Cold, but warming. No rain today but it’s on the way. I don’t think yesterday got above 65F as the sun got hidden behind some overcast before noon, and never made it back out. Today might be the same.
I spent Monday driving all over town doing pickups. Did a big circle, mostly just outside the Beltway, which is the second ring road around Houston. 99, or the Grand Parkway is the third and isn’t complete yet, but where it is done, it is living up to author Joel Garreau’s prediction/theory/observation. In his book Edge Cities, which I recommend as a very well written look at how and why things ACTUALLY get built, he observes that modern mini-cities develop at the intersection of a ring and spoke road outside of a traditional big city. You can see it happening here in Houston, in almost real time.
Anyway, I did a big circle around Houston, only cutting through town on the east side instead of following the circle- mainly because there is water and garbage dump on that side, so the outer ring isn’t being built. It’s also massively built out with petrochemical processing plants, and they aren’t going anywhere.
I’ve got some more pickups to do today, but not in such a smooth circle. I’ll be out west in Katy, then south east in Dickinson. Then I’ll head home. It’s more of a diagonal line, that will combine several stops, but still seems like a lot of wasteful travel. I just couldn’t get my Dickinson pickup into my schedule yesterday so I will be retracing some of my steps. Also what I didn’t count on yesterday was about $30 in tolls. It’s easy to forget you are being charged with the autopay and open road tolling. I’ll try to take that into account today and save a couple of bucks if I can.
These pickups are some spare parts, some Christmas stuff, some domestic home use stuff, and a few items for the BOL.
In between yesterday’s running around I got some domestic bliss in. Laundry, picking up the kitchen, folding clothes. All the un-glamorous stuff that makes the household run.
Wife is still feeling poorly, and D1 is starting to complain she doesn’t feel well either. I’ve been overdue to change the HVAC filters and I think that might contribute. I feel it when I come home. Someone stopped the amazon subscription for the filters that would remind me to change them. Someone. Not naming any names, but IDK why they stopped, or why they won’t start them up again. There are mysteries in the everyday…. I have purchased some in the auctions in the mean time, and will be picking them up today. I’ve seen how nasty the current filters are, and I think it can’t hurt anyone’s health to get them changed ASAP. The red shirts don’t just die on away parties, they keep the dang ship running… when they’re doing the job. Dang red tunic looks terrible on me.
Filters. Wiper blades. Lubricants. Cleaners. All sorts of expendables. Do you have enough stacked?
If not, why not? Stack them up…
nick