Today after it stopped raining and the sun came out, we laid out batten boards around the perimeter of what will be the pole barn and got the 4 boundary strings all square. After about 4 attempts moving the strings, I got her square within 1/4" on the diagonals.

FWIW, I logged into the NOAA sun calculator and found that at 9:42am the sun would be directly east of me. So at 9:42 I noted the shadow of the pole the meter base is mounted to and marked it. We used that to draw a dead level east/west line. Now the roof of the building will be facing exactly south.

https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/

Let's play a game. The grid gets shut off for 3 days. What happens to your fridge? You better start eating perishable foods. What happens to your freezer?

Next... what happens when the lights come back on? Everyone will run out to the grocery store. Will there be enough food at the grocery store? Did they have a back up generator? Will there be a riot? Will people have their shopping carts stolen as they walk to their cars?

All it takes is the power to be out 3 days.

foodshelterwater
Never forget that 33 years ago we learned the government will kill your dog, shoot your 14 year old son in the back and snipe your wife in the doorway while she holds your infant child.
#RubyRidge

Imagine being 14 years old, living off the grid in the Idaho woods in 1992. You’re walking your dog when suddenly he growls and *bang*, the dog is shot and killed. You look up and see a man in a Ghillie suit with a rifle pointed at you. Fear grips you. You pull your gun and fire. You’re just defending yourself. This is your home.

You run back toward your parents, only to be shot in the back and killed before you can reach them. You never understand what went wrong or why.
The next day, a sniper fires again. Your mother, standing in the doorway holding your baby sister, is hit in the head and killed instantly.
All of this started because your father Randy Weaver, sold two sawed-off shotguns to an undercover agent and refused to become a government informant.

They gave him a false court date and set up armed surveillance at your home, waiting for the moment they could escalate.

Randy Weaver was a former U.S. Army Green Beret. He served in the military before moving off the grid with his family in northern Idaho. His military background added to the tension for federal authorities, because he was trained in weapons and survival, but it didn’t make him violent or a threat to anyone outside his property.
After an 11 day stand off with Randy and the baby inside with two dead bodies, the government was ordered to pay millions in settlements to Randy.

Meshcore / LORA experiment today. 47km from my house to a drone flying a repeater. My house antenna is 85ft above terrain, and the drone worked at 150-120ft up but not at 110ft.

According to the math, it should not have worked yet it did. There's terrain way inside the fresnel zone

For the non-radio people, 160mw (a little more than 1/8th of a watt had reliable communications for 30 miles. For comparison, most FRS radios are 2watts and "supposedly" go 5 miles but never do.

I was petting the german shepherd today and our other outdoor dog got jealous. He tried several times to insert himself between me and the other dog, but I just kept petting the shepherd. The malinois did his thing where he forced his way between my legs and sat down. he put his head up and started scooching backwards, making me walk backwards away from the other dog. Such a smart boy.

Muh Public School.

Adventure today.... Pump on a 5acre parcel we have tripped out the other day. I turned breaker back on and pump pulled 10amps, all normal. Today found it tripped again. This time it really tripped every time I turned it on. Isolated the 240v line at the pressure switch and it still tripped. So must be a problem with wire under ground. Fortunately we also had a 2nd set of wires run out there for 120v outlet in pump house. Switched that wire over to pump duty and we're off and running.

Augered 6 holes in the ground today for the pole shed. The very first corner post hole shot off crooked. It means I may have ot move all posts over 1/2 a post width.... If I'm careful I can move the string lines over 2-3/4"and maintain the square layout we did the other day. Dug the holes for one side and poured a bag of concrete in the bottom to make a footer pad. Tomorrow I'll mock up a 6x6 post in that boogered up corner and see if I need to change where we auger the 6 holes on the other side of the building.

Nothing goes to plan.