"Varnish" car came by the house the other day - saw it heading east so I had time to get the camera for the return trip. The tracks dead end a few miles down the road at the power plant so it didn't take long to make the trip. There was another car in between the engine and the car in the photo, it too was painted up nicely in Norfolk & Southern livery. If I was running the railroad, I'd paint the engine to match or at least make sure it had a fresh coat of black. Other than the occasional local that runs through, most of the traffic is a coal drag powered by UP engines. The power plant is scheduled to be shut down in a few years, so that'll be it for the former Three I and later the New York Central. Shame to see tracks abandoned. No better way to move heavy freight economically.
Meanwhile back to Covid-19:
The Missus and I are still chuggin' along. I did a bit of reflective thinking yesterday since it was raining and I couldn't work outside, nor did I wish to get trapped out in the shop. My emergency preps were based on being self sufficient for two months and that's about how long the Missus and I have been in self-quarantine. If we would have had to survive on the food we have set aside, things would be getting pretty dicey about now. Since the grocery store is still open, I've been making a trip once a week to resupply and get perishable items and snacks - way too many snacks. If the grid had gone down or something else happened that would have prevented me from going to the store we'd be short on fruit and vegetables. If we don't eat fresh we normally eat frozen veggies, rather than canned. However, might not be a bad idea to stock up on a few of those for the future.
We've still got enough dog and cat food for another month. I did buy another 50 lbs. of chicken feed. My little chickens seem to eat quite a bit. I still had a 50 lb bag left but I've now got a better idea as to how much I should keep on hand. I normally keep a couple of gas cans on hand for the mower and the tractor. If things were real bad, mowing wouldn't be a high priority, certainly, so I'm probably where I need to be on that. I haven't really noticed much else we weren't prepared with. The Missus and her meds could be a problem. I've got a faucet that's dripping and the post light out front is stuck on due to the photo-eye giving up the ghost. I've got some faucet washers on hand but I'll have to wait on the light. It's got a LED bulb in it, so electric consumption is minimal. I always keep an extra thermocouple for the furnace, so that's covered along with the normal spare batteries, candles, etc.
The Missus gave me a haircut so I'm not too shaggy. She's a licensed beautician, not a hack, so I'm good there. She, on the other hand, is not so lucky. I can do a lot of things but cutting hair is not one of them. One of the things I'm going to need to address in the future is needing help doing things around here. I'm getting old, like it or not, and I can't do all the things I once did. I've been very careful lately to make sure I didn't throw my back out and I was extra careful yesterday when using the table saw and router to make sure I didn't do anything that would require a trip to the emergency room. Surly's real good about helping out when I need anything but since we don't want anyone in the house these days, not sure how I'm going to get the window AC unit from the basement to the bedroom. I'm not bothered by the heat too much but the Missus suffers miserably from the heat since her cancer. There's an answer to every problem and we're a lot better off than many, so I'll get some sort of work-around if I don't get some muscle.
All things considered, we're looking good. Add a few more bulk food items, a little more chicken feed, make sure I don't get behind on normal/preventative maintenance, try to stay as healthy as possible and we should be able to stay here for at least another ten years regardless of what the world throws at us. At least that's the plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment