So NW Indiana got smacked pretty hard by Ma Nature on Tuesday. Thunderstorms, high winds, torrential rains, that sort of thing.

Fully 2/3 of Merrillville, Gary, Portage, Valparaiso, Michigan City, Schererville, Laporte, and Chesterton are without power even 36 hours later. Many will be without power until Saturday.

Lots of people have those tiny  “Solar Power Generators” because they don’t want to mess with real gas or propane or diesel power gensets….they have bought these battery banks with a tiny solar panel and think that it will power the Fridge, microwave and other items for days because Solar Panel.

Their fridge might run on one of these for a day, maybe two if it is a big enough battery (But the ones that have a handle and can be picked up easily won’t power your fridge and freezer for all that long).

And the solar panels are great, as long as you have direct sunlight (which we didn’t for most of the day) to get the full wattage from the solar cells….which aren’t enough to fully charge the internal battery in a single day anyway, even on a bright summer day with full sunlight….,

These things aren’t “Generators”: they are batteries with an inverter.

And people are starting to learn that lesson. It’s a hard lesson, and one that will leave you in the dark with spoiling food if you are depending on it for more than a day or two. The batteries will run dry,  as the solar panels can’t keep up long term, even on a long summer sunny day

For the money for one of these (tiny) battery banks “Solar Generators” you can make one by buying several deep cycle batteries and an inverter and have about 4x the capacity of the little handy battery box that you can pick up and carry..

Or you can buy a small inverter generator and have 4x the power for days on 5 gallons of fuel.

The Solar Power Generators are about to be proven a false hope.

You don’t get something for nothing, (despite what the socialists will tell you).

If the power is still off at the end of today, there’s gonna be a lot of unhappy people.

“Speak kindly to yourself, even when you fail”

“We are what we repeatedly do: Excellence, then, becomes not an act, but a habit”

“Cowards die many times, a valiant man tastes death but once”

“Understand that each day isn’t one more, but rather one less”

“Always assume that Murphy’s Law is a fundamental force in this universe”

“Most people judge others based upon the model they have of themselves. If they deem people untrustworthy without cause, they themselves are likely untrustworthy”

“It’s easy to believe in conspiracies and crazy theories `when you are clueless as to how anything works”

“almost always, the kindness you put into the world will come back to you at some point”

If live here and you were unaware (for like the past 4 or 5 days) that there were gonna be extreme thunderstorms Tuesday morning and afternoon in the greater Chicago/NW Indiana area then you just weren’t paying attention….

So yes, it happened, Bad thunderstorms, torrential rain, winds approaching 100 MPH….It was a significant storm.

With the resultant damage to trees and power lines.

By Tuesday 1PM, it was apparent that it was going to take a while for the power to return, with many homes and businesses dark, and no relief expected for hours…maybe tens of hours.

At 5;30 PM, there were quarter mile lines at the (very) few gas stations that had power. people were buying gas 20+ gallons at a time (4 or more 5 gallon containers) for their generators. There must have been 500 or more cars in line…. I expect that the gas stations might run out as they don’t store all that much gasoline…Which will leave some of those folks with no forethought without…..

So, a question: Are these people stupid? It was obvious that we were gonna have a widespread weather event….it was forecast days before. How hard is it to get that gasoline for the generators a day or two in advance? It isn’t like you can’t use it in your car or truck if you don’t burn it in your genset, fer chrissake…..

I mean, seriously, do people have that little forethought?  Or do they just hope that it doesn’t happen and are only reactive when it does?

Me? I had enough treated (Pri-G) gasoline to run the little Honda genset for three days, 5 if I rationed power…and I have enough treated diesel that I can run the big genset without rationing for about two weeks….I turn the it over every 6 months, burn it in the cars and then replace it (the gasoline, I mean, diesel stores for a LONG time with a bit of treatment)…but rotating the gas twice a year means that there is fresh(ish) gasoline when(if) I need it and I don’t have to wander around looking for fuel, and hoping that it will be there when something happens….

But luckily, I didn’t need it. Electric never flickered at my house….But I was ready, if and when…

But  are people really that foolish that they can’t prepare a day or two in advance?

A Wisconsin woman who allegedly stole a fire department pickup truck and took it for a late night joyride before announcing herself over the radio was found completely naked behind the wheel, according to police.

I mean, that’s even beyond the strange crap that they pull in the darker parts of the South Side of Chicago.

(I mean, it’s Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin, used to be a decent place until they built a bunch of “Low Income housing”…)

Strange how some behavior follows racial lines though, innit?

Also, look up the Peelian Principles, especially #2

Seems that all across the country, people are deciding that if their local government won’t get rid of the FLOCK Surveillance cameras, then the citizens will do it for them…

(I get the impression that the Sheriff was incentivized such that he didn’t try all that hard to find out who destroyed the cameras…….)

The fearful old lady in the video is a part of the problem. She would “trade Privacy for (perceived) Security”…..

(Number 2 in the Peelian principles of Policing (you can look it up, I’m not gonna make it too easy for you…Try Goggle or Wikipedia):   “recognize always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.”

Sadly, the police (and the governments that pay them) have lost the whole concept….and the respect of the citizens they police.

While I will not ever recommend that anyone break the law, I will note that you can get a battery powered sawzall for about $60 and a set of blades for $10 more, that will cut the poles in about 3 minutes.  Spend more for a Metabo type circular saw and the time goes down to about 1.5 minutes  (Pay cash, wear sunglasses, disguise your gait , use public transportation, and all that….)

It’s happening everywhere though:

Stolen directly from Daily Timewaster:

“It’s cheaper to learn from other people’s mistakes than your own”

“A government becomes dangerous the instant it convinces it’s citizens that obedience is mroal”

“The right to bear arms is not present in our Constitution so that we can impose our will on others via gunpoint, but rather so that others cannot impose their will on US at gunpoint”

“Have you noticed that people who preach Socialism never distribute their own wealth….””From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”….”

“Follow your gut”

“Endeavour to be the person that your dog thinks you are”

“Embrace the fear, do not let it define you”

I stole this from theviewfromladylake

It is so very true.

Why are we allowing our tax dollars to be spent on Flock Safety cameras?

We need to start fighting the people who make the decisions about how our tax dollars are spent, especially when they impact our privacy. Get rid of the city and county councilmen and women who choose to sopen our tax money this way.

I mean, Flock buys congressmen…who give Federal Grant money to the ci ties and other local police departments to install a few Flock Cameras….(that’s the Gateway Drug). THen the police ask for more and more cameras…..But no one really knows how many crimes they solve with those expensive cameras….AND THE POLICE WON’T tell you…The money FLOCK spends on Senators, State Representatives, local county and city Councilmen (and women) is repaid in service fees and camera installations 20 fold….

Apparently they plan to force people to prove they are residents of New York City to shop at the new Socialized Grocery Stores planned for New York City. .

But to vote? Nope, we can’t have ID for that.

Strange are the double standards of the Left, yes they are.

So some asshole started shooting at people at an In-and-Out burger place in Twin Falls Idaho.

It was stopped by 2 people, an off duty police officer and some citizen with a firearm.

They are being hailed as heroes, and that is likely true.

But one thing the media misses is that they were PREPARED. They had the training, the forethought to carry a firearm with them, and the MINDSET to be able to decide if it was time to use that firearm…and the ability and willingness to use it when neccessary.

Are you prepared?

I am….. Every Single Day.    Anywhere that it is legal, (and maybe other times too).