Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Alaskan]

what would you need electric for?

I would just set up a way to get water by hand (bucket or hand pump).

For food...what are your options? Can you put fridge stuff in the well, or deep in a shaded creek, or in a root cellar?

For frozen stuff.... I guess for that you need power.... or a giant 2x2 ice cube like in the olden days! Ha! That's a thought. Make yourself an old time ice chest..... and have an always frozen giant ice cube ....

 

[greybeard]

Cat THREE?? Wow, this morning they were saying it would hit land as a Cat 1. That is a HUGE increase in wind.

Yep..that's what they do. It will quickly lose energy when it hits land tho, and be a TS by late Sunday morning.
Gonna be a heck of a rainmaker tho, with it doing the loop and passing over some areas twice. Dr Jeff Masters said this morning there is even a strong possibility it will return to the gulf and re-intensify next week--headed ?????.

This not the small storm some have been saying it is. Well organized and covers a large part of GoM.

 

[Latestarter]

Indeed it is and growing nicely. In the pics you can see some outer bands already approaching the TX coast. Just heard the words "cat 4 hurricane" on the TV in the background. I don't think I'd want to be living in the Houston - SW of there area right now... or anywhere up to maybe 150 miles inland from there. This is precisely the reason I decided when I was going to move here, that I would NOT buy south of an E/W line through about Nacogdotches. Now, were I still a free man (no animals) I would be headed to Port O'connor (most likely or close) and looking for a high rise parking garage or something similar to enjoy the show. I'd want to be in the NE quadrant of the landfall if possible.

So this morning when I went out to do goat chores, it was actually very pleasant. Temp was low 70s, lower humidity, nice breeze. Didn't even break a sweat which is NOT the norm. In fact right now it's hazy and only 80 degrees out. Very palatable. But of course that also means that the pasture is not drying out where it isn't cut. tradeoffs... always.

@Alaskan I don't have a well and my deep shaded creek turns into a roaring river when I get heavy rain. No root cellar either, though I do have a storm shelter (underground cement box). It is however not designed for routine or continuous use and is rather a pain to climb in and out of. I wonder how much it would cost to buy a 2' square block of ice here in TX... Hmmmm Don't think it would last very long with the weather here anyway. Without the electricity, how do you figure to keep that big old block of ice, ice? You're from TX, you know this sort of stuff!

 

[CntryBoy777]

Yeh....it has been pretty nice here, too....waiting on the grass to dry. We did get the bigger stuff cut and piled out of the garden earlier....I went around to the outside and was going to finish up the JG wad that I've been working on, but found a wasp nest amongst the grass and got stung on the forearm....dad-gum guinea wasp....at least that is what I know them by....they are a brownish color with a couple of yellow/gold bands on the abdomen....that is what was stinging me when I hurt my foot....guess ya could say I have a great Dislike for the little b*st*rds. So, guess I'll have to finish it another day. I worked on the mulching mower and got it working properly from Joyce trying to mulch gravel with it....

 

[Mike CHS]

Having spent a good portion of my life in Pensacola, I don't miss those things.

 

[OneFineAcre]

It doesn't flood... it just gets damp and squishy inside. I want a barn (& a lot of other things), but my desires outstrip my wallet I'm doing what I can, as I can. I hope to start on a permanent structure as soon as I finish the fencing.

Damp and squishy isn't a good situation for goats. They need a dry place to lay down.
@Southern by choice is right, you are setting up a perfect environment for pneumonia as well as other bad things.
I think your goats need permanent housing more than they need more fencing.

 

[Mini Horses]

LS --Ya know what? A few free pallets, a board over if wide spaced slats (legs!) some shavings....they will use them & stay off of the ground! Redneck? maybe but, cost effective!! Check tarp & the tie downs -- winds. Can't build a barn before the rains.

Frig...you can add ice. There! Eat all the ice cream first.

A small generator will run the freezer...can you RENT one? OR buy some bags of ice and lay them in the freezer now. Don't open the freezer and it will keep for about 3 days, then start to soften but if still icey, can refreeze ok.

You're a military man --been thru more -- You will be fine.

 

[Mike CHS]

I may have already mentioned that I use my generator fairly often. Mine has wheels and whenever I need power out away from the house I put the generator in our small trailer and take it to the project. We have a decent supply of battery tools but we have more options when electric is available.

We don't need it here often but when I lived in hurricane country we had the generator, weeks supply of gas and a window A/C unit since hurricanes are almost always followed by miserable humidity.

 

[Bruce]

I'd want to be in the NE quadrant of the landfall if possible.

Deathwish??

 

[Baymule]

Miserable humidity AND the biggest darn swamp skeeters that can suck you and livestock dry!

@Latestarter, I just got a sales flyer from Atwoods in Tyler that has the non climb horse wire, 2"x4", 48" tall x 200' long for $199.99 with another $20 off with rebate. Sale is from August 23 through September 4. The best price we ever found on it when we were fencing was $205 a roll!

Even though we are far inland, we will most likely feel the effects of the storm. I'll be picking up all loose items tomorrow and battening down for the coming storm. If it fizzles out before it gets here, great. If not, I'll be ready.

Good point on the water, @greybeard when we lived in Livingston, we always had water because of the huge water tower in town a few blocks from our house. But after hurricane Ike, the city was worried about it running dry because of no power. I had 4 plastic trash cans on the porch, full of water, buckets in the bathrooms, full of water. BTW, you only need about a half gallon to flush the toilet if you pour it directly into the toilet bowl, not in the tank. I had big post full of water. I used the city water and saved my stored water just in case.