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Month: January 2022

Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 – or 01212022 – another week slid by, yet this month is really long…

Cold, but I don’t know yet how cold it will get, or how cold it got.  It was 35F when I went to bed.  It is supposed to be clear today anyway, and tomorrow as well.

Mostly spent yesterday poking at things.  I did get to the grocery store, and noted in comments that  there were big gaps in the shelves in several areas.   Cat food and cold and flu OTC meds being the most prominent.

Today should be more auction and ebay stuff. If the weather stays clear I’ll go to my storage unit and clean and sort.  If not, I’ll do some more ebay stuff here at the house.  I’ve got stuff to test and clean and list.   Last night I had stuff sell in the auction by the guy who changed his mind about taking all of my stuff.   I think I did well with LPs and with books, of all things.  There were a couple of collectibles that didn’t do badly, and there was some stuff that sold for $1, but  at least it’s gone.

I hope he’ll be happy and take another load right away.

This afternoon and evening, my wife and D2 will be joined by the rest of her troop and they’ll be off to GS camp for a Gymkana, whatever that is.   The hope is sports on horseback, and related to horses.  Hard to be sure from the GS description.  Friday and Saturday night away, home Sunday afternoon.  That leaves me with D1 and a bunch of work to do.  We’ll see how that goes.  Cookie season is in a week or two, so the last bits have to be out of the house to make way.  Of course that was supposed to have already happened, but …  plans vs reality.

While I was at the grocery, I did add a flat of canned peas to the stacks,  6 pounds of bacon, and some pork chops and loin.  Beef was in short supply and none was on sale.  A little voice keeps poking me to add alternatives to fresh milk.  I have a bunch of Lido powdered full fat, and we don’t use as  much as we did a year ago, but I think I’ll add more.   It keeps fairly well.   I should open an old can and see how it’s doing.  For science or something.   But seriously, when I get little pokes from the universe like I’ve been getting about the milk, I ignore it at my peril.   YMMV but I’ll be checking the old and adding some new.

Anyone else getting weird vibes or feel short of something?

If you do, stack it up.

nick

 

BTW, I’ve now been doing this officially for 4 years ( a bit longer if you count the days I was just filling in for Bob while he was sick), without missing a day that I can remember.  Some days the end product was pretty weak, but at least the lights were on and the door unlocked.  All y’all are the reason I do it, to keep this unique thing that Bob built alive.  Thanks for sticking around and making this place somewhere I enjoy spending my time.  And thank you Barbara for letting us, and Rick for making it all work.  We’ve got a rocky road ahead, but we’re all better prepared for it than we were, and we will get through it.

n

 

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Thur. Jan. 20, 2022 – Robert Bruce Thompson, gone but not forgotten.

Today is once again the anniversary of Bob’s death. Through his many interests and endeavors he made a difference in peoples’ lives, whether it was encouraging them in science, or saving them money on a PC, or convincing them to get ready for bad times ahead. That is a pretty big deal, and more than a lot of people could ever hope for.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Absent friends.

 

nick

 

 

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Wed. Jan. 19, 2022 – coming up on an unhappy anniversary…

Cool but not cold? Still probably damp, and we might be on the edge of some rain… but we usually don’t get any when the national forecast shows us on the edge. 63F when I went to bed last night.

Did mostly pickups yesterday. Got cleaning supplies, and stuff for the house. Picked up another portable room A/C. Like heat up north, A/C is a prep for hurricane season down here. Having a couple of extras can be a good thing both for redundancy and for helping out a neighbor. Meatspace, remember? And they are MUCH cheaper in the middle of winter than in the middle of summer. Funny that the same can be said for Mr Heater propane heaters, only with the seasons reversed.

Good advice to buy at a discount in the off season. Works for a lot of things that will last. Fruit, not so much. Knowing what to buy and when can really save some money. Google the best time to buy appliances, etc. and if you have flexibility, you can save. That is also kind of the essence of prepping, to have choices and flexibility.

Buying stuff should be on your radar. It might be a while, but we’ll eventually end up like Soviet Russia, where you got in line for whatever was available, and hoped you could trade it for what you needed later. That’s the path anyway. Who knows, something might happen to take us off it, aliens could reveal themselves and hand out matter transformers… but that’s pretty far down my scenario list. (and it would be disruptive as hell anyway)

Take a look at what you didn’t buy this past year, and see if you need to buy it now. How’s the elastic in your underwear holding up? Socks getting thin? Got some spare ‘cheater’ glasses in the drawer? Need some new work boots? Figure it out and get stacking.

nick

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Tues. Jan. 18, 2022 – let’s get this week started…

Cool, windy, clear. 60s? Monday was all those things, getting a bit warmer in the afternoon.

Which mattered not a whit to me, as I was inside all day. Mostly I worked on modeling different remodeling options for this house. There are some that kinda make sense. I’m not sure the “move out for a year while we turn the attic into additional living space” makes sense, but for now, I’m working with it.

Lots of stuff going on in the wide world. Russia, China, and I’m sure someone else are all getting frisky. They see weakness and want to advance their own plans while they can. I think that the ‘someone else’ might be the trigger for whatever comes. Unless it’s just the continued inexorable movement toward war that finally gets there.

Pestilence, famine, war. What does Meatloaf say? “Two outta three ain’t bad.” They ain’t good either.

The need to get ready is always in tension with the inability to ‘time the market’ and be sure of WHEN you need to peak, and the need to live your life KNOWING you won’t get the timing right. Tomorrow is pretty much like today, and yesterday, most of the time, and until it isn’t. Then it’s pretty different in some really important ways, but some things will remain.

You will need to eat, drink, and keep yourself healthy. You will need to defend yourself and your stuff, probably more actively than you do now. You will still need to raise your kids, care for family members, and make a future for yourself and them. You will need to participate in whatever economy and society there is. You will probably need to do things you wouldn’t normally do. You will need to recognize when the old rules stop applying, but remember that eventually they will apply again.

One year? Two years? Five years, or ten. I don’t know, but the world will be a very different place, and not at all like yesterday, after one of those.

Stack it up. For (x+1) values of x.

n

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Mon. Jan. 17, 2022 – some kind of holiday. More time for me to work.

Cold. Windy. It was pretty dang chilly yesterday but not as bad as Saturday. I brought the citrus in and it was 35F when I went to bed. So I expect today to be cold too.

I did get the back yard grass cut. Sat too long on Saturday and my back was hurting Sunday so that limited me somewhat.

There’s been a lot going on in my life and I kinda let the world go by without as much attention as I usually spend on it. That can be good in some ways but in others, losing that situational awareness can suck.

And I need to pay attention at home. I was wondering when/if oldest daughter would get around to asking for some one on one time to be scheduled, like I’ve been doing with youngest. I was HOPING she’d be interested. Yesterday she asked, so I’ll add that to my schedule. Growing up, my dad didn’t have much time to spend with us kids during the week, and if we were at home, family (lots of cousins and relations with family parties to attend) obligations came first. Most of our time was shared during family vacations, game nights, or other shared activities (like remodeling projects.) I got to spend time with him splitting wood and occasionally felling trees for neighbors without younger siblings around, but we weren’t out doing things like hobbies together. So I don’t know that it’s any sort of condemnation of the times that I feel like I have to schedule time with my kids, it’s just the way it works for me. Even with the time on the calendar, it doesn’t always happen.

Families, friends, groups, teams, whatever humans call themselves when they are together… it takes time and effort to build the bonds that pay off later, when times are tough. Stack up some of that too.

n

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Sun. Jan. 16, 2022 – another day of not rest…

Cold and windy, but probably clear. I brought my citrus trees back inside last night. It was 40F and dropping, and got to 37F at midnight. Probably wasn’t going to freeze, but the little potted trees weren’t doing well outside.

Got the Christmas decor down, and I’ll put it way today. Some of it was still a bit damp, and I want it dry before storing it.

Got a couple small things done, but sleeping to 11 kinda kills half the day, and it was really too cold and windy to do the outdoor work I was hoping to do.

So we’ll try again today.

Supply chain from China is getting bad again. Port congestion isn’t better. I’m seeing toys show up in the overstock auctions, maybe they’ve arrived too late? And the latest wave of ‘stay at home’ workers is messing up schedules everywhere.

If you need it, stack it.

nick

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Sat. Jan. 15, 2022 – tired, lots of house stuff to do, ordinary days- cherish them.

Cool and clear today. Yesterday was awesome. Blue sky. Clear. Shirtsleeves temps. I’m really hoping for more of the same.

Most of the stuff I want to do today is ‘around the house’ kind of stuff and is much easier if it’s clear.

I did get to my client’s house and closed out a couple of notes. I’ve got a couple of things left to do on this project, and then I can start the new maintenance projects.

I didn’t do anything about my storage unit yet, that’s on the list for today too.

And I need to find someone to take all my auction stuff that I thought would go with the previous guy. Or I’ll have to start having yard sales or get a table at the local flea market on the weekend.

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Out in the wider world, the authoritarian stuff is getting worse and spreading. The supply chain issues aren’t getting better, and are about to get worse again. The inflation rate continues to rise.

You know one thing you can do, keep stacking…

nick

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Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 – stuff to do, and not really psyched to do it

Cold, turning to cool, and damp of course. Whatever pressure zone moved in yesterday blew out the clouds and we had beautiful blue skies. So I spent most of the afternoon modeling my house in sketchup.

If we can’t buy a getaway place, my wife is convinced we need to remodel here. Which means moving somewhere else for a year. And a lot of other things. It’s nuts. But if anything is going to move in any direction, models will help. Oy vey, I’m not amused.

I’m headed to my client today, because yesterday got eaten by relationship maintenance.

All I can do is shake my head and try to keep moving. If you stop moving you get crushed.

Stack something. You’ll be glad you did.

n

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Thur. Jan. 13, 2022 – Friday the 13th comes on a Thursday this month…

Cool and damp again. Overcast? Maybe. Was overcast and threatening all day Wednesday. It was 45F when I went to bed, but not bad during the day. Jacket weather for sure. It’s cold enough that my fingers are cracking again.

Did my pickup, mostly stuff for my non-prepping hobby. Did my drop off and then went to meet the auctioneer where she was going through a house to get ready for an auction. I was able to help her
ID some stuff. And turned down her job offer for the week… My other auctioneer wanted to hire me too, but I’d go nuts in his shop and I doubt he could afford me. I’m always better off either looking after my client, or listing, or working on my house.

Today is household stuff in the AM, then client’s house if the weather is ok for outdoor work. Other than networking, and the next round of gear replacement, I’ve only got a few items left to complete. I can leave the net stuff as is for the time being, and we’ll straighten it out when the fiber gets installed. The new speakers should be installed though.

The other thing I did yesterday was spending some time talking to the manager at the storage company. She’s going to review the video, and if she gets anything usable, then I’ll call my constable’s deputy buddy and see if they want to investigate. I’d think that going after an organized group would be an easier sell than going after individual crooks. The Constable formed his investigative group specifically to go after the stuff HPD wouldn’t touch. It’s another data point that everyone agrees that HPD won’t do anything. They are stretched at the moment, and have been for years.

The manager is an interesting character. She spent 20 years working in city politics then walked away about the time I moved to Houston. She’s got some interesting stories and an interesting perspective. Black, single mom, three successful grown kids. Meatspace baby. Get out and TALK to people.

And stack some stuff, because that pantry ain’t gonna fill itself.

nick

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Wed. Jan. 12, 2022 – worse, not better. “There’s a lot of ruin in a country…”

Cool and damp again, maybe a little rain… we got just a few drops at the end of the day yesterday. The rest of the day was rain free if still damp-ish and overcast.

That meant I was able to take a load to the auctioneer. But. I loaded the truck about 3/4 of the way from one unit, and moved to the other unit, thinking that I’ll just grab the quick and easy stuff from both. Very strange. My lock is gone, and there is another lock on my unit. Office is closed on Tuesday but they agree to send a manager from a nearby storage facility, because storage companies ADD a lock to the unit if there is an issue. They don’t cut YOUR lock. There were some other ‘tells’ too. All of the company locks have a little blue sticker on them and this one didn’t. No issues with the unit were in the file, and I know I paid online…

In the mean time, I take my partial load to the auctioneer, and he freaks. This is all he wants this week. WTF? We had a long conversation, he was gonna take it all. Well, not so much. It’s possible the big boss objected or knew they had other stuff coming in. In either case, I don’t get to empty any storage,nor move much from the house.

On my way back to storage, the manager calls and will meet me there. I swing by home to get a new lock, and grab my battery grinder just in case.

Met the guy and we cut the lock. Ransacked. Robbed. Burgled actually. From the door I could see they went through most of the bins, tossing them around, and grabbing what they wanted. I haven’t disturbed the mess yet as I’m hoping for a police investigation, but I can see the golf clubs are gone, as well as a huge subwoofer, and every bit of electronics. They got at least $1000 in resell value, and that’s just what I can see at first look.

The facility manager is going to look at video for the last week. When she finds something, I’ll call the cops or the constable’s office, and try for an investigation. This is a pretty sophisticated operation. They have surely hit more than my unit as there were a LOT of units with the disc locks on them. They broke in, stripped out what they wanted, then put a lock on the door to disguise the entry. For most renters, I’m sure it would be weeks or months before the theft was discovered, and any video would be long gone.

This is the second time in as many months the one of my storage units has been broken into. In the other facility, a tenant cut locks in a hallway and entered a bunch of units. Caught on video. My unit had only networking and industrial stuff, so they didn’t steal anything. The management noticed the cut locks, and investigated. Then called me and let me know what happened. I met a real nice guy (and mentioned it here at the time) when I went to verify my stuff was still there.

I’ve been a storage unit renter for decades. Not all at once, but cumulatively, and I’ve had the ones here for a while. I’ve never had an issue before. Never heard of anyone having issues with theft, and certainly not a thief who hides the crime with his own lock. This is a big change.

Add in the other indicators. Supply chain issues and shortages. Inflation. Street violence. Political violence. Silencing opposing views. Increasingly ‘othering’ rhetoric and demonizing of opposing groups. Rule of law is collapsing. Social norms are fraying. Everything is getting worse. And I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.

Yeah I know, doom and gloom. The sky is falling. The end is near(er)… But tell me where I’m wrong. I’d love to be wrong.

Look to your personal security and physical security. Look to your personal supply chain. When you see it, buy it. And stack it high.

nick

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