THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Doveling

Morning
Sorry not on much - having the utility sorted out and insulated.
It was just an add on to the kitchen and a bit of a Heath Robinson affair!

I'm running all food stocks down as there is being a major re-shuffle of the kitchen. Hopefully, I will end up with more storage and clear work surfaces which should be easier to clean.
Empty shelves are making me feel twitchy

I'm undecided (again) about the chickens. I know they are preptastic and we would love the fresh eggs again but they would be something else to look after and I do prefer my chicks to be free range. I've not seen the friend who gifted me the hen coop yet to say I'd changed my mind so I might dither for a while longer.

Can anyone point me in the direction of greywater harvesting as the washer will be next to the toilet in the utility so we might as well get something rigged while the work is being done.

Found this when I was looking for stuff on saving water. Some interesting articles

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/23/composting-toilets-a-growing-movement-in-green-disposal

jko - I think the term used is collateral damage for the greater good
When there is a war, we are just pawns in a big game of chess

jk0

Thanks Doveling.

Regarding saving your washing water to run the toilet, can you investigate how high your washing machine can pump?

Then you just need a tank at that height that discharges into the WC tank. If that is not high enough, how about building a platform for the washing machine?

A raised machine might be easier on your back also.

FTA: You might want to investigate ball valves for your WC that won't be damaged by grit in the water.

ivyleaf

milasavesmoney wrote: »

I need to get a will made. My husband has mentioned it for the last two years. Thing is, he won't be the one gathering everything up and sorting it out to take to the lawyer.. Why I'm so lazy about this I don't know.

I guess I need to get busy on the Kondo thread and straighten out my paperwork. Ugh! Boo! Yuck!!!

It's just getting around to it, isn't it? We need to do it too (make our wills) but somehow it still hasn't happened

jk0

Oh, here's an idea:

How about doing away with the WC tank altogether, and using a flush valve similar to those on ships?

http://www.segl.co.uk/

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Guys, if you do nothing else preper-wise for the next year, get those Wills made. You wouldn't believe the chaos which is caused by the absence of these.

mila, dunno how things are organised in New Mexico but if you die without a will in the UK, your estate is settled under the rules of intestacy. Which mightn't be anything like you would wish.

I will give you a small example from my own extended family. Uncle and Auntie, a childless couple who had owned a succession of their own houses for about 60 years but had never got around to making a Will.

Uncle got Alzheimer's and ended up in a care home. Auntie was very poorly, in her early 80s and still talking about getting herself (Will, clutter etc) sorted out. She'd been saying this in our hearing for decades. She was still saying that on the afternoon that Mum was visiting her when she dropped dead of an aneuryism.

Out like a light and dead before she hit the ground, according to the attending doctor. The nearest kin were the nephews. One had a severe relapse of a chronic disabling health condition caused by the worry and overwork of dealing with affairs. Uncle has also passed by now.

If nothing else, having a Will may prevent the taxman laying his hands on your moolah. You owe it to yourself to make sure they don't get the dosh.

VJsmum

My OH always said that if all four of us dropped dead then he didn't care what happened to the money.

Until he found out what would happen to the money.

Before DD turned 18, if we all went down together then I, as being younger than him, would be deemed to have outlived him.

All the money, house etc, would come to me - but I would be dead also. My next of kin would have been my mother, who had died previously. That leaves a stepfather and three half siblings plus two older full brothers. The money would have been split between my full brothers, one of whom has estranged himself.

Nothing would go to OHs family

We made the wills

GreyQueen

Sobering, when you work it out, isn't is, VJsMum.

For those who are married and separated but not divorced, here's a fun thing - your spouse is your next of kin. Even if you parted years ago and are not in touch.

Marriages also make existing wills invalid, so you will need to have a new one. It's also not a bad idea to have a new will after losing a spouse.

My will is about 20 years old and I will be getting it re-done this year, to name a younger relative as my stand-in heir if my brother isn't around to inherit. We sometimes travel together by car so there is a theroetical risk that we could die together in an accident.

I'd really and deeply loathe my life savings to end up with HMRC.

[Deleted User]

jk0 wrote: »

He created the first computer

Actually, he didn't.

The first computer was designed and built by a friend of Turing's, named Tommy Flowers.

Bletchley Park was struggling with a super coding system, called the Lorenz Cipher, which Hitler used to communicate with his Wolfpack submarines in the Atlantic.

It took so long to decode the Lorenz coded messages, that the attacks had already taken place, costing Britain ships, men and supplies.

Tommy Flowers was a post office engineer, who was working on an automated telephone switching system, operated by electronic valves.

He realised a machine could be built, containing about 2,000 valves, that could be programmed with one of the streams of data, that were normally recorded on punch tapes.

Having one set of data programmed into the machine, prevented the two data streams from getting out of sync, which was what was slowing down the decoding.

The War Office poo-pooed his idea, so he spent ~ £1,000 of his own money, building the machine.

When it was proven it worked (it could crack the Lorenz Cipher in hours, and sometimes minutes), the War Office promptly order 10 of them.

After the war, Tommy received £1,000 from a grateful government (which barely covered his expenses, in building the computer) and went back to his job at the Post Office, but was unable to tell them about his invention, because he was bound by the OSA.

The name of Tommy's computer (for anyone who hasn't already recognised it) was Colossus.

muffin_man_7

GreyQueen wrote: »

Sobering, when you work it out, isn't is, VJsMum.

For those who are married and separated but not divorced, here's a fun thing - your spouse is your next of kin. Even if you parted years ago and are not in touch.

Marriages also make existing wills invalid, so you will need to have a new one. It's also not a bad idea to have a new will after losing a spouse.

My will is about 20 years old and I will be getting it re-done this year, to name a younger relative as my stand-in heir if my brother isn't around to inherit. We sometimes travel together by car so there is a theroetical risk that we could die together in an accident.

I'd really and deeply loathe my life savings to end up with HMRC.

GQ thank u for this info as I'm separated 11yrs now if I make a will does that mean he gets nothing sorry to be asking but me and kids had enough ago off him don't want more if I go 1st although hopefully I won't I'm younger and he's got liver damage self inflicted ( alcoholic)and eats cocodomol like sweeties

GreyQueen

My understanding is that a new Will can leave your money where you want it to go, which I guess is probably dependant children. A solicitor will be able to advise.

Regarding your long separation, this is still something which leaves you vulnerable to his actions. As a former CAB advisor, I have seen some pretty ugly situations resulting from exactly this circumstance; your spouse is your next-of-kin. Not your parents (if living) or your children (assuming they are adults).

Would you want this man to have some say on what kind of medical treatment you could receive, or your care, in the event you were incapacitated? Would you want to get a bill for his funeral? Also, if your children are minors, you may want to think about appointing a guardian in event of your death or incapacity, in case their unreliable father were to be the one asking to look after them.

I strongly urge that you seek independant legal advice without delay. If you are of limited means, the CAB or a community law type situation should be able to get you at least 30 mins free legal advice from a family law solicitor. HTH.