Monthly Archives: October 2024

Time to Get Real, Pretty Please

Posted in Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

Heat pumps, as the term implies, transfer heat from outdoors to indoors. Really, it is that simple. Nothing magic here folks.

The problem with heat pumps is that is there is a severe shortage of heat, for instance, when it is 0 degrees outdoors, there is very little heat to pump indoors. Hence while heat pumps have marginal success in many of the southern states, NOT SO MUCH IN MAINE OR MONTENA. I really don’t think they will be so effective in places like major ski resorts.

And all these brilliant scientist are baffled at why people insist on choosing systems that work, you know, like oil, LP and natural gas.

I have a brilliant idea. Make these scientist spend two winters in north Idaho in houses heated with nothing but heat pumps. No cheating now. No heating elements, gas or electric. No fire places with the proverbial yule log on it. Well, maybe a couple for Christmas. Then ask them how much they like the heat pump idea.

Frozen Food

Posted in Food by

The young man seemed confused as he looked back at the young woman who had just asked, “Do you eat frozen food?”

The young man glanced at the meal he just put in the microwave, then back at the woman. “Of course not. Who in the world would do that. I heat it first.”

Okay, before you complain too much, remember just how much you are paying for the little bit of entertainment.

The fact is, nowadays, almost all of us eat frozen food, well heated first. It has all sorts of advantages, certainly for me. It’s fast and simple to prepare, assuming I can find a magnifying glass with enough magnification to read the instructions. (has anyone come up with a magnifying ap for my phone?)

One nice thing, I don’t have any dishes to do after eating a heated frozen diner. The serving size is good. It discourages me from overeating. It’s fast. In the microwave, 8 to 10 minutes or half an hour in the regular oven.

If you have a large family, everyone can have their choice of what they want to eat. Some can have chicken, some chicken fried steak. Personally, I like that steak that looks and eats like hamburger.

To some degree, it is something of a preppers tool. If I keep enough of the meals in a large freezer, I can go for maybe a week off the grid. As long as I have a gas stove, I can have nice hot meals. The meals will remain edible in a well insulated freezer for at least a week. If it is winter, longer.

There are, of course, other forms of frozen food. When the kids were young, we used to by a 1 lb. turkey roast, whip up some instant mashed potatoes and some frozen vegies and we had a good Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Maybe it wasn’t what you would get in a 5 star restaurant, but the kids went nuts over it.

Now, with the kids out of the house, we either buy a frozen turkey diner or go out. We wouldn’t mind fixing it, but we just don’t eat that much.

I think others are doing the same. When we go out to eat on a holiday, we are far from alone. Usually, we have to wait a while to get in. Most are close to the same age as us.

Frozen vegies, I am told are healthier. They can wait longer to pick them because they freeze them in less than 24 hours after they leave the field. Fresh vegies may have to last a week before they get eaten.

Going back to the question by the young lady in my story. Is it really so bad to eat frozen food, as long as it is heated first.

Competition for Dollars

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I don’t much care for repeating this, but those that read my posts vary. So I feel the need to an explanation for some before I proceed.

I am not rich. I basically live off Social Security. With that, I do have to pay for utilities, food and transportation. Mostly, the highlight of the day for my wife and I is going out to eat. Here in Desoto County, we have a wide variety of reasonably priced restaurants that are really pretty good. Many of the people that work at these places have gotten to know me enough to wave at me as they see us entering. We would eat at home but for two things. With just the 2 of us, a lot would get wasted. It is difficult to prepare portions for two. Then too, would you deny us of our one highlight of the day.

Now to get to what I wanted to say. Did you know that there are about 1 million official charities in the US. That means, if I had 1 million dollars and gave one dollar to each charity, I’d be broke again. It is, as I have said, they are all competing for my dollars. And, as mentioned, I don’t have many dollars.

Even if I meticulously pare down all the charities to those I would like to give to, that’s about 20. If I were to give ten dollars to each, that’s $400. Sorry. Can’t afford that. I would have to give up eating for a few days a month. And by the way, there’s a lot of inflation going on out there. I’m having to pay $40 for what I used to pay $25. I am already having to cut back, back at the store and the restaurant. These days, we have to pass on salads and desserts.

The radio station I listen to is a important to me. I have already done away with cable and if the prices keep going up, I’ll have to go to a restaurant to gain access to the internet. However, every time I turn around, someone on the station is coming up with this reason for me to send them money. I’m not going to get specific for these reasons, but I am sure you have an idea.

This time of the year, there are dozens of folks looking for contributions for campaigning. I understand. Really I do. I would like to give them the money. They all have good reasons. On the other hand, over the years, I have also become fond of eating. I hope you understand.

The thing is, they don’t limit themselves to charities. They have businesses that are paying their bills. They are called sponsors. They pay the bills for the radio stations and for the productions. They also pay the salaries of the talk show hosts and their staffs. They all live better than me, I’m sure. So I am quite reluctant to let go of mine.

Still, I have no use for many of the the things they advertise. I mean there are ads tempting me to get security systems. May I remind you, I don’t have much. If a burglar were to break into my house, he’d be tempted to leave me a dollar or two when he saw the way we live. Not much to steal here.

Even so, you must understand. It is a competition for what little I have. If I give to the charities and candidates they want me to give to, I have no money to buy the security system. Even if I had a little money, I would have to be careful, you see. I can’t contribute to the charities and candidates and make the purchases of what all they advertise.

I don’t think I am alone in this. Some are worse off than me. My little house is small and it isn’t worth much. It does need some serious attention, but it is paid for. Some of us living on Social Security can’t say that. Some might be making big house payments too. Some may not yet be on Medicare so they are paying $1800 a month on Obama care.

The truth is, as they compete for the dollars, there are some of us who just don’t have many of the dollars for anything other than paying the bills. I don’t write this out of self-pity, but rather to enlighten those seeking money from those of us who simply don’t have it. It has been my experience that when I say I can’t afford that security system, they think I am lying to them. It’s not my problem if they have a hard time with that.

You can thank Obama care for some of that. Before my wife got on Medicare, I paid out 35,000 on Obama care for my wife. If I hadn’t had to do that, just maybe I would have been just a little more generous. For that, we can thank AARP for backing the plan just enough to get it passed. (I wonder who got a dollar or two for that one. You think maybe AARP and Obama had a few face to face meetings. Does AARP represent the elderly who pay their dues, or Obama?)

Leo Terrell’s Challenge

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It is, in essence what I heard Leo Terrell say on TV. It is not something I made up. He said it without any prompting, certainly no prompting by me. He doesn’t even know me. Sorry, can’t quote him verbatim. It is the problem of not having a DVR so I have to rely on my memory. Yet he basically asked if the Black men can name one thing the Democrats did for them in the last 3 years.

Terrell is the expert. He has the law degree. Moreover, he is in the position I’m not. He is Black. Though I can ask the question, I would not feel right. However, I can say this without hesitation. Old Joe and all his friends haven’t done a thing for me. Moreover, he has brought war to this world and a disaster to our economy. I assure you he did not do this alone. He has been following the ideas and the plans of the dems to the letter.

And if Kamala gets the chance, she will too. I say this because she is more of a liberal than Old Joe is. It’s easy to tell. It is what she said before she stepped in for Old Joe. She said she wanted taxes and she said she wants to abandon Israel. Now, of course, she says what she has to and plays the part exactly as she is told.

Then, if and when she gets in office, she will do the same as Old Joe, only more. If you think that means good stuff for the Black people, you really need to think again. Kamala is power hungry. She is and she was always was seeking the good of Kamala. If you doubt me, just study her past. Everything she has done has been for her benefit. Every thing she is doing is to gain power. Every thing she does in the future will be for Kamala.

She lies to the Blacks. She lies to the Hispanics and Latins. Truth of the matter is, she lies to herself. A lack of belief in what she says she believes, is the main reason she has such a hard time speaking without notes to the public. She has a hard time remembering her lies.

On the other hand, you know Trump is honest in his belief. He speaks, frequently without for hours without notes. It is very obvious that no one is pulling his strings. In fact, he has angered many rinos because he won’t let them control him. He is nobody’s puppet and when he speaks, he speaks his own words.

Will History Reveal the Truth?

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Some have said that Pelosi was the instigator of the outing Old Joe. Others say it was Kamala. Still others say it was Obama & Company. Naturally, there are others that say it was a combination that was behind the coup d’état.

I don’t know. I don’t even have a good guess. For that matter, the puppeteer behind it all might not even be commonly known. Might be some really oddball behind the scene. I mean some of those folks sink a lot of money into these races and they really don’t like to lose, considering they’d get naught for their little bit of change.

Could it be that history will continue to hide the reality, as with the Kennedy assassination? On the other hand will someone raise their hand and say, “I did it. It was me.”

Regardless, no matter one way or the other, this election will be one to go down in the history books. It will likely be a while that a nominee will be selected without ever recording 1 vote. Kamala dropped out before any votes were taken.

Could it possibly be that she will manage to find her way to the White House without being the proper nominee? Could it be a result of her doing?

On the other hand, just maybe, hopefully, she will leave politics forever? If she loses, I can’t imagine she would ever run for anything again.

Don’t worry. She won’t starve. I am sure she will get retirement from her time in the Senate as well as her time as second in command. That will be pretty good for never doing anything.

The Forgotten President

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I wish I could say I thought of that, but I got it from the Gutfield Show. However, I must say I agree. With all that is going on, it is very easy to forget who our president technically is. One thing that might contribute to that is that we didn’t see that much of him before. All he ever did was sign executive orders and go to his beach house.

Nonetheless, maybe we can use some other descriptions as accurate or more. For instance, the fading president. Let’s face it, it is very easy to imagine that by the time he leaves office, no one will notice. Little evidence will be left. When people ask what it was that caused so much destruction, people will look at each other and shake their heads. Then maybe one will say, “Some kind of major natural disaster I guess. Maybe a storm; maybe an earthquake.”

Then, someone else would say, “It must have been both.”

80,000 Year Comet

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I keep hearing about it on the news. They say we can see it, but we won’t be able to see it for another 80,000 years. That is a long time. As I sit here, I try to think of a comparison. I can’t really think of any.

None the less, I think I’ll pass on looking for it. Astronomy was never one of my bigger interest. Besides, if I want to see it latter, it won’t be a problem. Jesus has promised me forever. That makes 80,000 years look short. Indeed I will be able to see it 80,000 times as it goes passing by.

My suggestion, if you are going to spend forever somewhere, you might want to make sure it is the right place. Nowadays, people so casually say things like, “See you in hell.”

First, there is no way I would want to spend one day in hell, certainly not 80,000 years, or forever. Secondly, if I am right, you’ll not see anyone in hell. Though there will be many there, part of the punishment is that it will be lonely. You won’t see the 80,000 year comet there. I suspect it will be so dark that you will see nothing. For God is light and hell will be a place without God and without light. If you go there, I don’t even think you will be able to see the stars.

Better that you accept Jesus as your savior and spend eternity in the light, in Heaven with Jesus.

Processing Food

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Back in April 27, 2024, I wrote a post, “Define Processed.” In a small way, I would like to revisit. First let me briefly say that the woman I talked of defined grinding meat into hamburger as processing food, hence, no longer natural and nutritional.

Well, last night, I did some food processing. I took my last five eggs in my fridge and put them in a high speed blender for a minute. They puffed up to twice their size and I put them in an electric frying pan, in which they were processed for about one more minute.

I guess after all that processing, the food was not as good for me. However, my wife and I enjoyed them anyway. If that lady I saw on TV didn’t like the way I processed those eggs, it’s her problem. I like processed food. Really I do.

When you come right down to it, most cooks do process food. Much of it I really like. Some of it not so much. For instance I like raw carrots, spinach and cabbage. I don’t much care for them cooked. (Processed.)

I get it. Sometimes we do go overboard with it. Still, cheese, processed milk, has allowed us to store food without refrigeration. I really like most instant potatoes, which might serve as a survival food. Are not noodles processed food. And I really like spaghetti. Before I was married, half my dinners were frozen before I put them in the microwave. Mac & cheese used to be one of my staples until I became diabetic.

I would guess we could survive without processing food. However, it would be far more difficult and less tasty. Worse yet, more of it would go to waste.