What have you done to prep today?

[NOLA556]

What have I done to prep today? 

Well, I survived getting electrocuted....while pressure washing!  [img]http://www.arrse.co.uk/at 

I still don't know exactly how it happened.  No, I wasn't spraying the power meter, but I was standing near it.  Either somehow water made it into the basement and dripped behind the fuse box OR it had something to do with the wire that goes to the water meter, which I was spraying near at the time.....Does anyone know if that wire carries significant voltage?

Luckily it popped me in mid-swing of the wand....A sudden bite followed by hair raising tingling as I swung away to open the circuit.  It entered at my left middle finger (hurt like a m-f'er)and exited at my right foot (flip-flops in a puddle.) 

So I guess I can say I survived to prep another day.

lol. all the electricity in your house is 120V. large appliances like your dryer run on 240V. you got caught up in 120.

it'll startle you the first few times you get hit but after a while 120V is just a tickle. now... 277/480 is a motherfucker, but you'll only find that in commercial buildings and maybe a rich guy's mansion. never have felt 480 but I can tell you that 277V will physically put you on your ass, dazed and confused, tasting copper in your mouth, 3rd degree burns. two times i got caught up in 277V and both times felt identical. it literally feels like 10,000 midgets on fast-forward are beating you with crowbars. i get shivers just thinking about it. it sucks bro.

[special-k]

Yeah, I'm used to working with electronics (radio engineering, house wiring, etc.)  I've been known to check a leg by brushing the back of my hand across it (learned from my dad,)....but I have to say this had a little more burn than the usual 110.....maybe because I was standing in water.....It could have been 220 if the circuit was closed by water dripping in to fuse box,  220 is present there.

It made my arm hair stand up, I don't recall 110 ever doing that.

[NOLA556]

Yeah, I'm used to working with electronics (radio engineering, house wiring, etc.)  I've been know to check a leg by brushing the back of my hand across it (learned from my dad,)....but I have to say this had a little more burn than the usual 110.....maybe because I was standing in water.....It could have been 220 if the circuit was closed by water dripping in to fuse box,  220 is present there.

LOL! bro don't touch live wires on purpose! i mean... ive done it before... but it's not good practice. that's how the old timers used to do it before volt meters were more common.

[special-k]

LOL! bro don't touch live wires on purpose! i mean... ive done it before... but it's not good practice. that's how the old timers used to do it before volt meters were more common.

It runs in the family.    I knew a guy that would stick his tongue to 110 for $20, and then do it again for another $20......Some people are just built like that.

[thatGuy]

You probably got a taste of that 220v, I took some across the hand once and it was much more intense than 110v.

I could have also been that you were in a worse case scenario being wet and practically bearfooted.

[special-k]

You probably got a taste of that 220v, I took some across the hand once and it was much more intense than 110v.

I could have also been that you were in a worse case scenario being wet and practically bearfooted.

The wet clothes were a double edged sword, it probably got me popped in the first place BUT it allowed some of the juice to conduct on the outside of my body instead of through it....I felt it on the surface of my skin as well as go through me.

[Xydaco]

Set up Burkey water filter. Can drink water from any source now. Sweet mother. slept and worked in the ER gaining more assessment skills.

[Alex1992]

Bought a 20 inch machete made by BONO at a Cal Ranch for $17.00 not bad for a nice looking machete but the sheath is a little short though, but it gives me an excuse to a buy a sheath though 

[Reaver]

Just dropped some Miracle grow on my banana trees/ elephant ears.

Planted a desert rose. ( Not really a prep but the yard looks nice ) 

Planted two Aloe Vera Plants as well.

[NOLA556]

Just dropped some Miracle grow on my banana trees/ elephant ears.

Planted a desert rose. ( Not really a prep but the yard looks nice ) 

Planted two Aloe Vera Plants as well.

pay attention to those aloe plants when they get mature, they'll start sprouting babies and you can separate them. we have a huge aloe plant that's been around for a couple years and just a few weeks ago I separated 4 new plants. 3 survived the transplant, one died.

[thatGuy]

I too have been working in the garden. Almost got the seals in the old tractor replaced.

[Reaver]

Roger Nola thanks.


You think I should separate the two. I put them within a few feet of each other. Am I going to come to regret that decision?

[NOLA556]

Roger Nola thanks.


You think I should separate the two. I put them within a few feet of each other. Am I going to come to regret that decision?

no you'll be fine. it takes at least a year or so before they start off-shooting like that. you'll see it when they start doing it. just make sure they're planted in a spot that gets sun, but not too much direct sun all day. they're kind of odd plants. they're desert plants, so you'd think they'd love direct sunlight all day, but too much sunlight will make them weak and soft and brown. find a spot that's sunny for most of the day but also get's a little shade at times. either way, they're pretty easy to care for. they survive transplants like a champ, so if you need to dig them up and move them, they might get "sad" (as my wife likes to say) for a while, but they'll bounce back. our one mature aloe plant has survived THREE different apartments, and our current house. each time it was dug-up and re-planted. these things are troopers.

here's some more info on harvesting. this video drags on and on and on and on and on and on..... lol... but the guy seems to know what he's doing. I actually learned a few very valuable things from this video a while back.

Survival Medicine: Aloe Vera

[Reaver]

Hey thanks bro.

I got it under a queen palm, but out of the morning sun. It should get about 6-8 hours a day in that spot.

[NOLA556]

craigslist pulls through yet again...

got a free truckbed full of rich black soil and there's plenty more where it came from. I see more raised beds than I anticipated in my future. 

I also planted a whole hell of alot more purple-hulls than I originally showed you guys. 84 total. the original ones are still kicking ass, and the new ones just started popping up this morning. also, the lady surprised me a couple days ago with a baby fig tree, and two small blueberry bushes. of course it'll be a long time before those things start producing, but they're good permanent fixtures. things I don't need to replace every season.

still waiting on my pecans to germinate (I have no idea if I planted them correctly or not, lol)
still waiting on the okra as well.

[crudos]

Over the last week, I've added a new (to me) addition to the collection, a Yugoslavian m57 pistol and a bag full of ammo (7.62x25). Great piece, solid, and the workmanship is first class. I call it my pocket AK. Also added some nice Yugoslavian 7.62x54r rifle ammo to the stockpile.

[NOLA556]

BAAHAAHAHAA! i'm an idiot... ok so, update.

pecans won't germinate because i'm an idiot and didn't read up on how to do it. i just threw them in some dirt. apparently there's a whole process behind mimicking the natural winter conditions that the nuts endure before they finally germinate in the spring... well, good thing I've got plenty pecans... back to the drawing board.

[Currahee]

Wish I could get in to gardening, but there isn't much "prepping" to it for me.   If it got to the point where I needed to have a garden I need to have my food stores paced and be gone.

This summer I intend to help with the gardening at my BO location, but I know next to nothing about it.

[NOLA556]

Wish I could get in to gardening, but there isn't much "prepping" to it for me.   If it got to the point where I needed to have a garden I need to have my food stores paced and be gone.

This summer I intend to help with the gardening at my BO location, but I know next to nothing about it.

well put it this way. my plan is to bug OUT. therefore all my backyard gardening is bullshit. my reason for it is A:, if I get stuck here, at least I'll have SOMETHING. and B:, it's just for the experience. I didn't know much of anything about it before, but now I'm learning. so at the very least, I have the knowledge and experience to do it later if it becomes necessary.

bottom line, i know that my backyard garden isn't going to be enough to sustain me through an extended period of hard times, but like I said before, it gives me the experience and the knowledge that I didn't have before.

[Reaver]

I haven't been doing this that much sorry guys.

I got some canned good that dates very but they are in the 15's
One is something like Feb 2016 ( hint- Coconut milk apparently that shit last a long time )


I have kept up with my little bit of gardening. 2/4 of my banana trees have failed me so I hacked them up and I am going to start from scratch with them. ( left the root cut most of the top off )

The other two are doing awesome.  Already produced leaves big enough for me to wrap up a venison steak and cook underground just in case I can't have a fire.

My aloe is doing great as well.

( sort of a prep ) Next pay check I'm going to get two Jasmin veins and plant them on the left and right of my
( Stupid/Ugly ) boxer plants and let them take over. This will give the neighborhood an excellent smell and give my home better concealment from the road.

I also picked up a huge stack of oak. Someone just threw that shit out. So I turned an average day into a great day. Now I got heat for the winter and its only April. 

[EJR914]

Did P90X two days in a row.  I got in really good shape doing it before, and I plan to try to get there again.

Needless to say, its kicking my butt so far, but I'm convicted to not be a pussy.

[Reaver]

Excellent EJR


I built what I call my " Smoke Box " its an ammo can with a bunch of holes in it. I can use it to create a LOT of smoke on very little fuels.

Quite a little bug fogger. I like it.

[EJR914]

Sounds cool RVR, post a pic when u get done, if u get the chance.

[JohnyMac]

Put in a larger then normal order of ammo. 

Ordered a few things from Opticplannet to complete a combat belt- Don't tell my wife!

Food for though: I read somewhere (Sorry I forget where) that it takes a vegatable garden of between 800 - 1200 sf to support one person. That's about 25'X30' to 30'x40'. Work out the math for 2, 4, ? people.   

Still looking for a Brinly single bottom plow with a 3 way hitch. Found one Monday but the guy wanted $350- for it! The going price is between $150- $250- and he wouldn't come down a penny! I guess I will keep looking.

[CrookedSights]

JohnyMac I heard it was an acre for one man for one year.