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Month: December 2022

Wed. Dec. 21, 2022 – what to do, what to do, oh, I know, work!

Cold and wet, leading to more cold.  It was pretty cold and wet yesterday both at the BOL and in Houston.  Although cold is relative and it is going to get COLD soon…

I did get the dishwasher installed yesterday, and the wall insulated.   I didn’t quite get the kitchen back together but it’s pretty close.

Ran into my fishing neighbor on the way out the door and he’s fine, just been busy.  I hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks, so I was starting to get worried.

The propane company didn’t refill my tank and left a note that they needed to talk to me.   Well, I found out why.   They don’t like the type of flexible piping I used.  Which sucks, because it was marked on the packaging for direct burial, but I didn’t keep the package.  Everything I can find online supports their position.  I did find the original amazon listing, which says “suitable for burial installation”, but I don’t think they’ll take that vs. what they know.  I might have to dig it up and replace it (or put it in a conduit, which is only specified by size not material).  I can’t tell you how much that would suck.  I will be meeting with their guy after Christmas.  We’ve got enough gas to get there easily.  So for now I’m punting.

Today I need to arrange pickup for my antenna tower, some geotextile I’m hoping will help stabilize some of my yard, and some stone veneer that I won.   I will need a trailer, and to figure out the schedule to combine the pickups and get the stuff up to the BOL, and unloaded.    It’s all big and heavy.  Nothing I haven’t managed before, but I don’t usually have my mom coming for a visit, or Christmas looming… or just a day or two to make it happen.

But that’s life.

Oh, and there is planning for extraordinary cold weather thrown on top of all that… in three different cities.

Joy.

Any day above ground is a good day.   Keep stacking.

nick

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Tues. Dec. 20,2022 – 12202022 – yes I still think dates are funny, at least the funny ones

Cold.  Wet.  Grey.   That’s my prediction.  ‘Course I’m not a certified weather liar, I’ve been right more often than wrong, but I blew it big time yesterday.   It was 46F when I headed to bed, and had been for hours, so I took the safe bet.   45F and wet.

I did get a bunch of stuff done yesterday, even with the late start.  Some of it just took longer than I hoped so I’m still behind where I wanted to be.   Got a bunch of work done in the kitchen.  Hopefully I can finish buttoning up the wall and finally install the dishwasher.

If I can do that, I can get some other cleaning and organizing stuff done before I leave.   I’d like to be in north Houston by 2pm, unless I blow off that pickup and spend more time up here.  I feel like I need to get home though.   Presents to wrap, house to get ready for mom… etc.  The pickup gives me a deadline.

I really need external deadlines.   Something in my personality, but it made me good at project work.   If left to set my own deadlines, I tend to slip the heII out of the schedule.  🙂

Since prepping is usually open ended, I often find myself with slipping deadlines.   That and general laziness mixed with weariness can leave me with things that should be done going undone.   Gotta fight it, but it’s tiring to keep up the pace all the time.     I guess that’s why I believe in a general preparedness rather than preparing for one particular scenario.   If that one scenario doesn’t have a date attached, or if the date comes and goes, the prepping can suffer.   But if you are prepped to a basic level, then whatever happens you are likely covered – at least partially.   And some is always better than none when it comes to preps.

Keep plugging away at it, maintain forward progress, and stack it up.

nick

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Mon. Dec. 19, 2022 – still at the BOL, still got stuff to do…

Cold and clear today, warming slightly.  It got up to shirtsleeves weather yesterday, and that made working in the attic ALMOST sweaty.  Still very nice for December.

Despite my late start, I did get stuff accomplished.   I got the hose bib outside the kitchen in, but not connected in the attic.   I’ll leave that for later.   I got the water line for the ice maker in, and it’s working again.   The main thing we use it for is the filtered drinking water.  Not having it working was inconvenient.

I did some other organizing and cleanup.  Got the newer, bigger tv installed.  It’s one I fixed by replacing the power board.   It lasted 9 years, so putting $20 into it wasn’t a killer.  And it was free.  Frankly I could do without any tv up here, but my wife wanted one to watch movies on when it’s too cold on the dock.

Today I’ll get the wall closed up behind the dishwasher and get that installed.  That will make the bride happy, which is worth doing…   I hope to get some of the shelves I brought up set up in the garage and get some stuff organized so I can find it.    I might open a wall and remove another hose bib, or drop in some pex for the hall bathroom tub.  Or I might do plumbing for the washer and dryer.  The current pipes are green with corrosion and very sketchy.

One thing I have to get done is whatever the gas company needs to do before they fill my tank.   I’ll call them as soon as they open today and see what that might entail.  I wish they’d have called or emailed instead of leaving the door hanger.  I’ve lost a week that I didn’t know about, and I’ll feel a lot better about my wife coming up this week, and all of use being here after Christmas, with a full tank.

I don’t have to be back in Houston until 2pm on Tuesday for a pickup, so I’m playing my return by ear.  As long as I’m making progress here, I feel like I should keep moving.

The fake tree looks nice, and I found a lighted angel for a topper.  Between that and the Christmas music on the radio last night, I’m starting to feel the season.   Since I had my non-prepping hobby Christmas dinner last week, I’ve been having weird flashes like Christmas already happened.  That is very odd and not at all like me.

I guess I should get home and do the Christmas stuff there soon, before it really is too late <|:-)

We’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul for a long time now, and Peter is out of stuff, while Paul wants more than ever.   Things are going to get weirder as that reality sets in with more people.  Enjoy the season, but don’t forget that the times they are a changing.

Keep stacking, and if you can, look for where you can spread a little joy, or help someone in need.  Good karma need stackin’ too.

 

nick

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Sun. Dec. 18, 2022 – think about it seriously, you know it makes sense

Cold and damp here at the BOL.  Should still be clear, but I gotta wonder if the lake is big enough to get ‘lake effect’ snow.   It was 36F when I went to bed.   That is pretty cold for Texas.

Yesterday turned into a gorgeous day as I got out of town.  Don’t know if it was the shift in location, or a shift in the weather, but the sun came out and it was comfortable in shirtsleeves.

I loaded up the truck and headed out.

Did my pickup, way out in the country outside of Conroe.

Guy had a thing for circuses.  There was an honest-to-Crom circus carousel set up in his man cave building.   They’ve been having estate sales since spring, every week or two, to clear out and it looks like they just started.  Figures, collectibles, circus stuff- the place was overflowing.   Garden scale railroad… never built that I could see, and it’s been selling cheap because it was all circus themed.   Man cave was only about 70% complete.  Guy had time to collect all the stuff, but ran out of time before he could get it set up to show it off.

There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Prepping is a bit like that.  Only you hope that you never get to ‘show it off’,  especially the really serious preps.   No one wants their home security upgrades tested, or their resolve and shot placement if someone breaks in.   No one wants to be eating freeze dried food for a year while their “doomsday garden seed package” grows.

What we do want, is the satisfaction of turning potential big problems into small problems.   We like saving the day by pulling a prep off the shelf and using it.  Making a quick dinner when you’re tired and hungry from stored food, grabbing up a once in a lifetime bargain because you have the funds saved, even just saving the third trip to the big box store while working around the house, because you picked up 2 of something last time you were there, instead of just one- those everyday moments when prepping or planning or foresight pay off are satisfying in and of themselves.

You don’t need the zombie apocalypse to show the value of your preps, and you hope you never get there.  I hope old boy didn’t hate that his room wasn’t done when he rode his carousel. I hope he  felt joy when he saw the posters on the wall, or the trains on the shelf, or the joy on his grandkids’ faces when they rode.

Take joy and satisfaction in the process.  The journey is as important as the destination.

Stack the things.

nick

 

 

*post title is from an 80s pop song, recruiting someone to join the singer’s [ criminal ] enterprise.

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Sat. Dec. 17, 2022 – not sure about the plan, but I’m sure it will go pear shaped…

Cool and wet, but hopefully clearing as the day goes on.  Depending on where in town you were yesterday, you either got hammered by rain, teased with  a few drops, or got nothing.  Most of the area south of Houston was clear when I was there.   But when I got home, it was to black sky and rain.

I am hoping to have clear sky today, so I can load up and head to the BOL.  I’ve got a pickup that I can make today or tomorrow, that is mostly on the way, and is heavy shelving for storage at the BOL anyway.  So I’d like to get it and get it up there in the same trip.   I got enough, that I’ll bring some back once I have somewhere cleared to put it here.  If it’s raining, I’ll delay the trip and pickup to tomorrow, and do stuff around the house.

Otherwise, I’m planning to spend a couple days doing plumbing at the lake, then come home to get ready for Christmas here.  My mom is coming in, so after Christmas, we’ll probably head up for a day or two so she can see the place.  It would be nice to have a few more things done before that.

And it would be a good idea to have all the hose bibs removed so they can’t freeze.  I’m anxious to get the old pipe de-commissioned before it leaks and floods the house, at least everything in exterior walls… so if I can at least get the old hose bibs disconnected I’ll feel better.  I can replace them later.

Of course there is always more to do.   And if I canna do one thing, I’ll do another…

All the while, stacking.

nick

 

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Fri. Dec. 16, 2022 – c’mon, ya know ya wanna….

Cold in the morning, warming gradually through the day.   Like yesterday.  And hopefully without any rain.  It was 43F when I went to bed.  And only 38F when I got up yesterday.   That’s pretty cold for Houston.

Did some stuff in the morning, then went to my client’s house.   Got some things done over there, see last night’s comments if you are interested.

One weird thing that happened, on my way home from my client’s google had me exit the freeway, then re-enter, without any traffic backup to avoid.   The rest of the route was utter carp  too.   This seems to be happening more frequently to me.   Anyone else see a dropoff in the quality of google maps routing?  I did switch my preference from “fuel savings” to “fastest route”).  IDK if that gets me the Waze algo for routing, or if it’s all a coincidence. I don’t like it when it happens to me in a part of town I am not familiar with.

I don’t think I’ll be headed up tonight.   I’ve got too much to do, and some home stuff that needs to be addressed now.   I will think about Sat, or next week.   Gotta get up there and do plumbing…

 

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Don’t forget about birthdays, holidays, etc when you are making your preps.   It will be heart warming when you pull out the present that you set aside all that time ago.   Stack some nice things.

nick

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Thur. Dec. 15, 2022 – visit to client today, if I can swing it…

Cold and wet.   It was 50F and dropping when I went to sleep.   Wed had the temp falling all day, with only a brief time when the sky was blue and the temp was stable.   But when the sky cleared, it was a beautiful day.

Took three bins of ‘smalls’ to my auctioneer.  Picked up my check and empty bins.   Missed the chance to get in the last auction before Christmas.   That’s unfortunate, but I knew it was likely last week.  Made some money on most of the stuff I sold.   Some lost a bit.  Some made good money.   Which is all normal.  There is no way to predict what will sell in any given auction, or how much it will sell for.  The biggest return was selling a bag of vintage Fisher Price “Little People” toys.   The gallon bag of figures and accessories went for $30 and it wasn’t even very full.  All of it went for less than ebay, but that’s normal too.

Today I am trying to get to my client’s house for a few hours.   I’ve got to sort out the port forwarding for the cameras, replace the burned up PoE switch,  and see what I got wrong setting up  the VPN access.  If I have time, I need to install the cell booster repeater too.

My sibling is in town for work this week and we have a tentative dinner date tonight.   S/he brought some gifts, and I’ve got birthday gifts for him/her.  I don’t think we have Christmas gifts ready to send back with her/him.  Time is marching on, but other stuff keeps moving to the front of the line.

This is a time to be strengthening relationships, not taking them for granted.

And for stacking up memories of the good times.

Stack stuff if you can’t stack memories, but definitely take the time to stack memories…

nick

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Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 – Kids get out early for the rest of this week…

Cooler and wetter.  Rained yesterday during the day, in places and for a while.   Rained at night at the house.  Certainly everything got wet.   I’m expecting more of the same today.

I did my pickups.   Did very little else.   It’s hard to keep up the pace.   I did get some Christmas presents bought, so that is something.

Today I have a couple of things I can do depending on weather.   And tomorrow I’d like to finish up at my client’s house, so I can bill for some work.  There is the ever present pile of stuff to do here too.  And that includes trapping and moving ANOTHER stinking possum.  I’m getting tired of the mess.   Better than rats, because they aren’t eating my food, mostly, but they ruin it with their filth and by knocking it off the shelves.

It’s getting to the point that bear traps look good.

Ah well, you do what you can with what you have.

Stack some stuff, then stack some more.  That part is straightforward and easy.

nick

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Tues. Dec. 13, 2022 – finally got to my storage unit

Wet and cool, hopefully not actually raining.  Yesterday changed to misty drizzle just about the time I got half the stuff out of my storage unit.

That was my big goal for the day, get some stuff organized, and shelves built, and find some stuff for the next auction drop off.  So despite the overcast, I got started.  And got rained on.  Well, misted on.  I got most of it back inside just before the actual rain started.  I did find some stuff I’d forgotten about, and some  stuff for the BOL.

Today I’m hoping to go back over to storage, take some stuff over there, and take some stuff to my auctioneer.  If it’s wet, I’d still like to take what I’ve got to the auction.  If it’s crazy wet, I’ve got stuff to do here.  There is always stuff to do.  I can do a couple of pickups too, even if it’s raining.

Something will probably mess up my plans…

Because that’s the way it works.   But I’ll still be stacking.   Join me, won’t you?

n

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Mon. Dec. 12, 2022 -12122022- a whole new week…

Cooler, but still damp.  T-storms possible for a couple of days.  No snow-magedon like the north east is supposed to get…

Didn’t get much done yesterday, but I did get the important thing done.   I picked up an antenna tower.   It’s a lightweight Rohn truss tower, so not good for a huge ham antenna, but good for my TV, VHF, scanner, and cell booster antennas.   I may be able to hang an inverted V ham antenna for HF off it.  It will be a while before I get to install it, but I will get it up the the BOL soon.

Other than that, I mostly avoided my MIL.   No arguments or tears so it’s been a good visit.

Taking D2 to her Orthodontist appointment today, so that will eat my morning, but I’m hoping to get some stuff done this afternoon.  Plenty that needs doin’, that’s for sure.

Haven’t seen my fisherman neighbor in a couple of visits now, I hope I didn’t screw something up.  Networking and meatspace.   Gotta have ’em.

Moved a bit more food, some shelves, and some more fishing stuff to the BOL.  Progress is being made, just slowly.

Time to spend some time on the home front too.

‘Cuz there are stacks of things that need attention.   And I haven’t stacked anything here in a while.  Better get to it.   Stack it up.

nick

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