Backup That Data!

 World Backup Day has passed but this is still timely.


NOTE: This is a post from a different blog I used to have that I have copied and pasted here because today is World Backup Day. Don't be an April Fool, backup your data today!

My backup drive recently died. Fortunately all of my important stuff was on one of the computers so if I lost anything it wasn't important.

I discovered the backup drive was dead late in the evening so I did do a bit of scrambling to get everything backed up again. I was fortunate to have about 150 GB of USB flash drives available. That and using the amount of storage left available on Google Drive gave me a quick solution.

This event did make me stop to think about backing up data. I use different Operating Systems on different computers, on my Linux machines I have the OS saved to a USB drive and in the documents folder on my Windows machine. For Windows I have a recovery disc and a system image. 

But the data is the big thing. Everything else is easily replaced. In addition to work files I have lots of pictures of my children and grandchildren. Audio files of conferences. Personal and business data. On and on.

That got me thinking about ways we could lose our data:

• Machine or drive failure
• Disaster (fire, water damage, electrical storm or surge)
• Theft of equipment

In the first case, if your HDD or SSD is still working you can plug it into your new computer to salvage the data. In the second case your machines and data may be gone. In the third case they will be gone.

So what can one do?

For machine or drive failure it's as simple as backing up to a secondary drive. An External Hard Drive is preferred, in my opinion, because if Item 2 hits while you are home you may be able to grab it on your way out.

Items 2 and 3 make me think about an extra external drive that is kept away from home or office and swapped periodically so you always have most of your data preserved in case of disaster or theft. If you're backing up at home you can consider keeping a drive at your office and vice versa. 

Also consider cloud storage and backup. I used the aforementioned Google Drive. If you have a Google account you get 15 GB of storage. If you use Gmail any saved mail counts against your storage. You can buy additional storage if needed.

In addition to Google Drive, there is probably the most famous cloud storage, Dropbox. Dropbox will give you 2 GB of storage for free. Once again you can buy additional storage if needed.

One you may not have heard of is Box. It actually predates Dropbox. Box gives you 10 GB of storage for free, with the option to buy more if needed.

Those are three great services, which combined give you 27 GB of free cloud storage. The only thing with those is the data is not encrypted (unless you encrypt it before uploading) so if your account is hacked anyone can access your data.

Enter MEGA. MEGA is a New Zealand based encrypted cloud storage service. MEGA gives you a huge 50 GB of free storage. The data is encrypted on your machine and uploaded to MEGA. MEGA also doesn't store your password so if you lose it, you've lost your data. On the plus side, since they do not store your password, if MEGA were hacked all the thief would get is encrypted data that he has to try to crack. Once again, if 50 GB isn't enough you can buy additional from this page at MEGA.

So you have physical backup and cloud backup.  But what about when your laptop or backup drive is stolen? Rather than rewrite what has been covered by many, I am going to leave you with a couple links on encrypting your laptop and making a strong passphrase.

Have a good day. And don't forget to run your backups.

EDIT: Foss Force ran this great article. It's a quick read and well worth your time.

Mountain House Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Peppers

Let me start out by saying I'm not a professional product reviewer. Just a normal guy giving his thoughts on a product. Also, I am what I call a "Simple Prepper". I try to have enough stuff to get by in an emergency that is of they type likely to hit where I live. All that said, let's get to the review.

I have a small stash of freeze dried foods. They are about 10 - 12 years old, which is fine given the advertised 30 year shelf life. Recently I decided to rotate the stock, eating the old stuff and replacing it with new stock.  I also thought this would work out if there I are items I don't care for I can replace those with items I like.

I started this with a can of Mountain House Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Peppers.

I must say this stuff is pretty tasty. While I can't get it to look as appetizing as the picture on the can, my taste buds weren't complaining.

Here's how I make it up. I use an enamelled soup mug picked up on some long forgotten trip. I preheat the mug with hot water, dump that water, add 2/3 cup of the dehydrated mix and add enough boiling water to barely cover it. Give it a stir and check to see that the water is still just a tad above the mix. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir it again and then you can either start eating or drain off any excess water. I have done both. The first time I made some I used the can specified amount of water and drained off the excess. Next I tried the method above and had less excess water. I also put my mindset in a emergency situation where there might not be a lot of water so dumping the excess might not be the best. Yes, I ate the eggs and drank the water at the bottom. It had little bits of egg in it and tasted just like the meal, so it wasn't bad at all.

The serving size listing on the can seemed to me to bit a bit small, but I made it according to directions and it was surprisingly filling.

A few concerns I had were on the size of the can. There would most likely only be two of us eating the product. I tend to look at the "what if" as a worst case scenario. In this case, it would be a situation with no electricity and limited water in the heat of summer. The instructions on the can say unused portions can be stored for up to a week. Before I opened the can I contacted Mountain House and they said to treat it like any other food by refrigerating the unused portion for up to a week or freezing it. Right now that is not a problem. I placed the unused product in a zip-lock bag and it is in the freezer. In a situation as described above the unused portion might not be able to be properly stored. 

Fortunately, there is an easy solution. This product is also available in a 2 serving pouch. The #10 can has 15 servings. The best price I've found is $33.49 with free shipping. That works out to $2.24 per serving. A case of 6 pouches is  $29.59, also with free shipping. This is a little higher at $2.43 per serving, but the fact that 2 servings can be made at a time in the pouch, while the others are not exposed to air, makes it worthwhile to me.

I can give this product a wholehearted YES! I will be using it on some future trips, not just keeping it stored for an emergency.

First Aid Kit Updating

Updated 3/16/18

Have you checked your first aid kit recently? I know I haven't. What got me thinking about it was when I saw this kit on sale at Amazon.

I have grabbed bandages and such from both my home and car kits over the past couple years. I know I've made a few half hearted efforts to replace what I've used but haven't really stayed on top of it.

Seeing the low sale price on this kit I grabbed one and will put it directly in the car when it arrives. It appears to be a great kit for the car, boat, campbox, etc. At $15.12 it is 43% off, a good price! Just the bandages alone would cost more at the drug store. I am also going to make it a weekend priority to go through my home kit and make sure it is up to snuff.

If you haven't checked your first aid supplies at home and in your car, boat, camper, etc. lately I encourage you to do so.

NOTE: Amazon seems to rotate these kits off and on as part of their "Deal of the Day" specials. They are a good deal at the regular prices, but it's always nice to get an even better price on them.

No matter what, any of these three kits are good additions.

Saying Goodbye to Fuller Brush

R.I.P. Fuller Brush

This is a post I should have written a long time ago.  Many of you know me as @FullerBrushJeff both here and on Twitter. I pretty much quit Fuller Brush in September 2017.  One of the best article on the demise of Fuller Brush is this one, written by Roland Rhoades, formerly a National Director for Fuller Brush.

I am still the caretaker for my elderly, handicapped mother.  She is plugging along, for which I am thankful. If she ever declines to where I cannot care for her she would have to go into a home, which I hope never happens.

In addition to that, I have been doing a few other things which I will write about in time. 

Until then, best wishes to you and yours.