Thursday, June 08, 2006

The summer heat is here….

I think I can officially say that summer has started. Have you ever noticed that when it is really hot that the crickets start chirping? Last week we had four days of heavy rain. This week the heat has settled in. TF came home yesterday with salt lines all up and down his shirt. We are going thru more ice and water and the air conditioner is chugging away. I am not looking forward to next month’s electric bill. It’s already high.

Last week my friends, Sonja and Darlene and I went down to the George R. Brown convention center for the annual Hurricane Preparedness Conference. With our near miss of hurricane Rita last year, many people are getting better prepared for this year’s season. We learned about the cities new plan for evacuation, saw the map for the new and revised 500 year floor plane, learned about what is planned for our special needs citizens, 72 hour kits and much, much more. I was very impressed with what has been done since last year. On June the 17th there will be another Hurricane conference at the convention center that I will be attending. It will be geared more towards community preparedness. I am signing up for a class that will be taught in our area on the use of Ham radios. I am hoping to pass the course and obtain my Ham radio license. Fun!!! I have been checking out how much these radios cost and it looks like it could be reasonable.

Coming up in a couple of weeks will be my annual trip to the beach with my brother and two sisters. I have been put in charge of the food again, because I find such bargains. Last Tuesday, I found chicken breast marked down to 45 cents a pound. The store had overstocked and was trying to clear it out. I took full advantage of the sale and filled my freezer. I have also purchased ribs, ground meat, hot dog fixins and all other necessary items. This year I am taking my crock pot so that we can start something in the morning and have dinner ready when we come in from our activities. The best part of this trip will be the fun we have as a family. It reminds me of the fun we had as kids, living at home. I’ll tell you more about the trip when I get home.

In July I will be helping to teach an alternative fuel cooking class. We will be teaching how to cook with 1) foil 2) dutch ovens, 3) reflector ovens (solar cooking) and 4) how to use a buddy burner. I will be teaching the buddy burner class. The people in my class will actually make a buddy burner and a Vagabond stove and take it home with them. Our dinner that night will be from the foil pouches that each person gets to put together. While the other classes are going on, the foil dinners and dessert, from the dutch oven class, will cook and be ready by dinner time.

Also in July, TF and I will be going to Las Vegas for the locksmith convention. I’m looking forward to that. It should be a lot of fun.

Here are a few articles that I thought you might be interested in.
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05jun06a.cfm Having a problem getting rid of roaches? Here are some reader recipes that may work for you.

http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/pf/20050530a1.asp Does your teen need a summer job? Check this out for some ideas.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06jun05c.cfm Cable or DSL Which one is best for your needs?

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05jun06d.cfm Are you a spendaholic? Learn how to control your addiction with these pearls of advice.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jun09b.cfm Inexpensive pet medications. I really liked this one.

15 Comments:

At 8:13 AM, Blogger Pragmatician said...

You sure are a busy bee.

Thanks for the links.

 
At 8:43 AM, Blogger Fred said...

Can I come to the party with your family? It sounds like there's going to be plenty of food. I won't say much...I'll just sit in the corner and eat.

This is the first year we've prepared for a hurricane with all the essentials to exist for two weeks. Our house has all the shutters and protection, so I think we're in good shape. Of course, if a category 4 or 5 rolls through here, we'll evacuate regardless.

Thanks for the links. As usual, they're great.

 
At 9:16 AM, Blogger Lucy Stern said...

Prag - Yes, I have been a very busy bee lately.

Fred - We won't be eating a very low carb diet. I suppose you could eat the meat and the salads. We always have a salad with dinner. Stacey will be making homemade ice cream and then there will be an ice chest with water, soda and the likes. My brother and sisters will fish and I will be the beach comber, reading and hurting for treasures. I also enjoy watching the kids as they play on their buggie boards and for the younger ones, play at the waters edge. We will probably shop, take the ferry boat ride, crab hunt late at night and lots of other fun stuff.

Fly on the wall, no that would never work, you would want to come down and play with us....

Glad you are preparing for the hurricane season. We need to do something about shutters, I really don't like the Idea for ply wood on all of my windows.

 
At 6:30 AM, Blogger Merle said...

Hi Lucy ~~ You do keep busy, so you must be a good organiser. I hope you have a wonderful time at the beach.
Thanks for your comment re Grandpas Poem
The previous post had one for Grandmas.
Take care, Merle.

 
At 7:42 AM, Blogger Michelle said...

Have a super time with your family at the beach :o)

It's great they are holding hurricane prepardness classes. I am not looking forward to this years season. We came ever so close to "Larry", i never want to go through that again.

 
At 8:40 AM, Blogger Danny Sims said...

Did they talk about traffic jams during an evacuation? I'm concerned that they need to open both sides of the highway for outbound traffic flow... Is that a part of the new plan?

 
At 8:57 AM, Blogger Joy said...

Ham Radio Operator... That's pretty cool!

 
At 9:25 AM, Blogger Lucy Stern said...

Merle - I'll go back and read it.

michelle - The hurricanes are scary. I hope they don't come our way this year.

Danny - a big part of the evacuation plan is the contraflow. They will only need four hours to turn it comepletely around. The people in the flood surge areas will evacutate first and then the rest of the city will be allowed to evacuate. I hope we don't have to test it, but is looks well planned out.

Shepra - I can't wait for the class to start. I have been on the Internet looking to see how much ham radios cost.

 
At 10:02 AM, Blogger Mad Housewife said...

I'm baaaaaak!!!!! (Please note the change -dash- in my new URL)

 
At 1:39 PM, Blogger Jamie Dawn said...

I use my crock pot about once a week. I love the ease, and the food tastes great too.
The class you are teaching sounds interesting.
You are a talented lady!
Enjoy your trip.
I took a look at the link for teens who need summer jobs. My daughter is looking to find one.

 
At 11:59 PM, Blogger Merle said...

Hi Lucy ~~ I liked the Grandpa poem
best too. I am so glad your little grandson sings his way in life. He must
be a happy little boy and so lucky to have the grandparents he has. Watch out
for those dinasours though.
Take care, Merle.

 
At 5:48 PM, Blogger Big Dave T said...

That dollar stretcher site has some good common sense advice. So much good preparation in life involves common sense, whether it involves planning for another hurricane, planning to buy a home, planning a family, etc.

 
At 10:26 AM, Blogger BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

Yes, summer has hit Ca. too.

Can you find something to successfully get rid of ants?

I think you should write a book, truthfully, combining your recipes with tips for good living.

 
At 1:18 PM, Blogger Internet Street Philosopher said...

It's like 78 degrees in Huntsville, AL (The place where I'm working for the summer) and I'm loving it! Come on by the blog later!

 
At 10:16 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

We just did a FHE with tinfoil dinners... it was fun. We're vegetarians and so we can't do meat, but the veggies turned out surprisingly delicious. I have not heard of most of those alternative cooking methods you mentioned!! What is a buddy burner, or a vagabond oven? And when you say solar cooking, how does that work?

 

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