Sun. Dec. 22, 2024 – Christmas is coming, and SOON!

By on December 22nd, 2024 in culture, decline and fall

Cold today, at least to start. 44F when I went to bed. Never got very warm yesterday either. Rain shell jacket and a long sleeve T with a dress shirt over it kept me comfortable. It stayed clear and sunny too. More of that would be nice for today.

Did my driving around an got my pickups done. Picked up another kayak, it was only $40 so I couldn’t really say no. Smaller and lighter than some of my others, it should be easier to manage. It’s a little beat up, but a plastic kayak is pretty sturdy and near indestructible.

Since one pickup was near the store I stopped in at Deseret Industries, the LDS thrift store. Quality stuff. If there is one near you, it’s worth going by regularly. This time I picked up a novel rat trap that should be good for a couple kills before they figure it out. I got a couple of technical books, and one for the kid. Found a netgear firewall/vpn router for the BOL. Found some great T shirts for myself and for the kid. They don’t really have any cr@p, they send any that is donated to the dump or recycle or other thrifts. And prices are very low, even by thrift store standards.

Stopped in at an in person estate sale on my way home, hoping for some vinyl or audiophile gear, but it had all sold. The home was almost empty and it was a one day sale, so the prices were really good. They had a couple of nice watches left, a beautifully sleek Longines dress watch and a Seiko Kinetic diver with a pepsi bezel, but there was no way they’d fit my thick wrists, and there was about zero chance I’d find the extra links for the bracelets…and the Seiko was filthy. At ‘end of day’ 50% off they were a good price, so way overpriced earlier. Still too much for me if I couldn’t wear them. Funny that the watches would be so overpriced while the rest of the house was priced to move. And the family must have kept the turntable and amp, because only the giant speakers were for sale.

I miss going to in person estate sales. Online is easier, but there are usually hidden gems at the in person sales.

D2 had a babysitting job, so we STILL haven’t set up the Christmas tree. That will definitely happen today. AFAIK, we are all home, all day. Time to get caught up on family stuff.

So the only stacking I’ll be doing today is putting away stuff I picked up this week. It’s still progress…

Stack something of your own.

nick

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Sat. Dec. 21, 2024 – the missing digit was “6”

Cool and clear. Maybe cold and clear to start. No clouds to hold the day’s heat in… And there was a little bit of heat in the afternoon. I took my jacket off. Long sleeve shirt over a T was fine, even in the sun, but adding the windbreaker/rainshell made me a bit sweaty.

Did my errands. Went by my secondary to drop stuff off. Did pickups on the way. Went to Lowes and got a faucet (which was on sale, hooray!), and eventually made it to my rent house to replace the leaky faucet. That took an extra half hour due to me misplacing a rubber washer, and some corrosion on a nut. It was straightforward, but I was still laying on my back under the sink with my hands above me.

I don’t know how I ever got anything done without a headlamp. Since I started working at the BOL, I’ve been using a headlamp whenever I work. The extra illumination can make the difference between squinting and reading comfortably, and it makes so much work so much easier. Whether it’s working under the cabinet or just casting my own shadow on the electrical outlet, the light makes it better. I don’t have a specific recommendation, but the new ones are small and the batteries last a long time. Get something that uses normal AAA batteries, so you can change them and keep working without waiting for a recharge.

In the evening, D1 went with a friend to a basketball game in another district, and I had to pick her up at 9pm. That blew the chance of decorating the tree. That has now slipped to today. This is the latest we’ve ever been with getting a tree set up. Maybe because we did the one at the BOL it took the urgency away. Dunno, but I like a natural tree and colored lights in the house and it will be great to get this one ready.

Today I’ve got a nearby pickup. It’s a present for W, and some stuff for my hobby, and some preps. I’ve got to go to the store and get one of the things W asked for, and I might get something off D1’s list too. D2 has a big pile already. Then I just need to wrap presents, and I’ll be good to go. If I get there, it will feel nice. I’m usually wrapping on Christmas Eve…

I’m still adding to the stacks. The pace has slowed, as the stacks piled up, but there have been some great opportunities lately, and I’m taking advantage. Keep your eyes open, and someone else’s misfortune might be your gain. And then you can stack it up…

nick

(the pattern started with the date, then the first group of digits and the last group doubled while the middle two groups incremented by 1 each. That made the missing digit the 6 in 256.) (all those base 12 doublings were irresistible.)

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Fri. Dec. 20, 2024 – 12202024 24212148 48222296 962323192 192242425? 256…

By on December 20th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cold and clear, warming a bit later. It was cold and clear yesterday, and did in fact warm later. All the way to comfortable in shirtsleeves. Odd use of words, that, but used in North America as a rough description of temperature for some time. Shirtsleeves. Odd.

Did my errands and scutwork in the morning. Drove to my pickups, got them done. Hit the Goodwill bins on the southwest side. Filled a cart. I know, I wasn’t going to, but the stuff was too good.

Stopped at EPO, an electronics store in the style of an old school Army Navy surplus store. Too much of the stuff is priced like a museum, but they’ve got what you need- and literal tons of sh!t no one needs (like stacks of broadcast quality VCRs- a whole room full). I noticed oil lamps hanging from the ceiling this time. Good oil lamps, like you would have found in a home when oil was the primary lighting tech. I haven’t seen anything besides the typical red or blue dietz style or a glass hurricane style in person, ever. Yet there they were. They are above the aisle with Metal Earth ™ laser cut metal model kits, tweezers, and RF connectors and patch cables…. down a bit from fuses… EPO is a Houston treasure.

Hit the costco on the way home, just for coffee and TP if it was on sale. It wasn’t. $29 for a bale of Charmin? No, I’ll pull down stock and wait for the sale. I ended up grabbing a couple of staples that don’t go on sale and got out for ~$200 which is the least I’ve spent at Costco in a single visit in years.

I hope the weather holds, because I still have stuff in the back of the truck that I need to get put away today.

I’ve also still got to pick up some Christmas gifts for my number one wife… which is critical and getting too close to the day. We’ll see what I get done on the list, but getting her something is VERY HIGH on the list all of a sudden.

Stack while you can. Fix what needs fixing. Get your ducks in a row. But also – breathe. Enjoy the moments you get. No one knows the number of our hours, and they are probably shorter than you think. May sure others know you care…

nick

*would an AI know the next number in the sequence to replace “?” It’s pretty straightforward for humans…

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Thur. Dec. 19, 2024 – your most likely disaster to prep for is a personal one

By on December 19th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Damp and cool again, probably foggy. It did start that way but got a bit better yesterday. Until the rain came anyway. But even that didn’t last. So what kind of weather did we have yesterday? Yes.

Spent the morning on auction things and messing around. Got the kid and an extra from school at noon, and that killed my plans for the day. I ended up doing some cleaning and organizing around the house, and then made a nice dinner.

The sirloin cap roast was only a year old. Hardly worth mentioning, when there were steaks next to it from 2020… but it was delicious. Instant mashed potatoes were great with a bunch of butter, and my signature cabbage dish rounded out the menu. Cabbage, hard squashes, apples, onions, root veg, they are all traditional european and American foods that store well and can be used all winter long. It felt good to eat a sit down meal with the whole family and food from the pantry. We’ve been eating quick foods and leftovers too much lately. Dessert was cookies. Lots of cookies.

Today I’ve got a couple of pickups in opposite directions. I’ve been watching a lot of auctions lately and not even bidding if the pickup was inconvenient. I’ve got most of what I need, and the time to do the pickups is definitely eating into my workday, so I’m being a bit more conservative with what I’ve been buying lately. Got the kids this afternoon too, as they have testing in the morning and early dismissal. They can be home alone, but I don’t want any other kids here with them if I’m not here.

I’ve got nine pounds of stuff and only 5 pound bags. But I’ve got stacks. Lots of stacks. Maybe time to start putting some to use.

nick

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Wed. Dec. 18, 2024 – one week til Christmas…

By on December 18th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, personal

Another damp and warmish day ahead. The heavy mist eventually cleared up, for some people in Houston. Some got rain. Even heavy rain. Nothing at the house, but several areas I drove through got pounded. I’m guessing today will be similar.

Did some errands in the morning including taking the White Elephant gift that D2 forgot at home to school. I wanted it off the countertop, and it ended up someone really liked it. So despite having to get dressed and drive to school, it turned out ok.

Did my pickups. Got cheated on a solar panel. Auction company was in the wrong but won’t admit it. Freaking amazon fraudulent products. The panel in question is marketed on amazon to intentionally fool people into a purchase and the description is a flat out lie. The auction company just repeated the original description and lies, but wouldn’t just refund me when I pointed out what was happening. I wasn’t the only one fooled, as someone bid me right up to fair market value for the panel, if it was as described.

I’ll get even some way, but in the mean time it reinforces that amazon has poisoned the well by allowing all the fraudulent chinese sellers and manufacturers to sell their cr@p alongside real products.

At a different auctioneer, I picked up another 2 panels, 100w each. Nothing wrong with them, and exactly what I was expecting. So it’s really time to start building at least a test or starter system. I have a bunch of panels, quite a few inverters and charge controllers, and not enough batteries… I’ll add it to the list.

Today is a half day for the spawn, so I might not get much done. I’ll try anyway. We’ll just see what actually gets accomplished.

Stack something. Ya know ya wanna…
nick

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Tues. Dec. 17, 2024 – Christmas cookies, so good…

By on December 17th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Warm and humid, becoming hot and moist later. That’s what yesterday was like, and today is usually pretty much like yesterday. So that’s the safe way to bet.

I did a bunch of domestic bliss yesterday, indoors, with the A/C on. Cleaned out the toy room. Tried the new boards in the old TVs, but they didn’t solve the problem. I junked them at that point. Saved the boards. That stuff is now out of the room.

Looked into applying the moisture barrier to the floor, but all three cans had “kicked” and were solid. One can was half leftover from doing the kid’s room at the BOL. The other two I bought for $5 each in an auction. That was taking a chance but if it paid off I would have saved hundreds of dollars. The freaking goop is pricey.

The moisture barrier is because that room will eventually get the same glue down engineered hardwood as the rest of the house. I even have it sitting in storage. We learned the hard way that no matter what the test says about the concrete slab and moisture, it’s worth the money to do the barrier. Having the smooth barrier makes the flooring glue easier too. This would have been a convenient time to cover most of the floor with the goop. Oh well.

Did laundry. Cleaned the kitchen after the bakers were done. Did some auction stuff. Made dinner. Just another day, and one I’m grateful to have. Every day without a new conflict or a disaster is a good day. And it’s another day to get your stuff in order…

Today will be pickups all over town. Mostly Christmas gifts, but a few things for the stacks. And normal kid taxi duties.

Take the time. Work. Fix. Grow. Stack.

nick

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Mon. Dec. 16, 2024 – getting sporty out there, time to get some sunscreen?

By on December 16th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Warmish, and damp. Really damp. Pretty sure about that part, here in the swamp. It did occasionally get sunny yesterday and the temps got into the 70s in the afternoon. Still, it was pretty damp and unpleasant.

I did get my pickup done, which got me two Christmas presents. Stopped at the Goodwill in Katy (better local stuff than most) and got a few more- some funny graphic T shirts for D1 and something for my sibling.

Then it was home for the list. So I got to work clearing some of the stuff out of the room where the Christmas tree will be. That meant taking a look at some of the things there. One was a big cigar humidor (like a 3 ft tall wine fridge) that had no power. I bought it for pennies because it was a scratch and dent. Troubleshooting through the power supply and onward, tested the compressor by jumpering past the control board.. and just when I’d almost given up, I thought to pull the control panel on the door. The connector was not connected… plugged it in, and everything came to life. Hooray. That’s not just a fix, now it will leave my house and head to auction. I need more to leave.

While this was going on I was watching a couple of auctions close too. Didn’t buy anything. But every time I walked past the kitchen, I snagged some cookies. Lots of cookies. I’ll pay for all the sugar today… but it was worth it. W1 and D2 outdid themselves piling up the good stuff.

Today I’ll be working the list AND doing all the normal school day stuff. And maybe shopping for the rent house repairs. Or actually doing them. Who knows. Could happen.

And I think I should probably order a couple of gifts from my wife’s list… that seems… prudent.

I’ll be pulling presents out of the stacks, but some things off her list might be a good idea.

Stack ALL the things, even gifts for your loved ones…

nick

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Sun. Dec. 15, 2024 – had a nice day, would like to do it again

By on December 15th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool-ish, and definitely wet. We had periods of not much mist, yesterday but there was heavy rain as well. Basically we had all the weather yesterday. I’m hoping today is a bit nicer. 60-70F, and not raining would be good.

Had my non-prepping hobby Christmas potluck dinner yesterday. It went well, a good time was had by all. Now I don’t have that deadline hanging over my head. Now I can concentrate on getting ready for Christmas. And going to the BOL. And visiting mom… and doing all the year end stuff…

So today will be focused on getting a place ready for the tree. That will have a series of challenges. Some of those are actually prepper challenges as they relate to stacking stuff. I’ve got ebay and auction stuff piled in the room, and solar bits and pieces. And stacks of books. All will need to be sorted, and sorted out.

There is always something more to do.

SO I better get to it. In a bit….

nick

(Stack something, but maybe not in your formal living room.)

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Sat. Dec. 14, 2024 – my non-prepping hobby potluck Christmas party is today…

By on December 14th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall

Muggy. 60 something and wet. Probably. Mist, and misty drizzle all day yesterday. Worse in some parts of town. It’s a cool, dreary, kind of weather. A break from the clear days! Dunno what we’ll get but the national forecast had Houston in the rain and storm zone for the weekend.

Spent the first part of the day doing errands, pickups, etc. Spent the second part picking up and shopping for my potluck. Which is this afternoon. I’m on the organizing committee so I’ll go in early. It’s a great day. Good food, good fellowship, and a white elephant gift exchange. I picked up a couple of great gifts at Goodwill yesterday afternoon. That was kinda late in the process, but it worked out.

In any case, today should be fun for the whole family. And it’s meatspace baby. Literally today, what with the ham, turkey, pulled pork, smoked brisket, sausages, and who knows what else… and dessert space afterwards.

I’m very happy I took the plunge and went to my first meeting. Didn’t know a soul, except that I’d met the guy who invited me a few months earlier at a yard sale. It’s been an interesting hobby, with some useful skill building, some money to be made, and good people to hang out with. And while we mostly avoid talking politics or religion, it’s a good gut check to be in a room with 30 people from different backgrounds, and hear what they have to say. It’s Texas, and it’s a lot of technically skilled people and small business owners, so it skews right of center, but much more “man on the street” than the intarwebs.

I think it’s important to be out and about, part of your community, and not just stay at home. The reality of walking thru a store, talking with people, driving the streets, and generally seeing with your own eyes is very different from the mediated experience we get online and from the media.

Plus, it gets you out of the house, gives structure to your day/week/month, and stimulates the mind and senses. All good things.

So in addition to stacking, find something to do out in the real world. You need it.

nick

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Fri. Dec. 13, 2024 – Friday the 13th falls on a Friday this month!

By on December 13th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall

Cold. Hopefully clear. Warming later. Yesterday opened with frost on the ground and on roofs, and I could see my breath. It got warmer later, and the sun helped. The breeze made it chilly to be working outdoors, even if it was 60F.

I got more decor and lights up, and I think I’m ok with stopping at this point. I’ve got stuff I could put out, but I think this will be a “rebuilding” year for Christmas as well as Halloween decorations. There’s nothing that makes me go “ah” when I look at the yard and house, but it’s decorated.

Now I have to put the leftover stuff away, and do all my other stuff.

We probably won’t go to the BOL until after Christmas, so I have a small issue with auction purchases for the BOL piling up. Two new 55 gallon drums take up a lot of space… as do new solar panels. I put a bunch of stuff in the wife’s minivan already, but I can’t load the pickup bed until I’m headed up that way. Hmm. I need somewhere to stack…

——–

Today I’ve got errands to run for my potluck lunch. I still need to buy soda, and pickup a honey baked ham. And I’ve got the normal kid taxi stuff, and a pickup on the other side of town. At least that should get me to my secondary location to drop off stuff and pick up a couple of things I need for the party.

I really need to get to my storage unit too.

That should fill the day without even touching the stuff like finishing clearing out the room for the Christmas tree.

I better get busy and be better with my time today than I have been. Short shrift for the site.

At least some of the stacking has continued, vis the solar and water storage. Check your needs, then do some stacking of your own.

nick

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