Miss Lois And the DC-3

Over on Twitter, a conversation with Rocket brought up Beege Welborn’s love of DC-3s. It also brought a grin to my face as I remembered Miss Lois and our plans to buy and renovate a DC-3. Plans that I seriously suspect my Dad prayed would be thwarted.

First up, my Dad did not like to fly. Given an experience or two back in the 1930s, much less a couple in WWII, I can see why it would not be a favorite thing to do. In fact, I think he may only have flown twice in his life after WWII. Me, I loved aviation, space, and flight, and Dad did a lot to encourage me in that — so long as he never had to go up. Particularly after he heard from my mother about my coming in for a landing sideways — had to crab as the instructor had killed the engine a mile or so out from the airport and told me to make it. I did.

Which made his dating Miss Lois a bit amusing for me. She was the baby sister of one of his best friends growing up, and she was also one of the early women pilots in the U.S. A respectable girl from a respectable family, she fell in love with planes early in life, and approached the man running the local flight school to find out how much it would cost to learn to be a pilot. His answer stunned her.

Nothing.

He made her an offer. He would teach her for free, and let her practice for free, with one proviso: anytime over a town or group of people, she had to fly low and wave. Lean out and wave even. His take was that all the boys (and some men) would come out and pay to learn so that a girl didn’t show them up. According to Miss Lois, he was right, and he made bank while she increased her skills for free.

Suitably chaperoned, Miss Lois even took part in some of the competitions of the day, mostly in Georgia if I am remembering correctly. Enough so that when the U.S. started recruiting pilots, both the early ferry work and the later operations once the war began, she was approached both times to be a part. I think one of the few regrets she had in life was that both times saw her caring for a relative, and literally being the only one available to give that care. She indicated that it was hard to say no when Jackie Cochran personally asked her to be a part of the WASPs.

I don’t remember all the details, but along the way Miss Lois Wynn got married and became Mrs. Lois Pryor. Her husband died somewhere around the time my mother died. A year or two later, she and Dad met at a community event for the community where they grew up, and developed an interest in each other. At a certain point, my Dad drove from Macon, Georgia, to Huntsville where I was a contractor for NASA to ask my permission to date Miss Lois. Permission granted.

Miss Lois and I had a good time talking aviation and space. We also ended up double-teaming Dad when he had some strokes and needed some help. During that time, I attended a continuing education event for pilots at a small regional airport not too far from Macon. At that airport was a DC-3 and it was for sale. Not just any DC-3, it was reported to be the one used in the film Hatari! and sported the special paint job it had been given for that movie.

At that point, Dad got worried because Miss Lois and I started playing the lottery with the aim (on the dim chance we won) of buying the plane, fixing it up, and setting off on some grand adventures with him in tow. Our plan was to install an updated version of the original galley, four sleeping berths, four or five seats, and otherwise make sure we were set for landing anywhere. Miss Lois was going to be engineer, a female pilot I knew was qualified on the DC-3 (still want to get that story!) and would be pilot, and I would take Co. Go see the world, haul some small cargos and use that to defray the costs.

We never won, but we sure did have fun discussing the plan. Even if part of that fun was making Dad squirm a bit. I still wouldn’t mind doing it, though it would not be the same.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Monday Update

Sorry that there’s not more today, but it turned into a day for filling out paperwork. As I’ve mentioned before, I have reluctantly begun a disability claim and am looking into what it takes to retire early. I need something regular coming in, as while I appreciate and desperately need the donations to the fundraiser, being able to pay the bills reliably is paramount. Especially given the way the economy is doing.

Saturday saw a huge amount of mail come in, which was all from the government and included 17 pages of forms related to the disability claim. This morning has been spent filling out all those forms. I strongly suspect they are going to regret paper forms that I have to fill out by hand as my penmanship, never good to start with, has gone downhill since all this started. Even when I print, it’s a challenge. I also suspect they are going to regret the instructions ‘answer in detail.’

One good thing did come out the medical issues last week. With me not feeling good, I had an “attention lapse” and let the coffee steep in the French press for about eight minutes. Most coffees take 3-4 minutes to get the best flavor. I figured that so long as it wasn’t too bitter, it would be okay. It was freaking delicious! Strong, not bitter, more of the chicory and other notes came out. So, I’ve been playing with it a bit and am finding 6-7 minutes works very well with this coffee.

No, I don’t have a post office box yet, but working on it. With fees and rent, the smallest box offered is going run about $115 for three months. Since I don’t even have bill or real grocery money right now, will be a bit. Meantime, looking at other options on a temporary basis as gift cards were mentioned as a possibility.

Watching what is going on in Russia and the Ukraine, leaving the combat reporting to others who are doing an excellent job overall. In political terms in Russia, not much has changed though there are some interesting maneuvers underway. Some of it suggests that a sacrifice/scapegoat short of Shoigu may be offered up. Also, trying to confirm a report that Russia was so short of precision air launched cruise missiles that they took some out of nuclear service to use with conventional warheads in strikes on the Ukraine.

Today’s strikes may have taken a rather large chunk out of their precision ALCM stockpile. Logistics rules, and Russia is not alone in being short. Right now, with all we have sent to the Ukraine, we better hope a war doesn’t start as we can’t sustain a fight for long. What’s worse, a number of the lines needed are not even running I hear. If we had competent leadership they would be moving on this. Given what we have, well, maybe North Korea will sell to us too. (/sarc) Pro tip: in any fight with peer or near-peer opponents, your ammo and related will be used at several times the rates predicted by the paper pushers. Just take a look at how many years worth of production has been used in Javelins and other systems in less than a year.

More soon.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Preparedness Pays: Draft Chapter 2A

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

I had originally planned to do Chapter 1 a bit differently, but am opting for now to try smaller chapters, possibly focused on a single concept, to make it easier for those new to preparedness. We will see how it goes, meantime, onwards!

NOTE: This is a (very) rough draft

Building With Our Blocks

Now that we have our basic building and planning blocks, let’s take a look at how to use them to create the preparedness plan that works for you. To do so, why don’t we take a look at what most of it boils down to: ensuring people have the resources they need.

As noted previously, resources include (but are not limited to) things like  food, water, power, fuel, and other resources necessary for life, much less modern life. So, let’s start with the most critical items for life: food and water.

Most people in first world countries (and even many second) take clean, safe, and abundant water for granted. We cut the tap on, and sweet, sweet, water flows out into our glasses, sinks, or tubs. While there are exceptions everywhere, overall we have gotten rather spoiled about water. Even the most minor of disaster or emergency becomes a real issue when it effects our water.

Most of the time, that impact is an annoyance. The water goes off while you are in the shower and you need to rinse. You can’t do the laundry or dishes because the water went off. It’s not the end of the world, but it impacts your day. Thing is, the longer it is off the greater the impact. Given that you can live for days to weeks on little to no food, and only a very few days without water, water really needs to be your top priority for preparedness. So, let’s look at it in terms of our planning blocks on the three lengths of disaster.

For minor disasters, those lasting minutes to a week, stored water comes in very handy. Caught bathing and need to rinse off? A bottle of water or maybe part of a gallon jug of water takes care of that. I keep both bottles of water and gallon jugs of distilled water around personally, as I use the latter for making coffee (the water around where I currently live being a fluid phase of limestone) and the former for general use. During any emergency, don’t throw out the empties: they have important uses we will get into later. For planning, while you have to have two liters of water a day from drinking and food to survive, you are going to find life a lot better if you have three to four liters per person per day.

For moderate to major disasters, storage really isn’t practical. Though, one should plan for ways to increase your storage if there is warning. Collapsable containers, tub bladders, even your cookware can and should be used to store water if there is warning of a coming moderate to major disaster. If you have freezer or other containers, fill them up too. If it will safely hold water, fill it up!

So, what can you do to prepare for water during a moderate to major disaster? You are going to need one or more water purification systems. No, I’m not talking systems for cities or such, but the small, mostly portable systems used by campers and backpackers. Those systems are designed to take water from lakes, streams, or other sources and turn it into pure, clean, safe water for drinking. Some of them can even handle various types of grey water. Wait, what? Grey water?

You are going to deal with three types of water in life, much less during a disaster. Clean water is what you are used to drinking. Grey water is water that has been used for things like showering, cleaning, technically even cooking water like pasta water is grey water. Dark/black/other-term-here water contains sewage or other organic or chemical contaminants. There are ways for you to deal with filtering and purifying grey and black water, but we will get into that more later.

For now, you’ve got enough information to begin planning for your water needs. Given that things never go to plan, I recommend being a pessimist and planning on storing enough drinking water to get through a minor disaster if at all possible.

That may not be possible. Each of us has a different situation in terms of space, storage space, and other delights. I’ve heard of some apartments or rentals that have it in the lease that you are not to store water or other fluids in the structure. In your planning, get creative. There are a lot of odd spaces and places you might not think about, but will work great for storage.

For any and all disasters, look at water storage options. There are a variety of collapsible containers out there for camping and emergencies. Some hold just a gallon or three, and others can hold a hundred or more gallons. The tub bladders are a great idea since that part of the house/apartment is build to hold that weight, and you will be amazed at how much water you can store in one.

For longer term preparedness, research water purification systems and find what works for you. If you have the budget, or can budget for it over time, I highly recommend a portable system for each person, and a larger camping system for the home. It gives you maximum flexibility and capability at need. Also, get replacement elements for each system, at least a year’s worth if possible. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

Also, when researching those systems, keep in mind they are not all the same. Some basically just filter, so you don’t get mud and any large parasites or other delights. Others will filter out even smaller things. Yet others will purify the water as well as filtering it. You can even look at getting water purification tablets and using those on the water before putting it through a filter. Not a bad idea to plan on having some of those around anyway, just in case. Also, for a major disaster, you also want to research sand filters and how to make them, for possible inclusion in your planning.

Now that you’ve got the basics so that you can plan for water, let’s take a look at food. As with water, there are some basic minimums to consider. While you can technically survive on as little as 800 calories a day, you really need around 1200 calories a day, and about 1400 a day if you are going to be active.

Those calories need to be balanced, in that you need about 72 trace elements, 20 essential amino acids, and some essential fats to live. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, as well as a good bit of the human body. Our body can actually produce 11 of the essential amino acids we need to survive and thrive, but we need to get the remaining nine through our diet.

Now, there are foods that contain complete proteins, that is they have all 9 of the essential amino acids needed by the body. When you eat fish, poultry, dairy, eggs, and meat you are getting complete proteins. In grains, quinoa is a complete protein.

You can also “mix and match” to get complete protein. For example, legumes with rice can do the job, but if you mix legumes, a veggie, and a grain, you can as well.

You also want to research essential fats. Yes, you need a certain amount of fat each day to survive, and there are some fats you really need. It is much tastier and easier to include such in your supplements and food than to catch and eat six to eight medium to large moths each day.

Just as there is no one magic list for preparedness, there is no one perfect recipe for nutrition. You have to find what works for you and yours, and any known dietary problems or needs. Now, when I say dietary problem I mean a diagnosed medical condition, not that you hate X, Y, or Z or avoid them because of virtue signaling. While I find low-carb works well for me right now, in an emergency I’m an omnivore and will eat whatever I have to ensure proper nutrition.

For moderate to major disasters, you also need to consider supplements to ensure proper nutrition and health. There are a lot of supplements sold that claim many things, but those things may or may not be verified. My favorite is still the calcium supplement that did indeed have several hundred times the amount of calcium of any other supplement. Only thing was that it was a form of calcium that could not be absorbed by the body…

For long-term nutrition and survival, you really need to be focused on those things that provide you trace elements and other compounds you might not get from tight rations. Things I will recommend: a good multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D.

A good multi-vitamin gives you most of those trace elements in the recommended daily amount. Go generic and you can get a multi-year supply for a reasonable amount. No, it’s not perfect but it gets you most of the way there. Yes, right now you are urinating most of it away. In a survival situation you likely won’t be. You will be glad to have it.

Why Vitamin C? Scurvy for one thing. In a true disaster, Vitamin C can end up in short supply in your food (or lack thereof), which can and will result in scurvy and other delights. Just ask the British Navy, who finally figured out that a lime a day kept the doctor away. Again, inexpensive and can prevent a number of health issues.

Why Vitamin D? You may or may not be getting much sun for a while in a nuclear war or similar disaster. Low D-levels have been found to be linked with a host of medical issues, and no one wants to see rickets and other delights return. Again, D3 is inexpensive and can prevent a number of other health issues.

What else do you need? You really need to sit down with your doctor to work that out. If you trust your doctor, get with them and ask what you should look at getting and taking.

For a minor disaster, it’s not that hard to stock up enough food to make it through the week. It’s the moderate to major length disasters that you need to consider all the above discussion. One more small bit of food for thought in your planning: be sure to include a lot of soups and stews. They are a great way to get some of that water you need to survive, a great from a nutrition perspective, and can allow you to make the fullest use of ingredients. Especially if the power has gone out, and will be out for more than a few days, and you have things in the refrigerator and freezer. Yes, you do need to think about things like that in your planning.

Now that you have the basic blocks to begin planning for the most essential part of preparedness, we can turn to the next two most essential things: light and cooking.

The book as it goes:

Preparedness Pays: Draft Introduction

Preparedness Pays: Draft Chapter 1A

Not Quite Back…

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving to the SW, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

The computer is now at full power again thanks to a new power supply. Given how often those seem to die on me (and I even have my electronics on good surge protectors), please feel free to hit the tip jar so I can put one or more away for later.

The computer is back, but I’m not quite back after yesterday’s fun. Not sure why part of the body decided to be a jerk, but it did a job of it. To the point I wondered if I would have to head to the ER again. Rather wiped me out. Not going to go into details, but I really do have to think there is something to quantum probability cascades, and that being hit by lightning might trigger same.

When I first found the wonderful (sadly retired) doctor who had treated a number of survivors, and was introduced to Lightning Strike & Electrical Shock Survivors, I was cautioned about running into survivors who blamed the hit for a number of unrelated things that happened after. When it comes to health issues, I really think that a study of survivors in regards quantum probability cascades might prove interesting. Purely theoretical, but interesting.

Hopefully my system will soon be fully back on an even keel and my power will be restored. Hope to get more done, and there is a lot more to do on the book. Think we are all going to need it, sooner rather than later. If you are not watching what is going on in the Netherlands, and with the NSF funding a so-called journalist organization to produce propaganda software to push “official” government information, you should be. The ride is about to show you what bumpy really is…