Setting The Drip – A Winter’s Tale
Been cold here on the ridge and THAT particular ritual has been taken care of some days ago. But I’ve been thinking about how out-of-tune it is to complete a rather simple preventative measure. Is there some government entity that will come down my dirt road to help if the toilet won’t flush? Who do I call if the pipes burst, etc.
A neighbor’s house burned down a day or two ago. No one was hurt, but it serves to emphasize my point. We have a volunteer Fire Department out here in the boonies. They are great folks, but…
Call 911 here and don’t expect a rapid response. And they don’t provide plumbers.
So… Among other things we set a drip. We have Fire Extinguishers, etc.
We might be (gasp) Preppers. So long as our gas well works we’ll have heat, and power. We can feed ourselves and the critters for at least 3 weeks at any time. I know, that is puny compared to some, but it is the most I’ll admit to in a public venue.
Sidebar: Gas Well needs swabbed – the weather has prevented the guys from even getting their gear moving. Something we never considered. Lesson learned.
Anyway, lots of terms are used to defend government intervention in our lives. Some of us have different frames of reference. Whether it be local, county, State, or the Feds who do YOU turn to when shit happens?
Was gonna offer this as Sunday Silly, but my curiosity overcame me.
Category: Politics
I work for the gummit so when bad shitz happen, I provide for myself and that of my family!
I have urban TACOPCEN and a FOB in a rural zone.
We exercise bug out plan each week.
OUT!
Guess it kind of depends upon the emergency, crisis, or whatever. For weather events, we depend upon ourselves and our neighbors, if it’s routine. Ya know, like it’s winter, so it’s cold.
What does the gubmint do to help? Not much ’round here. Seems like they do more damage than good. We would get the job done much easier if they’d just get out of the way mostly.
We have called for an ambulance a few times. Got good service there.
Mostly, though, the neighbors take care of each other and only call upon some official type in extreme circumstances, like a guy who really needed to be hauled off to jail after being detained for his aberrant behavior by vigilant residents.
We depend on each other. I have a plan to deploy and redeploy my family if the situation dictates, but other than that I dont rely on anyone else.
We all dig each other out around here, when it snows. The streets get plowed, but the digging out is something we take care of ourselves.
There’s no ‘safe and secure’ shelter for tornadoes around here, but if there’s a warning, I have stuff by the door and can get the car loaded and be gone in 30 seconds. I know all the routes everywhere. I also know enough to stay off the major highways in any disaster.
The one thing I don’t like is that water mains seem to keep breaking around here, but it’s probably because they’re old and the ground settles more than we realize over time.
Otherwise, the pantry is always stocked and the power has only gone out once here, but that affected 600,000 people in three counties, not just me, because the transformer station was damaged.
I’m so jealous that you have a gas well. That’s totally awesome. I have natural springs and a growing herd of cattle, wild hogs, deer, turkey, and plenty of firewood. I sure wish I had a gas well though. I have an 8kw genset that will run on Mogas, natgas, or LP gas. That comes in handy.
Oh Yeah, one of the reasons we bought this patch is the gas well. Won’t bore you with further details, but the routine maintenance has paid for itself several times over. Coupla years ago we were without electricity for two weeks. Hardly noticed.
one detail please…how deep did they have to drill to hit gas? There’s oil and gas in my area and I own the mineral rights. I’d love to punch a hole
This Benson Sands well is about 5000 feet.
The newer Marcellus shale wells are several times that.
I am well prepared for whatever may come my way. Even my older kids have a plan to bug out to my house if shit hits the fan.
I have been thinking about your post. I don’t really turn to other much I guess. I have a couple of sail boats and go single handed often. It teaches one to be self sufficient.
I have depended on others of course. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer at 19, we turned to the expertise of medical professionals. That kind of thing is all that comes to mind.
I always keep extra food stocked, backup heat, 2000 watt inverter, and things like that. I guess your post made me realize I did a lot more of that kind of thing when my kids were young. I should probably take a look around here a little more than I have been.
With ISIS and the DRC coming after me with hit squads and all, I dont want to leave the place too stocked. Oh, wait, with my double knot secret username they will never find me. Semper Fi.
Back home in the small town I’m from we help each other. A loss of electricity just means we get to cook on the grill all the time. Out of charcoal? No problem…tim-berrrrr! Run out of gas for the chainsaw? No problem, there’s plenty of single and double buck saws hanging up on walls as decorations that will get put back to good use. You won’t need that gym membership anymore if you’re using one of those saws.
Hell, there’s been times in my youth that using the bathroom at night at some of my relatives homes involved shoes, a flashlight, and a .22 for any pesky snakes. And well water is some of the coldest and best tasting water around.
Jonn, I am shocked, shocked I say, to learn you have running water (other than a creek) and indoor plumbing. Who would have thought. Round these latitudes (Jefferson County, Arkansas) we have to rely on Smith & Wesson or Glock for our 911 support because the 911 operators don’t know the county well enough to dispatch help without playing 20 f’in questions during the peak of an emergency call.
Indoor plumbing would sure be nice on a cold day especially with snow on the ground. I envy your lifestyle. Let me know when a Dominoes Pizza opens up the road and we’ll consider relocating if I can find wheels for the house.
Club Manager – the wife and I worked at the Arsenal for for 8 1/2 years before coming home to Slammintonio. I feel for you up there.
NBCGuy, you did not happen to work outside of McAllester, Ok ? If you did you were close to me. You may keep Slamminio. Too hot and a good rain brings flood waves in the streets.
No sir. We worked at the Pine Bluff Ark Arsenal as part of the chemical weapons demil group. Been through McAllester a time or two though.
Yep, it gets a little warm down here in SA, but I haven’t had to shovel snow yet (smiling w/fingers crossed).
Where I am living now, closest relative is about 20 miles from me. Five lakes around me I own part of one. Three hunred gallon propane tank and plenty of hard wood on my place, no well. Small tractor mower, 4-wheeler, motorcycle. A couple of mountain bikes. Looking for a 2 or 3 hunred gl gas tank. My Uncle was going to sell me his place{90 acres with a gas well on it.That is until I told that there was nothing the area to buy. Joe
Total urbanite here, and vulnerable to the econuts and California legislature.
They shut down a nuclear plant that supplied 20% of the local electricity, had a several-day blackout due to something that happened in Arizona, and never publicly made the connection between the two, because, you know, nukes.
We have a drought (coastal desert, y’know), so they decided to release a flood on an entire river system (during a drought year — so very natural of them), while imposing lawn watering restrictions on the people who pay for the water.
I have candles, 3 days worth of water, and I know where to get dry ice. And if anything happens that lasts more than about 3 days, there is nowhere to go.
But, they have a high school that is still living off its good reputation from the past.