Never forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is to make you weaker than he is, so he can do something to you that you wouldn't allow him to do if you were equipped to prevent it. This goes for burglars, muggers, and rapists, and even more so for policemen, bureaucrats, and politicians.
--Alexander Hope

Stuck on Roof for Katrina

Friday, August 31, 2012

Hurricane Issac experence and preperation



This is why I stress being prepared,If you don't have a backup plan,plan on doing without the essentials of life.Katrina taught me some valuable lessons,that being prepared for anything or something will bite you in the ass.The red areas are the ones without power,But my house isn't dark and we ate baby back ribs for Dinner,get my drift.........And I have enough stash to keep this up for weeks.Good luck to the sheeple.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Under Hurricane watch

It's showtime and I'm glad I only had to grab a few essentials from the store.The Madness has begun.Gas lines at the pumps,a couple of deuce bags fist fighting for cutting inline,run on the grocery store and the storm isn't even in the gulf good yet.Just have to dig some fuel out of storage,take down my solar setup,and stow away the animals and I'm set.Good thing too because my Employer want's me on sight for the storm,little do they know if it looks like it's gonna be a 3 I'm so fukin outta of there all they will see is a smoke trail. Well gotta make a quick stop at my Grandson's B day party and i think I'll work in the shed after the sun goes down to finish my preps, good luck to all, see ya on the other side of the storm.....

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Are you prepared for life without power?


I came across this article and they have some good suggestions, read it It could make a big difference in your life,,,,,I know I've lived it....

U.S. Woefully Unprepared for a Blackout Like India’s: Analysis
Two major blackouts last week left hundreds of millions of Indians in the dark. PM contributor Glenn Harlan Reynolds says despite its advanced grid, the U.S. needs major improvements in infrastructure and preparedness to be ready for a major power loss.
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Last week, India suffered two huge blackouts. Tuesday’s cut power to 370 million people; another one on Wednesday blacked out 670 million people, making it the worst blackout in the history of humanity.

Talking about this with a colleague, I said, "Don’t worry. That can’t happen here." "Why not?" she asked. "Because we don’t have 670 million people," I replied.

This wasn’t the comfort she was looking for.

The specific causes of India’s blackouts aren’t likely to be a problem in the United States. India’s electrical grid was brought down in part by state governments drawing more power from the grid than they were supposed to; American power grids are better managed. And while India’s grid has been strained by rapid economic growth, America currently faces no such problem.

But don’t get too comfortable. America’s grid has its own problems, and not enough is being done to address them. And, ironically, because American electric supplies have generally been pretty reliable, we’re in some ways worse-equipped to handle a major power outage than India is. That’s also something we should probably be doing something about, both at the national level and as individuals.

Modern civilization is astoundingly dependent on electricity. If the power goes out for very long, pretty much everything stops: water (you need pumps), gasoline (most gas stations don’t have backup generators to pump the gas), traffic (no stoplights), sewage (pumps again), and, eventually, even things like natural gas supplies (more pumps) and cellphone service (cell towers usually have backup power, but for most it’s only short-term). Stop the electricity for a day and it’s inconvenient; stop it for a few days and people die; stop it for a week or more over a big area and civilization itself is in peril.

The more advanced state of the U.S. grid is a mixed blessing. The ability to "wheel" power over long distances means that local problems can be ameliorated by power from elsewhere. But it also means that a failure in one area can, under the wrong circumstances, bring down service over wide areas. Modern smart-grid technologies currently being designed and deployed can make the power net nimbler and able to adapt more quickly to changes in loads. On the other hand, all that computerization makes the system more vulnerable to software bugs, viruses, cyber attacks, or even electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) damage from a solar storm or a nuclear attack.

Even worse: Americans aren’t as prepared for power outages as Indians are. In India—or Nigeria, where I have family—no one is surprised when the power goes out. As a result, everyone has a backup plan. Blackouts are so common that dealing with them isn’t really a backup plan at all—just part of the plan.

Here, that’s not the case. Most critical operations do have backup generators, and so do some not-so-critical ones (The law school where I teach has a gigantic Caterpillar diesel generator, even though an interruption in law teaching probably wouldn’t threaten the well-being of the community.) But coverage is surprisingly spotty. Some cellular carriers equip their cells with backup generators, but others don’t—and the industry successfully fought to kill an FCC requirement for backup power. Most gas stations don’t have backup generators, which means that in an extended power outage, the gas in your car’s tank (or in the cans for your gas-powered generator at home) is all the gas you’re going to have. So when extended blackouts hit, things are worse in the U.S., as people discovered recently when millions in the Washington, D.C., area were without power for days.

That means two things: First, we have to do what we can to harden our infrastructure to make the threat of blackouts less likely. Second, we should be prepared for the worst.

On the infrastructure-hardening front, approaches range from the obvious, like burying power lines likely to be brought down by storms and making sure there’s enough generating capacity to meet peak loads, to the less obvious, like ensuring that there are adequate stocks of important components (like transformers) to do disaster recovery. Keeping those stocks is hard, because the parts are expensive and nowadays often imported from overseas. Earlier this year, for example, power industry and Homeland Security engineers practiced bringing in and installing three "recovery transformers" in a test to see how quickly they could replace the big transformers found at power substations in an emergency.

The experiment was troubling: Although engineers have the technical skills to do the job, the transformers often have a two-year order horizon. The substation transformers are so big that they have to be shipped by rail, and to make things worse, rail no longer serves many areas where existing substations are found. So the U.S. is having to pursue alternative means: The "recovery" transformers split the task of one unit into three smaller ones that are easier to move. They’re also developing transformers that work in multiple applications, to reduce the number of different models that will have to be kept in stock.

Right now, if more than a few transformers were knocked out at once, the affected areas could be left without service for months or even years. These current efforts will reduce the time to recovery, but only if the U.S. begins maintaining sufficient stockpiles. That’s only the beginning: Other issues involve securing power-control and other utility hardware against hackers (current security is often embarrassingly poor) and the physical security of control centers and key components against sabotage or accident. Addressing these issues is important, because a major grid-down incident lasting weeks or months wouldn’t just be an inconvenience. It would be a catastrophe.

Stopping the power from going out should be our first priority, but it’s also smart to prepare for a "soft landing" when blackouts do happen. Here there should be two priorities: first, systems that fail gracefully rather than catastrophically; second, long-term backup power for critical systems.

Fortunately, failing gracefully is usually comparatively cheap. Battery backups for traffic lights may keep them going for only a few hours, but those few hours let people get home and off the roads where immediate failure might produce gridlock. Backups for mass-transit systems let people get off the train at a station instead of being stuck somewhere underground. Even a few hours of battery backup for cellphone service lets people respond to the outage and make plans with their loved ones and co-workers. (For families and businesses, having some sort of plan in advance is even better, of course).

For critical systems, the backup power needs to be robust and long-lasting. I’m talking about hospitals, phone/Internet providers, power plants (which need their own backup power to do the repairs), other utility companies, police, public-health facilities, and more. Many facilities with emergency generators rely on natural gas for power. That’s fine as long as the gas is working, but the gas company needs power to run its distribution systems. Many other generators have diesel or propane tanks, but those are often intended only for short-term use, with supplies adequate for only a few days. For the more important systems, we need to be thinking about longer time horizons and about ways to refuel them if they’re needed for even longer. You want the water and sewage systems to keep working even if the lights are out.

Where do people get food if the grocery stores don’t have power? For outages of a few days, this is a nuisance; for longer ones, it becomes a serious problem. Communities should have plans set up in advance.

So should individuals. At the low end of individual preparation, inexpensive solar/hand-crank radios provide information and usually will power an LED light and charge a cellphone. Stepping up, auto inverters or small generators can provide useful backup power for a few days. If you’re really serious, you can always put in a whole-house backup generator and power it from a buried propane or diesel tank that will last for days or weeks, though that becomes pretty pricey. Likewise, you want to be prepared to get by for a while if it’s hard to get food, water, vital medications, or other supplies.

Defense against blackouts and other dropouts in crucial infrastructure is best done in layers. On some of these, we can learn from India; on others, we will have to think for ourselves. Better that we do so sooner than later.

Read more: U.S. Woefully Unprepared for a Blackout Like India’s: Analysis - Popular Mechanics

Working my ass off







I often don't bother to discuss my work with people I know because they just don't have a clue. When they ask what i do for a living and I tell them I'm a building Engineer the think of shit they see on TV, like a dumb ass they call just to unstop their toilet or sink,or reset a breaker that tripped when their lamp shorted out.The people the live at the condo where I work don't have a clue and think that I'm overpaid.They don't have any idea of the shit I have to make happen just so they can even live in this building.Like the lil ol lady that keeps calling the office for me and my helper to come install a washer for her because she's to cheap to pay somebody 50 bucks to the company she bought it from ,but doesn't realize I'm up on this cooling tower cleaning it so that she and the other 150 family's that live here won't be sweating there ass off.Most people look outside of there window and see a 3 ton unit they can hose out and it's done.It doesn't work that way here folks.
They think if there compressor goes out I'll call the repairman and pay 500 or so and keep watching TV.try that with this compressor



Keeping these 2- 400 ton chillers and cooling towers operating is just one of the major parts of my day,so when you Apartment dwellers or Condo owners call Maintenance to get the mechanic to check the belt on your vacuum cleaner, remember He might not be the dumb ass you see on TV,and have something a little more important to do. Give him a little credit for the years it took him to acquire the knowledge to make your ass comfortable!! And pay him what he's worth you tight bastards.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

More bad weather



I can't get a break with this weather,everyday it's the same crap.The rain comes around midday, floods the streets that the city doesn't maintain,causing me havoc at work,then when I finally get out of work I fight a Traffic jam from hell because the people around here don't have a clue how to drive.When I finally get home I can't do much because everything's flooded or it's still raining.I know I shouldn't bitch because so many are suffering from the drought but I've about had enough of this shit!!
Ah well enough of this rant I picked up 30 lbs of chicken on sale so I need to break it down ,vacuum seal it up and get it stored away for my food stash.It could be worse.I could be broke and have nothing but the good lord is taking care of us,Thank you Jesus Till next time prep on cause I know the shit will hit the fan soon..................

Monday, August 6, 2012

Dangerous Light bulbs



I came across some interesting and disturbing news about light bulbs today.Paul Weaton from the Permes.com sight had a interesting video about CFL bulbs and then I read a disturbing post about Teflon coated rough service bulbs.I guess you have to watch everything you do now a days....Read this...

Something I never would have thought of: Teflon coated light bulbs are toxic to chickens. In the letters section of this month's issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine is the story of a woman who lost a flock of nineteen chickens after they succumbed to fumes put off by a GE Rough Service Worklight that was in the coop. When the bulbs heat up they release fumes that are deadly to chickens and other birds. According to the McMurray Hatchery website, birds are particularly vulnerable to airborne toxins. I can't help but wonder about the effect of these fumes on humans too. Several years ago, Dupont was unsuccessfully sued over the toxicity of Teflon in cookware.

Sylvania, apparently, has a warning label on their Teflon coated bulbs, "WARNING: This product contains PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene--"Teflon" is a brand name). When heated, it creates fumes potentially fatal to confined birds." GE does not have a warning label.

I let the ladies take the winter off of laying and it never dips below 40ºF here so we do not have a light bulb in our coop. But for those of you who do, make sure you don't use one of these shatter resistant, Teflon coated bulbs.