What have you done to prep this week?

[Socalman]

We have had a great bumper crop of avocados this season and so far the bears have not hit us. A week ago our neighbor across the street took a pic of one of the bears at a tree of the neighbor immediately north of us and sent it to me just after 0700. She watched him finish harvesting/eating then meander off into the hills. A bit later in the morning saw a super large pile of scat in my back yard that was loaded with kumquat seeds, probably from our neighbor to the west.

We have done well, giving away many avocados and oranges to our friends. Have frozen a few quarts of fresh OJ for winter use. More will be put up. Will harvest some of our blueberries a bit later this morning. It appears we have about 2 quarts. Last year we got almost none, we went out one morning and the bushes were bare! Perhaps a bear or squirrel got them. That is not happening this year!

We laid in a decent supply of batteries, AAA, AA, C, D and 9 volt late last week. I would love to find a decent solar charger that accepts all sizes of rechargeable batteries? Anyone know of any?

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Well, bought a new set of handheld radios. Should be here on the 19th. A pair of Baofeng UV-82 MK5's. My Quanshengs have about outlived their lives. I've had them for about 7yrs and used them on a daily basis. Don't seem to find them around anymore. Time for an upgrade.

[Kesephist]

Well, bought a new set of handheld radios. Should be here on the 19th. A pair of Baofeng UV-82 MK5's. My Quanshengs have about outlived their lives. I've had them for about 7yrs and used them on a daily basis. Don't seem to find them around anymore. Time for an upgrade.

I have an -82 as well. Found online a cheat sheet for it, and in looking for the full manual lost both... razzafrazzin...shortcoming of buying gear from pawnshops.

The pre-ban Baofeng UV-5Rs are still available on the Bay... was me, and the cash available, I'd get 3-4, with individual charger and battery for each, and a battery eliminator for car ops. Laminated cheat sheet attached to each unit. (Come to that, cheat sheets for all my rigs, chip-driven or not.)

[bacpacker]

I've been working on a couple of 24" deep 4x12 raised beds. Got them finished up and filled last weekend. Planted radishes, parsnips, carrots, peas, beans, a bunch of onions, squash, cantaloupes. If weather holds, I'm gonna plant my tomato and pepper transplants this weekend. I put them in gallon pots and now they are nearly 3' tall and are loaded with blooms. OKra and cucmbers have come up some, but gonna replant more. Taters and cabbage is doing well. Blueberries, apple, pawpaws, grapes, & mulberries are doing pretty good.

[Domeguy]

I replaced my broken ham radio with a new one, got the same TYT TH-9800. The old one was less than a yr old, but during a com check several yrs ago, the short mike cord while talking pulled it off the side table and onto the floor which broke the knobs on the front. I also dropped and broke my iPad while trying to catch the radio. So I took a lesson from Hogan’s Hero’s and screwed it onto the inside door of the side table cabinet. I drilled two holes in the back, one for the antenna and one for the power cord. The power unit is beside the radio with everything hooked up, but hidden away, safe and sound. I bet even Sargent Shultz couldn’t find it. Now if only I could remember to get on the com checks when they are scheduled...I blame old age.
Also almost finished with the covered front porch, and it’s looking pretty good. I ran a new wire from a closet light switch to get a power line so I can put in a ceiling fan on the porch, which I will do tomorrow. Now the missus is thinking of putting a 15’ above ground pool of from the side of the porch. That would help me get some better exercise for my knee and hip, which aren’t doing well since my fall on the steps of the old porch. Plus it would be a huge water storage reservoir.
I’ve also ordered 24 good quality rechargeable AA batteries. I’ve bought cheap ones in the past, but I think with batteries, you get what you pay for. And I ordered a new solar charger for them. Also ordered a 12V solar trickle charger to keep the batteries up on the RV, all from Amazon. In my opinion, try and get as much solar equipment as you can afford, even the cheap solar yard lights from the Dollar Store will light up a room when it’s dark outside...sorry...I’ll get off my soap box now.
P.S. I still hate the dog.

[Domeguy]

With the food prices rising, and with meat potentially becoming a rare commodity, I ordered a 1/2 side of beef from my massage therapists husband. No hormones, free range, and all that good stuff. Should be ready and in the freezer in about a month.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

What I "still" dislike about the Baofengs is that you can't name the channels you program unless you do it by "computer" other than that you can fatfinger the keypad for pretty much everything else in the field. The rubber duck antennae sucks. At's a throw away right off the bat. I've yet to program and optest these things so there will be more to follow on that one.

At this point I'm not actually adding shit to this thread so I'm outta here!

[Socalman]

We have actually built up a few stores of canned and dried food. Should the predicted second wave hit us in late summer or early fall, I think we will see panic buying that makes the toilet paper shortage look minor.

A suggestion is that everyone learn to build a rocket stove. Where we are we have reliable water and natural gas. However, a good earthquake and the water mains break, gas lines rupture. What to do? I have a propane gas grill and always have several bottles around. In addition I have a Coleman camp stove. What if I get to the point of being out of propane without a way to resupply? I build a rocket stove. Simple, very efficient and easily powered by small bits of wood, tree branches, etc. Look at Youtube for a video tutorial on how to build one.

[Kesephist]

https://youtu.be/kmDYUrVHPWc for the 4 cinder block version.

[Socalman]

We have actually built up a few stores of canned and dried food. Should the predicted second wave hit us in late summer or early fall, I think we will see panic buying that makes the toilet paper shortage look minor.