Jun 2011 Personal Preps

[Watchman]

Let's do it!

[Watchman]

As this year is a wash on a garden for us, I decided to till under the weeds and begin preparing it for next year. Instead I got side-tracked because we had no gas for the tiller (4-cycle) or the tiller (2-cycle), or the lawn mower. It got me thinking and it ended up costing about $30. I filled a 5-gallon gas can and told wife and son 'under no circumstances is this to be touched for any reason - it is our "GOOTG" - get-out-of-town-gas - 5 gallons is about 250 miles in our car. I filled up the 2-gallon can for lawn mower and 4-cycle tiller. I wondered if I need a powerful tiller (2-cycle Mantis) and no gas, I had better make up a can of oil/gas mixture for the 2-cycle tiller. It started out as a garden chore but ended up as one small prep-step.

[fern]

Your post made me go check out what we have in the garage for gas and we have about 7 empty cans sitting there. Thanks for the reminder Watchman!

With my Mom's medical bills hindering us, I have not done too much in the preparing category. I did go to the flea market though and picked up an interesting 5 gallon container. The seller said it was a water container and you can tell it is very old. It may even be military since it is drab green and very hardily built. It is tall and about 16" around with a pump built into the top and a hose coming out of it. The interior is in perfect condition and even the hose is solid. It was only a couple of bucks so I picked it up. Also have purchased more canning jars and storage type containers from local sales.

I have purchased some misc foods, mostly canned goods, but I am getting ready to start hitting the farmer's markets as soon as they open in this area and begin to fill all the jars I have been buying. Like Watchman, this is a year of no garden for me other than some tomato plants in pots. Since our daughter sells Avon, I do buy all the cheapest soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc that they offer...anything under $2 and it is amazing how fast I am building up a nice collection from their clearance books.

[308gun]

had a lot to do , but i did get a 100 round magazine for my Siaga in 223, and two new 75 round drums for my AK in 7.62x39 Plus was able to find new magazines for my for my Siaga in 308 win. the mags in 308 are heavy made in steel and USA MADE, the 223 mag is plastic heavy duty and USA made too... and been the Fix it man on the homestead less to worry about later...and put in more storage food and water too.....Iam retired and run out of time...next got to get to range and test it all........ p.s. the 308 win Siaga is now a good backup for my M14 and got spare parts pistons, springs etc........for several guns......can keep shooting a long time that way.........

[308gun]

I also picked up extra gas can G.I. and some cans of roof cement to put away in case we get any bad Hurricanes , the stores always get cleaned out these items fast, and put up more water today , all goes fast..

[Toepopper]

I have decided that it might be prudent to make a Faraday cage to house my emergency generator in while it sits on the shelf in storage. Its just a wooden box screwed together and lined with copper sheet stock which I bought at a Michaels arts and crafts store. I screwed the copper onto the wood using small copper screws from Lowes. A small pilot hole must be drilled through the copper and into the wood to keep the screws from breaking when screwing them into the box. Today I am going to make the lid and attach it with 2 hinges and a hasp to keep it snug against the top of the box. A piece of one by one will be screwed onto the underside of the lid so when it closes it fits snug and will give the lid a tight seal. I put the copper on the inside of the box so the wooden exterior could withstand some abuse and not destroy the integrity of the Faraday cage aspect of the unit. My generator is a Honda 2500 watt portable which comes with a tubular frame so it will be easy to lift in or out of the box. These small portable generators use very little gas and will power a circular saw and other small electric hand tools as well as lights and they have a built in AC battery charger. Its not big enough to run a refrigerator so my next rainy day project will be to make a super insulated ice box/ cooler to keep things cold during the summer months. A box lined with eight inches of extruded styrofoam will keep ice from melting for quite some time if kept out of the direct sunlight.