Category Archives: Emergency Preparedness

Winter Field Day 2021

This previous weekend was Winter Field Day. While this event is billed as an emergency preparedness exercise, it’s also simply a fun opportunity to get on the air from a portable location, and make the most of limited resources.

As happened with ARRL Field Day this past June, the event was affected by COVID-19. Since the pandemic generally prevents operation as a group, many who would have otherwise participated stayed home. But in my opinion, being part of a group is not what defines this event. The event is not called “Group Day,” it is called “Field Day.” The focus is operating from out in the field somewhere. And while groups of people can be dangerous because of COVID, there is absolutely nothing that is unsafe about a field. I was completely socially distanced during the entire event. I saw a few other campers and said hello to some of them from 50 feet away. As I’ve previously written, camping is an excellent safe way to travel during the pandemic.

As an emergency preparedness exercise, it seems to me that it was best to adapt to the actual emergency conditions. Because of COVID, it wasn’t possible to do it as a group. But in many emergency situations, a group of helpers might not be available to set up a station and get it on the air. It seems to me that the ability to get a station on the air, even a minimalist station, without outside assistance, is a valuable skill in an emergency.

For summer Field Day, my wife and I operated for an hour or two from a city park, shown here. If it weren’t for all of the naysayers lamenting that they had to stay home for Winter Field Day, I probably would have done something similar and just operated for a while from the back yard, or maybe again from a city park. But since so many people were lamenting that it was impossible to truly go out and operate away from home, I decided to do a winter camping trip in our popup camper.

I made reservations for William O’Brien State Park, which is only a 45 minute drive from home. The temperature never got below 20 degrees, and it was actually a very nice weekend for camping. There were several other campers in the campground. I spotted three RV’s, as well as three family groups camping in tents. Also, I believe at least one of the park’s cabins was occupied. So at least a few non-hams were undaunted by being in the field in the middle of winter, in the middle of a pandemic.

Even though it’s not insulated, the popup camper stays quite warm inside with electric heaters and/or the furnace running. Since I was paying for the electricity anyway, I used two electric space heaters. One was plugged into the outlet in the camper, which was hooked up to the campground’s 30 amp circuit. The other heater was plugged into a separate extension cord going to the campground’s 20 amp circuit. Therefore, if needed, I could run both heaters full blast. When I needed the electricity for cooking, I temporarily unplugged one of the heaters. There was a light dusting of snow Sunday morning, but the camper’s canvas was bone dry by the time I folded it up.

I didn’t set out to make hundreds of contacts. In fact, after making the first one, which happened to be with Rhode Island, I felt like I had proved the concept. But I was on the air for a total of about three hours out of the 24 hours of the contest, and made 27 contacts with 14 states.

Only eight of those contacts were with other portable stations. Six were outdoors, and two were indoors but at temporary locations. I’m grateful for the other 19, who were operating at their home stations, since they gave me someone to make contacts with. But I feel a little sorry for them that they didn’t figure out some way to operate in an actual field for Field Day, even though they couldn’t do it as part of a group. Also, I was a little bit mystified to hear home stations working other home stations, while calling it Field Day. For previous Field Days when I’ve stayed home, I’ve often made some contacts, but since it’s Field Day, I’ve made a point to seek out stations who were actually in a field. There are contests almost every weekend that are geared up for home stations to work other home stations. I guess I don’t see the point of ignoring those opportunities, and then getting on only for a weekend called Field Day. Again, I was grateful that I had stations to work, but I really didn’t get the point of home stations spending the whole weekend working other home stations.

My original plan was to use dipoles for 20 and 40 meters, along with a quarter wave wire for 80 meters. The 80 meter wire was a bust, and didn’t really get out, due undoubtedly to its very low height and lack of much of a ground system. But the dipole for 20 meters did a great job, and I made all of my contacts on that band. You can see (just barely) that antenna at left. It’s held up at the center, inverted-vee style, with my telescoping golf ball retriever, and the ends are tied loosely to some bushes that happened to be at about the right spot. I was running low on wire before the contest, so I ordered a roll of speaker wire that did the job. I cut it to the proper length of about 16-1/2 feet, and then unzipped it when it was in place. I thought I had forgotten to bring a tape measure (it turns out there was one in the toolbox), but I used a six-inch ruler to measure the table, and then used the table to measure the wire.

My original plan was to put up a 40 meter antenna as well, but when 20 meters closed in the early evening, I decided to simply call it a night, and made a few more contacts Sunday morning. As with most of my NPOTA activations, I operated mostly CW, but also made a few SSB contacts. I also made one PSK-31 contact using my tablet computer and the DroidPSK app.

My station consisted of my Yaesu FT-817 powered by a fish-finder battery, which still had plenty of charge left at the end of the contest. The one digital contact was made possible with the Signalink USB interface, which performed flawlessly with the inexpensive RCA tablet computer. For some reason, the tablet’s keyboard didn’t work very well with the DroidPSK software, so I had to use the touchscreen, which seemed like a rather laborious process to me. I probably could have made the process much easier by setting up some macros in advance. But for the first time using it, I was glad that I was able to make my first ever portable digital contact.

As you can see in the picture above, I needed something to prop up the radio on the table, and a box of matches did a perfect job with this important task.

Am I going to save any lives with my ability to operate a portable station? Almost certainly not. On the other hand, if there is ever an emergency, large or small, that makes other forms of communication impossible, I know that I am able to send messages to friends and relatives in other states. I can do it formally by checking in to a National Traffic System net, or I can do it informally simply by working someone and asking them to make a phone call or send an e-mail for me. I can also do that for neighbors who want to let their friends in other states know that they’re safe. I’m also well equipped to receive information from the outside world simply by knowing that I can power up a broadcast receiver to listen to either local or distant stations. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever have a need, but it’s good to know that I have the ability.

The point of exercises like Field Day is to show that hams can adapt to emergency situations and still be able to communicate. COVID has shown us that there are some emergencies where you are cut off from the group that normally helps you establish communications. Can you adapt and still communicate if you are cut off from both this group and your normal station setup? Field Day and Winter Field Day during COVID gave me the opportunity to show that I can.

Here’s a short video tour of my setup:

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.

Product Review: Opinel Pocket Knife

Bottom Line: The Opinel is a very inexpensive and unpretentious high quality knife for your everyday carry needs.

Pre-pandemic, I very rarely carried a pocket knife. When I needed a cutting tool, I looked around the garage or kitchen and found something suitable. In the car, I would find a cheap utility knife in the toolbox which would usually serve the purpose.

But with the pandemic, it seemed that I needed a knife multiple times per day. More often than not, it was to open a box from Amazon or Walmart. I like to do this outside, so that I can immediately discard the outer packaging into the recycling bin. Thus, it became convenient to keep a knife in my pocket. I had several around the house, many of which had been given to me as gifts over the years. The first one I stumbled upon was the Opinel No. 6 Stainless Steel folding knife.

As you can see from the picture, the Opinel is a nondescript knife with a wooden handle. It looks like a tool, which, of course, is exactly what it is. It doesn’t have a camouflage handle. It doesn’t have a built-in screwdriver or can opener. It’s benign looking, and designed for cutting things, a goal which it accomplishes remarkably well. It’s well made, and it seems to keep a cutting edge well. I’ve sharpened it a couple of times with a whetstone, and the edge seems to last.

My version came in stainless steel, and the knife is also available in carbon steel. Apparently, the carbon steel blade holds an edge a bit better, but is more prone to rust. The stainless steel (marked on the blade in French, Inox, short for inoxidable) seems the more practical choice.

The Number 6 in the product name indicates the length of the blade, the number 6 being 2.87 inches. The sizes range from a tiny Number 2, up to a Number 12 with a 4.84 inch blade. The number 6 seems to be the perfect size for the occasional jobs I use it for. In addition to opening boxes, I’ve used it to cut food while camping, strip wire, cut cords, and do the normal variety of tasks for which one would use a pocket knife. It’s big enough to do the jobs I need it for, but as it weighs only about an ounce, I hardly notice it in my pocket. The blade meets the “under three inches” standard which is important for some regulatory purposes. (On the other hand, at such time as it becomes safe to fly commercially, I’ll have to remember to leave it at home or in my checked baggage.)

Locking mechanism. Wikipedia photos.

The knife has a simple locking mechanism, which allows the blade to be locked open or closed. It’s simplicity itself–namely, a notched ring which can be twisted to hold the blade in place. In my opinion, most locking mechanisms are annoying and dangerous. If you’re using a knife in such a way that the blade might inadvertently close, then in my opinion, you are using it wrong. And most locking mechanisms I’ve seen require some contortion to disable them, such as holding down a button while moving the blade toward your finger. In most cases, in my opinion, the “safety” feature of a locking blade makes the knife less safe. In the case of the Opinel, however, the locking mechanism needn’t be used at all. In fact, I carried the knife around for quite some time before even realizing that the blade could be locked.

On the rare occasions when I might want to lock the blade on the Opinel, the mechanism and easy and safe to use. You merely rotate the ring to lock or unlock the blade.

Joseph Opinel began making knives in 1890 in Savoie, France, and the knife has always been the quintessential working man’s knife. Picasso reportedly used one as a sculpting tool. Today, about 15 million knives per year roll off the company’s assembly lines.

The Opinel knife is quite inexpensive, but high quality and useful. It’s unpretentious and looks like a tool, so it won’t draw the ire of those who are squeamish about knives. It’s the perfect knife to keep in your pocket. You’ll find you wind up using it several times per day.

Some links are affiliate links, meaning this site receives a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.

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

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.

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.

Electrostatic Generator

Fifty 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.

Emergency 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

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.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking.

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:

Some links are affiliate links, meaning this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.

Mail During Quarantine: How to Get Stamps

Quick links:

Buying stamps online
Curbside stamp pickup
Printing postage at home
Other online sources

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.

I 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

Another 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.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link.

Sourdough Cooking

With 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.