Surprised to see you deleted my lengthy post about how to prevent flooding in the first place, even though I wasn’t arguing against the original post. Disappointing. Now tacitly recommend against using GFCIs. They are in fact lifesavers and are required by the national electrical code in basements and crawl spaces (NEC 2020, Sec. 201.8(A)). I’ll save you the trouble of deleting my posts in the future and go elsewhere.

So after a few days, all the girls are eating out of the bucket I modified with the gizmos above. I like it better even than the old galvanized hanging feeder I used to have, I think it will be less prone to rain spoiling the feed. It is plastic so it needs to stay out of the sun.

I’ve had a variety of small temp alarms (I stock insulin) but have never been happy with the alarms. There have long been autodialers that call a number when a given limit is crossed but they are very expensive. There are some new WiFi enable versions I’m looking at that send a notification to your phone over wifi via text or email. This seems to have a web portal

Someone makes a big pipe bender that lets you turn electrical conduit into hoops—the problem with PVC is it gets brittle in the sun and breaks.

Nice. I don’t like maintenance. I can and have built entire houses and a good amount of my income these last few years has been made fixing up old houses and I like that —but I really hate little fix-its, especially on something I just built! Not sure if I feel like I’m going backwards or what. I’m not excited at changing oil and such stuff, I usually get around to it tho… Chores I like have to do with animals: feeding, checking on their welfare, doctoring, etc. When we had some land I really liked the pigs, chickens, cattle. Even the occasional bone-headed bottle calf. I did some outside work for a neighboring dairy and I kinda miss it, even the ice chopping and fresh cow rodeo parts. I took care of all the girls not in the milk string, from weaning to first calf and then in their dry period up to freshening (Pregnant cows were kept in a lot and when they calved someone has to get the cow & calf up where they need to be.)

Hard to speculate. Place a straight edge across the crack, if both sides are level it is probably shrinkage, if not level it’s probably settling. The strength will depend mostly on how much reinforcement there is in the slab and how thick, for a shed maybe not much. At any rate, I’d at least lay down a couple of 4x4s to distribute the weight. Be careful, 500# up in the air could squash someone if it is unbalanced or gets that way.

Of course “it depends.” A glass greenhouse would be neat. A single thickness of glass doesn’t have much insulation value but would transmit the most light. Double pane has more than double the insulation. R-values Also glass never gets cloudy over time. Obviously it is fragile. If I were going to start seedlings and wanted it to look nice but didn’t have enough budget for glass I would probably pick a polycarb sheet (the rigid 4×8 doublewall) square house because it is very clear and transmits the nearly as much light but is twice as insulating as a single pane of glass —and is tougher and cheaper. It would still look good tho not quite as nice as glass. It will get cloudy over the span of years. Here is one. If it is to be larger season extender, I’d pick a hoophouse. I had a 20 x 60 I think at one time, it was through a grant. It cost several thousand but you can make one as small as you like or can afford. If you double the poly then use a fan to keep the sheets from touch you can get better insulation —trading for InSOLation of course. I built doors big enough for a small tractor. It had roll-up sides for ventilation. I wanted to make it completely mobile so the whole thing would roll off the plantings but never got to it. This is not nearly as nice looking as the square panel kind Another greenhouse I had was an old garage with the south wall and roof sheathing torn off and replaced with poly. I insulated the north wall and roof and fill some old barrels with water to hold some heat. We sold quite a few seedlings out of it. The downside was the 2×4 and 2×6 framing cast lots of shadows. On the small end I’ve used row covers and old windows as cold frames to get a little bit of a head start. 

We’re north and a little west of you, SW MO. The spring here was beautiful; mild with plenty of moisture, great hay all around. It has been dry the last 4-5 weeks, which is a long time here. Temps are up there too, over 100 on and off for 2 weeks or so already. Grass (Kentucky 31 is most pastures) is crispy, hay is $60 blae. Our garden is small, the topsoil very shallow over a fragipan, we built up a few 6″ raised beds, drip-lines. Early spring plantings did good, onions, garlic, and potatoes started good, had some cukes and zuks, tomatoes started OK some Brandywine some round red kind. Potatoes quit early, dug a few nice ones but the ground is like concrete, used more calories than they are worth digging, LOL, hopefully more later. Cukes are done, had a good amount early on. Onions were all small, garlic quit. Pole beans had an attack of groundhog, planted again, same. Relocated groundhogs to the conservation area. Not enough area for corn. Planted some grapes last year, took cuttings and planted them this year, all doing good. Blackberry died if you can believe it. Blueberries too. One of my criteria when we relocated from the West Coast initially was to be south of the 200 day growing line (for double cropping) and east of the tree line (rainfall). It may turn out that we have 2 growing seasons for the stuff we’re used to growing, spring and fall. Then some limited growing in july/August.  When we were here before we had a small hoophouse for early and late crops to sell. If we stay here we’ll probably do something similar but on a smaller scale. Maybe just row covers to beat a late frost. Might try that this year.

Ditto, I used some 2x2s with round edges. They like to be up in the air, if they don’t have a coup and their wings aren’t clipped they will roost pretty high up in the trees. BTW I just received some feeder things that adapt a 5 gal bucket for use as a feeder. I had a big old metal feeder but it finally rusted out. New ones now are $50 and up and they still rust. 6 outlets for $32 and a couple $5 buckets will hold 50# and should last a while out of the sun.

“dragging people out of their houses based on their voter’s registration …” Ah Jeez, Renata, that is exactly the kind of thing I think about. Not mere political protest and a few molotovs on symbolic targets, but localized ethnic cleansing and political purge.  I don’t see that imminent but have long since concluded that it could indeed happen here. Not to put too fine a point on it but although I’ve voted in most every election since I was 18, I don’t in Missouri.

This is one of my greatest concerns but it is very much political so I rarely go there, here. There is a difference in my mind between protest, even when it becomes violent and the directed, intentional violence of an insurgency. Terrorism is by definition directed violence as political tool. I grew up in the 60’s & 70s, there was a lot of violence from the left, lots of  terrorism. Kids, mostly, were unhappy about the war, Jim Crow, the environment, a repressive, paternalistic government, etc. The ’68 Democratic convention was a melé, not least because the Democratic party itself was in turmoil over the war and as a result of Southerners defecting to Nixon’s strategy. But the protests and terrorism (at least 2,000 bombings) led to the government actually taking the cue and implementing change. Yet, those kids and almost 80% of Americans had confidence in our elections. Today that percentage has been flipped on its head—only 20% trust our process. Only 9% of Republicans. And 10% of the country, 30 million people, believe violence is called for Right Now. Much of the decline in confidence began with Vietnam and Johnson, then Watergate, and on and on. But recently the difference is an entire ecosystem built on misinformation, starting perhaps on Jump-The-Shark talk radio then one-upping with the “birther” conspiracy propaganda, all funded funded to a large extent by corporations and individuals in search of lower taxes and less regulation. Until now, The Big Lie has done untold damage to our most fundamental strength, the voluntary and peaceful concession of power. Everything else we can either deal over or deal with but we can’t function as we have for 250 years (with notable exception) if we can’t accept that our neighbors get a say even if it is different from our own I don’t worry about young or poor or minority people protesting—they have no power— that is why they’re out there. It is the older and richer people who have political power but just don’t want to share it that I worry about.

Just built one a couple of months ago. Lumber and materials are still crazy expensive so try to scrounge what you can. One thing I splurged on was a 4 x 8 sheet of PVC for the floor, it was $100 but is non absorbent and cleaning is really easy. Also used 4 – 4 x 4 treated posts. From prior experience I learned to make the chicken door super easy to operate and the “man” door really wide. Don’t try to make the coup too tight, you want lots of ventilation. Finally, I made it “panelized.” Meaning it can come apart with a few carriage bolts for transportation; roof, 4 walls, floor. Also I made the floor a couple of feet off the ground so the girls can get under. It’s been over 100º on and off the last couple of weeks and they go under there. Big dual purpose birds like Buffs and Rocks do pretty well in the cold but have a hard time in the heat We used some used, crappy, cheap paperboard siding that we’d torn off the house. I figure we can replace in the future when something better comes along (or not)

I’m no expert but have read a little and always seem to be the go-to guy for basic stuff—I don’t even look like a boy scout! Use soap and clean water on cuts and burns (no alcohol, peroxide, betadine) I have a gallon of distilled just for flushing but tap water is OK —as long as you’re sure it’s OK. Use liquid soap because bars can harbor nastiness and don’t use anti-bacterial because it makes bacteria stronger. Triple antibiotic like neosporin “every cut, every time!” Watergel for burns, I love this stuff. Vaseline (I’m old school and always thought that after a short period wounds should air out and scab over but that isn’t the current recommendation. Vaseline is just petroleum goo that repels moisture in both directions locking in moisture and protecting the wound. So that’s what I do now on my various boo-boos: soap/water, neosporin, vaseline and a bandage for several days, it does seem to heal faster) Ipecac / activated charcoal for poisoning (poison.org or (800) 222-1222 and maybe a booklet to know which to use if the phone is out?) Imodium or some anti-diarrheal with the same active ingredient Ibuprofen (or any NSAID like aspirin) Acetaminophen (Tylenol) (not an NSAID so can be combined with one, like Ibuprofen or aspirin for bigger pains) Aspirin for use as a blood thinner in case of stroke or heart attack—not for kids Mucinex (actually aids coughing because coughs happen for a reason) (I don’t use cold medicine beyond tylenol for fever/ headache because they just inhibit what your body is doing to get rid of the baddies: runny nose, etc) Some kind of antihistamine pill and an ointment like benadryl cream for bites and rashes. Generic Claritin is the best med in my experience for hay fever type allergy Antacid, I use more than I used to, Tums for quick and zantac for worse bouts. I have lot of other stuff just because I hate to feel helpless when something happens. Boxes of N95s, bandages, splints, butterflies, skin-glue, blood-stop, tourniquets, blah. But you should at least have some nice clean cloth or bandage material handy, gauze, bandaids, etc. Of course kid versions of all the above if you have littles.

Hang in there Seth! Medical knowledge will always be of value. Concentrating on that is one of the few specialties I think is smart.

I’ve been thinking about this thread. The first thing I thought of was also to buy an extra of anything I need to buy. Be it a machine screw, bag o’ fertilizer, pair of socks, bottle of Ragu, whatever.  The other was -also- to try to do your own repairs and maintenance. This is a) a frugality thing, b) an interesting thing, but c) it teaches you about your surroundings, how things work, and how to be more self-sufficient—the ultimate prep. I guess #3 is to build a tool collection because you need some tools for both #1 & 2! Doesn’t have to be a huge expense, get some imported junk, add some castoff garage sale & thrift store stuff, get better stuff every time you complete a job your old self would have had to hire out. (I buy old houses and fix em up, my wife says it’s only so I have an excuse to buy tools… she’s right).

On gas prices:Releases from the SPR are about 1 million barrels per day, in a market of 100 mmB/D—a proverbial drop in the bucket. Good spin from the White House but that’s all. Don’t expect OPEC to save us, they can’t even meet their own quotas. Saudi is importing Russian oil to run their a/c. Unless sanctions are removed from Russia, Venezuela & Iran, world production won’t rise fast.In Saudi America, only the frack basin in New Mexico & TX have any potential to grow production—allt the other fracking miracles are going POOF! It was all a card trick anyway, turning unlimited capital into unprofitable oil and we’re suffering the consequences. Upshot is, the only reason gas price is falling is because demand is being crushed by high price. Think it is bad in the US, ask folks overseas. Oil is sold everywhere in US dollars, and because of rising interest rates the US dollar is stronger than its been in 20 years. Consequently everyone who gets paid in some other currency is getting a double whammy, in effect buying high priced dollars to pay for high priced gas. Likely the Permian basin has a ways to run (a couple of years anyway) and I’m pretty sure some of the countries sanctioned now will be forgiven their transgressions eventually so we can get more oil. But it would be prudent to give thought to how you’ll function when $5 gal feels like the Good Old Days.

There was much talk in the 00’s, 70’s, 1920’s even about imminent decline in oil flows, i.e.: peak oil. But just like Ehrlich’s Population Bomb prediction being postponed due to fossil-based fertilizers and genetic manipulation, we’ve always found another oil field, invented a newer and better technology, even found oil in places geologists didn’t expect. So far… Peak oil is thus a political third rail because it directly affronts the pervasive normalcy bias. Any politician hinting at limits to growth is instantly a loser: google Malaise speech. But the fact remains, oil is finite—just as food production has an upper bound. Not coincidentally the two are one. I’m optimistic we can settle down to a lower energy state and lower population using renewables, but right now they are wholly subsidized by fossils. Energyskeptic is a great site to expand one’s knowledge about the difficulties of renewables. Here is a recent post.

Most of the price of gas is oil. Somewhere from 50-70%. Oil is a globally traded commodity, the price is based on global demand for the marginal barrel plus whatever shipping costs. IOW the market price is like an auction where the people bidding over the last barrel set the price for all barrels that period. IO-OW, If there are plenty of barrels available that last barrel isn’t worth as much so all barrels are cheaper, but if there aren’t enough barrels to go around, everyone pays more. Tax is very local. Federal tax is 18¢ / gal, here in MO I’m paying additional 20¢ /gal state tax, but elsewhere it is much higher, PA pays almost 60¢ on top of fed excise tax. Average state gasoline tax tho is 31¢ so taxes are only about 50¢ a gallon. But refinery margins go up and down because gasoline itself is a traded commodity. Wholesale price depends on what “kind” of crude is available, what kind of fuel is in demand locally, even the price of corn because a certain percentage of ethanol must be blended with gas to add oxygen and help it burn cleaner. For example, much of the “fracked” oil produced in the US during the much ballyhooed “resurgence” in US oil, gets exported or mixed with imported tar sand effluent because it is too light for US refineries.  There really is no such thing as “US oil independence” That was a marketing gimmick to help kill the oil export ban to make a market for light, tight oil that we couldn’t use. Sorry that took longer than I planned, LOL