Thur. July 24, 2025 – more of the same and at no additional charge!

By on July 24th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Still hot. Still humid. Over 100F yesterday afternoon. I got my weather station working here at the house, but not the display in my office, so I’ll have real numbers again soon. Just have to put the outdoor part back up. I’m sure today will be pretty much like yesterday. Maybe with a touch more moisture from the sky.

I did my normal morning stuff. Then I did some pickups. Got the times wrong and missed two that I’ll have to get today. Hopefully, as one of them doesn’t have pickup times for the rest of the week. Having to get the kid at 3pm put the same crimp in my schedule as a normal school day.

While I didn’t get all the pickups done, I did get to Costco. Picked up some lamb chops for dinner, and a couple of things for the BOL this weekend. W likes to have more lunch meat choices than I normally have on hand, and I also grabbed a bag of frozen mixed veg. I’ll repack the veg in single meal sizes and take most to the BOL. It’s an easy way to get something very close to fresh veg.

Dinner was lamb chops grilled on cast iron in the kitchen. I’d normally grill them outside, but it was so hot I didn’t want to fire up the BBQ. The result was very nice, using the hot pan method (crazy hot dry pan, then add oil and reduce heat to cook.) Easy clean up too. Frozen veg tossed in a saute’ pan and some garlic naan from the freezer filled out the plates. Honestly, I should be eating out of the freezers, but I didn’t plan ahead and thaw anything, so fresh from Costco was a quick choice. From prep to plate was about 15 minutes.

I picked up a small Lodge cast iron wok in an auction and I’m looking forward to giving that a try some time soon.

D1 was diagnosed with some anemia so cooking more with iron isn’t a bad thing.

———-
I decided to order a battery and back cover for my phone. Total was $34 and it’s a straightforward job. I don’t really want to spend time moving to a new phone right now. Paul’s experience and previous moves combined, and I’m thinking it’s less time to fix the old phone than get everything set up on a new on. I do have a Galaxy Note II handy, but when I started to move to it last night, I can’t find all my SIM card stuff and the Note needs an adapter to use my current smaller SIM. That was part of the motivation to just fix the old phone. One thing about using older tech, the repairs are usually cheap. And the phone still sells for ~$120-150 so I’m not spending more on parts than it’s worth.

———–
It is all distraction and time sink when I need to be more focused.

Preemptively replacing the balloon that the old battery has become, before it burns me, the SIM and memory card, or my whole house or car seems to fall under “always be working to improve your situation.”

At least it makes me feel better to think about it that way.

Throw some stuff on the stacks too…

nick

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Wed. July 23, 2025 – so there I was…

By on July 23rd, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Hot and humid. Sunny and bright. It was over 101F in my driveway, even in the shade by late afternoon yesterday and today looks like it will be as hot. It’s summer in Houston.

Yesterday I did my stuff, letting the kid drive me around while I offered suggestions about things she needs to work on. Talked a bit more about some of the traffic and car tracking infrastructure that is in place. More along the theme of hidden layers of the universe. Afterwards she washed and cleaned the car.

I spent a bit of time putting some stuff away and sorting, while getting dinner on the table. I warmed up the costco heat and eat Tacos Al Pastor, and got some condiments ready to go with it. And took D2 to and from her T/Th activity. I spent too much time doing pickups. I’m starting to internalize that now. Hopefully I can turn that into not doing pickups every day.

Baby steps. I’m in a rut and my habits have morphed past useful and good to something a bit detrimental. That’s only if you consider that I have stuff I need/want to do instead of doing pickups. Which I do.

Today I’ll be challenged to get stuff done and still be at school in time to move the kid around.

There is always something that needs attention. I’m not as good at setting priorities and getting them done as I used to be. It’s a little discouraging. And a lot self centered and maudlin.

But on the other hand, time is ticking. I heard from an old friend yesterday, that a mutual friend had died. I was thinking of both of them last week and her memorial took place over the weekend. I didn’t even know she had been sick, as we’d lost touch years ago. She was a couple of years younger than me, but the big C got her. The list of people that I know personally that have crossed over to whatever is next is getting longer. I suppose that’s the way of things if you live long enough, and averages mean that someone has to go younger than me for everyone who holds on longer than me. It’s put me in a mood though.

My momentum stalled out. Time to get it moving again. Always be working. And stack.

nick

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Tues. July 22, 2025 – faults, I got ’em

By on July 22nd, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Another hot and mostly dry day, with high humidity. Yesterday was a scorcher by afternoon, and stayed hot well into the evening. It was still in the 90sF when we had a late dinner. Today should be the same. The local .gov had the highway advisory signs warning of heavy rain and possible flooding on Saturday. I expect well be seeing flood warnings with every drop of rain for the next year at least.

I mostly did auction stuff in the morning, still keeping in mind my new desire to limit pickup days. Then D1 drove me around town doing a pickup and grocery shopping in the afternoon. She’s improving but still brakes too late, and her situational awareness needs work. She doesn’t seem to be able to keep three directions or steps in mind at the same time though. Thinks like “stay on the Beltway to US 59 north, then exit at Kingwood Blvd.” IDK if that’s from the online stuff changing her brain structure, or just her nature, but it’s unsettling and I’ll be working on it. I wonder if any of her schooling has worked with algorithms and figuring out steps toward a goal?

Driving a car, or a boat, or just navigating through life takes the ability to predict the near future and react to it, taking steps to manage where you will be physically and metaphorically. Living in the moment is ok, and even necessary and desirable for some things, but humans don’t live in a constant now. Or at least we don’t normally. Or didn’t.

We did have a good conversation about the “hidden” layers around us, triggered by an outlaw biker passing us and almost getting into an altercation with another driver. (Full patch Bandido with his b!tch riding pillion in a patched vest. Not someone you want to engage with.) Fraternal organizations, secret societies, alumni groups, outlaw culture, even prepping and LMIs all got touched on, with emphasis on seeing the “flags” that people fly to identify their affiliate groups. I’m hoping it spurred some thought and will entice her to look around at the environment and actually SEE some of it. Since the kids were little we played games like “spot the cameras” and “is this a good neighborhood or not (and why?)” Hopefully I’ll get a chance to pass along more stuff about the way the world works that will help her navigate around some of the pitfalls.

Speaking of seeing what’s around us, there was a hawk in my tree this afternoon, perched on a limb and quite agitated. A squirrel was about three feet away looking at it, and then the squirrel shot by the hawk, running on the UNDERSIDE of the limb. The hawk hung around long enough for my wife to get a picture with her new iphone. We don’t see a lot of hawks in our neighborhood, despite a neighbor telling me one swooped a squirrel right out of his front yard. I do see them flying overhead occasionally.

Oh, a big fat possum ambled by me when I was out having my little fire. I made a ‘tssking’ noise and he turned around to look at me calmly before ambling on. Body as big as a basketball. I think a lot of local wildlife visits my little water feature throughout the day and night. The frogs are starting their mating calls and are quite loud about it…

The world is full of hidden mysteries all around us.

————
Today I’ll do some paperwork, move some stuff around, and then do some pickups in the afternoon. Kid starts band camp on Wednesday, so that will be me getting up early again.

I was going to write about my talent for self sabotage today, but I’ll leave that to another time. Do what you can with what you’ve got, and always be working to improve your situation. Even if that means disconnecting for a bit to look around you in wonder.

nick

(and of course, you should be stacking.)

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Mon. July 21, 2025 – slack. That is me.

By on July 21st, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Hot and humid again, with sunshine roasting the brain of anyone unfortunate enough to be out in it. Which is why I stayed in on Saturday. That and sloth. And a book being really good.

Didn’t get much done. I have a problem maintaining my forward momentum. That and I foolishly didn’t get enough sleep and wasn’t feeling well.

I’ll do better today. Pinky swear.

If all you can do is stack, then stack.
n

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Sun. July 20, 2025 – nothing pithy to say

By on July 20th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Hot and humid, again, but maybe clear instead of partly cloudy. It was mostly clear Saturday, with some clouds, and a tiny bit of water from the sky. I wouldn’t have noticed but the grass and plants were wet when I did some work in the back yard.

That work was some tree pruning. I had done a bunch in spring, so it wasn’t too bad. I mostly touched up the new growth. I did some small pruning on the apple tree too. It currently has one apple the size of a racquet ball. That’s more than any other year, but less than I was hoping for with the blossoms all over.

I alternated outdoor and indoor stuff to try to keep cool. It was crazy hot in the sun. Most of what I got accomplished was organizing and cleaning in the ‘library’ or ‘toy room’. I had a bunch of filament and printer stuff all over, and I put it away in a sideboard cabinet. I finished putting together the cabinet too. It’s still a mess in that room, but I made a lot of progress on a non-critical task, but one that has been poking me in the eye and spirit for too long.

I did a bit of reading throughout the day as I was cooling down, and spent far too long sitting outside reading last night.

It doesn’t sound like a productive day but it actually was.

If you can’t stack, be working on improving your situation.

Today I’ll continue in the same vein.
n

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Sat. July 19, 2025 – Saturday, in the park, I think it was the … 19th… of July

By on July 19th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And it’s hot again. Overcast most of yesterday,but still hot, and humid to match. Probably got more of that coming today. Now it’s really summer.

So I did some things. Drove around, met with people, put stuff in my truck. Took it out in various places. Moved some stuff around in the house. Put a thing back together for sale on ebay. Went out for dinner. We get a 25% discount because D2 isn’t here… which is one way of looking at it, I guess.

Because of reasons, detailed yesterday, I don’t have a new phone yet. My old phone battery is so swollen it pushed the back off my phone… it’s about twice as thick as it should be. Since I don’t want any fires in my pants, I think I’ll find an old phone to swap my sim to today. It’s seriously scary how swollen it is and I didn’t realize because I just thought something was wrong with the case. Yikes.

I did change my phone plan to a “senior” 55 plus plan. It’s $40/month instead of $72, and has unlimited talk, text, and data- although they can throttle me if the network is congested. I typically use 2-3 GB of my current 4GB plan per month, so unlimited won’t help much. I can add one of the kids on a second line, both will drop to $35, and the kid will appreciate the unlimited data. I wouldn’t have known about the plan if T Mobile didn’t send me a flyer for their 55+ plan, which prompted me to call ATT. ATT will just let you keep paying higher rates even if they have newer, cheaper plans. There are a couple of small differences, Autopay has to draft from a bank account instead of credit card, and I can’t get paper bills anymore. Despite the payment and billing changes, saving ~$360 a year seems worth it.

FWIW, if we change the ATT fiber bill to my name we’ll save another $18/mo because of the bundle. We’re currently on the cheapest and least capable plan, 1 gig a month for $89. Speedof.me says we’re getting 750/500 at my desk. The router test says 920/900. If there’s no reason not to change the names, I’ll get the fiber in my name and bring the savings to ~$500 a year. That’s worth doing.

Today I might have a pickup if I won anything from an estate auction. I’ll know if an invoice shows up in my email. There wasn’t anything when I went to bed. That’s good, because I’ve decided I’m spending too much time driving around picking stuff up. That’s where all my time is going and it contributes to me not getting stuff done. I can change that. I think. Dunno if I’m strong enough to resist the pull of a bargain. I’ll try to start limiting which days I do pickups.

It’s tempting to buy all the things, since I stack all the things, but ultimately I need time to assimilate some of the things, and to actually stack the things.

All while working to improve my situation… get to work!

nick

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Fri. July 18, 2025 – the things you see when you don’t have your shotgun…

By on July 18th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Hot. Hooo boy hot. Yesterday was sunny and hot all day. Indoor warehouse spaces were sweltering. There is a chance that some stuff will push into Houston from the Gulf today, but if it doesn’t, I’m betting on another hot day.

I got a couple of small things done yesterday. Mostly I did pickups and chatted with people. Auction prices were down this week and last, and most of the sellers are putting it down to buyers spending cash on the July 4th celebrations. I’m not so sure. It’s also possible that some buyers are out of town on vacation. It feels a bit bigger than that though. Gubs were underpriced and usually carry guns sell really well. Ammo was reasonable. I’m getting a lot of stuff without any real competition. Could be people really are finally running out of money.

I know things are not as rosy here at Casa De Nick as they were a year ago. Lot of fairly big expenses in the past year and more still to come too. Resources have been earmarked and allocated, but there is definitely a change. Silver coins at $32 an ounce, and Charmin Blue at $33, and a 20pc bucket of KFC all dark meat, no sides or biscuits was $32 before tax. I get three meals from the bucket, plus feed the family one, so it’s not that bad overall, but it’s still a bit shocking for a bucket of fried chicken. And inflation keeps raging.

Last trip to costco and to HEB I didn’t buy meat. I’ve got freezers full, and there wasn’t anything I wanted on sale… but that’s the result of planning most people didn’t do. It feels like we’re that little bit closer to hard times all of a sudden.

Which is why we prep. Stack when it’s cheap, eat when it’s dear.

nick

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Thur. July 17, 2025 – if wishes were horses we’d all be eating steak

By on July 17th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Forecast says, clear but with something blowing in from the Gulf of America. It was mostly clear and really hot yesterday. There was a bit of cloudiness to the northwest, but metro area all the way down to NASA was clear. Did I mention it was really hot? Getting a cooling rain in the day is something I kinda got used to.

I spent all afternoon doing pickups. Drove a whole lot in a really big figure eight. I was in Seally, Cypress, Webster/crystal lake (NASA), Pasadena, and just north of downtown before returning home. Filled up the truck. Moved a bunch to the “take to BOL” pile, still have a bunch to go through. I looked at one invoice and it really was more ‘wants’ than ‘needs’. There was some medical stuff, but nothing major. I will be pulling back a bit in the next couple of weeks, unless it’s really helpful stuff, and really cheap. More solar, gubs, defensive stuff, or food would all be helpful. Craft supplies for the kids would not.

Today I’ll do one pickup that got missed earlier in the week, and one that I got to a little too late to actually pickup. The missed one was a new auction, so they kept the stuff for me. Turns out I never got the email with the invoice or pickup instructions. It’s happened before with other auctions. Sometimes the management software just pukes. The rest of the day will be spent at home doing home stuff. I might show D1 how to use the pressure washer so she can wash “her” car. And maybe I can get her to wash mine too. Probably not.

Time to do a little work on improving my situation. Stacks are good for the day.

nick

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Wed. July 16, 2025 – a horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless….

By on July 16th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Could we get another hot, sunny day without rain? Maybe today will be like yesterday and we will. It was over 100F in my driveway yesterday and the heat stuck around all evening too. It was still quiet warm when I went to bed.

I spent Tuesday morning at the computer, then picking up D1 from her trip. I got two pickups in on the way home from the airport. Took a bit longer than I thought it would, so afterwards I stayed home and cooked.

I cooked taco meat for dinner using a liquid pouch of flavoring, and then cooked two more taco dinners of ground beef, and two 1 1/3 dinners of plain ground beef. I vac sealed and froze everything but last night’s dinner. I’ll take them to the BOL with me as quick dinner options. Warm up the meat, add a sauce or flavor packet and pasta, rice, or tortillas and you’ve got a really quick meal without much effort. Granted that ground meat skillet meals aren’t that hard to start, it makes it even easier and quicker. It means I can have a hamburger based meal as easily as one from canned chicken too.

Since my wife’s been trying the sou vide cooker on chicken and vac sealing the result, adding some ready to eat beef to the freezer makes sense. I like to eat, and I like having options.

Having stacks gives me options. Get some of your own!

Today I’ll be doing more pickups. Prices have fallen again and I won more stuff than I expected to. One auction (the fraudsters) I’m basically winning almost everything I bid on with an opening bid, usually $1, or $2. They aren’t high value items, but I like saving $20 or $25 on things I’d buy anyway. The auctioneer at one of my pickups said she was doing the same thing. Good for us, not good for the seller, but they did it to themselves by acting unethically. There’s a lesson in there.

Lessons, like things that can be turned into money, are lying around everywhere, you just have to learn to see them.

Anything that helps me stack, helps.

nick

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Tues. July 15, 2025 – kid comes home today, so I’m busy…

By on July 15th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Looking at the national forecast it is supposed to finally be clear today. Yesterday was still wandering storm cells. Nothing at the house, but several places I went to had rain, and W got poured on downtown. We’ll see if the two day forecast was correct.

I did auction stuff in the morning, (and a little bit of domestic bliss), then headed out to do my pickup. I got some good stuff for the BOL, and for the kids. Then I hit the goodwill outlet (the bins) because my self control is weak. It was a quiet day, and I got some good stuff, but mostly media – books, dvds, and some classic rock albums. It was about half stuff to sell and half stuff to use or keep. The desire to acquire was strong yesterday.

Today I’ll do office stuff in the morning, then head to the aeropuerto to get the kid. I’ve got one pickup to do, and I can do it on the way to the airport. That should leave me the afternoon to do some more stuff around the house.

I’ve got a couple things I really can’t put off any longer but I’ve been reluctant to do, for some reason. Nothing rational, just didn’t want to. Gotta push through that. Sometimes it’s hard to keep pushing.

It’s important to at least try though. And to stack. Be consistent with that.

nick

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