Thread: The World we live in

Tweet

I am by no means a theorist but I am a realist. I see things going on and it makes me nervous and realize I probably should do more to have my family in a better situation. There's a multitude of crap going on that could change how we live day to day.

Let's just say your town/area gets hit by a tornado or hurricane. Do you have the supplies to carry on for a week, or a month, or longer if you have to without natural gas and or electricity?

What are you doing to get ready for a what if situation?

We have been trying to stock up on canned goods and bottled water. We grew a lot in our garden last year but it wouldn't be enough to feed a family of 8 long.

Things I want to do soon:

Make a rain water collecting system for out door water/garden.

Get our old diesel powered light unit up and running to use as a generator.

Have some extra diesel on hand.

We will be doing a 2nd garden at our in laws this year.

I hear you Ryan. It’s something I’ve been giving some thought to for the last couple of years too. For me the biggest concern is the power grid. Ours is pretty reliable over all, but we do seem to lose power for a short time a couple times a year. That being said with the push for renewables and an inadequate power grid for an all-electric society that is being pushed for, it’s what the future holds that really concerns me.

When we put the new house in, we added the whole house backup generator primary in case the wife or I become housebound with mobility issues as we get older (something we saw with my mom). It does give us a little peace of mind should we lose power for any length of time, especially as far as any food in the refrigerators/freezer staying good.

The old house still has an older gasoline powered portable generator that can be put into service…….it needed some work when I got it but it was free and once it was sorted out it works well…..and free is always good.


The biggest problem with it is that it’s gasoline. I keep 20 gallons of gas on hand for it and figure I can probably pull about 75 more gallons out of vehicles if necessary. The crap gas we get around here has a shelf-life of about 6 months. So twice a year I rotate the gas in the cans out and burn it in the truck and refill the cans. It’s also a good time to run the generator under load for an hour or 2 to make sure there are no problems with it. It’s set up with a manual transfer switch and I can put it in service in about 10-15 minutes. When I’m through, I end up shutting it down by running the carb dry and drain the fuel tank. It’s a bit of a PIA but at least it always starts easily the next time.



We live in the high desert so other than power, water is probably going to be our biggest issue, especially with my daughters’ 2 horses. We’re on our own well and unfortunately, it’s too far away from either generator to be powered by them. Over the last couple of years I’ve slowly been working on a backup water system.

It’s pretty simple actually, a couple of 1000 gallon water storage tanks (that are automatically kept filled by the well) and a separate pressure tank and pump, which is wired into the wiring (and generator) on the old house. We use the water tanks to water the horses and outdoor watering so the water in them is kept fresh. In an emergency it can be connected to the water system of both houses by throwing a couple of valves.

I just broke down and bought a new generator to use as a dedicated back-up for the well. When the tanks get low the well can be run on the generator to refill the water tanks.

I was a bit surprised to find out that the recommended wattage for the well pump is a minimum of 7.5KW, it actually runs at a lower wattage but that’s the size required to start the pump.

The generator I chose is a dual fuel (gasoline or propane) unit. I think I’m going to like this one but I haven’t fired it up yet as I’m waiting on the high-altitude conversion parts for the fuel system (due in Sat). I like the idea of it being propane capable so I don’t have to worry about having extra gasoline on hand for it. We have a 350 gal Propane tank that’s dedicated to the generator on the new house and once I get the kit I’ll be able to refill the portable tanks for the generator from it, and I do have the option of using gasoline in it if that’s what I have.

The thought hit me a while back that what I’m doing is really a well-trod path. This is all stuff that was normal on a small farm in the generation I grew up in. If it gets real bad, I suppose I can always fire up the old hit and miss and still have a drill press, grinder and compressor on the line shaft….between that and grandpa’s old forge and anvil hell it could be a second career as the village smithy.



.

i live like my granpa. no worries. pto generator.

Your post on another thread mentioned digital currency concerns. Recently 34_40 Mike posted that he's a cash guy, avoiding plastic as much as possible. I have to applaud him for that based on another post I saw. Consider:

I visit the grocery store and pay with a $50 bill. The grocer pays salaries, or perhaps orders replacement stock using the $50 bill. The employee pays rent or utilities, using that same $50 bill. That $50 bill goes through hundreds of transactions, holding it's value for each one.
Instead, I visit the grocer and pay my $50 bill with plastic. The grocer pays a 5% convenience fee, so he retains $47.50 to use. He orders replacement stock, using plastic, and the wholesale supplier pays a 5% fee, retaining only $45.13. After 30 transactions, each using plastic, my $50 has been reduced to about $10.75 and the banks have retained $39.35 of my $50 for nothing more than tracking numbers.
I'm as guilty as most of you are (except Mike), as I almost always reach for my credit card for day to day payments, because the retail places have made it inconvenient to use cash. I've always got a bunch of $20's in my pocket, but moths fly out when I open the fold....
I don't know the answer. On-line buying makes it worse, but just going to the grocery store or WallyWorld is the same. They don't really want cash, and they all consider the 5% convenience fee to be a part of doing business today.

I too use cash as much as possible, as you can get some quite serious discounts for cash.
If you use plastic the vendor then has the transaction on paper which is then visible to Inland Revenue, (the Tax Department,) who take 12.5% from them with the gst (Goods and Services Tax,) and the banks too take their cut.
But if it's cash the vendor is straight away better off by around 17%. So he can then drop his price by 10% and still make a better profit than if he'd accepted a plastic transaction.

And everybody wins.

diesel and propane are the only fuels you can store long term. i have a pto gen which is much cheaper since i didn't have to buy a power plant with it. it will run our whole place . 600 gals of diesel will run my kubota tractor for a long time.

Originally Posted by rspears

I don't know the answer. On-line buying makes it worse, but just going to the grocery store or WallyWorld is the same. They don't really want cash, and they all consider the 5% convenience fee to be a part of doing business today.

And that 5% "convenience" is added into the products we all purchase!

Originally Posted by shine

diesel and propane are the only fuels you can store long term. i have a pto gen which is much cheaper since i didn't have to buy a power plant with it. it will run our whole place . 600 gals of diesel will run my kubota tractor for a long time.

Diesel can and will support algae inside it. You still need to add an anti-fouling chemical / stabilizer. We used to add in K-1 Kero - we had 5000 gallon storage and we'd dump in 5 gallons K-1 and also an anti-gelling product. Here at the wifes family farm we only keep 250 gallons and turn it over a couple times a year. Still add an anti-gel product though.

yes sir and filters are not a suggestion..

Unfortunately our world seems to run more and more on a “cashless” basis. Many restaurants stopped taking cash during the Covid-19 plague (under the false impression that the virus lived on money?) and some still will only transact via plastic. The average credit card processing fee is not 5% but it is 1.5% - 2.9% for an in-person transaction and 3.5% for an online transaction (due to higher fraud risk).Being able to accept plastic is important for business (especially small businesses). The reality is that processing fees are a necessary cost of doing business.

When I have to use plastic at a restaurant I almost always write “on table” for the tip and then leave cash for the server thus assuring that at least that portion will go where it’s deserved. Most good servers also share their tips with the busboys and hostesses. If you leave the tip on the card the establishment many times extracts a portion for themselves and then “pools” the tips to be distributed equally among the wait staff. In some states (like Georgia) servers make less than$3.00 per hour with the assumption their tips will bring them to at least federal minimum wage. Here in the Portland, Oregon area – waiters make $15.00 per hour plus tips. Some local establishments have the unmitigated gall to add anywhere from 2-10% on top of the bill as an, “… employee incentive fee…" as such it has become quite expensive to go out to eat.

I still believe cash is king and try to use such when at all possible – but it’s becoming harder all the time. I’ve always advocated using plastic as a charge card rather than a credit card and pay full balance every month.

Most disconcerting is the ability of the card issuer (i.e., VISA, MasterCard, Discover, etc) to track and report on all of your purchases. It is one thing to track your food and gasoline purchases, but think about your firearm or ammunition purchases being tracked and perhaps monitored by those who are not Second Amendment friendly.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but certainly am in favor of exercising common sense and good judgment when it comes to keeping the government out of my business. Remember that every keystroke that leaves your PC (think Facebook, Amazon, Google or Bing searches, or online ordering) is recorded and traceable. You can clear your local cache but your external communications are forever kept in repositories that given the right authority are completely open and searchable.

Oh the world we live in……

I could've clicked Glenn's statement 'like' button twice, well said.