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April 13, 2023 – Storing Fuel: Accessing Electricity

April 13, 2023 /

Whether you have a generator or are running an inverter from your car, the power needs to get from the point of generation to the device that needs the power. It is imperative for safety and proper operation that you have a collection of appropriate extension cords.

Imagine for a minute that you were smart enough to have a generator and you needed it because of an expected, days long power outage. Because you were so smart, you also know that your refrigerator is probably good for a day or so if you do not open the doors. But what isn’t smart is running the generator inside. You need to get the power from the point of generation to the device safely.

To get further into the nuance, you not only need to get the power safely but also appropriately. Some number of years ago, we hired some painters. They were trying to run the paint sprayer on a household extension cord (these are the two wire, flat cords meant to plug in Christmas lights or something like that). Because there was so much power draw, it was tripping the circuit every ten minutes until I gave them an appropriate diameter extension cord.

The farther you need to go or the more power you need, the thicker the extension cord you need to have. The very common orange outdoor power cords are typically 16gauge wire. These are great for running drills or work lights but when it comes to heavy draw, not so much. They might work, but if something is running on a dedicated circuit, you might want to do more of a calculation to see if this is going to be adequate.

In the old days when I had more time than money, I used to read instruction manuals for power tools. It was pretty common for them to recommend different sized cords depending on the distance you are running. If you know anything about electricity, then you will know that it is code to have a minimum 14 gauge wire for a 15 amp circuit and 12 gauge wire for 20 amp circuit. So, this should be your rough guide on extension cords. And this is why you should be OK with a 16 gauge cord with devices pulling less than 10 amps of continuous use.

If you start getting tricky and adding surge protectors or other devices, they are good for some things like tripping an internal breakers to protect the device. I have some extension cords with built in breakers. They will trip if the tool load gets too high so be aware of the set and forget mentality. I use them when I want to have multiple things plugged in but not necessarily running at the same time. The more frequently a circuit breaker trips, the weaker that breaker becomes and trips much easier.

If your cord is ever hot, it is not sized for the load. It might be OK in an emergency situation or monitored use, but leaving it as a semi-permanent installation is a recipe for a potential fire. Fortunately, most devices that the home user is going to use with a generator will likely be lower draw items. But watch out for power tools and appliances for this problem.

I think that everyone knows that electricity and water do no mix. There are specific cords made for this use but they are expensive. I think a better strategy would be to not have any connections made in a wet environment (have a long enough cord). But if you have to, it is probably much more cost effective to build an enclosure. Drill some holes in a Rubbermaid style container to keep connections dry.

The cable of the extension cord is part of the system. If your cords have damage, repair or do not use. What I do if I have cords that have nicks in the insulation, I will shorten them with repair ends. If the nick is in the middle make two short ones if you can find a use for these. Electrical tape is a field repair. It will probably keep you from getting shocked, but if the conductor is damaged, it is effectively reducing the overall wire gauge and therefore decreasing the overall wattage capacity.

There is also the theory that sometimes it is better to have tool extensions rather than have longer power cords. The common adage in air compressors is add more air lines rather than extension cords. That is a high draw tool at 13-15 amps. If you had a 12 gauge cord, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. But, most people haven’t invested $100 into an extension cord and more air hoses are always useful. For ultimate longevity, consider other options that just extension cords.

End Your Programming Routine: I didn’t realize that I was going to have so much to say about extension cords so easily. But, if we are going to generate power, it makes no sense not to be able to use it. Having sufficient lengths and quantities available when we need them so that we can do so safely and effectively is really the only thing that makes sense. Not only that, we can use them for the same reasons when the power is not off. It’s a no brainer.

April 12, 2023 – Menudo’s Cousin: Meet Pozole

April 12, 2023 /

I think more people may be familiar with Pozole. It is a pork, hominy and chile soup. I think that it is more approachable in that the main meat portion of the dish is not tripe. As a preparer of menudo lately, I think it might be cheaper too.

My wife has generally refused to host pozole when making menudo is possible. But, I convinced her that this was something I wanted to do. It turns out that there are two types, red and green. I had never seen any other than red but it seems as though she didn’t know red existed.

We made pozole for Easter. I thought that probably the time economics of one big pot of soup beat putting some kind of meal together that included sides as well. I had one thing to shop for, one thing to prep and one thing to watch as it cooks.

I didn’t really read the instructions too carefully because once I saw the ingredients I knew how to make it. In fact, it is nearly exactly like making menudo with a few different ingredients. On Saturday afternoon, I put 7 lbs of pork hocks into the pot with 3 lbs dice pork tenderloin, two whole heads of garlic, 8 tablespoons of oregano and 6 quarts of water.

I very likely would have used half to no water if it were not for the fact that we were leaving for the evening. I didn’t want the meat to burn before the liquid was rendered out. When I make menudo, I don’t even add water to it. I turned the burner on to very low simmer. My goal would be to have the garlic dissolve, the meat fall off the bone but still have substance in the morning.

In the morning I added 3 lbs of cubed pork, 1 drained #10 can of hominy and the chiles. The original recipe called for 16 ancho chile (dried poblano chile). I felt that was a little light so I added the remainder of a bag of California chilis as well, about 20. Normally, if I wanted more flavor, I would add more of the same chile rather than mix them but ancho can have some spice to them and I was really trying to keep this spiceless.

There is a lot of mass here, the recipe was scaled to 16 quarts so salt to taste. It is going to take quite a bit of it but keep tasting, over salted soup is ruined. I know because I have done it multiple times and I sure don’t want to do it for Easter dinner.

After seasoning, let it all come together and prepare the garnish. Traditional garnish are tostadas, shredded cabbage, lime wedges, chopped white onion and sliced radish. In my house, we have to have both lime and lemon because some people prefer one over the other. I find lemon too bright and the sweeter lime is the right flavor as well as the authentic choice.

The way I made this, it was very mild. Many people like to spice it up a bit and so salsa or sliced chili peppers to add some heat could also be made. I skipped this preparation this time. I would have substituted menudo mix for some of the oregano if I had it on hand because it has chile pequin in it and it rather spicy. But, I didn’t want any leftover spices I wasn’t going to use for a while.

End Your Programming Routine: Who doesn’t like ham. We had it most Easter dinners throughout my life. I thought this twist was fun and delicious. I think it was a win on the effort front and I think that I convinced my wife that pozole is not the weaker cousin of menudo. It looks a lot the same and even tastes a lot the same, it just comes from a different family (of ingredients).

April 11, 2023 – The Kitchen Front

April 11, 2023 /

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan is the March selection of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. This is a fictional book set in World War II Great Britain with a story about for women. The story is about a cooking contest and the women’s role in it where each person has their own reasons for entering and winning.

I think that this is the first work of fiction that we have actually read. It is definitely a genre and subject matter that I would have never considered if I would not have been part of the book club. Despite the format, it is not a long read at a little over 400 pages.

The contest that the book is about is a cooking contest that uses war rations effectively. As things go along, we also learn that it is not simply rationed items but also non-rationed items and wildcrafting is also permitted. So, said another way it is making recipes with what is available when certain items are strictly limited.

For context, the book starts out with what is included in rationing for one week for one person.

  • 4oz bacon or ham
  • meat to value of 1 schilling (2lbs mincemeat or 1 steak)
  • 2oz cheese
  • 8tbls butter
  • 3 pints milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4tbls jam
  • 2oz tea (15-20 cups)
  • 1 egg (plus powdered eggs equal to 12 once a month)
  • 3oz sweets or candy

I think that you will agree with me that the above is not a lot of food. Notice too that it is largely meat, fats and sweets. Apparently things like fish or flour were not actually rationed. These would be items that could be obtained locally or not used in the war effort and not have to be imported due to the German blockade.

What is super cool about the book is that there is frequently a recipe at the end of the chapter. These would be the creations that were entered into competition or something based on the context of what was happening in the story. I didn’t do this but you could eat along with the story if you chose to do so.

I’m not going to give away the story but it ends like a Hallmark movie. Which by my book is better than a Lifetime movie. It’s ok to sometimes get lost in the feelgood story.

End Your Programming Routine: I think that you can tell that I liked the book by how I was writing. Honestly, I didn’t make any of the recipes. Not for any reason other than I mostly read a lot of on the plane or away from home. Of course the subject of thrift, survival and resourcefulness are the subjects that speak to me. Other than a bit of a campy ending, I enjoyed the journey.

April 10, 2023 – Family Road Trip

April 10, 2023 /

Join me on our road trip recap. I talk about our trip as well as some of the trips that we have done. We had a great trip and there are so many things that we could have done you have to pick and choose because of limited time. This is tips and tricks for inspiration of your own trip.

End Your Programming Routine: This was likely our last full family vacation. So, we did it with gusto. I wouldn’t say that we spared any expense. Someone on our trip that once you start to see some red rocks, they all start to look the same. I don’t disagree, so I would advise to make some variety in your trip, not just looking at red rocks. I have been thinking about a small RV for my wife and I to travel. Maybe that is in our future?

April 7, 2023 – Animal Farm, Chapter 5

April 7, 2023 /

It has been a long time since I actually read this chapter. My plan was to stub out concepts weeks ago but as you know I have been a little busy. So, I skimmed through it a couple of days ago to refresh my memory on what happened. Doing so, my inference was confirmed that this is a powerful chapter.

When you read this chapter you get a lesson in how to manipulate a population. It makes me wonder how many people have read this book and yet either forgot or ignore what happened. One headline I read said 11 million copies sold. Surely a portion of those went to libraries or schools where they were read over and over again. The reality is that 11 million over 75 years is not really that many in a country that has 300 million people. Maybe people have just not read it?

Nuance is subtle. I was reading one opinion on Animal Farm and I came across this quote. “Every line of serious work I have written since 1936 has been, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism.” I suppose that democratic socialism works in Sweden where they never had the same expectations of freedom as the United States. Yet, I look at what we are doing as a country and I just cannot get clarity that we are not moving toward totalitarianism.

There are at least three main things that happen in this chapter. The first one happens when Napoleon sick’s the dogs on Snowball. This is the one that is the most covert and significant. It is mentioned earlier in the book that the puppies were removed from the rest of the animals and educated. It is this act that we need to learn our lesson. Isolation and indoctrination is the tactic.

Do you want to know what Drag Queen Story Hour and gender fluidity have to do with Animal Farm? That would be isolation and indoctrination. Create laws that ensure kids are in school, then start pushing doctrine to move the status quo. It won’t be long until the entire population is numb to insanity and we can no longer say A is A. My kids are within a presidential election of being full fledged adults. They are already a product of this environment because it has been normalized within their lifetime.

The second concept is repeat a lie long enough and it will become the truth. How many people believe that if you put a frog in boiling water and slowly turn up the heat that it will eventually boil to death? We have heard it our whole lives, but it simply is not true. That is a small and innocuous example but there are others.

This is a common tactic in politics today. For instance, elect Republicans and they will repeal the healthcare mandate or lower taxes. No they are not, no they are not, no they are not; repeat after me. My tax bill has gone up by tens of thousands of dollars a year since the Trump tax cuts. I have heard from others that theirs actually went down. But that is a segment of business owners and that is who got the benefit of the tax cuts. By twisting the facts, there were tax cuts implemented but it was for a certain segment of voters at the expense of the rest.

This plays out in the book by Napoleon campaigning against Snowball with plans to build the windmill. Napoleon was dead set against the project, even peeing on the plans. But as soon as Snowball was chased off the premises Napoleon immediately adopted the project. What is the truth here? What side can you really trust? I think this leads into the next concept.

There is something called The Iron Law of Bureaucracy. There are individuals committed to the mission (Snowball) and those that are committed to the institution (Napoleon). Eventually, those committed to the institution will take over running it, forever. This is the reason why I cannot get behind democratic socialism because it just keeps moving to totalitarianism. It is just a matter of the speed.

End Your Programming Routine: I suppose that this last concept is where I struggle the most. I am always a mission oriented guy and it seems like it frustrates me when I can’t change the organization. Intellectually I have been aware of the Iron Law of Bureaucracy but it is so difficult for me to internalize and accept. I feel like it is unjust and just grates me the wrong way. I suppose that just accentuates my need to work outside of systems.

April 6, 2023 – Best Advice: Rent a Car and Do a Road Trip

April 6, 2023 /

I was returning my rental car at the Des Moines airport and a car caught my eye. It was a Buick Enclave. I thought that it was a nice looking vehicle, I even did a double take to see what it was. Little did I know that when I flew into Portland and picked up my next rental, I would end up with a Buick Enclave for our road trip rental.

There was a lot to like about it. It was AWD which would come in handy in our snow covered road driving. It had a third row so plenty of room for four and the overstuffed luggage. I didn’t look under the hood, but I felt it had adequate power for the the 80MPH speed limits in the west and a 21 gallon fuel tank had over a 500 mile range. That is a good thing when you want to go or you are out in the middle of no man’s land desert. The seats were comfortable enough to drive for twelve hours a day if we had to.

You don’t spend all that time in a car and not find some things that you don’t like either. The controls were confusing, I still didn’t figure it all out after a week. We were trying out Android Auto and it worked pretty good until the last couple of days and we had consistent connection issues until we gave up on it for the last couple of days. Last but not least, the heating/cooling system we never figured out. It was always too hot or too cold. I specifically did not like the tiny back window and the small amount of clearing the little wiper performed.

Despite all the good things, our overall assessment was not to buy and the reason was ultimately the glitches left an unsatisfactory taste in the vehicle. I want to say that we are at a point that we expect the fundamentals of a vehicle to work. Adequate power, adequate economy, adequate comfort are accepted as baselines for any car. But if you cant get the heat right or settings always go back to a default set, it is kind of annoying.

I think everyone that has bought a car has had some form of buyer remorse. A couple of miles of test drive is just not enough to get a feel for certain aspects of the car. I remember when we bought our Navigator, we were literally leaving the lot and the parking sensors started going off. We drove back to the dealer and they smiled and said the deal is done. Since they were no a Lincoln dealer, there was not a lot they could do. We still have occasional gremlins that go off and don’t know why.

Taking a car on a road trip is a perfect test of a vehicle. You really get intimate with the features and capabilities. We are thinking of upgrading from the Navigator since it seems to be on it’s last legs. There sure are a lot of $50,000 cars out there which equate to a lot of payments over a long time. I would hate to decide years of obligation in 15 minutes.

Our current choices are weighted toward the Hyundai Tucson and the Ford Explorer. I have driven the Tucson several times but not the recent Explorer. I sure would consider renting for a weekend to see how I feel about each one. Ideally, you would also want to consider typical use conditions as well.

What I mean is that it is unrealistic to test moving 18 sheets of plywood if that is never going to happen because I have a pick-up for that. In software, we have a 95/5 rule. If something happens in the 5% window, it is worth considering the cost and complexity for coding the edge case scenarios. Or said another way, I am not going to buy a fifteen passenger van on the off chance that I will have 14 friends to haul one time. It makes no sense. So start by doing what you normally do and consider the edge cases on a specific basis.

A long time ago, we purchased a Ford Expedition. We had that about two years before we traded it for a Dodge Caravan. The justification was that it was lower so my wife could take her grandparents around. I think that happened a couple of times while we owned the vehicle (and the Caravan lifecycle is a story for another day). That was actually a poor financial decision for a false justification.

But here is a marriage tip, my wife should be able to have any reasonable vehicle. It turned out that with young kids the mini-van was much easier in and out. We had three extra seats that the Expedition didn’t have and we acquired some extra kids (another story for another day). The lower roofline was much easier to load kayaks which she did multiple times a year. I think it worked out alright despite the false premise to begin with.

End Your Programming Routine: As of late, we have had some pretty good longevity with cars. I think that we went through nearly thirty before we were aged 40. I have owned my pickup since 2003 and we bought the Navigator in 2012. Sure, I wish I still had the Mustang but that had to go for financial practical reasons. Neither vehicle is ideal in every circumstance. But, as I get older and smarter I want to make sure that I can live with the quirks if I end up paying $800 a month for six years.

April 5, 2023 – The Coming Home Hangover

April 5, 2023 /

I have been doing a little watching of Seinfeld lately. This podcast is something like that, it is all over the place but actually going somewhere. I finished my book on the plane and I didn’t have a specific topic that I wanted to talk about. I did what I sometimes do and that is start writing. My topic was a phenomenon that often happens to me after business travel all week.

End Your Programming Routine: It is a very strange feeling to come home and feel like you don’t belong. I think that it is always a mental issue, nobody says or does anything otherwise, it is just the way I feel. It usually changes in a couple days and things are back to normal, but it is how it is.

April 4, 2023 – More Stuff Coming, Just Not Today

April 4, 2023 /

I am back from my vacation. I did survive my business trip. I have more travel in the hopper, but I need some time to catch-up both here and elsewhere. I have half done podcast outlines, chapters read and articles stubbed out so it is not writer’s block or lack of desire but that I need time to catch up here and elsewhere in my life.

It is funny how life goes. Often taking a vacation causes more more work to catch up. I suppose it is the break that allows the energy (or perception) to double your time and output to catch back up? Definitely while on vacation I was switched off, barely a thought was given to work here or elsewhere.

I am going to talk more about the mindset in my next podcast, likely this week. But for now, take a vacation yourselves while I get myself re-organized and reengaged with this machine.

March 31, 2023 – Animal Farm, Chapter 4

March 31, 2023 /

Weird, the very same image I used on the other posts ended up rotated 90 degrees in the Word Press library. I have no idea why or how because I didn’t even take the photo in that orientation nor did I edit it. I tried to rotate it in Word Press but it said that it couldn’t access the meta data and therefore edit. The only thing that I can see different is that the first three embeds were done at once and this one was two weeks later. Anyway, keep an eye out for technical gremlins.

This chapter has Farmer Jones and his buddies riling up each other to take back the farm. The humans march on the farm and “The Battle of Cowshed” ensues. Despite having weapons and gumption, the animals beat back the humans. There is one casualty, a sheep is shot and killed by Jones. This whole chain of events inspires and solidifies the animals to their cause and their dedication to it.

In this short chapter, what is being laid out is the celebration of war and the resulting ceremony. I think that these events are crafted into propaganda as unifiers toward the entity. Said another way “aren’t we so proud that we defeated our enemy”. To a small degree, the United States does this but then other countries like North Korea have built a calendar out of it.

Military celebration seems to be a central theme that autocratic regimes have adopted probably because they don’t have much else to celebrate. I think it is because they desperately try to shed other traditional trappings of culture and religion in efforts to solidify power absolutely.

The title “Animal Hero, First Class” is created and bestowed to the fallen sheep. Once again, eliminate old beliefs and build new ones. A hero that dies for the cause becomes a martyr in the situation. By awarding a title, this act helps legitimize the leaders of the movement.

Honestly, I can’t think of one actual US holiday that is based on a military victory. I am familiar with what is called VE day or Victory in Europe Day which is a named day on the calendar, but not a holiday. There may be celebrations or events in combination with the date, but it has limited recognition.

There are two actual holidays that have military origins. This would be Memorial day which was originally the ending date of Battle of Antietam in the Civil War and Veterans day which was originally Armistice Day or the ending of World War I. I would say in either case, they do not celebrate a victory.

This is not to say that we are better than Animal Farm, but it is a different kind of spirit. For those that actually participate in the American ceremonies, I would say that they lack the exuberance of celebration in favor of a somber remembrance. That being said, celebrating victory, service or sacrifice fills the same role, solidification of the might of the nation.

End Your Programming Routine: Orwell is a complicated guy. I thought that he had spent time in the USSR, but upon further research I was wrong. Apparently his politics were leftist however his anti-communist business associates were what inspired him to write Animal Farm. On one hand, I don’t see the two going together. But on the other, people involved in politics and business are all about getting theirs. Create laws that eliminate competition no matter what side of the dichotomy you are on.

March 30, 2023 – I want this… but it is not there

March 30, 2023 /

As badly as I want this, it is not going to happen today. My original topic was going to be electricity preparedness. I ran out of time to get the necessary photos last week before I left. As a fallback, I thought I would find some internet images but I spent all my free time trying to get my podcast published.

As an alternative, read a book, listen to a podcast or do some other stimulation to change your programing. It is always good to get another perspective even if it is contrary to your own. If you don’t periodically challenge your beliefs then how do you know that they are still valid?

I remember that when I was a freshman in college, a friend asked me that if I was drafted, would I serve? At that point, I was fresh out of my programming in Boy Scouts so of course I said I would because it was the right thing to do. Today, I would almost assuredly have a different answer. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my country, but my perspective has changed. I love what it could be, not what it is.

That change in opinion came around because I kept challenging myself on what the implications were for believing or supporting one side or the other. As an example, the ‘Trump Tax Cuts’ has at least tripled my annual tax obligations. I have heard from others that it was a huge benefit. My financial position was based on the old rules and now with new ones I am at a severe disadvantage. From my perspective, this was a tax increase.

Fine, I know how to eventually move to take advantage of the new rules. But how can a party that supposedly has a platform of tax cuts create tax increases? Easy, it is because they don’t really stand for tax cuts. They stand for saying what they think will appeal to a wide group and create new rules by which they will benefit. Now I am teetering into being angry at bad guys so I will leave it at that.