Phil Swindler

Signs You Might Be from Montana
The wind is faster than your truck.
You own more than four pairs of gloves.
Every other vehicle is a 4x4.
The sun goes down and you immediately grab your coat.
In March your vehicle is 43% mud.
You leave your keys in your car and the next morning it's still there.
You installed your new computer using a Leatherman tool.
Wolves are naturally free, and house cats are on a leash.
You hear the words "stream" or "brook" pronounced as "crick."
The elevation exceeds the population of your town.
Monday Night Football starts at 7:00 instead of 9:00.
The jug of milk on your porch is frozen.
Your vehicle is broken down on the highway and someone stops to help you ... and you trust them!
You can pay for a Big Mac with a personal check.
There's a bison in your lane.
Your central heating system is fueled by large logs.
You can see the stars at night.
People drive 200+ miles to shop at a mall.
Your great-grandmother is older than the courthouse.
You got a set of new snow tires for Valentine's Day.
Your minister shows up Sunday morning wearing Carhartt coveralls.
More than half the meat in your freezer is elk.
The term "wind chill factor" is part of your daily vocabulary.
The bumper jack in your pickup will lift a house.
Your backyard smells like sagebrush (or the nearest feedlot).
You put on a pair of snow boots to get the morning paper.
You enjoy a hot chocolate more than a margarita.
A girls' basketball game fills the school gym.
You put the car heater on your list of best friends.
Tractors are a normal part of traffic.
You use your back porch as a freezer from October thru May.
Your telephone book is smaller than most magazines.
You have made jerky at least once in your life.
You think it's normal to replace your cracked windshield every spring when you take off the studded snow tires.
Dressing up means wearing a clean flannel shirt and jeans that aren't too dirty.
You pronounce Kootenai as "COOT-nee."
You can tell it was a bad winter because there are only 50 or 60 deer grazing at the edge of town.
You've seen so many bald eagles you don't even pay attention to them anymore.
You go around in shorts when it's 45 degrees (F) outside.
You consider someone a neighbor if they live only 6 or 7 miles away.
You wave to every car on the highway, whether you're on foot or driving or even sitting on the creek bank with your back to the road.
You ignore the center line and drive on whichever part of the road is smoothest, driest, or feels safest.
Your idea of Mexican cuisine is elk chili and bear tacos.
You know what "Montana potatoes" are.
You've patched your jeans by using duct tape.

We take extra greens (like chard, kale, and mustard greens) and run them through the dehydrator.  Then grind them into a powder.
We add this powder to soups and sauces to boost the nutrition in the winter.

David Jenkins wrote:I need some 55 gall barrels where can I get some 4062400890

Anyone near Wichita, KS - there is a place on south Hydraulic near 63rd that sells food grade barrels.  They have 55 gal and 30 gal, both plastic and metal.  Couldn't tell you the prices.

What do you call a group of 8 hobbits?


A hobbyte.

Do you know how rare it is for a cow to be struck by lightening?


Medium Rare.

My uncle Glenn was a contractor.  He built the last 3 or 4 houses he and my aunt lived in.  The last one had an unusual floor plan.  The foundation was an equilateral triangle.  The roof was 2 triangles with the long sides meeting at the ridge-line.  2 corners were 2 stories tall and the 3rd corner was 1 story tall.  The 1 story corner had the kitchen.  My aunt loved that kitchen.  She said it had must as much counter and cabinet space as a square kitchen.  But, being a triangle there were fewer steps involved when working in that kitchen.
Years after my aunt and uncle's passing my brother and his wife had the chance to buy that house.  They did and got it back in the family for awhile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/490+Dolphin+Ave+NE,+Ocean+Shores,+WA+98569/@46.9975406,-124.1541763,19z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x549241f32fa5962d:0xbf4e516a196b7ccc!8m2!3d46.9975406!4d-124.1535326!16s%2Fg%2F11c2j1krcs?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUwMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Phil Stevens wrote:Reducing speed is a big factor. Once you get above 80 km/hr (50 mph) the penalty imposed by wind resistance really kicks in, and it goes up exponentially.              

Absolutely correct.  That exponent varies from vehicle to vehicle.  But, 10% faster results in more than a 10% increase in wind resistance.
Plus there's the safety factor.  The faster you drive, the less reaction time you have.  And kinetic energy is an exponential function.  In an accident that increased kinetic energy has to go somewhere, like you and your vehicle.  So if you are driving faster, you are more likely to get in an accident.  And, the accident is more likely to cause bodily harm.

Mary Cook wrote:I really disagree with Brandon. Some people's situation won't accommodate solar, but the idea that you have to nix out your power bills within a few years for it to be worth it...is going to look very quaint in a few years when solar panels may not be available or affordable--unless you live in China, maybe--and the grid may be going down more often, grid power may be climbing rapidly in price...whereas panels are quite cheap now. The whole system, especially if you go off-grid, is not so cheap, especially if you have to pay expert installers and red tape fees, but could well be worth it.

I lean more to Mary's side.
We put solar panels on our roof in 2020.  Most months the payment for the panels plus the little electric bill we have left is smaller than our electric bill had been.  Year total is a little smaller than the electric bill by itself had been.  Every time they increase electric rates the further ahead we will be.  In 14 years when the system is paid off we will be way ahead.