Interesting July Ahead

 

Unless there is a TACO situation again the US is going to put more tariffs into effect. Economic experts believe that will collapse the economy. Could be. I’m not an economist.

My own financial situation is usually disconnected from the greater economy. Back in 2008, when real estate collapsed, my situation was pretty much unchanged. Of course, I wasn’t buying or selling any property back then so that helped.

My niece, who lives with us, asked if we were going to be all right. I pointed out we live in the country with decent off grid power, deep food storage, and have plenty of those loud security devices that propel pellets of discouragement. In short, we are prepped as we always are.

I wish I was in better health right now but we’ll get by. While I can’t do all the summer projects I wanted to do, I can hire out the most important jobs and call it good.

-Sixbears

Long Road Ahead

 

My trip to the Dartmouth Medical Center did not turn out as well as I’d hoped. My meeting with the surgeon was disappointing. I had hoped that a quick surgery could have fixed my issue. As it turns out the surgeon thought I’d be stuck with an open weeping wound that would be prone to infection.

Long story short I’m now waiting for appointments with other experts.

Long story even shorter: this is going to take some time.

Once again I’m in a waiting period for the next steps.

On the bright side, the huge lump is not cancer, so that’s good. Cancer among firefighters is a common issue so I’m counting my blessings.

-Sixbears

Heat Wave

Well it’s hotter than the hinges of hell out there. Half the country is having a heat wave. It would be a bad time for the grid to go down.

My house, here in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire, has never had air conditioning. What it does have is big shady hemlocks and a breeze off the pond.

-and ceiling fans.

Never forget about the ceiling fans. It’s nice to have enough solar power to run the ceiling fans and other basic electrical needs.

Today is the day when my heating oil delivery comes in. It’s weird to buy heating oil in the middle of a heatwave but that’s really the time to buy. We are in volatile times so there’s no predicting what the cost or availability of oil will be by fall.

Currently I have three ways of heating the house: oil, wood, and electricity. There were plans to put in a heat pump but doctor’s visits are eating up disposable income right now. Such is life.

-Sixbears

Still Here

It’s been a minute. I had a lot of distractions to deal with but now find myself with some downtime.

Long story short I’m meeting with a surgeon on Thursday. I’ve a huge lump on my leg (apparently non-cancerous) that’s getting bigger all the time. It’s affecting my ability to walk properly and keeps me in low level pain. A simple operation should sort it all out.

As you can well imagine it derailed my plans to participate in the Scooter Cannonball, which is happening right now. Such is life -the best laid plans of mice, men and all that. I was able to recover some of my Cannonball funds but not all.

The news looks interesting. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best outcome.

-Sixbears

Break Time

I’m taking a Blogging break. Right now I’m thinking of resuming after the US election. Frankly, my preps are going to change depending on the outcome. 

If sometime major inspires me before then I might post, but don’t expect anything new for a few weeks. 

Be chill everyone. 

-Sixbears

Climate and power outages

Power is still out for many thousands of people in the wake of two hurricanes. People are suffering. It’s my belief that surviving without electricity is harder in the south that here up north. Fresh food goes bad rapidly in the heat. Fortunately there are many foods that can be stored long term without refrigeration.

The lack of air conditioning can be more of a hazard to life. Staying the shade and drinking lots of water helps. If you are young and healthy surviving without AC, while uncomfortable, is generally doable. The very young, the sick, and the elderly may need AC to survive. 

For that you need electricity, and not just a few watts either. You aren’t going to get by with a couple of solar panels and a solar generator. A gas, propane, or diesel generator will do the job -until the fuel runs out. For a lot of people in the affected areas getting more fuel is a real issue. Storing fuel in large volumes requires serious safety precautions. 

There are ways to make your fuel go longer. For example rather than trying to cool the whole house limit AC use to one room. Running one smallish AC unit will provide a safe place for the vulnerable. It might be crowded and lack privacy but your fuel supply will last longer. 

Where I live in New Hampshire AC is not an issue. My house doesn’t even have AC. A few fans suffice. Losing power is a winter issue. On the plus side, refrigeration is easy. All of outdoors is a freezer. Staying warm  is the real problem.  

Fortunately a woodstove doesn’t consume any electricity. Fire is primitive, one of first technologies, but it still does the job. In my case, living in the woods is a bonus. Firewood actually does grow on trees. 

-Sixbears

Not on weekends

It’s hunting season and I’ve been enjoying some bird hunting. However, I’m pretty much staying out of the woods on the weekends. The exception to that is the woods right behind my house as few people hunt there. That’s mostly due to people like me who don’t allow people to cross their land. Once past the small private land holdings there’s a good section of land open to the public -if they can get access. 

There’s an old saying that it’s bad form to shoot the dog. Every now and then some over zealous hunter will get excited and pepper his own dog with shot. That’s bad. What’s worse is when someone shoots their hunting partner. A guy was telling me how a relative of his shot his nephew. That was awful but the injuries were not life threatening. What was really scary is that the shot just barely went over the head of the guy’s grandson. 

Be safe out there.

-Sixbears