Emergency Weather Radio- 5 Key Features to Consider

5 Things to Look For When Choosing An Emergency Weather Radio

It seems like every time we turn around there’s a new stream of weather emergencies unfolding. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world Mother Nature is always working hard to keep it interesting. To help us be more prepared for these often unpredictable weather events it’s critical that we have an early warning system in our homes.  This is especially critical while we are asleep.

One of the simplest ways to help fulfill this need is to choose a good quality emergency weather radio. Here are five key features to look for when researching your emergency weather radio’s features.

Photo courtesy of NSSL

1.) S.A.M.E TECHNOLOGY- LOCALIZED RECEPTION- This enables you to configure your radio for your specific and/or surrounding counties. Programming the weather radio for your local area helps prevent unwanted alerts from non-relevant areas. You don’t want to be awaken in the middle of the night for something that’s not heading your way.

2.) ALL HAZARD ALERTS- there’s more than just weather emergencies and disasters that impact us. “All Hazard Alerts” include events like Amber Alerts, Nuclear Power Plant Warnings, Biological Hazard Warnings, Civil Emergency Messages, and Fire and Landslide warnings.

3.)  All 7 NOAA Weather Bands, and Canada Weather Channels for our friends in Canada and the northern states. These weather bands aren’t just for emergencies. These weather stations provide you with your local weather’s current conditions and forecasts, 24-hours a day, not just when there’s a looming emergency.

4.) MULTIPLE POWER SOURCES- AC and battery at the minimum.  Some models have hand cranks and/or solar panels. An “AC only” unit won’t do much good if the power goes out.  A battery backup solution is a requirement, not an option.

5.) ANTENNA- This may seem like a strange item to be in the top-5 but the larger the antenna the better the potential reception your radio will have, especially if you are in a basement or internal room.

In addition to the Top-5, there are several ‘notables that are worth mentioning, the non critical niceties. Some of the better units on the market will provide features like alarm clocks with a snooze feature, multiple alert methods- (voice, display, and alert), USB charging ports, Public Alert capabilities, etc.  Some are even built into regular alarm clocks.

Photo courtesy of NSSL

There are many great units on the market that fit a wide assortment of needs- home based units, hand-held and portables, emergency-crank, marine grade radios, etc.

For our basic needs we chose the Midland WR-120 Emergency Weather Radio With Alarm Clock. We found that this unit filled all of our needs at a very reasonable price.  It’s been a great unit and comes highly recommended by me.

If you have been thinking about getting an emergency weather radio, don’t wait any longer- do it now!  You owe it to yourself and your family.  After all, your safety and well-being can depend on it!

Worms Ate My Garbage- A Lesson in Vermiposting

My post on vermiposting at enjoytimeoutdoors.com…

Worms Ate My Garbage- A Lesson in Vermiposting.

High Hopes for the 2011 Berry Patch

I just posted a new blog post about the 2011 berry container garden on my other blog,  http://enjoytimeoutdoors.com .

High Hopes for the 2011 Berry Patch.

Preparing the 2011 Container Garden- Starting Seeds

Most of my new posts are being published on my new blog, EnjoyTimeOutdoors. 

To help ensure you that you see all of the latest content (if you haven’t already) please consider subscribing for email notification or RSS updates over there.  http://enjoytimeoutdoors.com

Here’s the link to the post on my 2011 seed starting system…

Preparing the 2011 Container Garden- Starting Seeds.

Thanks,

Steve.

Compost Bin 2.0

Last year I made two home-made compost bins out of old Rubbermaid containers.  The original post about these bins can be found here.

While those  compost bins worked pretty well, they didn’t work quick enough (for my liking) or net enough of the much-needed end product.  With so many landscape beds in rough shape I can use all of the good organic matter I can get.  I prefer to make my own.

With all of the yard debris, trimmings, and kitchen scraps the capacity of the old compost bins quickly maxed out.  The also took a little fine tuning to keep them mixed, aerated and not ‘stinking’.  I still have them around, even though they haven’t made any progress since the temperatures dropped last fall.

After a lot of research and consideration of various compost bin designs and options, several weeks ago I opted to purchase a professionally manufactured compost tumbler.

Compost Bin 2.0

I bought the Lifetime 60021 75-Gallon Compost Tumbler.
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This thing is huge, but AWESOME!   It’s a free-standing tumbler that’s about the size of a clothes dryer tumbler.  It ‘s made of super-sturdy double walled molded plastic,  has a large removable door, good aeration build into the panels and through the metal aeration tube in the middle, and a super sturdy metal frame with locking pin to keep the tumbler steady in the filling or emptying positions.

Considering how I’ve got it loaded over 50% full, it is quite easy to turn.

I’ve had it for several weeks now and continue to add nearly every kind of compostable material around the house and landscape- coffee grounds, kitchen veggie scraps, egg shells, chipped up ornamental grasses and tree trimmings, leaves, old container soil, spring-cleanup debris from the various beds, etc.

The tumbler is making compost at record speed, especially considering it’s only been sunny and warm for the last week or so.  I can’t wait for this load to finish so I can re-fill it with the contents of Compost Bins 1.0.

A look inside the tumbler

Spring is near, never mind the snow…

Self-Watering Seed Starter System

It’s a partly cloudy 34.5 degrees on this beautiful snow-covered morning.   One day after a nice 5-6 inch blanket of fresh snow the melt has begun (again). 

Even though March is just around the corner I haven’t been super-motivated to get the garden seeds started.  Besides the lengthening days, spring just doesn’t feel that near.  This all changes today!

A few weeks ago I picked up a 28-plant self watering system seed starter tray at Menards.  The tray is a Planters’ Pride Self Watering System - Cutting Pots and Water Distribution Tray.  In years past I’ve tried making my own seed starters using toilet paper roll tubes (cut in half) and reusing a variety of disposable nursery-grade high-density four-packs.  Both offered mediocre results, at best.

I’m optimistic that this new tray will work better. 

First, the containers are individual 2.5 inch plastic pots which fit into a custom molded tray.  The tray has individual spots for all of the pots.  Last year’s toilet paper rolls provided limited success.  The seeds sprouted well, but quickly became root bound due to their small size.  I think the 2.5 inch pots will provide plenty of room for good root growth.

Second, Moisture control. The new 2.5 inch plastic pots sit in a molded plastic tray with inter-connected water tracks.  this provides an easy way to water multiple containers at the same time. Each container has four 1/4 inch drainage holes in the bottom.

With the toilet paper rolls it was hard to regulate moisture content.  They quickly went from one extreme to the other.  They had a tendency to dry out and/or wick too much water into the cardboard.   This resulted in mildew problems or dried out soil. 

Third, It’s made of nice quality plastic containers which are reusable and should last for years.  The toilet paper rolls needed to be saved all year, then cut and folded individually.  The super-cheap quality nursery seed start trays I’ve reused often cracked, split or fell apart after a few handlings.

I know that once I get these seeds started the weather will break and spring will zoom right in.  As much as I love snow and winter, I will welcome spring with open arms.

If you have thoughts, comments, or suggestions… please post a comment or stop by the EnjoyTimeOutdoors.com Forum at http://enjoytimeoutdoors.com/forum .

2010 Puzzle Goal- Complete!

Well, this post is a little late but…

 another 2010 goal  (5000 puzzle pieces) was achieved!

I started the vintage puzzle but couldn’t finish it due to my allergies kicking up.  I’m allergic to some cats and apparently the previous owner of that puzzle had such a cat.

The final 1000 pieces were completed using a couple of $1,  500-piece puzzles from Dollar General.

For cheap (price) puzzles, the die cuts were clean and accurate.  The images were clear and easy to follow.  They were well worth $1.

The 2010 puzzle count ended up being 5,100 pieces, thanks to a cute 100-piece puzzle Lisa got me for Christmas.

The 2011 goal has been set at 6,000, and thanks to Mike and Peg’s Christmas gift, it can be started any day now…

2010 Puzzle 03- Complete!

NOTE- this post was originally published on my other blog, EnjoyTimeOutdoors.com, on 14November2010.

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The third jigsaw puzzle for 2010 is complete! This brings the progress towards the 2010 goal to 3000 pieces.

2010 Puzzle 03

This puzzle was started back in March and sat idle for most of the summer and early fall.

Thanks to Lisa’s continued efforts the puzzle slowly worked it’s way to completion. The final 100 pieces were finished today.

This was an inexpensive puzzle that had a consistent “two-out, two-in” pattern (click on photo for larger view). The lack of randomly shaped pieces made it very time consuming to assemble the ivy background areas.

To reach the 5000 piece goal by the end of the year I’ll need to complete roughly 44 pieces per day. Time to get busy on Puzzle 04, Caeco Puzzles’ Thomas Kinkade Nature’s Paradise Puzzle!

Puzzle4- Thomas Kinkade Nature's Paradise

2010 Puzzle 04 Complete- Thomas Kinkade Nature’s Paradise

Thomas Kinkade- Nature's Paradise

With Christmas and the new year quickly approaching we finally finished the fourth puzzle of 2010.

Though I’ll count this puzzle as 1000 of the 2010- 5000 piece goal, the completed puzzle consisted of only 999 pieces.  This was likely the result of kitty’s help.

The puzzle was Thomas Kinkade’s Nature’s Paradise.  A wonderful depiction of a rustic log cabin on a lake, with a backdrop of mountains and sunrise.   Another of Ceaco’s fine American made puzzles!

I’ve been very happy with Ceaco’s quality puzzles.  Their die cuts are very random and tight-fitting, unlike the inexpensive” kitty on pumpkin” puzzle that was 2010 Puzzle 03.

I’m only 1000 pieces and 12 days away from reaching my 2010 goal!  Puzzle 05 is a 500 piece “classic” puzzle I picked up a garage sale earlier this summer.  It looks like this puzzle is over 50-years old.  It is a great example of what looks to be a hand drawn die pattern.   I’m hoping to write the blog post about this puzzle REALLY soon!

Time to get busy!

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Save Money on Disposable Batteries

Here’s a link to a new post about our disposable battery recharger. This was posted on my other blog, enjoytimeoutdoors.com

Save Money on Disposable Batteries.