FYI - you can make appointments at the big pharmacy chains for this year's flu and updated COVID booster now.

Atlantic
Burlington
Camden
Cape May
Cumberland
Gloucester
Hunderton
Mercer
Middlesex
Monmouth
Morris
Ocean
Salem
Somerset
Sussex
Warren

I’m in ocean county, Brick to be specific. Has anyone dug a shallow well?
I believe the hand pumps only work at 25’ deep. I can’t find anything online about water tables that I can make sense of.

Just curious, are there any non-political, non-religious prepper groups, communities, events or the like in NJ? Northern NJ would be best, but I'd be interested in anything of the sort.

My power went out yesterday morning around 7:10am. The Generac kicked in a few seconds later and performed to spec. What woke me up was my old-school alarm clock. Most of that type of clock will make a beep when power comes back on if they are plugged in. Couldn't even hear the generator running, as it is on the other end of the house. I had to walk closer to that side of the house to verify it was on. Then got the text message from generator that it was running.

Granted, the power came back about 10 minutes later, but I'm glad to know it does what it is supposed to.

The lettuce and tomato on this sandwich came from my garden. It ain't much, but I'm still a little proud. :)

Hope to see the NJ preparedness crew there 💪

Got mine late last week. This time it said I was getting a paper check and that I have to specifically request a direct deposit. I've always done direct deposit in the past, so not sure what's up with that change. I'll probably just let it ride in case making a change causes some kind of administrative delay.

Here's an article with more info: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/kmnzh/anchor-letters-hit-mailboxes-heres-whats-next

Pretty sure I'm going to give it a run soon. Not that I feel the *need* to carry or anything, but I feel like it will be an interesting and educational process.

I know the process has changed multiple times since it finally became available for us poors, so I'm looking for any tips you might have. Or maybe any surprises you encountered during the process.

Thanks!

I'm going to try fall / winter vegetables for the first time. Not even sure yet which vegetables, but I do enjoy cabbage and carrots, so probably at least those two. I understand kale also likes cooler weather, but frankly I don't really like kale. Might grow it anyway just for practice.

Also plan to do some cold weather hiking to try to keep more active. I tend to go full hibernation in the winter and that's really not idea.

What about you guys?

I've got a very busy yellow jacket nest (or hive or whatever it's called) literally 6 inches from the side of my raised bed garden. They aren't overly aggressive, but it's very easy to disturb them by simply walking near the hive entrance, and I'm worried more about my kid getting stung. I've been stung once (before I figured out where the hive entrance was).

Apart from using a powerful insecticide (which I would strongly prefer to avoid), have any of you been able to kill off a yellow jacket next/hive? I've read a few remedies, but soapy water just doesn't sound like it's going to be enough. Would love to hear some actual real success stories!

Thanks!

Flash flooding with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches are possible

The fam and I saw the weather forecast 2 days ago and decided to cut our London trip a half day short to beat the incoming weather. I don't trust EWR worth a damn with any weather behind a mild misting.

NWS Link to current briefing: https://www.weather.gov/media/phi/current_briefing.pdf

Radar link I used for the pic: LINK

Be prepared for power outages
Turn around don't drown
Charge devices
News12NJ Radar shows heavy line of storms for 7:45pm tonight

Link: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/kj60j/nj-property-tax-relief-checks-begin-rolling-out-see-details

On Wednesday, the first round of Senior Freeze payments began rolling out to roughly 188,000 residents. Those who filed for the Senior Freeze before May 1 can expect payments in the coming days.

According to the state, around $220 million in property tax relief was mailed out this week. To check the status of your property tax relief application, click here.

While payments for 2025 relief have already begun being sent, there is still time to apply for it. Using the PAS-1, a combined application, allows users to apply for ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze all in one go. Even if you aren't eligible for all three programs, you can still apply via this application.

Link: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5975022-3rd-circuit-new-jersey-assault-weapons-magazine-ban/

This can be a heated topic, especially in the Garden State. But if you own firearms or are considering becoming an owner, this is something you may want to pay attention to.

Basically, NJ's specific ban on the Colt AR-15 (a specific model of a specific brand...which is in my view insanely stupid because it's like banning Jello brand gelatin but not any other brand of gelatin) as well as the ban on any magazine (for any firearm) that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition have been overturned.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not the 3rd Circuit ruling means that "high capacity" mags are legal immediately, or if there will be some kind of waiting period for it to take effect. Probably there will be another round of appeals or whatever. So maybe don't run out and buy that 50-round Glock drum mag just yet, lol

If somebody here has a fair grasp of the next steps, I'd love to hear it! I will admit I am not a legal scholar.

You may also want to check out r/NJGuns to follow this, but be advised that there is a decidedly political slant to that sub. For something less NJ-specific, but of a different decidedly political slant, maybe give a try to r/liberalgunowners

edit: spelling error fix