Category: decline and fall

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

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

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

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