Category Archives: COVID-19

COVID-19 Travel

Custer State Park, SD.

One segment of the economy that has boomed due to the pandemic is anything involving the outdoors. Americans have discovered that outdoor activities are a safe source of recreation. One industry that has seen a particular boom is the recreational vehicle industry. According to this recent article, RV sales in July were higher than they had been in 40 years. And campgrounds, whether it is state parks or private campgrounds, have been packed.

This is understandable for a few reasons. First of all, I for one, am not about to get inside a pressurized tube with a bunch of strangers, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be taking any commercial flights any time soon. Similarly, it will probably be a long time before the cruise industry rebounds. So the best choice for long distance travel is driving, and an RV allows one to not worry about the cleanliness of a hotel room.

And there’s another factor at work. Millions of Americans are working remotely, and their kids are attending school remotely. Since they don’t have to show up at work or school on Monday morning, many of them realized that they could go to work and go to school from the road, as long as they had an internet connection. That’s exactly what we did recently. We waited until after school started, and then took a working vacation to Yellowstone. I would have preferred to do it in a $100,000 diesel pusher motorhome, but we don’t happen to have one of those. What we do have is an 8 foot popup towed behind our minivan, and we decided to use that.

Staying Connected on the Road

In campgrounds, we saw quite a few people, adults and children, sitting at picnic

Boost Mobile Coverage Map.

tables with a laptop. So I assume that they, like us, were at work or at school. We stayed mostly at KOA campgrounds, most of which have very good WiFi connections. When we were driving, or in state park campgrounds, we used a cell phone hotspot to connect. While our connections sometimes failed, they were reliable most of the time. There were a few occasions when we had a meeting that we absolutely had to attend at a certain time, and

Verizon Coverage Map.

Cricket Wireless Coverage map.

on those occasions, we did need to plan ahead a bit. Overall, we found that Verizon had the best connections in the Western states we visited. For example, in Yellowstone National Park, Verizon had service available near all of the major centers. Between the four of us, we had three cellular providers, and Verizon was the most reliable where we were. My phone, which uses the prepaid provider Boost Mobile, which uses the Sprint network, had absolutely no service for most of the trip. I looked at their coverage map after the fact, and while they have very good coverage in the eastern half of the country (especially along interstates), they have essentially zero coverage in much of the Intermountain West. My kids both have service with Cricket Wireless, which uses the AT&T network, and they also had good coverage in most areas. Verizon seemed a bit more reliable, but there were a couple of occasions when they had service but my wife’s Verizon phone did not.

If your work depends on having internet available, the moral of the story is that you should plan ahead. Between our three providers, we had very reliable service. But occasionally, the best provider was unavailable, but another one was available. One workaround to increase your reliability if you have only one provider would be to buy a cheap prepaid phone from another providers. If both your primary carrier and that carrier have reasonably good service in the area where you plan to travel, you’ll increase your chances of having a good connection from any given spot. Phones are available for about $60 or less, and a month’s service is generally about $30. The inexpensive plan might run out of data, but you can generally buy more. Having a second cell phone with a different provider could be good insurance if you need coverage. You can turn either phone into a hotspot and use that for your other devices.

Prior to the trip, we did buy a dedicated hotspot with Verizon service, but it didn’t seem to provide any better service than the Verizon cell phone. And unfortunately, the hardware stopped working during the trip, and will have to be returned. Frankly, I don’t think there was any advantage over simply using a cell phone as a hotspot.

Inside Yellowstone Park, there was cellular coverage near all of the major destinations, such as Old Faithful, Fishing Bridge, Mammoth Hot Springs, etc. On one occasion, we were touring the park when my wife had a Zoom meeting to attend. We stopped at Fishing Bridge, where she had a good signal, and she worked in the car while the kids and I viewed the sites. However, when we strayed even a few miles from one of these sites, there was no service. Our base of operations during our stay at the park, the West Yellowstone KOA, had very good WiFi. So we generally attended school and work from the campground in the morning, and then toured the park without regard to connectivity.

There were a few times when the kids simply missed a class because an internet connection was unavailable. So you need to be flexible, and if you have an important meeting you need to attend, you need to plan to be in a place with a solid connection.

Social Distancing on the Road

Family dinner at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone, of buffalo burgers purchased at food truck outside the park.

We are being very careful with social distancing, and the trip had few challenges. We recognized beforehand that there would be some situations where we would have to go inside buildings to interact with others, although we kept those situations to a bare minimum. When we did need to go inside and/or interact closely with others, we wore KN95 masks, which provide some protection to the person wearing them. I’d feel better if I had an N95 mask that was made in the USA, but those aren’t available yet. Camping does not always allow the opportunity to wash your hands thoroughly with hot water, so we also brought along and used plenty of hand sanitizer. In addition to the N95 masks, we always had with us either a cloth mask or a disposable surgical mask.

I would say that about half of the people we saw were wearing masks when it was appropriate to do so. Buildings inside the national park required masks, and most were honoring that requirement. A few people had what appeared to be N95 or KN95 masks. Most had simpler cloth face coverings.

For the most part, other people we encountered respected our social distance. In campgrounds, when we talked to other campers, they instinctively kept their distance. We did have to keep up our guard, however, since others would sometimes decide to intrude upon our personal space. For example, at Old Faithful, my daughter and I were holding a spot at a bench for the rest of the family when an unmasked woman simply came to our bench and sat down a couple of feet away from my daughter. There was little we could do other than move as far away as possible from her, tighten our masks, and try to breathe in the other direction.

At Mount Rushmore, I was sitting minding my own business when an elderly woman, in an apparent effort to impress her granddaughter, started hopscotching toward me. I held my breath, quickly got up, and found another place to sit.

Buying Supplies on the Road

Cody, WY, Walmart. Google Streetview.

Without exception, when we bought gas, we paid at the pump and didn’t have to go into the store. Since the process did require handling the pump and entering a zip code on the display, I made a habit of slathering my hands with hand sanitizer when done.

For an almost two week trip, we did have to buy groceries. To avoid having to go into the store, we placed an online order at Walmart, and picked up our order at the Walmart in Cody, Wyoming. In most cases, it’s necessary to place an order about two days in advance, so this requires some advance planning. But we placed the order from a cell phone while driving, and later added some items we thought of.

One good resource for buying things on the road without direct contact is Walgreens. The Walgreens website allows you to order a limited selection of items, and pick those up at the drive-thru window. In one case, we needed a charging cable for an iPad, which wasn’t listed on the website. But when we called the store, they were happy to leave it at the drive-thru, and we were able to pick it up a few minutes later. For staples like bread and milk, you can place your order online, and then pick it up and pay at the window.

Most (but not all) major supermarket chains have online ordering for in-store pickup. In many cases, the service is through InstaCart, and their website will show available stores in the area where you are travelling. Walmart’s ordering is done directly through their website, and as far as I know, all Walmart stores offer curbside pickup.

Sanitation Resources

As the song goes, “it’s a problem to be faced, what to do with human waste.” This is one great advantage of traveling in a larger RV with its own toilet. In our case, we have a small portable toilet in the camper, like the one shown here, which is really best for emergency situations. And it also needs to be emptied by going into the bathroom.

In some cases, the only option was a public restroom, which meant using the KN95 mask. After using the bathroom, I washed my hands thoroughly, but I usually had to touch the doorknob before leaving. So my routine was to stop outside the restroom, apply hand sanitizer, and then remove my mask.

Vault toilet. National Park Service image.

One advantage of state and national parks is that they often have what are euphemistically called “vault” toilets, or pit toilets. To the squeamish, these might seem to be less than ideal. But in general, they are kept clean. And they have the great advantage of providing automatic social distancing. You are isolated from everyone else, so there’s no chance of breathing in a virus exhaled by the person in the next stall. In general, if I had the choice between a “vault” toilet and a “modern” restroom, I opted for the vault, since I believe it is safer. At one of our campgrounds, the campground had a “modern” restroom, but there was a picnic area about a mile away with a rarely used vault toilet. I made the short drive to take advantage of the added safety. I also took advantage of the vault toilets to empty our portable toilet, a job that for some reason always devolves upon me.

In many cases, such as state parks, a vault toilet is available in the campground. So even if you’re not camped there, a drive into the campground will allow you to find this facility.

Many locations, such as Mt. Rushmore, had a bank of portable toilets set up, even though the modern restrooms were in operation. Again, even though it sounds counterintuitive, it seems to me that the portable toilet, where you are isolated, is safer than a public restroom. I did notice that this toilet was out of hand sanitizer, so you do want to carry a small container with you at all times. I kept mine stored in a fanny pack, along with my KN95 mask, stored in its own paper bag. (Here is CDC guidance on re-use of “disposable” masks.)

To avoid public showers, we did have a solar shower and shower tent which we used a couple of times. The shower is designed to be hung from a tree, although we found that the most convenient option was usually to put it on the roof of the car. (For more information about solar showers, see my earlier post.) It did prove to be an inexpensive and convenient option.

One thing that I noticed, particularly in Yellowstone National Park, was the huge number of rental RVs. We must have seen hundreds of motorhomes with a prominent ad for CruiseAmerica.com. They aren’t exactly cheap, but the cost is comparable to a hotel room. If one doesn’t own an RV and wants to travel, this seems like a viable option.

I’ve never been to Yellowstone National Park in the fall, but it did seem to be quite crowded for the off season. The crowds weren’t an issue, but I believe they were higher than usual, since others probably had the same idea we did. For most of the nights of our stay, we did have campground reservations, and most of the campgrounds where we stayed appeared to be full or almost full.

My experience with the Minnesota State Parks is that if you want to go camping, you’ll find many options available during the week. If you’re flexible, you’ll find many interesting places to camp. On weekends, there are fewer options. Previous years, I’ve almost always been able to find a weekend camping spot on very short notice. This year, that might not be possible on a weekend, but it still is on a weekday. I suspect other states are the same. The campground host at Custer State Park in South Dakota said that this year, the campground is full almost every night, whereas in previous years, there were often spots available.

Every segment of the industry seems to be at its limits. We had recently purchased a new vehicle and had to have a hitch installed. The dealer who installed it (Bauer’s Custom Hitches in Minnetonka, MN, which did an excellent job) was unable to get the hitch from their normal supplier. I eventually found one at O’Reilly Auto Parts, which had the right hitch in stock locally. The dealer was so surprised that I found one that they bought them retail for the other customers who were waiting for the same part.

We were gone for about 12 days, and traveled from Minnesota first through North Dakota and Montana to Yellowstone, and then back through Wyoming in South Dakota. In retrospect, we should have stayed put at some of those sites a few more days, rather than driving so much. Since we can, we’ll probably take more similar trips this year, but probably put in fewer miles. The $100,000 diesel pusher would probably provide more convenient options for four of us to be working or going to school. But since we don’t have one of those, the 8 foot popup seems to work almost as well.

Eclipse of June 10, 2021

Wikimedia Commons image by Sch, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The photo above was taken in Bavaria at sunrise during the eclipse of May 31, 2003. That was an annular eclipse, meaning that the sun is never entirely obscured by the sun. Because the moon is slightly too far away, there remains a ring of sunlight. It’s essentially the same as a partial eclipse, in that the world does not get appreciably darker. It’s an interesting phenomenon, but not particularly amazing. In most places, if nobody told you it was in progress, you might not even notice. For example, I drove to Springfield, IL, to see the annular eclipse of May 10, 1994. It was somewhat interesting, but there really wasn’t much to see.

There are two exceptions however, one of which is shown in the photo. At sunrise and sunset, the disc of the sun is visible. So if the annular eclipse (or a partial eclipse) is happening at sunrise or sunset, it will be quite apparent.

Path of June 10, 2021, eclipse. NASA image.

There will be an annular eclipse in North America on June 10, 2021. It’s drawn little attention, since most of the path of annularity will be over unpopulated areas in Northern Canada, Greenland, and Siberia. Much of the Canadian path is over Hudson Bay and James Bay. So unless you’re one of the few thousand Canadians living in the path, the event will be of little interest.

However, the one exception where the eclipse is visible over inhabited areas is also the one place where the phenomenon will be most interesting: The partial or annular eclipse will be visible at sunrise in Northwestern Ontario, near the city of Thunder Bay. In Thunder Bay, the sun will be about 70% covered by the moon at sunrise, and the sunrise should clearly show the partially eclipsed sun. Just a few miles northeast of Thunder Bay, there will be an annular eclipse at or near sunrise, which should result in a view similar to the one shown above.

I have two viewing locations in mind. I’ve already made a hotel reservation in Longlac, Greenstone, Ontario, which is 305 km from Thunder Bay along the Trans-Canada highway. The lawn in front of the hotel seems to have a good view of the sunrise. From my home in Minnesota, it’s about a 9 hour drive. That’s actually my backup plan, since I was already able to make a refundable hotel reservation. My primary viewing location is Macleod Provincial Park, where the campground is next to a lake, which seems to have a good view of the sunrise. Camping reservations, however, are only available five months in advance. So in January, I plan to make reservations, and after they are secured, I’ll cancel the hotel in Longlac (and I’m sure it will get snatched up quickly, since it’s one of the few hotels in the path of annulaity.)

It should be a spectacular view, but there are two possible problems. The first is the possibility of cloud cover, since there appears to be cloud cover about 60% of the time in this part of Ontario. As we did in 2017, we’ll just have to hope for the best, and perhaps plan to drive a few miles to a break in the clouds.

The other potential problem, of course, is COVID-19. Since March, the U.S.-Canadian border has been closed to non-essential travel, and this trip is clearly non-essential. Again, I’ll have to hope for the best. If the border remains closed, there will be about 16% coverage of the sun at sunrise at home in the Twin Cities. So it won’t be particularly spectacular, but it will be worth getting up to view.

But as one heads northeast, the coverage gets greater. For example, in Duluth, MN, there will be about 40% coverage of the sun as the sun rises over Lake Superior. Just south of the border at Grand Portage, the coverage will be about 70%. Anywhere along the North Shore of Lake Superior between these two points, the view should be spectacular as the sun rises over the lake. So if the border is still closed, that’s probably where I will be.

Other cities in North America will experience a spectacular sunrise that morning. In Toronto, for example, the coverage will be about 72%. Philadelphia, New York, and Boston will all have coverage of more than 70%. Winnipeg will have about 40% coverage at sunrise, and much of Saskatchewan will have at least some coverage at sunrise. Further west, Fairbanks, Alaska, is the only other North American city with anything to see, with about 24% coverage at sunrise.

The USPS Delivers!

We take unwarranted criticism of the U.S. Postal Service very seriously around here. As we reported previously, the Post Office stood ready to serve the nation even after a nuclear war, and during COVID-19 the men and women of the USPS have acted heroically to ensure that the mail goes through. Even when rioters burnt down two post offices in Minneapolis, the Postal Service quickly regrouped to make sure that its customers would continue to receive mail with minimal interruption.

Recently, for political reasons, the USPS has come under intense criticism, the gist of which being that they can’t do anything right. They were allegedly in the process of ripping out all of their sorting machines, and even removing mailboxes. The particular conspiracy theory was that without these sorting machines, they would be unable to deliver millions of ballots. This didn’t make much sense to us, since most ballots in a given locality would all be addressed to the same city or county election office, and wouldn’t require much sorting, by machine or otherwise.

And allegedly, the removal of mailboxes was to prevent voters from sending their ballots. The theory was that a voter would go to a spot where there used to be a mailbox, would see that the mailbox was gone, and then give up in despair. For the theory to work, the voter would have to be too dumb to look for another mailbox, take it to the nearest post office (where they would find a mailbox in the parking lot), give it to their friendly letter carrier, or just take it to the election office themselves. In short, as conspiracy theories go, it wasn’t very plausible, but a lot of people seemed to subscribe to it.

So as an experiment, I decided to test the United States Postal Service. I asked for volunteers on Facebook and NextDoor. I had them send me their address, and I mailed them an honest-to-goodness piece of snail mail. I had ten volunteers, and I asked them to inform me when they received the letter. I mailed the letters from three different locations. Some I mailed from a blue mailbox in front of a local strip mall (one of the boxes that was allegedly being torn out). Some I mailed from the drive-up mailbox in front of my local post office. And some I placed in my own mailbox, and the friendly letter carrier picked them up with the mail.

A small sampling of my letters is shown above. All ten were delivered in a timely fashion. Most of the transit times included a Sunday, but I included it. All ten of the letters were delivered in four days or less. Crosstown letters were delivered in either one or two days (the two day period included a Sunday). I tracked the average speed of each letter (measured by road miles from the center of the two ZIP codes). The slowest traveled an average speed of 0.16 miles per hour (845 feet per hour). That sounds slow, but keep in mind that I dropped it in a box in the afternoon, and there’s no way it could have arrived any earlier than the next day.

The fastest letter got from Minnesota to Maine at an average speed of 19.6 miles per hour. Remember, this included a Sunday, when it presumably didn’t travel at all. It was undoubtedly in multiple trucks during its trip. In my humble opinion, travelling at that speed for a mere 55 cents is an amazing bargain. Letters to Texas and Washington got similar excellent service. The full results are shown in the table below.

All of my letters were addressed by hand, and as my elementary school teachers would attest, my penmanship isn’t the greatest. But the post office managed to sort them. And all of the letters I saw had bar codes printed on them. These would have been printed on the envelopes by an automatic sorting machine, and they are designed to be read by other automatic sorting machines. These, of course, are the automatic sorting machines that the USPS allegedly ripped out and put on the scrap heap. But somehow, my letters all made it through one or more of these allegedly non-existent machines.

In short, the criticism of the USPS is unfounded. As they have done throughout the pandemic, as they have done despite civil unrest, they continue to serve their country proudly.

If you’re wondering about the design on some of the envelopes, I copied the design from a 1944 patriotic cover. (You can see that cover and read more about it at this link.) Just like they do today, during the war, the Post Office Department made sure that they mail went through. I’m sure there were detractors back then, but someone decided to print up some special envelopes to thank their letter carrier for heroic service.

We ought to do the same today. If you haven’t done so recently, thank your letter carrier for his or her hard work. And for the workers behind the scenes, you can invest 55 cents and mail them a thank you card. Just address it to “Postmaster” and your city, state, and ZIP code. I’m sure it will get pinned up to the employee bulletin board. They’ve worked hard to serve you, and they deserve your thanks.

2020 Minnesota State Fair

My view of the 2020 Minnesota State Fair Food Parade.

Like many large public events, the 2020 Minnesota State Fair was cancelled due to COVID-19. While we understand the decision, it was very disappointing, since I have attended every Minnesota State Fair since 1971, and most (or possibly all) of them from 1961-69. (I have slowly come to grips with the issues surrounding missing it in 1970. My family had just returned home from a month-long vacation, and even though we were home for the last day of the fair, they deiced not to go.)

The fair had been cancelled in 1945 due to wartime fuel shortages. Even though VJ Day came before the start date, by that point, I assume it was too late to plan it. It was cancelled in 1946 due to another public health emergency, namely, a polio epidemic. And this year, a solid run from 1947-2019 was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this year would be my 50th consecutive, it was disappointing when the news came down that it had been cancelled.

But even though it wasn’t the same, I still managed to attend twice this year, kind of. I did my best to keep my streak alive.

The first announcement came a few months ago that the fair’s fine art exhibition would take place as scheduled. Tickets were about $10 per person to get into the art exhibit, but most importantly, it would allow admission to the fairgrounds. Even though we were supposed to “proceed directly” from the outer gate to the art exhibit, we were able to take our time, and at least walk through the fairgrounds one time. Below, I have four videos that I shot during the visit my kids and I made. There were people about, but knowing that it was the second day of the fair, the absence of large crowds was eerie. In the videos, I do my best to narrate the sites visible along Cosgrove Avenue. If you want the opportunity to get in yourself, there are still a few hundred tickets available, which you can purchase at this link.

At the food parade, stay in your vehicle unless, well, it’s urgent.

After the art show was announced, there was another announcement of an opportunity to visit the fairgrounds. They conducted a “food parade,” in which you could enter the fairgrounds by car, and were able to purchase a limited selection of state fair food items from your car, similar to a drive-up window of a restaurant. Tickets to this well publicized event sold out immediately, but we were able to nab one from a neighbor on Nextdoor.

Between the two, my personal preference was the art show. One attraction of the fair is greasy expensive food, and the food parade provided that. But for me, the chance to walk the fairgrounds, even just a portion, made it feel like I’m now allowed to say that I attended for my 50th consecutive year.

I hope you enjoy the videos, and if you decide to go, there are a few hundred tickets left for the art show. You need to purchase tickets for a specific date and time. While the food parade is continuing, all of the available tickets were snatched up in minutes. While they might be available from scalpers at inflated prices, I don’t think they would be worth any premium over the face value. The art show, on the other hand, gives you the chance to say that you went to the State Fair in 2020, at a reasonable price. It will be a bittersweet visit, but better than nothing.

You can view some of my previous posts about the Minnesota State Fair at this link.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Drive-In Educational Programs and Meetings for COVID-19

I’ve previously written about why I believe outdoor spaces should be utilized for learning and other group activities during the COVID-19 emergency. Since I’m in the business of providing continuing education programs for attorneys, a few weeks ago, I presented an outdoor program at a city park.

The weather for that program was excellent, and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to be outside. However, the weather can be unpredictable, and it won’t always work to be outside. For that reason, today, I presented a live drive-in program in a parking lot. The attendees watched from their car, and listened on their car radio. If there had been questions or feedback, they could have phoned me at any time.

Why a Drive-In Program?

It was a bit more work, and it would actually have been more pleasant to just get out of our cars and do it outside, as with the previous program. But a drive-in program is a very viable option for any group that needs to be meet in person, since the weather won’t always cooperate completely.

I didn’t bring it today, because the weather was nice, but if there had been a chance of rain, I would have brought a canopy such as the one shown here. For an outdoor presentation of any kind, the speaker obviously needs to dress for the weather. But the attendees can take advantage of their car, or even run the car for heat or air conditioning if needed.

My transmitter was the InfOspot Talking House transmitter, which I previously reviewed. As expected, my transmitter easily covered the parking lot. I parked near a tree, and tied the end of the 10 foot antenna to a convenient branch. I should have tested everything, since the audio quality wasn’t quite as good as I had expected. In most of my tests at home, I fed the transmitter with an MP3 player, and the audio quality was absolutely astounding. Today’s audio quality was quite good–certainly good enough for a lecture. But if the transmitter was used for any kind of musical presentation, it wouldn’t have been quite good enough. I’ll need to experiment with a different mike, or possibly run the existing mike through a preamp and feed the auxiliary input rather than the mike input. (The audio quality through the line-in jack is excellent, so if you’re broadcasting from a location where another PA system is in use, that’s the best option, but you will need an inexpensive isolation transformer to prevent 60-cycle hum.)

Caveat Emptor: The Importance of a Legal Transmitter

When buying a transmitter, it’s important to buy a transmitter that is legal. Unfortunately, most of the transmitters in use for drive-in events these days don’t appear to be legal. In particular, it would be very difficult to use a legal FM transmitter for an event such as this, because FCC rules (section 15.239) limit the transmitted signal to an extremely low level. Amazon and eBay are full of FM transmitters that claim to be legal for unlicensed use, but even a cursory examination of their specifications reveal that their power level is many times what is allowed. On the other hand, the rules governing AM transmitters (section 15.219) are much less restrictive. The Talking House transmitter is certified as complying with this section of the rules, and has a very good range for this type of use. It is, therefore, the transmitter that I recommend for this application. Chances are, nobody will complain to the FCC. But if they do, and especially if there is interference with aircraft communications, which are near the FM band, the fines are typically in the range of $10,000. It’s best to use a transmitter that you know is legal, and the Talking House is.

Here’s another writer who agrees with me that most FM transmitters used for this purpose are illegal. As he puts it, they are all lying when they say on eBay or Amazon that they are legal. And in my experience, as both a lawyer and a licensed radio engineer, he’s right. Some of the listings claim that the transmitters are FCC certified. In some cases, the certification appears to be for use by a licensed radio station. In one case, the transmitter appeared to be certified for unlicensed use. I checked the FCC website, and sure enough, there was a report from a Chinese lab certifying that the transmitter was compliant. The report even contained test results showing compliance with some of the requirements. But noticeably absent was any report showing that the transmitted field strength was compliant. It couldn’t have been, because the transmitter was using hundreds or thousands more times power than allowed. It appears than an overworked FCC simply failed to notice that this critical measurement was missing from the report. Let the buyer beware. Just because an eBay listing says that a product is legal doesn’t mean it’s legal.

A Good Way to Conduct In Person Meetings

As with my previous program, we could have just as easily done it over the phone, or via Zoom. But some activities are best done in person, and after a long quarantine where everything has been done remotely, it’s refreshing to interact with others in person, even if they are six feet away and/or on the other side of a windshield. Creatively making use of outdoor locations, whether it’s for business, education, or worship will serve an important role until things get back to normal. And history tells us that yes, eventually, things will get back to normal.

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Home AM Broadcasting: 1960 and 2020

Sixty years ago this month, the August 1960 issue of Popular Electronics was a particularly good one. In an upcoming post, we’ll feature one of its construction articles, the elusive loudspeaker crystal set. There’s also a primer on soldering, and a guide to restoring shortwave receivers from the 30s and 40s and turning them into state-of-the-art communications receivers. There’s even the obligatory one-tube radio, namely a one-tube superregenerative receiver for the FM broadcast band.

The issue also showed the ambitious cover project, a portable oscilloscope. These days, of course, you can get a much better one at a much lower price, such as the one shown at left, conveniently available on Amazon.

And one particularly intriguing teaser on the cover promises to tell you all about unlicensed two way radio. The magazine was pointing to FCC rules that are still in effect today in more or less the same form, namely Part 15. Among other things, they allow license-free broadcasting on the AM broadcast band, as long as the transmitter input power is less than 100 milliwatts and the antenna is less than 10 feet long (today, strictly speaking, the allowable antenna is now two inches shorter, because the limit is now 3 meters). Of course, you also need to avoid interference with licensed stations. The magazine explained how you could use two transmitters, along with two broadcast receivers, for a two-way operation. It gave other ideas on how to use such a transmitter, such as mounting it in a car, to stay in touch with another car that’s driving with you, or even to talk to the house while driving by.

Back in the day, as the source of your transmitter, the magazine recommended a wireless phono oscillator. We’ve discussed these before, and they were readily available, either assembled or in kit form, to listen to a phonograph on a nearby radio. These units usually had a range of 50-100 feet. But with the full-size (10 foot) antenna carefully placed, the range could be much greater. According to the magazine, the signal could be picked up by a good car radio a half mile away.

Due to COVID-19, home broadcasting is making a comeback. In particular, there are many applications where you might want to broadcast to nearby car radios. A church, for example, can have its service in the parking lot, with churchgoers listening on the car radio. They can see the altar, but they’re safely distanced in their car. Along with an inexpensive video projector, neighbors can come together for an impromptu drive-in movie.

Review of the Talking House AM Transmitter

Of course, there’s no such thing as a phono oscillator any more, so where do you get a good transmitter? The answer is the transmitter shown at the left, the reasonably priced InfOspot Talking House transmitter. I recently bought one, and I am absolutely amazed at how well it works.

The name derives from the fact that it was originally marketed to real estate agents. The agent would record a short sales pitch for the house, put a sign outside inviting passers by to tune in to a particular spot on the dial, and the house would literally start selling itself.

Because this is the intended use, the Talking House has a built-in digital recorder. You can record a continuous loop of up to about five minutes. Earlier models of the Talking House were capable of only the continuous loop–you couldn’t broadcast live with them. Before I bought the model shown above, I bought one of the older models on eBay. It had an excellent transmitter, but wouldn’t work for live programming without some modification. I was tempted to break out the soldering iron and tap into the audio line, but with the low price of the newer model, I decided to just get it. The transmitter has two inputs in the back, one for a microphone, and the other for a line-level input, such as from a PA system. These inputs can be used to record a loop on the built-in digital recorder, or for live audio. I tested the unit by recording a program on my MP3 player consisting of music and voice. I set it up in my ground floor home office, stretched out the 3 meter antenna, plugged it in, and went on the air.

You can select any frequency from 530-1700 kHz. When you plug the transmitter, you can hear a small electric motor running the built-in antenna tuner. The assures the best possible antenna match, and the best possible signal. After starting it up, I walked around the house with a portable radio admiring the audio quality. Then, of course, I hopped in the car to see how far I was getting out.

Given the short antenna inside the house, I was absolutely blown away at how well it got out. It easily covered the city block. There were a couple of spots where the signal dropped out slightly, but it was broadcast quality within the block. I kept driving and driving. The signal got weaker, but it was still very listenable several blocks away in most directions. There were spots where it dropped out, but I had almost 100% coverage (with a good car radio) out about a half mile. When I explored further out, I found many “sweet spots” where I had an excellent signal more than a mile away. My best DX was over 2 miles, since there were a few places where I could positively identify my signal at that distance.

I’m astonished at how well this transmitter works. And it is FCC certified as complying with part 15, so there is no question as to its legality. You only have to ensure that you’re using a vacant spot on the dial so as not to interfere with licensed stations. In my case, I use 1610 kHz. In the U.S., that frequency is used only for Traveler Information Service (TIS) stations, and there are none close by.

One might be tempted to purchase an FM transmitter, rather than one for the AM band. There’s a knee-jerk reaction by some that the audio quality is better on FM. That’s not necessarily true, since it depends on the quality of the transmitter. An AM signal can have an excellent frequency response, and the Talking House has excellent audio, probably better than a cheap FM transmitter.

The main problem with buying an FM transmitter is that it’s probably not legal. The requirements for license-free FM transmitters are such that the signal must be extremely weak to be legal. A good receiver 100 feet away probably wouldn’t be able to pick it up. If a transmitter performs better than that, then it’s probably not legal. If you use it for a few minutes per week, you probably won’t get caught. But fines are typically in the range of $10,000 per day, and in my opinion, it’s just not worth the risk, particularly since the Talking House AM transmitter works so well.

There are many uses for this transmitter, and it seems like a very useful item to keep on hand. In addition to drive-in church services and impromptu drive-in movies, it could be very useful to broadcast information in the neighborhood in case of emergency. It comes with a “wall wart” power supply for the 18 volts needed to power the unit. It could be run on batteries, but since the wall wart’s ground lead is an integral part of the unit’s antenna system, it seems best to run it on a small inverter power supply in an emergency, even the smallest of which would be adequate.

One accessory that is necessary if using an external audio source is an audio isolation transformer, to prevent ground loops. When I plug in my MP3 player, it sounds great. But if hook up to an AC adapter, the hum overwhelms the signal. The isolation transformer prevents this. It’s necessary if feeding the audio from any device, such as a computer, that is plugged in to the AC power.

If, for whatever reason, you want to legally broadcast, and have people be able to listen to you up to a mile away, sixty years ago, I would have told you to go to Lafayette or Allied and get a good phono oscillator. And today, it’s even easier. All you need is a Talking House transmitter, and you’ll be on the air the same day your Amazon order arrives.

Making Use of Outdoor Spaces for Learning

During the current public health emergency, it is important that to the extent humanly possible, everyone should maintain social distancing from everyone other than their own household. Therefore, most traditional live educational activities cannot be done safely at this time.

I’m not a doctor, but to me the evidence seems obvious that in most cases, the main problem is indoor gatherings. This New York Times article, for example, discusses the issue, and this WebMD article, discusses the possible role that building air conditioning systems might play in the spread of COVID-19. Being outdoors does not completely eliminate the possibility of the spread of coronavirus. But it seems like common sense that it’s a lot safer being outside than being inside a building with other people. The CDC’s recommendation is that “in many areas, people can visit parks, trails, and open spaces as a way to relieve stress, get some fresh air, and stay active.”

I believe that the use of outdoor spaces is an excellent way to re-start many activities that have been put on hold. For example, I believe that schools should seriously consider the use of outdoor spaces for classrooms. You can read more about that idea at the website of
Green Schoolyards America. This New York Times article shows how outdoor learning spaces were used by schools during earlier public health emergencies.

Unfortunately, even though some students thrive with distance learning, not all of them do. Whether it’s because of their family situation, a poor internet connection, or just because it’s not their learning style, many students are falling behind both socially and educationally due to the lack of in-person schooling. The use of outdoor spaces can provide these students with a safe place for their education to continue and help stop a new achievement gap.

Similarly, the CDC recommends that communities of faith should consider holding their services outdoors.

I believe the outdoors is a suitable venue for many in-person activities that have otherwise been put on hold. After months of being isolated, it can be refreshing to see colleagues in person, even if they’re behind a mask and six feet away.

Since I’m in the business of presenting educational programs (namely, continuing legal education programs for attorneys), I decided to take the initiative and see whether my programs could be done outside, so I went ahead and scheduled one in a nearby city park. I wanted to start with a small group, so I advertised by e-mail to only about 20 attorneys who live in the general area. The response rate was actually higher than usual, and three attorneys sent an RSVP that they would be attending. Since I wanted the initial group to be small, I didn’t advertise any further.

I asked all of the attendees to either bring their own chair, or plan to sit on the ground. The program was paperless. Ordinarily, I would print the course materials, and there would be a sign-in sheet. Instead, the course materials were downloaded from the web, and I took attendance at the beginning of the program. In the course description, I outlined the physical distancing guidelines.

There were a few bugs (including a few literal ones), but overall, I don’t see why larger events can’t be done outside. The weather was perfect. It was a sunny day, but as you can see from the photo above, we were able to sit in the shade. Obviously, this won’t work as well in January in Minnesota, but for much of the year, the weather is suitable. I announced that this program was going to take place rain or shine, and I don’t think rain would have been much of an issue, if attendees simply brought an umbrella or raincoat.

I did learn a few lessons:

Face masks make it harder for people to hear. I started the program wearing a mask, and I asked whether it made it difficult for them to hear me, and they said that it did. Since I was standing more than 20 feet away, we decided that it would be best for me to speak without a mask.
If we had a larger crowd, it would have been advisable to have a sound system. In an indoor setting, I can easily speak to 20 or 30 people without a PA system. But outdoors, my voice doesn’t carry as well, particularly when airplanes fly over or trucks drive by. Also, if any of the speakers are wearing a mask, the sound system is even more important.
Some planning does need to be done for seating. One attendee didn’t bring a chair and instead sat on the ground. Apparently, there were enough ants in the park that he had to stand up after 45 minutes.

The outdoor air is not a magic bullet that kills germs. However, it seems to me that an outdoor location is much safer than corresponding indoor spaces. At this time, it ‘s probably not safe to go back to business as usual with respect to things such as education and business. But it seems to me that creative use of outdoor spaces will bring us much closer to normal than we would be able to do with virtual gatherings alone.

In education, for example, some kids simply require in-person instruction. Some of them thrive learning online, and that’s great. But I think even occasional in-person sessions might make a huge difference for some kids. If it’s too risky for them to have their math or English class in a traditional classroom, then it seems to me that educators should at least consider the idea of having those classes outside.

For distance learning, technology is required. But for outdoor learning, very little technology is necessary. As my experience shows, a small public address system would be useful. But other than that, little more than chairs, desks, and a blackboard are required. If there’s a video to be watched, then the students can watch it at home. But it seems to me that many kids need some attention where things can be explained in person, so that the teacher has in-person feedback of whether they’re being understood. That doesn’t require a building–it merely requires a space, and in most cases, an outdoor space will serve the purpose.

I’ll be doing future programs outdoors, and it seems to me that many activities that are normally done indoors, such as meeting with clients, can be safely conducted outdoors. As the weather gets cooler, being outdoors will be less suitable. Therefore, some of my future programs will be in a drive-in format where participants can listen on their car radios.

Sending Sourdough Yeast by U.S. Mail

Several weeks ago, I wrote about my experiences using sourdough started with commercial yeast. While it’s starting to show up again in supermarkets and it’s apparently now available again on Amazon, yeast is not always available. In a long-term food emergency, that could pose a problem. Flour is inexpensive and plentiful, but in order to turn it into bread, you really need yeast. Fortunately, as I wrote previously, you can grow your own at home. You just need one package of commercial yeast, and you can turn it into an infinite supply.

You can also share your sourdough starter with neighbors. But I wondered whether it was possible to share with people who live further away. I asked for volunteers, and got two. I’ve now heard back from one of them, and it turns out that yes, you can share your yeast with anyone, courtesy of the U.S. Mail.

I spread a thin layer of the sourdough starter, about three inches by three inches, on a piece of parchment paper, and then left it to dry. In a couple of days, I removed it and broke it into two pieces, one for each recipient. I could have just as easily used wax paper, plastic wrap, or even just a plate. After drying, I placed them in plastic sandwich bags, and placed those inside envelopes which I mailed.

My suggestion when they received them was to put it in a glass of sugar water to bring the yeast back to life. Then, use that water in place of some of the water and yeast in a bread recipe.

The loaf of bread shown above was baked by my cousin in Oregon, after she received it in the mail from Minnesota. She did report that the bread didn’t rise as much as expected. But it did rise some, even though it was denser than usual.

This is my experience as well. The yeast that are growing today, the descendants of the ones I started with, aren’t quite as active. It does take longer for bread to rise. But she reported that the bread tasted good.

The other package went to a friend in Alabama. He reported that the yeast survived the trip and came to life when he added sugar water, although I don’t think he’s made any bread with it yet. If he does, I’ll also post the results here as well.

Field Day 1940: Lessons for 2020

Field Day 1940 should give some inspiration to those who are operating Field Day 2020.

Eighty years ago, the U.S. was still 18 months away from being drawn into the war, but the subject was on the mind of the FCC. Amateur radio operators were not silenced until Pearl Harbor, but there were already restrictions in place, as described in the June 15, 1940, issue of Broadcasting magazine.

The magazine noted that non-essential services, such as amateur, experimental, and special private radio might be curtailed or shut down due to wartime conditions. On June 5, 1940, the FCC banned all amateur communications with hams in foreign countries.

On June 7, the FCC banned portable and mobile operations with a couple of exceptions. First of all, such operations were allowed above 56 MHz, the thinking being that there was little threat from these line-of-sight signals.

Operators at ____ getting ready to launch a balloon-supported antenna, Field Day 1940. Photo, QST for December 1940.

Operators at W8QLU/8 getting ready to launch a balloon-supported antenna, Field Day 1940. Photo, QST for December 1940.

In addition, there was a blanket exception allowed for stations participating in the 1940 ARRL Field Day, which the magazine described as “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.”

Despite the restrictions, hundreds of ham stations took part in Field Day. One of the high scores was from the St. Paul (MN) Radio Club, W9KYC/9, which made 505 contacts on all bands from 160 to 10 meters. 228 of those contacts were with other Field Day stations, the rest presumably being with home stations.

This year again, Field Day is subject to emergency restrictions, and many of the large multi-transmitter operations will be off the air. Despite initially saying that they weren’t going to do so, the ARRL finally relented and will allow points for contacts between home stations operating with commercial power.

While this rule change is understandable, it would seem odd to stay home and get on the air, while pretending to be in a Field somewhere. While many hams won’t be able to do Field Day this year in the normal fashion, they can operate in an honest-to-goodness Field if they use a bit of creativity.

In 1940, despite a war looming and government restrictions, at least 228 groups of hams were able to lug their bulky transmitters, receivers, and generators to remote locations and get on the air.

One of the purposes of Field Day, then and now, is “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.” This year, there’s an actual emergency going on. But despite that actual emergency, there’s nothing stopping hams from taking their equipment–which is much smaller and more portable than it was 80 years ago–into an honest-to-goodness Field to put it on the air.

This year, my wife and I will be operating from a city park near our home. The tentative plan is to be in the two-transmitter class, probably covering 20, 6, and 2 meters. Power will be supplied with the trusty fish-finder battery, and the antenna will be supported by the trusty golf ball retriever. As a trial run this weekend, I set up in our own backyard for the annual Cookie Crumble QRP Contest. Despite poor conditions, I made contacts with Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, and Texas. On Field Day, I’ll repeat the operation. Even though I’m physically distancing myself from others, there’s no reason for me to sequester myself in the basement. I can just as easily operate from a bona fide Field for Field Day.

The ARRL made another temporary rule change this year, and will publish a cumulative score for clubs. I think the idea was that, even with club members operating from their home stations, they can still be part of a club effort. I guess they can pretend they’re all in the same virtual field. And by operating from the comfort of their own home, they can get an even larger score than when they set up multiple transmitters in a real field.

But that rule change applies to all classes of entries–even those who are operating a traditional Field Day from the field. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of forming a new club for the hundreds of hams who figure out a way to operate Field Day as it was meant to be–in the Field.

The new club is named “The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.” It is open to any and all hams, worldwide, who plan to operate Field Day as a Class A or Class B station, namely, from a remote location with emergency power and temporary antennas. Your setup might be elaborate, or it might be as simple as a $30 Baofeng. If you believe that one contact in such conditions is better than filling up an entire logbook from your air conditioned home station, then this club is for you.

Membership in the Outstanding In Their Field Club is simple. There are no dues or long-term commitment. You can join in one of three ways. If you are gung-ho, then you can sign the club’s articles of association, which you can view at this link. If you’re on board, but not quite to that extent, you can just send me an e-mail to w0is@arrl.net. Or if you’re not sure and want to wait until the last minute, you can join simply by naming the club in your Field Day entry.

Despite war looming, at least 228 hams hit the Field for Field Day 1940. There’s no reason why we can’t do the same. If you also think so, please consider joining The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Civil Unrest

Protester atop smashed police car, about 3 miles from my house. Wikipedia photo.

As I write this, I’m under a 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM curfew, as a result of civil unrest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area after the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. Just now, I can hear a helicopter, which I assume belongs to a law enforcement agency. We live in what’s normally a quiet neighborhood, and thankfully, it’s been very quiet here after dark. Each of the three nights of the curfew, I’ve haven’t heard more than a couple of cars go by. I assume (and hope) that they belong to neighbors returning home from work. Rioters seem to enjoy setting things on fire, so at sunset, I’ve been hosing down the house and the vegetation next to it. Our recycling bin is full (the trash miraculously got picked up, but not the recycling), so I poured enough water in there to make all of the paper soggy and unsuitable for burning. We have a stack of firewood behind the house, so I thoroughly hosed that down as well.

Others can delve into the deeper issues, but since one of the subjects covered by this blog is emergency preparedness, it’s appropriate for me to discuss those aspects of how it affects people in the Twin Cities.

We’ve been under a state of emergency since March due to the coronavirus. Because of health issues, my family has taken greater precautions than most. Since mid-March, none of us has been inside a building other than our own home, and none of us has been within six feet of anyone outside of our household. We’ve rarely been within 20 feet of anyone else, and that’s usually with a mask.

Minneapolis police precinct station burning. Wikipedia photo.

And on top of this emergency, we now have civil unrest. Many of the protests have been peaceful, but there has been a great deal of violence. The neighborhoods surrounding Lake Street in Minneapolis have seen horrible destruction. As noted below, it is clear that most of this destruction is the result of outsiders, and not people who live in the neighborhood, and not the same people who are protesting. One of the city’s five police precinct stations was burned to the ground. Looting has spread. I’m unsure of the exact details, but a gas station/convenience store less than a mile from our house was reportedly the object of some kind of attack, and it is now boarded up. A liquor store a little over a mile away was looted in a case of “flash looting.” It’s boarded up, but still operating.

The Minneapolis mayor did little to stop the violence. St. Paul did somewhat better. Eventually, state police (Minnesota State Patrol and Department of Natural Resources) personnel were brought in, as well as the National Guard. On Friday night, rioters attempted to enter St. Paul, but the St. Paul Police Department blocked the bridges between the two cities. There was a large protest on Sunday near the Minnesota State Capitol (about two miles from my house), but that appears to have been entirely peaceful. The Minnesota National Guard is out in force protecting the Capitol.

Monday Morning Update: One thing that seems clear to me is that nobody is burning down their own neighborhood. There are clearly outside forces at work. Unfortunately, there have been few arrests, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who is responsible. The looted liquor store near my house is a fortunate case where they did make an arrest. It sounds like a few dozen people (who piled out of just a few cars, in an obvious planned attack) took part in the looting. Only two got arrested. One was from Crystal, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The other was from Wisconsin. They came here to loot, they came here to destroy someone else’s neighborhood, and what they did had nothing to do with the killing of George Floyd. They merely took advantage of the tragedy.

It sounds trite to say it, but these people were outside agitators. On one NextDoor group, there was a heated discussion of whether they were extremists from the far left, or extremists from the far right. Honsestly, I don’t care one way or another. They have no right to come into my neighborhood, steal from us, or burn down our buildings. I live in a neighborhood that has been only lightly affected. I’m sure those who live near Lake Street or University Avenue feel the same way. It doesn’t matter if they’re black or white, or rich or poor, or Republican or Democrat. Nobody has the right to invade their safety and security.

The people who have been victims of racism are also people who need to buy groceries, need to buy prescriptions, need to get things in the mail. Many of them protested what happened, and rightly so. But they didn’t burn down their own supermarket or their own pharmacy or their own post office. Thugs from outside came in and did that. Maybe those thugs were on the far left. Maybe those thugs were on the far right. It doesn’t matter. They have shown by their own actions that they don’t care at all for the people of those neighborhoods.

It does appear that these outside thugs, whoever they are, have at least some level of sophistication. I have seen numerous reports, from media and from friends, of cars driving around without license plates. When they are stopped by police, the occupants scatter. The governor reported that there was a denial of service attack to the state’s computer systems during one of the riots, and he said that it showed sophistication. The division director of the ARRL sent out an e-mail that there have been unidentified transmissions on local amateur radio repeaters, and gave instructions on how to report them. One person in a nearby neighborhood reported on NextDoor reported finding a threatening note. Apparently, she had a “Black Lives Matter” sign in her yard, and the note told her to take it down or have her house burnt down.

Was that note placed there by someone in the neighborhood? I can guarantee you that it absolutely was not. Maybe it was placed there by a white supremacist to cause fear. Maybe it was placed there by someone who wants us to start thinking that one of our neighbors is a white supremacist. It doesn’t matter. They’re both equally unwelcome here, just as they’re unwelcome in the neighborhoods around Lake Street or University Avenue.

The actual killing of George Floyd took place in south Minneapolis. Google Maps tells me that it’s a 12.7 mile drive from my house. Very serious violence erupted Wednesday, Thursday, and

Minnesota State Patrol and National Guard on duty on Lake Street, Minneapolis. Wikipedia photo.

Friday nights. Saturday and Sunday nights seem to be quieter. Some of the riots spilled over into St. Paul, particularly along University Avenue. A Target store was the subject of looting. One that hit close to home was an attack on Ax-man Surplus, my favorite source of electronic components and more. It’s now boarded up, but the boards vow that they’ll be back. These stores are about three miles from my house.

Many stores are closed and/or boarded up as a precaution. On Saturday, I had to mail some letters at the post office, so my daughter and I went for a short drive through the suburb of Roseville. Many stores were closed and boarded up. Others, such as McDonald’s, are boarded up but still operating with a drive-thru. Target was boarded up and closed. We drove past about 10 gas stations, and most were closed. One, a BP station near the looted liquor store, was also the victim of looting, and was boarded up. Three stations were open. Since my car was at about a half tank, I stopped, paid at the pump with a credit card, and quickly filled up.

The two Cub Foods supermarkets that we went past were open. Since many other stores, such as Target, were closed, their parking lots were very crowded, similar to what one might expect the day before Thanksgiving. Now is not a good time to have to buy groceries.

We needed a prescription filled at a local pharmacy on Thursday. When she called, they had already closed as a precaution. They were open on Friday morning, and she was able to pick it up then. Closing as a precaution was a wise decision. That evening, another neighborhood pharmacy owned by the same owner was burned by rioters. Fortunately, the one in our neighborhood was luckier. When she picked up the prescription, most other stores were closed. A local convenience store was still open, and she said it was the most crowded she ever saw it. With the supermarkets closed, it was probably the only place in town to buy food.

Fortunately, even though we’re not really “preppers,” we’ve always tried to keep well stocked up on groceries and other household supplies. And because of COVID-19, we redoubled those efforts. So we are very fortunate to have a full pantry.

Even so, like most Americans, we rely on the supermarket to maintain our normal diet. And this week, we ran out of milk. As I described previously (here and here), during the pandemic, we’ve been taking advantage of home delivery and curbside pickup. We had our next order at Walmart scheduled for late Tuesday afternoon. I was just notified that it was cancelled, and I had to reschedule for Thursday. I suspect that it was too late in the day for their comfort (or mine).

In the meantime, we have powdered milk, and it’s actually not bad. I’ve previously taste tested various brands, and the surprising favorite is the Walmart store brand. You can tell it’s powdered milk, but just barely. I make it with warm water and mix it well to make sure it’s well aerated. Then, I put it in the refrigerator and serve it cold.

We’re not eating exactly what we would have eaten otherwise, but we’re eating well, and we’re not hungry. We’re out of frozen pizzas and soda, and we’re even out of store-bought bread. We make things other than pizza, We can and do bake bread, and to replace the soda, we have plenty of Kool-Aid on hand. (Prepping doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to forego junk food.)

As I’ve said before, I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid that there will be food shortages this year. We will cope, because we have on hand things like rice, beans, oil, masa (for making tortillas), flour, sugar (and even Kool-Aid). We will be able to eat good food, and we won’t be a burden on anyone else to figure out how to feed us.

Right now, in my own city and my own neighborhood, I’m sure that there are people who are hungry. It’s probably not because they don’t have enough money for food. But the stores where they normally buy their food are closed, or maybe even burnt down. If they don’t have gas in the car, they can’t get to stores that are still open, and most of the gas stations are closed. They can’t go anywhere at night, as long as the curfew remains in effect. If they don’t have a car, they can’t get to the store because bus service has been suspended.

There are probably a lot of people trying to figure out how to make a meal out of the random leftovers that they happen to have in their cupboard. I ate a bowl of cereal with powdered milk, and I’m guessing I had it a lot better than many. There are numerous opportunities to donate food items for impromptu food shelves that have sprung up. Most of those using these impromptu food shelves probably aren’t there for economic reasons. They need to be there for the simple reason that someone burned down their supermarket.

A lot of people are hurting right now because some thugs decided to burn down their supermarket or their pharmacy or their post office. They’re compounding the injustice done to George Floyd. At this point, there’s not much I can do to fight back, other than to make sure I’m not in a position where I’m overly dependent on the things that they destroyed. The good people of my state will rebuild the supermarkets and pharmacies. If I have enough resources to weather this storm, then I can be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

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