In the fifties and sixties, many of the mostly ranch-style houses constructed (including the new-construction starter home my parents bought in 1962) were all-electric. It was a time when otherwise sane people glibly projected that thanks to nuclear energy, electricity would soon be too cheap to meter. I grew up in New Jersey, but it may well have been the same in Minnesota where I now live. But houses here in the burbs, if they don’t have electric heat, almost certainly have natural gas furnaces. In outstate rural Minnesota in places not connected to the natgas grid, propane is fairly common, with some heating oil in the mix.
I’ve been past this house that’s a bit west of where I live a gazillion times over the last decade. Not once have multiple cords of wood been piled up in the driveway:
.
It’s very unlikely that this suburban ranch house doesn’t have a grid-dependent furnace. And that’s a lot of wood for a few roaring fireplaces over the holidays. Pure speculation, but I’m gonna guess this guy’s preparing for the possibility that the grid gets disrupted.
Winter is coming.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, Opinion. And Other Stuff:
U.S. reaches 200,000 coronavirus deaths
Whatever context you try to put this in, it is a catastrophe of historic proportions — and is yet another reminder of America’s horrific failure to contain the virus.
White House As US Hits 200K COVID Deaths: Hey, At Least It’s Not 2 Million
Boris Johnson orders new virus restrictions, could last six months
Lesbos: Hundreds test positive for Covid-19 after migrant camp fire
Budget Office Releases Terrifying Long-Term Debt Forecast
…as the CBO openly admits, now that the US has fully embraced helicopter money, "deficits grow from an average of 4.8 percent of GDP from 2010 to 2019 to an average of 10.9 percent from 2041 to 2050, driving up debt. Net spending for interest rises rapidly and accounts for much of the growth in total deficits in the last two decades of the projection period."
Fact check: Anti-maskers in Indonesia were required to dig graves for COVID-19 victims
Rathlin Island: The UK island with no coronavirus cases
The Welding Shut of the American Mind
In secret recording, trainer for Unlock Michigan advises on unlawful tactics
Trump tells white audience in Minnesota they have 'good genes'
‘Fifth girl’ in 1963 KKK church bombing seeks apology, restitution
🍺 Please use one of my Cryptobrewmaster referral links: https://tinyurl.com/cryptobrewmaster
🍺 or
🍺 https://www.cryptobrewmaster.io/game/invite?ref=632f2f10eb0144e8b76cc7896aa619fe&code=AlphaBonus
We have piles like that all over our rural area in Winter too. It's good to have at least some independence from the grid.
People who burn wood for heat and cooking reduce the dangers of wildfires.
I’ve been thinking about preparing a bit god forbid we see any unrest. I can’t believe this is even a thought in my mind, but better to be prepared than not I guess.