… or the hope-to-be prepared. If you have friends or relatives who talk about preparedness but who either don’t have the money or the oomph to move ahead, this is a good time to get them started. It’s also not a bad time to gift yourself with some special item that you’ve been wanting. So here are some preparedness favorites. 1. The Big Berkey water purification system. Which comes in several configurations. Yes, they’re pricy. Yes, people buy them regularly and love them despite that. 2. Boxes of MREs. Or those nice Mountain House freeze-dried foods, which come in a…
Month: December 2013
Now here’s a charmer. After being closed for 10 years for a major rebuild, the Netherlands’ famous Rijksmuseum announced its reopening last spring in a wonderful way. “Onze helden zijn terug!” “Our heroes are back!” And here’s an interactive explanation of the famous painting. (H/T friend L)
“You shall not pass!” Video of dogs that are terrified of walking past cats. In some cases, rightly so. (Via MLS.) And remember the “Puppycide” Kickstarter relaunch? This time (yay!) they’ve made their more modest goal of $40,000 (which will fund a half-hour documentary, not the feature film they originally proposed). Now, with six more days remaining, they’ve named a “stretch goal.” Sixty thousand dollars will enable Oz Media to make a 45-minute film. Which is just right for a one-hour TV slot. If they get that much, they’ll be marketing the work to networks and TV stations.
When last we spoke (or at least when last we spoke about flowerpot-n-candle space heaters) I reported dismal failure. Attempting to use one of the devices in a uninsulated 8 x 10 room with big windows produced zero results. In fact, the temperature dropped half a degree while the “heater” was running despite outside temperatures not appreciably changing. So today I tried again, moving the heater into a 7 x 7 windowless room with decent insulation. The room was 58 degrees when I started. And … 12:00 noon — 58 degrees 1:00 p.m. — 58 degrees 2:00 p.m. — 58…
Yeah, it’s sorta feeling this way, isn’t it? How hard are you being hit by this latest sign of “global warming”? Here in the NorthWET I know we don’t get it as bad as you guys do in those middle states or the Northeast. But shazam, it’s below 12 degrees here this morning. That’s at least five degrees colder than I’ve ever seen it in this part of the coastal NW. And we’re not even into the really frigid months yet! Yesterday we also had a tiny, localized, and almost completely unpredicted snowstorm (only about 100 miles wide, I gather),…
Okay, here we go. This will be the penultimate Amazon Christmas shopping list. It’s about pets and other animals. And this one’s not strictly Amazon. If you or anybody on your gift list is looking for information on raising chickens, goats, rabbits, or any farm animals the place to go is the Backwoods Home Book Store. You’ll find livestock books under multiple categories, including Animals & Pets, Food Production, and Self-Sufficiency. I have NFI in BHM Book Store sales (except for two books I wrote). But without BHM, this blog wouldn’t exist. They’re good people. —– Now on to Amazon…
You’ve all heard the news that Amazon is working on a proposed drone delivery system. Now see the future …
I’ve been trying to get to the last two of those Amazon Christmas list columns. Then jed sent along “Dave Barry’s Gift Guide.” Sort of a hard act to follow, especially when you’re peddling something. Barry begins by telling us the real “reason for the season” (not what you think) and goes on to such gem gift recommendations as the Perfect Polly. Apparently a battery-operated talking plastic Chinese parrot. Or something. In each case, Barry waxes ecstatic … er. Well, waxes. A sample: “Maybe some day we could replace the entire U.S. Congress with battery-operated plastic senators and representatives. Come…
That is, that other Prohibition ended 80 years ago with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. In dubious honor of the current, much worse, and much longer, prohibition, it’s time to revisit that still-too-true olden-days bit of wit by Franklin P. Adams: Prohibition is an awful flop. We like it. It can’t stop what it’s meant to stop. We like it. It’s left a trail of graft and slime, It don’t prohibit worth a dime, It’s filled our land with vice and crime. Nevertheless, we’re for it. The poem itself was written in equally dubious honor of the wussy work…
Been deadlining this week and it doesn’t stop. Thinking of you all, though. Big Second-Amendment guy, Alan Korwin, is making news with a big First-Amendment case. You can always count on the FBI … to be just 61% accurate in its mass-homicide stats. Heck, they could save taxpayers’ money by using random chance. Oh. Maybe they did. “By threatening their lives as well as their budgets, Obama has created a huge class of losers, who statistically overrun the small class of winners and outweigh them in savvy…” Millennials. Fed up with Obama, Obamacare and government. Nice trend. But some of…