What did you do today to prepare?

[Ever (Zombiepreparation)]

Added:
Four boxes of crackers.
Four pounds honey.
Two cans chicken.
Seven cans diced tomatoes & green chilies.
Four pounds peanut butter.
Nine pounds roasted cashews.
Four large original V8.
Four 2 ltr. bottles water. 

How are you storing those cashews for long term?
.

Apologies for delay in replying.

Am buying the cashews in prepackaged 1lb bags from the grocery store and putting those bags in food grade plastic buckets.

The same with walnuts, pecans, and almonds.

I 'think' I'm doing this okay.

[NapalmMan67]

Added:
Four boxes of crackers.
Four pounds honey.
Two cans chicken.
Seven cans diced tomatoes & green chilies.
Four pounds peanut butter.
Nine pounds roasted cashews.
Four large original V8.
Four 2 ltr. bottles water. 

How are you storing those cashews for long term?
.

Apologies for delay in replying.

Am buying the cashews in prepackaged 1lb bags from the grocery store and putting those bags in food grade plastic buckets.

The same with walnuts, pecans, and almonds.

I 'think' I'm doing this okay. 

Sounds good.  So how "long term" are you planning to store those?  I only ask, because I've never had luck storing nuts or nut butters for a super long time without them going rancid, due to the oils in them.  Similar to brown rice.  Or for that fact, cooking oil itself.


.

[MPMalloy]

After catching up on this thread, I find I am really slacking.....

[flybynight]

Bought five wax toilet rings. To make a tin coat

[Crosscut]

Finally got the safety line on the roof replaced last Wednesday, just in time as it's been snowing for the past 2 days.  The old line:



I'll save the hooks at least, maybe the rope as well but not for anything involving life or limb.  May try using it to pull a few stumps, mostly just out of curiosity if it breaks and if so how easily.
And got the snow plow on the truck yesterday, had a nice Indian summer but winter is here now (even if the calendar says otherwise).

[CG]

Finally got the safety line on the roof replaced last Wednesday, just in time as it's been snowing for the past 2 days.

What, pray tell, is a safety line on the roof used for in reference to snow?  (I live in Texas, if that helps with the explaining)

[Mr. E. Monkey]

Finally got the safety line on the roof replaced last Wednesday, just in time as it's been snowing for the past 2 days.

What, pray tell, is a safety line on the roof used for in reference to snow?  (I live in Texas, if that helps with the explaining)

My first guess is so that Santa doesn't slip and fall off.  Or maybe so that they don't, while they are up there sweeping the snow off.

[NapalmMan67]

Canned another 9 pints each, Black & Pinto beans.

   
I also rotated out some older items in storage to make ham and bean soup this weekend.  Replenishment of those items to happen shortly.

[Crosscut]

Finally got the safety line on the roof replaced last Wednesday, just in time as it's been snowing for the past 2 days.

What, pray tell, is a safety line on the roof used for in reference to snow?  (I live in Texas, if that helps with the explaining)

My first guess is so that Santa doesn't slip and fall off.  Or maybe so that they don't, while they are up there sweeping the snow off.

Yep, clearing snow off the solar panels.  Needed to get the panels as high as possible to increase the hours of sun on them here in the woods, but with the higher wattage panels available today I am debating about replacing them with ones on pole mounts in the yard when I do replace them.  Getting too old for this climbing shit.  Permanent ladder attached to the house, climb up wearing the harness and connect up before stepping off the ladder.  Makes cleaning the chimney easy too.  View while standing on the ladder after clearing them a few years ago.

[CG]

Yep, clearing snow off the solar panels.  Needed to get the panels as high as possible to increase the hours of sun on them here in the woods, but with the higher wattage panels available today I am debating about replacing them with ones on pole mounts in the yard when I do replace them.  Getting too old for this climbing shit.  Permanent ladder attached to the house, climb up wearing the harness and connect up before stepping off the ladder.  Makes cleaning the chimney easy too.  View while standing on the ladder after clearing them a few years ago.

That's pretty cool.  Does the layer of ice/snow show affect the productivity much?

[Crosscut]

Yep, clearing snow off the solar panels.  Needed to get the panels as high as possible to increase the hours of sun on them here in the woods, but with the higher wattage panels available today I am debating about replacing them with ones on pole mounts in the yard when I do replace them.  Getting too old for this climbing shit.  Permanent ladder attached to the house, climb up wearing the harness and connect up before stepping off the ladder.  Makes cleaning the chimney easy too.  View while standing on the ladder after clearing them a few years ago.

That's pretty cool.  Does the layer of ice/snow show affect the productivity much?

Not too much with the amount on them in the pic, and a small layer like that melts off fairly quickly on a sunny day.  But only takes about 2-3 inches of snow on them to completely block all power.

[NapalmMan67]

Added 4 more jugs of laundry soap to the stash-  They were on sale at half price, but limit of two each.

Also some more CR123 batteries.

[NapalmMan67]

Added some more mantles and a couple gallons of Kero for the lanterns to the pile.

[Crosscut]

Starting battery on the standby generator died last month, or so I thought.  It was 8 years old so I didn't even bother looking for another cause.   

Last week the generator wouldn't start again, new battery is dead.  Check the battery charger for it which is plugged into a GFCI outlet on the generator (normally the outlet would be powered from utility power but from the inverter/deep cycle batteries in my case), and it's putting out nothing.  GFCI was tripped too, and couldn't even reset it with nothing plugged in.  Attached a different battery charger using an extension cord from the house and the new battery won't hold a charge.  My guess is the charger went first (something shorted in it maybe) which took out the GFCI, but at least it died gallantly since the breaker in the house didn't even trip.  But I was left with a bad GFCI outlet, bad battery charger, and a dead battery I just spent $90 on last month.   

Bought two 1.1 Amp trickle chargers from Amazon and two GFCI outlets from the local HW so I have spares for next time.  I think the small charger will be enough to keep the battery topped off since even in the worst case we only start the generator every other day, but I'm going to keep an eye on the battery voltage for a few weeks just to be sure.  Bad weather delayed the repair but finally had a sunny day yesterday to get it done, I'd been using a Stanley jump start battery to start the generator when needed and it worked well.  The 3 year old jump starter is one I wrote about at the old site after rigging up a charger to keep it charged off the truck alternator, worked so well I might have to ask Santa for a second one to keep as a spare.

Anyway, somewhat a PITA replacing the GFCI as it's in the bottom of the electronics enclosure underneath the generator control board (behind a sticker that says No User Serviceable Parts Inside) with no slack on the wiring and not much room to work.  Once installed and after confirming the new battery charger was working I take out the dead battery and head to the auto parts store to buy a new one, it was still under warranty of course but the battery wasn't defective, it was just a victim of the bad charger so I wasn't going to ask for a replacement.  After I explain what happened to the clerk he replaces the battery for free anyway, so a major thumbs up to him in particular and Auto Value in general.

[Raptor]

Starting battery on the standby generator died last month, or so I thought.  It was 8 years old so I didn't even bother looking for another cause.   

Starting batteries are the bane of my existence when it comes to generators, tractors & mowers. I use battery tenders like this to keep them charged. I hate batteries they are always fully charged until you need them and they only fail when it is inconvenient...like windshield wiper blade but heavier and more expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Trickle-Battery-Charger-1000mA/dp/B074Z2NFWW/ref=dp_fod_1?pd_rd_i=B074Z2NFWW&psc=1


But I also keep a jump starter in my car for times when the battery is not charged.
https://www.amazon.com/Imazing-Portable-Car-Jump-Starter/dp/B07T49JQBR/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=car+jump+starter&qid=1639419922&s=automotive&sr=1-4

For generators and cars I replace the starter battery at the 3 year interval and do not wait for them to fail. It is just cheaper and more convenient to schedule a replacement rather than await failure.

I hear you about the PITA of replacing a GFI.   

[Crosscut]

Starting battery on the standby generator died last month, or so I thought.  It was 8 years old so I didn't even bother looking for another cause.   

Starting batteries are the bane of my existence when it comes to generators, tractors & mowers. I use battery tenders like this to keep them charged. I hate batteries they are always fully charged until you need them and they only fail when it is inconvenient...like windshield wiper blade but heavier and more expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Trickle-Battery-Charger-1000mA/dp/B074Z2NFWW/ref=dp_fod_1?pd_rd_i=B074Z2NFWW&psc=1


But I also keep a jump starter in my car for times when the battery is not charged.
https://www.amazon.com/Imazing-Portable-Car-Jump-Starter/dp/B07T49JQBR/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=car+jump+starter&qid=1639419922&s=automotive&sr=1-4

For generators and cars I replace the starter battery at the 3 year interval and do not wait for them to fail. It is just cheaper and more convenient to schedule a replacement rather than await failure.

I hear you about the PITA of replacing a GFI.

I picked up these, same connectors but a wall wart style charger so I wouldn't have to mount the charger inside the gen enclosure.   For me it's the mower and motorcycle batteries, Murphy's Law is fully enforced. 

[RoneKiln]

Most of my Christmas presents were stuff I wanted in my vehicle kit for my new old truck (new to me).

Yesterday I scrubbed out the old Seahorse 920 case (similar to Pelican brand) I used to use for my travel tool kit in my previous career. I let it dry in front of the furnace overnight and today.

This evening I packed all my new vehicle kit toys and some stuff I already had into it. I discovered the new tow strap I got didn't come with hooks or rings, so I need to order a set. I also still need a good foldable shovel. I'll steal the one from my civic for now as I am far more likely to get in trouble with the truck.

I expect to tweak and adjust this kit some more in the future, but at least I'll no longer be swapping one "car box" between the two vehicles.

[NapalmMan67]

Found a sale this past weekend on Dove bar soap (for my delicate manly skin  ) and picked up 18 bars for approx. $0.60 each.  Also found some Suave body wash my wifey likes for half price and picked up 4 more bottles for her.

On the way home for lunch today, I'm going to swing by Lowe's and pick up a couple of the headlamps majorhavoc posted in the Bargains and Discounts section. 

[NT2C]

Decided that our generator in Idaho does us no good in Virginia and that the 2kw one the neighbors gave us before moving to Texas just isn't up to the task.  A new generator for the house is on my shopping list now.

Also ordered a fresh 12 pack of butane for my camp stove that we cooked on the past 24 hours.  Additionally, replacements for the batteries expended in various lights the past two weeks.  And... since we got such a lovely demonstration of just how much we need our phone connectivity (and because Amazon gave us a 20% off lightning deal on it), we just bought a decent quality cell signal booster for the house.

[CG]

I just realized...if the camper isn't here (we left it at my parents' house and will pick it up around Valentine's Day), that severely limits my prep supplies in terms of heat and cooking without power.  We spent the Texas February freeze out in it with the generator running.

I should probably figure out how not to freeze if we lose power again before we go get it.  The generator is here, so we could run an extension cord into the house for space heaters...

I shall have to ponder on this.