THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

I think Buggalugs may have left me.

I went out to do some shopping, and she was on the neighbour's doorstep again.

GreyQueen

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I think Buggalugs may have left me.

I went out to do some shopping, and she was on the neighbour's doorstep again.

Cats are such hussies. We had a cat which used to do that, spent hours staring thru next door's patio doors, trying to put the 'fluence on her next door and get herself adopted.

I did warn her that the cat was well loved and well fed and just trying it on; she admitted ruefully that she'd given it some roast chicken the week before and now it was her new best friend........ it gave up and came back to us eventually.

Re the Saudis and the other oil-rich states; most of their indigenous population do not work. The work is done by elite foriegners (skilled) or unskilled labour from places like Pakistan. I was hearing an Iraqi arab ranting humourously (he lives in the UK) that he'd gone to SA and there were almost no arabs to be seen, it was Pakistanis doing all the work.

Other expats are out there, British ex-servicemen with tech skills like helicopter/ airplane maintenance are very popular. They don't much like how they get treated but the money's good (ish), they tell me.

As to what will happen when the oil runs out, here's an educated guess (don't know if I'll live long enough to see it).

1. The elites will have long since bought themselves overseas estates and productive assets in non-ME countries and will decamp to live as rich expats in whichever country will suit them. With a big enough chunk of cash to invest in the economy (tee hee) you can buy yourself citizenship almost anywhere. Be sure that the powerful arab elites have influential westerners in their pockets already, as a precaution.

2. The non-elites, those currently on the oil dole, will have an unwelcome awakening to life in a very resource-poor part of the world. They will have to earn a living, some of them for the first time ever. They will not have thought to expatriate wealth ahead of the oil crash/ will not have had enough anyway for that to be feasible.

3. The large number of SA university graduates with degrees in islamic studies will find that the demand for their religious wisdom is finite and that engineering would have been a better choice. Or indeed, trade school for anything practical.

4. The rest of the ME will bubble like a cauldron for decades as scores are settled. This will be a chance for various countries to 'play' with the weaponry and aircraft Blighty among others have been kind enough to sell them. Even the winner will suffer a Pyhrric victory and the whole region will be a ruin.

5. One or more non-ME powers (China/ USA/ EU) will seize or attempt to seize control of the Suez Canal. There is likely to be a demilitarized zone along its flanks; the spice must flow.......

As they say in that part of the world; my grandfather rode a camel, my father drove a Mercedes, my son flies his own plane and his son will ride a camel.

herbily

Re peak oil, on resilience.org there's a weekly report on the current state of energy reserves, think it's called the Whipple Report (after the guy who writes it). It's generally pretty informative on what's coming out of the ground where - think someone on this forum originally mentioned it but can't now remember who to thank.

GreyQueen

I've been working on my allotment, preparing the soil for next year's crops. Will be digging up the last surviving strawberry bed as I've long since discovered that they tend to be a poor return on investment in terms of time and energy (and the world and its dog wants the fruit before I get there).

I shall replace with top fruit, exact details tbc, but probably not more blackcurrants, as I have loads of those.

Will be growing more spuds next year, to share with the folks, and aiming to get to grips with carrots once and for all. Even the old boys chant No one can grow a good carrot on (insert site name) and many of those have had their plots for 50 years and their old dads before them. There-must-be-a-way, there must....

I'm also on the prowl around some local coffee shops (indie ones) to see what they do with their spent coffee grounds and would they allow me to take them away? Don't ask, don't get, is my motto as I screw my brass neck firmly into place.

jk0

Anyone heard of this thing?

http://combisave.com/

It is meant to slow down the water flow from a combi boiler until the water is warm. I installed one in 2014, and it has worked well.

However... Thames Water seem to have reduced my water pressure so much that my boiler will not fire with the Combisave in place.

I've just had to remove it. Grrr!

Nonnadiluca

GQ, our local Waitrose has a container of coffee grounds for gardeners to help themselves to. Do you have a branch near you?

[Deleted User]

Costa puts out spent coffee grounds and bags to take them home in, even the one in the restaurant at the garden centre does it!

mardatha

Quote from Zerohedge:
"So - Trump pushes Aramco IPO (out of the blue), Prime Minister of Lebanon forced to resign, Saudis intercept missiles, 11 Saudi princes arrested, numerous officials charged, and now a dead crown prince near the border with Yemen... Just what is going on in Saudi Arabia?"

moneyistooshorttomention

Just maybe the perfectly innocent thing of a country (belatedly) trying to modernise now the "younger generation" is coming to the fore....but it's one of those countries where, if it comes to it, they "take no prisoners" in the process.

DawnW

GreyQueen wrote: »

Will be growing more spuds next year, to share with the folks, and aiming to get to grips with carrots once and for all. Even the old boys chant No one can grow a good carrot on (insert site name) and many of those have had their plots for 50 years and their old dads before them. There-must-be-a-way, there must....

Carrots hate heavy soil. We used to live on a farm that grew carrots on a large scale, on very light sandy, reclaimed soil, almost pure sand in places, and large amounts of artificial fertiliser was required, and also irrigation

They grow well in our raised bed here, but they also do well in large pots / tubs filled with ordinary potting compost or the contents of a grow bag (I mix with a bit of HM compost to make it go further / save money). I only tried this a couple of years ago, due to lack of space, and was surprised how well they grow. Only downside is you have to water them, and a bit of feeding when they are growing fast doesn't go amiss, either. Might not be suitable for an allotment situation, but it does work