Friday again. If time was passing any faster, it would be going backwards….
I’ve added an OFD Project page. It’s link is in the black bar at the top of this page. I’ll copy relevant comments or updates there as a record of what’s going on with that. (Edited by RickH: that page now has comments enabled, so you can post comments here to be moved, or on that page to be shown on that page. All comments, no matter what page posted, are shown in the Recent Comments list over on the right [or below this post on smaller screens].)
And I’m bringing back Bob’s “What did you do to prep this week.” It’s always the “quiet before the storm”, well, when the storm isn’t “on the horizon”. With that as a given, I’ll just say, “what can’t continue, won’t.” We’ve seen examples elsewhere, and historically even here of how quickly things can change and how bad things can get. This is a good time to take inventory, rotate some stuff, try some stuff out, get some more stuff, connect with new people, and learn a new skill.
No one knows the future, but in the last couple of years talking about it, we’ve seen Venezuela go from “man they have trouble coming” to “mmmm, tasty zebra.”
We’ve already GOT ‘Hoovervilles’ only with more drugs and crime. We’ve already got social influencers touting “tiny homes” and normalizing reduced expectations. Youtube “van life” to get a window to a whole culture of nomadic homelessness and reduced expectations. We’ve got a whole generation conditioned to socialism, envy, selfishness/narcissism, casual sex and violence, and most of them have really poor prospects. They are gonna be REALLY ANGRY and ready to lash out when they figure it all out.
So what did I get done this week? I got the first coat of cold galvanizing on my new HF antenna mast. The rain came back so getting that done and the antenna back up is on hold.
I cleaned up my raised beds. I need to add manure and soil, and get my spring garden planted. I did move some onion starts to a window box, but I don’t know if they’ll prosper. They are pretty lame looking. I planted some herb seeds along with the onion, but it looks like I was just feeding the squirrels. I’ll be doing more garden stuff this week.
I bought a used metal gate from Habitat and will adapt it to close off my driveway. Another project that needs some dry days. For now, I’m just mounting it simply. Eventually I’ll add a better post and an electric opener for convenience. It will control access to my driveway and garage, and visually hide all that stuff from the street.
My work on my ‘hurricane room’ continues slowly, but progress gets made.
I’ve got a rental house as a retirement plan and income stream, and I’ve got repairs and painting to do there after the last tenants moved out. I made some progress on cleaning and paint prep. Wife hired a painter, which just leaves the repairs for me. Still more fair weather tasks though.
My battle with the rats continues. I’ll have a whole ‘lessons learned’ but the short version is- they are extremely destructive and will literally eat you out of house and home. Jump on them hard and quickly at the first sign. Stock up on the supplies NOW. If, like me, you have an environmental change that ends with a rat infestation, your neighbors are likely to have one too. Rat traps and poisons are in short supply in local stores at the moment. Rats are smart, social, and seem to pass on their learning. They are not trapped more than once or twice with the same technique. They will avoid peanut butter like death itself once they know it is bait.
Ebay selling is slow for big items and ok for smaller stuff. I’ve sold a mix of industrial controls, collectibles, housewares, and public safety gear this month. I’ve sold old crap and new old stock to police and fire departments and to individual cops. They are looking for bargains on ebay, so I know budgets must be tight. Even though my sales are slow, I’m encouraging everyone to get selling on ebay or amazon. You’ve got crap you can get rid of as a starter, and it is a decent part time income from part time work. You WILL need the income stream at some point.
With that, I’ve got another day of paying work today, so will be away from the pc for a while.
What did YOU do to prep this week?
nick