Kicked off the new year with goats kidding blah blah see previous post, and have been doing battle with the idiot cold spell that has been slamming us all week. 3 crates of stovewood for the Pioneer Maid cookstove and two wheelbarrow loads a day for the heater stove. Feed ‘em and feed ‘em and feed ‘em. It has been nice to have a teakettle full of hot water available at all times – been chugging down weird herb potions the Good Witch Wife concocts to beat this cold into submission. Nothing like herb teas to loosen up huge gobs of lung chiffon – my 8 year old son is truly impressed with 15 foot distance hocks.
Since it’s cold as hell it’s been a good time to bump the rafter insulation project to the front of the job list. Seems like every batt that goes up raises the house temperature by a half degree. As long as it’s above 50 in the house in the morning I can get it warm in here during the Woodstove Hour before the wife gets up. Getting the Milking Parlor (garage) warmed up is another matter. All we have out there is the Hasty Baker cookstove. 40 degrees is good enough for a goat, ho ho!
School has been closed all week – somewhere on a back road is a piece of ice and the school district lives in fear of bus crash lawsuits. I’m sure they’re happy to not have to heat the buildings much when it’s like 5 degrees outside either. I read that some school districts close because they don’t have the money to clear parking lots and sidewalks. I guess that’s what happens when counties go broke.
I’m going to call that the opening act of The Year Everything Starts to Not Work Very Well Anymore. I think the best place to look for evidence of collapse isn’t the stock market or employment figures, but in tax revenue dependent services at all levels. Budgets will finally meet a hard reality – one where numbers can’t be moved around to cover a shortfall. The nearby city (big town) of Neosho for all practical purposes went belly up last month, my county is starved for cash and I see lots of potholes springing up this year and road maintenance disappearing on the tertiary roads that are already beat to shit as it is.
So I’m slogging through the farmy stuff, as the rest of the country slogs away trying to keep the cable bill paid. Nice to know some of the bank bail out money is going into full body scanners, eh? What the hell, at 125 million it’s only fifty cents per capita. Guess I can’t have a Coke the next time I go to the feed store… A small price to pay for our nations security. Where’s that sarcasm smiley?
Temperatures have been rather pleasant here in northern NH. Teens and twentys during the day and sometimes in the single digits at night. Much better than the -10 days with 70 mph winds. (even that really wasn’t out of season.) Used to go down to FL this time of year. Don’t see any reason to now.
I am feeding two woodstoves to keep the place comfy, but hey -NH.
County’s doing a horrible job of plowing and salting out here, only way outta here is old Rt 66, and it’s an icy mess now, think they may have plowed once in a week. No money I suppose. Schools been out all week out here, too.
Luckily, when we built, used sprayed in foam insulation, well worth the extra $$.
wood stove keepin’ the house at 70, no problem, but using a buttload of wood. A little to warm for me, but 2 sniffly kids need some warmth…
Calves in the barn are big enough to handle a bit of cold now, but still keep the stove going to keep it in the upper 20’s to about freezing. Not bad considering outside temps.
Ah, Neosho, I got an old buddy close by you. A sheeple tho…. Down here in “sunny” south Texas, I’ve burnt nearly a cord of wood since Dec. 1 in my fireplace. Way more than I burn in a typical winter here. More often than not, the fire is just for “ambiance”, but this year it’s keeping the electric meter from whizzing off it’s mounts… If we get any more Gorebal Warming, I’m gonna freeze to death. And I was so looking forward to planting in March….
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The Year Everything Starts to Not Work Very Well Anymore
I like it but I thought that was last year.
jB
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Comrade,
We had our cold spell a bit earlier up here in the Northwest. I had to thaw the pump house three days running, replaced most of the plumbing under the house, and hauled hot water to the animals 4 times a day for about a week. Also lost much of the grand winter garden experiment, but that was mostly a fun project anyway. When it all came out in the wash, it seemed pretty good in retrospect. We had fun, we didn’t lose anything important, we didn’t call any contractors, we didn’t fear for our survival, we did change our work schedule for a few days, and we did make our living arrangements more robust as a result. It is definitely nice to be found not wanting after being tested.
Did some new year shopping and got a netbook. Great hardware, and after it gets converted to Linux it will have great software too. I can finally get my service manuals and reference material where I need it instead of on the big box in the house.
Boy do I understand about the tractor thing. I want bad, but like most things, the right solution seems to come when you wait a bit. I had a hacked up and modified Simplicity two wheel garden tractor and I finally am getting around to making it a good usable machine. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a second larger one with a few attachments. I would love to have one of those sweet orange redneck limos to cruise the place, but it would be a little too classy for this place or me either one. This way I don’t need to build another barn so there is an upside there somewhere.
This winter does seem like there is a lot going on. We have been trying to get onion seed and leek seed started in flats, but the world does seem to keep pushing into our personal space. I just don’t see how we could get it all done if we had the distraction of television. It would help, if we could get the rabbits sexed right when we had more than one in a cage. Oh well.
Summer is around the corner and pretty soon we won’t have time to bitch and worry because of the work.
tired john
sixbears – I think if teens, single digits and bumping zero was to be expected for much of the winter here in sw missouri we would have the mechanics in place to deal with it a lot easier. I’m guessing Charlie senses that, too. You gave me a good idea for the next post… thanks.
Jim – I thought about that, too, and kcame to the conclusion that everything pretty much limped along last year, even though by all rights it should have gone fucko bazzoo. Layoffs and unemployment – even to the point of a few tent cities springing up here and there is one thing, but I foresee systems breaking down this year that will have a direct impact on the bulk of the populace. Municipalities are going to go into receivership by the thousands and counties will slough off whole departments. States won’t have the funds to pick up the services lost either, and people will be going “huh?”.
Much of the BAU stemmed from dodging economic collapse – the fed bought 80% of all treasuries auctioned in 2009. We all heard about foreign nations eschewing Treasuries, and it’s hard to believe the fed can pull the same ponzi scheme again this year. Look for money to get real funny in ‘10. That would be a Federal system breaking down, and that is not a happy thought for anyone without a big ass garden and a large woodpile.
John – thanks for the comment. Always nice to here from you. We started picking the sprouts off the potatoes and soaking them by the window.
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comrade,
Yeah I can see your point. By rights 2009 is when things went to shit but we don’t really see it out here in sub urbia until later when the infrastructure failures occur.
On the plus side, maybe the dialog will change in that people will stop talking like the gummint has an infinite supply of money when they’re talking about health care or national parks or pot holes that need fixing. I’m stupid that way.
It’s one big fucking trust issue no matter what you’re looking at. We trust the toilets will flush just as much the politicians we elect will flush the shit we give them. Even a barter is full of trust issues.
Russian friends of mine tell me that when you back to Russia you have to get used to things like sausage has so much saw dust in it so you have to prepare your gut.
The world as a Ponzi scheme? Yeah. That’s life.
to sense
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Comrade Simba, I’d like to do a newspaper article (column) about you and your blog. I do a column on economics (mostly), and my readers would be interested in your outlook and inspired by your lifestyle. Please contact me via email so we can discuss this. Thanks!
I ran into a crazy bit of weather news when the guys over at KOS noticed that the towns in Greenland at 60º N were warmer than Tampa Fl at 20º N. Warmer than California too at the time. Seems like the Gulf Stream took a little wander and pretty much everybody else got the cold end of the popsicle you know where.
The great stock market rally has got the Dow back where it was in Jan 2000 and all talking heads drawing a paycheck are announcing the recession is over. The MSM is officially ignoring that income tax revenues are in the toilet even when they announce California’s de facto bankruptcy. Nobody wants to take Arnie’s IOU’s; small wonder.
When Californians wander into Oklahoma looking for enough dirt for a cob house and a potato patch will they stop us at the border?
Ain’t got that do-re-me boys…..
I’ve been amazed how “used to” you can adjust to 50-ish in your bedroom in the am. Actually got to like it, if I only had to be out in it for a short time. Got so that I couldn’t sleep if it hit over 58.
Read this post about a woman complainin that the hotel she stayed at kept the night-time temp at 68 and she got a cold and had to move to a new hotel. Something definitely wrong there.
Hard to type when the temp is 52 though. Didn’t realize it until I hit the shower and the hands burned from the heat. And if you are sick, boy, have to keep it warm. Wood heat is good for that, though. Sometimes so good, I’m glad to have a cold upstairs to go to.
Can’t get the office warm enough with the corn stove if its hovering around 0. Bad for business to freeze the folks out. I need the day to get it at least tolerable, and if it goes out and I don’t catch it right away, I’ve lost several hours. Plastic on the single-pane don’t help. Floor isn’t insulated, and neither is the ceiling or walls and that’s the problem. Gutta get to it. Number 356 on my list of things to do…