More Trouble in the House

The House of Representatives has a new Speaker: Mike Johnson. If you didn’t know of him before don’t feel too badly. In fact, he probably won’t be around long enough to be worth knowing. If he goes beyond another six weeks I’ll be surprised. 

Republicans in the House have proven, over and over again, that they lack the ability to govern. They can’t even keep or elect a speaker it doesn’t bode well for anything else they may want to do. When you have the majority electing a speaker is the easy part. 

Should any of Mr. Johnson’s wishes somehow get turned into legislation it won’t go any further than the House. The Senate and Executive branches will kill it. This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. If you elected anti-government people into office you end up with people who don’t know how to do the job. 

It takes all three branches of government to pass laws in this country. A small minority in the House has been allowed to gum up the whole works. Normally that would be an inconvenience. With the world currently in crisis, it’s a tragedy. Decisive action needs to be taken and we are stuck with legislative gridlock. 

-Sixbears

Wider War

It appears that calmer heads will not prevail in the Middle East. All the ingredients for a much wider war are in the pot and the heat’s on. 

Currently it looks like Israel is going to go full throttle into Gaza. It will be horrific for all parties involved. There’s every potential it will be a combination of Fallujah and Grozny times ten. That, ladies and gentleman, would be especially bad for civilians. It won’t do the IDF any good either. 

Numerous countries on the periphery are dragging out old grievances. While Western powers and Israel are distracted they are looking to settle some old scores. I don’t think the conflict will go nuclear -unless things go incredibly badly for Israel. If it looks like they are about to lose it all there’s the Samson Option. Look that up if you don’t have enough nightmares. 

So how is this going to shake out? No idea. It’s chaos season. Who could have predicted how the assignation of some random minor royal could have led to WWI? Just like the previous world wars a wider Middle East conflict could affect everyone. 

Are your preps in order? Here’s another thing to consider. If you are looking to buy something that’s shipped from away you’d probably better get it now. There could be a total shut down on much of the world’s trade. We’ve gotten used to being able to order just about anything on-line and have it shipped promptly to our house. Picture that going away. 

Maybe you should get a shipment of potassium iodide while you are at it.

-Sixbears

Loving the night

I love the night. I’m friends with the dark. My dad’s the reason darkness is no threat to me. When I was a little kid he taught he how to get around in the dark. We played games with the lights out. It was a blast for a little kid. Now the darkness feels like a warm security blanket to me. 

Yeah, I know that seems pretty weird to most folks. However, think of the advantage of not having any fear. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it will hurt you. Dad also taught me how to enhance my other senses and to rely on them at night. 

I may have come from a long line of poachers. 

-Sixbears

Shooting in Lewiston Maine

As of the writing of this blog the person of interest in the Lewiston shooting is still at large. I don’t want to get ahead of any facts so I’m not going to speculate too much. 

Lewiston Maine is fairly close to where I live. It’s close enough that it’s a reasonable day trip. In any given year I go there fairly often. 

There is one thing that bothers me about the police response. They put in a shelter in place order. My first impulse is get the heck out of Dodge. If don’t want to wait around to see if the shooter shows up at your house you have a few options. 

You can get out of Dodge before the authorities lock down everything. You can hope the lockdown is porous enough to drive around any road blocks. Perhaps you have a good story about why you have to leave. Maybe a medical emergency? Another option is have a back door out of your area, like a little used fire road. 

I’m thinking that sometimes the best defense is a hasty retreat.

-Sixbears

Short Inverter Update

The old Trace 2024 modified sine wave inverter for my house has been replaced with a true sine wave inverter. ( WZRELB 24 DC to 120 AC 6000 Watt surge) It’s been in use long enough that I have some feedback.

On the plus side: LED lights work properly. They were dim and burned out quickly with modified sine wave -probably not too safe. The true sine wave runs induction stove tops while the modified did not. Things like ceiling fans and microwave ovens run much quieter. There’s no longer a faint buzz sound from some audio equipment. 

On the downside the new inverter is a bit more sensitive to temporary low voltages. For example, there will be a lot of things drawing power. The induction stove top is a big one. Then the ½ horse well pump kicks in causing a sudden surge demand. If the batteries are on the low side to begin with that can trip the low voltage inverter safety and shut it down. The modified sine wave inverter handled low voltage draws a bit better. 

To fix that I can either turn the battery charger on or turn the inverter off than on again. It’s not a big deal. 

All in all, the gains are well worth the trade offs.

-Sixbears

Lost Skills

The United States could not build a Saturn 5 rocket if we wanted to today. The unique set of skills needed to built one died out. Certain material sciences and mechanical skills are gone with the people who once knew them. It’s not that we can’t build rockets. We just can’t build them like we used to. In general that’s not a disaster, but sometimes those skills would have saved a lot of reinventing the wheel. 

I’ve an engineer friend who was hired after two years of retirement. His unique set of skills are quickly dying out. He’s one of the “young” ones with the skill set and he’s 64. The industry he works for isn’t training new people. They are poaching workers from each other instead. That’s not a long term plan for success but in the short term it’s cheaper. The bean counters are happy with short term results. 

On the other hand I know someone in her 50s who works for another industry. Her skills are also dying out. However, a big company just hired her. Their plan over the next two years is to move her into a full time teaching position. My bet is that five or ten years from now that company will be at the top of their industry. They think ahead.

It’s surprising how many useful skills are allowed to die out. There are exceptions. I’ve a friend in his early 40s who knows a lot of old timey ways. When he was a kid he spent a lot of time with old timers learning their skills. He’d fit in just fine if dropped into the 18th century. A lot of those skills are local homesteading knowledge that isn’t written down anywhere. I hope his kids are paying attention.

-Sixbears

Smart Phone Trap

Smart Phones have taken over the world. It seems like everyone has one. Little kids to ancient elders have them. 

They are many things I could say about smart phones but I’m going to focus on the information aspect. Anytime someone wants to know something it’s usually just a Google search away. Google, like much of life, is all about being able to ask the right questions. That’s one of today’s survival skills.

Of course, information is not knowledge. One has to be able to integrate that information into a greater whole. That’s where a good general knowledge comes in. For example you may look up the shortest distance to get somewhere and get an answer. The problem is that the shortest distance involves climbing mountains and crossing flooded rivers. That’s where having a greater knowledge makes a difference. Instead of blinding following the shortest directions you know there’s more to travel than the number of miles.

People have information at their finger tips. What happens to you when you don’t have that information in your own little gray cell storage center in your head? Batteries die. Phones break.

Should you do without the information access of a smart phone? No. Think about it. We’ve been storing information outside our heads since we invented writing. It wasn’t long before that written information far exceeded the capacity of the human brain. That event happened thousands of years ago.

While it’s impossible to keep everything in your head you have something in there. The trick is to have on-board human storage of the most important things. The fun part is deciding what’s really important. 

-Sixbears

Another Doctor Trip

Ho boy. Don’t I love going to doctors. . . or not. Even better I went back for the same old recurring problem I’ve been dealing with for months. 

Basically I’m suffering from infected leg ulcers. It’s painful and annoying. It doesn’t help that often treatments have make the condition worse instead of better. 

However, today was encouraging. I spent a good part of the morning with a doctor, student doctor and a nurse. We went over all my experiences and separated out what worked and what did not. Finally I have a treatment program that’s tailored to my needs. 

For example one complaint is that the antibiotics I’ve been taking seem to knock out about 95% of the infection and then I’m taken off them. Over the course of a few weeks the infection comes roaring back. This time around we are working from lab tests to target the exact infection and hitting it with something more heavy duty. That’s just one part of the treatment. 

To be fair my issue presents just like a diabetic ulcer. As an old fat guy I look like the typical diabetic patient. They finally got around to doing a diabetic blood test (A1C). Not only am I not diabetic I’m not even pre-diabetic. No wonder that treatments designed for diabetics don’t work. 

My leg circulation problem is most likely rooted in years of physical trauma caused by numerous mishaps over the years. I lived a rough and tumble life for a while there. I know that once the wound is finally healed I’ll be able to resume my walking program. That does wonders for my circulation. The catch 22 right now is that my leg is not up to long walks until the wound is cured. 

I feel I’m working with a good team right now and they are closely monitoring my progress. None of this would have possible until I finally got health insurance through Medicare. I’m probably lucky I made it to 65. 

-Sixbears

Are Drivers Worse?

Anyone else notice that drivers seem to be getting worse? Seems to me that people are driving with their emotions and their emotions are not in a good place. I’m also seeing a lot of distracted drivers. No doubt cell phones are an issue. Could it be that all those big electronic screens newer cars come with are more distraction than help?

My home state of New Hampshire just had its worse year for motorcycle accidents in 20 years -and the year ain’t over. I did a lot of motor scooter riding this year but I don’t go out on the highways. That probably saved me a certain amount of risk. There’s something to be said for a machine that tops out around 62 mph. It keeps me humble. However, I did come very close to being run over in a freaking gas station parking lot. 

Living out in the middle of nowhere has its perks. Low traffic volume is a big one. We do have to deal with deer, bear and moose on the road. Hitting a freaking turkey isn’t any fun either. My cousin hit one with the windshield of his Jeep and almost ran off the road. At least wildlife, unlike some humans, are not out to do you in on purpose. 

Just wait until we get our first big snowstorm. Some people forget how to drive in the snow over the summer. It doesn’t help that many are late getting snow tires put on their cars. If at all possible I like to sit out the first storm and stay home. 

So I am curious. Has anyone else noticed a big uptick in bad driving?

-Sixbears

Battery Powered Tools

Thanks to more powerful batteries cordless tools have really come into their own. I really like being able to work beyond the reach of extension cords. 

My big pet peeve is that everyone has a different battery/charger setup. Some standardization would be nice. The number of different chargers hanging around my shop is becoming a problem. I even have two 20 volt tools from the same company that require different chargers.

At least some companies have families of tools that use the same batteries. That’s a help. Personally, I like that Toro’s 60 volt tools can use batteries of different amperage. I could use my chainsaw battery in their snowblower. Stuff like that is handy. The major companies seem to be leaning towards interchangeability. 

It’s the odd tools that can be a pain. I needed a cordless impact wrench for a single job. Amazon had something that looked like it could do the job for cheap. It did. Then it became clear that the tool was pretty useful for a lot of things. Unfortunately, the charger burned out after the warranty had expired. Finding a replacement was a royal pain. Eventually one popped up in my searches that looked like it might work. The problem is they wanted $60 for it. 

It seemed like a lot of money for something that may or may not work. Then Amazon put the whole impact wrench kit on sale for $70. I bought it instead of the just the charger. 

One of my more interesting battery powered tools is a grinder. Those have been a real boost for criminals. They do a pretty good job cutting locks. Of course I would never do anything immoral with mine. 

-Sixbears

No Frost Yet

As of October 18th we’ve yet to have a hard frost. That’s not normal for northern New Hampshire. My lovely wife volunteers at a botanical garden. There are flowers in her pollinator section that are blooming again. She’s never seen that happen in the garden before. 

It’s been a pretty mild fall. However, it can go from unusually warm to unusually cold overnight. Just south of us is Mount Washington which has the worse weather in the world. Major weather systems come together in our area so anything can happen. 

Long range weather forecasts have never been very reliable. It appears they are doing a worse job now than in the recent past. That’s not really a surprise. Weather predictions rely heavily on data from previous years. That’s handy -until some basic conditions change and the present is not like the past. 

With that in mind I’m paying close attention to forecasts that predict heavy snow in my area. There might be something to it. Winter here can be both warmer than normal and snowy than normal. Actually, I prefer that over the opposite. Nothing worse than a deeply cold lean snow year. That’s when the frost is driven deep in the ground causing all kinds of problems. I’ve had both water lines and sewer lines freeze. Neither are any fun. 

Now all I have to do is to talk my lovely wife into us buying a new snowblower. 

-Sixbears

More War?

Is the US about to get involved in a shooting war in the Middle East? Iran has been told in no uncertain terms that a missile attack on Israel will result in a US response. Right now the are two US Navy carrier groups within striking distance. That’s more firepower in one place than most countries can muster. The US certainly has the capacity.

On the other hand, it looks like the US has encouraged Israel to take a more measured response. Don’t get me wrong, most of the Hamas leadership are dead men walking. However, Israel might take a less than scorched earth approach to achieving that goal. Frankly, too many innocents have already died. 

The hostage situation complicates things immensely. A number of those hostages are foreign nationals so there are lot of other countries who have skin in the game. 

The United States is not in the best position right now. The Republicans in the House have demonstrated their inability to govern. As of this writing they can’t even agree on a Speaker of the House. That’s with a majority. Many diplomatic posts remain unfilled and that doesn’t help US interests. Also, Republican Senator Tuberville’s refusal to allow military promotions has affected military readiness. Remember when the Republicans were pro-military and against our enemies? I’d like to think most are still that way but they’ve allowed a vocal minority to set the agenda. 

So’s what the average Joe supposed to do? Stay the heck out of the Middle East for one thing. My guess is that the more immediate effects would be supply line disruptions. Oil has been a weapon in the Middle East for decades. On the bright side for the US, we get almost all our petrochemicals from North America these days. 

This crisis shows how easily a relatively small group of terrorists can cause a global crisis. 

-Sixbears

Medical Issues

I’ve been dealing with some recurring medical issues. It’s nothing too serious, just very irritating. That’s part of why I haven’t been posting lately. 

At least I have some medical insurance now. Not that it’s made getting treatment any easier -or cheaper? My sleep doctor told me it might be cheaper to buy a new c-pap machine off the Internet for cash than to go to the local company that takes insurance. In the mean time I keep my old equipment running. 

Over the last 30 years I’ve had to figure out my own health issues. It’s hit or miss whether or not seeing a doctor will make things better or worse. 

I guess the lesson here is that you have to take charge of your own health. No one else will.

-Sixbears

Mixed feelings about electronic books

I’ve got mixed feelings about electronic books. I grew up in the world of paper. Now it seems most everything is on a smart phone. Paper still has its place.

If it’s a technical manual I definitely want it on paper -especially if it’s something needed to keep the lights on. My library has a lot of electrical, electronic, and solar-electric information in physical books. All my homesteading information is on paper. 

There are issues with books -cost and bulk are big ones. As for the bulk  . . . well, let’s say I have more books than my town’s library. New books are pricey. There’s no getting around that. I am a sucker for bag of books for a buck sale some libraries hold. 

One of the technical manuals I have in electronic form is a Honda scooter repair manual. The shop manuals are expensive and bulky. I keep an electronic manual on my phone in case I need to repair something on the road. If I’m going on a longer trip I sometimes bring a backup copy on a Kindle reader. Unlike a phone the battery on a reader lasts a long time. 

Much of my recreational reading is on electronic books. I use the heck out of my Kindle unlimited membership. 

With cooler weather in the air I’m definitely going to enjoy reading books by the fire -be they physical or electronic.

-Sixbears

Send in the Fixers

Insurgencies are settled with political solutions. Sending in the troops only works if you commit total genocide. Unfortunately there are people who think that’s a good idea. They are monsters.

Decades of the “Irish Troubles,” was solved by turning revolutionaries into politicians. There were some really talented individuals who make that happen. 

So why don’t we train diplomats with the will and resources we use to train Navy Seals? We could employ cutting edge Sociology and Psychology. Diplomats should have the resources necessary to close deals. It’ll still be cheaper than sending an air craft carrier into  harm’s way. 

Eventually all conflicts are settled at the negotiation table. Unfortunately, that’s usually after many thousands of lives have been lost. Wouldn’t it be great if we started with the negotiations first? 

As I write this Israel is in the process of insuring there’s going to be a new crop of terrorists. It’s an eye for an eye situation that will leave everyone half blind. 

-Sixbears

Companies that get it

A lot of companies went to a remote worker situation during the pandemic. Now a number of companies want their workers back in the office. Even companies that are actually more profitable with remote workers want them to return. Management has some real control issues. 

Of course, the commercial real estate business is trouble, but I’m not going to shed any tears for them. They could always convert offices to much needed housing. 

A friend of mine was recently hired by a company for a remote work position. They sought her out and gave her a $20,000 raise over what she was making before. Working from home she’s now in a much better position to help with her elderly mother. That’s a huge relief. 

Then there’s the fact she’s not spending hours on the road every day. Her commutes were so bad she was destroying about one car a year. That isn’t cheap either. 

I’ve a number of friends and family working from home now. They are a lot happier than those who are locked in their cubicals. One friend actually moves his office to his garden during nice days. There’s a lot of envy from his coworkers who still go to the office. 

The nature of work is changing. Power is going back to workers. The companies who “get it” will do well. The others will go the way of the buggy whip business. 

-Sixbears

Housing

The North Country of New Hampshire had fairly cheap housing for quite a few years. Basically, the lack of good jobs limited how much someone could pay. Pay still ain’t great, but house prices and rents took a huge price jump. 

A good friend of mine has only a few months left to move out of his apartment. He’s been looking for a house for months now. The problem is that many of them have been in the Air B&B market. They are more like bunk houses than places you’d want to live in. Quite a few places were bought out by ATV riders who get together and purchase a house where they keep their machines. Very few of these places end up being bought by locals. 

Apartments have tripled in price in the last few years. Frankly, it’s cheaper for me to live at my cottage on the lake than in a small apartment in town. That’s just nuts. One woman I know of stayed in a deeply unhappy marriage for a year because she couldn’t find a decent apartment at any price. She finally got one. The previous renter had been shot and killed. 

My local area is just a small snapshot of a greater problem across the nation. No wonder homelessness is so bad. 

-Sixbears

This Could Get Bad

War in the Middle East. How big is that going to get? There’s the rub. 

First off there’s a lot of misinformation. Social media is a really really really bad source of information. There are plenty of other bad sources of information. There’s a rule of thumb: give a story 24 hours and see how it checks out. 

Right now it’s a conflict between Hamas and Israel. There’s confirmed Iran involvement in the planning so that’s a concern. There are plenty of countries on the periphery with skin the game. For example Saudi Arabia has had a low grade conflict with Iran for sometime. They’d love for someone else to do their dirty work. Memories in that part of the of the world are long and bitter. 

Much depends on how Israel deals with the situation. Netanyahu is not the best guy to be a helm of Israel at this time -in my humble opinion. I don’t think diplomacy and restraint are in the cards. If a full on occupation of the Gaza Strip is in the works it’s going to get much worse. 

There are some things that are different from other Middle Eastern conflicts. In the past the Soviet Union would pour a lot of weapons into the area. That’s not going to happen this time as the Russians  don’t have them to spare. 

So what’s a person far the conflict zone supposed to do? First of all, don’t panic and don’t make major decisions out of fear. Certainly don’t make major decisions from what you hear on social media. It comes down to the basics. There may be disruptions in International fuel supplies. As the northern hemisphere goes into its heating season that’s an issue. Food prices will become more volatile. That’s where having a decent amount of food storage can be useful. 

The thing I’ll be watching is the ground game. Hamas rockets and retaliatory air strikes won’t be the deciding factor. War in that part of the world has always involved real estate. That’s what really motivates people. Let’s see what the ground troops do and then you can decide to panic or not. 

Actually, panicking is never the right response. While there’s precious little the average Joe can do to influence events, how you react to those events is in your control.

-Sixbears

Nomad Life

There are cheap ways to live like a nomad. You aren’t going to discover them watching RV YouTube channels. 

Newer RVs are expensive to buy, run, repair, and park. Older RVs aren’t even permitted in many campgrounds.  

There are cheap places to stay, but there are downsides. Walmart parking lots aren’t places to camp but might be fine for an overnight stop. There are cheap and even free places to park on public lands. You’d better be prepared to be self contained and know how to boondock. Then there’s the issue of driving your expensive RV up questionable bumpy dirt roads. That free parking could get expensive if you need an RV rescue tow truck. 

It’s a lot cheaper to live out of a van. You give up a lot of space but you also give up a lot of headaches. Just being able to park in normal parking spaces is a huge deal. Of course, you can go nuts and spend silly money on a tricked out camper van. I’ve seen some deluxe models in the $200,000 range. Then again, there are some nice home built conversions built on cheap second hand vehicles. 

Of course, you could just throw a decent tent in the back of the car you own now and go on an adventure. There’s something to be said for just getting out there. 

-Sixbears

Trailer Repair

I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of a cheap utility trailer. It cost me $50 and a mason jar of white lightning. It was an interesting time in my life. 

In its first build it had a 3 foot by 8 foot box with 2 foot sides. It hauled a lot of firewood. One time I filled it with 4.5 gallon jugs of waste veggie oil. It was pulled my old Mercedes diesel converted to run on waste veggie. That load of oil got me 3000 miles without having to stop for more fuel. 

Eventually the wooden box had gotten pretty battered. Then it was rebuilt to haul my homemade 4 X 12 foot boat. That got hauled all over the country. Once the hitch pin fell out of the van releasing the hitch and letting the trailer got off on its own. Much to my surprise it stayed upright and was found hundreds of feet off the road. The boat was undamaged. 

However, the trailer had a rough time. A cross member had to be replaced to get home. A couple of springs had broken and it sorta listed to one side for the next 2000 miles. Still, it make it home. That ain’t nothing. 

So it got new springs a couple years ago. Last year the wheel bearings were replaced. Yesterday I finally installed new tires. The beauty of cheap trailers is that they can always be rebuilt. There’s a lot of junk that needs to be hauled to the transfer station so it’s good have it road worthy. 

-Sixbears

Make do mechanic

I just installed a trailer hitch on my Ford Escape.  I get all my towing and trailer stuff at etrailer.com. They aren’t a sponsor, I just like dealing with them.

The instruction video claimed it was a 40 minute job. Maybe it is -with a lift, two people, and air tools. That’s how it was done in the video. By myself, using ramps, and with hand tools it was closer to 2 hours. It doesn’t help that I screwed up and lost a bolt in the frame channel. Fishing that back out took a bit. Then my lovely wife needed me to clean up and go through some paperwork with her. Actually, with all the snafus, two hours probably wasn’t too bad. 

It’s good to have a vehicle with a hitch again. The wiring harness hasn’t been installed yet, but that should be too big a deal. It’s not my first rodeo. 

The next project is my utility trailer. The bearings and springs are new but the tires are shot. I’ve replacements for those so that shouldn’t take too long. Of course, the registration is expired so that’s one more hassle. 

Country living pretty much requires the ability to tow things. There’s firewood to be moved, trips to the dump, boats to haul, and sometimes I even tow a wood splitter. Urban tow hitches usually don’t handle anything heavier than a bike rack. 

-Sixbears

Food Storage Issues

The three people in my household all have different dietary issues. My lovely wife has developed some allergies fairly recently. It took some work with a allergist to sort it out. One of big ones is a dairy allergy. 

While most of my food storage is bulk items like grains and beans, there are a fair number of ready made quick cook meals. They are very handy as they don’t take long to prepare. Quite of few of them have dairy products as ingredients. 

My niece had to avoid certain foods and spices that causes issues too. As for myself I really should limit my sodium. Lots of prepared foods contain high levels. 

With those dietary restrictions in mind I’m completely reexamining my food storage. Everything I’ve got at someone can eat safely. However, it’s a pain to cook three different main dishes for one meal. With that in mind I plan to expand my food storage to include more of what everyone can eat. 

It seems that food storage is never one of those things that constantly evolve. 

-Sixbears

Electric Invasion

I’m seeing a lot of electric cars these days. Some are local, but I don’t think there are many. The  hospital has some charging stations. No doubt they are mostly used by doctors showing off their expensive Teslas. 

It’s not a big surprise to see a lot of electric cars with Massachusetts plates. Most electric cars can easily make the trip to northern New Hampshire from Boston. The big surprise is seeing electrics plated in Florida or Texas. Long road trips are totally doable. 

It might be time to sell your gas station if you own one. Here’s my thinking on that. Gas cars can fill up in 5 or 10 minutes. During that time they can also pick up some snacks and drinks. It’s the snacks and drinks that really make money. Right now most electric cars take a good half hour to get a decent charge -much longer if you really want to top off. If you change your station from gas to electric there will be a lot less turn over. 

That might not be as big an issue where land is cheap and you’ve room for all those slowly charging cars. In high property value areas the number just won’t work out. I haven’t even factored in the expense of installing all those electric charging stations. 

So who’s going to put in charging stations? It makes sense for hotels where people are going to spend the night. Restaurants would also be good choices. I saw a big charging station at a Dunkin Donuts. You can have a coffee and a snack while waiting. Of course most people will start out with a charge from home. 

For me, electrics just aren’t ready yet. In Japan they make cheap small electric trucks that I’d find very useful. They aren’t available in this country. Heck, small cheap electrics in general aren’t available. Actually, small cheap gas vehicles are pretty much nonexistent for that matter. Anyone who cracks the market with a decent and affordable electric vehicle should do well. Until then I’m stuck burning dead dinosaurs. 

-Sixbears