Hurricane Season 2023

Hurricane season officially starts in June. With everything else going on right now it's time to review our emergency response plans. 

 To start off here's a couple links to follow the wind direction. Click the pic to follow the link:

 

  

 

 

 

The National Hurricane Center's 5 day outlook map is here:

NOAA has some great resources for hurricane preparedness. 

Tropical Storm Risk has published the 2023 Extended Range Forecast.

FEMA has an interactive flood plan map.

 Clay Nelson has a cool tool for quickly loading sandbags.

 NatGeo and USGS both have downloadable topo maps.

There are a number of sources you can follow for emergency notifications.

 

It's funny b/c it's true

 Last year we managed to drive home right as a derecho hit. Traffic is going slowly. Amazingly everyone is driving like they're sane; other than we all should have really stopped. We came to a tree that was blocking most of the road. It's down to a partial lane and the shoulder. Cars are taking turns. Everything is moving nicely.  The other side is now clear of cars and it's now our turn to go around the very obvious obstacle. I watch as a tractor trail approaches, at normal speed - marked 55 so he's going at least 60. I don't think he's going to stop.  My wife says, "He's not going to stop."  So I wait. We watch as he hits the tree and his truck launches into the air. He lands with his trailer doing a fishtail bounce. Thankfully he doesn't flip. He never slowed, just kept on going. 

C.S. Bell Number 2 Grist Mill

Several years ago my brother-in-law gave me this C. S. Bell Number 2 Grist Mill. They may still be in business. Their website is up but has many broken links. I plan to put the burrs in the e-tank. The rest of the machine will be cleaned up so I can use it but other than that will be left in "as found" state. I like the patina on the adjustment screw and level so that's staying.I saw another blog post that's I can't find now where they seasoned the burrs just like a cast iron skillet.  Might be worth a shot but I'm not sure how well that finish will hold up. I guess the worst that would happen is that it'll be burnished off. 

 

 

The main complaint from modern folks that use these is that the cavity fills with hulls and milling as you can see in the pictures. Not a big deal to me it came apart very easily so there's no reason not to maintain it properly. 

 

That little race that my thumb is pointing at sits between the adjustment screw and the crank shaft.  Glad I didn't drop that. I'd never find it in the garage.

Don't feed the Trolls

 

Don't bother correcting mockers -b/c- Haters Gonna Hate.

Spanish Rice

 

 

We're having a Mexican themed movie night/potluck at church tonight. My wife thought we should take our version of restaurant style Spanish rice. I’m making a triple sized batch in the pictures. 

 Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup Basmati rice
• 1 14.5 oz can chicken stock
• 1/4 cup water
• tbsp tomato bouillon

Optional:

• tbsp finely diced onion
• ¼ cup corn

Heat the pan and add the olive oil. Sauté the onions until just transparent. Add the rice and toast slightly. Add the chicken stock, water, and tomato bouillon. Bring to a boil , cover and cook for approximately 12 minutes.

 

Toasting the rice will give it a slightly nutty flavor. You're trying to brown it like Rice-a-Roni. I really don't care for plain white rice.  I use basmati rice for everything. You could use minute rice for this recipe. That's what most of the Mexican restaurant use. For weeknight dinner I often skip the onion and just use a little onion powder. I keep a bag of frozen corn to add.  The Knorr bouillon comes in chicken and beef.  I just use a heaping spoon. 

Rice is cooked two to one water to rice.  A can of stock is not 16 oz so you have to add a little water. The first line in the bottom of the can is 1/4 cup - that's one less thing to wash.

Shale Splitter

I like to do a little rock hounding/ fossil hunting when I'm traveling.  I make it to Eastern WV and North Western Virginia around the Lost River area once or twice a year.  I've been looking for a good tool for splitting the shale that holds the trilobites found there.  They range from thumbnail sized to 2 1/2 inches.

 

 I needed a little to bump up an Amazon order for free shipping so I slipped this Hultafors Chisel Knife in the cart. At $9 I'm not worried about chipping it up and for the price I can buy 3 for the cost of the Stanley chisel knife that looks to be stronger. It feels good in the hand and the sheath is very secure. The blade is beveled on both sides. We'll see how it holds up.  Spring is coming.

You can read about the location on Fossil Guy. This is a very well know area but I've only run into one other person while I was there; not the crowds like you see in the pictures.  The area is littered with road cuts that also hold fossils so if you go make sure you explore the side roads.

 

I've also found Spiriferid Brachiopods in the more fragile, oily shale but were difficult to remove any intact.

Flashlights

I'm stoked. One of my good friends from church gave me a Streamlight stylus pro last Sunday.  He's a professional tech guy and this is the light that he carries.  

 

So far I'm impressed.  It's rated at 100 lumens, uses 2 AAA batteries, and is similar in size to my glasses case. It features monetary and constant on from the tailcap button which is very stiff so there's little chance of it turn on accidentally That always seemed to happen with my mini maglites leaving me with a dead light when I really needed it.  The included sheath won't fit my belts, but it's small enough that I don't notice it in my pocket.

 I've been carrying an OLight 1R2 that came as a freebie with one of my tac light orders.  I've been very impressed by it's durability. My pocket is where most lights go to die. I've carried this one daily for 16 months and it's still working.  It's been dropped countless times, attached to my key ring and generally abused in it's daily life.  It's rechargeable which is handy.  It features low/high output modes rated at 6/150 lumen via twist on/off.

The other light that sees daily use is the Quantum shown above.  It was a stocking-stuffer from 2021. It's rated at 588 lumen and features zoom via the focus bezel and on/off/strobe from the tailcap switch. I use this when walking the dog and have found that it's very forgiving of low batteries.  It just keeps going; just dimmer.