I looked at the blog and realized I hadn't written in two weeks. It's not that I don't have anything to say. I always have a bunch to say. I don't have the chance to get onto the Internet everyday but when I do get on I read what everyone else has written, sometimes even making a comment here and there, and then when it's time for me to write on my blog I realize it's bedtime. This new job is kicking my rear!
I like the job but the 5:30-19:00 hours, including the commute, from Monday through Thursday aren't the easiest. Then comes Friday and I think I'll be able to get all my chores taken care of and then the grand kids and I will have fun for the entire weekend. WRONG! I've been on the job for two full months now and I have had zero Fridays where I've been able to stay home all day and not have anyone show up to interrupt. But the stay home all day has only happened twice. The rest of the Fridays I've had appointments of one type or another. The only Friday appointment that I had that had anything to do with prepping was the day I went to the range to qualify for my CCW renewal.
This past Friday I was spitting fire. Last week, on Lincoln's birthday, the grand kids had off school but I had to work. No problem. Sent them up to the Bug-out property. Boy spent the day helping by gathering firewood from the five acres and getting it stacked. While he was out he got into the poison oak. Not a problem, he's been in it before. That evening he got a shower and went to bed, still at the Bug-out property. Son and daughter-in-law said that they'd get the kids to school on Tuesday since they had to come into town in the morning anyway. Tuesday night I got home, got dinner on the table, the kids ate and went to bed. Boy wasn't swollen at all from the poison oak. Wednesday morning he got up and was a little swollen on his face. I gave him some Benadryl and sent him off to school. He said that he was going to go to the nurse when he got to school. No DON'T! Let's keep this our secret. Not that I want it a secret, it's obvious he has poison oak. I don't want him wasting time going to the nurse when he should be in class.
He got home and was a little more swollen. I sent an email to his teacher saying that he has poison oak but isn't having itching problems so I'm sending him to school. He is not contagious. He just looks funny. Thursday morning I left for work. He went to school. His teacher didn't have a problem with his swollen face. His classmates asked him what happened (he looked like he'd been in a brawl without the bruising). Another teacher sent him to the nurse. The nurse tried to call me, although she didn't try very hard. She called my office, which only gets through if I'm sitting at my desk. I wasn't. She didn't bother calling my personal cell phone, which is the main number I have on every single contact list they have at the school. Instead she sent boy home at the end of the day with a note that she is very concerned about his "condition". She recommends that he see a doctor and he can't return to school until I speak with her. What she didn't put in the letter, but boy told me, was that she rubbed a white lotion all over his face (hydrocortizone) and then took pictures of his swelling. (Do I detect her building a case for child protective services?)
Friday morning I called the school. She wasn't in so I left a message. If he gets worse I will take him to the doctor but he is not sick. This is not affecting his breathing because if it was I'd have him at the hospital. No, he just looks funny. I didn't know kids got kicked out of school for looking funny. As an RN you should know that he isn't contagious. This is five days after he was in the poison oak. She never returned my call. This means he's not supposed to show up to school tomorrow. He's going anyway.
I did bring him to the doctor to get a prescription for prednizone (did you know there is a prednizone shortage in the US?) just in case it was needed, although I knew it wouldn't be. You see, I've had the same type of reaction to poison oak before. The biggest concern is making sure it doesn't affect the breathing. Then it's making sure your eyes don't swell shut. I know that it takes a while for the swelling to come on and then it takes a few more days for it to go away. Towards the end your skin feels like rough leather. Then it itches. That's where he is now, so it's doubling up on the Benadryl. The doctor agreed with me on my treatment for him. No kidding...
Army daughter tried to take the nurse's side. Maybe she didn't know it was poison oak. Maybe she was concerned that his breathing was going to be affected. Maybe she was frightened because he was so swollen. Sorry, I'm not buying any of it. She's an RN. She should know what poison oak looks like. The RN at the doctor's office saw boy and said "nice case of poison oak, where'd you get that?" There was no panic. Does the school nurse think that all parents are stupid or neglectful? Anyway, boy is going to school tomorrow and the principal is going to get an earful from me.
We've had such nice weather lately that I have been able to get a lot of the yard work done. I mowed the front and back lawns (weeds) and the kids gave that grass to the chickens. They had a great time eating it all. I went into the coop today and there wasn't any grass left. They devoured it all!
We have a new lamb, so that's three lambs so far. I only expect another two or three more. That's good because we've had so little rain (only four inches so far this winter) that the pasture is less than 6 inches tall. I have the sheep in one section only to try to get the rest to grow. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Wednesday so hopefully there will be more growth. I don't want to have to buy any hay. Maybe when the neighbors mow I'll ask if we can have the clippings.
The pasture may not be growing but the weeds in the garden sure are! I pulled bunches of weeds for the sheep and chickens but knew that I wasn't going to be able to get to them all. The weeds in the garden beds were pulled the weeds in the paths were Round-Up'd. I sprayed out 12 gallons, although I could have sprayed 5 more if my arm didn't get tired of pumping the backpack sprayer! If I was home everyday I'd be able to get them pulled by hand, but not being home during the day Monday through Thursday puts me at a disadvantage. Normally I spend between 30 minutes and an hour hanging out in the garden after work. I can't do that now.
The other day I did sit down to write and decided that I had nothing to say. Imagine that! I was wrongly thinking that I'm almost done preparing. You know that feeling of how much is enough... But then I snapped out of it. I'm not nearly done. My goal, if I really finished prepping would be that I wouldn't ever have to shop (or barter) again. Everything would be here, stored away in our home store or mini-Walmart of a garage. I decided I'd better inventory the home store. I haven't done that in a while. It's looking better than I thought. I don't mark the sheet every time I take something out so I know it needs to be replaced later. I used to do that. Now I'm in such a routine when I shop that I just buy what I know is needed.
When I went through the home store I was happily able to note that the inventory of most of our items have doubled or tripled in the past year. There were a few things I had less of now than the last time I inventoried. I only had four boxes of gallon size freezer Ziploc bags. I'd prefer a dozen boxes. I also was down to my last 90 33-gallon trash bags. That may seem like a lot but last time I inventoried that there were 200. I only had one gallon of ketchup left! That may sound like a lot but it isn't around here. I know it's something that can be made with the ingredients grown in the garden but it's so inexpensive to buy when bought by the #10 can that I'd rather buy it. We also only had 1/2 gallon of syrup left. I do have lots of sugar and imitation maple flavoring so I could make plenty of syrup, but again, this is something that isn't expensive and lasts forever so it's worth buying.
Not bad on the inventory. It did show that I am able to just shop and improve on what we have. I am in no way done with our food store, but my home store is bursting at the seam. So is our trailer. I'm going to start stocking up on things at the Bug-out place but I have to make it not only mouse proof but also son and daughter-in-law proof!
I found some 275 gallon square plastic water containers. They are the kind that are enclosed with metal (aluminum?) as a support. I would like to get several of those to keep at each end of the barn and other outbuildings to catch the water from the rainfall - if we ever get any rain. While I've got a hand pump for the well, I'd like to set these up to automatically water the sheep and chickens during the summer.
I am also trying to order security screen doors for the house. Only the front door and the back sliding door have screens. There are three other doors that go outside, one goes into the garage, and two go from the garage to the outside. My first goal is to get the security doors on the three doors from the house to the outside. The doors I want are made of metal and have a metal screen on them. They have two holes for the regular lock and the deadbolt. These three doors are 30 and 32 inches, which is not the normal 36" size. This is making it harder to find what I want. I found some at Home Depot. Lowe's didn't carry what I wanted in the color and size I need. Any other suggestions on where to buy these here in the Great Central Valley?
During nice weather it would be good to be able to leave the doors open but be able to lock the screen doors. Both the front door screen and the sliding door screen are vinyl and can be broken though with just your foot walking through. There's no security there at all. In the olden days (prior to becoming enlightened about serious prepping) I would just leave the front door and back door open all night to let the air flow through the house. Not very safe, even in my safe neighborhood.
Hopefully I'll be on the computer sooner rather than later. It's past bedtime and 4:45 comes very early!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Gardening amid the critters that want your garden more than you do
This past week we spent quite a bit of time trying to kill critters. The biggest offenders were moles. They started in the front lawn (weed patch) and tunnelled out into the front pasture. If I didn't kill them soon they'd kill my trees. Normally Big Dog digs them out and kills them but with her sore leg she hasn't been in the mood. We've tried stomping on their holes, pouring hot water on them, nothing worked well. I went to County Ag and they had some smoke bombs that were some sort of critter killer. I bought some and tried them out.
At the beginning of the week I took my hoe and was able to open up one of the piles of dirt to find the tunnel. I stuck the fuse into the smoke bomb, lit it, and put it into the hole. Then we covered the hole with dirt. For several days we didn't have any more movement of moles. No more new holes. No more racing out to the end of the pasture. That lasted for five days. Then the holes started up again. They didn't go at such a lightning speed as before but still the destruction was happening right before our eyes. Out came another smoke bomb. Into the hole it went. Yesterday I didn't see any more digging. Today I left before it got light and got home after it got dark. I have no clue what happened.
Tomorrow morning I don't have to go to the office. Yeah, I get to sleep in until 6! That may not seem late but with my new schedule of leaving the house at 5:30, sleeping until six is really sleeping in. I will have the morning at home and will be able to get a good look at the front pasture. Those suckers are MINE! It's kind of like connect four and so many other games, where your entire strategy is to make it so the other player can't get from one place to the other. Those moles will not make it to the end of the pasture. They will be dead before then. I guarantee it!
I have to go out of town tomorrow and will be gone for several days. Prior to leaving I have to head back to County Ag to pick up more things to kill critters. Poison for mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, and moles. There's poisoned bait and also the smoke bombs. If you don't keep the critters under control you will have a hard time gardening. They will get under your trees and munch on the roots. Dead trees!
I have friends who have raised beds. Each bed has small mesh wire under the bed, the beds are almost 2 feet tall, and the plants do reasonably well. They also have wire going up the sides of the beds to keep the bottom feeding critters out. I have another friend who has a fenced in area about 10X10. This is fenced on the bottom, sides, and top. This will keep all critters out, except it's not a big enough garden to take care of her needs if she really had to support herself.
Shooting squirrels and rabbits and eating them is always an option. I wonder how moles taste? If TSHTF and I was really hungry, then I guess moles would taste as good as mice and rats. Until then, it will be a battle of wits and smoke bombs. I wonder if road flares would work as well?
At the beginning of the week I took my hoe and was able to open up one of the piles of dirt to find the tunnel. I stuck the fuse into the smoke bomb, lit it, and put it into the hole. Then we covered the hole with dirt. For several days we didn't have any more movement of moles. No more new holes. No more racing out to the end of the pasture. That lasted for five days. Then the holes started up again. They didn't go at such a lightning speed as before but still the destruction was happening right before our eyes. Out came another smoke bomb. Into the hole it went. Yesterday I didn't see any more digging. Today I left before it got light and got home after it got dark. I have no clue what happened.
Tomorrow morning I don't have to go to the office. Yeah, I get to sleep in until 6! That may not seem late but with my new schedule of leaving the house at 5:30, sleeping until six is really sleeping in. I will have the morning at home and will be able to get a good look at the front pasture. Those suckers are MINE! It's kind of like connect four and so many other games, where your entire strategy is to make it so the other player can't get from one place to the other. Those moles will not make it to the end of the pasture. They will be dead before then. I guarantee it!
I have to go out of town tomorrow and will be gone for several days. Prior to leaving I have to head back to County Ag to pick up more things to kill critters. Poison for mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, and moles. There's poisoned bait and also the smoke bombs. If you don't keep the critters under control you will have a hard time gardening. They will get under your trees and munch on the roots. Dead trees!
I have friends who have raised beds. Each bed has small mesh wire under the bed, the beds are almost 2 feet tall, and the plants do reasonably well. They also have wire going up the sides of the beds to keep the bottom feeding critters out. I have another friend who has a fenced in area about 10X10. This is fenced on the bottom, sides, and top. This will keep all critters out, except it's not a big enough garden to take care of her needs if she really had to support herself.
Shooting squirrels and rabbits and eating them is always an option. I wonder how moles taste? If TSHTF and I was really hungry, then I guess moles would taste as good as mice and rats. Until then, it will be a battle of wits and smoke bombs. I wonder if road flares would work as well?
Friday, February 1, 2013
CCW Renewal
Today I spent four hours at the range to get my CCW permit renewed. This instructor offers classes several times per week. Some of the classes are for beginners and others are for very advanced shooters. I'm definitely on the beginners end. While I like to shoot, I've never had formal training...until today.
I sent the instructor an email asking if he had any class space open either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. He arranged for this morning. I met him at the range at 8:30. We were both early as class didn't start until 9:00. He said we may as well start since I was the only student. Outside of his formal classes he signs people up as requested and if he can book more than one student at a time he does. But today it was just me.
I got 3 1/2 hours of shooting instruction and feedback. I was standing a little too far back, then a little too far forward. Then I wasn't gripping well. Then he had me see just how slow I could pull the trigger. Feel it. By the end I was getting every shot in the X or the 9s. You can qualify on up to four weapons. I qualified on two. I went through a lot of ammo. It was well worth it.
I still had to go through the lecture part and take the exam. After thinking about what Steve from Exeter said about his class not having enough regulations and the main emphasis on shooting I took this opportunity to ask a bunch of questions. I'm glad I did. For example, it's OK to go into the State Fish and Wildlife office with a concealed weapon on you but it's illegal to go into the Forest Service building with a weapon. Private building OK, State OK, Federal not OK. You can't be on any school grounds, whether private or public with the weapon on you. It can be locked in the car. It can be loaded and placed anywhere in your car as long as it's not visible to the public. Put it in the glove box if you want. It's illegal to keep one there if you don't have a permit but if you do, that's fine. Put in on the front passenger seat and cover it with a jacket. Again, fine with the permit, illegal without it. What about Starbucks? Any private place can tell you that no weapons are allowed. That doesn't mean you have to comply. If you don't have to walk through a metal detector they won't know.
If your workplace says you can't carry weapons, it's not against the law if you do. You could get fired if they find out about it but it's supposed to be concealed. If you don't have to walk through a metal detector when you come in the door you won't get caught. They won't find out unless you open your mouth or you pull it out of its holster. Not too long before I got my new job they had a workplace shooting which killed several people. It was in another part of the state but still the same company. We went through new employee training and part of the safety training taught about what to do if there is an active shooter. Thinking to myself, but not saying it out loud, "if I had to, I'd shoot". Sure I may lose my job for carrying a weapon at work but I'd be alive.
I sent the instructor an email asking if he had any class space open either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. He arranged for this morning. I met him at the range at 8:30. We were both early as class didn't start until 9:00. He said we may as well start since I was the only student. Outside of his formal classes he signs people up as requested and if he can book more than one student at a time he does. But today it was just me.
I got 3 1/2 hours of shooting instruction and feedback. I was standing a little too far back, then a little too far forward. Then I wasn't gripping well. Then he had me see just how slow I could pull the trigger. Feel it. By the end I was getting every shot in the X or the 9s. You can qualify on up to four weapons. I qualified on two. I went through a lot of ammo. It was well worth it.
I still had to go through the lecture part and take the exam. After thinking about what Steve from Exeter said about his class not having enough regulations and the main emphasis on shooting I took this opportunity to ask a bunch of questions. I'm glad I did. For example, it's OK to go into the State Fish and Wildlife office with a concealed weapon on you but it's illegal to go into the Forest Service building with a weapon. Private building OK, State OK, Federal not OK. You can't be on any school grounds, whether private or public with the weapon on you. It can be locked in the car. It can be loaded and placed anywhere in your car as long as it's not visible to the public. Put it in the glove box if you want. It's illegal to keep one there if you don't have a permit but if you do, that's fine. Put in on the front passenger seat and cover it with a jacket. Again, fine with the permit, illegal without it. What about Starbucks? Any private place can tell you that no weapons are allowed. That doesn't mean you have to comply. If you don't have to walk through a metal detector they won't know.
If your workplace says you can't carry weapons, it's not against the law if you do. You could get fired if they find out about it but it's supposed to be concealed. If you don't have to walk through a metal detector when you come in the door you won't get caught. They won't find out unless you open your mouth or you pull it out of its holster. Not too long before I got my new job they had a workplace shooting which killed several people. It was in another part of the state but still the same company. We went through new employee training and part of the safety training taught about what to do if there is an active shooter. Thinking to myself, but not saying it out loud, "if I had to, I'd shoot". Sure I may lose my job for carrying a weapon at work but I'd be alive.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Busy start of the week
My day started off well. I had a meeting at 10 between here and the office which meant I didn't have to leave for work at 5:30. I didn't leave until 9:30. I didn't accomplish much this morning other than scrubbed the kitchen a bit more than normal. Big dog was sleeping on her pillow on the back patio and didn't want to come in the house. Usually I can convince her to come in for a while but she knows that if she's in the house when the last person leaves she will probably have to stay in the house until the next person arrives home. So this morning she didn't come in. It wasn't unusual but now I'm thinking that perhaps she had a different reason than just not wanting to get locked in the house.
I got home this evening at my normal 7:00. Both big dog and yip-yip always come running into the garage when I drive in. We have a race to see who will make it into the garage first once the door starts opening. They always do because I don't want to run them over when I'm driving in. But this evening only yip-yip made it in before me. Big dog was hobbling in. This isn't good. She had surgery a couple months ago when she tore a ligament. I wonder if she did the same thing to the other leg? She's in the house sound asleep now. We will see if she just twisted something or if she really hurt herself when she wakes up later.
Tomorrow I have to get off work early for an appointment with the kids. If big dog isn't better then I'll have to take off on Wednesday to get her to the vet. I wonder dealing with the dog counts as sick leave?
Boy is upset. He tried out for a school team and told me that they were going to tell him tomorrow if he made the team. I asked if they have practice during school or after. He didn't know. I told him if practice is after school then he can't participate since there's no room on the late bus to get him home. Sorry. He said he'd try to get one of the parents to bring him home. Sorry again. I can't rely on someone else to bring you home. What if their kid doesn't stay after on any given day and you've just missed the bus? This is the second casualty of my new job.
The first was missing the science fair last week since it went from 5:30-6:30. Girl didn't mind. She came home with her grade today. She got a D on her project. What's worse is I'm a scientist. This is a perfect example of grandparent actually letting the kid do their own project rather than doing it for them. I tried to coach her but obviously I let her do it her way. Unfortunately, she wasn't blessed with scientific brains. She did work hard on it and earned her D.
I ordered some pest control items. I wrote about this subject about six months ago. http://whatifitistoday.blogspot.com/2012/07/pest-control.html I finally decided that I should have some of this stuff on hand rather than expect Clark Pest Control to always be available. I wonder if there is a shelf life for this stuff? If not, then I may add this to my list of items to purchase a couple times per year. Right now, it's still worth it to me to have Clark do the spraying because I don't have lots of spare time. But at some point in time I will have the time and will do it myself.
On my next day off I have to go back to the range to qualify for the renewal of my concealed weapons permit. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I've had the permit. This time I'm not only going to get my local permit but also get one from either Utah or Arizona. My instructor is qualified to offer both. California doesn't honor other state's permits and most states don't honor California's. But many states do honor those from either Utah or Arizona. If I get the additional permit then when I travel I can still carry legally.
I got home this evening at my normal 7:00. Both big dog and yip-yip always come running into the garage when I drive in. We have a race to see who will make it into the garage first once the door starts opening. They always do because I don't want to run them over when I'm driving in. But this evening only yip-yip made it in before me. Big dog was hobbling in. This isn't good. She had surgery a couple months ago when she tore a ligament. I wonder if she did the same thing to the other leg? She's in the house sound asleep now. We will see if she just twisted something or if she really hurt herself when she wakes up later.
Tomorrow I have to get off work early for an appointment with the kids. If big dog isn't better then I'll have to take off on Wednesday to get her to the vet. I wonder dealing with the dog counts as sick leave?
Boy is upset. He tried out for a school team and told me that they were going to tell him tomorrow if he made the team. I asked if they have practice during school or after. He didn't know. I told him if practice is after school then he can't participate since there's no room on the late bus to get him home. Sorry. He said he'd try to get one of the parents to bring him home. Sorry again. I can't rely on someone else to bring you home. What if their kid doesn't stay after on any given day and you've just missed the bus? This is the second casualty of my new job.
The first was missing the science fair last week since it went from 5:30-6:30. Girl didn't mind. She came home with her grade today. She got a D on her project. What's worse is I'm a scientist. This is a perfect example of grandparent actually letting the kid do their own project rather than doing it for them. I tried to coach her but obviously I let her do it her way. Unfortunately, she wasn't blessed with scientific brains. She did work hard on it and earned her D.
I ordered some pest control items. I wrote about this subject about six months ago. http://whatifitistoday.blogspot.com/2012/07/pest-control.html I finally decided that I should have some of this stuff on hand rather than expect Clark Pest Control to always be available. I wonder if there is a shelf life for this stuff? If not, then I may add this to my list of items to purchase a couple times per year. Right now, it's still worth it to me to have Clark do the spraying because I don't have lots of spare time. But at some point in time I will have the time and will do it myself.
On my next day off I have to go back to the range to qualify for the renewal of my concealed weapons permit. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I've had the permit. This time I'm not only going to get my local permit but also get one from either Utah or Arizona. My instructor is qualified to offer both. California doesn't honor other state's permits and most states don't honor California's. But many states do honor those from either Utah or Arizona. If I get the additional permit then when I travel I can still carry legally.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Making a list and checking it twice...
The heading should have been written in December. I really enjoy my new job and am getting used to the hours and the distance traveled. It's only four days per week but unfortunately for me my Friday's have been filled with appointments and such so I haven't gotten to just relax on that extra day. This past Friday I didn't have to leave the house until 2:45 so I actually wore sweats until about 2:00. I still accomplished things, I just looked like a slob. And it was so well deserved!
We had a meeting on Thursday and prior to the meeting I was briefed about how this group doesn't want to cooperate with that group and nobody talks to each other and on and on. It's not a good way to get the job done, especially since it's all the same company and it's contractors. I suppose I'm too new to understand the stupidity of it all. Anyway, I'm not putting up with that. If I need to know something I will get the information and I will also go straight to the people who don't like to share. They WILL share. So the meeting starts..the tables are set out in a U. Our side sits on one side, the other group on the other side. Gee, if I knew that was how it was going to be I would have taken a seat in the middle of "their" side. Instead, I took a seat facing the door rather than my back to the door. This put me in with my own group but also in a safer position, since I sat there for safety reasons rather than grouping reasons. The meeting drags on and on. At the end I asked THEM if I had to go through THEM to talk with one of their contractors or could I talk straight to the person. After all, in my previous job I knew this person. Of course they said go straight to the person and they were glad we had a working relationship. OK, it's on record. I don't have to follow their stupidity of nobody talking to each other. After the meeting was over I had a quiet moment with my supervisor. "See", I said, "that's why you hired me!" I will cut through this government regulation crap. I was from the government. I'm here to help.
I decided to buy a Prius. It hasn't been delivered yet, the dealer is bringing it to my house next week. Why a Prius? It won't help me in any way if we have an EMP, that's for certain. But, barring that disaster, it will pay for itself in about 6 years. After that, it will be a free car. How? With the amount of miles I'm driving just in my commute I'm using 7 gallons of gas each day. That comes to 28 gallons a week just to get me back and forth to work; never mind the extra driving I do to bring the grand kids to their religious training a couple times a week or the trips to southern CA. The 28 gallons at four bucks a gallon...sure it's only $3.59 today... would be $112 a week. In the Prius, I will use 2 gallons per day. That's 8 gallons a week. Or an $80 difference each and every week. In a year that comes to $4160 in gas savings. In six years the car, insurance, and registration will have all been paid for by the savings in gas. As long as an EMP doesn't take it out before then. I hate Prius's. They are ugly. But at this point in time I don't care. I was thinking about getting a Subaru and a friend of mine works at a dealer, but since I was going just for fuel economy, Subaru couldn't come close to the 50 mpg that I'm going to get. I am focused and that focus means that I will be driving the most ugly small vehicle I've ever sat in. I like my truck. I want my truck to last for a lot longer than the 12 years I've had it and making this commute in it isn't going to keep it healthy. On the other hand, if the weather is bad, I'll drive the truck.
My focus for the year is to get the house and our life in ship-shape, tip-top order. I have my list of lists. Each month I am trying to purchase or complete on of the topics. If I only focus on food, then I will fall short on everything else. Same goes with ammunition, clothing, water, self sufficiency, etc. Right now, we are good for over a year with everything...even enough in the savings to pay mortgage and taxes. Then it goes to two years, then three, etc. Again, my goal is that five or six years from now we will be 100% self sufficient. That doesn't mean that I'll be spinning my own wool or cotton to make material for our clothes but it does mean that I will have enough supplies on hand to make what we need if we don't have those items in storage.
Since I don't seem to ever get anything right the first time around, this weekend we pulled up some of the t-posts and fencing panels around the fruit trees in the front pasture. Since the sheep won't be placed into the front pasture for several more months we have plenty of time to go our typical snails pace at getting this project done. We have about a dozen trees in the front. First I put in four t-posts in corners about 8 feet apart. The tree was in the middle. This meant that the tree was 4 feet from any fence. Sounds fine until the sheep started pushing in the middle of the panel. Also, they'd climb up on their hind legs and eat whatever they could reach of the branches hanging out. After all, the truck may be 4 feet from the fence but none of the branches were! Last year I got this brilliant idea to add a fifth panel and a 5th t-post. This gave a little more stability to the panels but the sheep still ate everything that got close to the edges. Three of the trees had full 16 foot panels. Those trees had a span of 8 feet from trunk to edge where the sheep could get to. Any you know what? They were able to get to some of the branches! Whatever! 16 foot panels is good. I really don't want those fruit trees to have that wide of a spread. Also, instead of putting the t-posts in the corners I've put them in the middle of the panel. That way the animals can't push in the middle It works. The 16 foot panels are only on three of the trees. We have a lot more to do. Soon...at least before we put the animals back into the front. One of the problems with trying to save money, especially when I didn't have much, was that I just Micky-mouse the project and it isn't done well enough to last forever, or as close to forever as I want these projects to last.
I found that our local Target is now selling freeze dried fruit in bags for $2.99 for anywhere from 1 to 1 3/4 ounces. I checked on a large company's site to see their prices. This company has freeze dried strawberries on sale in #10 cans. Their prices are about $3 an ounce if you buy the case. This means Target is cheaper, except you are buying in bags rather than in the cans. I'd rather buy them cheaper and package them up myself. Target has strawberry, mango, pineapple, mixed berry (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry), apple, and others in stock. The other week I bought some that were marked down for even cheaper.
Nothing so far has had anything to do with my Making a List and Checking it Twice. I am making a small goal each week that is a subset of my larger goal of total self sufficiency. I have my notebook that includes my list of lists. This week, I'm getting out my list of lists that I compiled and also Rawles's list in his book How to Survive TEOTWAWKI. I want to see how I'm doing when comparing it to the list. That way I will stay on track to accomplish my goals. It's worth going over again.
We had a meeting on Thursday and prior to the meeting I was briefed about how this group doesn't want to cooperate with that group and nobody talks to each other and on and on. It's not a good way to get the job done, especially since it's all the same company and it's contractors. I suppose I'm too new to understand the stupidity of it all. Anyway, I'm not putting up with that. If I need to know something I will get the information and I will also go straight to the people who don't like to share. They WILL share. So the meeting starts..the tables are set out in a U. Our side sits on one side, the other group on the other side. Gee, if I knew that was how it was going to be I would have taken a seat in the middle of "their" side. Instead, I took a seat facing the door rather than my back to the door. This put me in with my own group but also in a safer position, since I sat there for safety reasons rather than grouping reasons. The meeting drags on and on. At the end I asked THEM if I had to go through THEM to talk with one of their contractors or could I talk straight to the person. After all, in my previous job I knew this person. Of course they said go straight to the person and they were glad we had a working relationship. OK, it's on record. I don't have to follow their stupidity of nobody talking to each other. After the meeting was over I had a quiet moment with my supervisor. "See", I said, "that's why you hired me!" I will cut through this government regulation crap. I was from the government. I'm here to help.
I decided to buy a Prius. It hasn't been delivered yet, the dealer is bringing it to my house next week. Why a Prius? It won't help me in any way if we have an EMP, that's for certain. But, barring that disaster, it will pay for itself in about 6 years. After that, it will be a free car. How? With the amount of miles I'm driving just in my commute I'm using 7 gallons of gas each day. That comes to 28 gallons a week just to get me back and forth to work; never mind the extra driving I do to bring the grand kids to their religious training a couple times a week or the trips to southern CA. The 28 gallons at four bucks a gallon...sure it's only $3.59 today... would be $112 a week. In the Prius, I will use 2 gallons per day. That's 8 gallons a week. Or an $80 difference each and every week. In a year that comes to $4160 in gas savings. In six years the car, insurance, and registration will have all been paid for by the savings in gas. As long as an EMP doesn't take it out before then. I hate Prius's. They are ugly. But at this point in time I don't care. I was thinking about getting a Subaru and a friend of mine works at a dealer, but since I was going just for fuel economy, Subaru couldn't come close to the 50 mpg that I'm going to get. I am focused and that focus means that I will be driving the most ugly small vehicle I've ever sat in. I like my truck. I want my truck to last for a lot longer than the 12 years I've had it and making this commute in it isn't going to keep it healthy. On the other hand, if the weather is bad, I'll drive the truck.
My focus for the year is to get the house and our life in ship-shape, tip-top order. I have my list of lists. Each month I am trying to purchase or complete on of the topics. If I only focus on food, then I will fall short on everything else. Same goes with ammunition, clothing, water, self sufficiency, etc. Right now, we are good for over a year with everything...even enough in the savings to pay mortgage and taxes. Then it goes to two years, then three, etc. Again, my goal is that five or six years from now we will be 100% self sufficient. That doesn't mean that I'll be spinning my own wool or cotton to make material for our clothes but it does mean that I will have enough supplies on hand to make what we need if we don't have those items in storage.
Since I don't seem to ever get anything right the first time around, this weekend we pulled up some of the t-posts and fencing panels around the fruit trees in the front pasture. Since the sheep won't be placed into the front pasture for several more months we have plenty of time to go our typical snails pace at getting this project done. We have about a dozen trees in the front. First I put in four t-posts in corners about 8 feet apart. The tree was in the middle. This meant that the tree was 4 feet from any fence. Sounds fine until the sheep started pushing in the middle of the panel. Also, they'd climb up on their hind legs and eat whatever they could reach of the branches hanging out. After all, the truck may be 4 feet from the fence but none of the branches were! Last year I got this brilliant idea to add a fifth panel and a 5th t-post. This gave a little more stability to the panels but the sheep still ate everything that got close to the edges. Three of the trees had full 16 foot panels. Those trees had a span of 8 feet from trunk to edge where the sheep could get to. Any you know what? They were able to get to some of the branches! Whatever! 16 foot panels is good. I really don't want those fruit trees to have that wide of a spread. Also, instead of putting the t-posts in the corners I've put them in the middle of the panel. That way the animals can't push in the middle It works. The 16 foot panels are only on three of the trees. We have a lot more to do. Soon...at least before we put the animals back into the front. One of the problems with trying to save money, especially when I didn't have much, was that I just Micky-mouse the project and it isn't done well enough to last forever, or as close to forever as I want these projects to last.
I found that our local Target is now selling freeze dried fruit in bags for $2.99 for anywhere from 1 to 1 3/4 ounces. I checked on a large company's site to see their prices. This company has freeze dried strawberries on sale in #10 cans. Their prices are about $3 an ounce if you buy the case. This means Target is cheaper, except you are buying in bags rather than in the cans. I'd rather buy them cheaper and package them up myself. Target has strawberry, mango, pineapple, mixed berry (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry), apple, and others in stock. The other week I bought some that were marked down for even cheaper.
Nothing so far has had anything to do with my Making a List and Checking it Twice. I am making a small goal each week that is a subset of my larger goal of total self sufficiency. I have my notebook that includes my list of lists. This week, I'm getting out my list of lists that I compiled and also Rawles's list in his book How to Survive TEOTWAWKI. I want to see how I'm doing when comparing it to the list. That way I will stay on track to accomplish my goals. It's worth going over again.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
A Horse?
Brother-in-law said that someone he worked with was giving away their horse. Did I want it? I had to think hard about this one.
A horse would be a good animal to have on the farm if it was trained and if I had an abundant supply of food. I don't. The pasture isn't irrigated so I would run out of food for it. Perhaps I wouldn't if I didn't have any other animals, but the sheep (and future goats) are much more valuable to me. Sure I could use the horse to get from place A to B if I don't have a vehicle, but if it would starve to death then it wouldn't last very long as my mode of transportation.
I could also use the horse to help plow. It used to be said that a farm without a milk cow and a horse wasn't much of a farm. I think a farm with sheep, chickens, and goats are more useful, and they eat less food which means I can keep more animals. I'd rather have 10 small animals than one horse.
I bet, if things went sour, I could convince my neighbors to finish fencing their 20 acres. They are using about 5, so that could mean 15 acres of pasture. That could support a horse without having to suppliment the food.
Many years ago, when my kids were young we had two horses. One of my kids liked them and rode them. She also somewhat took care of them. But I didn't think they were taken care of well enough and certainly not ridden often enough. You can't have a horse and expect it to behave properly if you don't give it more than an hour or so every week. That pasture was irrigated. Just because it can eat from your pasture so you don't have to feed it doesn't mean you are taking care of it. Anyway, I gave those horses to a friend. About two weeks later one of the horses threw her kid and the kid broke his arm.
So now I'm thinking about another. I always said that I'd like another horse when I retired. But retiring from one job and taking another isn't the same thing as retiring. I don't have time, especially with this new job. I leave before dawn and arrive home after dark. That doesn't give me time for the horse during the four days I'm working. The other three days I'd have time. What about if the kids helped out during the four days I couldn't? Forget that. They can't even seem to make their beds or eat breakfast in the morning. When they get home they have time to play but can't seem to find the time to collect the eggs. So a horse? No. I turned it down.
A horse would be a good animal to have on the farm if it was trained and if I had an abundant supply of food. I don't. The pasture isn't irrigated so I would run out of food for it. Perhaps I wouldn't if I didn't have any other animals, but the sheep (and future goats) are much more valuable to me. Sure I could use the horse to get from place A to B if I don't have a vehicle, but if it would starve to death then it wouldn't last very long as my mode of transportation.
I could also use the horse to help plow. It used to be said that a farm without a milk cow and a horse wasn't much of a farm. I think a farm with sheep, chickens, and goats are more useful, and they eat less food which means I can keep more animals. I'd rather have 10 small animals than one horse.
I bet, if things went sour, I could convince my neighbors to finish fencing their 20 acres. They are using about 5, so that could mean 15 acres of pasture. That could support a horse without having to suppliment the food.
Many years ago, when my kids were young we had two horses. One of my kids liked them and rode them. She also somewhat took care of them. But I didn't think they were taken care of well enough and certainly not ridden often enough. You can't have a horse and expect it to behave properly if you don't give it more than an hour or so every week. That pasture was irrigated. Just because it can eat from your pasture so you don't have to feed it doesn't mean you are taking care of it. Anyway, I gave those horses to a friend. About two weeks later one of the horses threw her kid and the kid broke his arm.
So now I'm thinking about another. I always said that I'd like another horse when I retired. But retiring from one job and taking another isn't the same thing as retiring. I don't have time, especially with this new job. I leave before dawn and arrive home after dark. That doesn't give me time for the horse during the four days I'm working. The other three days I'd have time. What about if the kids helped out during the four days I couldn't? Forget that. They can't even seem to make their beds or eat breakfast in the morning. When they get home they have time to play but can't seem to find the time to collect the eggs. So a horse? No. I turned it down.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Will we survive another four years?
The president will be in office for four more years. Here in California the Dem's have a super majority. They can do whatever they choose because they can't be stopped. New laws and new ways to take my money...I'm not in a good mood. Now I can't keep myself depressed for the next four years, that won't be wise, but I'm trying to plan things a little differently. Both yesterday and today I was asked by former coworkers if I really missed my state job. I, as politely as possible, said that I don't miss anything about it at all. It's really strange, I've only been away from that job for less than a month and yet it seems like forever. It's just a distant memory. While I actually was a state worker who cared about how the taxpayers money was spent, I'm still happy to say I am no longer a state employee.
If things go south now, I am prepared, sort of. Bug-out place may be getting a good face lift but it doesn't have the garden or out buildings that I want. It's a slow process there because Son really does a lousy job doing anything that can't be completed in 10 minute spurts. If it takes longer than that he isn't interested because it would cut into his TV or computer game time. I'd like to get some fruit trees planted this spring up there. I'll have to put in the entire watering system because I am not certain they would keep them alive if they were responsible for watering. Daughter-in-law probably would, Son, I doubt it. It's too bad because I do have the money to upgrade the yard and some of the buildings. I just don't have lots of time to do any of it. And although Son says he wants to live there forever he isn't willing to put out much effort.
That brings me to the main property. If TSHTF and we didn't have to leave this house we'd be just fine. The yard is set up the way I want. The house is set up fine. We have lots of food in storage and the ability to pretty much provide for ourselves as long as we aren't over run by others. Today I pruned a few more of the fruit trees. Only 7 more to go. I just wasn't in the mood to do more this weekend and next weekend we are out of town so perhaps the weekend after that I will finish. Normally I just have the grand kids pile the trimmings along the front fence. Fruit wood is such good wood to burn I have decided that we are going to take the larger diameter pieces of wood and cut them to length for the wood pile. The largest pieces are only about 3 inches in diameter but that's good enough to get a really hot fire going.
The new neighbor is turning out to be a good neighbor. He's putting in a large chicken yard and plans on housing a couple hundred chickens. He already has a clientele (that he delivers dressed chickens to, they don't show up at his place). He doesn't care that his other next door neighbor hates chickens, children, noise, or really anything and everything. We are going to get along just fine.
We got all the chickens into the coop. Something was killing the ones in the front pasture. The ducks didn't fare as well. While I told Boy and Girl to catch the chickens and ducks and stick them all into the coop, when I got home three days later I checked on the critters. Lots of new chickens were in the coop. They seemed to be getting along well enough. Where are the ducks? I went out front and saw three piles of feathers in the front pasture. I took a look around. One dead duck. One duck foot. No live ducks. Kids! Where are the ducks? Boy said that he couldn't catch them and girl wouldn't help. Neither did oldest grandson. Boy! Did you tell them that you couldn't do it and that I said they would die if they weren't caught? Did you insist? No. He couldn't do it. They didn't help, so he went out to play football. The ducks are all dead. Boy is giving his football away to the school. Girl and Boy looked through the Murray McMurray catalogue to pick out new ducks and give me the money for them. They gave me $22. I told them I didn't want any more ducks. Go put that money into the donation jar.
Wish I didn't have to work and could be here full time. Being a single grandparent of a fifth and sixth grader is not easy anyway. Having to work the long hours doesn't make it any easier. At least my work travel is over for a while. I do have to go back to LA for a few days but I probably won't do that until the next month or two. End of March would be the best since they are on spring break. It would be a perfect time to travel. I'll just bring them with me and drop them off down in San Diego. Hopefully I can hold off until then.
Since I leave before the sun comes up and don't get home until after the sun sets for the next four days, I got everything in the yard all squared away. Even if the grand kids don't step one foot out into the animal area the chickens and sheep are set for the week. Their water and feeders are filled. We had twin lambs born last week when I was gone. Maybe we'll get a few more this week.
Right now, what's going on in my brain is looking at this place with a four or five year plan. Never mind that I'll be pushing 60 at that time, I want to set this main property up so that I don't ever have to leave it. Ever! In the next four or five years can I plant enough of a garden, keep a sustainable amount of livestock, produce enough electricity, keep enough clothing or yard goods on hand, put in an additional propane tank to only have to fill it up every few years, have a full supply of hardware, everything...not really even need the use of my truck (although I won't get rid of it). That's my new goal. All I have to do is survive the next four.
If things go south now, I am prepared, sort of. Bug-out place may be getting a good face lift but it doesn't have the garden or out buildings that I want. It's a slow process there because Son really does a lousy job doing anything that can't be completed in 10 minute spurts. If it takes longer than that he isn't interested because it would cut into his TV or computer game time. I'd like to get some fruit trees planted this spring up there. I'll have to put in the entire watering system because I am not certain they would keep them alive if they were responsible for watering. Daughter-in-law probably would, Son, I doubt it. It's too bad because I do have the money to upgrade the yard and some of the buildings. I just don't have lots of time to do any of it. And although Son says he wants to live there forever he isn't willing to put out much effort.
That brings me to the main property. If TSHTF and we didn't have to leave this house we'd be just fine. The yard is set up the way I want. The house is set up fine. We have lots of food in storage and the ability to pretty much provide for ourselves as long as we aren't over run by others. Today I pruned a few more of the fruit trees. Only 7 more to go. I just wasn't in the mood to do more this weekend and next weekend we are out of town so perhaps the weekend after that I will finish. Normally I just have the grand kids pile the trimmings along the front fence. Fruit wood is such good wood to burn I have decided that we are going to take the larger diameter pieces of wood and cut them to length for the wood pile. The largest pieces are only about 3 inches in diameter but that's good enough to get a really hot fire going.
The new neighbor is turning out to be a good neighbor. He's putting in a large chicken yard and plans on housing a couple hundred chickens. He already has a clientele (that he delivers dressed chickens to, they don't show up at his place). He doesn't care that his other next door neighbor hates chickens, children, noise, or really anything and everything. We are going to get along just fine.
We got all the chickens into the coop. Something was killing the ones in the front pasture. The ducks didn't fare as well. While I told Boy and Girl to catch the chickens and ducks and stick them all into the coop, when I got home three days later I checked on the critters. Lots of new chickens were in the coop. They seemed to be getting along well enough. Where are the ducks? I went out front and saw three piles of feathers in the front pasture. I took a look around. One dead duck. One duck foot. No live ducks. Kids! Where are the ducks? Boy said that he couldn't catch them and girl wouldn't help. Neither did oldest grandson. Boy! Did you tell them that you couldn't do it and that I said they would die if they weren't caught? Did you insist? No. He couldn't do it. They didn't help, so he went out to play football. The ducks are all dead. Boy is giving his football away to the school. Girl and Boy looked through the Murray McMurray catalogue to pick out new ducks and give me the money for them. They gave me $22. I told them I didn't want any more ducks. Go put that money into the donation jar.
Wish I didn't have to work and could be here full time. Being a single grandparent of a fifth and sixth grader is not easy anyway. Having to work the long hours doesn't make it any easier. At least my work travel is over for a while. I do have to go back to LA for a few days but I probably won't do that until the next month or two. End of March would be the best since they are on spring break. It would be a perfect time to travel. I'll just bring them with me and drop them off down in San Diego. Hopefully I can hold off until then.
Since I leave before the sun comes up and don't get home until after the sun sets for the next four days, I got everything in the yard all squared away. Even if the grand kids don't step one foot out into the animal area the chickens and sheep are set for the week. Their water and feeders are filled. We had twin lambs born last week when I was gone. Maybe we'll get a few more this week.
Right now, what's going on in my brain is looking at this place with a four or five year plan. Never mind that I'll be pushing 60 at that time, I want to set this main property up so that I don't ever have to leave it. Ever! In the next four or five years can I plant enough of a garden, keep a sustainable amount of livestock, produce enough electricity, keep enough clothing or yard goods on hand, put in an additional propane tank to only have to fill it up every few years, have a full supply of hardware, everything...not really even need the use of my truck (although I won't get rid of it). That's my new goal. All I have to do is survive the next four.
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