Voting

Today is primary voting day in New Hampshire. 

Remember, if voting didn’t work they wouldn’t work so hard doing voter suppression.

-Sixbears

End of the Supply Chain

There’s a lot of be said for living out in the country. There are also some downsides. One big downside is being at the end of the supply chain. If there are going to be shortages they will show up in the hinterlands first. 

Next day Amazon delivery here is a joke -more like next week, if you are lucky. 

During the pandemic we were often out of a lot of items, but there was always something in stock somewhere. It took some flexibility. I also learned that fresh foods and frozen foods had totally different supply chains. When there was no fresh chicken available frozen was. 

Irving is the big gas station chain in this area. A couple weeks ago all the Irving stations were out of gas  and I have no idea why. The whole chain for a good 50 mile area had empty pumps. Fortunately there were other brands that still had gas. It happened before in the winter when snow prevented resupply but I never saw them go dry in the summer before. 

Currently I’m waiting for a new scooter tire to be delivered to the closest Honda dealer. Their closest warehouses are out so it’s coming from some distance away. Stocking up on spare parts for vehicles might be the thing to do. 

Of course, there’s only so much stuff one person can buy and store. With that in mind, make sure essentials like food are made a priority. 

-Sixbears

Retrotech

Our niece has made a pretty heroic attempt to seriously cut down on her Internet time. Of course, she doesn’t want to live like Colonial Williamsburg either. She still wants to write books and listen to music.

She purchased a manual typewriter. I learned on a manual machine and owned several over the years. Back in the 70s I was in a typing class of 40 students. 38 were girls and only there were only 2 boys in the class. Typing was an unusual skill for men back then but I found it handy -especially since my handwriting wasn’t all that great. 

It wasn’t just learning how to type. A fair bit of the class concerned the mechanical ins and outs of the typewriter. Helping my niece sort out her typewriter has brought it all back to me. Good fun.

She’s also playing CDs and cassette tapes. Anyone else remember mixed tapes? Remember what a breakthrough it was to have a machine that could record directly from vinyl to cassette? There’s also DVDs instead of streaming services. Actually, considering the price increases for streaming services those old DVDs make more and more sense. 

-Sixbears

Another Funeral Day

My uncle passed away and the funeral was on Friday. He was an uncomplicated man but a good and kind man. The old guy played hockey at 80 years old against opponents many years his junior. Unfortunately the last couple of years were rough ones. He died at 85 -not a bad run for anyone. 

It’s been a while since I went a full Catholic funeral. There were calling hours at the funeral home in the morning, a full mass during the early afternoon, followed by a graveside service. Afterwards the friends and relatives gathered at a local restaurant. It was a long and emotional day. 

Between the funeral home expenses, church fees, and the dinner my cousins took a big financial hit. The funeral industry is a monster. They hit you at your most vulnerable. A traditional funeral is stupid expensive. 

I thought my dad’s funeral expenses were bad enough but nothing like what my cousins had to pay. My dad had a falling out with his church before he passed so they were cut out of the mix. Dad was cremated and buried next to my mom’s ashes. We had a celebration in the hall at the Florida park he lived in. That was pretty good as he made a lot of friends down there. Back home in New Hampshire we had a celebration of life ceremony and a nice dinner at a local restaurant. All in all it probably cost about as 10th of what my cousins had to pay and it was a good send off. 

As for myself, when I done with the mortal shell . . . well, trash pick up is on Tuesdays.

-Sixbears

Scooter Cannonball Practice

I wear out at least one a rear tire on my scooter every season. Another one is currently on order and should be in tomorrow. It would be possible to get through the rest of the season on the current tire but I have trip plans. 

The scooter event will have 400+ mile days. That’s a lot of miles on a 150 cc scooter. 100 – 150 mile rides are pretty normal for me but I haven’t done more than 300 miles in a day. That wasn’t too bad as I broke up the trip with a lot of stops and had a leisurely lunch. 

The Cannonball won’t be so relaxed. I’m planning out a 400+ mile trip and will emulate rally conditions as much as possible. It will all be on back roads and may even contain some dirt sections. The day will start early with a quick breakfast. Lunch will be grab and go food like power bars -maybe supplemented with an unhealthy gas station snack. Dinner won’t happen until the day’s trip is over. Staying hydrated will be essential. 

The scooter gets a new tire, an oil change and will loaded up with tools and the gear needed for the event. If all goes well that should happen sometime next week.

-Sixbears

The Cost of Winter

Like many of other New Englanders I have an oil furnace -and a woodstove, of course. Nights have been cool so we decided to get the oil tank filled. That’s always a good chunk of change. I shamelessly switched oil companies for one that gives a senior discount. Just call me an entitled Baby Boomer. 

The furnace had run empty so it had to be primed again. I keep the correct sized wrench right on the side of the furnace. There’s also a container with a tight cover for catching the primed fuel oil. If the furnace has to be bled during the deep cold of winter I don’t want to be hunting for the right tools. 

We’ve some fuel for the woodstove but we’ll probably burn more oil this coming winter. My niece will have the house to herself a lot this coming winter and we don’t want her worrying about the woodstove. Now I don’t have to worry about her being worried. 

There’s not a lot of winter prep left to do and the essentials are ready.

-Sixbears

Always in the Night

Why is it that smoke/CO detectors always fail in the middle of the night? 

A weird loud beeping noise woke me up. It was one of my older detectors. Neither the carbon monoxide nor the smoke LED was on. Taking it outside into fresh air did nothing. After pulling the battery I found some tiny print explaining the different beeping patterns. The patten it was beeping out signified a total detector malfunction. In the trash it went. 

The new detector mounted about eight feet away never made a beep. I guess that’s now the old detector as I’m getting a new one the next time I’m in town. 

Having numerous detectors comforts me. When I was a firefighter I had to deal with dead people who’d probably still be alive had they detectors. Body recovery was never one of my favorite things to do. 

-Sixbears