ShopTalk Sunday: Self-Tending Systems

Had the weather stayed a bit warmer Saturday, I would have wired up a solar panel, charge controller, knife switch, and the on-demand 12 VDC water pump for the rainwater fresh H2O catchment system.

Made me remember to write down some notes about parallels between home ownership and living on a sailboat as I did for more than a decade.  Before government when hog-wild on regulating how people think, let alone act.  Especially on boats.

Self-Tending Boat Systems

“Gentlemen never go to weather” was a popular phrase in the sailing community amongst long distance sailors.  The idea was simple:  Sailing with the wind at your back is really very little work.  And the motion of the boat is easy.  Gentle rocking motions.

When you’re sailing into the wind, two things happen:  The boat begins to heel (tilt over) and at maximum hull speed (for a given wind condition) you’re likely bent-over 25-32-degrees, or so.  A bit depends on chop.  Which brings us to the second thing that happens:  He who stands the helm is likely to get wet.  Truth is, not too wet.  But again, it depends on sea-state.

If the seas are confused (*wind from one direction, waves from another) the “slop” can get pretty soggy.  Cold as hell in the PNW, too.

Which is why downhill, with the wind sailing, is preferred.

Since our sailing time (and adventures) were from the Queen Charlottes down to the Mexico border, we bought North (Seattle) and sold South (in San Diego).  The miserable part of the West Coast is going “uphill.”  Either motor-sailing as conditions permit, shooting the points from Conception north.  OR you can go out several hundred miles, but then it’s days and days of “uphill, bent-over” sailing.

Going to weather is OK.  Just sloppy and cold, depending on time of year. Shooting the points puts on engine time and the fuel bill comes in at 7/10ths of a gallon per hour at 6-1/2 knots, but nothing like one night out with NV vision and GPS with the boat in self-driving mode.  Then a comfortable marina,  hot shower, bar, and swapping sailing stories along the coast.

Tools of the Gentleman Sailor

Ideally, the boat (like a home ashore) should completely take care of itself.  But there’s a short discussion of autopilots which bears on point.  There are three types on typical ocean-capable boats like ours:

  • The sail powered rig.  This is a mash-up of lines (to trip over) that essentially apply more “Arm-strong” to the wheel (or tiller) depending on the wind.
  • Then there’s the Vane type.  These are best on canoe-stern boats (*like Valiants, Tayana’s, and so forth.  Forget the Scandanavian guy who owned the firm back in the day, but go cruise some videos on YT sometime about Monitor Wind Vane self-steering rigs.  Mighty skookum gear.  Not for the tee-shirt sailors who love their swim platforms in warm water, though.
  • I favored the Autohelm (5000 or 4000 series though I wore out three belts on my 4000 Wheel Pilot).  Neat thing is it would all hook up to the boat’s NMEA 183 bus and our computer (with Nautec charts and GPS) which could steer the boat from 100 feet off the Shilshole (Seattle breakwater) all the way in to within 200 feet of the Customs Dock in Victoria.  Back when terrorism hadn’t been turned on the gen pop.

With a 24-mile Furuno on radar guard zone and redundant GPS (and a differential head on one) it was possible to a) stay out of vessel traffic lanes, snooze, and b) just generally have a delightfully low-stress, low labor cruise most anywhere.

“Iron Mike” as they were called in the early days of commercial fishing *(anyone else remember Robertson autopilots?) made boating safe except in one important regard.  You never turned on the autopilot without being “tethered in” to the cockpit.  For single handing the boat, as I did many times, a misstep overboard would have seen the boat merrily wandering its preset course leaving the skipper in hypothermic waters of Puget Sound, Juan de Fuca, or Haro Straits and north…

Steering Your Home?  Self-Tending!

This kind of mindset has carried over to land (“on the hard”) very well.  Like a sailor (inherently beer-powered, sunbaked, and lazy) looking for ways to automate home tasks, or at least make them fun in some perverted sense of pleasure.

Some examples?

  • When we were running goats, I hooked up self-filling watering gear to their trough.  Last thing I wanted to do on hot days was trudge out into the Sauna-bath woods to run water.  A toilet valve lash-up did nicely, and you can buy a commercial unit at Tractor Supply last time I looked.
  • This translates to automatic pet watering and feeding systems (drinking water safe hose, of course).
  • It our yard wasn’t so damn big, I would have popped for one of those automatic mowers that keeps everything inside a buried wire perimeter neatly clipped down.  My answer was to throw $3-large at a good quality 54-inch mower with almost the horsepower of an early Volkswagen. FAST!!!   It’s now an East Texas Farm Games event:  Mow 3 acres of complex “course” in 97-minutes is my record.  Automate or make it a competitive game.  Hey! Kinda like sailing!

Veggie Grow House

Last bit of snow-covered things here Saturday.  Today, I’ll be working on the “systems integration work.”

The gutters collect rainwater from 340 square feet of roof.

I’ll run the math out for you:  20 inches of summer rain means:

  • 17X20 of roof is 340 square feet.
  • Times 144 square inches per foot means 48,960 cubic inches of rain collection.
  • There are 231 cubic inches per gallon.
  • So just ONE INCH of rain is about 211 gallons.
  • Which sounded high, but Google never lies (LOL), right?
  • Since there are 20 inches of rain during the growing season, that’s, uh…4,239 gallons of perfect pH rainwater.
  • Since we will start from 100 gallons, and we’ll use maybe 3 gallons a day watering, we should have about 33 days of no rain capacity.
  • If I need to add more capacity?  Easy! Toss on another catchment barrel.
  • Then, in case I get really lazy, we’ll put in drip irrigation which will further reduce the labor needed. It will also be more water efficient.

The water used by the swamp cooler will be plain old mains water – so even with the high pH there (8.2-8.4 in summer), who cares?  A little lemon juice sets it right for humans (explaining why tea is favored in the South due in part to the tannic acid sending pH up a bit) but the cooler doesn’t care.  Evap temp is virtually identical.

Neat thing (if my Georgulations are correct) is that plant transpiration will drop dramatically due to the high humidity in the grow room.  As Wikipedia explains it:

Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leavesstems and flowers. Water is necessary for plants but only a small amount of water taken up by the roots is used for growth and metabolism. The remaining 97–99.5% is lost by transpiration and guttation.”

My thinking is transpiration should drop as the temperature falls and the cooling effects drive off three-digit summer heat.

As a USGS education site explains:

  • Temperature: Transpiration rates go up as the temperature goes up, especially during the growing season, when the air is warmer due to stronger sunlight and warmer air masses. Higher temperatures cause the plant cells which control the openings (stoma) where water is released to the atmosphere to open, whereas colder temperatures cause the openings to close.
  • Relative humidity: As the relative humidity of the air surrounding the plant rises the transpiration rate falls. It is easier for water to evaporate into dryer air than into more saturated air.

As becomes apparent here, my “design gamble” here is a two-part engineering wager:  First that I can keep the soil temps down in the 78F range even during warm days and b) by doing so, the humidity rate will be so high my transpiration levels should collapse dramatically reducing the use of “good pH water”.

You may remember some while back, one of our ShopTalk Sunday pieces dealt with Swamp Coolers in the South and even if they are not as effective when humidity is high, they still help.  See our discussion at UrbanSurvival Prepping: The Texas Swamp Cooler Adventure.

If we can hold soil temps in the 80-85F range, then the payback from the plants should be extremely low consumption of good pH (rain) water.  Who cares about the high pH used by the swamp cooler?

Even at 90F and 50% humidity, the swamp cooler output temps run 79-82F.  What plant wouldn’t love it?

OK, the over-engineering doesn’t stop there.

It goes a few steps further because I like the smell of frankincense and it doesn’t seem to hurt plants at all according to 46 Oils to Use on Your Indoor Plants and Why – The Urban Sprout.  So, a little essential oil in the swamp cooler?  Why the hell not.

And a citronella candle while having the wine out there during less than sauna weather?  Absolutely.

Outdoor Self-Tending Designs

We’re not talking about self-tending designs indoors.  Like those “self-tending forklift battery racks that auto-fill battery water” in a warehouse setting.

Yes, we’re really thinking of the self-tending home.  Like the one where people lovingly bury money and call it a lawn sprinkler system.  And instead of the robomower, they opt for a check-writing subroutine for the yard-maintenance people.

Point is, there’s much joy to be found in the invention, design, and build of home-based self-tending systems.

I wouldn’t call the grounds crew check “self-tending.”  Because it requires a constant input of money.

The art of self-tending is getting the mostest for the leastest.

ShopTalk Stays – For Now

I was going to axe this part of the Urban site to free up more time around here.  But, instead, I will simply write at different times, shorter articles, and if I post “Too Busy” to write now and then, maybe that will work.

We’re coming to a time where the importance of survival living and finance could be more important than ever, so it would be negligent of me to cut back too much at a time of possible genuine need.

Not promising, but that’s intensions.  (Gaye Levy wins our bet…she didn’t think I’d ever cut back on writing…)

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

59 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Self-Tending Systems”

  1. Been using IBC totes for a few years for water containment here on the ranch. Back in the day they were very reasonably priced but like everything else not so much anymore. One problem with them is besides being But Ugly as the Mrs says but they also need to be covered to prevent algae growth. One solution is to paint them which presents another barrier to acceptance by the Decor Patrol. A term that will earn me “The Stare”. The six totes lined up along the shady side of the shop has a lean to dog house built around them keeping them hidden from sight.
    Ventilation is important in your grow room. Temps will reach unbearable in a short time without it. The hoop houses here can reach upper 90’s on a sunny day in Feb with outside temps in the 20’s. Fans are a must.
    Enjoy the grow room. Hawaiian shirts, shorts and sandals for sure.

    • Jim in MO

      I just ‘finished’ my rain collection last summer, now have 5 IBC totes tied together with 2″ pvc – valves everywhere. I decided to wrap my totes with black visqueen (I think that is what us old guys call it) instead of painting. Am very pleased with the results. After you wrap a couple it gets easy and takes less then an hour to do one. Pretty much the same as wrapping a big Christmas present. There is a You Tube vid showing how to wrap them.

    • ‘Hawaiian Shirts’ are formal wear here. T-shirts and sun protection for yard work. I didn’t need to build a grow room here… the back yard is 1/3 acre that gets 130 inches of rain annually and grows stuff easily. Most of it is unwanted. What I really need is something magic to get rid of the weeds and vines that creep in from the jungle next door. Hacking out the ‘green waste’ is a pain.

      I do have a dandy self-maintaining hot water system, though. Solar hot water collector with pump and controller run by a small solar PV system that has enough leftover PV power to run an attic fan that also keeps the main house a lot cooler on sunny days.

    • Are you guys talking the steel-caged 275gal IBC totes?

      They show up in the salvage market occasionally. I bought a trailer-full a couple years ago — formerly filled with food additive. I think I paid, like, $2 each for them. (I plan on building an elevated tower for them, to augment my wells.)

      Watch the surplus market. These came from either Toledo or Elyria Ohio, and the place had a bunch. I almost sent the link to OOWSteve and to Bill, because the former was looking for a water can and the latter lives in the W. Texas desert, and can always use water storage, but didn’t because I only got 24hrs notice on the sale, and Bill would have had a thousand bucks in transport costs. Besides, they show up regularly in Pontiac and Midland (MI) and in Amarillo and outside DFW, among other places…

  2. Since I had covid.. I have had a lot of issues with my lungs and what the tests said is copd.. but in reading in the chinese herbal medicines.. it says to take red ginsing..So..I ordered some.. and have been taking them for three days.. twice a day..
    the first day after taking both doeses.. one in the am and one in the pm.. I still had issues when I lay down.. I would lay down and gasp for breath but not quite as long..
    the second day there was just a little bit.. and last night none at all.. the coughing is almost all gone to and I haven’t had to use the rescue inhaler either…. so who knows.. similar to the issues with the pancreas.. and sweet wormwood.. they have been doing that for five thousand years.. maybe there is a little something to chinese herbal treatments..

    https://www.chineseherbsdirect.com/products/chinese-red-ginseng-100-cap-imperial-elixir?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg_2utvn89QIV9ciUCR3wogBPEAQYASABEgJ9NvD_BwE

    • Yo LOTB

      Same here Brother, after 3 bouts of Cooooovid, my lungs took a beating too. Mornings are a b*tch. Won’t go into the constant draining in my sinuses. Omg !!

      Diagnosed with copd and sinusitis. Doctor’s easy way out to just pass it off, I guess. They gave me a rescue inhaler and sent me on my way. Yeah, thanks for nothin.

      So, for me it a breathing treatment and Claritin D once a day to stop congestion. l-lysine to prevent infection. And lots of milligrams of vitamin D. Eating oranges for the C. Wife yells at me for not eating enough protein … lol. God, how much do I have to eat !! Ugh !! Oh yeah, she makes sure I take aspirin everyday. She’s like having a b*tchy angel around the house.

      Thanks for the post. Nice to hear what others are finding some comfort with.

      Do I regret NOT getting the vaccine? Nope !! Would rather deal with this than possibly having any of those potential side effects.

      I’ll try the ginseng … I hear it’s really good for memory. Maybe it’ll help me remember to take that aspirin my wife gives me crap about. LOL !!

      You have a good day, Buddy. Glad you’re feeling better. :)

      Peace

      • “Won’t go into the constant draining in my sinuses. Omg !!”

        I am no Doctor.. so I can’t tell you that this is the real reason for the relief.. or that you should try it.. that has to be a choice you made.. but by god my sinuses aren’t draining and I didn’t wake up chocking on the drainage last night.. love it.. I actually just ordered another bottle .. just in case.. LOL

      • Oh I haven’t had to use my rescue inhaler either.. yesterday I put it in the drawer because I didn’t feel I needed it..

      • “for me it a breathing treatment and Claritin D once a day to stop congestion. l-lysine to prevent infection. And lots of milligrams of vitamin D. Eating oranges for the C. Wife yells at me for not eating enough protein … lol. God, how much do I have to eat !! Ugh !! Oh yeah, she makes sure I take aspirin everyday. She’s like having a b*tchy angel around the house.”

        God that sounds just like my house @Pathfinder Bob.. My wife is exactly the same way to LOL except she also says.. would you turn off that dam news it just gets you upset when you listen to that crap….. Yes.. I bought the herbal medical books and did a few searches on ancient chinese herbal medicines.. and they all came up the same..I was skeptical and of course no one had the stuff in our area of the wastelands and I had to order it online.. but it got here quick in less than a week and I started to take it wednesday night.. had all the issues yet.. thursday.. I still was gasping for air when I laid down but not as much.. last night shoot I was out like a light.. I took a cbd gummy to..

        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3659571/
        https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19601854/
        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1226845322000045
        It is like when they were sure I had pancreatic cancer five years ago now.. all the tests were horrible and they gave me the dreaded come back in six months.. ( you get a free trip to disney world then) and I had been reading about chinese treatments for cancer with sweet wormwood.. I didn’t tell the oncologist but figured hell pancreatic.. not good.. so what if.. I just go ahead and give it a try.. took it four times a day.. for the six months.. came in.. and the doctor couldn’t find one tumor.. everything was ok.. I keep a bottle of that stuff around to.. Just in case I start having issues.. again..
        https://www.washington.edu/news/2008/10/13/scientists-develop-new-cancer-killing-compound-from-salad-plant/#:~:text=Sweet%20wormwood%20has%20been%20used,cancer%20cells%2C%20sparing%20healthy%20cells.

        there are thousands of studies done on it.. thankfully I like to read and had been reading those studies because a friend had four brain tumors.. ( she loved to use her cell phone and was constantly on it to)
        Unfortunately she passed on.. and I had a bottle of it in the drawer..
        then made the personal decision.. What if.. and took it.. well I don’t get to go to disney world.. but I can still bore the hell out of everyone with my opinions LOL…

      • Two things that have ben proven to help, depending on WHY the memory issues.
        1- use coconut oil 76 or 92 dg. oil either use it for al your cooking OR take a spoonful of it on a daily basis. We buy it in 5 gallon pails and have only used it for cooking for over 10 years now.
        2- Ginkgo biloba, take as directed, I have used it for many years as well and I have great memory so far, I started taking it as I have some relatives (blood type) that developed dementia in later years and I am trying to ward that off. just in case I am on the list. LOL
        Note this is not medical advice it is what I do. LOL

      • @Pathfinder Bob and LOOB, a 30 something friend of ours had the flu on his lungs, including blood clots. His wife made him use a red light therapy light on his lungs for 20 minutes twice a day…laid it directly on his chest.
        It was so bad they had him on blood thinners. When he went back for his 1 month check up his doctor looked at the xrays and asked what they were doing because she had “never seen ANY improvement in ANY patient”. His lungs are clean now and he’s off blood thinners thanks to his wife.

        Hopefully red light therapy will help your lungs heal also.

    • I have gone to an Oriental Medicine doctor several times and it was great. American doctors give medicine to treat symptoms but the Oriental medicine treats the organs so they heal. At a visit I would be given a pillow for my lap and the dr. would feel pressure points on my arms (not the pulse) and would be able to diagnose me. Also, the tongue gives information about a person’s health – there are websites that have photos and diagnosis.

      My neighbor put moss killer on his roof, it blew off toward my house and when I woke up, my lungs were horrible. The doctor’s wife would brew packets of herbal tea after his diagnosis of which herbs would heal. The office had a huge cabinet (covered a whole wall) with lots of little drawers for each of the herbs they used for tea treatment. Amazing, one hour after having my first tea dosage, my lungs felt so soothed and the cough stopped.

      Oriental medicine also believes in the interaction of organs. For instance, the lungs affect the hair. I realized that when I have bronchitis, I have great hair loss later.

    • Same here but the only post covid dignosis the Docs would not tell me about my lungs was COPD. Seems like everything else is on the table. They now seem to be more concerned with my heart than my lungs but next week who knows. I was dragging an Oxygen hose around for 2 months and finally got rid of that but I am still getting hell from the Doctors. Only one Doc, my regular GP will tell me she just doesn’t know and Covid has changed all the rules. She now is wanting me to consider leaving the ranch and moving closer to town. Not only no but HELL NO!
      The vet is coming out next week to work cattle with me. I’ll see what she has to say. : )
      I hope you heal up all the way soon.

      • Jim in Mo, a 30 something friend of ours had the flu on his lungs, including blood clots. His wife made him use a red light therapy light on his lungs for 20 minutes twice a day…laid it directly on his chest.
        It was so bad they had him on blood thinners. When he went back for his 1 month check up his doctor looked at the xrays and asked what they were doing because she had “never seen ANY improvement in ANY patient”. His lungs are clean now and he’s off blood thinners thanks to his wife.

        Hopefully red light therapy will help your lungs heal also.

        (Ure, would you consider emailing the above info to these guys in case they don’t look back at the replies?)

    • Benadryl!!

      I have now read two articles on how Benadryl has GREATLY helped Long Covid people who just couldn’t fully recover. Basically one pill a day, not sure it makes much difference whether in the morning or evening.

      They are now investigating why that is, but they think it is because it suppresses the immune system reaction (same reason why it is the GO TO EMERGENCY DRUG if are allergic and get a bee sting until you get to the hospital) which they think “may” be what people are experiencing with Long Covid.

      Try it and report back!!

      • Also, Ivermectin kills off long covid after the first dose in 84% of patients per the study I read…if/when people get tired of taking meds every day. (Along with that, Red light therapy helps people with lung damage.)

    • Mullein is a great herb to use for any lung problem. And it’s free! It’s a common plant that’s usually considered a weed. Once you’ve seen a picture of it, you’ll recognize it immediately. I make a tincture out of it and take a dropper of it every night for post nasal drip. Works like a charm! A new doctor I saw a few months ago highly recommended it (although I’ve been using it for several years) and said she takes mullein tea whenever she feels anything coming on.

  3. Frankensence, G ?
    Why you be messing with frankensence..Worried about poltergeists/mal spirits mucking about the ranch? That stuff is for cleaning up low life, scumbaggery type NRG’s.
    Cleansing Ure grow room/building of spiritual filth, exercising as it were, those badboyz&girlz. Prophylactic for spiritual nogoodniks bedeviling Ure victory gardens?
    Kindly suggest you consider leveling up Ure prepper defensive’s with da king of kings, da smell of smells that smell smelly – Sandalwood.
    Not only will you get multi use ( pickling herrings & marinating anchovies) but you will be raising Ure game up – torwards “heaven”.
    Air sandwiches for the “Spirits” – they alwayz appreciate it, not 2 mention garden gnomes – attracts & keeps em from acting too “cranky’ .
    This time of year is when garden gnomes get really itchy, fussing about insects “turning” in the ground, lunar new year just passed, days getting longer again..”why the hell isnt ,(@$#^#%$@@#), out prepping the garden/soil yet”-GN

    *
    ? Did you receive official permission from mr globo to put on that grow room in the first place ? If not – he no likey and Can turn off Ure bank accounts, CC’s, phones, Internet, Car, Investments, Money. .Wheres Ure mark?hahahahaha
    If and when Darth Swine (klaws squab) finds out you are growing Ure own – look out below, he will not be happy…maybe some camo netting…

  4. Watch Kingsman: The secret service (2015) movie, if you haven’t yet. The movie is the message.

    Spoiler: a billionaire tired of waiting for global warming solutions decides to wipe out a couple billion people by giving them all something to carry around all the time that will make them go crazy and kill each other at the flip of a switch, via cell phone technology.

    This is exactly what COVID is! It explains the magnetic shots from Bill Gates, the nano particles, and Elon Musk’s vast satellite array. Clearly they were trying to warn us about the epidemic and the shots. Luckily they haven’t flipped the switch yet, but it’s probably going to happen any time, like when the Russians invade during the Olympics (for the 4th time in the last hundred years, can’t believe we didn’t see this one coming, or did we?).

      • Still waiting. Still pointing North.
        Actually, the switch flip will cause the li-ion batteries in all those devices to explode. Shrapnel in your pocket.

  5. GU: I was going to axe this part of the Urban site to free up more time around here. But, instead, I will simply write at different times, shorter articles, and if I post “Too Busy” to write now and then, maybe that will work.

    We’re coming to a time where the importance of survival living and finance could be more important than ever, so it would be negligent of me to cut back too much at a time of possible genuine need.

    Not promising, but that’s intensions.

    JC: Thanks.

    • “thinking about going ice fishing. Catch and release, of course”

      LOL.. just don’t put a hook on it like me @Pathfinder Bob.. I hate cleaning fish.. my idea of a nice fishing trip is a book a hot cup of coffee and a bobber on.. I was in a canoe once and I did buy a license but didn’t need it.. the game warden came to see how my catch was going I said what catch.. so when I pulled up the fish stinger basket.. it had beer and pop in it to stay cold He laughed and said.. you know you didn’t have to buy a license to sit out and read in a canoe.. LOL

    • Hilarious! What kind of idiots would want to get naked in a shack on a frozen lake when they could go to a warm and comfortable motel? Even a van down by the river is more comfortable!

      • “What kind of idiots would want to get naked in a shack on a frozen lake”

        SHACK…
        Lol dam they actually use those lol lol
        Just kidding..
        They use ice castles here..

  6. I was not betting against Gaye on that one. When I read the announcement, my brain immediately said, “I’ve heard that one a couple or three times before.” LOL

  7. peroxide will clean out your lungs in a jiffy!

    https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/hydrogen_peroxide_inhalation.html

    felt an ear infection coming on and starting to move into the throat.
    peroxide in the ear with a q-tip to swirl it around killed it off. throat spray with a dozen drops of lugol’s iodine 5% added provided instant relief. 5 grams of liposomal vit c twice daily mopped up the rest. high dose vit c kills all viruses.

    http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml

  8. George, thanks for keeping STS! It’s the most fun, and PN is the most informative most of the time. I’m sure you’ll take time as you need to for more important personal things. I respect that.

  9. “Two things that have ben proven to help, depending on WHY the memory issues.”

    With all the stupid crap going on and the idiots in charge.. I sort of wish I could be comfortably numb like the masses on the crap thats going on..
    https://youtu.be/_FrOQC-zEog

  10. Sailors,

    There you have it. Sail with the flow and self tend the rising tide of consciousness – very new age. Why battle traffic on the I-5 to Socal when you can autopilot your way on the high seas?

    This might seem a bit choppy, but pull out the windbreaker. Let’s leave the crowd behind and chart a course less traveled. A short while after Mr. Putin told Nato what to do with their eastward march manifesto at one of the Munich peace talks, Bulgaria gifted him a purebred Bulgarian shepherding male dog named Buffy. This matter is perhaps not so well known as Johnny Cash’s “A boy named Sue”. Shortly prior to this event, the WW2 deposed child Tsar of Bulgaria had completed a post-Soviet democratically elected two term head of Bulgarian government as a commoner. By the end of term, he was being addressed unofficially as Tsar, and his lands confiscated in WW2 had been transferred from the public domain back into Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family hands. I don’t recall reading of any objections from the West in this matter.

    While the Romanov Foundation of the deposed Russian tsar is domiciled in Switzerland, the current family president lives in England. According to Wikipedia, it’s a Grade II registered heritage property originally built in 1342 for the chief archer of the Black Prince, Edward I. Recent necessary refurbishments were completed by the Queen’s favourite architect. In turn, “pre-revolution artifacts” moved to Windsor holding. The current heir to the throne is the Russian’s third cousin.

    In October, 2020, a Romanov statue was unveiled in Crimea of Tsar (now Saint) Nicholas II and his Princess bride-to-be where they first met in 1894. The orthodox faith is inseparable from the royal family? The ceremonial presidential residence in Kiev is the Mariinskyi Palace. It was built by the Russian Tsar in the 1750’s as a travel stopover enroute to the Crimea. The Romanov’s want it all back?

    Mr. Putin has related a childhood story from his youth in Leningrad, formerly the tsarist capital of St. Petersburg. He cornered a large rat but it jumped out at him. Does Mr. Putin smell a rat?

    Well, Sailors, full steam ahead!

    Godspeed!

    “Oh, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man,
    I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.
    I’m strong to the finich
    Cause I eats me spinach.
    I’m Popeye the Sailor Man!”

    • Comon man ! You left out the most important item of the cornered rat tale. The part where mr Puteeeen learned a hard and valuable lesson about cornering an animal..

      He has never been taken by surprise, again, never will.

  11. There’s supposed to be an historic fly-over of planes at the SB today. It’d be hysterically great if a Tic-Tac did rings around them.

  12. Interesting information on the hydrogen peroxide.. I keep a bottle in the fridge but that’s for cleaning veggies..
    Years ago one of my hats was making cleaning chems and herbicides etc.. anyway one hospital needed a cleaner for mold.. the main ingredient was hydrogen peroxide.. I went with the boss to get a barrel of food grade only to discover that they didn’t have any but mentioned a farmer in another state.
    We went on a road trip.. got to one of the nicest looking farms.. the boss bought a barrel and my nosey self had to ask.. why all the peroxide.. the farmer said.. I have cancer and the doctors gave me 3 weeks to live.. at the mayo clinic they had a trial using food grade hydrogen peroxide..3 drops 3 times a day…
    My response was… SO… how’s that working for you.. the three weeks was twenty years ago.. the guy handed me the study that the mayo was doing and I of course would read it..
    It stayed in the office a year or so later the boss was told he had to have a drastic surgery and he was pretty bummed out.. one day he was reading the mayo study and he tells me.. he’s going to try it.. he found a doctor in Florida..
    https://www.thenaturalchoiceclinic.com/blog/intravenous-hydrogen-peroxide-therapy

    A few weeks later he took a vacation.. to get it done at a clinic that specializesin the treatment. came back and was told by his surgeon that the surgery wasn’t needed.
    So who knows.. the miracle water of Lourdes is high in natural hydrogen peroxide..
    https://youtu.be/vldZn1BQz0k
    Now I am not suggesting ingesting .. but the old farmer.. that put 3 drops in a glass of water.. he died of old age..

  13. ozzee retards all into superbowl now !!! retard kangaroos . i was watching human chess in the 70s and 80s . replays at midnite a week old . what a feral dumb kill shoted country i livein. bowl has lost me with the sheet show at half time . useless . AND crypto ads everywhere . nah i am gunna watch hogans heroes or get smart

  14. Thanks Man!

    A really good friend of mine started her podcast with 2 other women who are all super woo woo. The first episode of their new podcast is about Quantium Jumping. Aka time travel.

    Check it out if ya like. I talk to Wendy Kay the FBI forensics psychic almost every day. She is gorgeous red head. Very cool lady.

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Lx1Q8R8UDzO97JtlxfREt?si=nT9IR0fnRS6ukqjw5Q0hkQ&utm_source=native-share-menu

    Though some of you might like it.

    I’m thoroughly loving my vacation.

    Smooth sailing ahead. :)

    Truly, I am Blessed and Highly Fortunate!

  15. On Herbal remedies and such.
    Another great Sunday ShopTalk along with the Thoughts. Thank you. I also must be cautious concerning lung and heart function, so I found those particular posts very interesting and well noted. As always, the garden subjects are what are glommed onto right away.

    The thoughts on the herbal treatments prompted me to pull out my copy of “Natural Standard Herb & Supplement Guide”. After years of looking for and collecting countless herbal remedy books, I finally found THE Book: https://smile.amazon.com/Natural-Standard-Herb-Supplement-Guide/dp/032307295X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=21SVHX2SBR5VA&keywords=natural+standard+herb+and+supplement+guide&qid=1644791524&sprefix=natural+standard%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-3

    For show and tell, carried it in with me at an appointment with my GP, with whom I’ve shared over the years home remedies, latest in various treatments, etc. I practically had to claw it out of his hands. He was so impressed with it that I wound up having to order a copy for him. It is laid out as are standard medical text books. Cross-referenced including interactions with drugs, other herbs and supplements and lots more. Take a look. It is pricey, but a worthwhile investment, IMO. My GP says this is cheap as books like this go.

    Heh. Coulda toldya that Gaye would win that bet!

    Candles and Wheels
    Calyn

  16. In case it hasn’t been mentioned…the Fed has a closed door tool meeting Monday. Half a percent increase? Don’t know. Gold has already broken out above the handle of the longer term large time frame cup and handle pattern so it will be interested to see what happens.

    • Targeting 155.00 area for a short on GJ into the Fed news. From the high to the low Friday was around 185pips so I’m expecting a drop of 185 pips from this evening’s (Sunday) high of 156.86 which would put the price in the 155 area. This is called a measured move…measure the previous move and use the same number of pips for the next high to low in this case. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s a good target take profit to try for.

  17. Comrades,

    Please extend Canada’s apologies to Dorothy and Toto about the non-alcoholic shots served up in the wee hours outside the “Mr. Nice Guy” premises in West Hollywood hosting Justin Bieber’s A-listers. The locale’s website does promise that the firm’s “aesthetics pays homage to a decadent era of Mafia bars and restaurants…”.

  18. Big congrats Matt Stafford tonight with the Rams winning the superbowl. I’m genuinely happy for him. I think he is pretty cool dude when you sit and shoot the shit about fishing. It’s so funny what the public thinks about guys like that. The image of what everyone thinks they are like. But when you meet them when the cameras aren’t around. They are just people. Top of their game and art. No doubt about that. Next time I see him I will shake his hand and tell him congrats.

    You know I spent some time talking to a fella named Tracy. Helicopter gunner in veitnam. We just on the curb, had a smoke and a cup of coffee. He is a homeless guy in Spokane. Had really amazing life story i was privileged to listen too. After I gave him $20 and shook his hand and went about my day. Homeless guy. Been on the streets for 10 years. Wife died and he lost everything. He said he lost the fire inside to go get it all back again. Been on the streets ever since.

    I treat everyone the same. Doesn’t matter if they are Super Bowl champions or on street hobos.

    My friend said, so you took a vacation to go to Spokane to hang out with homeless guys? I said well yeah. LOL because I been there before in my life. I went to see some other people. And Tracy just looked lost. When I got done talking to him he asked me if i was an Angel. I said why do you ask that? I never asked anyone why they say that time me. He said because I wander these streets and everyone treats me like I’m Trash. Your the first person who I met in a long time who cared enough to genuinely listen to me.

    I told him. You know I met all kinds of people Tracy. All kinds from all walks of life. I asked him, you know who Mathew Stafford is. He said the Rams guy? I said yep. Super bowl championship winner. He said I heard of him. I said met him too dude. Showed him a picture. He said ain’t that something. I said Tracy? He said yes sir. I your as good of man as Mathew Stafford the Super bowl chamption. He said nah. I said yes sir. And I got up and left.

    About an hour later I saw Tracy siting on a curb eating a cheese burger with the $20 I Gave him smiling from ear to ear. He didn’t see me. I was in my car. And I thought, perfect vacation. Time to head home.

    So that is what I’m doing.

    Y’all come back now, ya hear!

    See ya around. I got an empire to build.

  19. “Even at 90F and 50% humidity, the swamp cooler output temps run 79-82F. What plant wouldn’t love it?”

    Corn (and so far, tropical fruits). Corn takes a comparative lot of water (although it CAN be drowned — I see drowned-out cornfields in IL/IN/OH when it’s a “wet year”) and prefers temps in the 90s and 100s… Darn stuff won’t even germinate if ground temps are below 79 degrees and won’t properly germinate until temps go above 82°.

    I’m not sure what fruit takes. I’m doing a good job of keeping my pineapples and coffees (and one banana) alive but they show no sign of blooming…

    I’ve a bunch of different flavors of heirloom sweet corn (some “dent,” some maize, some really old strains) which drowned, baked, and became deer food before it could tassel out, the last time I tried to grow it. Live and (I hope) learn. I have had no problem growing popcorn, but I don’t think its nutritional value is very high and neither do the critters… ;-)

  20. As I explained before, Ukraine doesn’t want to join NATO and NATO doesn’t want Ukraine to join. (Given the level of corruption in Ukraine, neither NATO nor the EU would likely even accept Ukraine for membership.) The whole affair has been artificially created to poke the Russian bear with a stick.

    There’s a considerable amount of brainpower on George’s sites. I suggest y’all devote more of it to answering the questions: “Who is wielding the stick?” and “Why are they jabbing Russia?” and less to believing what the lamestream media and the imbecile in the White House are saying about “imminent war.”

    If war is “imminent,” it is at least as likely that we will cause it, than that the Russians will. Putin’s staff are professionals and the Russians have bivouacked their troops along the Ukrainian border for years. Sevastopol has been a Russian seaport since before the reign of Catherine the Great. Meanwhile, our staff is being lead by Kammy Harris and Vichy Nuland…

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