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

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

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

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

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

By on November 15th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, personal

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…

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

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…

By on November 13th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

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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Tues. Nov. 12, 2024 – another volunteer day, and some auction stuff

By on November 12th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, march to war, personal

Cool and damp, warming to hot and damp. It will probably be damp… for all that it started out sopping wet, yesterday ended very nice. It was low 70s and comfortable at dusk. I enjoy driving with the windows down when I can. It would be nice to get a little more Fall before Winter arrives.

Did some household stuff, some auction stuff, picked up one kid, then went to the dress rehearsal for the other kid’s school musical. Spent a couple hours doing audio tweaks and teaching the mixer board kid how to listen and adjust EQ. Hit the HEB for some “show buddy” treats that D2 needed to pick up. They had choice beef chuck roast on sale cheap, so I bought a couple. Ground chuck was only $3.75/pound, so I got some of that too. Even the beef jerky I eat was $1 off with in store coupon…so it was a decent trip despite being unplanned and out of order.

Today I’m headed into school to set up a monitor speaker for the Music Director, so she won’t demand changes to my front of house mix. Then I’ll do some auction stuff, and finally go back to second dress rehearsal, so that I can show the Musical Director how to adjust her monitor, and so I can keep working with the kid mixing the show. There is an alternate casting of the 4 leads and this is their rehearsal. First time to set mics for them. And the kid needs encouragement to stick to his guns and keep the volume levels below painful, even when a Musical Director wants to mess up the whole show so she can hear better…

Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in… /end Pachino voice

It’s not a prep, but I get to use skills and knowledge and gear that I have had in storage for a long time. And it’s meatspace, engaging with my community.

Stacking is easier and takes less time.

nick

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Mon. Nov. 11, 2024 – 11:11 – if you know, you know.

By on November 11th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Cool but damp. Warming later. Weather yesterday at the BOL was hot in the sun, drippy with humidity, but cool breezes. Today, back in Houston, I just want a couple of dry days so I can take down and put away the Halloween decor…

I got a leisurely start to the day yesterday, but then did a bunch of work. After getting the truck unloaded and the bed set up, I did a whole bunch of yard work. I’d skipped the detail work the last couple of times I was up, and it showed. Time to get the string trimmer and blower out. Plus, tons of leaves on the ground and caught in all the underbrush, all of which needed blowing out so they don’t hold moisture and mold.

I followed that with mowing, and then string trimming and blowing again. It was getting pretty dark at that point, so I called it a day and put everything away.

Lots of stuff that didn’t get done, but it looked lived in and cared for when I finished the yard stuff. And for a place you don’t live in, that’s important.

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Today I’ll be returning the trailer, and doing all the other normal things I fail to do on a regular basis. Well, I’ll be trying to do some of them. Maybe.

I’ve got stacks to sort, move, and store. I’ve got auction stuff to get ready. I’ve got kid taxi duties and pickups around town too. A busy day, like most of them.

So get to stackin’. Don’t get caught lackin’.

nick

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Sun. Nov. 10, 2024 – working the list at the BOL…

By on November 10th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Low 70s today with a lot of damp. Lake is high, with soggy ground everywhere. Yesterday got pretty hot in Houston in the afternoon, to the point where I was soaked to the skin loading my trailer with my new bed.

I started my Saturday with my non-prepping hobby. It was good to see everyone, and we had a nice meeting. I sold some stuff, which is always good. Followed that up with a pickup in the Woodlands (the bed and some vintage pipes) and then on to the BOL. Had a nice dinner, which D1 and friend grilled. Radio was wide open later that night. I really need to get a radio and antenna set up here.

Today I’ll get the bed set up, and work on some other small things. I forgot/didn’t have time to get the electrical stuff I needed to do the work in the dockhouse, so I’ll probably just do the speakers and sound stuff, and whatever other small things I can get off the list. Can’t do much major as I’ll be heading home tonight.

I did bring up 4 gallons of the lamp oil, a Coleman propane stove, and a couple of bottles of propane. I brought a few more books for the library up here too. Some prepping is happening…

Oh, and D1’s friend caught a fish off our dock. The kids are making a big deal about it since I’ve only managed to catch one fish in 2 years of trying. Clearly it’s possible. The problem must lie with me. 🙂

Do some stacking of your own, and work to improve your situation, whatever it is.

nick

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Sat. Nov. 9, 2024 – hope it’s not raining…

By on November 9th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Probably damp and cool, but maybe raining… It was really humid yesterday, and got up into the low 80s in the afternoon, but after the morning showers, the rain held off until after midnight. Mostly. Today I’m doing stuff that I would prefer didn’t get wet.

I started yesterday with volunteer work at the kid’s middle school. Then I headed south to do a pickup. On the way I stopped at Northern Tool and bought two small furniture dollies and a drywall dolly. I want to cover my bases for moving the mattresses and bed frames today. Stopped at Habitat reStore on my way home, but they didn’t have anything I needed. Seems like they are getting fewer donations…

Did kid taxi stuff in the late afternoon. Got my trailer and stuff from storage for my non-prepping hobby swapmeet this morning. Put stuff in the truck… Basically got ready to do my things today.

Hobby, pickup bed for BOL, head to BOL… I should be moving non-stop for most of the day.

Not much choice in the matter now either.

Fortunately we have choices when it comes to prepping. I choose to stack!

nick

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Fri. Nov. 8, 2024 – another busy day

By on November 8th, 2024 in culture, decline and fall, mainstream media, march to war, rats

Warm, damp, and might rain. I hope not. It threatened most of yesterday but never did rain on me, and it cleared up by afternoon. I drove around with the windows open and it was nice. Had the A/C on too, in the later afternoon when the heat caught up with the humidity.

Spent the day doing domestic bliss. Laundry, taking down some of the decor. I can’t take down anything that’s not really dry. Or I could, but it wouldn’t be smart… so I hope it stays dry today.

Checked the traps while I was in the attic. Turns out I had a small rat in the trap after all. One of the new, tunnel traps, the same one that got the first rat on the first day, got another. He was smaller and didn’t move the tunnel, so I didn’t see him on the cam. Guess I should check more often. In any case, I re-baited the live traps, and the other new tunnel trap. I didn’t clean and reset the first one, I’ll save that for another day. I did take it outside, in a bucket.

Then it was kid taxi service, and a quick trip to the theater when they thought they had an issue with sound. They didn’t really but the kid has his hands full and he didn’t have time to troubleshoot. One of the reasons the shows always sound so bad is that they never give any time to the sound guy to work with the actors and the mics. They don’t have enough rehearsal anyway, barely getting the show blocked before opening, so sound gets short shrift.

Like most things in life, if you don’t take the time, practice, test, and refine, you won’t get a good result.

Today I’ve got an auction pickup or two. I need to buy and assemble a drywall dolly to use when I pick up my new bed. It was $130 to rent one, and $199 to buy, so I’m buying. I’ll use it again. Later in the day I’ll pick up the trailer for the bed too. Lots of running around. AND I’ve got to get some stuff together for my non-prepping hobby quarterly swapmeet on Saturday. I’ll do that, then drive toward the BOL, picking up the bed and some other stuff on the way. Busy, busy, that’s me.

Don’t falter, right?

And find some time to improve your situation. Stacking is easiest.

nick

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