The Wandering Monk finished his part of the job in the afternoon and this is where we left the pantry-to-be. I’m hugely pleased. Yes, it’s just a plain-vanilla pantry with no fancy features, but it’s going to make it much easier to keep everything organized, easy to find, and (yes, Bear) simpler to rotate. Pat’s original blueprint called for one shelf to be extended to make a desk or a landing spot for newly purchased groceries. I really like that idea and will aim to retrofit a small desk between those 2×2 supports eventually. I’m relieved finally to use those…
Category: Preparedness
The Wandering Monk had to quit early on Tuesday because the lumberyard ran out of the shelving we needed. Yesterday, while he went off to tend to someone else’s work, I painted, then stashed a few of the more in-the-way items on the shelves. They’re not in their official places; they’re just off my kitchen counter and living room end table, thank heaven. (That straight-on view looks a little kerflotchy, but that’s because the ceiling slopes three inches to the left and that rust-colored ceiling beam (soon to be painted white for less visibility) is placed over a rafter that…
The Wandering Monk and I (mostly the Monk, as usual) are building a pantry. We started this morning. It was good to see the Monk again; he’s doing much better this season than the last time the days got short and dark. For the last few years most of my food — bulk, freeze-dried, and otherwise — along with related equipment, has been wedged onto two bakers’ racks and a small bookcase at the back of the sunroom, hidden from street view by a shoji screen. The 7 x 2.5-foot space was crammed full. It held a lot, but so…
It’s a good idea to record the serial numbers of your guns in case they’re stolen. One cop shop thinks it’s a good idea for you to store that number in their database. Hahaha. How very droll. (Via Codrea) Before Marriott let 500 million guests’ records slip away, they had a string of other breaches. Their cyber-security team was even hit with malware. They say no man is a hero to his valet. The same probably holds true with presidents and their Secret Service agents. Bush the First may have been a typically awful leader, but you never hear a…
How time flies when you’re having fun trying to keep your house from collapsing into the mud. Sometime earlier this year, I shoved my bug-out bag onto the screen porch to get it out of the way of construction, and yesterday was the day for lugging it back into the house, checking and updating it. I’d have sworn I did a check-and-update sometime last year. But that was also the year of the Great Foundation Project and I now see I let things slide. If the Sharpie-marked packets of snacks in the bug-out bag are telling the truth, my last…
Stories and photos from a remote, off-grid community in Scotland. There is yet another e-coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. The FDA recommends tossing any romaine you might have. (I got this word from MJ yesterday evening … five minutes after finishing a big salad made with guess what? I seem to have survived the experience so far.) How a six-year-old survived being lost in the woods while walking 18 miles toward safety. He’s 39 now and revisits his trek with a writer from Outside. FBI data shows that armed citizens are 94% successful in stopping would-be mass shooters. (Via…
Commentator Gerard Van der Leun is — was — a resident of Paradise, California. Now, burned out of his home along with another 30,000 people, he’s taken refuge in Chico. He writes beautifully about the individuals and businesses of the town “leaving it all on the field” for their bereft and desperate guests. A must read. There have been a lot of dramatic and moving reports out of Paradise. But nobody says it better. Van der Leun concludes: They all were leaving it all on the field everywhere in Chico. From Penny’s in the Mall to the Birkenstocks Store downtown…