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Adding more beef when cheap and silver is getting a bit crazy.

January 7, 2026

With beef prices up because supply is limited. I have been focused on freezing beef for the future. I’d love to buy a 1/4-1/2 beef locally but my budget won’t allow that investment at this time.  I got some good buys during the Holidays for Rib eye roasts and steaks to put in the freezer for the year. I’ll grab a few beef steaks and roast on sale through the year. This Beef (shortage) has happened in the past and I stocked up on pork/chicken. At that time even getting hamburger seemed to be a treat. In the grocery stores I visit $6.00 per pound seems be the “best price”. If you have a choice, buy roasts and cut your own steaks or grind your  own burger if the local butcher won’t grind the beef. I don’t really trust tube hamburger that these days. 

I know groceries are expensive. I focus on spices and frozen veggies for stir fry, soups and stews and pasta meals that stretch the meat part of the menu. A roasted chicken can be used for stock or the meat added to ramen, pasta for a meal that is more filling over a few days.  Today I had some beef stew from a large chuck roast that I cut a couple of small steaks and roasted for stew meat. Beef roast seem to    provide the most bang for your buck. 

Many preppers bought silver for years as a hedge/replacement currency to the US dollar.  The silver spot price is going crazy. What I’m  doing is holding onto most my silver. I have some junk silver that I’m holding just in case the Dollar tanks and inflation skyrockets. I’m  seeing crazy silver oz. price into 3-4 digits and the people saying  those numbers are not  just youtuber clickbait/speculators.  I’d say hold  and not get caught up in the hype!  Remember the reason why you started stacking silver. Insurance against an inflating dollar. To buy real assets like paying off your mortgage or buying other income  producing real estate. Hopefully you already have a good stockpile of food. Fuel/energy like a woodstove and firewood for a couple of normal winters already on hand. A canner, a garden, a vacuum sealer and a freezer. Tools, oil, gas cans, a generator, a Solar paneled powered battery bank.  At least a battery bank that  can be recharged via an outlet or gas generator.  A butane cooker/hot plate and a few cans for cooking indoors. I have a good charcoal/gas grill set up on the patio but I want to cook in my warm house in winter.

If you have not been prepping. You need to prioritize. Water, food, safety/protection.  Don’t speculate on get rich schemes. If you can eat, if you have water, if you have heat in winter and cooling in summer on  hand. You are ahead of most people. 

Mom took a fall into an irrigation ditch close to her woodpile. Mom is okay she got a little “road rash” type skin abrasions. Mom will be 80 years old next month and while I think she is competent to live her life. I worry if she takes a bad fall. Mom has a stiff knee because of a less than optimal knee replacement surgery. So she can get unbalanced. 

We are on Consumer Cellular and they have a “Life Alert” fall protection/push the button for Emergency service. I added myself, my aunt and to the first to call and Mom can request Emergency Service if needed. I’m not sure of the cost per month at this time but  $23-29.00 seems to be the range. 

“I’ve  fallen and I can’t get up” is a meme until you live  it. When it happens to you it is scary. I’ve been  there and done that  without any backup. 

Mom took a little header last week with her wood pile adjusting tarps and she  fell in the irrigation ditch. Mom is okay! I moved Mom’s woodpile away from the ditch so she has a little walkway to the older   wood and restacked the wood away  from the concrete ditch. Mom is taking  a fall prevention/balance class in her town. It is tough to admit you are vulnerable as you get older or become disable.

Find work arounds and keep living life! You don’t need that rocking chair yet. 

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Xmas baking done, presents assembled

December 24, 2025

This was a big  baking night for Xmas Eve dinner for Mom and my Aunt. I always make more food than we can eat but, everyone gets a couple days worth of leftovers to snack on!  I like having Holiday meal  leftovers to heat up after the craziness of the Holiday. I bought plenty of paper plates and bowls for the leftovers this year so it is not such a scramble to find containers for the take home  food.

I baked two large loaves of the Challah bread. I need to post the recipe as it simple and a quick (2.5 hours) yeast bread recipe. Plus baking Challah bread at home is a lot cheaper than buying it from a store or bakery. Plus fresh baked bread always tastes the best once you get the hang of baking bread. My pie crust making skills are still lacking so I baked a Marie Callender berry pie and a Devil’s food cake tonight. I also made up a batch of fudge with the Carnation kit I had on hand. That should take care of anyone’s Sweet tooth.

I like how easy it is to cook a Ribeye for Xmas Eve dinner in the Rotisserie. It is set and forget until the Ribeye is done. Much easier compared to BBQing a turkey. I use a Ronco compact rotisserie I got at a second hand store. Great little oven for cooking chicken or roasts. Mom dropped off a green salad and we’ll have corn on the cob and perhaps roasted green beans with bacon, cause bacon makes everything better!

I assembled the fire wood holder and it was a bit of a challenge. My Aunt could have put it together but Mom is mechanically challenged. I’m glad I put them together as no one needs to fuss assembling a gift unless they like that sort of thing. No way to wrap the gift so I stuck a bow on it. I need to stock up on large gift bags and boxes after the New Year. I’m giving a battery powered Ryobi tire inflator that is supposed to fill large truck tire. We will see if they work as advertised. I can’t recommend the small “Slime” tire inflators as the break. I replaced the 12 volt plug on my Slime inflator and the hose on Mom’s Slime inflator is coming loose. Plus the small Slime tire inflator does not work great inflating large truck tires.

I hope all of you have a great Holiday no matter what or how you celebrate.

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Thanksgiving Report on the meal.

December 2, 2025

The Kinder Brine in a bag worked great.  You will want a container to hold the sides up of the bag but it takes up a lot less room than a bucket. The brine mix is for a 20 pound bird so I used half of the brine mix for my 11 pound bird for the full 12 hours suggested time. After the brine I used a Cajun season mix on the skin.  I love the spicy/sweet taste you get with the mesquite charcoal. I added time to the flip/rotate of the bird from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes. This change helped the bird cook more evenly and I did not have a problem with blackened areas at all. This was one of the best turkeys I have BBQed for Thanksgiving. Adding a layer of charcoal to the BBQ before the lit charcoal chimneys gave me good heat for cooking the turkey for 3+ hours. 

For the side dishes of stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy I used mixes but I replaced the water for the recipe with chicken or vegetable stock. That little change kicked up the flavor a lot for those box/package mixes. I recommend using stock in place of water for those pre-made mixes. The roasted Brussel sprouts is just a sprinkle of olive oil and Mrs. Dash seasoning then I bake I a toaster oven 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees. Roasting the sprouts brings out a sweet flavor and texture unlike steamed/boiled sprouts. I made sweet potato fries in the air fryer and gave my the rest of the frozen fries to take home, since she has an air fryer.  We prefer a savory sweet potato rather than sweet dish. 

I baked a “Dolly Parton” branded chocolate cake mix and even with the 4 eggs and extra butter the cake was a little dry. It looks like Betty Crocker wins the moist cake mix challenge with the smaller box and 3 eggs challenge. These cake mixes require a cooking oil but I use lard. Solid lard and melted lard take up the same volume of space. So a 1/4 cup of lard = 1/4 of a cup of cooking oil. FYI solid lard appears to have a 1:1 ratio to most cooking oils. 

I bought up a variety of cheese, meats, crackers and chips for snacking. The clear winner was a new Townhouse cracker that was pretzel flavored. I got some Ritz crackers that was spiced like an “everything bagel” that I really liked. Using smaller 8 oz. packages of sliced cheese worked great for making my own cheap cheese tray but I should have chosen higher quality sliced meats, salamis and such. It’s funny the cheaper roast beef and ham slices on sale had better taste than the salami meats that cost more. I missed my Aunt’s goat cheese this year since she is getting her little Homestead in order she did not have time to bring that to the meal. There is always next year! 

Leftovers: I’m a little bit sad I did not BBQ a larger turkey as the bird tasted so good. Everyone got a “care package” but I’m working on some frozen quick/easy to microwave meals/snacks made with real food.  II have the turkey carcass in the slow cooker making stock and getting all the meat off the bones. I want to make a Thanksgiving meat pie using the dough from Midwestern cabbage and beef recipe. I have learned I need to roll the dough much thinner as it bakes up very poofy.  Not in a bad way as the dough bakes off nicely. I just need more practice with the dough. I froze the leftover beef/cabbage mix so I have plenty of filling for the dough. In a way these are home made “Hot Pockets” made with real ingredients and not so many chemical preservatives. The beef and cabbage pies can be cooked in 2 minutes. 1 minute on one side flip and another minute on the other side.  Using a fork to press the edges close works best and not over filling the dough with meat. I think this can be a great way to make pre-made/ snacks and meals you store in the freezer. I know I’m guilty of buying frozen meals that are easy to microwave when I’m too tired to cook.  Tonight I nuked 2 of the beef and cabbage meat pies for 2 minutes and had a meal. You could use this dough recipe for breakfast using eggs and meats or sandwich fixings. Once I get the dough recipe dialed in I’ll post it on the recipe page.

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More wood cutting, one mile walk and shrimp stirfry

November 7, 2025

I have started cutting the larger chunks of the old wood.  Most of pieces are just a bit long at 18-24 inches, so the wood won’t fit in my wood stove.  Cutting this wood down to fit my stove leaves a lot of the smaller chunks of wood that Mom likes to burn in her wood stove. I filled up my front porch wood rack and added another box worth of wood for Mom to grab she she stops by my house.  

What feels good is I can see better progress on cutting the old wood pile into useable firewood. My goal is to cut this rack of wood usable size and replace the old /janky wood rack with a new metal wood rack. This will clean up the worst looking part of the carport wood storage area. The electric chai saw is doing okay cutting these larger chunks of wood but I need to replace the chain and get some chain sharpening tools for all of my chain saws. The new mini chainsaw is okay but I prefer the original one I got at the grocery outlet. My Ryobi chainsaw started having a little glitch getting to run when cutting. I sprayed some electric contact cleaner in to the motor and now it is running great!  Get a can of that electric contact cleaner for any electric motors to keep them up and running. Most auto parts stores carry it.

Boomer and I made a 1 mile walk today. We were doing about .8 of a mile so it was not difficult to add in another couple of blocks to our walk. We will probably stay at a mile for a couple of weeks before we add more distance to the walk. My goal is to get to 2 miles in the next couple of months. Both Boomer and I need to lose some weight and the walks help keep Boomer’s nails short without me having to trim the nails. 

I was a bit tired after the wood cutting and walk with Boomer.  I cooked up a little shrimp stir fry using my pre cooked rice and some frozen pepper and onion mixed veggies. Took about 15 minutes even with defrosting the shrimp under some water.  I had forgotten how good a quick stir fry can taste and adding some shrimp feels a little decadent, though I bought the shrimp for about the same cost per pound as hamburger. ($5.00 per pound) Having rice cooked and ready for making fried rice was a time saver. 

Turkeys seem to be low in price or a major loss-leader in most of the sales flyers I’m seeing in my area. I’m seeing turkey breasts going for 99 cents per pound. Usually those breasts cost at least .50 cents higher per pound compared to a normal turkey.  I would recommend you get an extra turkey for next years Thanksgiving or any Holiday meals you serve turkey. If you can afford it and have the freezer space add a couple of those 99 cent per pound turkey breasts for next year. 

Turkey breast meat is notorious for being dry. If you finish cooking the bird breast down so all the juices flow into the breast meat, also rest your turkey breast down for 15-30 minutes after roasting the bird to let the juices flow into the breast. Your turkey has much less chance of being dry. I brine in my turkey apple cider/spices for a couple of days before BBQing it over Mesquite charcoal. I had one bad bird but it was 2-3 years in the freezer. One year in the freezer won’t affect the taste of your turkey.

EBT/food stamps has a huge Corporation component. Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and other grocery chains depend on government subsidized shoppers to help the bottom line. I read that 25% of Walmart’s profits is dependent on EBT shoppers. Other stores are a lower percentages but still contribute to the corporations bottom line profits. Heck even Amazon accepts EBT and offers a lower cost for a Prime membership to EBT card holders. So when you see Congress critters start to waffle about EBT. Do you think the are concerned about poor folks or Walmart and Amazon?

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Comfort food cooking, time change, adding in walks.

November 5, 2025

I want to move away from processed foods and eat more real foods but it can be tough to do that cooking for a single person. Cooking for a family after working all day can be tough when it is so easy to buy processed foods for a quick/easy meal.  I am going with some retro meals like meat loaf, beef stew, home made meat pies. I’m using mini-loaf pans for the meat loaf and freezing the extra meat loaves. The leftover beef stew got frozen in containers and I am working on the meat pie recipes using a pie crust and a yeast dough to hold the fillings. All of these meals become my quick frozen meals after I get them prepped and then frozen. I really liked how the mini-meat loafs turned out except the onions should have been minced and not diced. I used a slow cooker for the beef stew and leftover beef roast for the stew meat. 

I’m well stocked on meat inn the freezers. I keep adding meats of all types when the go on sale for a descent price. This week I got some chicken legs for $1.00 per pound and used the Foodsaver to bag, seal and freeze them.  Use Zateran’s Blackened spice or a “soul food” spice on the legs and cook for about 18 minutes at 400 degrees. You get some spicy chicken like Buffalo wings but is cheaper and easier to eat. I’m a bit ashamed that it has been so long since I cooked rice, I had to look up a recipe. 1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water, too easy. I got some large shrimp, 2 pounds for $10.00 which is comparable to the cost of hamburger these days. I got some frozen onions and peppers to make a shrimp stir fry. 

With this little EBT “crisis” I got to thinking how to cook more stuff myself and move away from processed food. I don’t get EBT but it is a good test of using what you have on hand and still eat good healthy food. For me the Insta pot pressure cooker and air fryer has been huge for making meals that are satisfying. I love my microwave for reheating meals. You can cook a steak in Microwave or over a gas/charcoal grill. The taste difference is dramatic.  I would recommend you stock up on a variety of spices and sauces to fight “food fatigue”. Rice and pastas can change flavors dramatically depending on the spices you use. Don’t be afraid to try something new. I love using the internet to find recipes. You can always tweak the recipe to work for you.

I hate the time change of Daylight saving time to standard time. I live in an area that Standard time would be fine. With daylight savings time in the summer there is still sunlight/sunset at 10 pm at night. I understand that most people would prefer to have more sunlight after they get out of school/work.  In the USA we live in a 24/7 world. Most of us are not working by sunlight and those that by sunlight won’t be affected if we stay on standard time or DST. This dates from WWI 1914 when many people did not have electric bulbs and depended on sunlight for Light. Time zones were created to keep the trains on schedule.  There is literally no reason to arbitrarily add/subtract an hour to everyone clock.  This would be an easy win for a politician.

Me and Boomer the dog are keeping up on the walks and adding another couple of blocks slowly.  We are up to 3/4 of a mile in 30 minutes. Boomer needs to sniff stuff but he is starting to step out a bit more.  We’ll do this for a week or two and then add some more blocks to the walk.  The goal is to build up to a 2 mile walk daily. 

I have drinking the Spirulina for a couple of weeks and I can understand why drinking it daily is challenge. It tastes’ like drinking algae/ pond scum. I think I’m getting use to drinking this algae.  I mix up a batch in a 24 oz. mason jar and drink 4-6 oz. per day. The Spirulina tastes less bad when cold. I would not recommend adding it to a smoothie as the taste/smell dominates. Just shotgun it down and then drink something you like. I will say the taste of the Spirulina does not linger over time.  Spirulina does add Iodine to your diet so if you use a non-iodine salt /kosher salt/ specialty non sea salt. It might be a good supplement. 

I order a battery backup of 4 kw hours that I can recharge via solar and other power sources. I’ll give my Mom and aunt the older battery banks I have on hand. My aunt already had a power outage and that motivated me to give them some sort of battery backup. I don’t need to run my home via electricity. My heat is a wood stove. I have an outdoor kitchen so I can cook year round via propane or charcoal/wood.  

I think the best thing about  being prepared is you have options. 

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A little shopping, bone broth and fountains

June 23, 2025

Coffee are prices are going up and I used my stock piled coffee and had to buy a couple of cans. I got an okay price but it hurt. If you find a good price on coffee or chocolate I would stock up if you want those items on hand. I got all the critter food stocked up. I’m trying out a new chicken feed, but I bought 18% protein pellet feed by accident. I’m going to mix all the feed up and see how it works. I tried out a new a new scratch and the chickens don’t seem to know it is scratch as it isn’t yellow like the normal corn scratch.

I topped off the mini-van’s tank and filled one of my gas cans before another spike in gas prices. Gas prices are up about a Quarter per gallon in the last couple of days in my area due to the Iran bombing. While I don’t suggest panic buying. Keep your gas tank topped off and try to keep the tank 1/2-3/4s full at all times. If you can afford it fill up gas cans as backup for your vehicle/gas generators in case of black/brown outs this summer. There is a bit of a heat wave in the Eastern US and the power companies are concerned they might not have enough power for cooling demands. Having a generator and a window or portable air conditioner, a small fridge or freezer in case of a power outage could make getting through a black/brown out more comfortable.

If you have the freezer space start freezing water in blocks or buy blocks of ice  and fill your freezers. Big blocks of ice will melt slower than ice cubes. A full freeze/fridge stays cool longer in a power outage when full of cold/frozen items. If your  fridge or freezer has empty space fill it up with water bottles. If you freeze water bottles only  have the bottles 2/3-3/4 full for  water expansion. Add pitchers of water to your fridge, for cold water to drink and help keep the fridge cool. Freeze Igloo ice packs for transfer to a cooler or a fridge. I know humidity is a problem but fans will help if they blow on you, plus they use less electricity compared to an air conditioner.  Use fans at night in windows to cool your home and during the day close windows and use blinds/thermal curtains to block the sun from heating up your home.  It gets about 60-65 degrees overnight in my area. So I can cool my house down at night. I’m not running  my Swamp/Evaporator coolers till 5-6 pm when my house temp hits 75 degrees F. I find I am comfortable  at that temp.

Acclimatize yourself to higher temps. Don’t go crazy but go outside in the morning for a walk. Sit in the shade in the evening and experience warmer temps. We Americans, tend to go from cool/cold air condition homes. To air conditioned cars, to air conditioned workplaces and never adapt to the heat of summer until the power goes out. People seem surprised that it gets hot in Summer.

I got some soup bones from a little store for a good price roasted them in the oven with some carrots, celery, onion and a garlic clove. Roasted the vegies and soup bones about 30 minutes in a 450 F. degree oven then add everything into a stock pot with a couple of gallons of water.  Simmer for 12 hours+ for bone broth.  I have made broth and stock in the past but Mom tried out a Collagen supplement and it did not work out well for her. Why buy a supplement when you can make real bone broth at home?  With the cool temps this week end, I fired up the oven and got out the stock pot and started some bone broth. I have one more cool day and I want to make some Challah bread and try anew French bread recipe.  The new Kitchen aid mixer needs a test.

I  got the front yard solar powered fountain set up.  It is odd that it is hard to find Terra cotta pots.  The pots did not get expensive they just got hard to find in my area.  In my area we have plastic plant pots or more expensive glazed pots. I used the 1/2inch tubing for the small tub in the front yard fountain and it worked okay. Though the tubing still has a little curl that will hopefully relax. I need to add a little more  water to the tub but over all I  think the little solar fountain should do okay.

The backyard fountain is a  bit more work. I got a terra cotta pot but I’m using some bricks and tubing to give the fountain some height.  I have to clean up the rock area and add landscape timbers to keep the decorative rock in place. I’ll place the solar water pump at the low area in the tub.  My hope is the pump will work in winter moving water.  One rule I have followed is everything outside of the house must be solar powered.  Not perfect as some solar lights are not brite, water fountains have been less than optimal but it energy costs are low.

My electric trike may become great, if gas prices spike. I have solar power battery banks and generators that can power the trike battery  bank. Now  I’m not saying your car is a bad thing.  But I think an electric bike or trike is an option if gas price spike.  Especially if you have solar power to use.  Even if you don’t use the battery on the E-trike. It still can be pedaled like any bike/trike and used for shopping. The battery just makes it easier.

I don’t think AI is a gamechanger. I do think some people will take advantage of it. The people that  will do best will be people that adapt to new paradigm. Those that take advantage of AI creatively and make some thing new. The new Luddites will be the White collar workers replaced by AI. If you work with your hands making stuff. Like a plumber, welder. construction, a carpenter. You have golden job after the illegals that drive down wages are deported.

If you want American blue collar workers to have higher wages. Deport illegals and punish the people that hire illegals. You want lower rent and lower cost of homes?  Deport illegals that live in those homes. If you remove 20-30 million illegals from the USA. You will free up housing, jobs and eliminate illegals in schools that your taxes pay for.  A simple solution if anyone the government will do it.

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Did a little house clean up…The Kia…

January 5, 2025

Nothing big done but I need to get the big bathroom toilet installed if on a temporary basis until I can do a bathroom refit/renovation. I want to replace the vanity and new flooring at a min. I want to install a soaker tub and new surround to update the bath. Getting work on the Kia has put the bathroom upgrade on hold for awhile but I can do a temp. install of the toilet until I can afford a full/at least vanity upgrade this year.

Mom needs to spend a couple of days here at Casa de Chaos for a surgery this month and this is the motivation I need to do a temp install of the toilet until the full renovation. I need to put in a large dry wall patch, replace some wood flooring and install the toilet. Add some paint and new towel hardware and most of the smaller jobs are done. I have gathered supplies for the job so we shall see if I got them all or if I need to make make runs to the store to complete the job! 

Mom has chickens and she can add extra feed as chickens tend to eat only what they need to daily. Water is the only issue but Mom has a Heated chicken waterer that needs to be tested but it should provide water for a couple of days. I can run to her place and make sure the critters have food and water but in winter water freezes so a heated waterer is needed for the birds.  For my Chickens I have gone to a 20%+ layer pellet for a few days. My aunt tells me a higher protein feed reduces moulting time and “helps”  winter egg production. My chickens roost over night on top of the henhouse and they seem good with that. Heck my aunt says some of her chickens perch in trees all winter. Most chickens are more sensitive to heat rather than cold. In my area the temp has dropped to about degrees 20 F. at night this winter. I added a small heat pad and a small waterer in the chicken house for the cold nights and the birds still roost on top of the chicken house. The chickens lay eggs in the hen house so they how to get in the house. Everything may change if the temps drop below 0 F. but my aunt says let the birds go where they feel comfortable. 

I got a new 5 gallon drip/fluid collection pan at my local farm store for under $10.00.  It has an open top and a pour spout. Heck I bought a oil change kit of a 5 quart pan and funnel and my little Kia mini van holds about 5+ quarts of oil. While I’m no tree hugger. I don’t want to spill oil around my shop. So I would recommend you get a large collection pan for oil changes.

I got an anti-freeze tester and the anti-freeze in the Kia is not as good as I want it to be. I understood that anti-freeze to water ratio would register because they have different specific gravities based on the water to antifreeze ratios. I just did not how to read the ratios and what was consider normal/good.  I will say the guy at the local farm store gave me a good explanation and did not talk down to me because I’m a woman. Perhaps because my age rather than my sex might have been a bit of the talk down. Or he might have gone simple because of other idiots that ask simple questions.  I got the info I needed and no sales pitch so I’m happy.

I build PC’s as a hobby when I can afford it.  I understand thermals in a PC or a car is just a matter of scale. I can get a digital read out of thermal loads on my PC I just did not under stand how the anti-freeze tester worked/registered and if your anti-freeze to water levels was low the test arrows would just swing at random and that is a bad thing. If you bought an antifreeze tester would you know that as a newbie? 

I found out you can change oil and use synthetic oil or regular oil brands with no issue. But, Synthetic oils tend to last longer between oil changes. So  5000/7500 miles between oil changes. Old school oil is still about 3000 miles between oil changes. Some older engines from the 70/80s do better with real oil and not synthetic oils. It seems synthetic oils work best in vehicles of 2000+ era of vehicles. 

For my Kia and the work done. I had an oil change using full synthetic oil. I admit the oil prior to the oil change was black and not good and at least 20,000 miles overdue for a change. Your car will not work better if you ignore basic maintenance. 

Every car needs maintenance, oil changes, new tires, shocks, timing belts, tune ups, brake pads regardless if it is new or used. The average car payment is $750.00 per month lets’ add another $150.00-$200.00 per month for comprehensive Insurance. Even if you buy a used car on a loan. You have to carry full insurance on the car. 

People are defaulting on loans and credit cards and it it brutal for folks.  I told people years ago that their pay check would lose 20-30% of value.  My time line was off a bit. This is the new reality. 

Social Security can not keep pace with inflation. We need deflation and a lower cost of living.. I know no corporatists/ globalist will see the writing on the wall. People want to own stuff and don’t want to be renters to the elite.

I know this is a strange concept but the people can just say NO! 

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Kia, Christmas and chickens. Oh MY!

December 29, 2024

I took the Kia back to the shop that did the oil change and the oil leak is coming from the valve gasket and not the oil filter or oil pan. Not great news other than it is a small/slow leak and the Kia is not burning oil! My plan is to clean the oil off the the engine and then add some ATP-205 stop leak and see if that stops the leak until I can afford a long term fix. I think the gasket around the valve cover being old might be the issue and the stop leak will handle the small leak.  Cleaning the oil off the engine will help me see if the stop leak works or if I need to do a bigger repair. 

I used a fuel system cleaner called Royal Purple in the Kia. There have been a few more acceleration hesitations after adding the cleaner but I expected that if the fuel system is clearing out old gunk. I did not expect the fuel gauge to start reading a full gas tank. The Kia has always sat at about 7/8th full on the gas gauge when topped off all of the years I have own it.  The gas gauge could get a bit wonky at the 1/2-1/4 tank level but I have am at 3/4 of a tank and have not driven a lot since I added the Royal Purple cleaner. My impression at 1/4 of tank of gas used is the hesitations are less common and the Kia seems to accelerate quicker/ is more peppy. It is a mini-van so she is not any sort of speed demon that is fast off the line but I think the Kia is showing improvement. 

I cleared off the engine codes after adding the Royal purple and oil change. The code was for bad O2 sensors on the exhaust but I figured I’d see if the check engine light would stay off.  So far so good.  The Kia is a “timing belt engine” and at 100,000 miles she needs that replaced as basic maint.  I won’t DIY that job!I I’m buying the parts for a mechanic to do some of the bigger jobs and will get them done as I can afford them. I learned the 2003 Kia comes with a Mitsubishi engine. I have had great luck with the older Mitsubishi motors. 

I know many folks say bad stuff about Kias but everyone I talk to that have own Kias love them. Sure I’m finding a few issues now that I’m catching up on much needed maint. But it’s a 21 year old car, yeah it’s going to need some work. I have probably spent about $1200.00 over 3 months getting tools along with parts installed over 4 months. That beats the heck about paying around $750.00 per month for a car payment plus $200.00 a month for full coverage insurance for a new/used car, and you still have to pay for tires and oil changes, I’m getting now.

My Ribeye steaks turned out less than optimal for the Christmas eve dinner. The wind was kicking up and the steaks got well done rather than med-rare. I forgot the corn on the cob but the garlic fries were a big hit. Still plenty of food for people to take home on via doggie bags and had great time just chatting over the food. My aunt brought me and Mom 10 pounds of grass fed ground beef from a rancher she knows and 2 dozen eggs from her chickens. Great gift! I feel bad as my aunt forgot her fudge candy tin. Overall I think the dinner went great.

My aunt is super smart about all farm critters and she told us that adding high protein pellets to the chicken’s feed will help with winter laying and shorten the moulting time of chickens. I added 21% protein pellets to the chicken food today. I have 3 birds and got 2-3 eggs per day in the summer and now I get 1 egg every other day. So we will see if upping the protein helps with egg laying. The chickens still perch on top of the chicken house over night. I have unplugged the heat pad as it relatively warm at 40 degrees F. during the day and in the 30’s F. at night. The waterer has not frozen over night at 28-29 degrees F. since I added the wood block on top of the concrete brick that holds the waterer. I have a small waterer that I placed on the heating pad in the chicken house that did not freeze at 26 degrees F. but it is so warm I removed that waterer and unplugged the heat pad.

The wood pile has got wet/absorbed moisture via 90%-100% humidity days this December. My wood stove did not do a great job burning the fir that “seasoned” for 18+ months. With all the rain/humidity I think the wood soaked up the moisture like a sponge. You really need to build a hot fire so you keep your chimney clean. Many people don’t like poplar as it burns fast and is terrible to split. But if you can split it. Poplar makes a hot fast fire in a wood stove. If you wonder if you are making a clean burning fire in a modern wood stove? Look at the glass, if it is clean you are probably making a good fire. If the glass is dirty, you are probably making a dirty/smoky fire. A hot fire burns cleaner than a low smoky fire. That does not include hot coals that are a good thing for heat. If smoke rolls in your fire box after you start your fire yow have a “cold fire” and that is bad. You want some flames/heat with little smoke in the fire box.

I used the little Ryobi log splitter getting some poplar split along with some other tough to split hardwoods. I took a bit off 220 sand to the oil dip stick that was painted black and makes it almost impossible to see the oil level. Sharpen the wedge using a file and knock off the welds/paint. For a $300.00 log splitter it is dang good. It splits dry apple/cherry woods. White maple, smaller chunks or walnut and all delivered fire woods that are bit oversized. It’s not a gas powered splitter that costs $1000.00+. It’s a simple splitter to make chunks of wood smaller to fit in a wood stove. It does that job well. One thing I hate about this splitter is the all black hydraulic oil dip stick. I took 220 sand paper to the paint on the stick and now you can see the oil on the stick. Ryobi pick white, red for the measurement of the dipstick. All black paint dipstick is not good.

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BERJAYA Posted by Jamie

Started Xmas dinner stuff, other odds and ends

December 23, 2024

I got started on baking the desserts for the Christmas Eve dinner/grill up. I’m not cooking a Ribeye roast but some nice Ribeye steaks on the grill with corn on the cob, chips, meat/cheese and cracker tray for snacking. It is sorta like a BBQ from summer on the Xmas eve. The weather might get a little damp but it will be almost 50 degrees F. which is warm for this time of year.

For desserts I got a Marie Callender’s Chocolate pie and Key lime pie that were on sale during Thanksgiving for $5.00 each. I’m seeing many of these pies on sale for the Holiday so if you have the freezer space this is the time to stock up for next year. It is nice to have something on hand for a “Potluck” or bake sale on hand that is easy and good for any “last minute” events.  I made some fudge with the Carnation Fudge kit I buy on sale when I can find it. Easy to make but I really had to work this year to get the marshmallows stirred in. I should have used a larger stove pan for heating up the milk and sugar. I bought a couple of small holiday tins so Mom and my Aunt can take some of the fudge home with them.  I baked a French vanilla cake tonight and will add frosting in the next couple of days. Always nice to have most of the baking done before the holiday to free up cooking space for the big day.

I mixed up a batch of my  “Artisan bread” but I forgot how many eggs are needed for my Challah bread recipe. My chicken’s egg production has fallen off a lot this winter so I had to buy eggs. Golly eggs are way up in price again! Good news is my aunt is bringing eggs to me and Mom for a gift.  It has been very cloudy/foggy so my chickens haven’t gotten much light and my small chicken set up does not work well for adding light for laying. I added a “Flock Block” so the birds get extra calories and some Apple cider vinegar to the water just to help boost the chicken’s immune system. The birds seem to be very healthy though they went though some molting this fall/winter.  If you use cinder blocks or bricks to elevate your waterer’s add a wood block between the waterer and brick.  Your chicken waterer won’t freeze up as quickly as that stone sucks the heat from the water. The waterer should be okay to 28 degrees F. outside over night with no additional heat.

Update on the Kia mini-van getting caught on the maintenance I got an oil change and I got an oil drip/leak. It looks like it might be at the oil filter but Kia has a small O ring gasket on the bolt for draining the oil pan that some people might not know to replace. I got a warranty but I will be glad when gather the tools needed so I can start maintaining my car.  I have read about some quick oil change shops that have are bad. Remember no one cares more about your stuff than you.  Goodness knows keeping an older vehicle going is critical when car payments average over $750.00 per month and some car payments are over $1000.00 per month and that does not count the insurance you need for a vehicle loan. In a few months for the price of a monthly car loan you could buy a new engine of transmission for an older car.

If you are thinking about buying a new or nearly new car. Put $750.00-$1000.00 into an envelope for the payment and add another $ 200.00 + for comprehensive insurance you have to carry for a new car loan for 3 months  and then decide if you really want that new car.  Remember it is your money and you don’t have to buy.

I’m a computer nerd and I like gaming and now the games suck and PC parts are insanely over priced. Because of Covid and people buying like mad men. PC parts and games are to expensive. You don’t have to buy anything!!!  Don’t feed the beast and prices will come down.  It won’t be fast, but it will happen.

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BERJAYA Posted by Jamie

Kia Maintenance, rainy day and snow soon?

October 24, 2024

I got the brake job costed and $400.00 it is a bit more than I had hoped. My Kia is 21 years old and I put off some stuff because I just did not have the money for the job.  The Kia has 120,000 miles so for her age she has very low mileage but 100,000 mile is when wear and tear kicks in and stuff needs to be replaced. I’ll get the rear brakes done next week and save up funds to get the suspension work done a little bit at a time.  Every thing is still safe to drive on the car. Getting all the undercarriage work will just make the Kia better long term.

I’m very glad I looked up Youtube vids on replacing sparkplugs the Kia as you have to remove a plenum and expose the exhaust manifold/gasket to remove 3 rear spark plugs. I need to an exhaust manifold gasket, throttle body gasket, all spark plug wires and a couple more tools for vacuum hoses and wire harness clips. It does not look like a hard job but it is a much bigger job than I had anticipated.  It looks like all of the electric wiring only fits a certain way via cable length and shape. Other than all the vacuum hoses. I was able to download a couple of manuals that seem good over all for detail.

I  have noticed a drop or two of oil under the Kia in my shop so I bought a new O-ring for the oil pan plug. The manual recommends changing that ring when you change the oil. My city website says I can put out used oil in gallon jugs for trash day. It was not specific about used anti-freeze. But I figure it worth a shot to see if it is picked up. The local fire department might take used anti-freeze as part of a hazardous waste program but it is not very specific on the city website.

It turned all cool and blustery today. A bit of rain that was very welcomed as the ground got dried out this fall. The weekend is forecasted to be around 68 F. and dry so I might be able to clean up some bad paint chips on the Kia, and get the oil change and anti-freeze jobs done before it gets too cold. There is a forecast for snow the first week in November and that is a bit early for snowfall in the valley.  So far the forecast a lot of snow but it won’t be cold enough for snow build up like 2017’s Snowmeggedon event.  I’m very happy I have good tires and new brakes on at least the back wheels before the snow flies.

Of course snow means prep. Get your sidewalk salt  and sand now if the budget allows. Do you have a good wind shield ice scraper for your vehicle? Are your windshield wipers good or do they leave streaks? Do you have a winter emergency kit in your car for staying warm if you get stuck? Do you have a way to get unstuck? Chains, tow cables and quality tires? Do you have an Emergency car kit? Jumper cable or a jumper battery? A head lamp and gloves to change a tire. Have you checked that spare tire or do you have fix-flat as a backup? I’m seeing a Slime fix a flat and that might be better than most fix-a flat products as it does not destroy the tire. Get in the habit to plugin in recharging little battery jumper packs during longer drives.  If for nothing else you can charge your cell phone and call for help.

It is up to you to set your level of preparedness. I don’t need to go shopping every week. You might need to do that shopping weekly. Not because you want to but that how life is for you. I was YOU in 2011. I feel that reality. Fred Meyer/ Kroger has Progresso soup and bullion for $1.29 each. Buy 8 of this soup/bullion mix to get the sale price. You can eat for a week for every 8 cans you buy depending on the number of people in household.  You get meat and veggies and it is easy to heat on a camp stove or in a micro wave if you have power. I ate MRE’s back in 2000’s and they were not good but they did taste better when warm/heated. You don’t need to buy freeze dry/dehydrated foods to prep. Buying multiples 8 cans of  Progresso soups/bullion will give you a week of food that you can heat and eat. If you look  at the price of MRE’s vs Progresso soup soup  wins every time against a single MRE $7.00 + bag is for only one person.

I don’t know why any buys bread at $2.00-$5.00 per loaf when the can make the same bread at home for less then a dollar and the oven helps heat the home when it cold. Bread rises without you watching it so what is the issue? My artisan bread is just 3 ingredients. Does not kneading and tastes great. The regular white bread loafs made at home cost less than $1.00 per loaf for ingredients. C’mon folks is convenience worth a 50-300 % mark up store price?

I have rambled/ ranted  on a bit and I’m sure it did much good for any one but myself.

I’m Gen X and I’d like to ask thee Gen Z and millennials. How could deporting 30-50 million illegal immigrants might open up buying/renting a home? Or how removing low wage 30-50 million illegals from US job market might raise wages for US citizens? How schools could be better if the were not trying to teach non-english speaking illegal’s and not your kids math and reading? How does giving illegal immigrants make you health care better? Does it make your schools better.  Do illegals in your city make crime go down?  Do illegals create a net positive benefit for you? Vote as you see fit.

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BERJAYA Posted by Jamie

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