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Month: February 2023

Wed. Feb. 8, 2023 – Hey Joe, where ya goin’ with that gun in your hand..

Dare I say “warm” today?  It was 69F when I went to bed and that is arguably “warm”.   So lets go with that- warm and wet today.  Overcast and rain possible.  Yesterday was “warm” and certainly damp.   Overcast and mixed clouds until dusk then misty drizzle for a while.  Yuck.

Did some pickups, won some items, dropped off about 30 pounds of lego at the auctioneer.   I put it in gallon ziplok bags, each about 1 pound.     I tried for a mix of small pieces, minifigs, and bigger plates.   I also tried to keep stuff that should be together as a kit together.   Since I scooped it out of surplus bins, that last part is kind of hit or miss.  🙂   I’m hoping to do better than just the bulk rate of about $8/pound.   If it sells well, I’ll package another 30-50 pounds for the next auction.

One of the pickups was an equatorial mount for a telescope.   It’s a bit smaller than I thought, but seems nice enough.   It’s sturdy and the ‘scopes are light.   The limits are probably going to be whatever kind of mounting plate I figure out, and how sturdy the tripod ends up  being.   Tripod is definitely a deficiency with the cheap chinese ‘scopes, every one I’ve seen was very flimsy.   Fortunately I’ve got a dozen surveyor type tripods that are very sturdy and I think I can figure a way to mod one of them into something suitable.   Oh, and the mount has a little motor drive that is optional (it’s essentially a friction drive for the knob) and eventually it would be nice to figure out how to power and control that.  Projects.  I just can’t help myself.

For that matter, it would be nice to find the computer control for the little table top Meade ‘scope, then we could use that to “steer” us to an object, and look at it through the bigger ‘scope…   or maybe that’s all too  much fussing.   Dunno.   Very new to the whole thing.   We’ll figure it out.

Today, I need to keep knocking some stuff off the list.   I really haven’t been feeling it, but sometimes you just have to power through.   Getting a bit more sleep will help.    Actually getting stuff done helps with a virtuous feedback loop.

There’s an old saying that if you want something done, give the job to a busy man.   That only works to a point though.   The trick is staying under the saturation point.    Prepping is like that.   When you do it, and it works, you want to do more…   but sometimes you  just can’t muster the effort.   It’s ok.  It happens.   Move on, get back to it, and stack some stuff.

 

nick

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Tues. Feb. 7, 2023 – Too much caffeine, too late in the day

Cool but not cold.   Damp but not wet.  At least to start out.    Later we might get some rain.   At least the national forecast says it’s possible.  Yesterday was low clouds and cool most of the day, but no rain.  It did get nice and warm in the sun later in the day.

I did some stuff, but not enough.   That means today is a makeup day.   I have to be in Conroe to pick up my new equatorial mount this afternoon, and if I don’t want that to be the only thing I get done, I better get out of the house early.

Who knows what I’ll actually get done, but it needs to be more than cleaning up, sorting stuff, and spending time on the internet with my friends.

Hmm.    There I go, at least it’s not an actual plan, just a goal…   can’t mess with my plans if I don’t make any, right?

Stack something.   (while I mess about)

n

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Mon. Feb. 6, 2023 – another day another dollar…

Cool, and damp, probably clear.   We should have another day or so of clear which will be nice.  It was gorgeous yesterday.

Wife and D2 were at a camping resort for Saturday evening and Sunday morning, with relatives.   They had fun.  I was home with D1, who mostly stayed in her room and read.  Everyone is home and ready to go back to school today.  Which is fine with me.  I’ve got my own stuff to get done.

Freezer pickup and some other auction stuff being top of the list.  Freezer selling coming soon after that.  Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew in an effort to ‘share the wealth.’  We’ll figure something out.

Figuring it out is my main strategy for pretty much everything.   That and having a bunch of stuff on hand so I have options.

Prepping is about giving your future self options.   Options let you avoid unpleasantness.   They let you  function when others are frozen.  They can save your butt.

Stack up some options.   For health, cooking, water treatment, sanitation, and repair.

You’ll be glad you did.

nick

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Sun. Feb. 5, 2023 – we’re gettin’ the band back together….

Cool to cold in the morning, warming later with clear skies and sun.   I hope.   It was that way on Saturday, even if I didn’t take advantage.

I really don’t know why I make plans at all lately.   Can’t execute them worth a damn.  Oh well.   Did spend some time with D1 in the evening watching movies.   That was probably the best use of time all day.

I’ll pay for my slackitude today and this week though.  I’ve got to get some things done to stay on schedule overall.   Schedules slipping all over the place, stuff going undone.   I need to knuckle down for a week.   Maybe this week will be the one.

Monkeys could fly out of my butt too.

We’ll see.   There will still be stacking going on.   That much can be counted on.

Get out and do something.   Spring will soon be upon us.

nick

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Fri. Feb. 3, 2023 – 02032023 – silly old bear…

Well it’s cold and wet again.  Supposed to clear up and warm up a bit later, but we’re starting in the same place.  Misty drizzle most of yesterday, although the overcast was brighter.   Seemed plenty cold to me, maybe mid 40s…

I ended up spending the day indoors, clearing out room for the Girl Scout cookies.   In the process I did some other cleaning, some auction stuff, and some ebay.   The single biggest thing was getting 20 or more pounds of lego into 1 pound bags.  That’s not all the lego I have, it’s just the lego that was in the foyer.   I’ll drop it at the auctioneer’s when I pick up a couple of lots.   I won some books about maintaining some things…

I also won another telescope.   Bloody hell.   It’s a 10 inch dob, and is the LAST scope I’m buying this year.   Pinky swear.   It was cheap without a mounting base.   The base often shows up in the auctions as they ship the stupid thing in two boxes and the shippers can’t keep track of both.  Worst case, I’ll slap a base together from plywood.   I’m not in a hurry though, so I’ll let the universe have a few weeks to solve my problem.   There weren’t any on ebay yesterday, which is a bit of a surprise.   I’ve seen them for months as I watched other lots go by.   This time, my lowball bid of $175 won.   With tax and fees, I’ll be around $220.  That leaves a lot of room to buy a base or make one.   It should let us both look at the sky together, and that should be more fun than swapping off.

Some of my day got eaten by the scanner and what was going on at a Houston school.   It was a bit harrowing to just listen without knowing where they were or what exactly they were facing.  Details are in yesterday’s comments.   Especially coming on the heals of me reading the Uvalde report, it was gratifying that they seemed to be aware, motivated, and in command, and got the guy out of the school without issues.   Hopefully they’ll do an AAR and learn from the event.   And hopefully the school will figure their security situation so an armed man can’t run in and hide from cops.  FFS.

Having the scanner on and running all the time in the office has clued me into a number of breaking news type stories, as well as ordinary law enforcement activity in the city and my neighborhood.   Knowing what goes on around you is valuable.  Knowing what’s normal, let’s you key into when something is not.   Takes practice, like anything.

Today I’ve got stuff to pick up.   No plan to go to the BOL this weekend, but that could change.  If not, there is still a huge list here, and it just keeps getting longer.    Clear weather will certainly help.

Work your list, always be improving your situation, and stack the things!

nick

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Thur. Feb. 2, 2023 – 02022023 – she’s so fine, there’s no tellin’ where the money went…

Cold again. And wet.   But, you know, winter.   Because it’s cold in winter, even in the South.   It did get into the 40s or 50s yesterday, but stayed wet and dreary.  Today is likely to be the same.   I feel your pain if your power is still out and hope you are doing ok.

Spent all of yesterday at home.   Had some issue with my main PC and needed to get that sorted.   Of course, to even get access to it meant moving and dealing with stuff that’s been piling up here for a long time.   Got it out, cleaned, installed a new second hard drive for media storage, and back in service.   Still don’t have all the cr@p back in my office or off to wherever it will live until next time.

Cleaning and moving stuff spilled over to the foyer, living room, kitchen, and bedroom.   Attic too.

Time to add some of the waiting projects to the ‘catch as catch can’ pile and list and get moving on some of the stuff.

I did a quick run through the grocery store yesterday.   Eggs are ~$4/dozen for large white eggs.   Prime sirloin steak was on sale, 5.59/pound.   I bought the last two trays.   We eat a lot of sirloin steak, mainly because I can get it for just a little bit more than the cost of decent hamburger.  Vac sealer, and freezer make that possible.   Living better for less.

Today I’ll be wrapping some more of that up.  Also trying to do a couple of pickups and maybe make a couple of calls trying to sell some freezers…

I’m sure there will be something that comes up to thwart my cunning plans.  There always is.  But we still slog onward…  oh woe is me.   😉

Stack stuff.   But not just junk.  Good stuff.

nick

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Wed. Feb. 1, 2023 – 1/12 of the way…

Cold again.  Wet again.  Overcast again.  Dreary again.   Jeez, it’s the third day of this cr@p and you’d think it was the third year.  It’s winter FFS.

And I’m SOOOOOooooo not looking forward to John Ringo’s prophesy in The Last Centurion coming true so I can enjoy my kula bar.   We don’t want to live in a John Ringo novel.

Spent yesterday doing some things, and going some places.  Ok that’s already old.   Did my errands.   Some of them anyway.   Tried not to tempt the universe by announcing my plans, but I got stuck anyway.

I did get some more stuff out of the toy room/library/future GS cookie warehouse, and the foyer.  More will leave today.  Wife is serious about having my stuff out of the way so the cookies can be dealt with properly.

Tried a new thing for dinner, a Kraft cheesy box meal, chicken with rice and broccoli.   Used two cans of Costco chicken.   Did the optional crushed Ritz cracker topping, toasted brown under the broiler.  It was really good.  Like an old school casserole.    Kids and wife liked it a lot.   Always nice to have another way to use my primary stored protein.

Today will involve some grocery shopping.  Maybe Costco but certainly HEB.  I am out of eggs after we finish this carton.   I could use some more cream too.  And fresh veg if they have any that look ok.  Baked beans in cans.  On sale meat…..   the usual.

Between shopping and cleaning, I’ll try to either do some more organizing at my storage unit, or list some ebay stuff.   I might put a couple of the freezers on craigslist.   I think I’ll hit up a few more friends first though.  Meatspace, after all.

Do what you can to help your friends get ready.  Stack up some good will.  Doesn’t have to be specifically “prepper” just want them to think of you in a positive way.   “Man, Nick really helped us out that time, I’d hate to see anything bad happen to him…”

Stacks of food will help too.

nick

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