Month: November 2024

Fri. Nov. 22, 2024 – so much to do, so little actually getting done

Cold. Clear. And damp. Some combination of those three seems to be the most likely… like yesterday. We started at 44F, got to high 60s with sun, which was very comfortable outdoors, and then back down when the sun set. I don’t know what the temps have been at the BOL, but I’m guessing lower. Time to winterize.

Did very little yesterday. One pickup. No, two pickups. Some kid taxi service. A tiny bit of poking at computers. Funny how little bitty tasks can suck up a whole day.

Won’t be able to do that today. I’ve got one pickup on the other side of town, then I need to get ready to head to the BOL. My plan was to go Friday afternoon, but now I think I might have to do stuff here on Saturday. I’ll know later today. In the mean time, I’ve got stuff to load and unload in the truck, shopping to do, and other preps that need to happen. At least I probably won’t be going to my client’s house. My sometimes business partner forgot to send the part I need to install.

I’ve got enough to do without spending a couple of hours on install and commissioning some new tech.

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And not to get all doomer, but the Ukes shot US and UK missiles into Russia, and Putin responded with either an ICBM or a new mid range missile that it seems we didn’t really know about.

War is coming. Think hard about what it might mean to you. External, and internal wars are on the horizon. The elephants are getting ready to dance. We wee mice need to scamper…

and stack, because war ALWAYS leads to privation and hardship.

nick

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Thur. Nov. 21, 2024 – slip sliding away…

Cool, damp, but clear. And then more of the same. Warming to high 70s, low 80s, and maybe some wind to help dry things out.

I started Wednesday with a pickup on the way to my client’s house. That went well, so I got to work only a little bit behind my best guess at arrival. After confirming his issues, I found the piece of gear common to all 4 TVs, and it was failed. Stuck in a boot sequence. Not recoverable. It’s the second one of two to fail in the same way. Just locked up. Talked to my business partner for this client, and he’s ordering a new one to be delivered today or Friday. I asked him to go with the hard wired version this time, as this wifi version was only used because we couldn’t source the hard wired version when we did the initial upgrade and install of the parts. It’s available now, and 1/3 the cost as a bonus.

I’m always going to chose simpler, and hard wired, over wireless if I have that option. There’s a lot less to go wrong with wired ethernet.

On the plus side, while looking at the ubiquiti logs to be sure a new IP address was available, I noted that most of the infrastructure devices on the net had uptimes of ~750 days. Considering the power/lightning situation in the countryside, and the age of some of the gear, and that before all the upgrades and money spent to fix stuff we’d go down every month, that is awesome. FWIW, the biggest factor for reliability was probably re-dressing the rack with sensible layout, new cabling, and cable ties for management. Lots of cable ties and management. An AV rack has a lot of connectors that don’t latch or get captured, so any cable movement risks pulling out connectors. Tie that stuff in place. And label everything.

Today should be me doing stuff at home to get ready for a trip to the BOL for the holiday. Dunno if the universe will allow that- it’s been pretty insistent that I do other things. I don’t mind getting interrupted to go earn money… my client pays me very well to take good care of him. Plus, I invoiced for the year, and that money will come in handy (and it will go right back out of my hand-y too.) BUT, I have stuff I really need to do here.

Guess I should get started.

The stacking will take care of itself, the maintaining won’t. Do some of both this week. Winter is coming. . .

nick

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Wed. Nov. 20, 2024 – headed to my client’s house, because OF COURSE I needed more on my plate this week…

Cool, or even cold this morning. It was 55F yesterday, but got into the 80s by afternoon. It also cleared up and was a beautiful sunny day. I’m hoping for more of that. National forecast shows clear sky, but my wife says the local forecast is for lower temps. We’ll see what happens when it happens.

I did get some stuff done yesterday. Did about 4 pickups in mostly the same area. Hit the grocery store for early Thanksgiving shopping, and I was out of Dr Pepper. Lots of instore sale items this time. I saved $55 buying sales items with coupons, but still spent $350. There weren’t many turkeys left, but they were on sale. I found a 10 pounder, and added two drumsticks. I am thinking about smoking the beast at the BOL…

Most of the sale items weren’t staples, but they were holiday items, which will help people.

Speaking of inflation, I stopped to get D2 some Jack in the Box after her evening activity. Tried to get a Buttery Jack cheeseburger, not the meal deal. The menu board said the meal was ~$9.50 and the “burger only” was ~$6.25. After a comedy of errors involving me thinking the order taker got it wrong because she kept saying the charge would be ~$9.89, and insisting I only wanted the burger, to her limited english skills… finally another worker got involved and the price in the cash register for just the burger was $9+ and the meal was ~$13+. That’s 150% above the posted drive thru menu. I told D2 that she better savor that burger as it was the last one I was buying for a long time. $10 for a fast food burger. Criminy.

Today I’ve got a morning pickup, then I’ll head to my client’s place. He’s having control issues with his system and the normal phone troubleshooting didn’t work. Sometimes you just have to see the problem first hand. It also gives me a chance to invoice him for the year. Unfortunately it will suck up several hours from a day that I already had planned to use all the hours. I just don’t seem to be able to get ahead.

The check will be nice though.

No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Which is why we plan to have the plan fail. And we stack stuff, so we have choices and resources.

nick

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Tues. Nov. 19, 2024 – “the problem is, they’re ALL crazy…”

Cool, wet, and maybe clearing later. Or not. We started warm and muggy, ended cool and wet. Localized light showers with occasional high wind throughout the day. Not the worst of days, not the best. And that’s where I’m starting today.

Did my volunteer stuff at school. Pretty much wrapped on this project but there’s a lot to do over the next couple of months. Shouldn’t be too hard to fit it in. I’m making a list and when I get some time, I’ll sneak in for a couple of hours and knock stuff out.

Time, time, ask me for anything but time…

Spent the rest of the day doing stuff around the house, starting with cleaning up the recording of the school’s show. It sounds pretty good, considering the source. There are some lovely voices in that middle school. I really like the music and book for the musical they did too. I’m singing at my desk.

Today should be an attempt to get some auction stuff out of the house, or ready to leave. I’m going to talk to another auctioneer about taking some consignments. I can’t have stuff just sitting here. The close auctioneers aren’t getting great prices though, so I have to go a bit farther afield. We’ll see how that turns out.

I’ve also got to do some pickups today. More stuff for the house and the BOL. I hope the rain holds off.

It occurred to me that I have to get some radio gear installed into my vehicles too. The handhelds cover me for the license plates, I think, but permanently installed radios would be better. I just have to FIND the ones I thought I put aside for the trucks. I’m pretty sure they are in a bin here in my office. I haven’t had time to dig them out though…

That’s kind of a recurring refrain, isn’t it. Easier to stack than to USE the stacks. Shouldn’t stop you from stacking though.

nick

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Mon. Nov. 18, 2024 – let’s get started on this new week.

Warm, wet, and gross. Or maybe it will be nice later, but it was warm and wet when I went to bed. Probably going to continue.

Didn’t get as much done yesterday as I’d hoped. The weather was poor, and my motivation was low. Carrying, lifting, and storing all the stuff I did on Saturday left me sore and stiff on Sunday. Getting older it teh sux. So I did small things I could do without needing to stress my torso…

Today I’m headed in to school to wrap up the show stuff, pull backups and put stuff away. I may do a mini-seminar or two for any interested kids during their morning “tech theater club” period, now that they aren’t working on a show deadline. The dance teacher has the theater for her show. I will have some gentle words with her about overall loudness and what’s appropriate for kids. I’ll also be working with the district guy to do some maintenance and updates to gear in the room, working around the dance recital. In for a penny, in for a pound…

Then I’ll do some auction stuff. I really need to get a couple of things fixed so I can get them sold. I’ve got a couple of things to do for my client too, both here and at his place. Hopefully I can get a couple of things done before the kid taxiing starts.

Speaking of getting things done, everyone here should have the basics of prepping for disaster covered. Think about taking some aspect to the next level, and start building toward that. Constant improvement, that should be a watchword and a goal.

And stacking. That too.

nick

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Sun. Nov. 17, 2024 – wow, November is more than half way gone…

Cool and damp. Maybe some precip? It was kind of grey most of yesterday, with some patchy blue sky later in the day. Didn’t ever rain on me though. It got hot enough that the attic was uncomfortable, although it was pretty nice if you were just in the yard.

I did get a few things done. I got most of the Halloween decor put away. The remaining stuff lives outdoors anyway so it won’t matter if it gets wet. (it looks like we got some rain overnight) I pulled some of the Christmas stuff, with the intention of sorting it into trash or recycle, or possibly use again… it’s stuff from the back corner of the attic, and mostly strings of lights. I have been upgrading as I find them cheap, so I will cull anything that is iffy. I need space in the attic for new stuff.

The holiday decor suffers from the same issue as a lot of my prepping. I don’t get to go through the stacks every year, so I forget what I have, and where it is. Sometimes, it gets old/faded/rusted/damaged or has issues from animals. I budget for losses on the preps, not so much for other areas of my life. I need to try harder to keep up. I really should be taking some sort of inventory every year, even if it’s just “so that’s where that went” or “oh yeah, I need to put that somewhere else/somewhere more permanent” as I put eyes on it.

Managing all this stuff takes work. And I sometimes don’t do the work.

That is one of the reasons to organize in a way that you can determine what you have, at least casually, easily. I like having stuff where I can look at it. I don’t like drawers or cabinets for that reason. Whether in my pantry or my workshop, I prefer to see at a glance what I have. That means shelves and literal stacks for the most part. Wife hates the clutter that results. So I’m trying to shift some of the stuff into cabinets. At the BOL it’s especially important to not have everything out and on display, so I’ve gotten started up there. Changing my local environment here at home will be a lot harder. Baby steps.

And maybe there is a little bit of progress. That’s all it takes, a bit at a time. Over time it will pay off. Do a bit of organizing and sorting yourself… and stack some new.

nick

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Sat. Nov. 16, 2024 – Drove around doing stuff

Cold, bordering on cool. Supposed to be clear for a couple of days yet. It was gorgeous yesterday. I would like some more of that please.

Drove around a lot for not many things. Something for my non-prepping hobby. Something for my business. And the All in One pc. I was running late so I didn’t stop in at the thrift store near my last pickup. I like to hit the ones that are outside of Houston if I’m in the area. Fewer flippers per capita means there might be good stuff left for me.

It was picking up D1 that I was late for. I needed gas, and a quick grocery run when that was over. Then it was a scramble to get D2 fed and back to school for the performance.

Wife retrieved her when it was finished.

I was doing IT stuff in my attic. At least the new switch worked. I haven’t done any of the other networking stuff I have planned. First get back to where I was, then upgrade.

Today W and D2 are going to the Ren Faire. I’m staying home because it’s really an outing for D2 and her friends. My hearing wouldn’t recover. W and a couple other moms will have their hands full.

I’ll do some of my list here at home, or get dragged into something new, like my main network switch locking up. Either way, I’m sure my day will fill itself.

Spares on hand saved the day for me again. It makes everything easier if you’ve got what’s needed. Stack backup for any critical items, or systems. thank me later 😉

nick

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Fri. Nov. 15, 2024 – insert clever or obscure song lyric here

Cool and clear, still not what I’d call “dry” but not drippy either. At least after the sun comes up and dries up the dew. Really nice yesterday. Really nice. I’m hoping for a few more days like that, starting with today!

Seems like I can make all the plans in the world, and something comes up to monkey wrench them. Like yesterday. I had plans. But my main ethernet switch was NFG when I woke up. The cameras, PCs, various game consoles, and other things are all on that switch. There are other switches, but this one is main…

Percussive maintenance didn’t work. Pulling its tail didn’t work. The only thing left was to replace the device. It’s an enterasys enterprise class 48 port GigE switch with PoE on every port. Quite a large switch fabric, if I’ve got the terminology correct. No longer top o the line, and available cheap on ebay, but I’ve got a pallet of them somewhere… I thought I had a couple in my ham sale stacks, but couldn’t find them. Thought I had a similar HP switch in the stacks but couldn’t find it. So I ended up going to my secondary location and digging one out of the pile o stuff… Which meant dealing with an ant infestation. And towering stacks of stuff. All in all, I spent a couple of hours moving stuff, digging through the piles, and killing ants.

I’m down to a couple of 48 port switches. I’ve got a couple dozen of the 24 port version, so if I have to I’ll just use two next time. In any case, by the time I got everything back together, and headed home, I had only enough time to grab a quick pickup that was on the way. Then it was Opening Night at the middle school auditorium.

The actors did a great job, D2 did a great job on crew, and my sound crew did a great job with wireless mics, playback, and mixing the show. My FOH mixer trusted me and held to my intentions despite heavy pressure from other kids and other people. I’m really proud of him. And it worked. The show looked and sounded good, great even, if compared to previous shows. It’s a good foundation to build from for the next show, and the next couple of years. Once this show is done, I’ll work with the district support guy and do some fixes, changes, and improvements before the next show. It’s what my wife did a couple of years ago with the lighting system, and that paid dividends for the kids and school too.

Community engagement doesn’t have to be with a neighborhood mutual defense league, or a home canning group, or the people at the farmer’s market. It can be whatever you want to do, in whatever way you can contribute. It’s all meatspace baby, and I believe it will be worth doing.

Lone wolf is not a viable path.

So stack some volunteer hours, stack some new acquaintances, share a skill, you’ll feel good about the result.

nick

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Thur. Nov. 14, 2024 – all the same stuff, plus more…

Cool to start, then warmer, and damp throughout. That has been most of the week, including yesterday. I expect the same today, and for the next couple of days. We did get some threatening clouds for a while, but no rain.

Wednesday felt weird now that I think about it. I got stuff done, but it felt like a Friday. I did a pickup and got stuff from 4 auctions. I got stuff done around the house, although nothing of great import. Took down some of the yard decor. Put some stuff in the attic, and removed the dead rat. Treated the area under the trap. Spent some time managing the dog. Between the cleaning company indoors, and the neighbor replacing the back yard fence, the dog couldn’t stay in or out like he usually does. I ended up with him in his crate for a while, then on a lead in the back yard. It’s nice to have a new fence, and we only paid half. Nice to have a clean house too.

Today I might go to the morning performance at D2’s school. Or I might let the kid have a bit of freedom to mess up. We’re officially going to see the show tonight. Since I’ve got all the usual stuff to do, IDK if I can really afford the time in the morning.

I complain I don’t have time for stuff, but then I do other stuff in its place. Not exactly smart…

Oh well. Maybe I’ll get stuff done today, and maybe I won’t. I will try to do stuff.

And I’ll stack something. Because that’s a good habit to keep.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 13, 2024 – hmmm, missed it by that much…

Cool and damp. Later, warm and damp. Maybe warm and slightly drier. It’s been really nice actually. Windows down, wind in your hair nice. I’m hoping for more of the same today.

Tuesday went pretty much to plan. Went to the volunteer work session at D2’s school in the morning, and only stayed a couple of hours extra… during which time I cleaned and tuned up both followspots. One is the school’s, one is a very cheap rental, and both needed attention. Now they look and function like they should.

I left school and did my two pickups, then picked up D1 from school. Dropped her at home, grabbed some refreshment, and headed to rehearsal. That went pretty well. It sounds ok. At this point it’s down to riding levels during the performance, and maybe tuning the individual mic EQs. With only 4 performances, there isn’t much time to do that, so there are some small issues with the ‘quality’ of the vocal sound, but you can hear the lines, hear the lyrics, and it only sounds a bit “mic’d” or un-natural. That is a vast improvement as far as I’m concerned. If someone comments on the ‘quality’ of the sound, I’ll use it as a conversation starter to suck THEM into supporting the shows.

So far, I’ve donated my time, a pair of powered monitor speakers, some mic cables, and adapters. I’ve cleaned and fixed two followspots, installed two new wireless mic receivers, and repaired some mic cables. There is also a powered Mackie monitor ‘on loan’ from me for the Music Director, and an 8 Gig thumbdrive to backup the settings in the board. I’ll be following up with some of the firmware updates and settings after the show is over, and probably trying to improve some of their other “pain points” as the corporate weenies say…

I probably should have done it years ago, when D1 was at the school. I knew it would be a huge time sink though, and I was trying to avoid Imperial entanglements. My thinking about community and local meatspace involvement has “evolved” over time.

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Preps have suffered while I did other things. That’s ok, because we’re already prepped, and the other stuff is important to me, and the kid. I have managed to put a bit more food in the freezer, so that’s a plus. My fisherman buddy’s son harvested two deer and a hog this past week, so some of that might come my way too. Speaking of which, if you are the praying sort, he could use some for health and strength this week.

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Today I am hoping to take down my Halloween decor, if it’s dry. Then I’ve got lots of stuff on the list, before turning into a taxi service…

It would be nice to do a bit of work on the food storage cleanup and organizing. Oh, and I’ve got to remove the dead rats from the traps, clean them, and re-set them. The new tunnel traps have worked, with 3 rats meeting their demise so far. Bait was blonde Oreos…

Bait your traps, stack some poison, and get your house in order. Bad things are still headed our way.

nick

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