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Sandy +14, Monday, November 12, 2012

It seems I've picked up a hitchhiker under my car.  There has been plenty of debris from trees on the streets and I've noticed a new rattling sound in the undercarriage somewhere.  I'm going to have to examine the car to see if I can find where the sound is coming from and where it is exactly.
Upon closer examination, I found that a heat shield/exhaust pipe cover had been detached from all of its bolts.  I believe driving over some debris may have caused this damage.  The shield sits between the drive shaft of my car and the exhaust system.  While attempting a repair one bolt sheared off completely.  So now I've got to get it drilled and tapped out. 

It's been two weeks since Superstorm Sandy tore the NorthEast a new one.

Items I am looking into to prepare for the next BIG ONE include:
  • Wood Stove
  • Portable propane water heating system.

Yesterday, we had fantastic weather and the temperature go up into the high sixties.

Things I did included:
Shopping at the supermarket with the wife.  I spent a remarkable amount of time staring at pens/notebooks.
Taking down the pop-up that I had over the generator in the backyard.
Cleaning the generator's air filter element.
Siphoning out most of the gas from the generator. *
Adding fuel stabilizer to the two cans of fuel that I have.
And moving the generator back into the garage.
I still need to run the generator until it uses up all the fuel then drain the old engine oil and replace the spark plug.

* Siphoning the fuel with a shaker siphon was a true test of patience and skill.  It took me sometime to get the correct angle and speed on the shaker to get the hose flowing well.  Practice makes perfect with a shaker siphon. 

Long-term fuel storage is now on my radar.  I want to store a minimum of thirty gallons of fuel for emergencies and I don't want to have to rotate it often.  So I purchased some PRI-G Complete Gas Treatment to keep the fuel fresh.  I had been using Seafoam and Sta-Bil.
Both are good products but I have heard good things about PRI-G from a guest on The Survival Podcast here:
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/harris-on-fuel-storage

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