilence, and plague. They were overdue.

I don’t know how long it will take but think about the changes in one lifetime, from 1900 to 1965. Who would have predicted the destruction of the British Empire, the rise of America, the Cold War, and Communism? Or look at 1965 to 2020. Who would have predicted the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of China, the changes wrought by PCs and the internet? The massive financialization of everything? Or the destruction of western culture?

Things change, this is just the pebble that started the boulder rolling down hill. Something would have. It was time.

Stay in, stay safe.

nick

 

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Wed. April 8, 2020 – little of this, little of that

Cool to start, but warming, and still wet.

National forecast shows us on the edge of a system. Usually that means we don’t get it. We’ll see.

Had about 0.16 in of rain yesterday according to my weather station. It must have been in the morning, or when I was doing other things. LOTS of water in the buckets and stuff in the driveway, but that was from the last couple of days.

I put some wire mesh over my onions to keep the squirrels off. If it works tomorrow, I’ll put some over all the onions.

My potatoes are poking through the dirt in all three of my bags. Hooray! I’ll be adding soil when the shoots get a couple inches bigger. I hope this bag approach to a potato tower works. At dinner my daughter asked, “But don’t we already have a whole lot of potatoes?” “Yep, 120 pounds (wife’s eyebrows go up!) but I’ve got a longer planning horizon than most people…” Silence as that sank in. I don’t know what the fall will bring, but I know I won’t have potatoes if I don’t plant them now…

Grape vine continues to leaf and grow new canes. Blueberry plants (hard to call the scrawny things ‘bushes’) mostly have developing berries or still flowers. Meyer Lemon, lime, and orange all have developing fruit. Nothing from the window box root veggies yet though. I need to see what else I can get in the ground. The herb mix I seeded hasn’t produced anything either yet. Potted tomatoes are getting ripe. I may get two whole (small) tomatoes this year. New pepper plants and old are producing. Collards and cabbages are still alive, if not going wild. Alive is good. My remaining apple tree is leafing out. I didn’t get to replace the dead one, so without cross pollination, I guess I won’t get fruit. If nothing else, the tree will get a bit more established.

I did a bit more cleaning and organizing. Not anywhere near as much as needed. I did replace some caps and spouts on several aquatainers. I had bought replacement parts some time ago but never put them on. I need to get my water sorted and rotated, but that is frankly low priority. I did it yesterday just to get them moved and make sure I didn’t misplace the parts again.

Amazon says my can organizers shipped yesterday. I’ve been holding off any more food moving until the organizers get here, so I only have to do it a couple of times (one would be ideal, but also unlikely.)

Dinner was Taco Tuesday, frozen ground beef, envelope of mix, and fixin’s from the fridge.

I think I’m going to try some bread baking today or tomorrow. I want to try pita bread, and the polar opposite, soft dinner rolls… If I can get the dinner rolls to work, I’ll have a homemade replacement for the King’s Hawaiian rolls we eat with our pulled pork. Considering the amount of canned and frozen pork I’ve got, rolls would be a Good Thing ™.

The burns on my fingers did NOT blister today. They hurt a bit when pressed or heated, but I may have dodged a bullet. They are still red and shiny and I have to hold my coffee cup differently than normal, but I’ll take it as a win if they don’t swell up and peel.

WRT wuflu. Most of what I see says “undercounting” not “lump in everything possible” at least in the US. Look at the secondary and indirect effects for an indication where the numbers aren’t trustworthy. Hospitals are going through PPEs at an extraordinary rate. NYC has so many dead they’re stacking up, and SECURITY GUARDS have been pressed into service moving the bodies. We’re starting to see cases take off in areas where there were only a few, confirming the exponential nature, and then the math is inexorable. Don’t lose focus. We’re only a few weeks into this and we are looking at MONTHS ahead. Meanwhile, they’re making progress. An antibody test is being trialed. The ‘plasma infusion’ treatment seems promising. The HCQ and Z pak is getting widespread testing. People around the world are working on treatment, vaccine, and testing.

Stay in, stay safe, start your garden!

nick

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Tues. April 7, 2020 – hope I get more done today

Cool and damp.[76F, 99%RH, concrete wet]

Yesterday was overcast all day with some rain, especially later. Not a good day for outdoor work.

Not a great day for me to do work inside to be honest. Just not feeling up to snuff. Run down is a good description. Tired. Not quite sick, but still not healthy. So I piddled around in the office and wasted time on the internet with my friends.

I did have a chance to help my 5th grader with her math homework. There are some basics we need to work on. She COUNTED rather than ADDED ’12’ during a problem. Jeez, I thought we were past that. 8yo discovered that she can read the Harry Potter books through her school online portal. She’s on her way through the fourth book today.

I almost really screwed up in the kitchen. I needed hot water for the hash browns, so I nuked a coffee cup. Whatever the cup is made of, it gets hot in the microwave. The handle was scorching hot. Due to some prior issues, it takes a while before my brain realizes that I’m holding something hot. Man, I thought I was going to have some bad damage to two of the fingers on my right hand. I got them cooled off quickly and kept ice on them for a while, much longer than normal. They hurt really bad. After a couple of hours with a cold pack, they didn’t hurt so much and they haven’t blistered. I’ll see how they look later today. I still expect them to blister at some point, given the heat, pain, and redness. I’ve got lots of burn stuff in my med kit, but it’s all for open burns, not blisters. There’s really not much you can do for blisters.

That contributed to my not getting much done during the day too.

I did do some small electronics repair and sorted out some more stuff for ebay listing. Wife has been donating and selling some kid stuff we don’t need anymore through the FB moms group. Porch pickup, electronic money transfer, and we don’t have to even say “hi”. I’ve got a craigslist guy wants to buy a tool from me, but I’m debating if it’s worth $50 to meet him at my storage unit. I suppose there is a way to do the deal with minimal exposure. I’ll wait and see if he flakes.

I’m starting to see articles about reinfection again, and articles that suggest 6 ft isn’t enough distance. Those would both be bad things.

Another article said 3 of 4 hospitals in the US surveyed are treating Covid patients already although numbers are still small. One thing we’ve seen consistently, once the numbers start rising, they tend to shoot up. Again, not a good thing.

And it looks like the CDC has an antibody test ready to deploy. Widespread use of that would be good news as we’ll get a better idea of where we are wrt the whole population exposure to wuflu. I’m getting a bad feeling that maybe we’re all just looking for reasons it’s not as bad as it could be and clutching at straws thinking that we’ve already had it. It’s a comforting idea. I’d like a chance to know for certain. I don’t expect to get a test anytime soon though.

So I’ll stay in, and try to stay safe…

nick

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Mon. April 6, 2020 – back to school, JK….

Warmer and dry? Maybe. [75F, 84%RH, and no actual rain yet]

It stayed cool all day yesterday but the rain stopped. It was even pretty nice, if a bit chilly and damp in the evening.

I did mostly indoor cleaning and organizing. I’m moving at a turtle’s pace though. Doesn’t look like a hoarder’s house, but it does look a bit like the wand shop in Harry Potter. I do tend to use ‘pile’ as an organizing structure. Doesn’t help that my wife will occasionally just round up everything she thinks is mine and pile that in my office. Some of the piles haven’t moved in a while.

I’m trying to get some space for my non-prepping hobby, and move some radio stuff around. I really want to get up with some digital modes and I don’t have the room to keep all the bits and pieces in one place. Baby steps.

I also continued to get the shelving and storage area in the garage cleaned up and gone through. Found a couple of boxes of ammo I didn’t know I had. Happy day!

Dinner was Costco special pork ribs from my last run, one rack for us, with the other two racks seasoned, vac bagged, and frozen. My wife ordered Oyster Sauce from somewhere online. I’d run out. It sucked to enter the zombie apocalypse with a freezer full of pork and none of my go to sauce… Anyway, delicious ribs. Really good baked beans- HEB branded can, cornbread (from mix) with added bacon crumbles and baked in a cast iron skillet (just cuz), canned corn (2016), and baked potatoes with all the fixin’s. Admittedly, the first can of corn was rusty from rat pee, and didn’t “suck” when pierced. That went straight into the trash. Clean can had a very reassuring “fushht” sound as the vacuum released. I’ve definitely found that if the packaging is intact, even with my horrible storage conditions, even stored food that is 6 or more years passed ‘best by’ tastes fine. I’m blending in stored food with our normal pantry and freezer food to help ease into this isolation. I also try to have a really good meal with familiar food every few days.

The kids have been great so far. Less poking at each other this week as they had some school work and a lot of “separated” time. Wife and I have been less stressed too. This coming week the school sent out more work to do, and some added resources. Short week anyway due to the Easter holidays, or as the school put it “a holiday you might be celebrating”. FFS, it’s Easter break, whether you are Christian or not. I’m finding I have a lot less tolerance for the ‘tolerance’ as this confinement goes on. If others are simmering too, the whole world could explode soon.

And hey, checks are coming, but conspicuously NOT HERE. Jails have been emptied, and burglaries are up 20% in Houston, while the cops are out sick. Who could have known? You are on your own. Act accordingly.

Stay home, stay safe.

nick

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