Update

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I am still in the midst of catching up on the huge amount of stuff I need to catch up on after being gone a few days. And I have to do it hobbling around like a gimp. Truly, the universe hates me. By the way, while various medical tape is handy for keeping things bandaged in place, nothing beats athletic tape. That stuff is like duct tape for your skin. I’ve a big 2″ wide roll of that stuff and it is perfect for keeping the gauze and dressing in place. Highly recommend for your first aid kit.

However, there is some stuff to be gained out of all this. One of the things that I was helping someone move was some storage food that had been stored in, shall we say, ‘less than ideal’ conditions…and by that I mean a storage unit in the Texas sun. So, it’ll be interesting to see what survived and what did not. The simple stuff like rice, salt, and that sorta thing should be fine as long as the humidity didn’t get to it. The canned meats and whatnot….that should be interesting. I suspect I’ll be reporting on those eventually.

Sadly, playing catch-up on my life (or what passes for it) is going to take me at least another few days. I don’t really expect the blog to be back to ‘normal’ until the weekend. By then I’ll have gotten caught up on all this nonsense and can get back to the regularly scheduled brain droppings.

So, be patient with me…give me another couple days to get caught up and we’ll be back to business as unusual.

15 thoughts on “Update”

  2. Hang in there and be glad it happened while the grid is up. Hopefully it doesnt affect your everyday life too much.

    Definitely report on how the storage fared and the conditions/time it was abused.

    Another vote here for athletic tape. I also highly recommend a similar product called Vet Wrap by 3M. You can find it in most Co-ops and farm supply stores.

  3. Went to Tractor Supply and picked up a 48″ roll of horse wrap bandaging tape. About 3″ wide so can be trimmed to size where needed. Two bucks a roll – very affordable.

  4. My Navy Captain’ s foot infection was finally helped when Elmendorf AFB Hospital resorted to silver impregnated bandages
    George

    • I do a lot of wound care with calcium alginate with silver.

      I used to have some patients who had trachs ever since they were little kids and once they hit 20 or so, were fittted with sterling silver trach tubes. 50,60 years later they still have them. Silver is pretty amazing.

      In a similar vein, honey has enough medicinal properties that the drug companies produce ‘medical grade’ honey. Therahoney would be one brand name; $15 for 1.5 ounces!

  5. Cross posting from another excellent site about how to tell if that can is OK. Prep School Daily. I’ve researched a few of her posts and found she does her homework.

    Is It Just Me, or Is That Can Bulging?

    Sometimes we just aren’t sure whether a can is starting to bulge. We found a bulging can of stewed tomatoes a few days ago, and now every can of stewed tomatoes is under suspicion. Perhaps one can in the case bulged, so there may be more. “When in doubt, throw it out” works well enough when there is plenty of money and food to go around. However, in challenging times, like it or not, people start to take risks.
    If you think your can has a suspicious bulge, here’s how to test it:
    Clean the lid
    Put a few drops of water on the lid in the spot to be punctured
    Puncture the lid through the water
    If the water is sucked into the can, the food is good
    If the escaping gas bubbles through the water or the water is forced away from the puncture, the food is bad[1]
    If the food is contaminated, it should be carefully discarded so that people and animals do not come into contact with it. Even microscopic amounts of toxin absorbed through the eyes or skin can cause illness.[2]

    Hope this helps. Food poisoning is a BAD thing when 911 is working, even more life or death if it’s not. Even if it’s only our local Antifa terrorists keeping the EMS away.

    • That’s an excellent tip, thanks for sharing. I listen carefully for the ‘suck’ sound, but sometimes it’s hard to hear. I’ll also put the can so that light is glancing across the top, it’s easier to see if the top moves in or out that way.

      Some items, like Kirkland corn, don’t have a big change even when brand new, so if I’m not sure I dump the whole can into a bowl and rinse and examine the inside of the can for discoloration or and indication of pinholes. They are much more obvious from the inside.

      n

  8. Good luck on healing soon. Puncture wounds are a bugger.

    Vet wrap is not as skin friendly as the human version in my personal experience. Cohesive bandaging can be purchased in various sizes from that big online store. Vet wrap works fine if over other bandaging — watch for reaction to it. For both — don’t wrap to tightly and be prepared to cut it off if you can’t grab an end. Perhaps a veterinary medical person can comment. Maybe latex issue with Vet wrap?

    Look forward to hearing food results. South Texas storage unit for any length of time and I’d toss it all. Vitamin destruction is surely complete but calories, protein, and minerals will exist. Invisible Molds Would be my concern depending on packaging.

  9. Commander:
    After DECADES of some people calling you a pain in the ***, now the pain is well south of there!
    Joking aside, get well soon –
    Laughter is needed in these grim (but could be worse!) times…

    Ceejay.

  10. Cohesive tape is the way to go..

    This self-adhesive and multipurpose bandage is designed to firmly secure wound dressings and compresses. Extra flexible and comfortable to wear, it can also be used for the support of joints.

    https://www.blowoutmedical.com/self-adherent-cohesive-bandage-wrap-by-cardinalhealth.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products&feed_special=google&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvvj5BRDkARIsAGD9vlJ8hYFFRuWfqFkK5gjzLVzJw4xFVAc9ap-yS-mkys2UsUK8D4NL-yoaApSEEALw_wcB

  11. I live in a gulf coast state, not texas, and over the years I’ve had to use storage units for various reasons. Unless it’s environmentally controlled the heat and humidity ruins most everything inside the unit in a relativity short time down here.
    Personally I would never use one as storage for foodstuffs, any type of leather or natural cloth material, cotton, wool and such, due to mold along with likely insect and rodent infestations.
    I do like the ideas Michel posted about using water on the kids to test the seal integrity, also remember to listen for that pop if you’re opening canning jars you or someone else made with the garden abundance…….
    Botulism is not something you take chances with…….

  12. As a Phoenix dweller I have had some experience with storage food and heat – had to move the food out and a grandkid into the back room. What I learned:
    Every summer on my back porch ( covered, not cooled ) was 5 years of regular storage life, as far as the dry food went. 2 years in, the white rice was pretty nasty, after 4 the wheat was ignored by the birds. Even the freeze dried canned goods couldn’t survive 5 years of that mistreatment. After the first year I threw out the regular canned goods, the dog wouldn’t touch them.

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