Bad News For Your Pocket Book

Sea ports are closed or operating at 40 – 60 percent capacity, a truck driver shortage of 80,000 drivers. Rising fuel cost, rising labor cost, sky rocking cost of new replacement transportation vehicles. Forced closures of container storage areas and closure of warehouses (Biden, governors and mayors lock-down mandates.) Most experts in the transportation industry do not see conditions improving for months or possibility years.

Ports in Asia and Europe are not fairing any better than American ports. This is compounding the shipping problem by causing a shortage of available ships, trucks, rail cars and shipping containers at manufacturing businesses world wide.

When Donald Trump was president October 2020, the price to ship a 40 foot container from Asia to California was $3,800. That price under Biden’s administration cost spiked to $17,000 per-container in October of 2021, according to supply chain technology company Freightos.
Freightos said that shipping a container to the east coast is more expensive than the west coast, with rates reaching $20,000.

More than 100 ships were reported this week to be anchored off the coast of California waiting their turn to dock and unload full containers. But the seaports are stocked so high that ports are forcing vessels to wait up to 1 month before unloading.

As many as 200,000 40 foot shipping containers are stranded off the coast waiting to dock in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles had nearly 500 thousand 20-foot shipping containers, about 12 million metric tons of goods waiting in drift areas and at anchor for spots to open up along the port to dock and unload, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California’s master queuing list.

The effect of rising fuel costs, a large container vessel used in Trans-Pacific trade, with an actual, maximum container capacity of 3,875 FEUs (forty foot containers.)
With the cost of bunker fuel at $552 per ton, and with fuel consumption of 217 tons per day, a 28-day round trip voyage for this one vessel would produce a fuel bill of $3,353,952. This cost does not include the daily cost of operating/maintaining the ship and it’s crew.

Biden administration, Governors and Mayors forced coronavirus lock-downs has had a tremendous negative impact on the transportation industry nationwide, causing headaches at sea ports, warehouses, railways, and trucking companies.

Will history books record 1816, the year Without A Summer and 2022 the year America Did Without everything?

Flat Bread, Fast and Easy

Flat Bread:

Ingredients:
6 – servings —————————— 2-3 servings

2 cups of flour—————————— 1 cup
3/4 cup water——————————- 1/3 cup
2 tablespoons of oil————————- 1 1/2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt—————————- 1/4 teaspoon
1 tablespoon of baking powder————- 1/2 tablespoon
For cooking – 2 teaspoons of oil

Preparation:
If you like herb bread add 1 teaspoon of herb(s) fresh or dried that you like.

In a bowl mix all of the dough ingredients into a unified dough. Add a bit more water it your dough is dry.
Knead with your hands for 2-3 minutes and shape into a ball.

Divide the ball into 6 and roll each part into a disc shape.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a nonstick pan on high heat.

Cook each disc of dough, About 1-2 minutes on each side. Take care not to burn your flat bread.

Place the flat bread on a plate or fold in half to be used like a flour toco tortilla, cover with a clean
kitchen towel to keep warm.

** Convert this recipe to make tortilla’s by omitting the baking powder.

DIY – Chicken water warming system that really works

It’s a little late this winter, but it is valuable information that will save you lots of time and aggravation and keep your chickens supplied with fresh water even on the coldest days of winter.

DIY – Chicken water warming system Please note the light bulb(s) must be incandescent bulb(s) and not LED or CFL bulbs.
LED and CFL light bulbs produce little or no heat.

After reading this DIY project I believe 100 watt incandescent bulbs will be your best choice.
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Letter from Hospital Staff

Amateur Radio Winter Field Day – January 30th and 31st 2021

Purpose: To foster Amateur Radio(Ham) camaraderie, field operation and emergency operating preparedness.
Winter Field Day runs for 24 hours during the last full weekend in January each year from 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Saturday to 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Sunday.
1900 UTC = 1300 (1 PM) Central Standard Time.

Winter 2021 the dates are January 30th and 31st.

All Amateur bands, HF, VHF, & UHF except 12, 17, 30 and 60 meters using any mode that can faithfully transmit the exchange intact without a conversion table.
CW, SSB, AM, FM, DStar, C4FM, DMR, Packet, PSK, SSTV, RTTY, Olivia, Satellite, etc…

Suggested Frequencies: (to make it easier to find each other) HF CW – 1810-1820, 3.530-3.550, 7.030-7.050, 14.035-14.055, 21.030-21.050, 28.030-28.040
HF SSB – lowest 30 kHz of the US General Class Phone bands (160m-15m), 28.400-28.425MHz (10m)

VHF 50.10 to 54.00 MHz, 144.10 to 148.00 MHz
UHF 420.00 to 450.00 MHz

UTC = Coordinated Universal Time. UTC is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time.
UTC is not adjusted for daylight saving time. It is the successor to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

CW = Morse code
SSB = Single Side Band
AM = Amplitude Modulated
FM = Frequency Modulated
DStar, C4FM, DMR, Packet, PSK = Digital modes
RTTY = Radio Teletype
SSTV = Slow Scan TV

I will be operating 75, 40, 20, 10 and 6 meters SSB phone(voice) as well as 2 meter and 70 centimeter VHF/UHF phone(voice)

Hope to hear you on-air during Winter Field.

Forcing Bulbs to bloom for winter flowers

Forcing Bulbs For Winter Flowers is easy, fun and comes with a colorful reward. Winter flowering bulbs.
Source University of Minnesota October is the time of the year to begin potting your favorite spring bulbs to prepare them for winter flowering. Amaryllis, tulips, narcissus (daffodils), hyacinths, crocus, grape hyacinths, and lily of the valley are good choices and all can be forced into flower in late winter and early spring. A pot of tulips on the window sill can make a long cold winter easier to survive.

Purchase only top quality, good sized bulbs (bigger is better) should be used. Your neighborhood greenhouse operator will tell you the varieties that are best suited for forcing. Don’t mix varieties in the same container, since they vary in their dates of flowering.

Potting the bulbs in clean, sterile clay or plastic pots. Normally the “noses” of the bulbs are exposed. Do not bury the bulbs. The soil should be an open mixture of good (3 parts)garden loam, (2 parts)peat moss, and (1 part)sand. Don’t worry about soil fertility or feeding bulbs because they have enough stored food to flower one time.

Plant the bulbs close together in the pot. Usually 6 tulip bulbs, 3 hyacinths, 6 daffodils, or 15 crocus, will fit into a 6-inch pot. The flat side of the tulip bulb should be placed next to the rim of the pot since the largest leaf will always emerge and grow on that side, producing a more desirable looking pot.

It’s extremely important that bulbs be handled with care. Never allow the bulbs to be in temperatures above 65 degrees. The pot(s) should be loosely filled with soil. Don’t press the bulbs into the soil. Allow 1/4-inch or more of space at the top of the pot so it can be easily watered. The bulbs should be watered immediately upon planting, and thereafter the soil should never be allowed to become dry.

Forcing bulbs in Water. Hyacinths, crocus, and narcissus also can be forced in water. Special clear, glass vases are made for hyacinths or crocus. The bulb is placed in the upper portion, water in the lower portion. The vase is then kept in a cool, dark room (preferably under 50 degrees F) for four to eight weeks until the root system has developed and the top elongates. At this point it should be placed in a bright window, where the plant soon will blossom.

Bunch flowering narcissus, such as Paper White and Soleil d’Or, can be grown in shallow pans of water filled with crushed rocks or pebbles. The bulbs should be secured in the pebbles deeply enough so that the basal plate is in contact with the water. Keep them in a cool, dark room for several weeks to ensure root growth, then place in a sunny location. Each bulb will send up several flower stems bearing many blossoms.

Amaryllis Culture The amaryllis is a tender bulb that will bloom without special treatment when first purchased. It should be potted up in light, rich soil in a pot that is only 1–2 inches larger in diameter than the bulb. The upper half of the bulb should be exposed above the soil. After watering thoroughly, allow the soil to become quite dry. Water more frequently after the flower stalk appears, but never water when the soil is already moist. Put the plant in a warm, sunny spot until the flower buds show color, then move it out of direct sunlight.

After blooming, cut off the flowers to prevent seed formation. The foliage should be handled as if it were a sun loving houseplant. Place it in the brightest possible location indoors until it is warm enough to sink the pot in soil outdoors where it will receive dappled sunlight at first. Gradually move it to a brighter location where eventually it has full sun for at least five or six hours daily. Fertilize with a balanced houseplant food at regular intervals to build up the nutrients needed for blooming next year. Amaryllis should be brought indoors before the first frost in the fall.

Not from the USA. Please leave me comment about your home town and country.

Why is Common Sense so Uncommon?
Don’t be Shy. Leave me your Comment(s)

2020 National Doughnut Day is celebrated on the first Friday of June.

The original doughnut wasn’t at sweet as we have it today, and it wasn’t glazed.

** 1918 Doughnut Recipe

Ingredients:

5 cups flour

2 cups sugar

5 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (a.k.a 1 “saltspoon”)

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1 tub lard

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except for lard) to make dough.
Thoroughly knead dough, roll smooth, and cut into rings that are less than 1/4-inch thick.

Drop the rings into the hot lard, making sure the fat is hot enough to brown the doughnuts gradually. Turn the doughnuts slowly several times.

When browned, remove doughnuts and allow excess fat to drop off.
Dust with powdered sugar. Let cool and enjoy.

Grin … if you don’t have a ‘tub of lard’ feel free to use shorting or oil to fry your doughnuts.

*When finding items to cut out doughnut circles, be creative. 1918 Salvation Army Doughnut Girls used whatever they could find, from baking powder cans to coffee percolator tubes.

Homemade Disinfectant That Works

Regular Bleach is safe for kitchen countertops and cutting boards. Bleach should never be used full strength for cleaning any surface, it should always be diluted with water. For disinfecting countertops, use a solution of 1/2 cup bleach per gallon of water. Apply the bleach solution and let stand for 5 minutes, rinse thoroughly, and allow to air dry.

After cleaning with warm soapy water, dishes, cups, sinks, tubs, showers, toilets and ‘most floor surfaces can be disinfected with bleach water. Note Dishes must be rinsed well and dried before being put away.
Bleach water is also effective for disinfecting outdoor appliances and furniture as well.

Caution Always wear eye protection and latex gloves when using any bleach based disinfectant. When disinfecting appliances always unplug appliance before using bleach water to disinfect appliances.Bleach disinfectent must be used with caution and always in a well ventilated area.

Be on the front line protecting you and your family from bacterial and viral infections.

Being more productive

A newly hired software designer and university educated programmer told his supervisor that he must have access to a stand up desk to complete his software programming assignment.

His supervisor agreed to the young programmers demands and the engineering maintenance department setout to provide him with a standup work station.

Be very careful what you ask for, you may get it!

Home(stead) and Garden Projects [3]

OK, OK, this is the last of my project pictures…. I promise.

24 foot double gate

20 foot farm gate

sheep or goat milking / grooming stand

4 post bed frame

hunting cabin wood burning stove

shop work on a cold day

salvage trailer

finished salvaged flatbed trailer

12X24 foot portable building

salvage livestock trailer

finished salvage livestock trailer