This weeks preps check-in

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I thought I'd found a nice bug out vehicle until I looked at the price. 1982 Wagoneer, 4 WD 258,000 miles for $3,500. Hah!!! No need for me to even try to bargain down from that price.
 
working outside today..got some cosmos planted in 2 flower pots,just off of the front porch..pluss i've planted butterfly weed and anise hyssop in a bed just outside the garage,and next to the driveway..now im working on de weeding my garden for the 2nd time this year..im using a hoe to do all that this time.on account i figure i'll get more of the weeds and grass out this way.then it'll be disked up a 2nd time.and the ground is soooo wet right now..dang rain anyhow..lol..
I was wondering how all the Texans were doing with all the rain. On the news a sigh said "pray for rain", I think they can take that down for a little while.
 
I thought I'd found a nice bug out vehicle until I looked at the price. 1982 Wagoneer, 4 WD 258,000 miles for $3,500. Hah!!! No need for me to even try to bargain down from that price.
Yeah, with that age and mileage, they weren't offering you any favors! I've often thought that something small and light may make a better bov. Gas may be hard to come by, and efficiency may be more important than carrying capacity. Either way, things are going to have to be pretty bad for me to bug out. I have the feeling that the roadways aren't a good option to be on in any large scale event anyways.
 
We'd pretty much decided that bugging in would probably be our first choice because our BOL is a couple of hours away in a normal situation. I think what made it worse is that the truck had been sitting in front on my neighbor's house for months collecting dust with a flat tire so I expected something closer to $1,500..maybe. I thought it would make a nice truck to throw mulch in, ride the doggie around aaaaand a good SHTF getaway.............haggled down to $1000. That must have been some cleaning job she got for that truck.
 
Scrap metal is so high that a good cheap used vehicle is harder to come by . I dont like seeing those old cars going to scrap but all eara's come to a end .
 
I was wondering how all the Texans were doing with all the rain. On the news a sigh said "pray for rain", I think they can take that down for a little while.
we're flooded here.so to speak..we've been getting so much rain here.the ground is staying saturated with water.and there's parts of my yard that cant be mowed because of it.and there's areas i wont walk in,unless im wearing wadeing boots....
 
I was wondering how all the Texans were doing with all the rain. On the news a sigh said "pray for rain", I think they can take that down for a little while.


Brent, good to hear from you, as Jim said, flooding...for me and our community, it has mixed blessings. Lake Arrowhead stood 3 weeks ago at 19% capacity, Lake Kickapoo was at 20%, three weekend water bombs later (average of 7-8 inches and flash floods), Lake Arrowhead today sits at 85% capacity, Lake Kickapoo is at 100% and running over the spillway that feeds Lake Arrowhead. At last check the Little Wichita River that feeds Lake Arrowhead is at 24 feet, 14 feet higher than normal, and last measurement was discharging in Lake Arrowhead at 10,000 cubic feet per second. We are expecting another round of thunderstorms that will drop another 5-6 inches in the next 24 hours. Community wise, flooding is over the Big Wichita River that runs through the city, and river is expected to crest higher than the 2007 if we get the rain tonight. Short of having wished that the Corps of Engineers and the City had built the Lake Ringgold Reservoir, we'd be filling that one up and would be at capacity possibly in another week. A shame all of it will just go down the Red River. As for the evacuation, it will be expanded again, sand bag operations started about a week ago. The Tanglewood Edition, parts of Horseshoe Bend estates, and East Side are evacuated, these areas are within the flood plain, so most were required to carry flood insurance (not that will offset their loses), but one can hope. Three people have lost their lives since the rain started to drowning, one a Lakeside city resident who decided to jump in the lake, another a young teenager kayaking in swollen creek in nearby county in Oklahoma and a military service member at Ft. Sill who decided to cross a river swollen roadway in his vehicle (vehicle was swept off the road).

On a personal note, my lawn is green, pool is filled to capacity, first time in 5 years. So with rain comes a mixed blessing. Wish you all well.
 
i did forget to mention..there are towns within a 35 mile radius of me thats flooded during the last 3 or 4 rains we got..in which im sure there's business and home damage from it all,as well..

dont people know not to go into flooded areas,on acount the current is to swift?i wont travel a flooded road if im at least remotely unsure about it..when will people learn? i'm sorry to hear that those 3 drowned.but i dont pity them,on account im sure that they knew better..
 
i did forget to mention..there are towns within a 35 mile radius of me thats flooded during the last 3 or 4 rains we got..in which im sure there's business and home damage from it all,as well..

dont people know not to go into flooded areas,on acount the current is to swift?i wont travel a flooded road if im at least remotely unsure about it..when will people learn? i'm sorry to hear that those 3 drowned.but i dont pity them,on account im sure that they knew better..


Jim,

I'd like to think that they would heed their local emergency management warnings, but apparently, not everyone takes things like this seriously. We made the national news tonight on NBC. I guess the Weather Channel is here to report on the flood. We are just now getting the first round of rains expected tonight. They are moving pretty fast and eating up the heat quickly, taking some of the instability which was going on today. Not more than 30 minutes ago, I tracked a rotation that I guess was at 10,000 feet, it wasn't showing up on weather radar, so who knows. Hockey is on NBC...so guess the local weather guys don't think its a major weather event.

I see your getting some down south. Hope your staying safe. Brent, I'd think that it will be out in your neck of the woods possibly by Thursday.

Oh and on the prep side, I bought some new Kevlar tires for my other rig, bought two Surefire lights, and got my monthly purchase of dehydrated foods. MRE's are coming in next week from my regular supplier.
 
Brent, good to hear from you, as Jim said, flooding...for me and our community, it has mixed blessings. Lake Arrowhead stood 3 weeks ago at 19% capacity, Lake Kickapoo was at 20%, three weekend water bombs later (average of 7-8 inches and flash floods), Lake Arrowhead today sits at 85% capacity, Lake Kickapoo is at 100% and running over the spillway that feeds Lake Arrowhead. At last check the Little Wichita River that feeds Lake Arrowhead is at 24 feet, 14 feet higher than normal, and last measurement was discharging in Lake Arrowhead at 10,000 cubic feet per second. We are expecting another round of thunderstorms that will drop another 5-6 inches in the next 24 hours. Community wise, flooding is over the Big Wichita River that runs through the city, and river is expected to crest higher than the 2007 if we get the rain tonight. Short of having wished that the Corps of Engineers and the City had built the Lake Ringgold Reservoir, we'd be filling that one up and would be at capacity possibly in another week. A shame all of it will just go down the Red River. As for the evacuation, it will be expanded again, sand bag operations started about a week ago. The Tanglewood Edition, parts of Horseshoe Bend estates, and East Side are evacuated, these areas are within the flood plain, so most were required to carry flood insurance (not that will offset their loses), but one can hope. Three people have lost their lives since the rain started to drowning, one a Lakeside city resident who decided to jump in the lake, another a young teenager kayaking in swollen creek in nearby county in Oklahoma and a military service member at Ft. Sill who decided to cross a river swollen roadway in his vehicle (vehicle was swept off the road).

On a personal note, my lawn is green, pool is filled to capacity, first time in 5 years. So with rain comes a mixed blessing. Wish you all well.
I'm glad you and Jim are ok at least, but do feel for all the people with flooded homes and businesses. You know, whenever I looked at a piece of property, I've always found a flood plain map before deciding to buy. Years ago it was tedious work flipping thru books at the county office, but now it's really easy with any smart phone. Yes, land is cheaper in a flood zone, but is it wise to build on it? I watch the news each evening, and it seems just about the whole of Texas is getting hammered each evening. I wish I could get a little of it as have been rotating the hose thru all the plants for a while now. I water a couple hours each evening and a couple each morning for the last month.
 
Jim,

I'd like to think that they would heed their local emergency management warnings, but apparently, not everyone takes things like this seriously. We made the national news tonight on NBC. I guess the Weather Channel is here to report on the flood. We are just now getting the first round of rains expected tonight. They are moving pretty fast and eating up the heat quickly, taking some of the instability which was going on today. Not more than 30 minutes ago, I tracked a rotation that I guess was at 10,000 feet, it wasn't showing up on weather radar, so who knows. Hockey is on NBC...so guess the local weather guys don't think its a major weather event.

I see your getting some down south. Hope your staying safe. Brent, I'd think that it will be out in your neck of the woods possibly by Thursday.

Oh and on the prep side, I bought some new Kevlar tires for my other rig, bought two Surefire lights, and got my monthly purchase of dehydrated foods. MRE's are coming in next week from my regular supplier.
Too bad you can't pipe some of that water down to California. I guess weather has always been feast of famine. I'm just greatfull I have two creeks with an abundant supply for the dry times. I've seen the forecast for rain here several times, but it hasn't amounted to much of anything yet. I've had so much success with the greenhouse that I think I will expand it and not worry about Mother Nature as much.
I haven't had much experience with mre's bob, do you have any idea how well they will hold up in the trunk of a hot car during the summer? I know it's a harsh environment to store anything, but I keep an emergency kit with three days of mre's.
 
It was my in father in laws birthday lastt night and we gave him a little prepping starter kit. A life straw, two foil blankets, a magnesium fire starter and some para cord. Nothing major but always good to have.
A neighbor is selling a nice remington .22 for a good price and i might pick it up later.
Garden is doing fine, we moved the started plants from their little pots into their big potts.
 
i wouldn't mind piping all that water to anywhere but here.even to a creek thats,(i guess around 1 tenth of mile from here).. there's always plenty of room for extra water there.
 
i wouldn't mind piping all that water to anywhere but here.even to a creek thats,(i guess around 1 tenth of mile from here).. there's always plenty of room for extra water there.
Looks like most of Texas has been getting hammered. I just hope all of our members here are ok.
 
this week did cost me 79 euros to the police for the new rifle permit,yup,every time you want a gun you apply for it and pay 79 for it,that's my preps for this week in stuff (future) otherwise it's been walking around the woods here with the dog,strange what you find in there when you just follow the dog, places to hide,routes to take in case of emergency, where to ambush someone if needed.
 
this week did cost me 79 euros to the police for the new rifle permit,yup,every time you want a gun you apply for it and pay 79 for it,that's my preps for this week in stuff (future) otherwise it's been walking around the woods here with the dog,strange what you find in there when you just follow the dog, places to hide,routes to take in case of emergency, where to ambush someone if needed.
At least we can buy a gun with no fee. If you want to conceal carry it costs about the same as you paid.
 
it's very difficult here,they think the ordinary hunter or someone interested in defence matters here are somehow a bad person..our former sec.of state said people like that are bad and all guns should be banned,well we got rid of him and his peace badge...and now as a private person he can do what he's best in;gloryfieing old sovjet era...
 
Garden is growing well , its a waiting game on it now . Remodeled my shooting range , I have these Swedish Military surpus Firing range distance counters , they are in meters instead of yards not that there is a big diference . My family is demanding a trip th Florida this year so that will shrink my prepp budget for a while . Thinking about ST Augustine .
 
Garden is growing well , its a waiting game on it now . Remodeled my shooting range , I have these Swedish Military surpus Firing range distance counters , they are in meters instead of yards not that there is a big diference . My family is demanding a trip th Florida this year so that will shrink my prepp budget for a while . Thinking about ST Augustine .
I lived near st. Augustine for years. It's a great place to explore, and the beaches are much nicer than Daytona.
 
I bought a bunch of meat yesterday and had id in the fridge over night. I portioned, labeled and froze it this morning. 25# of really good meat in the freezer. The wife is pre cooking a bunch of lasagnes, enchiladas and chili to freeze. We try to stock the freezer with meals we only have to finish cooking. When the baby is born we want to still eat healthy but dont want to spend a lot of time cooking. We rather sleep when we have the opportunity. (Learned that from our first one)...
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I bought a bunch of meat yesterday and had id in the fridge over night. I portioned, labeled and froze it this morning. 25# of really good meat in the freezer. The wife is pre cooking a bunch of lasagnes, enchiladas and chili to freeze. We try to stock the freezer with meals we only have to finish cooking. When the baby is born we want to still eat healthy but dont want to spend a lot of time cooking. We rather sleep when we have the opportunity. (Learned that from our first one)...
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The freezer bags are great, but when you can try the vacuum storage bag systems. There's a few out there now, I have a food saver, but most have come down in price the last couple years. The bag rolls are a little pricey, but stuff will last for years with no freezer burn. Getting the air out makes a difference. I use it for other stuff as well. I sealed up some ammo, to put out in the root cellar so moisture couldn't get to it. I have some of last years veggies that I froze in them and you can't tell the difference for a day old.
 
I had a six day off stretch from work, but go back tomorrow. I got a lot done, but need a vacation to rest now! I got a lot of weeding done in the garden, put an extra beam under the front porch, as I'm getting ready to finish it off and screen it in, got the root solar ventilated, and my main project was to get an electric and water line buried and into the greenhouse. Trenching by hand thru woods was a nightmare, but at least it's done now. I put a sub panel in it, and will start hooking up grow lights and a sprinkler system soon. All I know for sure is I'm not in my twenties anymore! I've got sore muscles that I didn't even know I had.
The last thing I'm doing tonight is I cooked down a rooster today in a large stock pot, and am about to can some of the broth and make chicken noodle soup with the rest. My jars are sterilized now and I'm off! Hope everyone had a good, and productive weekend.
 
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I got my propane conversion kit for my generator/welder yesterday. I installed the main part on the carboureator tonight. It didn't go as smooth as I would have liked, but I figured out a way to make it work. The breather assembly had to be cut out and modified to handle the gas intake tube, and the gas conversion was taller than it needed, so I had to change a breather tube, but over all, it went ok. I didn't expect it to be easy. I still have to make a bracket and install the regulator, but am well on my way to having a propane (multi fuel) generator. I'll try to take a couple better Picts tomorrow of the conversion. I really am not crazy about engines, but everything you can save by doing it yourself helps. This Thursday is the rescheduled day to set the 500 gal propane tank, and I am planning to pick his brain on how to install an expandable gas line on the house. The goal right now is the generator first, then an auxiliary space heater, and then the outdoor kitchen. I may switch the water heater to an on demand system when the regular tank goes, so I want a system that's expandable. Again, wish me luck that I don't blow anything up here! It's hard to believe that the miller welder/generator looks that old now. I bought it new about 12 yrs ago. I think I have about 25 hrs on it total. I've changed the oil from age more than run time.
 
Nice work man! Oh, I'm extremely jealous of an outdoor kitchen. It's something I want to incorporate into the pool/deck design I'm planning for next spring (if I can swing it money-wise). My guess is that I may get to start it next year, but have to work on it all summer, just to be ready when it turns colder, lol.

Of course, my "outdoor kitchen" will basically be a gas grill, countertop, sink, and mini-fridge, as well as a built in cooler...so likely not as grandiose.

Originally, I was going to do a canvas covered area for a bit of shade, etc., but I realize with our storms, any roof has to be pretty solid.
 
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I'm almost done with the conversion! The carb is done, but still haven't installed the large regulator on the exterior of the machine yet. I hope it runs as good as it looks!
 
Nice work man! Oh, I'm extremely jealous of an outdoor kitchen. It's something I want to incorporate into the pool/deck design I'm planning for next spring (if I can swing it money-wise). My guess is that I may get to start it next year, but have to work on it all summer, just to be ready when it turns colder, lol.

Of course, my "outdoor kitchen" will basically be a gas grill, countertop, sink, and mini-fridge, as well as a built in cooler...so likely not as grandiose.

Originally, I was going to do a canvas covered area for a bit of shade, etc., but I realize with our storms, any roof has to be pretty solid.
I saw some stainless grills on sale a few days ago. One had a sink, heavy duty 5 burner stove top, granite wings, several drawers, everything but the oven. It was really nice, until I saw the price, 2k. Ouch! It would be nice though to have an instant outdoor kitchen.
 
Yeah, I saw one of those last time I was in Lowes. I was probably drooling there for like a good 20 minutes.

I'm more of the "get a $400 grill for $100 on Craigslist" kind of guy. Then buy a $50 stainless steel sink (running a water line myself), and use an existing mini fridge and build in with an existing cooler (for keeping iced drinks when entertaining). :D
 
Yeah, I saw one of those last time I was in Lowes. I was probably drooling there for like a good 20 minutes.

I'm more of the "get a $400 grill for $100 on Craigslist" kind of guy. Then buy a $50 stainless steel sink (running a water line myself), and use an existing mini fridge and build in with an existing cooler (for keeping iced drinks when entertaining). :D
I wish I had the money to just go out and buy stuff like that! No doubt, I'm good at improvising and using things I have or get a deal on. I may not be able to get exactly what I want all the time, but I can usually find a way to make something close.
 

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