Category Archives: Emergency Preparedness

More Sourdough by U.S. Mail

A few months ago, as an experiment, we sent some sourdough starter through the U.S. Mail.  We previously posted the results from one recipient.  The other sample went to Keith at the Successfully Living Simpler blog, and he posted the results.  He claims that he made a “mistake” with the recipe, but I would say that he actually made an “invention” by inadvertently mixing two recipes to make these biscuits.

Early in the pandemic, many people simultaneously decided to take up baking, and yeast became almost impossible to find.  But a single package of store-bought yeast has now been used to make bread in three different states.  And in my refrigerator, I still have the means to continue making it indefinitely.

Home AM Broadcasting: 1960 and 2020

1960AugPECoverSixty 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

talkinghouseOf 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.



Sending Sourdough Yeast by U.S. Mail

BreadSeveral 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.



Electrostatic Generator

1970JunSciElecFifty years ago this month, the June-July 1970 issue of Science and Electronics showed how to put together this electrostatic generator, as well as the accompanying Leyden jar and electroscope.

It consisted of a plastic jar which was turned by the crank to rub against a piece of wool. A pickup wire collected the charges and conducted them to the metal ball. This could be used to charge the Leyden jar. For bearings, the device used roller skate wheels.

1970JunSciElec2Emergency preparedness buffs will notice that the electroscope, at left, looks very similar to the venerable Kearney Fallout Meter (KFM) used for detecting nuclear radiation. Indeed, they do rely on the same principle. In the presence of ionizing radiation, the charge will slowly dissipate, allowing the leaves to get closer together. This electroscope is not calibrated. Therefore, it would not be able to provide an accurate radiation dose reading. However, this generator would be useful to charge the KFM.

For young scientists without any ionizing radiation at their disposal, the magazine describes a number of interesting experiments, any one of which would be sure to bring home the blue ribbon at the next science fair.  To guarantee the top prize, one interesting experiment would be to purchase a small uranium sample.  Charge up the electroscope and see how long it takes to discharge.  Then, repeat the experiment with the uranium inside the electroscope and see how much faster it discharges.



Minneapolis-St. Paul Civil Unrest

A protester stands on a police car with a smashed windowshield outside the Target in the Midway area of St Paul, Minnesota (49946336068).jpg

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.

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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 stand at E Lake St and 29th Ave S in Minneapolis, Minnesota (49949772331).jpg

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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Assorted Greeting Cards

A few days ago, we explained how to purchase postage while under lockdown without leaving your home. It occurred to us that you might need something to mail. Despite the availability of instant communications, there’s still something about receiving a physical card or letter in the mail that can’t be replaced.

Chances are, you have some paper and envelopes around the house somewhere, and your distant loved ones will enjoy receiving a note, even if it’s scribbled on a piece of scrap paper. But for some occasions, it’s customary to send a greeting card.

If you can’t get to the store, you can still keep a supply of assorted greeting cards on hand. You can find one assortment at Amazon at this link, and others by searching this link.  Then, whenever an occasion arises, you can shop from your own collection rather than having to go to the store to buy a card.

And if you now have a song stuck in your head, here it is:

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Mail During Quarantine: How to Get Stamps

Quick links:

CDSafetyNotificationCard

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

–Herodotus, as carved in stone at the New York Post Office.

The postcard shown above, first issued in 1959, and current for at least two decades thereafter, was a Safety Notification Card (Post Office Department form 810), for use after a civil defense emergency such as a nuclear war.  After such an event, the Post Office would be tasked with putting friends and relatives back in touch with one another.  On the front of the card, you would write the name and address of those who might be worried about you.  On the back, you would sign your name and give the address where you could be reached.

MushroomCloudI have no doubt that after Americans emerged from their fallout shelters, the Post Office would use Herculean efforts to deliver these cards, and most of them would go through.  The Post Office is one of the things that makes us a country, and thus one of the things over which such a war would have been fought.  It’s unthinkable that they would bother with fighting a nuclear war and then decide not to deliver the mail.  Under the Constitution, the Congress has the power and duty to establish a Post Office, and a nuclear war doesn’t change that.  Neither does a pandemic virus.  With very few exceptions, the mails right now continue to flow without interruption during the lockdown.  And most of the exceptions come from things outside the control of the U.S. Postal Service.  For example, mail service is currently suspended to over a hundred countries, due either to lack of transportation or a shutdown of postal service in the destination country.  But the U.S. Postal Service is doing whatever needs to be done to make sure the mail goes through.  Even though most international mail has been by air for the past few decades, suspension of flights has prompted the U.S. Postal Service to send mail to Europe by container ship.

In my experience, domestic mail is going through with little delay.  I have a forwarding order to have all of my office mail to go to my home, and even forwarded items are arriving, at most, a day or two later than I would have expected them.  The postal workers and letter carriers are working hard, and in many cases risking their lives to make sure the mail goes through.  Would they have risked their lives delivering post cards across a nuclear battlefield?  I have little doubt that they would have.  (Say, that might make a good book.)

Much of my work involves getting and sending things in the mail.  And with the national emergency, the mail also serves as one of the ways that vital supplies arrive at our house.  Yes, some of our food comes by mail.

One practical issue, however, is buying postage.  In the pre-COVID time, I had to go to the post office frequently, and when the line was short, I picked up a few weeks’ supply of stamps.  Sometimes, I would mail items at the counter, but I would usually just weigh them myself and affix the exact amount of postage required.  (If you don’t have a scale, they’re not expensive.)  Little has changed in that regard, since I can just leave outgoing mail for the carrier.  But getting stamps has become more difficult.

Buying stamps online

At first, I ordered stamps online at the USPS website. Orders are fulfilled at a central location in Kansas City.  At first, it worked well, and stamps and stamped envelopes arrived about a week after I ordered them.  All denominations are available, and they’re sold at face value with only a small shipping charge.  But the most recent order took 2-1/2 weeks.  They’re obviously swamped in Kansas City, I was almost out of stamps, and had to come up with another way of getting them.  Update:  The last few orders have gone smoothly, and the stamps arrive within about 10 days.

Curbside stamp pickup

I did find three sources locally that  have curbside pickup.  Office Depot has stamps, at face value.  You can buy a book of 20 Forever stamps for $11.  Unfortunately, the closest one was out of stock, and other stores looked like they had low stocks.  Update:  Since I originally wrote this, Office Depot is doing an excellent job of keeping stamps in stock.  You can usually order online and pick them up curbside the same day.    Walgreens also sells stamps at face value.   You can order online and pick them up, usually in about an hour, either curbside or at the drive-up window.  It looks like CVS has curbside pickup of stamps in some states, although I don’t know if they are being sold at face value.

Printing postage at home

MailTruckAnother great option is OrangeMailer.co which allows you to buy postage online and print it with your printer.  I was leery about using them, since I imagined my printer jamming and having to pay again.  Fortunately, that is not the case.  You can print as many times as necessary until you get it right.  Of course, if you use more than one of those prints for postage, you’ll be spending some time in Leavenworth.

To buy postage, you enter the name and address of the recipient, and when you’re done, the website directs you to turn on your printer and print a label with the address, your return address, and the postage meter.  For letters, you can print right on the envelope.  It took me a couple of tries with my printer settings to get it exactly right.  The first few times, it cut off my return address.  When I told my printer that it was printing a number 10 envelope, it cut off the return address.  But when I lied and told the printer that it was a 4 by 8 sheet of paper, it worked perfectly.  Similarly, for small envelopes, I have to tell the printer that it’s a 4 by 6 piece of paper.

I have also mailed one small package, and that works well.  You enter the dimensions and weight of the parcel, and it prints a label with the right amount of postage.  Of course, we don’t have any labels in the house, but you don’t need any.  I used a plain sheet of paper and affixed it to the package with Scotch tape.  One advantage for packages is that if a package is over 13 ounces, you can’t use stamps.  But printing the postage online is equivalent to taking it to the counter at the Post Office.

The philatelist in me likes using real stamps.  And it’s faster to just scribble the address and slap on a stamp.  But given the current emergency, OrangeMailer.co is an extremely convenient option.  Unlike their largest competitor, there is no monthly charge.  You just have to deposit a minimum of $10, enough for 18 First Class letters.  You pay the customary postage of 55 cents per letter.  They make their 5 cent profit due to the fact that your metered letter is actually going for only 50 cents.  That seems reasonable to me.

Other online sources

If you do need actual stamps, two other options appear to be faster than ordering directly from the USPS.  You’ll pay more than face value, but not a great deal more.  If you combine the purchase with another order, you can get free shipping.  You can buy postage stamps on Amazon for only a little over face value.  If you do a search for “postage stamps,” click the button for “free shipping by Amazon,” and you’ll see the ones that can be added to another order.  As long as the total order is at least $25, there will be no shipping charge.

Walmart also sells stamps online, only slightly above face value, with free two-day shipping with a $35 order.

 


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Sourdough Cooking

SourdoughBreadWith the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans are learning for the first time that the food supply chain can be tenuous. Fortunately, many of them are also learning that by keeping a few basic ingredients on hand, it’s possible to eat well. But one must take the time to turn those ingredients into food. There’s a bit of a learning curve. I’m by no means a master chef, so if I can do it, it means that just about anyone can do it.

One item that has been in short supply is yeast, or some other leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda. No matter how much flour you have, if you don’t have a leavening agent, it’s very difficult to bake anything. We have plenty of baking soda and baking powder, although it won’t last forever. Before the pandemic hit, we had only a little bit of yeast on hand, and it’s been more or less impossible to buy it. Fortunately, however, you only need a little bit. And with minimal effort, the yeast will indeed last forever.  Several weeks ago, I used one package of store-bought yeast and used it to make sourdough starter.

The sourdough “purist” will cringe when I say that I used commercial yeast to make sourdough. I admit, this is cheating, and it’s not “real” sourdough. But it doesn’t have to be “real” sourdough.  I’m simply growing my own supply of yeast which can be used in perpetuity.  The descendants of the yeast organisms that I started about two months ago are still going strong, and I now have an infinite supply.  If you aren’t as lucky as me to have a package of commercial yeast, or if you’re a purist and don’t want to cheat, my friend at Successfully Living Simpler shows how to capture a wild yeast culture courtesy of a potato.

Several weeks ago, I started my sourdough starter by mixing one package of yeast, one cup of water, and one cup of flour.  Stir these together in a glass or plastic bowl, and then let it sit out on the counter for a day or two.  Bubbles will form as the yeast eat the flour and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Periodically, you skim off the alcohol and discard it.  If you’re making beer or wine, you would use that, but I’m not that advanced.  You stir it occasionally.  After a couple of days, you can store it in the refrigerator.

To use the sourdough starter, you take a cup of the mixture for use in recipes.  You replace it by adding another cup of water and another cup of flour.  You stir the starter and leave it out again for a few hours, after which you can refrigerate it again.

I’m not sure how important this is, but I’ve been told not to use a metal bowl or metal utensils.  I keep the starter in a glass bowl, and use a wooden spoon to stir it.  I’ve also been told not to use chlorinated tap water.  I don’t know how important that advice is, but we have some bottled water, so I use that.  If I didn’t have bottled water, I would leave some tap water out overnight for the chlorine to evaporate.  If it’s rainy season, you could use rain water.  If you have a well, you could use well water.

I’ve used this starter now to make several recipes of pancakes, bread, and today, cookies.

Sourdough Pancake Recipe

Sourdough pancakes are easy.  You just take a cup of the starter and add a cup of water and a cup of flour.  If you have an egg, add that as well.  Stir, and cook on the griddle as you would any other pancake.  You do need to replenish your starter every few days by removing some and adding new flour and water.  Making a batch of pancakes is the fastest way to keep your starter going.

We started our coronavirus quarantine with a bread machine, but that died on us after the first loaf.  It had sat for many years, and I guess the disuse is what did it in.  It doesn’t matter, though, since making bread the conventional way, I’ve discovered, is quite easy.  As I mentioned above, I’m not a master chef.  And so far, every loaf has come out looking a little bit different.  But they’ve all been good, if I do say so myself.  And bread is easy to make, it turns out.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Start with one cup of the sourdough starter.  To this, add about 1-1/4 cup warm water.  Add 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.  Mix these ingredients, and then start adding flour.  You’ll use a total of about 6 cups of flour.  Start with about 2 cups, and add about 1/2 cup at a time.  At some point, the mixture will stop being a liquid and become, well, a dough.  At that point, you remove it from the bowl and work on a flat surface.

At this point, you kneed the dough with your hands.  I flatten it, sprinkle some flour onto the top, and then fold it together until that flour dissolves.  Keep going until it seems to have about the right consistency.  You’ll learn this with experience.  If the mixture is too sticky, it needs a little more flour.  If it’s too dry, then it needs a little more water.  You played with Play-Doh as a kid, right?  When you have the mixture just right, it will have about the same consistency.

This whole kneeding process takes about 10 minutes.  When you’re finished, you’ll have a big ball of Play-Doh, er, I mean Real-Doh.  Place it in a large greased bowl and cover it with a cloth or paper napkin or towel.  Put this in a relatively warm spot in your kitchen.  At this point, you take a rest, and your yeast will get to work.  Let the dough rise for about two hours.

After two hours, you remove the ball from the bowl and place it again on a flat surface.  Before doing so, lightly dust that surface with flour.  Now, you “punch down” the dough.  Just take your fist and flatten the dough the best you can.  Push it into a somewhat rectangular shape and cut the sheet of dough in half.  A spatula works well to make the cut.  Each one of these halves will soon go into a loaf pan that has first been greased.

Turn each of these halves into the shape of a small loaf.  I found that taking the rectangle and folding it into thirds works the best, as if you were folding a sheet of paper to put into an envelope.  Tightly press down so that most of the air inside the folds is pressed out.  Then, put the loaf inside the loaf pan.

At this point, you take another break while your friendly yeast do the work for you.  Cover the pans with a cloth or paper napkin, and let them rise again for about 90 minutes.  Then, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and put the pans in to bake for about 30-35 minutes.  When done, remove from the pans and allow the loaves to cool.  From very basic ingredients that cost only pennies, you now have two delicious loaves of bread, as pictured at the top of the page.

Today, I decided to make some cookies using sourdough.  Normally, cookie recipes call for baking powder and/or baking soda as the leavening agent.  We are fortunate to have both ingredients in the house, but some might not be as lucky.  My quest today was to see if I could bake cookies using instead the sourdough starter.  It turns out this is possible, and they tasted very good, if I do say so myself.  They are shown at the bottom of the page.

Experimental Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies

Start with one cup of sourdough starter.  Add 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1-1/2 cup sugar, and 2 eggs.  (I realize that in a food emergency, those fresh eggs might not be available.  You could substitute powdered eggs, but they generally aren’t available now.  In other recipes, I’ve substituted applesauce or canned pumpkin for the eggs, and I’m guessing that would work in this recipe as well.)  If available, add 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Stir this together, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt.  When mixed, start adding flour.  You’ll need about 2 cups total.  Start by adding one cup, and then add a little bit at a time.  The mixture will get thick, but you should be able to stir it with a spoon.

When mixed, place balls about one inch in diameter on a cookie sheet.  Flatten these balls with a fork, and bake at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes.  The recipe will yield about 30 cookies.

As with the bread, the cookies were quite good, if I do say so myself.  In fact, I might have stumbled upon a secret recipe.  As I sampled these, it occurred to me that the taste and texture seemed very familiar.  It finally dawned on me that they were identical to Grandma’s Peanut Butter Cookies, the type that is ubiquitous in office vending machines.  That product lists somewhat different ingredients.  In particular, it lists baking soda, but no yeast.  But as far as I can tell, they are identical.

Substitutions should be possible with this recipe.  I used vegetable oil because it was the cheapest alternative, and we have a lot of it.  But butter or margarine would work as well or better.  The original recipe I found called for brown sugar, but I used white sugar because we had more of it.   Of course, if you have baking powder, you could use it instead of the sourdough starter.

The key thing about all of these recipes is that they use extremely simple ingredients, and ingredients that can be stored more or less forever.  A fifty pound bag of flour will keep your family well fed for weeks, as long as you have a few other ingredients.

I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid there will be food shortages this summer.  If you keep some basic ingredients on hand, you can perhaps avoid a life-threatening emergency for yourself, your family, and even your friends and neighbors.

SourdoughCookies

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COVID-19: How You Can Help

masksAs I write this from the safety of my home, millions of workers are literally risking their lives to serve their country. The obvious ones include healthcare workers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and National Guard members. But just as important are the bus drivers, postal workers, delivery drivers, truckers, grocery store workers, warehouse workers, factory workers, and countless others who are making sure that the public has access to the goods and services needed to sustain life. They are risking infection to serve us, and they deserve our respect and our thanks.

Others, like my wife, a medical interpreter, are able to provide needed services from the safety of their own homes.

And then, there are a lot of people like me, who don’t have any vital services to perform. Many are wondering what they can do to help, and there are a number of opportunities.

masksSewingMy wife and daughter have been busy making surgical masks such as the ones shown above.  They are made according to instructions posted online by one of our local hospital systems (see below).  One of our neighbors supplied some of the materials, picked up the finished masks outside our door, and delivered them to the hospital, where they are being picked up curbside at a designated location.  These masks will be used in less critical situations by staff and patients in order to conserve the N-95 masks that are in dangerously short supply.

I know at least two friends with 3D printers who are making other needed products, such as

Face shields being 3D printed. Courtesy Don Seiford.

Face shields being 3D printed. Courtesy Don Seiford.

face guards.  American factories can’t meet the demand for these lifesaving supplies.  But the millions of Americans who own equipment such as sewing machines and 3D printers can help meet the need until American industry ramps up its production.

Virtually all health care facilities are in need of supplies.  Many will have their own particular requirements, so it’s probably best to contact them first (checking their website first is probably best, so that staff doesn’t have to spend valuable time answering the phone).

Check neighborhood social media sites, such as neighborhood pages on Facebook or NextDoor.  Chances are, some of your neighbors are already working on needed items.  Coordinate with them to share materials.  In addition to hospitals and clinics, items are needed by dentists, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies, and probably many others.  Some of these institutions are non-profit, and some are for profit.  But it doesn’t matter.  They need supplies, and they can’t get them.  They are counting on you.  If you honestly can’t find anyone who needs them, then send me an e-mail, I’ll give you my mailing address.  You can make the masks shown below, send them to me by U.S. Mail, and I’ll make sure they get to a hospital in my area.  But chances are, the need is just as acute in your area.

Do not have direct contact with people outside your own household.  Do not go to a store to buy supplies.  Use the materials that you have at home, or that can be safely delivered by neighbors leaving outside the door.  The idea is to be of service, and you will be of no help if you get infected or infect someone else.  Be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

Here are some opportunities for you to serve:

1.  Making Surgical Masks

If you have a sewing machine and know how to use it, your skills are desperately needed.  My wife and daughter are making the style shown above, which are destined for Blue Cross Blue Shield and Allina.  More information and complete patterns and instructions can be found at this link:  https://blog.bluecrossmn.com/covid19masks/

North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis has a different pattern, which you can find at this link:  https://northmemorial.com/covid-19-donations/  North Memorial also has a mailing address shown on this site.  So in the unlikely event that you can’t find someone locally to take the masks, you can mail them.  Do not go inside the post office to mail anything.  You can buy postage online and leave the item for your letter carrier.

Update:  The following website allows you to search by zip code for facilities in your area that need masks and other supplies.  In the unlikely event that you don’t find anyone locally, it also lists facilities that you can mail them to:

https://www.donategoodstuff.org/covid-19-crisis-how-you-can-help.html

The Facebook group mentioned below also contains patterns for an isolation gown.  I don’t know of particular hospitals that are requesting these, but there’s apparently a need.

2.  Help Sewers and/or Donate Materials

Even if you don’t know how to use a sewing machine, others in your neighborhood probably do, and they are probably working.  They also need unskilled help from people like me to cut the fabric to the correct size.  Also, if your household, like many, has a stash of old sewing supplies, it’s very likely that your neighbors need these items to make masks.   A critical shortage in our neighborhood was the elastic.   If you have some in that box of old sewing and crafting supplies, your neighbors probably need it.  The other need is new 100% cotton fabric.

3.  3D Printing

I know that persons with 3D printers and similar equipment are using them to make face shields and other needed medical supplies.

If you are able to help, a Facebook group named “Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies” has formed and is coordinating these efforts.  I’m aware of the face shield plans at this link:
https://3dverkstan.se/protective-visor/

Prusa Research has the following information regarding face shields at its Facebook page:

4.  Lending Your RV

If you’re an RV’er, it will probably be a while before you’re able to go camping.  Consider lending it to a medical professional who needs to be isolated from their family.  This is being coordinated at this Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvs4mds/

 

 



Cutting Your Hair During Quarantine

The State of Minnesota is now under a “stay at home” order, and many other areas now have similar restrictions. Non-essential businesses, especially ones which require close personal contact, are closed. And even if they were open, I wouldn’t want to see a barber right now. The close contact would make it likely that they would infect me, even if asymptomatic, or that I would infect them.

Unfortunately, for about a month before the lockdown, I kept thinking to myself that I really needed to get a haircut. I’m a procrastinator, and I never got around to it until it was too late.

Fortunately, I had at home one of the handy gadgets shown above, the Conair hair trimmer. I don’t do as good a job as a professional, but I can keep my hair from getting out of control. I suppose if I were desperate, I could just get out a pair of scissors and give myself a bowl cut. But the trimmer shown above does a much more subtle job. It comes with instructions, but you basically just comb it through the part of your hair that you want to trim.  I’ve found that it works best to do it gradually, by cutting my hair a little bit each day.  Fortunately, they’re readily available, and you can add one to your next Amazon order for just a few dollars.

Update:  If the model shown above is out of stock, the one shown below appears to be very similar.  It doesn’t look like it’s made quite as well as mine, but should do the job.  A number of the reviews say that it isn’t sharp enough, but it also looks like it takes standard safety razor blades (the old-fashioned kind), also shown below.  Fortunately, those blades are dirt cheap, and I would recommend ordering some of them as well.  In fact, you’ll have plenty of extra razor blades, so you might want to try using one to make a foxhole radio.