Weekly Prep Thread, March 12-18, 2006

[A.T.Hagan]

New week folks. New possibilities!

Spent yesterday finishing the renovations on the big roost house so I could move the chicks in which I did. Today I intend to get some overdue fertilizing and pruning done. Everything is leafing out or flowering. Spring is busting out all over!

Got kinda hot yesterday - mid eighties. That would be a cool day in July and August but in mid-March when my body still thinks it's winter it was hot! Danged if I didn't get a bit of sunburn too. Time to get out the straw hat again...

.....Alan.

 

[gillmanNSF]

I'll be donating an old dresser I have in the garage that doesn't really store anything well and installing a 4-door cabinet, slap some locks on it and use it to store tools. It's 31.5"Wx20"Dx96"H. Very sturdy and is kept off the ground. The unit weighs 165 lbs. empty. When full it will be very difficult for it to be messed with by anyone.

here's a photo of the ClosetMaid Garage product line. It the cabinet on the far right. I might do a whole wall in just that cabinet. It's got nice deep shelves, perfect for preps!

 

[fairbanksb]

Got my old car toned up a bit. Oil change and a fuel system cleaning. It runs like a pup again. Ordered a Berkey Light water filter. Should get it this week. Bought a Coleman solar shower at Wallyworld. May never need it but it was only about $8.

 

[blueberry]

Found a good sale on TP, and with the sale and coupons, I added quite a bit of TP to my stash. With the warm weather, the spinach and turnip greens are growing strong. I have so many greens I need to start canning or freezing the extras.

 

[Lurking LRRP]

I reorganized the wine cellar, funny thing is it looks more like a grocery store than wine cellar, I have about 15 btls in there. I added some nice shelving units and BAM, its my private kroger. I did a full inventory, found some short comings and will fix that after the 15th. I really like krogers 10 for $10 promo's. I bought 12 cans mandarin oranges, and 12 cans of corned beef hash. yummy. And yes you can get the other 2 for $1 each as well. I don't know about y'all, but having 3+ months of food on board makes me sleep a little bit better these days. I have to be honest, if any of you have seen "Blast from the Past", if I had enough money, I would be the Christofer Walken character. No doubt about it.

Lurking LRRP

 

[WalknTrot]

After the big rice recipe thread last week, I decided to check and restock some of the essentials for using rice in meals. Picked up more chicken and beef soup base, Tabasco, ketchup, Worcestershire, cream of mushroom & chicken soups, dried onion and garlic. Also made sure all spices were in good shape..

Dragged out a couple of the deck containers to (hopefully) thaw in the sun so can sow a few bunches of lettuce, spinach and onions before the rest of the ground is ready.

 

[Dinghy]

I got some more chicken stuffing mix and cream of chicken soup. I love that mixed together with a jar of my canned chicken thrown in. I bought some more ketchup and another jar of horseradish. I've started using that in a lot of my food.
I bought my first batch of baby food to stash for the coming grandkid. I already had some diapers that I got on clearance, but I feel a need to put aside some food too. Rice cereal is cheap and should keep awhile. The jars of food are on sale and we earn "baby bucks" for buying baby items. If you buy $100 worth of baby stuff you earn a $10 certificate. Split chicken breasts are on sale for .99 a pound, so I'll get some more of those later in the week. I'm a little afraid of them though. They're huge, and that to me sort of screams hormones!! My daughter is dragging me to Walmart today, so I'll have to see what I can find over there!

 

[Jim in MO]

After the storms blew through last night I had to drag the driveway and get all the gravel back up from the bottom of the hill. We also had a few trees go down so I'll be cutting them up for future firewood.

Got our chicks ordered. we went with 50 this year so we can have a few for the freezer as well. Almost finished with the indoor chicken run we are keeping them in there now but I stll have work to do to make sure that wild birds can't get in.

Last trip to Texas this week so I'll have more time around the farm so I'm looking at a couple of hiefers to grow the heard some.

 

[Doc1]

More fuel preps

This week I finished (another) a propane tank conversion for diesel and waste oil storage. This is a 200 gallon pig which now has 4x6 wooden skids mounted to the bottom, has been de-rusted inside and has been plumbed. The plumbing involved welding a 2" pipe thread nipple to the top to use as a filler neck, drilling a hole for and welding in a 1/2" pipe siphon tube which runs to the bottom (slash cut at its lower end) and is topped, outside, by appropriate fittings and a ball valve. I also installed 1/4" pipe fittings and valving at the other end to allow easy pressurization of the tank to facilitate fuel transfer. The de-rusting was accomplished in two phases. I used my battery charger and a water-baking soda solution to electrolytically remove the rust, then drained this and applied a phosphoric acid-based rust treatment to the interior.
This weekend I'm building a waste fuel filter unit. It's almost finished and I just came in to take a break from it :-) This unit consists of a heavy steel base with a central column. Attached to the column are two standard automotive filter units which take very common Ford FL1/Fram PH8 type cannister oil filters in a cascade arrangement. These feed a stainless steel cannister 3" in diameter and approximately 18" long. This cannister is filled with tightly compressed paper towels as the filter media. The bottom has a 3" stainless steel food strainer screen from which I removed the handle. I have incorporated a low pressure gauge into the plumbing, which should give me an idea of how clogged the filter media is becoming over time.
The basic concept here is to be able to pressurize the bulk tanks, feed that fuel through the filter unit and wind up with useable, clean fuel at the end.
Our listeroid engine can use this filtered oil as is and our old diesel vehicles can use it when cut with straight diesel fuel to a modest degree.

Best regards
Doc

 

[Shooting Star]

I ordered (6) 2.25 pound cans of powdered dried whole eggs - about 170 eggs per can - that should be enough to do us for a while

 

[ainitfunny]

Like Shooting Star I ordered 3 cases each of those dried eggs for my grown kids families that live too far from me.
I am freezing scrambled eggs in 4 eggs to a quart freezer bag for us. Last night I put up another 22 pints of chicken breast in pint jars.


Prep TIP:
Stuff one or two HOT GLUE STICKS into your bugout bag
You can melt them with a lighter or candle and fix stuff or use them to make a temporary filling for a tooth that lost a filling or glue your shoe or other thing that came loose.

 

[Amanda Blue]

wow, everyone is so well prepared. I feel like I'm slacking. All I did was pick up a few bottles of water, and some more food. I guess I need to start working. Of course living in an apartment keeps me from doing a lot.
I'm also going to have my last credit card payed off in 2 months. YAY! I guess that counts as prepping. We are working towards fixing our credit to buy a house in a year. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I told him I want a place that I can have some chickens and maybe a cow. We'll see what happens then.

 

[TerriHaute]

Meijer had pretty good prices on canned goods and so stocked up on those again today, especially canned fruits as I don't have as much variety in my stash of those as I'd like. Also bought extra sugar and flour.

I put together the brooder for the chicks we're expecting this week and got some chick feed and a waterer.

Did some work in the greenhouse, repotting pepper plants and starting this year's tomatoes. Those will be ready for the garden around the first week of May.

DH and I continued our quest for a small hobby farm/homestead, and so we drove past several properties, but no luck yet. Most were too far away from work or else in horrible condition, so we continue to look.

Terri in Indiana

 

[wasabell]

I got a garden in today.

Yesterday DH tilled about a 12' x 14' area. I cross tilled it, and raked out as much witchgrass and bermuda as is practical.

Today I planted a 6' x 14' block of "peaches and cream" sweet corn, 6 bell peppers, 6 jalapenos, 6 Celebrity tomatos, 6 "black cherry" tomatos, 1 hill of yellow crookneck squash, 1 hill pickling cucumbers, 2 hill of "straight 8" cucumbers, and about 8' x 4 rows deep of Kentucky Wonder pole beans.

My 12 garlic plants are doing well. I need to check on the ginger I planted out in the woods soon.

Jan

 

[Nuthatch]

For those of you bugging out or who hunt/camp alot...Cabela's has a bunch of sales this week, including fishing stuff. The one thing that caught my eye is a 6 person tent, which comes with a tailgat vestibule attachment to a truck to create an extra room and a way, out of the weather to get to the truck bed. Interesting.

Anyone ever use this solar light from LL Bean? Its called the Lightcap Water Bottle

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/st...langId=-1&categoryId=45824&sc1=Search&feat=sr

 

[Mushroom]

Well, I started canning chickens again. Got a dozen split breasts boiled and canned yesterday and planted some lettuce today. I need to transplant my leeks but don't know just where to put them this year. I even planted a few rows of lettuce in the greenhouse just in case of disaster. I might just go ahead and plant those leeks in the boat and call it done. I need to separate the multiplying onions and replant them so I will get more. I pulled a couple of small ones just to taste them. they were pretty good. I printed out the instructions for the earthbox wannabees and DH thinks he can do them pretty easily. I like them for my front porch as it gets pretty dry out there in summer. I forget what day I watered and either over or under water. So much for organization. Anyway, Whatever I can do to overcome my shortcomings is money in the bank. In this case, food in the kitchen.

I will be canning more chicken as soon as I get my laundry done. It will probably be tomorrow. Little by little gets the job done.

Mushroom

 

[LeafyForest]

Was just at Walmart and they had Chicken and Beef gravy at 10 cents a can, so picked up quite a few - the date being good for a year or more. Not my favorite, but it TSHTF it is good over rice, over canned veggies, etc. and so may come in real handy. Also had canned yams for 30 cents a can, so picked up several of them also, so was pleased with my prep purchases this week.

 

[gillmanNSF]

You mean this truck tent? I was thinking about it. It would look great on my Blue F150, but I'm leaning towards the Big Horn II with the tent stove (notice the stove pipe sticking out of the tent....nice) for my next camping trip to the Sierras at 7800' elevation. That tent stove is going to provide some nice heat at night.

 

[cryhavoc]

We are rotating our stored fuel reserves(55gal. drums), so all the rigs got topped off. Monday I'll call the local distributor and lock the price, have it delivered by Thurs/Fri.
Found a good buy on 22lr - bought some - can't have enough of that stuff.

cryhavoc

 

[theoutlands]

Got some trees cleared and fruit trees planted. Burned some brush. Got something to use all that .22lr I've been buying. Been getting ready to go to WAR this coming week! Our medieval group has a war starting today in Lumberton, MS. We're heading down Wed morning and coming back Sunday. Means we had to get some new camping gear, like a 9-person multi-room tent! gack Ah, well, we'll use it for scout camping and family trips too, so it'll work out ok. Picked up a couple of oil lamps and a copper fire-bowl, also. I'm sure there's some other stuff that I'm forgetting...

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Spent the day fertilizing. Everything in a pot or cell pack this morning, the citrus, persimmons, and plums in the orchard this evening. Much of the evening was spent pulling weeds before putting down the fertilizer. Extension service officially announced La Nina is here which for us means drought so getting stuff mulched in well has climbed the priority ladder a few notches.

.....Alan.

 

[Annkor26]

Got a couple of battery organizer packs at Sam's that have 5 different sizes of batteries and a couple of lanterns. I'm hoping for some good spring storms to come along and bring us some much needed water!

 

[JohnGaltfla]

For those of you bugging out or who hunt/camp alot...Cabela's has a bunch of sales this week, including fishing stuff. The one thing that caught my eye is a 6 person tent, which comes with a tailgat vestibule attachment to a truck to create an extra room and a way, out of the weather to get to the truck bed. Interesting.

Anyone ever use this solar light from LL Bean? Its called the Lightcap Water Bottle

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/st...langId=-1&categoryId=45824&sc1=Search&feat=sr

Nothing personal, but I'll pass. If I'm in the position where I need that, then a light identifying my position will be the last thing I want.

 

[JohnGaltfla]

Was just at Walmart and they had Chicken and Beef gravy at 10 cents a can, so picked up quite a few - the date being good for a year or more. Not my favorite, but it TSHTF it is good over rice, over canned veggies, etc. and so may come in real handy. Also had canned yams for 30 cents a can, so picked up several of them also, so was pleased with my prep purchases this week.

Good call. WalMart also has the Valley Fresh canned chicken, good until 2008/2009 for 98 cents a can.

I'm loading up because the upcoming poultry shortage is obvious. I'm buying 5 cans a week for the next 4 months.

 

[dreamseeer]

WOW....is all I can say. You guys are really prepping well. Some of you must be rich to prep some of the things you have gotten.

My prepping is puny by comparison.

I am very happy for those of you who are able to get some serious gear or shelves or equipment. That is fantastic.

As for me.......well, I am in holding pattern right now....unsure where I am going to be moving.

I do know one thing.....I am moving from where I am right now and that for me will be a prep of a sort.

I hope nobody has to live in a neighborhood like I live in......one of constant blairing sirens/ambulances/fire trucks/police/gang graffetti/caps popping and walkers on the street as well as people "waiting" on the corner to be picked up for under the table work...smog/pollution from traffic/idiot neighbors (some of them) who can't control their emotions.....living on a busy thorough-fare with a great view of a junk yard and 2 broken down old car autobody shops right out the kitchen window.....drunk neighbors banging basketballs against the walls at 3 a.m.

It isn't like living in the serene suburbs around here......getting more like the ghetto/projects everyday. It has changed a lot since I have been here 6 years. (gawd, I can't believe I have been here that long - what a travesty)........

..........so, moving will be a prep for me.....my sanity and peace and quiet.

I am not going to get my garden plot going here anymore because now the make-up of neighbors has changed so drastically that I might get cat litter or dog poop or garbage dumped on my veggies just for spite by one of the neighbors with the "attitude". Gawd only knows what gives them the attitude......anything or nothing.....looking at them even.

Of course nobody has any guarantees of anything. .....but it is my hope that where ever I do land......the neighborhood/conditions will be better than what has become of this corner of the world. It is getting down right scarey living here.

 

[BREWER]

BREWER

One track mind here. BREWING SUPPLIES! I've ordered DME[dry malt extract] and LME[liquid malt extract] in quantity. The DME I use for yeast starters primarily, the LME for raising the OG[original gravity] of the wort [the grain tea that the yeast eat and turn into alcohol], but if I don't have time for an all-grain ale I have a fast method that still turns out a very good extract and specialty grain ale...a mini-mash. Detergents also ordered in quantity, too. PBW and One Step. All are heavily hydrocarbon based and will not be getting any less expensive as the year rolls on. The brew supply store sent out an e-mail saying the glass fermenters[carboys] from Mexico are going up ~6-9% by the end of the month not counting in that little FUEL SURCHARGE that UPS/FED Ex have been tacking on for some time now...so add another 1% at least. A friend was sick last week, and I offered to do a COSTCO run for her. When I got to her house she literally was in competition with Old Mother Hubbard...NOTHING in the fridge and an empty pantry to boot. Well, not anymore, at least. No doubt we all know someone like this. I feel better having done something for someone else this week: however, I really worry about my friend. She let's her food supplies run down to zero quite frequently in the past. Her mother has had a series of health problems as of late i.e. heart attack last year and a stroke this last month[TIA]. Fortunately, her mother is doing quite well despite the problems, but the emotional toll probably led to my friend running her sys down as there's a lot of upper respiratory infections and Flu going around here just waiting for someone to jump on. Anyway, back to PREP. I went to Sam's today and picked up 10 of those milk carton containers of potato buds, a case of coffee[6 #10 cans], and two 72 packs of TP. Next week taking care of the hopps which are just starting to poke their heads out of the ground. New rhizomes should be in next week ready to be planted. Finally broke down and ordered the motorized unit for the Country Grain Mill I purchased pre Y2K. I'm really apprehensive about the Iranian Oil Bourse opening in ~7 days [Monday March 20, 2006] and what either they, USG or Israel will do. Guess we'll know shortly, eh?

 

[Nuthatch]

Gill-- actually it's different than that--but that is cool!

It is a six person tent that connects to a vestibule/second room that connects to your truck bed that has a cap. There are photos in the ads if you can find one. I think the tent is about $370 and they throw in the truck piece 'for free'.

No, I don't own one, but they always catch my eye. I don't even own the truck to put it with! My camping is a lot simpler.

I like the idea of the solar light if a] it can be turned on/off --looks like there is a switch on top and b] if there is any significant light. Sure is portable anyhow. I just have a flashlight addiction.

 

[51plymouth]

I bought 3 kerosene lamp globes at the hospice at 25 cents ea. A little more rice and beans. A new fan belt on DD's car.

 

[Dozdoats]

We went home to visit my mom over spring break in AL. While there I helped out my great aunt by cleaning up her blueberry patch with my mom's high wheeled 6HP weedeater, and in return was given all the blueberry sprouts I could haul away. The plants made the trip from AL to NC with no visible problems, I wrapped the rootballs in mulch then in newspapers and plopped into a plastic bag, then wet them down thoroughly. I got eight hills set out with multiple plants in each. Two rows of four plantings, eight feet apart in both directions, 3' wide holes dug 1' deep and then backfilled with clean topsoil and peat moss tilled together with the little tiller attachment that fits the handheld 2-cycle weedeater power head. I put 3- 4 shoots in each hole and watered them in well, and will keep them watered as needed, there are easily thirty or thirty-five plants in the ground now. Looked at the nursery catalogs, at $9 each for single blueberry plants commercially I think I did pretty well overall.

Unexpected bonus was that my mom gave me the 6HP string trimmer, she wanted a new one and sent the old one back to NC with me. I used it to clear off the area where the blueberries went in, it works really well on heavy weeds and thick grass.

dd

 

[Bird Guano]

I actually ordered a medium sized pressure canner online.

Should be here within a week.

Time to get into canning. I can see what's on the horizon.

I ordered the one that doesn't use a gasket and has two pressure
indicators.

I'll be picking up some cases of mason jars at Smart N Final today, along
with a bunch of extra lids and rings.

What's a good beginner book for pressure canning meats ?

I'm mostly interested in canning protein sources for storage.

I have freeze dry food for most of the rest of my food storage.

 

[CopperTopMom]

I actually ordered a medium sized pressure canner online.

Should be here within a week.

Time to get into canning. I can see what's on the horizon.

I ordered the one that doesn't use a gasket and has two pressure
indicators.

I'll be picking up some cases of mason jars at Smart N Final today, along
with a bunch of extra lids and rings.

What's a good beginner book for pressure canning meats ?

I'm mostly interested in canning protein sources for storage.

I have freeze dry food for most of the rest of my food storage.

My favorite is "Putting Food By" by Janet Greene, Ruth Herzberg, Beatrice Vaughan

It covers canning first with good explainations of the why's and wherefore's then it goes into some pretty good recipes and then on to other methods of putting food by. It explains them pretty well also but spends the most time on canning.

 

[Texas Writer]

I'll be donating an old dresser I have in the garage that doesn't really store anything well and installing a 4-door cabinet, slap some locks on it and use it to store tools. It's 31.5"Wx20"Dx96"H. Very sturdy and is kept off the ground. The unit weighs 165 lbs. empty. When full it will be very difficult for it to be messed with by anyone.

here's a photo of the ClosetMaid Garage product line. It the cabinet on the far right. I might do a whole wall in just that cabinet. It's got nice deep shelves, perfect for preps!

Your garage is entirely too neat, clean and organized.

 

[Deep Blue Dragon]

With the bird flu news ramping up again I ordered more N95 masks and some Virkon disinfectant. Also a case of #10 cans of powdered eggs. At Sam's Club I stocked up on canned chicken and on cat food. I also got huge amounts of cat litter. My 3 kitties enjoy some outside time but they may need to be confined indoors.

I had ordered some large-sized Space Bags and finally experimented with vacuum packing the large sacks of kitty food. Seems to have worked great so far!

Also, I took my rain check back to Albertson's for the canned salmon ($1/can, large size!) they sold out of last week and added 10 more cans to the stash.

While at Sam's Club I noticed that they now have a sort of store brand for OTC meds, much cheaper than name brand. I stocked up on the basics (aspirin, anti-diarrheal, vitimin C, etc.).

 

[gillmanNSF]

Your garage is entirely too neat, clean and organized.

It's not easy, and, it's not even my garage, but one I share (rent) with five other people in my small apt. building, who seem to junk it up with stuff they don't want anymore. I'm the only one that asked to put up some shelving and cabinets, so I've taken over most of the available space. I also am the only one who sweeps it out and sprays down the concrete floor and sidewalk when possible. I also take care of the laundry room and put up a shelving unit in there for people's laundry supplies. I suppose since I live right above it, I'm also in charge of security. We had an intruder last week in the early morning hours and I called the police. Lost some tools and people's cars were ransacked. I also do all the landscaping and gardening on the property, my hobby, the gardening supplies I get reimbursed. It's a sweet deal. I'm also a part-time inspector, as I've found and reported a flood with hot water in the apt. next door and, later, a leak in the same apt.'s bath surround leaking into the garage. I also found the detached deck in the garden had rotted and just this morning I noticed some reinforcing studs had just fallen off the support beams under the stairs going up to the second floor (it's exposed to the elements) and the top of the stairs had pulled away by about 1 inch from the support beam, which itself is newly split and rotting!

So with chaos all around me, organization is all I got! I supposed it's my "security blanket." Renters can be such pigs, as they expect someone else to take care of their surroundings for them, the cigarette butts flicked all over the property is proof of this. One guy didn't know what to do with leftover paint thinner so he poured it down the trash shoot. The garage also gets wet from all the leaks from the foundation retaining wall that is built into the hill. It's got mice, insects and spiders I have to deal with!

Anyway back to organization. I found a better deal at Lowe's for the Coleman brand Tuff Duty cabinets, a 31"W x 19"D x 75"H goes for $118. HD wanted $264 for the ClosetMaid, same size cabinet! The Coleman is also made from laminated MDF, has more shelves, and built-in keyed lock and leveling feet. It also weighs a ton so I got two.

I'll assemble them tomorrow. I had to clean out the area where they are going, so now I'm tired.

I'm really looking forward for more secured storage space for my tools and prep items. Here's what the Colman cabinets look like (not from my garage, so don't be impressed. )

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Another day of fertilizing, pruning, watering. Started at one end of the property and worked my way to the other end. Had a afternoon break once it hit 85 and finished this evening. Everything that needed fertilizer - but the grass - has gotten it so next weekend I can work on the Spring garden and the hen yard.

.....Alan.

 

[gillmanNSF]

What nobody prepping this weekend?

I did finally put together one of those tall cabinets together. It took about 4 hours. The other one had an important piece missing, so I will need to return it. I wasn't all that impressed with it, though. The big ole gap between the doors makes it easy to see what is being stored and the locking mechanism appears flimsy. The backing is pure cardboard, really. It's going to take some more work to secure it better.

In any case, I just ended the week by ordering a bunch of solar appliances from http://store.sundancesolar.com/glsunovwobes.html, including a solar lantern, a Freeplay solar/wind-up radio, and a solar oven along with some small gadgets. These will all be tested and used on a 10 day camping excursion I'm planning for September, high in the Sierras (if not before then. ) Shipping is only $14 UPS ground.

Earlier in the week, I also ordered a Katadyn pocket water microfilter with a flow rate of 1 L/min and a max. volume capacity of 13,000 gallons.

All I need is some water storage drums and some alternate sanitation buckets w/seat and lid to finally be at a minimum of preparedness. I also plan on getting a digital trunking scanner and a janitorial mop bucket with wringer for clothes washing next week. The yellow mop bucket/wringer goes for only $30 at Home Depot. It will make washing and wringing clothes much easier if I'm without power for very long.

That's about it for now. Anyone else????

 

[Maranatha]

" I also plan on getting a digital trunking scanner ".

What is that???


MARANATHA

 

[Mushroom]

I bought 4 whole chickens at .49/lb last night and plan on roasting them and drying the meat. I might can the larger pieces, but haven't decided. The bones go into a pot for stock that will be canned.

DH got 6 boxes of True Lemon while we were at the grocery store. It should keep for quite a while. It gives me an opportunity for flavor depth when needed.

Other than that, I need to transplant leeks as soon as the rain lets up. I dug up the clumps left from last year and heeled them into the boat for safe keeping till I could get a place to plant them. Looks like I will have to plant them in the boat and forget about getting a garden in this year. I have about 50 bags of leaves and 3 skiploader buckets of aged sawdust to put onto the garden, but nobody to help put it on. It is getting a bit too late to do it now. I will have to put them on and let them rot over the summer and put in a fall garden. I don't like getting old. I have to wait till others are ready to help me and by then, it's too late. Oh, well. All things even out.

Mushroom

 

[SheWoff]

I'm spending my week-end rotating stock and making a list of what I am running short on for this weeks grocery store trip. I found some bugs in my very well sealed rice so now I need to replace that. Also have started at least 100 tomato plants and 50 pepper plants for the garden this year.

Our local grocery has canned goods on sale 3/1.00 and mac&cheese 5/1.00 so I will be getting a case of each this week.

She

 

[Taz]

well, sitting in Houston in an RV park doesn't give us too many options to prep. However, I did order enuff Rx meds for a year for both of us and I also ordered enuff of 3 different antibiotics for a small village. LOL I also bought another 7.5 lb jug of Knorrs chicken bullion as I use that all the time in gravies, soups, beans, etc. I love Coke and this morning I discovered that Coke now has Coke Classic with SPLENDA. So I am going to load up a few cases of that. haven't had one in 5 months. But at one a day it won't last long. I also sat down with my heritage seed catalog www.rareseeds.com and ordered seeds, even though I know we won't get home to grow a garden this year. We keep the truck tank filled, 90 gallons, and went and got a chunk of cash out of the bank. My biggest fear, other than fact that Chubby Hubby has cancer, is that we would get trapped in Houston. Especially in the section of town where we are parked.

Taz