What did you do today to prep?

[Mono1]

Did some shopping today. Got some Duracell AAAs at Costco.

Costco/Hillsboro had some of the vacuum/hard packed rice and Urad Dal (kind of a lentil) and chickpeas packed the same way, so I got some of those. Another 10# of oatmeal too. Gave most of that to the kids - for some geographical diversity in location.

Yeah I got the D-Cells from Costco today for the two big Mag Lights. Big sign out front that said "Out of Stock on Bath Tissue and Paper Towels" . Oh Well, Grocery Outlet to the Rescue. I don't need the Cadillac quality stuff for that purpose anyway.

 

[The Heretic]

Got the last of the cut firewood split and stacked.
Next nice day, if I am not busy elsewhere, I will cut some more wood.
Been using it up - some mornings it has been kind of cool.

 

[Angie]

We just landed in Lake Havasu, AZ for the next five months, but filled up the motorhome in case we need to get home to Montana and the supply of fuel is disrupted. Between what is in the coach and the truck we tow and the two extra Jerry cans in the truck, we should have enough in case we can't stop anywhere to refuel.

 

[The Heretic]

Housesitting today for the kids while the roof is being replaced. Since they have 250mbps fiber I am taking the opportunity to download Wikipedia so I have a copy to view offline.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Wow. Just how big a file is that? How large a drive? Would love to have that on an external USB drive on hand.

A friend just sent this -- I guess other nations want to take advantage while Sleepy Joe is in office - I hope not ..........

A video just popped up on YT saying that China just requested all citizens stockpile food immediately. Probably getting ready to invade Taiwan. Will be interesting. Their military has been practicing Taiwan invasions for the past 6 months

 

[The Heretic]

Wow. Just how big a file is that? How large a drive? Would love to have that on an external USB drive on hand.

A friend just sent this -- I guess other nations want to take advantage while Sleepy Joe is in office - I hope not ..........

A video just popped up on YT saying that China just requested all citizens stockpile food immediately. Probably getting ready to invade Taiwan. Will be interesting. Their military has been practicing Taiwan invasions for the past 6 months

130 GB with images

Still downloading

 

[The Heretic]

I am about a quarter of the way thru. I think I will leave this laptop here overnight; not sure yet how well the XOWA app will handle interrupting the download. I have to come back tomorrow anyway, maybe Thu too. I have my MBA at home for surfing if I want to.

I thought about getting a Kindle tablet for the better battery life, but the e-ink versions are not color, and I wanted that. My Lenovo has about 8 hours of battery life anyway, and it has USB-C charging, and is pretty efficient, so I think if SHTF I could keep it charged with some solar panels.

That said, I am thinking eventually I want to get a ruggedized laptop. But for now, I will just download a number of Wikis, starting with Wikipedia ,Wikitionary, etc. and try to find some Wikis that use Wikimedia and have good prepping, medical, DIY, etc. articles.

 

[Forester]

Had my house panel wired for a generator

 

[Pahonix]

Had my house panel wired for a generator

Can I ask what price you paid for that? I've been considering this.

 

[Forester]

Can I ask what price you paid for that? I've been considering this.

Haven't got the bill yet, but it will be around $900.00

I think I could of had it done for less or boot legged it like we did in the storm. But it's done correctly and will be worth it if necessary.

Also had to do the pump house because our well is on a separate panel.

 

[The Heretic]

The house I am in already has the wiring/switch, but when I tested it the genset wouldn't work with it, plus the well is not wired into the house panel, it is wired into the external panel where the meter is, which is separate from and external the house exposed to weather. If I was going to stay here, I would have that setup to accept a genset at that panel instead, but I would need to build a pad/shelter for the genset at the panel (it is on a slope)

 

[Forester]

The house I am in already has the wiring/switch, but when I tested it the genset wouldn't work with it, plus the well is not wired into the house panel, it is wired into the external panel where the meter is, which is separate from and external the house exposed to weather. If I was going to stay here, I would have that setup to accept a genset at that panel instead, but I would need to build a pad/shelter for the genset at the panel (it is on a slope)

Why wouldn't the generator work with the plug? Was it a wiring issue or not enough power?
There's a switch in the panel that needs to be engaged when your on a generator

 

[The Heretic]

Why wouldn't the generator work with the plug? Was it a wiring issue or not enough power?
There's a switch in the panel that needs to be engaged when your on a generator

Probably a wiring issue either in the house or the genset or the power cable; every time I plugged it in the genset would trip its breaker and I would have to restart it. I was testing it with the 220V outlet on the genset which I had not done before. I only tried it with the switch in the generator position.

I suspect the genset, although it worked fine with 120V.

 

[The Heretic]

Second power outage of the season

 

[Howard1955]

When I was a kid, I once saw my grandfather sprinkling white powder onto some potatoes in his barn. When I asked him what it was, I thought he said "lye". But when I got curious about this the other day, I started researching. It seems he must have said "lime". I do recall that he said it was to 'help the taters keep longer'.

Here's a link to an article about using lime when storing potatoes. Does anyone here do it this way?

Store Potatoes With Lime

Store your potato harvest during the winter with pickling lime. Storing potatoes without a root cellar is more difficult because they can sp...

chili-crafts.blogspot.com

From the article:

"Store Potatoes With Lime


Store your potato harvest during the winter with pickling lime.

Storing potatoes without a root cellar is more difficult because they can sprout or shrivel if not properly stored. Ideally, you should store potatoes in a dark and humid location, but not everyone has access to these areas. There are various methods for storing potatoes, including the use of pickling lime. Pickling lime is a form of calcium hydroxide. Due to its edibility, it is safe to store potatoes with pickling lime. The process is relatively simple and preserve your potatoes for longer."

 

[Forester]

Can I ask what price you paid for that? I've been considering this.

Received invoice. $700

 

[The Heretic]

 

[Burt Gummer]

I have a Honda 2000 generator that has been great for many years. I start it up every 60 days, keep gas preservative in it.
Was nice when there was a 3-4 day power outage a year or so ago. Inverter gen; able to use sensitive electronics.
Probably foolish to not get a larger, supplemental one now such as the Harbor Freight Predator 3500 or larger.
State govs are moving to make portable generators illegal to use, but F that. (Govern me harder daddy).

 

[The Heretic]

View attachment 1065369

More of the same.

There was a maple log about 12' long that I cut, split, loaded into the pickup and then brought inside as my woodstove supply in the house was running low. Took about 30 minutes, but it was spread out over 2.5 hours to take backache breaks. That filled up the rack by the woodstove.

Chain on saw is still doing well - I am trying to not run it thru any dirt/rocks and that seems to make the difference. Naturally it cuts much faster/easier with a sharp chain - worth the $20/chain. I suck at sharpening chains.

I did a test of how much electricity it takes to run the furnace for a couple hours Saturday and it was about $2 to warm the house up to 66* and maintain that for that 2.5 hours. It took 20 KWH the first hour, then 14 KWH the second hour, then 5 KWH the third hour. Running the furnace on cold days this last winter (after I ran low on firewood) cost $4-6 a day - the average bill for a month was $240 (with cost averaging).

I can run thru the inside stacked wood in 2 days if the outside temps get down into the low 40s like today was.

I still have about 100' of good maple logs to cut up/split. Wed is supposed to be relatively dry so I hope to tackle a few of those logs. The maple/hardwood seems to keep relatively dry despite being thru 3.5 winters of rain (including one with snow) and doesn't rot like the conifer does, although the ends of the maple/etc. does soak up some water. The hardwood is good firewood.

 

[Pete F]

More of the same.

There was a maple log about 12' long that I cut, split, loaded into the pickup and then brought inside as my woodstove supply in the house was running low. Took about 30 minutes, but it was spread out over 2.5 hours to take backache breaks. That filled up the rack by the woodstove.

Chain on saw is still doing well - I am trying to not run it thru any dirt/rocks and that seems to make the difference. Naturally it cuts much faster/easier with a sharp chain - worth the $20/chain. I suck at sharpening chains.

I did a test of how much electricity it takes to run the furnace for a couple hours Saturday and it was about $2 to warm the house up to 66* and maintain that for that 2.5 hours. It took 20 KWH the first hour, then 14 KWH the second hour, then 5 KWH the third hour. Running the furnace on cold days this last winter (after I ran low on firewood) cost $4-6 a day - the average bill for a month was $240 (with cost averaging).

I can run thru the inside stacked wood in 2 days if the outside temps get down into the low 40s like today was.

I still have about 100' of good maple logs to cut up/split. Wed is supposed to be relatively dry so I hope to tackle a few of those logs. The maple/hardwood seems to keep relatively dry despite being thru 3.5 winters of rain (including one with snow) and doesn't rot like the conifer does, although the ends of the maple/etc. does soak up some water. The hardwood is good firewood.

Best use of maple trees ever. One of the tree weeds in the Northwest.

Especially around this time of year when the leaves drop. Maple trees also are homes to several types of beetles that are just bothersome in the fall. Stink bugs and ones that have bright red wings visible when you squash them. They gather on the southwest side of the house where the sun beats down.

Maple does burn well and have high heat content.