What preps are you doing this week? Part 3.

[ukpreppergrrl]

Been having a radio communications day. Dug out the CB Radio I bought a couple of years ago in a prepping flurry but never actually took out of the box! Soldered a cigarette lighter plug on the end so it might actually get some power, assembled the aerial and plugged it into the 12v golf caddy battery I like to use for such things. Set the LED panel to blue, because you just have to! God bless the truckers on channel 19! Otherwise it's really boring just listening to static, and you're never quite sure if it's working or not!

Oh and I also ordered a new Baofeng charging cradle as it seems I "tidied" the original one into the bin during one of the mad rearranging sessions at some point during the last year!

[Yorkshire Andy]

What you mounted the Ariel to to get a good signal it needs a good ground plane

Have you tuned the swr? If not you will burn out the RX transistors

[ukpreppergrrl]

What you mounted the Ariel to to get a good signal it needs a good ground plane

Have you tuned the swr? If not you will burn out the RX transistors

The aerial is a magnetic car aerial, which is on top of a radiator (I'm in the house), not brilliant, but i figure better than nothing whilst I'm in the "can I actually get it to work?" phase! I don't have a SWR meter. Yet!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Get it swr meter before transmitting
Oh and a patch lead

A more suitable antenna idea:

https://simonthewizard.com/2015/12/13/t ... e-swr-use/

[nickdutch]

As the memory foam topper on the bed was dying slowly and I want warmth and comfort as the winter comes in, I got a new one so that my back can get some support during Christmas (last Christmas I was in pain)as well as keeping me warmer at night. (new winter preps is on the mind)

Decided to just do the whole bedding thing so have ordered new duvets and have laundered the old ones which will be used on the sofa to keep me warm when watching TV in the evening through the winter months with less of a need for the gas heating.

Finally got a new washing machine (ok it may take me many months to pay off but it was a need more than a want) and its big enough to clean single duvets as well as everything else and its an A++ efficiency model so not bad. Got it from Currys because AO.com screwed with me so badly I didn't want them to profit from my purchase. Seriously it was a complete nightmare. If a company wants to sell something they should at least be able to maintain it.

As during the winter you don't ventilate as much and therefore bad odours can develop, have purchased an efficient air freshener spray by HG that's well known for doing good odour destruction. Their stuff that removes odours at source (enzyme cleaner) if you use that on your furniture will release smells of things that you have been cooking months earlier which means that its probably a good thing to use it periodically to help keep a place clean.

[Zunzuncito]

I've had all my windows and gutters cleaned ready for Autumn/Winter.

Also did a food swap with an old neighbour and gave them some of my rhubarb in exchange for some ears or corn. Corn has now been prepped and is in the freezer

Plus last night made a chili for tea, made a duble size batch and froze half of it ready for the long rainy days ahead. Will now be moving toward the more winter meals (casseroles, soups, stews etc) so will continue to make an extra batch each week and freeze.

Have come up with a cunning plan of when I get my Tesco vouchers through each month I'm going to use them (or at least half depening on the amount) to keep my food stocks replenished - this way I feel like my supplies/rotating stock costs nothing

[Decaff]

Prepping for a return to work. I got a call a couple of weeks ago from my old place of work, asking if I wanted a six months contract, jumped at the chance, so back I go. Very exciting as it's new offices so will feel like a fresh start, new department as my old one was relocated to another county and I couldn't relocate.

[nickdutch]

After having read the information about cleaning foam cushions on howtocleanstuff.net I have been kneading the 4 sofa cushions in the bath with water and washing up liquid. It has proven to be a bit of a workout. Why bother? Well as we are approaching the season of not ventilating much (the 4 - 5 months of a British winter) I have decided that autumnal cleaning is very much in order. And if you have a good high fibre diet, you do find yourself farting rather a lot so it might be a good idea to work on cleaning anything that you sit on. Just hoping that my dehumidifier is powerful enough to dry the blessed things nicely. Will check on them after Last Night of the Proms.
Lets see what ratio we have of Union Flags and European Flags tonight!

Unfortunately the stress I have been through what with sorting out getting the new washing machine and dealing with (GRRRRR!!!) AO.com has lead to a nicotine gum relapse, so I must work on getting off that again so that I can restore the circulation before it gets colder.

My short beard (home grown scarf for cycling and general warmth in potentially chilly weather!) is coming on nicely.

[nickdutch]

Not to sure if the advice from the cleaning website was right, as after a few days the foam cushions are still very heavy and wet.... Might just need to junk them and buy more foam to make sure I have clean cushions for the winter. However, I will give them a few more days of fresh air during the day and dehumidifier treatment in the bathroom at night and see how it goes before I make that decision. Have ordered a refurbished carpet washer as after all the 8 or so years that I have been living here the carpet has never been washed and it would be nice to have it clean in advance of the winter.
The delicates cycle worked a treat on the curtains. Still hasn't taken the black mould stains out of the lining hem, but the rest is much brighter and that makes them more cheerful so that when it get darker things will look much brighter.
Bleach washed the ceiling and scrubbed the lamp shades for the same purpose. Brighter flat makes for a happier Nick.
Then after finishing off giving the kitchen and bathroom a deep scrub down and washing the carpets I will then get on with the dusting of the nicnacks and (shock horror!) throwing away of the things that I am not inclined to keep.

[sethorly]

Set up BOB/camping bags for my young (hence no meds) children:

Light backpack, whistle, mirror, "blowtorch" lighter, karabiner, pocket torch, LED tent light, emergency blanket, loo paper in waterproof bag, 400ml water bottle, heatable mug, lightweight large towel, cutlery set including chopsticks (we use chopsticks to cook with), 4-piece cooking pots, bag of lint for tinder, foam seat pad, mini-sawyer, lifesaver straw, pocket knife, foldable wood-or-solid fuel-burning stove. Will add emergency food and maybe some plasters and tweezers.

In the middle of a month of using all of the above with the kids so they pick up the skills.