Preparedness for when

Softstuff

Doveling wrote: »

I can imagine myself descending the stairs in a feather and sequin outfit a la a Busby Berkeley musical extravaganza, a flattering spotlight framing me and just a few wisps of delicate cloud from a well positioned smoke machine to enhance the effect. I would be singing Robbie Williams "Let me entertain you" and the effect will be so stunning that our dinner guests will forgive the fact that my cooking is carp :rotfl:

Doveling, if you promise to come down the stairs like that, I'll bring dinner. :rotfl:

nuatha

Quite sometime back there was a discussion on here regarding data storage. Having spent a large part of the night attempting to recover data from various media last accessed between 15 and 20 years ago I thought it might be of interest.
From just over 2000 3.5inch floppy disks 38% were unreadable, another 16% would give directory listings but the files were corrupt.
From 30 hard drives, 10 had mechanical failures, 3 couldn't be read, 8 had substantial areas of the disk corrupted. 2 hard drives have a propriety compression system used to "double" their capacity.
From 260 CD-R, 75 were unreadable.

These had all been stored in what were considered optimal conditions and were a good cross section of the major brands.

A major additional problem is a lot of the files recovered are in formats that are no longer in use and will either need a later version of the same software or a conversion utility in order to be accessed - once the format and program have been worked out.

Actually another problem is that floppy drives and IDE interfaces are now fairly thin on the ground.

Earlier this week I accidentally washed and tumble dried 5 USB pen drives - all survived the experience data intact and readable - not that I recommend this practice.

However the thing that really struck me is in the bookcase in front of me are four volumes that are over 200 years old and that many of the physical books around me are far older than the discs I've been working with, all of them are still readable.

thriftwizard

Thank you for that reminder, Nuatha; I need to go through my digital photos before it's too late & print the best ones off. I have a "proper" dedicated photo printer, bought the day before Jessops imploded, for this very purpose, and haven't got round to it yet - time for action, methinks.

moneyistooshorttomention

nuatha wrote: »

I like the imagery.
If SHTF maintaining moral becomes very important.


.

Makes sense to me at whatever way you spell it:rotfl:.

Maintaining morals remains v. important and has always been something I feared might go astray in Society if SHTF.

Maintaining morale ditto v. important.

Winner either way:T

twiglet98

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Beetroot Relish

Cook and peel the beetroot. Dice it small. Make up raspberry jelly with malt vinegar instead of water. Put the diced beetroot into sterilized lidded jars (the lids with the plastic coating so they don't rust) and cover with the hot vinegar jelly. Put lid on straight away and leave to cool and set. This makes a jellied preserve that keeps for ages when not opened. When you do open it it's best kept in the fridge until it's used up. Hope you like it.

Thank you Lyn, I'd been pondering the 14 beetroots not yet lifted and am glad of ideas. DD2 finished the stash of lime jelly last weekend (in shot glasses, made up with vodka!) and I will put raspberry jelly on today's shopping list. I'm the only one who likes jellies and chutneys as condiments, it's a good thing they last well!

I usually roast beetroot but I guess it could be boiled or steamed.

My nephew's funeral took place yesterday, a day of love and memories, with the venue packed to bursting. Lovely to catch up with wider family, my daughters rarely see their cousins. It was a charming humanist ceremony and he had been able to plan it exactly, with his wife and 11 year old son. They'd had the luxury of time to prepare.

My mother had taken out a prepaid funeral plan so that part was very straightforward for us when she died in 2013. It's not something I could afford to consider in the near future but I hope I may be able to at some stage. I see in the sidebar on this page that Free Wills Month is back, making a will is also an important step in keeping things as easy as possible for those left to cope.

Thoughts are with Kittie at this difficult time for her and her family, I know you will join me in offering the 'virtual' support that I hope will be of some comfort.

nuatha

thriftwizard wrote: »

Thank you for that reminder, Nuatha; I need to go through my digital photos before it's too late & print the best ones off. I have a "proper" dedicated photo printer, bought the day before Jessops imploded, for this very purpose, and haven't got round to it yet - time for action, methinks.

When your sorting your photos make an extra digital copy or two for backup. Unfortunately none of the inkjet printer/paper combinations seem to be immune from fading, though I've some prints that are around 10 years old (and family photos more than 100).
May I suggest tagging the photos with any relevant info (an EXIF editor will make this straightforward) such as location, event, people's names.
(If you're quick you'll beat the second anniversary of buying the printer - not that I'm in any position to criticise, I have bought kit for pressing projects that is older and still unused )

nuatha

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Makes sense to me at whatever way you spell it:rotfl:.

Maintaining morals remains v. important and has always been something I feared might go astray in Society if SHTF.

Maintaining morale ditto v. important.

Winner either way:T

Its been a stupidly long day - it started at 05:45 on the 6th, and there's at least another 5 hours to go. (assuming I don't keel over before then) I may well be scarce for a few days while I recuperate.
Yes I typo'd morale, but good point.

Karmacat

nuatha wrote: »

Its been a stupidly long day - it started at 05:45 on the 6th, and there's at least another 5 hours to go. (assuming I don't keel over before then) I may well be scarce for a few days while I recuperate.
Yes I typo'd morale, but good point.

Woah! That *is* a horribly long day ... I'd be in a complete daze in your shoes. Your posting is much appreciated

Perplexed_Pineapple

Blimey, you lot don't half natter on, I've been away a few days and there's half an encyclopedia of prepping related discussion to catch up on. The world hasn't ended while I've been too busy to watch the news even but we continue to live in interesting times as they say. I've got a few hours to myself (a rare event) and am watching some bushcrafting videos on Utube - there is so much to learn and I know you don't learn watching videos but by getting out and doing, that isn't an option for today though. Gold, I heard something interesting on the radio along the lines that 2000 years ago an oz of gold would buy you a nice toga and now it would buy you a nice suit. You are never going to get wealthy holding gold but as something that maintains value and that you can pass down to your children discreetly if wanted it has a lot of potential.
Doveling, I'm sorry to hear about your brother.
Right, off to learn how to whittle a jacuzzi from two twigs and some nettle fibre... I'm sure it was something like that :rotfl:

ivyleaf

nuatha wrote: »

Its been a stupidly long day - it started at 05:45 on the 6th, and there's at least another 5 hours to go. (assuming I don't keel over before then) I may well be scarce for a few days while I recuperate.
Yes I typo'd morale, but good point.

Goodness nuatha, you'll certainly need to recuperate after that! Please take care of yourself.

twiglet I'm glad your nephew's funeral went well. My heart really goes out to his wife and son x