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"Some people are 'lucky',"

I had a boss longLongLONG ago (now that I think of him) that told me 'luck is where preparation meets opportunity'.

I think largely he was right.
 
I do not like using the word 'luck' bad or good, which implies most things are outside of our control.

Granted, there is a lot that IS outside of our control - bad weather, bad people, and so on. All the more reason to prepare for such situations.

Stuff happens. Deal with it. That is life. When things happen and we come out the other side, we should learn from that, not ignore it. Even better is when other people deal with stuff happening and we don't - those lessons are free, a gift. Take it and run with it.

But nooooo.

Most people won't even accept the free gift - it would mean that they don't get to have their latest new toy - that they don't get the instant gratification they want. They are like little children.

Meanwhile, the government is somewhat schizophrenic; they want people to consume and go into debt in order to consume, while some at the same time lament that we don't save enough (mostly because those savings get invested into corps they get kickbacks from), and they tell us we should be prepared for bad things, while at the same time telling us not to worry, and that people who prep are 'crazy survivalist gun nuts'.
 
I wish some enterprising reporter will do a program in the aftermath of all this about the difference in how the Texans handled there disaster and how the panty waist New Yorker/Floridans do (editorial comment) In Texas, the government helped but also got out of the way of people that could and wanted to help........... did you see the line of boats trying to get in to help people? Anyone with a capeable vehicle or equipment was allowed in to help. Today, the Texans are quietly going about clean up and rebuilding. They are asking for help but not without exhausting all there personal efforts and abilities. In a year, there will be few sighns of Harvey.......I predict it will take 5 years for Florida to recover from Irma. I really think this will be a teachable point.
 
Didn't click. My only comment is it's wise to have a loaded handgun on your person at all times. Look what happened to Dorothy in those 300mph winds.
 
I also loved the Texas legislator that told the fake news media, When disasters come Here, "Texans stock up on water, food and ammunition" I don't think it would be healthy to be a looter in Houston, and who would convict a shooter? I remember in the late 60's some dope smoking hippies were going to have a (riot) march in Pullman over some grievance. My dad owned a truck company that went through the area every day and knew all the Washington Highway Patrol well. They were massed out of town, told Dad that they weren't too worried about the low life's, it was the farmers that all carried a 30 06 in a gun rack in there pickups. They were talking on there CB's about getting together and solving the problem....Most of those Palouse grain farmers were multi millionaires even in those days and had tremendous influence in the state. The Patrolmen said, "who would convict them? They own everything and everybody" the cops couldn't even write them a speeding ticket.
 
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I wish some enterprising reporter will do a program in the aftermath of all this about the difference in how the Texans handled there disaster and how the panty waist New Yorker/Floridans do (editorial comment) In Texas, the government helped but also got out of the way of people that could and wanted to help........... did you see the line of boats trying to get in to help people? Anyone with a capeable vehicle or equipment was allowed in to help. Today, the Texans are quietly going about clean up and rebuilding. They are asking for help but not without exhausting all there personal efforts and abilities. In a year, there will be few sighns of Harvey.......I predict it will take 5 years for Florida to recover from Irma. I really think this will be a teachable point.

But on FB there were all kinds of memes about the conservatives who didn't want government being grateful for the CG and NG and FEMA for helping - trying to make them out as hypocrites.
 
But on FB there were all kinds of memes about the conservatives who didn't want government being grateful for the CG and NG and FEMA for helping - trying to make them out as hypocrites.
Most of us pay nearly 50% of our income in some sort of tax. I don't see a problem with getting back some that was promised to us when needed. The key word there is needed.......
 
Most of us pay nearly 50% of our income in some sort of tax. I don't see a problem with getting back some that was promised to us when needed. The key word there is needed.......

I don't either. As is usual, both sides of any political issue always exaggerate what the other side says and gives no quarter (does not admit that the other side may have a point or two, or be partially right). This has only gotten worse over the years. When I weigh in as a Libertarian, I get it from three sides (or more); left, right, middle, Libertarians (because, among other things, I do not buy into an unregulated market, I support environmental protection, I believe in consumer protection, and I do not believe that humans are 'rational actors' - not sure how anyone who is halfway rational can believe that humans act rationally, but therein lies the enigma).

I believe that SSI should be privatized or done away with altogether (phased out), but I look forward to getting back some of the tens of thousands of dollars the gov. has pulled out of my checks over the decades without my permission. And yes, I paid taxes for services, so I do not mind it at all when I get the benefit of those services, but I still believe a lot of those services should not exist at the governmental level.

I have never heard a conservative say they have a problem with the work the USCG or NG does, especially when it comes to rescues. But they do complain about the gov. taking their money and giving it to someone else, after the gov. takes their cut - as do I. That is not the same as complaining about the USCG or NG doing work during natural disasters.
 
I like your points a lot. I do have some issues with libertarians but in general, am in there camp. Having been right in the middle of many natural and man caused disasters (we can talk for days about that) I have seen so much waste, graft and corruption either encouraged or promoted by the government, I can be quite cynical. I wouldn't walk across the street to help the Red Cross for instance. After several years of being eligible, I will take SSI after my birthday in October. Feel kind of funny about it as I really don't need it but have been punished for so long over being self sufficient and successful my, wife has convinced me to do it. My youngest son is a USCG rescue helicopter crewman out of The Humbolt station and off course, that was the business I was involved with for many years. (with a few twists) it is the most incredible feeling there is to really save or rescue a person. I don't know anyone that wouldn't pay to be able to do it. That being said, the Texans that went to save people out of only personal altruism are incredible individuals that deserve recognition and our admiration as does the society that produced them.
 
.....what safety/vapor control scheme do you advise on such? I've never felt comfortable with such storage. Please elaborate.
I keep it sealed and stored in my shop, ~100 yards from my house, along with other chemicals and fuels and equipment. The shop is not particularly airtight, so I am not worried about fumes.

A good 55 gallon drum with good bungs should not be leaking any fuel or fumes. My 5 gallon fuel cans are metal and also airtight - as evidenced when I use them; I pull the handle to open them up and you can very much hear either the pressure escaping from them, or into them, depending on the ambient temp and atmospheric pressure at the time.

I don't cheap out on this stuff - the cans themselves cost about $50 each:

View attachment 390042

My BIL's farm in Canada has a row of elevated fuel containers-gas, AV gas and diesel. probably a couple of thousand gallons total. The tanks have a cap on top to fill the tanks and a valve and hose with a nozzle to let it out. That is it. When I was growing up my dad had a 55 gal drum of AV gas at our beach house in a cradle on it's side with the bung valve for filling the outboard motor tanks. Never had a problem. The problem is that today people are so wusified that they live in fear of everything and in the process have lost their ability to think rationally.
 
We keep a lot of fuel here at the ranch, Diesel is not really a problem, all it really ever needs is a good filtering if old. One of my tugs has over 10,000 gallon fuel capacity and critters live in the tanks. All we do is centrifuge the fuel into the day tank. It works fine. Gasoline is best stored in full containers and a little fuel stabilizer.
 
+1 on PRI. I treated some non ethanol premium saw gas with it 9 years ago and left it in the tank of a Stihl hot saw. Fired up second pull last winter and ran perfectly so I didn't even change it. Just ran it out.
 
......you have 'diesel tadpoles'????
Small bugs, plant growth and fish. Diesel can legally be 10% water......the diesel at pumps these days is very clean but it hasn't always been that way. 10,000 gallons of bunker diesel can have a lot of water and stuff in it.
 
Bacteria will grow on the interface between water and diesel, the water usually being at the bottom of a storage tank IIRC. Biocide will kill the bacteria, but it needs to be treated from time to time. We had something like a 5k gallon tank IIRC and we would put some paste on a stick, the past being something that would turn color (from white to purple?) when it came in contact with water, then we would lower the stick into the tank all the way to the bottom to see how much water was there.

The bacteria would gun up filters. Most diesel filters can handle the water, and most diesel engines have these filters - we ran Racor filters which at the time were supposed to be the best. The design was such that the water would collect at the bottom of the filter and you would drain it off periodically.

Water itself is very bad for the injectors or high pressure pumps on a diesel engine because the high pressure system had very tight tolerances (millionths of an inch) that required the lubricity or diesel to operate and not seize or overheat, and water doesn't provide that lubricity, not to mention, because of the honed finish of the high pressure parts in the pump or injectors, water sitting on those parts would make them rust, which of course is bad. These parts are very expensive and cannot be repaired in the field - only in a clean room - they can be replaced, but not repaired.

As long as you provide a diesel engine with enough clean fuel, it should run fine.
 

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