Category Archives: Electricity issues

April 18, 2016 · 7:00 am

Dirty and ragged?

The other day I was reading a prepper adventure story–you know the kind, where a handful of people survive X disaster. In this particular story, it was an EMP attack, which means no electricity. In the story, it had been just 2 months since the power went out and the survivors were described as dirty and ragged.

Dirty and ragged? I’ve lived without electricity in my home for 10 years now and I hardly consider myself dirty and ragged. What could have happened to these people? Well, water might be in short supply. We’ve had that dilemma ourselves which has meant a gap of several days between showers. (See Ni modo) but we still wash our face and hands and any other grubby parts, even if we have to draw up a bucket of water from the ajibe (dry well). (See Water Woes) So what about that ragged part? If there happened to be no electricity, it stands to reason that the sewing machines wouldn’t work. But really, ragged? After just 2 months? Nobody knows how to use a needle and thread anymore?

Right then and there I decided that wouldn’t happen to us in the event of X disaster. Thus began my quest for a treadle sewing machine. Believe it or not, they aren’t so hard to find here. Everybody and their mother had one, or so it seems.

First, I asked my co-workers. The secretary’s grandmother had one. However, she wasn’t able to get ahold of grandma because her phone had been disconnected. I don’t know about you, but finding out my grandma’s phone was disconnected would inspire a visit at the very least to make sure she wasn’t kitty food for her houseful of now feral cats. But I guess every family is different.

So then the lunch lady said that she had 2. Yep, two. One had been her mother’s and she would not sell it for sentimental reasons. The second was in need of repair but she didn’t know exactly what it needed. Nothing came of that lead either.

At the Sunday tianguis (flea market) in Moroleon, I came across the machine part that the seller assured me was in working order. However, without a base, it wouldn’t be much good to me. I suppose I could have bought the base separately, but then I would have to see if it worked with that machine and get bands and well, it seemed too complicated. It was only $250 pesos though.

Then there was the trip to Patzcuaro to the Singer store where the lady refused to sell me the display model saying it was a piece of crap made in China, not Mexican-made. So much for that. (See Playing Tourist–Patzcuaro)

The other week, driving to the gas station, I spied one at a bazaar (an open-air junk shop). We turned around and asked. The one displayed didn’t work. The guy said that he had another one but his brother had it. He’d be able to have it there by 1:30. So we went back at 1:30. Well, the brother had taken it to a tianguis (flea market) to try and sell. He’d be back by 6:00. Meanwhile, the guy had another model in his house. My husband had a look at it. He said the machine looked fine, but the base needed some work. My husband went back at 6:00 and the brother still hadn’t appeared. The guy was willing to sell the crappy base, but not the machine to the one he had in the house. That wouldn’t work. How much you want to bet that the tianguis guy from the other week had the machine that matched the working base? Either way, it didn’t work out for me.

Coppel had a display model treadle machine, but I wasn’t impressed. Since I was disappointed with the quality of my bike recently purchased at Coppel (there seemed to be missing screws and the frame feels like it will burst apart at every pedal) I wasn’t going to shell out over $2,000 pesos for something I might not be happy with.

What I really wanted was one of the antique sewing machines–built to last and still running. I checked out eBay and found a few–even a Janome 131 Hand Crank Sewing Machine hand crank one. I was all excited about it until I saw that it would be shipped from Latvia. How much would shipping be from there? I didn’t even want to know. Besides, I had a bad experience or two with eBay and wasn’t in a hurry to give it another go. (See Shipping Fiasco)

Barring the antique sewing machine, a functioning new machine would work. So I went to Amazon. Regular old Amazon had nothing, but Amazon Mexico had 2 Singer Negrita 15CD Máquina de Coser con Mueble de Triplay de 5 cajones models seemingly identical but about $200 pesos different in price. As I couldn’t find anything different but the color of the base, I ordered the less expensive one.

Now that I have a viable shipping address (See Trade Route Established) I set about ordering it and waited anxiously for its arrival. Although there was a hiccup with my supplier (my friend) and her bank saying she had a fraudulent purchase for using a Mexican site, it arrived right on time. The school secretary accepted delivery for me.

sewing machine

It wasn’t sent via DHL, but Estafeta which makes sense as the sewing machine came from the Amazon warehouse in Mexico–and as there is an office not so very far from the school, it seems that they too had no problems in delivery.

We stashed it in the back of Myrtle and took it home.  That’s one less thing I need to worry about when TSHTF!

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March 14, 2016 · 7:00 am

No spark, All sizzle–cooking without electricity

As the hope in ever getting electricity died a slow, slow death, I began to get rid of my kitchen appliances. (See You can lead a horse to water…electric and sewer but you can’t make it drink) They just collected dust sitting around and took up space. So, it was a reluctant bye-bye to the toaster, refrigerator, crock pot, popcorn maker, beater, bread maker, blender, and microwave oven.

I had mixed feelings about letting some of these things go, but over time, I have come to see that I can still do all the baking and cooking I want despite not having my favorite electrical devices.

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We still have toast every morning, only we toast is on the cast iron Comal. (See COOKING WITH CAST IRON)

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With no crockpot, I still make savory soups and beans, but with my enameled soup pot on the stove or over an open fire. (See What Are the Safest Cookware Options?)  Beans taste mighty good over the open flame!

Without a microwave, food can be reheated on the stove with my enameled and cast iron Cast Iron cookware. My little Strawberry  Teapot also is just the thing for heating water for hot beverages.   We also have a handled Pot with a pour spout for boiling our raw goat’s milk.  (See Let’s Talk About Food in La Yacata)

Microwaves are bad for you anyway.  (See Electromagnetic fields & public health: Microwave ovens, Microwave Oven Radiation, Microwaves Are Bad For You: 5 Reasons Why Microwave Oven Cooking Is Harming Your Health)

I can still make cakes and cookies using a Whisk or Wood Spatula for mixing instead of a beater. It’s good exercise for the upper arms.

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I make fresh bread in the oven with my bread loaf pan set instead of the bread maker, sometimes with my assistant baker. Again, a good upper arm workout!
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Salsas can be made with the molcajete. More arm exercise! When I need a real puree, I can connect the blender for a minute or so to the truck battery with the ac/dc Power Inverter.

We still have our refrigerator only now it’s a handy, dandy pantry for dry goods. We have fresh goat milk daily as well as freshly laid eggs, so we don’t need refrigeration for those. Our fruit and vegetables we buy weekly and eat fresh. We don’t buy processed food that needs to be in fridge or freezer. Anything that we have left over at the end of the day that won’t keep, we share out among our various animals.

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And we can still enjoy popcorn with our Popcorn Spinner Stovetop Popcorn Popper.

We love popcorn. It’s inexpensive, quick and healthy. It helps with the digestion, lowers blood sugar, has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and a host more good things! (See Popcorn health benefits)

So, all in all, cooking is still possible without electricity.  And, in the worst case scenario, like if zombies invade Mexico and we are unable to procure gas for our stove, well, then we can cook outside with leña (wood) or use our little indoor fireplace. (See Chim, chimney)

Interested in learning more about cast iron cooking?  Check out my ghost blogger post at Backdoor Survival!

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December 4, 2015 · 7:00 am

Generosity

stretched-mind

Since the last negative response of the community members of La Yacata, the mesa directiva (community board) has been taking a hiatus from all work projects. We continue to register owners and issue new property certificates and answer questions when folks show up at our doors, but any and all community planning has been put on hold.

It’s time to get back on that pony, though.

Those of you who have been following our little revolution in La Yacata now that our current situation is bleak. Residents and would-be residents have lost hope. La Yacata has once again been abandoned. Construction and dreams have been deferred–until such time as there is electricity. So, it’s time to figure out just how electricity can be obtained.

Recently, I have been investigating solar power options for our home. It hasn’t been easy. I know so little about the process that I’ve had to flounder about a bit in my search for information. Well, I finally found someone willing to take the time to answer my questions and analyze our particular situation. A big hooray for Frank at Frank O’Grady Solar for that!

Based on the information that I have gleaned, it is our goal to have a basic solar powered setup in our home before the end of 2016. With a functioning setup, we would be able to educate the current residents about their options with this type of electricity.

The issue that remains is the cost of a system, $5,000 USD and up, depending on the quality and capacity of the setup. As you know, nearly all of our community members are campesinos (farmers) and with the cost of living as it is, are barely making enough to survive day to day. Many of our older community members have already transferred ownership of their properties in La Yacata to their children and grandchildren, in the hopes that their investment will pay off, not in their lifetime, but in their children’s lifetimes. Really, it’s a sad commentary about the speed of progress in our area.

It is my intent, therefore, to set up a fund for the community that would enable residents to install a solar powered system and live more comfortably in La Yacata now, not at some distant future date. The fund would be available to community members already living in La Yacata first since their need is more pressing, but then would be opened to those who agree to take up residence. The recipients would be able to arrange a flexible and extended payback schedule so that other community members would be able to make use of the funds.

Oh, don’t worry about those less than savory neighbors. I’ve become quite an expert during my time as treasurer for La Yacata on the use of the pagare (promissory notes)and the Ministerio Publico just in case one of our screened and approved beneficiaries decide they don’t need to repay so that others can benefit.

Here’s where you can help. When making out your Christmas list this year, why not add La Yacata? When figuring out your charity donations for the end of the year tax credit, why not consider La Yacata?

But, you might ask yourself (or me) why should I donate?

There really isn’t any reason why you should. After all, it’s a dog eat dog world out there and it’s important to look out for your own, not some strangers thousands of miles away. However, if you do decide to donate, even a little bit, the residents of La Yacata that this program would benefit, including my family, would be ever so appreciative.

Donate–

for personal reasons–

**in memory of my mother-in-law who died before her dream of electricity was realized

**so that my son doesn’t need to light a candle to continue his studies

**to eliminate the trip to town my father-in-law makes on his bicycle to charge his phone

**to make up for those care packages you never did around to mailing

**because you know me personally and are convinced of my integrity and determination and furthermore know I would never ask if I could do it myself

Donate–

for public reasons–

**to help create an environmentally-friendly self-sustainable community

**to make a political statement

**to reduce the high incidence of night-time theft in La Yacata

**for the families that continue to pay rent, year after year, instead of investing in the future

**just because it’s a good thing to do

So now that I’ve given you a few reasons to donate, here’s how it works.

I’ve set up a fundraising account at Generosity by Indiegogo. If you haven’t heard of Generosity, it’s a fundraising community for personal and social causes. You’ll be able to see other worthy causes at this site as well, in case you feel like giving even more this holiday season.

Update:  After a year of inactivity, I have deleted the fundraiser.  

Please share this information as far and as wide as possible.  Locally we are at a standstill.  Perhaps globally we can advance.
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