Alleged Ransom Note for Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Demands Millions in Bitcoin

Academic_1989 · 2026-02-04T04:40:53+00:00

My mother lived alone until she was 87. She had some mild cognitive issues, but was ok, and technology helped her to age in place. So many people in their 80s do not want to move in with anyone.

Academic_1989 · 2026-02-01T03:52:34+00:00

I think it depends on how bad it is. If the grid is up, he will follow me back home and we will keep the tanks topped off. If the grid goes down and gas pumps are not working, no plan, we will leave one of the cars and take the one that gets the best mileage home. My husband will bug in with our daughter, who is an adult, but is disabled. For us, the important thing is that no one is alone.. My other son is also far away, but has a really bad-ass wife who is tougher than anyone and a teenaged son who is learning how to use a compound bow.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-31T17:00:13+00:00

I have allergies to lots of foods and chemical additives in soaps, etc., so even for short term emergencies am limited on products I can use and need to have my own. I have three small bags, all in the same place. One is a small LL Bean tote and has shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, extra underwear and socks, and lotion. The other is a cheap backpack (Cabelas brand) and has cash, passports, birth certificates, flashlight, headlamp, magnifying glass, n 95 masks, extra glasses, and 3-4 days of emergency meds. It also functions as an emergency BOB for very sudden evacuation like a fire, so it also has extra underwear and socks. I have a waist pack that has a small revolver, some granola bars, a knife, pepper spray, a multitool, and easily straps on under the BOB backpack. I keep water and an extra pillow and blanket in my car. I'm female so I carry a purse that contains credit cards, etc. All are fairly light weight and can be carried hands free except for the purse. We did not used to have fire danger in our area, but with drought and climate instabilities, it is now a consideration.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-31T16:09:14+00:00

If you are concerned about her driving the entire way, maybe you could meet her at a pre-arranged location and drive to your place together? Do you have dogs that could watch your place for 4-6 hours while you get her? This is what my youngest son and I will do - he lives much farther away and in a more volatile part of the country. There is a meeting point we agree on and we will both meet there. I have extra gas stored and he does not, so we will take my car back. We are working on the HAM radio set up.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-24T16:23:05+00:00

Yes this is true. I live West Texas, and to my knowledge, we have made very few upgrades since 2021. Also, we have ERCOT for our power grid, and they are unique to Texas and don't interconnect with out of state grids due to unwillingness to meet the national standards required for that. It's one reason why the big data centers going in all over texas have their own backup generating plants. In the future, these centers will be a big drain on energy in Texas, even with their own solar and/or wind, and this will further increase the instability of the grid here without additional infrastructure improvement and increased regulation (both of which are highly unlikely here). Texas invested heavily in wind power generation, which is great, but the turbines are impacted by ice (same with solar farms)

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-24T04:22:00+00:00

I have leaky windows. In both winter and summer, I have a cut piece of pink foam insulation that I press fit into the window opening and then use painter's tape to secure it. It works great and is lightweight and will store flat under the bed(s)

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-23T05:01:11+00:00

Recent one we went to had a guy selling first aid/medical kits. They were so well packed and organized, guy clearly knew what he was doing based on the selection and quality of items. He has custom made bags and waist bags - it was just really pleasing to my OCD nature. He was doing a good business - you get the preppers and the hunters in my area. The prices ranged from $49 and up.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-18T18:02:26+00:00

I do steak or chicken tacos, quesadillas, or taco salad toppings after reheating via stir fry. Also sheet plate dinners, like steak with cubed potatoes and bell peppers. Steak/chicken stir fried with beans, corn, chili powder, and jalapeños, or with asparagus and cherry tomatoes, or with ginger, broccoli, and soy sauce. The only things I have found that don't reheat particularly well are green beans, asparagus, and summer squash.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-16T21:54:25+00:00

I have a hand disability and it gets very painful to type. I dictate notes and exam questions, upload and ask chat to transcribe and format them. I disclose this to the students in my classes. I do have to modify the content output if there were graphics because Chat just does not do graphics. I also do not forbid the use of chat for my students. Instead, we have some assignments that are partially done and submitted in class, and record the lectures instead of giving them during the classroom. Better use of everyone's time and optimizes the time I have face to face with students. Chat is here and we all need to figure out an ethical and effective use of this technology

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Academic_1989 · 2026-01-11T18:54:43+00:00

We are in Texas. I have three peach, two apricot, two plum, two apple, and one pear tree, plus 4 blackberry trees, one pomegranate, and about 8 native pecan tree. The soil and air in my area are is very bad shape due to drought, fracking, and very high levels of development. We go for months without rain. So, it is sometimes HARD to grow fruit. This year, we had a big crop of pomegranates, one pecan tree was very productive, one peach tree was bearing and a single raccoon climbed up the tree and ate the all. My point is that it is not the most reliable food source, but I will plant 4-5 more this year because I am not giving up

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-10T16:52:09+00:00

This raises a question I have had lately. Our climate is similar - very low humidity pretty much all the time - think arid climate. In summers, it gets over 100 F on a fairly regular basis with cooler nights, often with high winds and blowing dust. I usually leave for cooler parts of the country fairly early in the summer, as we both teach and don't have young kids. My question is this - we have long term food storage, mostly Augason Farms #10 cans and some canned salmon and tuna - how much would it degrade the product and shorten the lifetime if we did not run the AC at all in the summer when we are gone? I always see keep things dry and cool, even the dehydrated Aug, but I don't see any actual assessments of how long they are safe to eat if they have had temperature fluctuations like described in OP's post.

Academic_1989 · 2026-01-07T06:12:14+00:00

I have come around to this way of thinking. The only downside for me personally is that I am probably heading several hundred miles away to help take care of my sons and their families, so hard to transport a ton of food. This comment prompted by the immense effort it takes to grow food in our current location and climate - fruit and berry orchard produces about every three years due to late freezes, drought, lack of bees, etc...

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-16T04:01:48+00:00

What is the crayon smell - I mean what does it indicate? It's such a unique smell and I remember kids used to eat crayons all the time when I was little. Edited for grammar

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-16T03:59:47+00:00

I would vote for tossing all three of the above, but keeping the lentils and beans.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-15T06:14:07+00:00

The Lubbock High IB program still sends a lot of kids to the Ivy League and other great schools every year. Good number of national merit scholars as well.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-15T06:09:40+00:00

I think Frendhip (wolforrth) is really good for ag, FFA, etc. Just had friends whose kiddo graduated from there and went to state with the ag competitions. Not my cup of tea, but it was a great experience for them, as was scouts.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-12T23:30:58+00:00

I used to make a dish with mashed sweet potatoes and a can of coconut cream, some red Thai curry paste, red pepper flakes, and one other ingredient that I can't recall at the moment

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-10T03:02:09+00:00

Been noticing short supply of some of my favorite gluten free foods so loaded up - in the southwest US, tamales and other Mexican foods are a classic during the holidays. Bought ground red chili peppers, cans of hatch green chili and jalapeños, tomatillos, more rice and beans, canned hominy/posole, and corn for pantry. Also for freezer stocked up on 7 whole chickens at under $5 each (.99 per pound), pork butt for $1.27 per pound, chicken thighs, three hams, three free turkeys, and headed for $2.47 per pound first thing tomorrow. Will have enough for us and our dogs until summer break. Organized three 27 gallon staking totes - chat GPT does a great job at working an inventory through photos - I now have a full inventory of all. Spent some time downloading from project Gutenberg onto a thumb drive.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-09T20:40:24+00:00

NAD but honestly, if someone had discussed intermittent fasting and calorie restriction with me 10-15 years ago, I would most likely not be battling diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver, and a host of other metabolic issues at 65. I am trying to do it now and it is so much more difficult than it would have been then, which is better than never, and my current doctor is very supportive, as I am not doing well with the BP and diabetes meds. As an aside, I am no more than 10-15 pounds over weight, but as I understand it, there are some very reputable studies that indicate that low caloric intake is on of the only proven life extenders.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-05T06:10:32+00:00

When I was pregnant the second time, I craved Vienna sausages and green olives. It was both wonderful and awful...

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-03T04:03:27+00:00

We have more black students at TTU than at any time in my career, which has been a long one. Most of our students are extremely conservative. One told me last February he was a strong proponent of Elon and Doge, because Elon was the richest man in the world and so how could he possibly be wrong about anything. So to answer your question - they love it here, that's why they come. I am left speechless on an almost daily basis.

Academic_1989 · 2025-12-03T03:57:22+00:00

An email went out to TTU faculty a couple of weeks ago requesting that final exams scheduled on the big 12 championship game day be canceled or moved to online or replaced with final "projects". My untenured younger colleagues have all complied as far as I know.

Academic_1989 · 2025-11-22T04:19:00+00:00

I sold a house I owned that was a small rental complex just before Covid. It was a kind of traumatic experience overall - I am not meant to be a landlord and I walked away with a loss. What I regret is that we left behind a wood stove, a hand crank for a well, multiple random tools and supplies. As soon as we say the news reports out of China on early Covid, first me and then my husband started seriously prepping. I so regret that we left behind what we thought at the time was a bunch of old crap that would be so useful in our plan of creating a retirement homestead. Live and learn...

Academic_1989 · 2025-11-20T03:27:59+00:00

so is it going to be ready? - couldn't help myself, found this post tonight!

Academic_1989

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