We are enjoying some cool weather for August, something we never experienced before moving to the mountains. I used to associate August with high temps, hot sidewalks, and hopefully a dip in a friend’s pool. Now I know it for late evening rainstorms and cooler night-time temperatures, which this week have dropped below 50°F. I even resorted to throwing on a sweatshirt to give the dog her midnight walk.
The cool weather is heading out; higher temps are expected this weekend, but we’re enjoying it while it lasts.
Of course, it’s not all fun and games. We’re taking advantage of the cooler weather to do homestead chores, from weed whacking to splitting and stacking firewood. My wife has been doing a great deal of gardening. Inside, she’s been putting up vegetables, mostly freezing one-pound packages of green beans and loaves of zucchini bread.
Sunshine = Solar Power
One unexpected benefit of cooler weather in August is we did not run the air conditioner for several days in a row as the indoor temperature has dropped to 70. That means we’ve produced more power than we used and there have been several days in which we have not had to rely on grid power.
Yesterday, for example, we produced 39 kWh of electricity and used only 18. After charging our batteries to capacity, we sold 16 kWh back to the utility company.
The day before, we generated 49 kWh and used 24 kWh. The higher consumption number reflects the electricity used when my wife did the laundry. This is why we will use a clothesline in a long-term grid down scenario.
For the first time, I am looking forward to getting my electric bill. I can’t wait to see how little electricity we used and how much, if anything, we earned by selling our extra electricity back to the utility. I expect this will be our lowest bill of 2024.
Speaking of solar, the installation company reimbursed us for the new oven, so we have been made whole. I am now more than satisfied with the entire process.
Prepper Pantry
More often than not, I take a generic version of Zyrtec every day. We buy these in bottles of 365 pills for $14.49 on Costco.com. My current bottle was running low, so I searched our medical supplies for a replacement and didn’t find one. What? How could we not have an extra bottle of this critical runny-nose preventing medication? I went to Costco’s website and ordered two bottles.
We don’t live near a Costco, so when my wife heard I was placing an online order, she added a few favorite Kirkland brand items to it. I know that Sam’s Club is less expensive, so I price checked on the Sam’s Club website. The net result was, we ordered different items from both. Both orders were delivered three days later.
Never one to miss a n opportunity to prep, I added a two-year supply of allergy meds, 12 more cans of corned beef hash, two more three-pound jars of peanut butter, and five more of my favorite socks to our prepper stash.
Socks and boots are critical prepper items, in my opinion. I’m no Imelda Marcos, but I like to have extras of both on hand. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, I will run out of allergy meds well before I run out of footwear.
Wars
Every time I read the newspaper, which in my case is the Wall Street Journal, I get updated on Ukraine’s incursion into Russia and their latest drone attacks. When I watch YouTube, I see footage of the latest Russian oil refinery burning and explosions from when a drone supposedly hits a storage depot for Russian munitions.
You know what I am not seeing? What is happening in the Middle East. Outside of a few wishful thinking pieces on the U.S. efforts to promote a cease fire in Gaza, this war is getting very little coverage, even though Israel is getting hit with more than 100 rocket attacks almost every night.
So why is the media hiding the details of this war from us? Is it because it makes the current administration look bad?
As I have said before, the Russian invasion of Ukraine may be seen through the eyes of historians as the start of WWIII. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same historians see the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel is seen as the start of the forthcoming war between Iran and Israel.
I won’t be surprised if these two countries come to blows and we see a war that involves multiple countries and militias in the Middle East versus Israel backed by the U.S. with some occasional help from the UK and France. Maybe Iran will back down and it will just be a war with Hezbollah, but don’t count on it.
I think the U.S. will get involved because it is the only way of preventing Israel from using nukes if Iran launches a major assault.
Get Ready for November
In addition to war and pestilence (mpox), we face the terrible threat of politicians vying for election. I’ve heard it said that there will be civil unrest regardless of who wins in November, a sad but likely accurate prediction. Are you prepared for that?
Regardless of whose “side” you are on, in war or politics, this is a good time to be prepared.
