We saw the unsettled weather approaching during a quick trip into Yellville late yesterday. The storms it’d bring to The Mountain still were 12 hours away, but those first clouds sent a clear message.
Just as we turned onto our road on the way back, four whitetails crossed our path — two does, two fawns. We’ve become accustomed to them greeting us. That’s a message of its own.
Thunder began rumbling here around 6:30am this morning. Strong, persistent gusts and heavy rain followed, a genuine gullywasher.
A few hours later, winds were calm and the sun was out. At 10am, the “feels-like” temperature was 75°F — a full 26°F cooler than it had been 24 hours earlier.
Tonight’s forecast low is 65°F. I’m thinkin’ we’ll shut down the AC and open the windows.
Our rain gauge showed that we got three-quarters of an inch in three hours. Because I’ve been working on the IBC tote lately, immediately I thought of that in terms of rain catchment. I calculated that the cabin roof saw enough rain this morning to fill the 275-gallon tank completely (with about 25 gallons to spare).
Though I’d planned to haul trash to the transfer station today, I put that off ’til tomorrow. Instead, I decided to fill the IBC tank — but not with water we’ll actually use.
This would be shocking.
I looked up the formula for concocting a strong solution to “shock” the tank sanitary. The potency I settled on was 50ppm (parts per million) of sodium hypochlorite.
That translates to 36 fluid ounces of 5.25% chlorine bleach for 275 gallons of water.
I deployed our garden hose and directed water into the tank, adding 18 ounces of bleach just before it was half-full. I shut off the water, let the well recover for an hour, then repeated the process.
It took a total of 35 minutes to fill the tank, by the way.
I’ll leave the shock solution to sit overnight, about 18 hours. When I leave for the transfer station tomorrow morning, I’ll open the drain and let gravity do what gravity does.
Once it’s empty (and it’ll take a while), I’ll hose-out the interior with plain water, close the drain and fill the tank for use. Again I’ll add bleach, but at a much lower ratio — just 5ppm. Less than four ounces will do it.
Late Monday afternoon, in Cincinnati, Ohio, a baby was born. A healthy girl.
Deb’s now a grandma. I guess that makes me a step-grandpa (if indeed there’s such a thing).
I’m pretty sure neither of us ever expected to lay claim to those titles. You just never know.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB