@QMS
will be backup for our suburban home in Vancouver which has an airtight insert. It can heat the entire 1700 sq. ft. in sub zero temps.
The softwood will be used for open campfires and emergency donations to family and friends.
As for the taters, I remember reading about the real value of potatoes in the old world that Columbus brought back from the new world. They were protection from starvation after marauders raided farms and grain storages across the lands they roamed. The potatoes had to be dug up, for which the raiders didn't have the time or gumption to do. I will have to do some research on that.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

a chord of seasoned hardwood is going for $300 here.
Cut in wood stove length. So you have an equivalent of
a couple grand in the "bank". Pretty good for the cost of
a couple meals. Know nothing about taters except a local
farm generally harvest theirs in the fall with unusual equipment.

Our first cool morning, close to fifty degrees. Still have about 3/4
chord to stack on the deck / in the woods. Warms you twice - moving
and burning. Thanks for the OT!

@enhydra lutris
If we do it is only for a short few minutes. We have public utilities here and at the farm.
The farm (Lewis County) has a 94% renewable sources which costs me 6.6 cents per kwh. And both the farm and suburbia are underground utilities.
I don't get much news out at the farm so when I get back I'm starving for it. Tuesdays I spend catching up on the world news as I host this OT.
Remember when we used to get actual "World News" that covered the globe in our nightly news programing?
I'm glad I started stocking up on motor oil and other lubricants years ago. Every time I found it on sale I would pick some up. I probably have 30 gallons of various weights that I use and greases.
Makes for good barter stuff.
Thanks for the post.

party/festivity. Heh - you said "if the electricity goes out"; here that is a "when". Most recently, two days ago or so. One loses track of such routine events.

I finally replaced my old & failing medium duty office chair with a heavy duty executive one. One of its features is that the armrests can fold up beside the back allowing one to tuck it under the desk - awesome feature, in theory. Now, about learning how to get into and out of it without using the armrests ... Took much of yesterday afternoon to put it together, better be the last one I ever need to get.

Our service provider has glitched up the TV so that I can no longer chromecast my exercise videos to the living room, have wasted hours trying to sort this out to no avail, they of course "did nothing new recently", uh huh.

Pretty much avoiding news until I get a bunch of stuff done that I've been in the middle of for at least 2 weeks now.

be well and have a good one

edited to fix typo

@studentofearth
What you say makes sense. Don't know of any varmints that eat raw potatoes in the ground. But maybe moles?
Frost zone here at near sea level is a mere inches and the potatoes are down further. But the soil does get soggy. I get volunteers every year so they don't rot that much. Thinking of harvesting one 50 ft row and covering the second 50 ft row with plastic sheeting and a heavy leaf cover on top of that just to see if I can harvest in mid winter.
Experimentation is my middle name.
And the one 50 ft row will supply all the family with ample potatoes in the meantime.
As far as Americans rising up, we get pretty pissed if we cannot drive our precious cars and suvs. I remember the gas lines and rationing back in the 70s. But people had a boogieman (OPEC) that funneled the anger off our government that time.
I guess we will have to see what happens. From our couch maybe.
Thanks for stopping by with that info.

before the ground freezes or becomes water saturated encouraging rot. If the ground does not become uninhabitable will have lots of volunteers in the 100 ft row, unless a varmint discovers your bounty.

Unfortunately most USians are not in a position to rise up, plenty of room to fall into further hardship. When individuals rise up there is short term cheering, then quiet observation of them falling through the cracks of society. And then partisan persecution by legal and social means diminishing any bridge building or awareness of commonality that may have occurred from shared hardship or small successes.

Until a larger portion of society starts to value and actively engage in possibilities for shared efforts and tolerance for varying life experiences there will be no sustained progress.

@lotlizard
Chutzpah on a galactic scale.
Thanks for your attention to this matter.

… and their bought-off followers and servants.

https://jewschool.com/we-knew-better-once-174771

@Cassiodorus
to have a government run like a business. Here we are.
The American people are nothing more than grease for the machinery.
Thanks for the link.

I can't read this Glenn Diesen interview with Lawrence Wilkerson any other way.

Remember that what we have with Trump and, by extension, with the political class as a whole, is the Enron model of business, except applied to government. Commit a bunch of crimes, lie about everything, declare bankruptcy, and run away with the money. This stuff about "Trump fascism" is a diversion. Trump is more like a home invasion robber than Hitler or Mussolini. Still, definitely a very bad thing to have in your government.

We're not in good shape. I'm going to get one of my bikes repaired today.