previous page Flu Prep XXV
Well, we spent Thanksgiving with relatives and four out of five of us are down with colds. Somehow, I didn’t catch anything. I think maybe because I wasn’t feeling so well last week I was careful to maintain my “social distancing” Who knows. Anyway, last couple of days has been a good practice run as far as seeing how prepped I am in terms of dealing with illness. I am happy to find out that my colds/respritory illness preps are in good shape. Didn’t have to go anywhere for juice, OTC meds, tissues etc.
Weather here has been really nice so I took advantage and have been mulching my garden, and prepping some new beds. Ive starting getting seed catalogs. Usually I order in Feb. but I think this year I’m getting that order in early! Also been washing rugs and letting them dry out on the line, and opened my house up and gave it a good airing out.
Ive been a little concerned about preps-mine are pretty heavy on the rice and beans. So Ive been looking through cookbooks to find recipies to find ways to make rnb more interesting. Been experimenting with “bean burgers”-the kids din’t care for these so much as burgers, but thoughts they made terrific burritos. I made some bean spreads for sandwiches-even a couple out of split pea soup-these are pretty tasty! really good wrapped up in a tortillia. Also been looking at “wheat meat” recipies-I made this a long time ago, but its pretty labour intensive.
I haven’t been out of the house in a week. I don’t know what this bug is but it’s just lingering for what seems like forever. It sucks.
But like Green Mom, I’ve learned the cold preps are in order(although I need to replace one container of Nyquil). That was good to know.
As for other prepping, not a lot of that has been going on while I’ve been down. The husband was able to pick up a couple of small radios for us to use if the phone system goes down. He picked up radios that have a 14 mile range, which is more than sufficient to cover the distance between his office and our house. The radios were one of those Black Friday specials and dirt cheap.
Green Mom – at 20:57
I’ve been stockpiling the fried rice seasoning packets when ever they go on sale at the grocery store. That would give your rice a change of pace. I usually buy a whole box of them so they stack nice on the shelf (with lots of soy sauce!) I’ve also been putting away a decent amount of sushi rice. It cooks up nice and is sticky enough to make into little balls. I’ve been testing out seasoning packets from the Asian market. It’s trial and error as I don’t read Japanese but most of the packets have pictures :-) and sometimes they have directions in english. Mostly you just add the seasoning to the cooked rice. They also have ingredients listed so you can tell what’s in it.
I have been picking up instant miso soup at the asian market too, some come 20 individual servings to a package for $3.59. You just add hot water. I had read a flu booklet(regular flu) that said miso was really good for you when you’re sick. Of course I don’t know what the expiration date on these packs are (still can’t read Japanese) but we’ve been using them up at a good pace so I keep them well rotated.
Texas Rose, Could you provide more details about the brand/model of the radios? They sound better than the walkie-talkies we have that only have about a 2-mile range.
Texas Rose: He picked up radios that have a 14 mile range, which is more than sufficient to cover the distance between his office and our house. The radios were one of those Black Friday specials and dirt cheap.
Without a repeater those black friday radios will be lucky to get a mile or two of range.
NO WAY can you expect 14 mile range unless you are either on a mountain top, or working a repeater on top of a mountain down to another radio.
Radio to Radio you will NOT get 14 miles in average terrain, out of a hand held radio.
Not electrically possible.
BG: We haven’t had the opportunity to test them yet so we don’t know how far the range is in this area. Where we would be, that could be another story since the terrain is completely different.
I tracked down the packaging and the notes on the back say “Long range communication in open areas with little or no obstruction.” I guess we’ll find out if our area constitutes open terrain.
Genoa: The radios are made by Midland and called X-tra Talk. They come with 22 channels, scan, and I just discovered they’re charger-capable. If you’re interested, the website is midlandradio.com
My Thanksgiving was mostly working at our second location. Did receive a windfall in terms of some 1 gallon water containers that are the clear plastic vs. the stuff that milk comes in. I now have about 20 of those suckers, but they are bulky to find storage space for. Time to get creative.
I also cooked up a huge pot of Spanish Bean Soup (aka Garbanzo Bean Soup). Mmmm Mmmm good! From the extra I pressure canned 7 quarts for storage. As meats go on sale around here, I need to get more canning accomplished. But boy is finding the time rough.
We lost our kitty of nearly 19 years, we had her since the day we got back from our honeymoon. It was a blessing in that she went quickly rather than suffer. We buried her in the back corner of our lot. Pets are considerably different than humans I know, but it was quite a nudge/incident that brought the possibilities of a pandemic into focus. Our oldest daughter who had become primary caregiver for the kitty will be quite sad for some time to come. I’m pretty tore up myself, but I’m an adult and not a heart broken 16 year old. <sigh> Its those real life experiences that are so hard to protect your kids from … they are awful but somehow necessary to the growing up process. Wish it didn’t have to be this way though.
My house is a mess. I’m trying to prep and decorate for the holidays at the same time … and deal with computer problems and changes in ISP. Ick! It would be nice if I could take life on a bit more sedately. Right now I feel like I’ve spent the past 2 weeks living in a blender that is stuff on pulverize.
Kathy, I’m so sorry for your loss; you may not even be aware of how it will affect you yet. If you remember I recently lost our 22 year old cat — almost half my lifetime I’d spent with that precious fragile baby of mine. Then we suddenly lost our 10 year old and I’ve been so messed up because of it all. The pets in our lives, aside from being so full of unconditional love for us, are also a clear representation of lives that depend totally on us for survival, much like our neighbors who are not preparing might end up being dependent on us.
I know your daughter must be feeling so bad and lonely in a lot of ways. Yes, we go on, but the strangest things can trigger memories of our babies, and our loss, and make it painful all over again for us.
Should your daughter need a place to seek help from others who have lost loved furry ones they’ve been sharing their lives with, give her this address:
http://www.aplb.org/frame.html
They have scheduled chats as well as the great memorials you can read & even establish one in your furbaby’s memory. It might help to let her know that many people feel the loss of their pets as strongly as the loss of a human connection.
Rose
Texas Rose: Genoa: The radios are made by Midland and called X-tra Talk. They come with 22 channels, scan, and I just discovered they’re charger-capable. If you’re interested, the website is midlandradio.com
These are FRS/GMRS radios and in simplex mode they are physically incapable of the ranges advertised.
462Mhz range.
Expect 1–2 miles MAXIMUM.
I’m lucky to get 15 miles over open terrain with a 100watt mobile and a gain antenna at that frequency range.
Sometimes you can purchase airtime on a local GMRS repeater, in which case you would get 25–50 mile range. Only if you went through the repeater.
But out of the box, it’s against the laws of physics to obtain the range they advertise.
UNLESS, as I said one person is on a 5K ft mountain top, and the other is in the valley below.
YMMV.
Bird Guano – at 12:44
Would you recommend any alternative? Some price range info would be useful too.
Sure what are your requirements for range ?
NO hand held will do 14 miles unless you are in the terrain I described above. Either mountain top to mountain top, or mountain top to valley.
Anything over 3–4 miles, you would need to be on a repeater system or use MUCH higher powered mobiles.
Read $$$$$$$
BG: We were looking for something that would cover anywhere from 3–5 miles. Me, I know nothing about stuff like this so I believed the packaging. I asked the husband today and he pretty much said what you did. The Black Friday deal was the two radios for about $10. Similar radios that we bought for our son were more than that so we figured it was a good deal.
When our son was deployed, his squad would use radios like this when they were on patrol to keep in contact with each other. Let’s just say that we’re planning ahead just in case it becomes necessary to protect the neighborhood.
side scroll
Texas Rose mentioned Nyquil. Remember that Nyquil and its generic equivalents have had the pseudoephidrine removed from their formula and they will not do what they used to. The pseudoephedrine part must be purchased from behind the counter at the pharmacy now, and must be signed for. This is because some people were using it to make meth.
I sure hated to see the formula broken up, because it really worked for me. In fact, it worked much better than over-the-counter prescriptions when my allergies really get bad. I found out about the formula being changed the hard way. I bought 3 bottles of the stuff and found out it didn’t work anymore.
The new formulations of cold medicine just do NOT work for me.
I do like the Mucinex with pseudophedrine however, but you have to sign your life away to get it at the pharmacy counter.
Started thinking-we need more tomatoes. They are used for so many things. Imagine my joy when my grocery store had a huge display right at the entrance. .39cents a can. I bought 60. Another case of veggies at .49 per can. Hamburger Helper $1 per box, got 10 of those. A good day.
So that’s why Nyquil doesn’t work as well as it used to. Sudafed doesn’t work well, either.
One of the best antihistamines for me is the old-time Actifed. I now have to sign my life away to get them but nothing works as well for me.
I just ordered over the phone to Ireland another Kelly Kettle and gave Patrick from the company, the fluwiki address. I heartedly recommend these for boiling water or cooking! They require very little fuel/tinder.
Here’s their url >>> http://tinyurl.com/ebwy9
should read ‘heartily’ ;-)
Oh, and if you do order over the phone, use the mobile number. Just dial 011–353–87–286–4321.
(I am not in any way associated with company.)
You can also order the Kelly Kettle from Lee Valley Tools:
It’s a Canadian company but does ship to the U.S. The prices shown for the kettles are in Canadian dollars but to switch to U.S. dollars, click on the little Canadian flag at the top right hand corner of the page.
If you’re in Canada, check to see if there is retail store where you live.
And to think I got pseudopherine OTC in Hong Kong in 3x the dose that’s in the US products, and without the signature/ID hassle.
I still use sudafed 12 hr but feel like I little kid having to sign my name for it. Remember when Mom or Dad sent us to the store when we were little with a note, I feel that way now.
Birdie Kate- LOL! I feel that way too when I get Sudafed 12 hour. Its the best stuff for when my husband gets a sinus infection.
My prepping this week has been thinking about Average Concerned Moms 2 week prep box. Ive been looking up and experimenting with recipies using just the stuff in her food plan. I’m working on a vegitarian version for my family.
Irene @ 12:56
Thanks for the tip re: switching to US $. That makes the price more attractive. Guess what I’ll be getting today? :)
Not thrilled about the cork as a liquid stop on it however.
lohrewok — 01 December 2006, 08:55
I think that you’ll be happy with it! Can you tell that I love mine? The one that I ordered yesterday is to be sent from Ireland to another address in Europe so it was much less expensive to have them send it out.
It doesn’t seem that Lee Valley Tools offers the accessory pack that fits into the larger Kettle.
“The Accessories kit comes with the 2-piece grill, pot, pan, and handle. Each fits snuggly into the chimney area of the Kettle for storage and each element, like the Kettle itself, is lightweight.”
Thanks Irene for that website BTW.
Bird guano- ayuh, but I guess that I’ve gotten used to it.
My most recent prep may sound like a potentially useless one to some folks but it was a plain necessity to have now.
We replaced our washer and dryer to a set of the much more efficient front loaders by Maytag. In the property management business my husband sometimes get tapped to see if he wants to help some of the local, low-end shops get rid of stuff (like appliances) that they wouldn’t normally be able to get rid of because their normal clientele can’t afford it or don’t use it.
Normally hubby rolls his eyes … he doesn’t like being someone’s out for bad business choices. However, this time he jumped at the chance. The set is only a year old and came with a washer and two dryers for $500 (US). Same day of the offer, our dryer starts acting up and the next day the washer starts acting up … both are 14+ years old. We decided it was a good deal. I’ve already noticed a difference in our water usage … I wash a good 3 loads of clothes per day, not counting bedding for 7 once per week. We are only well and septic … I’m hoping we can go down on the cost of upkeep of the water softener and electric to run the well. The dryer will save electric since it won’t have to run as often.
We are also seriously considering setting the house up for a full-house generator. Not chump change for sure … but if things get bad enough that power becomes questionable, at least we’ll be able to get through a rough patch until we can get our secondary systems in place.
We had to replace our busted washer and ended up getting a top loading high efficiency washer. It was $1000 but does double the towels in 1 load and uses alot less water and electricity.
Sounds like you got a really good deal. When our dryer goes I’d like to replace the electric dryer with a gas and eventually replace the electric water heater with a tankless gas (with pilot light).
Just read this week about poor results with front loading washing machines; I think the problems were items getting caught somehow and some leaking. Don’t recall where I read this but they returned them and got top loading & much happier.
I bought a 4 liter stainless tea kettle at Princess Auto today which looks like it will work well over a open fire as the spout has a hinged cover and the bottom is one molded piece rather than having a seam around the bottom. Less chance of leaks ocuring. Looks like the handle would adapt to a hook at one of the finger slots that could be used with a tripod and chain over the fire. Price was right at 12$ Canadian.
Prepping Gal — 01 December 2006, 23:39
The front loaders cause less wear and tear on clothes and they are great for items like lingerie and tank tops that sometimes get caught and torn/stretched on the top loading washers with the agitator.
They are about equally unforgiving when it comes to overloading a load. For instance, both have … gears I guess you would call them … that if you consistently overload the machine will quickly give out and destroy the machine.
The front loaders, by their nature, also have a gasket around the door. Gaskets everywhere will where out over time. <grin> The difference here is that when the gasket goes … or is punctured due to carelessness on the part of the user … a front loading washing machine will leak.
Given the exponential increase in water and electric in my area, the front loaders are still the best bet around. I think the high efficiency will also help if we have to run a load using a generator. A family of seven just goes through too many linens and clothes during a week for me to think its going to be easy to deal with the laundry issue during a pandemic.
Wade Garrett also sells Kelly Kettles---including the accessory kit.
Regarding front vs top I’ll try and find where I read the article comparing the two. I’d like to present both sides.
I’ve got the front loaders for W&D, and love both. Uses lots less detergent, lots less water & mine haven’t leaked……yet. Hopefully I won’t have that problem.
We are on a water well here, and so bought a frount loader washer. I love it! It was pricey, yes, but on sale, with a rebate and a helpful relatives employee discount brought down to our budget.
You can also wash quilts and comforters. I wouldn’t toss in any family heirlooms, but it will handle big bulky loads well.
I have a new top loader. It’s supposed to have “perfect temp” but gets its warm temp by adding hot water at intervals. If those particular clothes could take hot water, that’s what I’d use, dagnabit. So I have to stand there with the lid open, after I adjust the hot and cold faucets to lukewarm, and watch it fill. If I close the lid, it adds pure hot. If I go away with the lid open, I might not remember in time to close the lid before the water drains out. It won’t agitate with the lid open, either. BUT it has a large (3.5cuft) stainless steel tub. So it’s pretty good. The large mattress pad fits, or many pairs of jeans.
As part of my preps I went to COSTCO Optical, got my eyes examined and purchased new glasses. Now, I must tell you I have a really strong prescription +5 in the right and +6 in the left.
I was told that they don’t carry clear glass lenses like I have been wearing for over half a century and only have glass in photo grey.
They insisted that the new Aspheric High Index plastic would be fine for me even though I have never been able to wear plastic lenses because of the distortion.
I just picked up my new glasses. When I tried them on the picture was clear until I turned my head and everything that was not in the center of the lense start to warp and shift. The girls (yes I will call them that since I have probably been wearing glasses since before their parents were born) talked me into trying these for a week.
I have lost most of the warping and shifting, but the only part of the lense that gives me a clear picture is the very center. If I move my eyes away from center the picture starts to get blurry and is very blurry out at the edges.
I have a feeling that at the end of the week I will need to get my money back and go shopping for a place that will sell me plain clear glass lenses like I grew up with.
AV, keep wearing those new fangled glasses `til the end of the week, and see if your eyes adjust.
My first pair of bifocals..ugh ! Everything was so distorted. If I looked at something round(like the top of a coffee cup) it was oblong. Went in for a frame adjustment the next week, and realized that round objects were once again round. My brain had adjusted. At least that`s what the eye doc said.
I hate glasses, but waited too long before I thought about Lasix. My eyes are too bad now. Need to get an extra pair when I get the extra bucks.Right now,I`ve just kepy my old pair instead of giving them to the Lions Club like I usually do.
AV Like you, I have a very strong eye script. I tried the High Index lens to reduce the weight on my nose. I was unable to drive because every time I moved my head, the world tilted (or seemed to). My eye doc said about 1 in 1000 of the population cannot wear the High Index and it looks like you and I are both in that minority. But give them a try for a week. I have problems everytime I change lens getting the world to refocus, but never as bad as with the high index.
This is day 2 and I had to take my new glasses off to drive today.
The shifting when I turn my head is still there just a little bit and the only part of the lense that I get a clear image through is still the middle. It’s bad enough that sitting at my computer I can’t scan from left to right by just moving my eyes from one side of the screen to the other. It’s that blurred when I try to read through any part of the lense but the center.
The prescription isn’t substantially different from my old one, and I can see well through the center of the lense, so I don’t see how it could be refocusing or adjusting to the new prescription. I can see well out of a small portion of the lense, but not the rest.
I had intended to call around and try to find a place that will still sell me the plain glass lenses but it was a busy day at work so maybe tomorrow.
Flu Prep XXVI is still here…
Speaking of glasses, my 2yo threw a pillow yesterday, knocked over a candle jar, and put a nice scratch in my right lense. Of course, it is right in my line of vision of the eye I use for reading. Got a January apt for new glasses, so I guess I’ll have to live with it for now. Oh, and they’re the real expensive bifocals.
I’m having a heck of a time lately because I’m having to wear bifocal glasses over my bifocal contacts. How’s that for fun. I’m hoping my eyes settle down soon.
I’m having to wear bifocal glasses over my bifocal contacts.
Just wait ‘til you have to wear the special prescription sunglasses over all that! ;-)
“Just wait ‘til you have to wear the special prescription sunglasses over all that!”
Huh??? Now what do I have to look forward to?
Worn glasses since I was 4 and had surgery at 35 to (finally) correct lazy eye so I wouldn’t see double anymore. Now I just can’t read anything without large print!
its cold as the dickens here, so i’m thinking preps to stay warm. Everytime I go to the store I buy more propane, I need to get more blankets too and warm socks and hats and more gloves and mittens and boots. The store the other day only had about 10 propane canisters on the shelf.
Re the discussion on washers: I have had a good quality front load washer for over seven years, and I love it. It uses less water, power and soap than the other washers I have used, and it has a large capacity (you can fill the whole drum without overloading it), AND it is gentler on clothes. The only problem to date was a $3 plastic part in the door latch broke. That was easily repaired by ordering the part on-line.
Thanks for pointing out the importance of the gasket, KinFL. Think I’ll look into ordering a replacement just in case.
Agree with you KimT about feeling cold and looking for warm socks, mittens, etc. Brrrr.
bump
tjclaw1 — at 20:39 --- Huh??? Now what do I have to look forward to?
;-) I was only kidding. I thought of the Rx sunglasses ‘cuz my mom used to live for hers---she’d wear them over her bifocals so she could sit outside in the sun and read, holding the book at arms length ‘cuz the two sets of glasses negated each other!
And honestly, I wear contacts or bifocal glasses. I can’t see anything clearly beyond about, oh…..18 inches! I’m thinking I need to get another pair of glasses for preps—at my age now, I don’t think my eyes are gonna change all that much…
Replaced ALL of my colored bath towels and wash cloths with white cotton towels.
Will hold up to bleaching MUCH better when the time comes.
The old colored ones will now go into the rag box.
Remember when those little pillows filled with rice were popular? You popped them in the micrwave a few, and it molded to whatever was sore. Worked quite well.
So, I was thinking…
If you made a few, could warm by placing near woodstove,fireplace,whatever.
You could take them to bed, and wouldn`t worry what would/could happen if you rolled onto it.
But, if needed would this rice still be edible? If it is, would be a sneaky way to hide preps.
Sorry,forgetted to change name
Cactus — 08 December 2006, 12:53
I also remember my Granny telling me stories of how the kids would get hot potatoes and hot biscuits to put in their pockets for school. They would stay in their pockets for the morning and then be eaten for lunch.
Actually they were barley hulls, and not the actual grain, so not edible.
There are hot/cold packs at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy section that hold heat for a long time. I found some for $1.84 each.
Just bought a good set of 3 wood chisel’s from Canadian tire at 50% of for 14$ Canadian. I will add them to my wood working hand tool chest.
Bed Buddies—these are the current products stuffed with some kind of grain (rice, I think). I recommend them to my patients to use on sore joints because of the low cost, ease of use and availability (think Walgreens).
BG@1602 I`m cheap. Made my own using a sock filled with rice.So, I was just wondering if repeated heating these socks made the rice inedible?
I’m not sure I would want to eat it after multiple reheats and having body oils and sweat in contact with the food repeatedly.
true,guess I didn`t think it through. Thanks.But, as they say,”Any port in a storm”.
tjclaw1? — 07 December 2006, 20:33
Speaking of glasses, my 2yo threw a pillow yesterday, knocked over a candle jar, and put a nice scratch in my right lense. >>>> Someone told my husband to try Pledge furniture polish for scratched glasses. It worked for him.
My very good opthomologist told me that using $1 magnifyer glasses would not harm my eyes. As I am death to eyeglasses (careless, quick to move,) and lose them all over the world, I long ago gave up buying expensive prescription eyeglasses. You can also get very cheap prescription glasses on the internet with excellent frames. I must have a dozen or more stashed away in drawers, my car, handbags, coats. For me it is a cheap solution.I always look for a good looking pair whenever I hit the dollar stores. They might not be Armani frames, but they do the job.
Well, got #2 kid graduated yesterday from a Jr. College military academy and now he’s a full fledged Special Forces Army officer. Whew!!!
Completely cleaned out kid #3′s room and closet (where I had some huge rubbermaids with food preps that I could never get to—so they weren’t being rotated appropriately.) New closet arrangement means he can get to his stuff, I can get to the preps and everyone is happy!
Paid off the credit cards. Won’t shock anyone here with the balances. Let’s say you could buy a nice midsize car with it, though.
Hubby is going to open a corporate 401k where we can borrow from “ourselves” and then we are going to pay off our farm with a loan from ourselves—that way if the SHTF- we will not have a mortgage and no one can take our refuge from us. They can try to track us down to repay the loan, but we are really the owners of the whole thing, so worst comes to worse— we just owe the government some penalties and taxes on the amount.
If things get really bad, who knows what the government might seize control of— but this helps at least.
I have been refilling in the gaps in our storage that have been eaten or used up. Still need to get (literally) a ton of cat litter laid in. Too bad you can’t get that delivered by the truck load. I have a grain bin sitting empty!!!
Had dog and cat neutered— keep doggy closer to home—less roaming and keep kitty from tom spraying inside. Both can be related to prepping as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want to have to put our kitty outside when TSHTF- he’s my stress reliever.
Still trying to decide what to have put in the 300 gallon gas tank we have sitting on the property. Was going to get a generator, but I’m thinking long term, they take too much gas. Instead, I’m thinking of having it filled with kerosene, instead. Kerosene stays stable for 10 years without additives (correct me here if I am remembering this wrong-Eccles). We could have quite a huge quantity for lamps and small kerosene heaters/cookers.
We have the 500 gallon propane tank for cooking now. Should really get that topped off again. BTW— My gas supplier will only fill a tank to 80% in the winter and 70% in the summer to allow for expansion. That means, when absolutely filled as far as they will fill it— I only have 400 gallons in the winter and 350 gallons on hand in the summer months, never mind if I have used any of that. I could still cook on a full tank for over two years, if we don’t use it for the furnace. If TSHTF— the furnace gets turned off, the woodstove gets used exclusively- so we’ll have plenty to cook by. The heat from the oven helps heat the house anyways.
Are TJclaw and Mom11 still out there?
NEMO? — at 14:10 --- Holy moley! Can we move in with you?!? ;-)
We found an adaptor that will fill a 1# canister of gas from a 20# canister.Thought it would come in handy for the little heater.
Yea!!!! I am going on a cruise in Jan. to guess where Mexico. That means I can fill my med. cabinet Yea!!!! I am saving empty bottles to fill up while I am there. Can’t wait--------!! Hope I can get them back in the country.
I found 12 volt air horns with compressor and all connections at Harbor freight for just 25.00. It might work well as a community alarm system.
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I got a great deal at our local Princess Auto store today on battery operated LED lanterns which were on sale for 10$. Today they were clearing them out for 4.98$ Canadian so I bought 4 and already gave one away to my son.
Stay away from those packs filled with rice-they get FULL of weevils (moisture & heat). If they get loose in your stash, your food could be ruined by bugs. I think they(weevils)are safe to eat but our goal is to keep our preps in good condition.
You might consider at this time of year getting 1 or 2 strings of white LED Christmas lights. I got 2 approx. 11 foot strings, made by Westinghouse, at CVS/pharmacy for just under $8 each. If you have an inverter or generator that can generate 120v electricity during a power outage you can get pretty good ambient lighting out of these with virtually no power draw.
Just finished stacking another cord of wood in the wood shed for next winters use. You get a real sense of accomplishment when you look at the wood pile and know that no matter what happens your family will be warm and their is a way to cook your food if all else fails.
sailor- yes, exactly. That’s how I feel when I buy something as simple as a box of band aids, 1 bag of rice, 1 24 pack of bottled water(on sale of course). You know this will in one way or another, help you and your family survive another day. And that’s a gratification only a prepper can appreaciate. You’ve earned your hot chocolate for this evening.
Cotton top - Agreed. Every shopping expedition is another one that I can take advantage of to add some extra ‘stuff’ to the stash. From xtra toothpaste to xtra bags of beans or canned meats, I feel just a little bit better than before I bought the stuff.
I finally convinced my BF to prep up on plenty of coal and charcoal for the fireplace so we won’t have problems cooking the food since I know how to cook from scratch using hearth embers, thank heavens!
We don’t park our cars in our double garage any more. The space is too valuable. It’s strictly for our survival food and stuff and his tools. He’s a tinkerer and inventor of strange stuff that works really well mechanically, which will be a godsend should his hobby skills be necessary. I don’t think his breadwinning skill (software developer) is going to be much use for fighting birdflu. In any case, our cars will be useless in any evacuation anyway.
We have two lightweight but very well-built all-terraine bikes which we paid a lot of money for. You never know if you have to get out of Dodge and there’s no way out save on a bike. Remember Houston’s botched evacuation? I have the backpacks already packed and ready to snatch up and go, next to the bikes just in case. The only problem with that is our 30 pound cocker spaniel. He’s too large to ride on the bike with us and can’t fit into any bag we can tote along.
Does anyone have any ideas how to evacuate safely with an animal? Katrina has shown us that animals get left behind and die from starvation, drowning, etc.
Kelly P? — 15 December 2006, 02:42 --- Does anyone have any ideas how to evacuate safely with an animal
Have you lookied into one of those “child trailers” for bicyles? Some can be zipped completely closed, like a small tent.
Kelly P? — 15 December 2006, 02:42 --- Does anyone have any ideas how to evacuate safely with an animal
Have you looked into one of those “child trailers” for bicyles? Some can be zipped completely closed, like a small tent.
We have a convertable dolly thing that I got at Home Depot that can be used upright or can be used on all 4 wheels…..right now it’s in the guestroom wall to wall closet and on all ‘4s’ laden with 6 duffel bags of the things we’d use in a power outage at the house — cookware, ‘dry’ fuel (not gases) and things like that. I bought a rachet set so that if we had to evacuate, we COULD lash the duffels in place (have to to crosswise & lengthwise AND top to bottom) and cover them with a tarp then they COULD be pulled behind the car — in an emergency only, since there are no taillight hookups or anything ‘legal’ like that.
I suppose you could also lash large dog crates to such a setup and cover with a tarp to protect from weather (I have a catalog from a military surplus company where they sell really GOOD zip-up covers and tie-down tarps, etc) but you’d need to provide adequate ventilation AND protect from mud & water that your car tires might sling up underneath the tarp & get the pets wet, causing sickness. Also I wouldn’t do that for too long a trip — just to get out of the neighborhood for a local evac if there was a gas leak or something like that, if you had to, because of the car exhaust fumes that would surround the carriers, especially under the tarp and especially if you were having to idle your engine in traffic!!! Might as well stick the tailpipe down their throat! My plan with the dolley would be if for some reason the car didn’t work or a tree fell on it from a storm or something, we’d still have a set of ‘wheels’ we could use to put the pet carriers on and manually push them around in a quasi covered state so rain wouldn’t hurt them but air could circulate while we pushed ‘em to wherever we could savely get to and have them well above minor flood waters in low places.
It might be best for you to find an enclosed trailer you could buy from places like U-Haul, cut openings into the sides an install RV-type windows with screens in the openings & use it for “nonperishables & non-breathing” items, and put the dogs in the car.
Most important is to know where you can take them! Keep either camping equipment & a tent where you could set up camp down the street or in a park nearby, or at least keep a list in your car AND in your bug-out-bag of hotels/motels in your neighborhood & outside that range as well of places that accept pets & make certain you keep at least enough money in cash to pay for daily pet deposits due for pet occupancy (usually an amount due for each pet and under a certain weight). Most places would make you pay the pet deposit in cash, not by check.
I just don’t understand the evacuate thing. Where would one go? And why? When this thing goes H2H there is no safe place. Can you run a couple scenerios by me?
Flu prep here has been put on hold for a few weeks. Too much other stuff going on. Still buying extra food when I go to the store but thats about it.
Lohrewok- heres a scenerio-actually its part of our family plan. Dh and I and our kids and his Dad live waayyy out back of beyond. We have a fair amount of space, woodlot, gardens, orchard, well, and a couple of running streams. No way would we evacuate! (In case of flu- there are maybe other events that might cause us to go.) But both dh and I have sibs, plus my mom that live in urban areas. The plan is for them to come here, or at least the moms and kids. Some live two hours some as many as four hours away. So evacuation routes and dog carriers have been conversation topics amoungst us-though no-one I know plans to evacuate on a bike.
lohrewok - ‘I just don’t understand the evacuate thing. Where would one go? And why?’
A few scenarios come to mind, the first being where one actually lives at. We happen to live in the middle of silicon valley, where the population is large and when supplies are tight, things can get ugly fast. We can probably stay in one place for awhile, but if things get too nasty or dangerous, we might have to find a way to get out of town. My BF’s mother lives north of the area, in a more rural setting, on an acre piece of land. This would be where we would head out for, not just for our protection but also for hers. Hence the bikes.
Why bikes and not our comfortable cars? I don’t think driving would be the best method to evacuate because the roads and freeways will have been clogged with folks who have the same idea. The only things that will have a chance of getting through would be bikes.
I have family living in Houston. During hurricane Rita, they tried to evacuate out of the city, and got stuck in traffic going nowhere. Thank God Rita missed Houston, because if it hadn’t, they’d all be dead by now. Lesson to be taken from this very real experience? Evacuation by car…next to impossible.
Bikes would be useless. Any determined bully and the bike is history. Funny, in NYC to see the lights. They have those pedi-cabs. One whell in front, two in back. Passenger space or storage in a protected area in back. Also more stable than a two wheeler.
Well, it’s a very productive few days. My Lt. son asked if he could work for us for a few days to help rebuild his coffers. This used to mean he expected to get paid for screwing around. Guess the military has had a really good influence on him. Our wreck of a garage is now neat and orderly, the lost has been found and hung up on hooks and nails to boot! He cleaned out the barn (no small feat) and made an area where the goats could get to, but the horse couldn’t so she can’t poo in their sleeping area. I tackled the mudroom where most of our preps are kept. Wow…so that’s the color of the linoleum….every joint aches but I got a ton done so I think it’s worth it. Now I can re-inventory and finish adding back in where holes have developed in the stashes.
diana - What are you talking about? those pedi-cabs are SLOW and HEAVY, and can’t be taken off-road. Like I was saying, folks…once the millions and millions of cars clog up the roads and freeways, you can’t drive down the street in any conventional vehicle. You have to find a way to manouever through the cars or onto the side shoulder and weave your way about on sidewalks. Imagine trying to do that with a clunky three-wheeler. You won’t be able to. A bike would actually stand a much better chance to get you out of the city IF you’re physically able to handle the bike. A small motorized bike isn’t a bad idea either, if you know how to handle one. Since I don’t, it’s the bike or staying put.
One last thing. The determined bully gets a determined bullet through the chest.
I’ve been going through our items that normally are seasonally stored … don’t laugh, Florida does too have seasons. <grin> Even after I think I’ve done all of the thinning out that I can do, I wind up finding more stuff that can go to charity.
I … shudder … still need to do what we call the “toy room” this week.
We are looking for a large cabinet to install on a part of a blank wall that is beside the refrigerator. I really need to get stuff out of bins so that they can be better rotated in and out. My pantry is a total mess. I’d love to see it can done this week but it is unlikely.
We’ve spent the weekend repairing privacy fencing and gates here at our house. We also had to dig up the “dry well” that our washer drained into. We had to do a total replacement of the tank and drainage field. That was a mess.
Basically … work, work, work. I’m hoping to be able to enjoy the Christmas season more this coming week.
Evacuate because:
neighborhood gas leak…
house burns down…
tree falls onto roof & pokes a big hole in roof (or knocks an exterior wall down) & heat is escaping, rain or snow is coming in and you can’t close off the rest of the house OR secure the house from intruders…
the gov’t forces you to….
a water pipe bursts in your basement and is shooting straight up onto your subflooring & you can’t shut it off…
a tornado comes early Spring & tears off your roof…
your child needs to be hospitalized & you can’t travel back & forth because roads are closed and you have one shot at going with your child & surviving on your own supplies or staying home to guard the house…
intruders break in & vandalize your house so you can’t cook on your grill, can’t flush your toilets, you have no gas or propane, but you have your bug-out supplies and a tent….
etc.
NEMO what a great early Christmas present!! You raised him right! :-)
Kathy, don’t miss out on Christmas moments, they’re way more important than an organized pantry! I’m sorry the dry well was so much trouble and I know you’re glad that job is over with — now go drive around tonight & view some neighborhood Christmas lights!! :-)
I just dropped another $350 at Costco for cases of canned goods, bags of dried goods, medicines for colds, flu, coughs, pain relievers etc. Each item I bought made me feel that much better about the whole situation and gave me a bit more of a sense of empowerment. Just yesterday, I was telling my BF that I was worried. In the interest of stock rotation, I was creating many of my culinary works using my prep stock and was down to the last six cans of corn. Panic set in and I told him I had to go grab a few more cases of corn because I was dangerously running out of a staple food item. He, of course, thought I was nuts since most folks would feel that six cans of corn still sitting in the pantry is plenty of corn. This is coming from a guy who just bought fifteen LED lights to hack together some kind of emergency light thingy that works off some large converter thingy…
Kelly P — 16 December 2006, 01:16 ---
I used to live in the “Heart of Silicon Valley”, and found my way out in 2000. As much as DW and I love the Bay Area, it’s too crowded and expensive to live there any longer…we both realized that 6 years ago.
I don’t see a mass evacuation happening at the first word of panflu…and being here on FluWiki and being aware of breaking news will give you a heads up when it comes time to head out. Use your car as far as you can, and LOCK the bikes onto racks on the back. That way, you don’t have to pedal as far… ;-)
Jeez Bill, that’s great advice in regards to the bikes! I personally hope to stay holed up inside my house as long as I possibly can, but I’m so paranoid about this whole thing, I even plan contingencies on top of contingencies! The bike idea was mostly a back-up, just in case something went horribly wrong and we couldn’t stay in our house.
We found out very recently (we just bought our house not too long ago) that there was a great attic up above the garage that had been built in when the previous owners remodeled the house. Since my bird flu pantry is already in the garage, I figured a nice stash up there would be ideal, especially as a back-up secret stash. That’s next on the plan. Now I have to save up the money for it. Christmas is around the corner, and once that’s done with, it’s back to the plan.
Kelly P on 15 Dec. at 02:42 I finally convinced my BF to prep up on plenty of coal and charcoal for the fireplace so we won’t have problems cooking the food since I know how to cook from scratch using hearth embers, thank heavens!
Is it safe to use charcoal in a fireplace? If you have glass doors is it safe? I don’t know what makes charcoal different from wood, but when we’re warned against charcoal indoors, do they mean in fireplaces? Or hibachis/grills? (which I know to avoid)
Jane- I would not use charcoal in the firplace, due to smoke and fumes. think how much smoke and fumes the briquets let off in the grill. JMHO.
Fumes due to using lighter fliud to get them going.
If you can get a good draw up the chimney (ie, the smoke goes straight up the chimney and not out into the room) I think you should be ok with charcoal in a fireplace. I know that one way a wood fire establishes a good draw is that the heat it puts out drives air up the chimney (that “exhaust” thru your chimney is what allows you to burn wood inside the house without suffocating in smoke)… as long as you can get the charcoal hot enough, fast enough, to do this then it should be ok. This is my semi-educated opinion; anyone else out there know for sure?
Since charcoal can produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide even in a garage with the door open, I strongly suggest not using charcoal in an indoor fireplace.
CO (carbon monoxide) is heavier than air. NEVER EVER EVER LIGHT CHARCOAL INSIDE ANY STRUCTURE, WHETHER YOU HAVE IT IN A GARAGE OR A FIREPLACE OR A STEEL DRUM IN YOUR BASEMENT! THE FUMES CAN KILL YOU. DEAD. PERIOD.
Now…why is that soooo hard to understand?
Add to that the chimney fire from the lighter fluid flare and hight heat and it is a major disaster. Which will kill you first is the only question.
Jane, do you have one of the CO detectors that shows the actual carbon monoxide level? If so, you might run a test now to see if using the charcoal if the fireplace increases the CO level appreciably. BTW, you don’t need charcoal lighter fluid to get charcoal going… try one of these…
http://www.weberstuff.com/webcharchims.html
OR
The tragic events in Washington should be adequate warning for the rest of us. Heard a good way to cure sore or scratchy throats in the dry indoor air. Equal amounts of sea salt and tumeric in a glass of water. Gargle. Also ghee, or clarified butter, a teaspoon in hot water, gargle and if you don’t worry about. caloric intake, swallow. Will get a carbon monoxide detector this week. Good precaution. If you have any doubts about fire precautions ask your local fire department. Better safe than sorry.
I heard on the local news this morning (Channel 12 in Portland) that the family who had the generator in the garage with the big door open are the ones who got sick but will live.
They said that the family of four who died actually were running the generator inside their house.
BTW, I started a diary dedicated to CO detectors on the new site.
If you have any information to add, please do.
Kim, Jane---PLEASE read my comment here:
Bronco Bill — 20 December 2006, 06:09
Even small amounts of CO can make a person ill. Lightheadedness, nausea, numbness---all these can occur with only little bits of exposure.
If you insist on burning charcoal in your fireplace, and I don’t care how you start it, consider yourself warned. There is not enough cold to warrant placing your family or yourself in danger of suffocating on your living room floor!!!!!!!!!
I will have to agree with BB. It isn’t even an option. Please don’t even consider it. And I have to ask, why would you EVEN want too?
Agree with posts above, please do yourself a favour and burn your charcoal outside and buy some seasoned wood for your fireplace.
I don’t know if this would be considered flu preps but I just had my kitchen redone and my computer room and hall way, next is the bathroom. I decided that if I have to SIP in my little house it was going to look good, I have laughed and said that if I die tomorrow someone will get a nice little cottage. and I just received a nice Christmas check from my sister so looks like I get to go shopping for some more preps. Thank you God, Life is good. :)
Lady Biker,
I decided that if I have to SIP in my little house it was going to look good,
My thoughts exactly! We’ve been working on ours for several months now while continuing to prep. Whew! But it’s so worth it.
Great to see you posting.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that results from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels such gas, propane, oil, wood, coal, and gasoline—in short, anything that’s got carbon in it, which allows for the bonding of the carbon and oxygen molecules. As long as proper ventilation is allowed, it should be fine. The size of the flu, as well as the depth of the fireplace makes a big difference. And besides, we also have a very good carbon monoxide alarm, ready to let us know if anything is amiss.
Go for it KellyP.
I guess your chimney flue and maybe a door cracked open will probably be a much better ventilation system than a fully-opened double-wide garage door.
Uhm, when you’re done, and if you’ve survived? Let us know how it goes. Good luck with that.
%redCalling Mister Darwin…Mister Darwin, are you here?
Go for it KellyP.
I guess your chimney flue and maybe a door cracked open will probably be a much better ventilation system than a fully-opened double-wide garage door.
Uhm, when you’re done, and if you’ve survived? Let us know how it goes. Good luck with that.
Calling Mister Darwin…Mister Darwin, are you here?
Well, o.k. The choice is yours. But let me just say, that suppose carbon monoxide does build up in your home, say during winter SIP. It seems to me you have two choices: open up the house and air it out(in that case you’d end up freezing), or leave your home until the fumes were cleared out(in that case where would you go?) You may believe that there will not be a pronlem, but our whole purpose of planning is so that we can try to prevent things from going wrong, and have as smooth SIP as we can, because it’s going to be as hard as we can imagine it’s going to be. It seems to me that would be adding to a potiental problem that you and your family cannot afford to encounter. If you do so, make contigency plans.JMHO
Lady Biker/Okbirdwatcher- Guess I’m not the only “crazy lady with this weird idea”. Hubby and I have been doing upgrades, cleaning out the house. I would go crazy if I had to SIP with all our cluttter! Great minds do think a like. ;-)
I can’t see using charcoal in a fireplace even if CO wasn’t an issue. The amount of air that goes up the chimney in order to remove the smoke (or CO) is so great that it really turns into a net heat loss for the house.
Sure it feels warm from the radiant heat, just in front of the fireplace, but there is no convected heat to spread that warmth beyond the area of radiant heat. The net heat loss from air coming in through windows, doors, etc. can be surprisingly high.
And, of course, if you don’t have that cold “make up” air coming in so the gases can go up the chimney, you die.
KellyP, I too am having a hard time understanding why everyone else here seems to make the automatic assumption that charcoal cannot be burned in a properly-operating fireplace. Almost anything one could burn is going to emit carbon monoxide, along with other potentially hazardous gasses. The entire purpose of a fireplace is to provide proper venting of those gasses out of the living area. Charcoal is really no more than a “condensed” wood which has been previously burned without the presence of oxygen. I still think KellyP (and anyone else interested in trying this) should make several test runs now, carefully monitoring the CO levels in their home immediately before, during and after the test to be absolutely sure that it can be done safely. Jumping to conclusions, and clinging to preconceived notions, do not advance science, and there IS science in how a fireplace works.
Kim---something that everyone needs to understand is that a WOOD fire burns much hotter, even when smoldering, than charcoal does. Charcoal is designed to do nothing more than smolder, thus not creating enough of a vortex to draw the fumes up the chimney flue. Nearly all fireplace fireboxes vent through the top, approx. 18–24 inches or more from the firebed. Sure, when charcoal is first lit, it flames for about 10 minutes, but that flame quickly diminishes. You can check how hot a charcoal “fire” is by holding your hand over it---most good grill chefs do this to guage a “hot”, “medium” or “cool” cooking surface. Try to put your hand over a pile of burning logs…
Bronco Bill, I’m NOT trying to be argumentative, nor am I an experienced hand with fireplaces, BUT what happens when the wood fire in a fireplace dies down to embers… does the chimney quit drawing since it’s no longer putting out that great volume of heat? I am trying to look at this from a scientific standpoint, and it just intuitively seems to me that warm air rises (whether it’s 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding air or 500 degrees warmer). As I’m trying to make perfectly clear, I am no expert, but I cannot understand what is wrong with a properly conducted test now to either prove or disprove the theory that charcoal can be safely burned in a fireplace.
Might as well give up BB you can save some of them some of the time but not all of them all of the time.
I cannot understand what is wrong with a properly conducted test
Over 100 people conducted this same “test” in PacNorWest. It was fatal for some, and not good for the all the rest. If you can’t deduce any results from that, then….
One last time…scientfically speaking, of course ;-) A wood fire stays hot much longer, thereby heating the masonry/bricks around the mouth of the flue. This heat will remain above room temperature for much longer after the wood fire dies out, drawing air up and out. A charcoal fire’s total heat output (BTUs) dies down very quickly, and does not heat the masonry/bricks in and around the flue, which is quite a ways from the actual heat source.
I’m afraid I can’t help y’all if you insist that you’re going to try to burn charcoal in your fireplace. Just be sure to let your next of kin know what you’re going to do…and don’t forget to increase your life insurance…
Kim, maybe it makes a difference that at the tail end of a wood fire, the firebox and chimney are hot and help heat the air to maintain the upward movement?
I wouldn’t do it, but if you constantly pumped one of those squeezebox blowers (forgot what it’s called), would that help? (Although the nozzle is too narrow to get a good flow up the chimney.) I don’t think it’s worth it, in the winter. In summer, outdoors is comfortable, so I wouldn’t have charcoal inside then either.
what happened? sorry.
The Top 10 Dangers of Fireplaces:What Every Fireplace User Should Know
because it can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.(Home Safety sixwise.com/)
Ton of various websites (fire rescue sites, etc.) with warnings in regards to never using Charcoal indoors under any circumstances, including Fireplaces due to the deadly amounts of carbon monoxide that charcoal produces.
Not worth the risk.
Sailor — 21 December 2006, 11:03 ---
Agreed!!
As one who once had the job title of “Environmental Scientist” with a company that worked almost exclusively with wood combustion, I can definately say that the SCIENCE says that Bronco Bill is right.
The SCIENCE also says, as I tried to point out above that fireplaces are a net heat loss to the house due to the large amount of air that is needed to move the hot, dangerous, gases up the chimney and out of the house.
Heating with charcoal would also cost a prohibitive amount. That’s why people buy “wood stoves” and “pellet stoves,” even “corn stoves,” but not “charcoal stoves.”
If you really plan on heating with charcoal in the fireplace, I hope you don’t have children.
oops..I’m sorry, too!
.
Well, who am I to argue with heating scientists? The charcoal was an idea of mine to be specifically used for cooking and not so much for heating. I do have a nice backyard that can be converted for open air hearth cooking as well as spit roasting and the likes. Problem is, the smell from my cooking is going to draw hungry crowds and kill me faster than any carbon monoxide poisoning ever will. LOL
This thread is long, and will be continued here