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Mastered? None (other than maybe procrastination)

The rest I just keep practicing on.

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Honestly, search for “sunchoke” on Youtube. After a few videos you’ll get the gist.

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and re: allowances. in the words of Joel Salatin, “No one should be paid to breath”.

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Yes. Don’t really need to explain, the reasons are self evident.

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Do you go to church? do other people that go there buy eggs?

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Ya’ll, Have you ever worked on an ambulance? There are a few things in play here, from their point of view, you may not be cognizant of. (oh, and they are not “attendants” They are either EMT’s, EMT-A’s or Paramedics, the latter being equivalent in skill and training, though not the exact scope of practice of an RN, I’m an RN and EMT-A)

1) they are not trained, nor is it in their scope of practice to diagnose. Thus you find out later that she has a brain bleed, is something there is absolutely no way they could have determined unless there was some outword physical symptom such as unequal pupils or other indication of an immediate medical issue. As to confusion and such, without prior knowledge of what her “normal” is, this could be her “normal”, no way to tell.

2) While it is great one or more neighbors got involved, in one or more ways, a strict interpretation of HIPAA can put the EMT’s / Medics in a place of not being able to discuss any of her medical information or condition with you, and experience has shown that while what a concerned neighbor offers as information or such is listened to, it is with a grain of salt, as you are not family, you do not live with her, and you do not have Medical Power of Attorney to direct, influence or be given medical information regarding the lady who is during the time of contact, their patient.

3) If this is a time of severe weather and such, there are likely 5-10 or more other calls in the cue waiting for a unit (and if anywhere like Memphis, half the units are tied up on B.S. calls, because they are not allowed to say -no- to patients wanting a free ride to the hospital, because their big toe has been aching for 3 days, and they want a free shot of Dilaudid at the ER.) Harsh but true. If the lady is answering questions indicating some level of competency, is ambulatory with minimal assistance, and refuses to go to the hospital, then yes, I’d accept this, document it, and then check back into service to answer the call of the child reportedly trapped under a tree which may be holding, or the multi-vehicle collision on the other side of town.

I’m not trying to be harsh, but life is harsh, and those who have not rode a truck, or worked in an ER, may not be fully cognizant of the complexity of everyday pre-hospital care even on good and calm days, much less during a region wide weather emergency. Truth is, even on a “calm” cay, it’s not unusal for there not to be a single ambulance crew available, as all are committed on other runs.

I’m glad someone at least noticed and cared enough to dial 911, however another possible response, is to notice and go over there oneself, then if they do not have family phone numbers, check with other neighbors to see if anyone does. In an ideal world, this 100 year old keeper of history and wisdom, would not be living alone in the first place.

I put the real responsibility on the family first, and true neighbors second. 911 should not be a kneejerk first resort, but a safety net when other options have been exhausted. Perhaps, (and I may have missread), if the weather is so bad, a neighbor should have gone over and invited her to their house, just in case and out of concern.

So long as we expect -Government- (which in some way, EMS, police, fire etc are in some way part of, at least by funding) to be the fix, the cure, the first call, we become ever more dependent, and less “free”.

Just my own perspective, as a one time firefighter, emt, parttime LEO, LPN, RN, and more.

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For just a onesies or twosies panel system, I’ve bought the 200ish-watt “NewPowa” ones from Amazon. Considering they are less than a dollar a watt, including free delivery with Prime, not bad.

For a larger system, I went to Santan Solar for used ones. Just have to know how much wattage you want, and your max volts for the charge controller, and then see what they have that you can get, hoping all are matching. I’ve paid as low as $60 for a 200+ watt panel (so about $30/watt), however, there is shipping, so it makes sense mostly when you can do a pallet or close to a pallet at a time.

Remember, the larger and higher voltage panels can be quite a bit bigger, and being on a pallet you’ll need something with forklift-type forks to move (or maybe a trailer you can back up to the truck if they have a lift gate.

If I rate the panels at 230W each below, x 20 = 4600W, cost $2000 delivered, that’s about $0.434/watt.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Hippocrates_Garden.

[Hippocrates_Garden]

So, basically, a thermal mass. It may look a bit different, but a technique used for centuries variously known as “thermal mass fireplace”, “Russian Fireplace”, or the more recent “rocket mass heaters”. essentially the same idea. Heat up a mass, then let the mass radiate the heat over time. Even “Passive solar” buildings use a version of this, substituting the sun as the heating source onto thermal masses inside the house during winter.

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Whats burning is… fat/oil. Most veg oils burn. You can pour olive oil in a container put a wick in it and viola, “oil lamp” (that’s what is often used on the iconostasis in Orthodox churches)

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They are not even related to Artichokes (not sure how they got that name)

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similar, although the carbohydrate is a bit different, and if one is not used to them.. well, lets just say one alternative name is “Fart-a-choke:

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Absolutely, and thanks for clarifying, I likewise interjected some emotion where it likely was unwarranted.

And likewise, I’m living with my parents, to provide as much care as required, trying not to overdo what’s required to allow them (if not prompt them) into doing as much as possible for themselves, moving and such, because, if at all possible, a nursing home is not an option in our current society, for many reasons. Heck, seeing these days coming when they would need care, is really the only reason I went to nursing school in my 40s, so I could get that side of training and experience, and those letters after my name, so doctors and other nurses would actually listen when I called out the BS, and said NO.

I agree, one needs to test and observe, to realize, as the saying goes, “when seconds count the (insert public service) is minutes, or hours away.”

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Source? Remember, bad and incorrect “news” travels faster than good news. If no verifiable source….

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One thing that stands out to me is, if we cannot define or describe it, how can we achieve it? Is it the case that true “health” is so rare today, that we find the concept beyond us? Do we know “healthy” people that are on daily meds? And any who are not on meds, just haven’t been evaluated fully and received a diagnosis… Yet?

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Chickens make great manure spreaders.. and you get eggs to boot.