eye in the sky

As it happened a friend dropped (literally) by the other day for lunch.  When he left town, in his helicopter, he buzzed our house and took some shots.  This was with his phone, nothing fancy.

As they were only from one angle, it was limited view.  BUT it was interesting to note what could be seen and what could not.  Such as, all the north facing roof still had snow, but the south, east and west facing did not; ie, we have good insulation up there.  How obvious it is that I am “summerizing” my greenhouse – that is using fabric to give a layer of dead air insulation and shield tender seedlings and later plantings from the heavy duty sun and minimize temp fluctuations, as well as keep it a bit cooler in the summer.

In this day and age of satellites and spy drones, one might want to get some aerial drone shots to see what can be seen and what can’t!

still working on those carry options

trying different style and types of belly bands, some worn low around the hips, some worn more around the waist.  The hip option gives a better draw, but found it was actually hurting my hip on the gun side, think it was hindering the free motion of the joint

Wearing it higher brought the grips into my bust line – but at the same time, that helped conceal the gun a little better!  Remember, I’m going full size here.  Now that the miserable arthritis flare that made my hands weak all summer has passed, am back to carrying my 1911.  The grip is a different shape than the .357 revolver and more discreet.

Velcro closure is OUT, but that means careful measurement and decision of exactly where to carry to order the right size with hook and eye.  and no matter where you are wearing it, it has to be TIGHT to grip the gun which can get uncomfortable around the gut, whether high or low.

BUT

a suggestion was made about making the elastic band holster more secure without having to CRANK it down really tight; use a sticky (type) holster.  This creates some difficulties depending on how wide the holster is and what kind of built in holster situation exists; most have options that will allow this SOMEWHERE.  and if the elastic is more narrow than your gun is long, it helps cover the barrel end too.

and?

With the change in administration, it seems that a lot of people have stepped back from their preps.  At the same time, hear that a lot of those people who identify as liberal have started theirs!

Do people really think that a change in administration is going to stop the train?

honestly don’t know what YOUR reason for prepping is, mine cannot be defined.  My hope is that all this is just stuff I’ll be using as an old lady so I don’t have to use my social security (if there is any) $$ on buying groceries!

Still, do not see an end to air and water pollution, see an increase in the instability of the world’s economy, a heightening of the tensions between the big players on the world state (as I write this, NATO -led by the US is moving troops into Poland, something that is basically a direct confrontation with the Russians).  China is feeling a deep economic and environmental pinch as they are dealing with environmental issues that they ignored for decades in their push to become an economic super power as well as the overall decline in the world’s economy as we seem to have about reached our limit as consumers.  North Korea is more threatening, Iran is getting uranium which they have PROMISED not to make into weapons though they do have the facilities to enrich it for that purpose. Meanwhile, they are harassing our big ships in the ocean; pushing, provoking.  Terrorism is spreading.  The split between so called liberal and conservatism is growing.

Yesterday was checking out my storage room, which has unfortunately become a storage catch all, and its pretty full!  too much of it though is storage; Christmas decorations, office files,  and the camping equipment takes up WAAY too much space when you consider we don’t camp anymore!!  Yes, consider the need to “bug out”, but we have decided to “bug in” except under very specific conditions.   While the little camper is currently not running, we do have a pick up and if gasoline is an issue, we aren’t going anywhere to camp anyway!

So with the room full of stuff, its becoming harder to find a place for the food and water supplies and there is no doubt we need more of that as I don’t think I have a month’s worth of food, and certainly not more than a week’s worth of water!  There is a piece of property nearby for sale with “creek access”.  Am familiar with the property and know the creek is a good 200 feet DOWN from the main part of the  property.  Quit a narrow steep path to haul water, but it would be OUR access, not having to fight others for it. haven’t asked about the price, and doubt that I could afford it anyway, so will keep up my saving for an electric tricycle so I can haul and transport water a little more easily.

But back to my assessment of what to get next, what to get next?  Other than continuing with food preps and the electric trike, what do I really need? How do we know just what we will need so we can be prepared?  There has become a bit of doubling up with certain things to keep in the camper; smaller, more compact duplicates of things for the home.  Rocket stove, dried food, solar shower, etc.

Just feel like I’m missing something . . and probably am.  But will keep on putting by food, from canned goods to dehydrated meals.

and, Oh Yeah, am not having a good time with the Tattler reuseable lids.  Not consistent enough and do not feel that they are really secure enough for long term storage. Anyone have any experience?