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Month: June 2022

Mon. Jun. 20, 2022 – ah Monday, so much potential….

Hot and hot.  Humid of course.  And hot.   Apparently the country is under a “heat dome”.   Used to call it ‘summer’.   There was certainly lots of ‘summer’ yesterday.   111F in the sun, near the roof…  but I’m not a roofer, so it was probably closer to 100F in the real world of my back yard.   I’ve got to get another sensor somewhere in the shade so I have a gut check on the highs.

Spent the day catching up on auction and home stuff, and opened cards for Father’s Day.  Kids are off at camp now for the week, and I’ve got stuff to do.

I did harvest about 6 more blueberries when I checked the gardens.  Heat has been hard on the tomatoes.  And everything else really, but the tomatoes and my grapefruit tree especially.   Peppers are not doing well in the heat either.   Apple tree is fully leafed in and looking strong.   Zukes and/or cukes are flowering and haven’t died yet. Grapevines are growing, which is nice.   I thought the freeze killed one of the two.  It’ll be a couple of years before I pick grapes again though.  Setbacks in the garden would have dire consequences if I was counting on it for food.   Good thing I’ve got canned veg.  🙂 And good thing I’ve got canned meat, as the local squirrel population is much reduced since we cut down the pecan tree.   There is still a lot for them to eat- oak, cherry, pine, mushrooms, and other seeds, but the pecans must have supported a dozen more than we have now.

One small change to the very local ecosystem, and a big change in the animals that depend on it.  Something to think about.

Right now, the garden is the backup to the canned goods, not the other way around, and I’m under no real illusion that I’ll get more than a couple of meals out of my current situation.  But I am learning some things.   Mainly that it’s harder than it looks!   Get started climbing the learning curve, even if it’s just in containers on the porch or in the driveway.

And because gardens are fickle, finicky things, stack the canned goods high and deep.

nick

 

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Sun. Jun. 19, 2022 – Happy Father’s Day to the dads

Hot and humid in the swamp, but it’s summer… so that’s a given.

It was hot and humid in the midwestern state I spent 2 days in this weekend.   Crazy hot by their standards, middlin’ hot by mine.

But I’m home now.

I intend to sleep in, rise and eat waffles with bacon, and see if I got a gift after all…

Best wishes to the dad’s out there.

n

Miss you dad.

 

(stack up some good times today.)

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Fri. Jun. 17, 2022 – life. the universe. everything

Moderately hot weather, with clear skies, somewhere north of Houston, and north of Texas.

Seeing family (wife’s father’s side) and hanging out.

Meatspace.

At least some of the kids are alright.

Plan for the day is maybe a movie, maybe just pool and people time.

Had some excellent BBQ yesterday, no sauce needed.

Hotel is very nice.  Courtyard is really upping their design game.  Two big tvs in the room, both with fast internet streaming services included.   Watching our favorite youtube channels is nice.  Lots of signs and video about how clean they are keeping everything to keep us safe.   Restaurant next door had “social distancing” signs on the tables and had them set up for half capacity.   Not many masks on anyone other than service people, and a few airline passengers.  Definitely seeing that stratification by class/job duties.  Don’t care for it in the USA.

The airport and flight didn’t suck.  Waiting for the rental car shuttle did.  Small problems.

n

Use the time wisely.  Stack it up.

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Thur. Jun. 16, 2022 – travel day

Hot and humid, clear for another day or two.   But I’m not going to be here…

Spent yesterday hiding from the heat and working on the computer.  Had to get a Scope of Work and drawings done for the new electrical service at the BOL.  Took longer than it should have.   Then swim team, dinner, packing…

Packing? Why yes.  Family thing happening needs us to travel today.   I guess I’ll see the airport first hand, and on cattle car Southwest at that.  No perks for me.  As boarding chute C, we probably won’t even get to sit together as a family.   If nothing else, it should convince my wife that paying up to fly on an airline where I have status is worth it.

I’ll stub out posts for the next couple of days, just in case I have connectivity issues.

In any case, I probably won’t be checking in much for the next couple of days.  Talk amongst yourselves, and put any breaking news here.   I will have a thin pipe and not much time to surf my usual sources.

And if y’all are dying for some prime content, Peter at bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com has several things up lately that are worth a read.  He’s of the same mind as me, better stack it up.

nick

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Wed. Jun. 15, 2022 – sometimes, nothing interesting happens

Hot, hot, hot.   Damp, moist, humid.   But should be clear for a few more days.

I’d say that evidence is that I’ve finally, finally completely healed from my heat injury.    It has take years, literally to have normal physical responses to environmental heat, but I think that after working in the garden for a few hours on Monday without ill effect, I’m finally there.

I’ll still use the cool vest though, when I have it with me, because that just makes me more comfortable.  It’s nice to be able to go out in the sun for a bit without worry I’ll relapse though.   I’m still going to be careful.   Take heat illness and injury seriously.   They can kill you.

There is an OSHA app that will give you safe exposure times, and break times, as well as symptoms of injury.  There are charts too, that I’ve linked in the past and that are easily searchable.   It’s not enough to just drink water and wear a hat.

 

Yesterday was one of  those days that I sometimes have where I do stuff, that really needs to be done, but still at the end of the day feels like nothing really happened.

Today will be kinda busy.   I’ve got a couple of pickups I might do, but that I can probably delay.  I’ve also got to get ready to head out of town for a long weekend.   We’ve got a family thing to attend.  Today is my chance to get everything done that needs doing before Monday.    Joy.

Yeah, family and meatspace, but- air travel and lots of other stuff to do.

 

So while nothing extraordinary happened yesterday, ordinary stuff did.   And sometimes ‘ordinary day’ is the best we can hope for.

Stack some more food.   Seriously.

n

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Tues. Jun. 14, 2022 – Flag Day

Hot and humid, still, again, and always.  Really unpleasant here in Houston.  Much nicer 2 hours north.

Got a bunch of stuff done before leaving the lake for Houston.   Got home in time to see D2 swim two races.

These are the good old days.

Today I’ve got to do some stuff involving auction items and a forklift.   A forklift that hasn’t moved in 2 years.  It will move today, one way or the other.

There isn’t enough time in the day/week/month/year to do everything, and some stuff slipped.  Now it has to unslip, and in a great big hurry.   Bugger me.

So probably short shrift today.   Amuse yourselves as western civilization crumbles around us…  might as well.

And stack something needful.  In case, you know, you need it.

n

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Mon. Jun. 13, 2022 – huh, Friday the 13th falls on a Monday this month

Hot, more hot, and a side of humid…

Starting at the BOL this morning.  Then home later.

Did a bunch of work yesterday.  Mostly cosmetic, but a couple of logistical things too.  See yesterday’s late comments for details.

And then I saw a beaver.  Still pumped about that.

I need to head over to the electric co-op, then get started home.   Normal crazy Monday too, with an ‘away’ swim meet on top of everything else.

Practice a little extra awareness today.  Things are getting weird.

And stack some food.

n

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Sun. Jun. 12, 2022 – I beg your pardon, I never promised you a …..

Texas morning, hot and humid, followed by Texas afternoon, hotter still.  And fwiw, there are a lot more bugs here than at home.   More biomes means more bugs I guess.

Got ceilings scraped.   Some stuff put away.  Got the yard mowed, and in under an hour.  Doesn’t look like a baseball stadium, but doesn’t look like a jungle either.

 

Spent some time floating in the water, and some time eating s’mores and listening to the radio by the fire.  Big bright almost full moon meant few stars, and I didn’t see any more meteors.  WTWW played today’s post title, and I was surprised when I listened to a song I can sing along with…it’s pretty good advice.

The garden has actual vegetables in it, and will take a bunch of weeding to put it right.  The nut grass is relentless and thrives here.   I’ve cut back the watering schedule again, as it is clearly too wet and nut grass loves wet.  Don’t know if I’ll get to the weeding…   but even if I don’t I’ll try spraying it with molasses, as the intarwebs suggest.

That said, I might stay through to Monday.   The main benefit is going and standing in the electric co-op lobby until I get to see the person I need to see to proceed with the electrical work.  Calling has not worked.  The secondary benefit would be time in the garden Sunday evening  AFTER the sun stops trying to boil my brains in my head.

Playing that decision by ear, and with an eye on the septic system.  We’ll see.

In the mean time, I hope everyone is still stacking…

nick

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Sat. Jun. 11, 2022 – I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream…

Hot, and humid, because Texas!  Well, EAST Texas anyway.   Cooler here than Houston, and probably more breeze.

Made it safely to the BOL last night despite the late start.  Everything in the back of the truck was still there when I arrived.   No one ever died because they put on an extra strap…

Among my pickups yesterday were two big solar panels.  They had been dropped and damaged during shipping, so I got them for $5.   The glass is shattered, but I’m hoping to salvage some or all of the cells, and the diode or MMTP on the back.   First and very cursory glance says I may just be out $5.  It’ll be interesting to put them in the sun and see what or if they put anything out.  That project is going to have to wait though.

All the normal stuff needs doing up here, and we need to make more progress on livability.   The garden needs some attention for sure.

Maybe I’ll taste the nut grass, and if I like it, I’ll just grow a garden of nut grass….    Probably easier that way too.   It’s a bit funny that the local electric co-op magazine has an article in it this month about local foraging.   They specifically cite grocery shortages and rising costs as reasons people took up foraging, and for more people to start.

Every account of prolonged conflict I’ve read had people eating grass.  I’d like to do better than that.  I intend to do better than that.  But if you need a little extra, NOW is the time to figure out the wild groceries around you, while there is still 911 and medical care 😉

There are lots of references available, and I don’t know one from the other, but if it interests you, there is probably a local expert to help you learn.   Just remember, if it was better or more efficient for feeding people, we wouldn’t be farming, and in a long term event, even the grass is eaten to the ground before too long.  Don’t count on living off the land——–

Stack up all the things!

 

n

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