Category Archives: Home Life

Stuff going on in my personal life.

Living in the Future

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The Jetson One is supposed to be available for sale next year at a price of just under $100K.

This craft avoids some of the roadblocks of other attempts to get into this (create is probably aa better term) market because it is classified as an ultralight.

The specs on the current version indicate it could carry me but not if I had a small bag of groceries with me.

The payload would have to at least 50% more and the cost reduced by a factor of four before I would give it serious consideration, but it would be very handy for a quick trip to and from town at my place in Idaho. Because of the long and winding road into the nearest town it takes 30 minute of driving time. It is less than eight miles as a VTOL would fly. That translates into eight to ten minutes instead of the 30 minutes driving time. And when the roads are hazardous because of snow and ice, this would save even more time and might even be safer.

The flight time without a recharge is 20 minutes so the trip into town would be at the edge of its range for a round trip. Still, that is very cool.

I’ve been causally looking at personal affordable VTOL craft for at least 35 years now. There have lots of promises and nothing of substance.

No Thank You

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Barb and I like to hike. Mountains are far more interesting that deserts, forests, and lowland trails. Mount Rainer, Yosemite, and Glacier National Parks are at the top of the list for us.

I stumbled across this and immediately eliminated any and all desire to try the big one. Even if I were to be rejuvenated to a state several decades younger and I had excess money to spend on the adventure the answer to an invitation would be a very firm, “No thank you.”:

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Fallout Shelters

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I stumbled across some interesting facts on fallout shelters (emphasis added):

The former Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries often designed their underground mass-transit and subway tunnels to serve as bomb and fallout shelters in the event of an attack. Currently, the deepest subway line in the world is situated in St Petersburg in Russia, with an average depth of 60 meters, while the deepest subway station is Arsenalna in Kyiv, at 105.5 meters.[14]

Germany has protected shelters for 3% of its population, Austria for 30%, Finland for 70%, Sweden for 81%,[15] and Switzerland for 114%.

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Switzerland built an extensive network of fallout shelters, not only through extra hardening of government buildings such as schools, but also through a building regulation requiring nuclear shelters in residential buildings since the 1960s (the first legal basis in this sense dates from 4 October 1963).[24] Later, the law ensured that all residential buildings built after 1978 contained a nuclear shelter able to withstand a blast from a 12-megaton explosion at a distance of 700 metres.

Those Swiss! See also:

Pompeii

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If we are discussing volcanic eruptions causing damage to human life and property no discussion would be complete without mentioning Mount Vesuvius and what it did to Pompeii.

Barb and I were there less that a month ago on October 28th. It is a rather solemn place.

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Blue Lagoon

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Speaking of volcanos…

In September of 2022 Barb and I visited the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. Ten days ago, on November 9th, it was closed due to an impending volcanic eruptions. It will remain closed until at least November 30th. And if it gets damaged by the eruption who knows how long until it opens, if ever. I’m glad we got to visit before the eruption.

It is a major tourist attraction. Barb and I probably spent an hour soaking and swimming in the water. It was nice with stunning views, but it didn’t take too long before we got bored. Of course it probably would be more interesting if you were staying there and enjoying the restaurants, all the spa amenities, and the Norther Lights were visible.

I didn’t take any pictures from the swimsuit area but here are a few from the area near the parking lot:

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Mount Etna

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As I previously said Barb and I went on a long vacation to see some things before they are gone. Little did I know Mount Etna would erupt shortly after we visited. We were there on October 27th. It erupted just 16 days later on November 12th.

The view and scenery was nice, walking into a crater was interesting, but the wind was blowing really hard. I estimated it was between 50 and 60 MPH. We had to really lean into the wind and wear protective clothing. The wind was blowing hard enough to put rocks into our shoes.

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Build Your Own Underground Shelter

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Very cool!

Radiation Exposure From a Nuclear Attack

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Quote of the Day

About 300 million people in the United States would be put at risk of death from exposure to radioactive fallout in the four days following a nuclear attack, according to a new report that models the possible effects of such a grim event. If the US is attacked with nuclear weapons , an adversary would most likely concentrate all fire on the country’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch facilities (silos). Any retaliatory attack from the US would come from these silos, located in Colorado , Montana , Nebraska , North Dakota , and Wyoming – and taking them out would be an enemy’s first priority.

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Kevin OReilly
November 16, 2023
Report: Nuclear war in US would wipe out 90 percent of the population

The quote is deceptive and the article title is a lie. The quote can be interpreted to mean it is likely or even certain to kill 300 million people in the U.S..  If you read it carefully you will realize this is a worst case scenario for each area of the country. In reality the worst case would be for a much smaller area:

Using weather patterns recorded through 2021, scientists simulated the aftereffects of an 800-kiloton warhead hitting every one of the 450 silos at once to cripple the US arsenal. First, they mapped how wind patterns would have carried the fallout on each day of 2021.

For the map above, they recorded the worst possible outcome for each location. In this scenario, three million people living in communities around the silos would risk receiving eight grays (Gy) of radiation in the four days following the attack, resulting in certain death – one Gy is enough to cause radiation sickness.

The information above is for radioactive fallout. This is most severe from ground bursts. Nuking population centers and military bases would probably be done via air bursts which produce far less fallout while incinerating and a shock wave destroying almost everything within miles.

Still, a rule of thumb to keep in mind is that three feet of dirt will reduce the radiation by a factor of 1,000.

I want my underground bunker in Idaho.

Underground Bunker Milestone

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On Monday I reached an important milestone with my underground bunker in Idaho.

The last of the major dirt movement was completed:image

No, I won’t be answering any questions online.

From a Recent Trip

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Barb, her daughter, and I went sightseeing for a few days before Barb and I continued on with a cruise. We wanted to see some things before WWIII breaks out and destroys it all:

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Barb commented that St. Mark’s Basilica was wallpapered in gold. This is essentially true. Each of those squares are about the size of a fingernail:

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House Near Boomershoot With a Stunning View

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I stumbled across this house for sale a few miles from Boomershoot with a really nice view:

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It is a five bedroom, four bath, 4,044 square foot house going for $899,000.

You should know the road to the driveway is “primitive”. Much of it is single lane and it can be very rough.

I would like to see someone culturally similar to my blog readers get this house rather than some communist from California, Oregon, or Washington.

You CAN Survive a Nuke Attack

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Quote of the Day

You CAN survive a nuke attack … but you MUST make an effort to learn what to do! By learning about potential threats, we are all better prepared to know how to react if something happens.

Janet Liebsch
February 27, 2022
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM NUCLEAR FALLOUT (TIPS ABOUT RADIATION, BUILDING AN EXPEDIENT SHELTER AND MORE)

The almost offhand post the other day about a Geiger counter had so many comments that I thought I would do a little more research on the topic.

The linked article above is pretty good stuff. It gives you the basics of the various types of threats such as initial blast and radiation, fallout radiation, and types of radiation (alpha, beta, gamma). Then it goes into types of shelters including how to make an expedient shelter.

If you are thinking of building an underground bunker then these have more detailed information:

The bottom line is:

To survive a nuclear blast, you would need to be at least 3 feet deep underground. Also, you need to be at least 36 inches of concrete or tightly-packed dirt to shield you from the blast radius.

There are other options to dirt and concrete, but in most cases those would be the cheapest.

To figure out the blast radius for the targets nearest to your bunker read Are You Living in a Nuclear Death Zone? Find Out with the U.S. Nuclear Target Map and use this nuke map.

The article also includes this image of the supposed Primary target locations for Soviet nuclear strikes during 1980s:

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I am more than a bit skeptical because, while I can understand Boomershoot being a primary target, Boomershoot didn’t even exist until 1998.

Overheard

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Last Thursday, Mike B. was in the neighborhood and stopped by for a visit. We were talking about various threats to the social order. He mentioned EMPs were of concern to him. I mentioned another plague, the high crime rates of Seattle and other big cities, nuclear fallout, …
Mike: Kerry (mutual acquaintance and head of a university chemistry department) is the only person I know who owns a Geiger counter.
Joe: [gets up from his chair, opens the cupboard above Mike’s head, pulls out a box, and shows Mike a Geiger counter].
Mike: Okay. Two people.

Idaho Sunsets

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It seems I see the most incredible sunsets and sunrises in Idaho.

Last night I climbed to the top of a pile of dirt near my gun range and took some pictures of the sunset.

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I sent the first one to Barb and she replied with one she had taken the evening before from the driveway to the gun range which is a 100 feet or so away from where I took mine:

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She wins.

Tolmie Peak Lookout

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Barb and I visited Tolmie Peak Lookout six years ago. Yesterday, we hiked up there again. We left a little after 6:00 AM and arrived at the trailhead at about 8:00 AM. The last 19 miles were gravel with “high clearance vehicles recommended.” The speed limit was 25 MPH, but in places, I thought 15 MPH was plenty fast.
The sign at the trailhead said 5.8 miles round trip. They lied. My GPS step tracker said it was 3.47 one way.

The first part of the trail was really nice. It got a little more difficult in places. But it’s not so bad that we really complained about it. We knew the reward at the end would be well worth it.
Down toward the trailhead:

And on and up to the lookout:



We started out at just over 5,000’ elevation. This is the sign at Eunice Lake

The lookout is at 5,935.
Near Eunice Lake, we were swarmed with mosquitos. We applied insect repellant, but it was far from completely effective. Barb described it as her being their buffet.
This is Eunice Lake with the lookout on the skyline just right of center:

About halfway up the hill from the lake, we saw Mount Rainer to the Southeast. No matter how many times we have seen it, it never fails to impress us. This is from more than nine miles from the peak with a cell phone camera. The peak is nearly 9,000 feet above us.

To the Northwest was a valley filled with a river of fog.

We arrived at the lookout just before 10:00.

The lookout isn’t particularly special compared to many other lookouts. But the view is very special.

It is hard to capture it with a cellphone camera, but this is a very round valley carved by a glacier.

Last time, Barb got uncomfortable with the trail beyond the lookout. I turned around to stay with her. This time, I went on without her. I after traversing this section of the “trail” I stopped and reevaluated my life choices.

I had gone further than last time, but I didn’t see the risk/reward benefit analysis being all that favorable. This was the view forward shortly before I turned back.

Lake Twenty Two

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On July 4th Barb and I hiked to Lake Twenty Two in the North Cascades.

We arrived at the trailhead by 8:20 and found the parking lot full. A couple hundreds yards down the road the day use picnic area had one spot we could squeeze the car into.

The trail is claimed to be 5.4 miles roundtrip and has a difficulty of “moderate”. They lie.

My GPS tracking app says it is 3.3 miles one way. Had the trail been on even ground instead of random sized, irregular shaped, rocks half of the distance we would have granted it a moderate classification. The constant attention required to our footing and the work to keep our balance make it above what we considered “moderate” difficulty.

That said, it was a very nice mountain lake with waterfalls and snow:

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Only a Little Surprised

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Quote of the Day

A new study commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment revealed that toxic emissions of sulfur oxides from 63 cruise ships belonging to Carnival Corporation were 43% higher than all the combustion engine vehicles in Europe. This stunning statistic comes as EU leaders have decided to ban small combustion engines for cars by 2035. But what about ‘green’ cruise ships? Only crickets…

“The most polluting cruise ship operator was MSC Cruises, whose vessels emitted nearly as much sulphur as all the 291 million cars in Europe. When looking at parent companies, as in our original 2019 report, the Carnival Corporation comes on top with the 63 ships under its control emitting 43% more sulfur oxides than all of Europe’s cars in 2022,” the study said.

Tyler Durden
July 6, 2023
Carnival Cruise Ship Emits More Toxic Fumes Than All Of Europe’s Cars, Study Finds

Although Barb and I have never been on a Carnival ship we have talked to several people about the various cruise lines. Carnival cruises has a reputation like the Yugo GV has in the world of luxury cars. Yeah, they are laughed at and made fun of. There is a reason the contempt:

If a cruise ship is in distress or the passengers are suing it is a safe bet to say it was a Carnival ship.

Carnival ships emit more pollution than all combustion engine vehicles in Europe combined? I’m only a little surprised.

Gas Tax Loophole

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You may have heard Washington state has the highest gas prices in the nation. A huge contribution to this is the state gas tax.

As I frequently drive to and from Idaho this is rather painful. However, I have found a loophole. The difference in the price of gasoline in Idaho versus the Seattle area is so great than I can buy ethanol free gasoline in Idaho for approximately the same price as I can purchase the 10% ethanol blended unleaded in Bellevue.

Ethanol free gasoline gives my car a noticeable boost in gas mileage. On my last return trip from Idaho I was able to demonstrate that I can fill up in Moscow, just over the border from Washington, and, driving at or under the speed limit, I make it back to Bellevue on a half tank of fuel.

That means that if I bring back a five or six gallon can of ethanol free gas I can drive around town a little and still make it all the way back to Idaho without giving the commie Washington state government a single penny of gasoline tax.

Oh, and I can buy all the standard capacity magazines and guns I want in Idaho while I’m there too. All 100% legal*.

*I am legally required to leave any such newly purchased items in Idaho until the courts overturn the illegal gun laws in Washington. But that is what the armory in my underground bunker is for.

Supervolcano Awakening

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Quote of the Day

A long-slumbering “supervolcano” in Italy is getting closer to a potential eruption for the first time since 1538, a new study warns — and the consequences could be catastrophic.

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If Campi Flegrei were to reenact its largest previous eruption, it would punch molten rock and volcanic gases high into the stratosphere, unleash 100-feet-high (33.5 meters) tsunamis and spread a plume of sulfur and toxic ash that could plunge Earth into global winter for years — killing crops and causing mass extinctions.

Ben Turner
June 19, 2023
Europe’s most dangerous ‘supervolcano’ could be creeping toward eruption, scientists warn

Prepare appropriately.

I want my underground bunker in Idaho.

Of course, then, the Yellowstone supervolcano becomes a threat. I once read that if it were to blow like it did last time all life within a 600-mile circle would be killed. I looked at the distance from the center of the Yellowstone volcano to my property. It is about 325 miles. I should be fine.

Decline in the Number of Farms

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Study shows farms on decline, posing risks to future food supply

The world’s farms are disappearing.

A new study out of the University of Colorado, Boulder found that the number of farms globally will shrink in half by the end of the century.

“The most striking finding that comes out of this work is that globally…we’ll see a tipping point from farm creation to farm consolidation,” said Zia Mehrabi, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and author of the study.

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Why is this happening? One reason, the study mentions, is because there are not enough people to do farm work as people move from rural areas to cities.

The research also mentions the average existing farm will double in size by the end of the century.

My family has been farming on South Road in Clearwater county for almost 130 years. That will end in a few years when my brothers retire. The land will probably be rented to one or more younger farmers giving them larger farms that ours. Other neighbors are considering subdividing into individual homesites.

It is sad, but unless there is a cure for aging there just aren’t enough people interested in farm work these days.