31 thoughts on “A Profound Prepping Lesson”

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  2. (“with all that experience, I would have thought that I’d “seen it all.”)

    I’ve spent the vast majority of my life taking care of people..seeing their needs and helping as many as I can during their moments of weakness..be had physicians while going to school work beside me going up and down the halls .. rich,poor,in between famous and infamous..after it all..I had made the comment to an upcoming physician that ended up becoming the medical director of a top two hundred hospital.. I said to him..yup I’ve seen it all..then we walked into a patients room and the patient was engaged in doing something absolutely disgusting..and he said..you’ve seen that before..nope that’s a new one.. what that taught me is you’ll never see it all.. I can tell you that it does take a lot to shock me though..lol lol..

  3. Road conditions here are nuts. The temperature was 31F all night with light rain. The junipers are droopy, but the other trees had a light coat of ice at daybreak.
    At 5 AM, the temperature plunged from 31 F to 20F in about 45 minutes, the freezing rain stopped, and it started sleeting.
    About an hour ago, I get up, run my car up and down the driveway to test for traction, and the road out front look passable. The lock on my gate was frozen solid. I go back in, and start heating up a big pot of water to unfreeze the lock, and find my lock lube. I was inside 15 – 20 minutes.
    I go out, and I noticed the freezing rain has started back up, but now it is 20F, not 31F. I drive up to the gate and the driveway is definitely slicker. I defrost and lube the lock, and get my car through the gate. The road in front is not looking so good. I pull out, and try accelerating and panic stops. Near black ice condition. Hit the brakes hard, the car keeps right on going. By the time I get the car in the gate and down to the garage, it is so slick I can barely get the car in the garage.
    Never seen road conditions deteriorate that fast before.
    Tie a plastic grocery bag around a gate lock once it is defrosted and lubed, and that will stop it from refreezing due to freezing precip.

    • Its -8 here and the dog thinks its springtime lol lol..
      we had something like twenty below and fifty mile an hour winds the other day..brrr.. the buggy groaned before it started..

    • I left one gate wide open and in view of two cameras. I wasn’t going to fight with both the lock and any snow/ice that held it closed. It would take a snow cat and ice tracks to even get to that gate today.

    • Currently 4 degrees here on the plains, and the wind died down today. No ice, thankfully, just about 5 inches of powder. No slopes to ski on, so it’s mostly wasted, but will provide some moisture when it melts. That is scheduled to start on Tuesday.

  4. “Storm Fern”

    Recall the olden days. “It’s gonna be cold tomorrow, take a hat.” Today winter storms are named.

    What would JFK say? In the files between Epstein and space alien disclosure.

    • In my FEMA Zone the lows are below zero until 1/29 and single digits until 2/1. How will we know when Storm Fern is over. does Trump give am all-clear?

      1st world problems – weather.

  6. Here’s a unique idea (or rerun).

    “Ford and General Motors have received federal approval to establish banking units, enabling them to offer better loan terms amid rising vehicle affordability concerns. The FDIC authorized Ford Credit Bank and GM Financial Bank, both chartered in Utah, to provide automotive financing by purchasing retail contracts from Ford dealers.”

  7. Wild Guess – George’s toilet water froze

    I’ve heard roof beams crack in house in northern MN when extremely cold. Walked to work in 40 below weather. Three years there and the schools never closed for bad weather.

    27 years in MN never experienced frostbite. Had to go emergency room in Arkansas in 100 degree hot weather for frostbite – Freezing strawberries and my damp hand froze to the metal side of the freezer and I couldn’t remove it. Thank goodness my husband finally heard me screaming.

    • RJ : the MN clan my son married into are a bunch of hearty German Americans. Love them. Didn’t like the hyper cold but we are better suited than most. We lived in South Bend. It’s the Buffalo, NY of Northwestern Indiana. A snow city. Our school system had a certain mojo about remaining open come what may. Snow days? That’s for sissies. Snork, everything’s closing in advance here. Same tough people but … Egor

  9. Great chart pack and analysis today, Gold/Silver ratio suggesting one is under or overvalued with the other. Dow/Gold ratio heading to 1:1 again for history to rhyme.

    Golden insurance needed more than ever, old school accountants suggesting having at least 5% of net worth in precious metals, have been proven correct, again.

    The Constitution says Gold and Silver are money, not paper promises. The Federal Reserve System along with politicians hijacked the stable currency system, the ripple effects continue destabilizing the glue of society and the government itself.

    The paper money insanity has driven hyperinflation and killed the notion of money being a store of value. I would love to see a return to the gold standard.

  10. Unless you’ve a buggered-up fitting or tank, hand-tight should always be sufficient.

    Always, always, ALWAYS give the tank valve a turn, then using a long-nose (charcoal pit) lighter, test the connections. If you get a fire, simply turn the tank off. Tighten, then repeat. Understand, there’s nothing to fear. Because fires require oxygen, the tank can not explode. A little fire tells you either you’re not tight enough, or some idiot created a burr on the tank fitting. Overtightening causes the “O” ring to fail prematurely. A failed “O” ring causes massive gas leaks.

    And yes, I had a tank leak this year on an aux. heater. ‘Gave it an extra twist, with my hand, and the leak went away…

  11. A tip for cooking fresh pasta.. it cooks fast usually a couple minutes.. also salt the water or add garlic etc. fresh home made pasta absorbs flavors better than store bought..
    you know I’ve talked about fresh pasta but never mentioned that it cooks fast because its fresh.. and cooking it like you would store bought dried pasta could make the experience unfavorable..

  12. The latest shooting incident in MN looks questionable. I have not seen any footage of what the suspect did leading up to the incident, so I would not speculate on guilt or innocence of personnel involved. The optics on having a half dozen officers hold down a US citizen with a clean police record while another pumps bullets in to him doesn’t look so good. A less lethal weapon would have probably been applicable.
    In Texas, you don’t necessarily need a permit to carry a gun, but if you have a permit, don’t expect it to mean anything to warrant officers. Weapons are an excuse for summary executions, not an invisible shield. I advise against going anywhere near a warrant sweep. Getting caught up in any police operation while carrying is a potential suicide move. I tend to restrict carry to special circumstance, and I never openly display weapons (unless I am getting ready to use it).
    Medical personnel working in high-crime gang infested urban centers have a legitimate reason to carry. But being a solid citizen with papers in order will not save you if you mouth off to warrant officers.

    • n___ everyone has the right, thank God, to exercise carry. I am on my last carry permit yet rarely carry. A statement of sorts, on both sides of the crazy. Here I am. I have registered weapons having gone to the PD to do so (talk about crazy, walk into the Cop Shop with a weapon, broken down, in it’s case). I once had a totally legit reason to carry. Any weapon which leaves the property is carried. I’d never leave it in the car, etc. On _any_ contact with _any_ officer of the law, speak up immediately and keep yours hands in plain sight (ex : 10/2 on the steering wheel). I adore our Cops, and Firemen, and EMTs, and MeatWagon drivers. We are in this together. Or not. BR, E

    • Per MSM, and attributed to his family, the MN victim was participating in the protest. He got into a dispute with an agent over abuse of a female protester. So ICE probably had a legitimate reason to disarm and detain him. That’s where the ICE narrative breaks down.

      One narrative I heard on MSM was that the ICE agents had already disarmed the deceased, and had him face down in snow when an agent shot him three times in the back. If that is indeed the case, then the shooter would have no get of jail free card coming. Optics continue to deteriorate.

      • Pay attention to what is said, and by whom.

        I’m not familiar with the story (I haven’t researched it, and don’t intend to — currently in survival mode and need to worry about living.)

        The only thing I know for certain about the shooting is the nurse was shot by CBP, not ICE. Therefore, any writeup or “news” commenter or commentator who uses the term “ICE” has done no homework, and is lying. If they’re lying about that point, (which is pretty damn’ significant) they’re likely to be lying about others, and are therefore not credible…

        I would guess the nurse brought his SIG to a “heated protest” to use it, either on a LEO or to commit suicide by LEO. He was there intentionally. Had he been there by accident, he should have left, but since he chose not to, he should have placed hands on head and announced to the nearest LEO that he was carrying, and told where his firearm was located. My personal impression is he either went there to die, or he was too stupid to either carry a firearm or become a nurse.

  13. Here in NM, I expected more snow, but all I have is a mix of heavy snow and lots of ice. It can’t be shoveled, can barely be driven on, and is unsafe to walk on without crampons. The snow is continuing and supposedly will continue throughout the night – maybe longer. The temps are in the teens on the way down to single digits. I was supposed to be in Santa Fe tomorrow afternoon, but that’s unlikely. As much as I want to be there, I prefer vegging out than fighting with mountain roads in unknown condition. Just because I can doesn’t mean that I should. I do have a small gas heater and a large fire toasting the place, with options for more gas heat, diesel heat, and of course electricity. I have 300 ah in reserve if the power should go out, and that’s enough for a day of comfort. Yesterday I loaded up a van full of dry wood and parked it outside the door, and have more wood inside, along with water and food. I’ll be comfortable for a week without power even if I’m not wanting to do the inside work that I must. The prediction was for snow starting at noon yesterday, but it was warm enough and dry so I got the track loader and graded some ground while I could, and then pushed a large pile of uncut wood out of the way. I got under a storage trailer and jacked and blocked the landing gear that was sinking – just enough that it looks stable, and now I’m hibernating. There will be no meaningful outside work here for the next few weeks. The weather got bad just as it got dark, and it’s still bad, but colder. Best of luck to all of us – stay safe!

  14. Other than living close to most of my grandkids, the only other advantage to living in Folsom, CA is the weather. It hardly ever freezes and never snows. At 81 with shot knees, I can now longer deal with ice or snow. Too bad the Dem controlled state government is so bad, but I’m hoping to live long enough to see a change for my grandkids.

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