Keeping Warm in Good Times

It's really cold. It has been in the teens or lower for days now. The apartment complex put up signs asking everyone to keep the cabinets open and faucets dripping so the water lines don't freeze. Our apartment is doing okay, the furnace comes on only every couple of hours, which I think is good.

There are some cold spots:
The front door but it is lots better after adding some extra weatherstripping. Now it only leaks a little at the top corner.
The balcony door is mostly glass so it has hardly any insulative value whatsoever. It's a double pane but it an aluminum frame so worth maybe an R6, tops. Sadly, all the windows are like that.
There is cold air back-feeding into the drier so the laundry is a little on the cool side. If we don't put the clothes out right away they end up very cold.

What's working for us:
The bedrooms are staying pretty warm, we have heavy curtains and bookcases on the outside walls. The air leaking around the bookcases is quite cold.
Extra weatherstripping on the doors helps as does a heavy curtain.

Other ideas
We have a fire place but not much fuel handy.
In case of a power outage, we could hang blankets around the master bed to make bed curtains. Like the four-poster beds used in Victorian times to stay warm.
We could still add a layer of plastic over the windows and felt on the walls for extra insulation.

Until very recently, most homes have not been very well insulated. Using four-poster beds and wing-back chairs to minimize the effects of drafts were effective but didn't attack the problem. Nowadays we can wrap whole houses in wind resistant material which makes a huge difference. Some people even complain about we are making houses too air tight and there is a problem with indoor air pollution.

Well, if your home is nice and tight we have control, aka open the windows when the days are warm and close them when they are cold like now. We also should make sure the products we bring into our homes don't pollute our own air and we can use plants that clean the air in our homes as well.

A good home design is more then the sum of the checkboxes ticked in MLS. It is how it all works together.

It so cold it must be global warming

For the longest time I have been wondering about global warming, I haven't seen anything more then what has been in the news and the occasional article. Al Gore annoyed me but he was a politician, not a scientist and they tend toward hyperbole.

I understand scientists being wrong as they try out their hypothesis. I wasn't sure about how they were going about explaining why it was so cold when they were predicting warming but real life is a bit messy that way. 

What I was not expecting ClimateGate: destroying data, fudging data, redefining peer review? 

They are not doing science, they are not scientists, they are money-grubbing charlatans -- no different from those perpetual motion scams. 

When I was in engineering school they pounded into us that our lab books were legal documents to be signed and dated on each page. Point were deducted if they were missing. Did all their classes forget that? I even had a place of work that had a notary public for witnessing and stamping our lab books.

I understand ignoring data that doesn't match expectations, but did they not learn the lesson of Louis Pasteur, he was doing experiments that lots of others were doing but he saw the outliers and asked, "That's funny. Why did that happen?" Which is the start of science not shouting, "Eureka!" and running naked thru town. I guess the lessons from Ignatz Semmilweiss is more the norm then the exception.

Now we have the EPA declaring CO2 a danger to human health. Humans exhale CO2 after breathing in O2, in an unrelated note, trees breathe in CO2 and exhale O2. Destroying the economy and piling on the debt for something that is a lie. 

Holiday Shipping Deadlines for 2009 - dealnews.com

Dealnews has a wonderful verified list of ship-before-to-get-there-before-Christmas dates.

The Cellphone Information Kit

Yesterday I talked about how to charge your cellphone but what about what you should have in your cellphone?

Your address book probably has the names and numbers for your family, friends, and coworkers. But your cellphone can store an effectively infinite amount of useful information, even if all it can do is carry address book information.

If your car breaks down on the way back from work, do you have the number for a tow truck or roadside assistance? How about your car dealer or mechanic to let them know you are coming?

If there is an emergency at your child's school and it goes into lockdown or is evacuated, who do you call?

If you are in an accident emergency workers are trained to look in your wallet and cell phone to find out who you are and if you have any medical conditions, are taking medications or have allergies they need to know about. Put this in a contact called In Case of Emergency or ICE to make saving your life easier for them. If your phone can include a picture even better, then they can match faces to information.

The List (you should print this out for the 72 hour kit):

• Name
• Home/Mobile
• Work/School
• Manager/Teacher
• Colleague/Friend
• Medications/Allergies/Vaccinations
• Out of State disaster contact
• Doctor/Pediatrician/Dentist/Pharmacy

* Utilities (with basic account information)

• Gas
• Electric
• Water
• Sewer
• Cable
• Telephone
• Mobile Phone
• Internet Service Provider
• Health Insurance Provider
• Car Insurance Provider
• Home/Renters Insurance Provider
• Bank
• Mortgage/Apartment
• Credit Cards

* Local Services

• Memberships (Gym, Library, Video Store, &etc.)
• Locksmith
• Plumber
• Electrician
• Car mechanic or Dealer
• Lawyer
• Towing Service or Road-side assistance
• Taxi service
• Baby sitter
• Pet sitter
• Food Delivery (Pizza, Chinese, &etc.)

* Non-emergency numbers for:

• City Police
• County Sheriff
• State Patrol
• Fire Department
• Ambulance
• Hospital
• Veterinarian
• After Hours Vet Care
• Humane Society
• State Bureau of Investigation
• Utility finding service (usually found in your billing information)
• City Government
• County Government
• State Government
• Federal Government

* Car Insurance Claims Hotline

• Geico:         1-800-861-8380 
• Allstate: 1-800-ALLSTATE (1-800-255-7828) 
• Nationwide: 1-800-421-3535 
• Progressive: 1-800-PROGRESSIVE (1-800-776-4737) 
• Liberty Mutual: 1-800-2CLAIMS (1-800-225-2467) 
• State Farm:   Agent Lookup  
• AIG Direct: 1-888-244-6163 
• Travelers: 1-800-CLAIM33 (1-800-252-4633) 

* Lost or Stolen Credit Card Hotlines

• Visa:         1-800-VISA-911 (1-800-847-2911) 
• MasterCard: 1-800-MC-ASSIST (800-622-7747) 
• American Express: 1-800-992-3404
• Discover: 1-800-DISCOVER (1-800-347-2683) 
• Diners Club: 1-800-2DINERS (1-800-234-6377) 

* Airlines Reservations Hotline (Add the frequent flyer info to these contacts)

• American Airlines: 1-800-433-7300 
• Continental:         1-800-525-0280   
• Delta Airlines: 1-800-221-1212 
• JetBlue:           1-800-538-2583 
• Northwest Airlines: 1-800-225-2525 
• Southwest Airlines: 1-800-435-9792 
• Spirit Airlines: 1-800-772-7117 
• United Airlines: 1-800-241-6522 
• US Airways:         1-800-428-4322 

* Information Services

• Free Information Services 411
• Microsoft LiveSearch411 800-255-5411
• TellMe.com                         800-555-8355 (555-TELL)
• Google                                  1- 800-GOOG-411

* Mobile Phone minutes left

• AT&T:         *646# 
• Sprint:         *4 
• T-Mobile: #646# 
• Verizon: #646 

The Cellphone Kit

Now you are probably thinking, why do I need a cellphone kit, as long as it is charged it is good. Besides in a major disaster the cellphone system comes crashing down anyway and its no good to me then anyway.

Well, it isn't always like that. Not every disaster takes down the cellphone system, a car crash is a often a disaster but the cellphone system is still fine. Even in a big disaster if you can get any signal at all you can usually get a text message out.

Here is the preparedness part, does you out-of-state point of contact have text message capability? If you are below 30 very likely you do, over 30 not so much, then it gives you something to discuss and train on during the family times this holiday season.

There are all kinds of cell phone chargers out there and even if all you carry is a USB to cellphone cable for your phone, you should be able to find someone able to charge it for you at their computer. One of the malls near me even have a pay cellphone charger in the food court.

Leaving a car charger in your car is a pretty good idea or even just a spare wall charger. A good alternative is a USB outlet for the cigarette lighter, with your USB to phone cable it will do the job.

If you want something a little more independent, there are external battery packs that use regular batteries, little solar panel and hand crank charging kits. Sometimes they are combined with radios and flashlights. It will take a while but it will do the job.

Like anything other piece of emergency equipment you'll want to test them a couple of times a year to make sure they still work.

Snow Day

Today, it is snowing. Not bad about 4 inches by us. The stupid thing is that I smashed the scrapper part off of the snow brush when I was closing the trunk, I've got a spare scrapper I keep in the driver's side door, but it is annoying.

Traffic however was terrible. There was a nice layer of ice under the snow so getting out of the neighborhood was slow and I was really paranoid about the other drivers. A 20 minutes drive took nearly an hour.

Its better then in October but there are still people who think that 4 wheel drive also means 4 wheel stop. ABS helps and is will stop you faster then just sliding across the ice but it is not even like dry ground.

Winter driving is just not that hard, but a few reminders.

• Leave extra car lengths room between you and the car in front of you. I've noticed that people behind me will notice that and open up the distance as well. 
• Expect your car to slide when turning into a side street. Things will ice over pretty quickly.
• Be prepared for cars stopping at intersections to slide through their stop sign/light, it's not that they aren't trying to stop it is just that they can't. 
• Take a camera along in case of an accident and get a picture of the other driver and witnesses not just the cars and damage.
• Accept the fact that you'll be late anyway no matter which alternate route you use. 
• Be calm.

What is the Most Important Tool in your 72 Hour Kit?

This was the question in our last Ham Net and it is forces a lot of thought about what goes into your kit.

Is it the food? No, you can last for weeks without food, in this case food is more for comfort then anything else.

Is it the map and compass? No, you've been to your evacuation site plenty of times, so you should have a good idea how to get there, even if there are roadblocks.

Is it water? This was the most popular answer here in Denver, it is very dry here so drinking water is important, but you should be able to live for 3 days without water.

Is it a radio? As Hams that was the next most popular answer. Knowledge is power and a radio is a great way to gather knowledge as all kinds of transmissions are made during an emergency. It can be comforting and even vital, depending on the nature of the emergency but mostly it is a luxury.

Is it a particular tool, such as a knife, cash, flashlight or gun? All of these certainly had their places and uses, and some people certainly think if they have enough of one or the other of these things they can get what they need. And that may be true in some circumstances, but these can also be liabilities in others.

Is it a cellphone or other 2-way communications device? This is looking more like it, since you can summon help, food and contact family and friends with it. Certainly a very useful tool, though it does not help you survive directly.

I don't think there is any one most important tool, the tool we need for any particular emergency may be completely inappropriate for another emergency. That is why we make kits with lots of different tools, to cover the different kinds of emergencies we are preparing for.