checking in

I'm still alive! Although my son says I sound like I'm dieing. My cold has settled down to a nagging cough; it doesn't hurt...just annoys.

I've got six vacation days left which I'm going to let carry over to next year. A lot of people will be taking next week off so work should be nice and quiet. I'm also working on a project that, while the deadline is arbitrary, I'd feel bad if I upset the schedule and got the group in trouble. This way I can use my vacation time in the summer when I need more garden hours. :)

I did get the gamma lids I ordered onto my buckets that I use most often: flour, sugar and wheat. I've also got one on the powdered milk bucket, but I don't know if that will stay since I really bought that for emergency use. Naturally, after I had bought them, the lids are now on sale. Isn't that just typical?

I've been rereading "Lights Out". It's about an EMP strike taking out the electrical grid across the US, Canada and much of Mexico. Another attack later takes out Europe, stopping them from sending aid. The premise is obviously similar to "One Second Later", but doesn't take quite the same grim outlook. A few things bother me that I think the author skimmed over too lightly or ignored completely. The medical issues of a chaotic society seem nonexistent except for one person running out of anti-depressants and one cancer patient needing painkillers. Pets, out of 47 houses in the community not one had pets they couldn't feed? How are they cooking? Does everyone in Texas have a propane stove? Speaking of cooking; handing out bags of beans and rice to refugees without asking if they had any way to prepare it seemed odd. Texas, in the autumn, and these people are using their generator to run the clothes dryer??? There are other examples, but basically, if you can find the pdf it's worth reading. I won't be buying it from Amazon.