What's everybody doing today?

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
MoBookworm1957 said:
I know and have them.
Several busted water mains all over town is the problem.
Click to expand...
Aging infrastructure. In my area, the water department is going to go through every neighborhood, and replace every water line in the street and into homes. My neighborhood and home had ours replaced 5 years ago. They tested water in every area to see which had the most lead, and started in the worst areas first. I have no idea how long it will take them to replace all of the lines, but I believe it is a worthy project. I wish electrical and others were all being replaced all over the country, including roads, bridges, and dams. They are all aging out.
 
Weedygarden said:
A couple 5 gallon jugs of water are a good thing to have for backup. Heavy, yes. Or even having a few 1 gallon jugs is helpful.
Click to expand...
I never thought about this being a prep, and we probably don't need it since most of our water is all gravity fed down the mountains, but we keep 3 gallons of water on the counter plus whatever is in our Berkey. We keep a pitcher of filtered water on hand so we don't have to wait for the Berkey when it gets slow, and then we keep another pitcher + our mixer full of tap water - letting it outgas overnight before it goes into the Berkey each morning. That plus the 6 gal of distilled in my bedroom closet (for my CPAP) have come in handy in a pinch as well. We have our own distiller so I just rotate and re-fill them, so it's no big deal to use them if we have a boil order or something.
 
TeeJ said:
I never thought about this being a prep, and we probably don't need it since most of our water is all gravity fed down the mountains, but we keep 3 gallons of water on the counter plus whatever is in our Berkey. We keep a pitcher of filtered water on hand so we don't have to wait for the Berkey when it gets slow, and then we keep another pitcher + our mixer full of tap water - letting it outgas overnight before it goes into the Berkey each morning. That plus the 6 gal of distilled in my bedroom closet (for my CPAP) have come in handy in a pinch as well. We have our own distiller so I just rotate and re-fill them, so it's no big deal to use them if we have a boil order or something.
Click to expand...
I'm under boil order now.
At least till 6 pm on Friday evening.
 
Weedygarden said:
Aging infrastructure. In my area, the water department is going to go through every neighborhood, and replace every water line in the street and into homes. My neighborhood and home had ours replaced 5 years ago. They tested water in every area to see which had the most lead, and started in the worst areas first. I have no idea how long it will take them to replace all of the lines, but I believe it is a worthy project. I wish electrical and others were all being replaced all over the country, including roads, bridges, and dams. They are all aging out.
Click to expand...
In some areas of my hamlet (under 25000) clay tubes are still being used.
They are getting replaced first, then lead pipes.
We voted Tuesday on new bond for water infrastructure, but haven't heard if it passed yet.
You have to be careful when you start digging up around here to replace infrastructure around here because of all the old coal mines. My town was built on top of these old coal mines.
Water table is quite high in some areas too.
Local history in my area.
 
The Lazy L said:
Clearly I’m outdated. Conrail (70s?) still in existence?
Click to expand...
Nope. They went bye bye a long time ago. The 7 major railroads left in the US are:

Union Pacific (UP)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe, or BNSF for short
CSX
Norfolk Southern (NS)
Canadian National (CN)
Canadian Pacific (CP)
Kansas City Southern (KCS), which was apparently just bought out by one of the Canadian railroads. I haven't followed that merger close enough to know if KCS will continue to operate as its own company or if it will become another "fallen flag".

These 7 tend to own controlling stakes in smaller railroads like IC&E and DM&E as well.
 
Well the wife forced me , twisted my arm , to take today off. She wanted to go to Amish community to drive around .

And...buy stuff.
IMG_20220407_121931997_HDR.jpg
IMG_20220407_121735970_HDR.jpg
IMG_20220407_121732178_HDR.jpg


I sit in parking lot while she buys flowers.

Good day.

Jim
 
Last edited:
MoBookworm1957 said:
Waiting on the water tank on the hill to fill back up.
So I can have water pressure again.
Making a pot of coffee this morning is interesting to say the least.
Have Va Doctor appointments tomorrow for me.
Cleaned a few peoples plows yesterday concerning Dad.
Oh well, they should have been oldest instead of me then.
Dad is feeling pretty damn good.
Matter of fact he's feeling so good, we booked him a fishing trip to Stockton.
That's coming up in two weeks.
I'm probably not a real popular person in my family now........
Ask me if I care.
Dad and I can get in trouble pretty easy if we try, and it's not very hard I might add.
We took a trip to Branson last week.
Picked up his new "toy" Jaguar.
Sister in Texas is having a cow.
It's his money let him spend it.
Get a job, quit waiting on him to pass.
If I have my way, she won't inherit anything from him.
And I will pretty much.
Told him he was reliving every young man's or woman's dream.......
He had Stingray Coverette, now he has Jaguar.
Still has his truck.
So I asked if "Porsche" was on the list next.
Told him about my experiences with Porsche.
I owned one in Germany when stationed there.
Candy apple red, black leather interior.my little size 4.5 foot on the gas pedal, on the autoban, no speed limits.......gone....
He laughed said no Porsche for him.
Said he had some thinking to do about the next purchase.
But he didn't say what the next purchase would be as of yet.
But I'm game with what ever it will be.
Probably more so than the others.
Just don't want him to have any regrets of what ever time he has left.
So if I'm the bad guy so be it.
It's not like I haven't been the black sheep in the family before.
Get over it. Move it on down the line.
Don't really give a rat's behind what people think.
I try to live life on my terms to heck with anyone else.
Reading forums, sipping coffee...
Will be picking up new cleaning job Monday.
One of my clients fell and broke his hip outside last weekend.
So won't be needed there for a while.
So slide Dad into Hank's slot instead.
Hank cheats at checkers by the way.
Click to expand...

I would have bought you lunch!
 
Well we made it back.
There was a package delivered , sitting on front porch.
Along with a baby squirrel.
He ran thru the open door , into the house, right over my feet.

Wife went beserk.

I ran him back out the door.
Of course Eli didn't like him.
But he's fine now, hope he finds his mama or home.
https://youtube.com/shorts/S5E-phTPbDI?feature=share
 
TeeJ said:
I never thought about this being a prep, and we probably don't need it since most of our water is all gravity fed down the mountains, but we keep 3 gallons of water on the counter plus whatever is in our Berkey. We keep a pitcher of filtered water on hand so we don't have to wait for the Berkey when it gets slow, and then we keep another pitcher + our mixer full of tap water - letting it outgas overnight before it goes into the Berkey each morning. That plus the 6 gal of distilled in my bedroom closet (for my CPAP) have come in handy in a pinch as well. We have our own distiller so I just rotate and re-fill them, so it's no big deal to use them if we have a boil order or something.
Click to expand...
I have a large Berkey which is kept filled. I also have some 5 gallon jugs of water along with two dispensers, both that I got for free. One is a ceramic table top type, and the other is the kind you see in offices, larger, free standing. I've gotten my 5 gallon jugs for free as well. I keep watching the internet for them. I did need to order caps for them from the internet, but I think there are other options for caps or lids if I didn't have caps.
 
MoBookworm1957 said:
Waiting on the water tank on the hill to fill back up.
So I can have water pressure again.
Making a pot of coffee this morning is interesting to say the least.
Have Va Doctor appointments tomorrow for me.
Cleaned a few peoples plows yesterday concerning Dad.
Oh well, they should have been oldest instead of me then.
Dad is feeling pretty damn good.
Matter of fact he's feeling so good, we booked him a fishing trip to Stockton.
That's coming up in two weeks.
I'm probably not a real popular person in my family now........
Ask me if I care.
Dad and I can get in trouble pretty easy if we try, and it's not very hard I might add.
We took a trip to Branson last week.
Picked up his new "toy" Jaguar.
Sister in Texas is having a cow.
It's his money let him spend it.
Get a job, quit waiting on him to pass.
If I have my way, she won't inherit anything from him.
And I will pretty much.
Told him he was reliving every young man's or woman's dream.......
He had Stingray Coverette, now he has Jaguar.
Still has his truck.
So I asked if "Porsche" was on the list next.
Told him about my experiences with Porsche.
I owned one in Germany when stationed there.
Candy apple red, black leather interior.my little size 4.5 foot on the gas pedal, on the autoban, no speed limits.......gone....
He laughed said no Porsche for him.
Said he had some thinking to do about the next purchase.
But he didn't say what the next purchase would be as of yet.
But I'm game with what ever it will be.
Probably more so than the others.
Just don't want him to have any regrets of what ever time he has left.
So if I'm the bad guy so be it.
It's not like I haven't been the black sheep in the family before.
Get over it. Move it on down the line.
Don't really give a rat's behind what people think.
I try to live life on my terms to heck with anyone else.
Reading forums, sipping coffee...
Will be picking up new cleaning job Monday.
One of my clients fell and broke his hip outside last weekend.
So won't be needed there for a while.
So slide Dad into Hank's slot instead.
Hank cheats at checkers by the way.
Click to expand...
Good for you, MoBookworm. Keep it up. Let your dad enjoy life. He earned it, and it’s his. My dad sacrificed to keep the estate together, and siblings couldn’t liquidate it fast enough. He could have lived so well. A lifetime of hard work and saving went to the government, lawyers, and for a short time, some unappreciative kids.
 
Did laundry yesterday and decided THAT is it! I am going to buy a new washing machine. I found one without a lock, but it is expensive and we have to drive all the way to Roanoke to buy it. But I am so tired of it taking me literally all day to do 4 loads of laundry

( uh oh...and I almost cussed on here again...better stop watching too much Hells Kitchen on youtube....)

Trimmed goat hoofs this morning, starting to give CDT shots. Weather has been ok, nice during day, pouring at night. That to me is the perfect weather. It doesn't keep you from doing anything but the grass still grows.
Not too hot and not too cold either but all that will change tomorrow, it is once again supposed to get cold and snow

I plan on planting some stuff in the garden just as soon as the next cold weather is done. If it freezes again after that I will cover the plants. I do that every year, or we wouldn't get anything planted until June

Hope everyone has a nice day
 
TeeJ said:
I never thought about this being a prep, and we probably don't need it since most of our water is all gravity fed down the mountains, but we keep 3 gallons of water on the counter plus whatever is in our Berkey. We keep a pitcher of filtered water on hand so we don't have to wait for the Berkey when it gets slow, and then we keep another pitcher + our mixer full of tap water - letting it outgas overnight before it goes into the Berkey each morning. That plus the 6 gal of distilled in my bedroom closet (for my CPAP) have come in handy in a pinch as well. We have our own distiller so I just rotate and re-fill them, so it's no big deal to use them if we have a boil order or something.
Click to expand...

We have spring water from off the mountain also but it gets dirty sometimes and sometimes one of the neighbors forgets to shut off a hydrant while watering animals and the tank runs out so we keep bottled water for us to drink around plus I filled several 50 gal garbage cans with water for the animals. Usually the problem only lasts a day so that;s enough for us.
 
Weedygarden said:
Aging infrastructure. In my area, the water department is going to go through every neighborhood, and replace every water line in the street and into homes. My neighborhood and home had ours replaced 5 years ago. They tested water in every area to see which had the most lead, and started in the worst areas first. I have no idea how long it will take them to replace all of the lines, but I believe it is a worthy project. I wish electrical and others were all being replaced all over the country, including roads, bridges, and dams. They are all aging out.
Click to expand...

That sort of thing used to be my job but I like growing goats better!!

The things you mention fall under different agencies and very often they don't work well together. I worked on a project in Florida to add some lanes to the interstate through Orlando and it was a huge nightmare. Nobody wanted to agree on anything including the residents who had to give up some yard or got a huge amount of money for their properties. The problem is not just roads and bridges are old, they are all too small for the amount of traffic there is now. You have to add lanes, which requires land.
 
Hey Weedy, I ordered a bunch of caps that fit the five gallon jugs a few years ago on Amazon. They were cheap then. Phideaux, sounds like a nice day off. There's an amish lady at a farm across from ours that has a huge greenhouse and sells to the public. She should be opening up soon.
Husband spent awhile at the dentist today, so I got a lot of reading done while waiting. He now has a temporary crown, new one will be in a few weeks. Went to Walmart afterwards and found some hard to find things...more distilled water, they had food grade buckets in, although they went up a buck, they stock husband's kind of yogurt. Also picked up the last 25lb of flour bag, and 20# of rice just because I could. Went to barbeque for lunch when husband could feel to chew again, and it was outstanding. Then to a salvage store in the other town, found lots of slightly dented misc canned food for 50 cents ea. Also a black out curtain for granddaughter's room. (99 cents). She hangs a blanket over one window at the moment.
Wind storms happening again today, so no potato planting yet.
 
sonya123 said:
Glad they have at least that. I wished the US had trains you could actually use to get places fast ( like in Europe or Asia) not just crappy Amtrak poor excuse of a train. I don't like fllying lol
Click to expand...
There's a plan to get high speed rail from Chicago to at least Omaha and possibly on to Denver. I doubt it'll ever happen though. Upgrading track to 70 or 80 MPH passenger standards will cost a crap ton of money...
 
Still moving stuff, microwave blew up and I had to dig it out,
still working on my rusted pistol magazines and scoping my AK
Still moving crap off a shelf that is pulling away from the wall
AND....
Its trash day! After that I'll be sipping berry white claws and playing Fallout 4.
Yes, I know white claws are "sissy" drinks, but I'm pretty gluten intolerant these days and I hate rice beer.
 
I finished clearing the debris from the basement room and on the way back from the dumpster run I crossed paths with my recycling buddy. Fixed him up with maybe 60 lbs of scrap metal.

Extracted 2 more stators from 2 more motors. I will harvest 5he copper from them tomorrow. That should yield a nice pile of copper to add to my stockpiles.

I need spend some time thinking about how I am going to use the cleared out basement room. I would like to set up my battery (future) banks and inverters in there. Bonus if I could figure out how to include my backup generator as well.

Ben
 
o0o0o0oH! Now THAT is a profitable skill! I have a market that needs filled for copper daggers, my mediocre ones went for 100$!
With the right tools and skills the sky is the limit!
 
Magus said:
o0o0o0oH! Now THAT is a profitable skill! I have a market that needs filled for copper daggers, my mediocre ones went for 100$!
With the right tools and skills the sky is the limit!
Click to expand...

If God allows me stick around long enough, copper is the first step. Being able to cast and machine parts would be a marketable skill come TEOTWAWKI.

Ben
 
hashbrown said:
I had always wanted to get a hot straight razor shave. Today was the day!
View attachment 84033
Click to expand...
I was a professional during my career and dress codes did not tolerate long hair. It was only in the last year prior to retirement that I started to let what was left of my hair grow and even then I kept it in a pont tail. My desire was quite the contrary from yours.

Congratulations on your dream. I am like-wise enjoying mine.

Ben
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top