Category: decline and fall

Cool to start. Warm to hot later. Even with rain, it was hot and wet yesterday. Then it got clear and sunny late in the day. Lot of water on the ground too, although I didn’t see heavy rain just light rain and drizzle. Some people got a lot of water from the sky.

I did my normal morning, then headed over to my buddy’s shop. He’d made a lot of progress without me, but there were heavy and awkward things that needed both of us to move safely. I worked with him for a couple of hours, but had to leave and do my Wednesday pickups. The kid let me know it was sunny and she’d walk home, so that gave me more time to go back and help my buddy. Which I did. We were able to go out to dinner and do a bit of socializing afterward. He’s been a friend of my wife longer than me, so they had some catching up to do.

Today I’ll go over there asap after breakfast and school stuff. He’s got a few things left to put into the truck, and needs help getting the car towing trailer set up. He’ll leave before noon, and W will join me looking at a boat or two. Depending on how that goes, we’ll be headed home to do final prep for going to the BOL for D2’s birthday and my wedding anniversary. Lots of stuff crammed into this week.

From a prepping standpoint, I won some more solar. I think I won another two 460w panels like the ones I took up to the BOL last week. It might just be one, or it might be two that total to 460w. The price was good enough for it to be any of those and I’ll be happy.

And in a new twist to Amazon returns fraud, I picked up a ubiquiti NanoStation loco M2, looks new in box, but the box is for a Nanostation M2… the smaller “Loco” is $50 retail, the full size is about $150. Looks like someone bought both, but got a $100 discount by returning the small one for the refund amount of the big one. I paid $16, so as long as it powers up ok, I’m still happy. I didn’t notice the discrepancy in the pictures and thought I was buying the smaller one anyway.

Did I mention that people suck and will steal when it is easy and low risk? That will probably get worse as the economy weakens.

———

Work on providing for your own needs, whether that’s water, power, or entertainment. And stack what you need.

nick

Humid. Soaking wet humid. Yesterday and today. Gah. It started cool, but got hot, especially in the sun, and I expect more of the same today. I was sweating through my shirt by noon.

I did auction stuff in the morning but got over to help my buddy for a few hours in the afternoon. It was crazy hot in his shop space when the wind wasn’t blowing. Also very dirty. And the stuff we were moving was heavy. Yeah, I was filthy and soaked with sweat by the time I went to get D1 from school. Turns out she doesn’t want to walk home on sweaty hot days.

Today I’ve got several auction pickups to do, as well as help my buddy. I’m thinking I’ll start with him, then do the pickups, then the kid stuff. I’m busy. Days are full. And I’m still falling behind.

I’m overdue for another Costco run. I haven’t added any bulk food to the stacks in months. I’m actually a bit short on toilet paper. Rats ate my bucket of sugar. And I have projects stacked like firewood.

I guess I’ll steal a line from Oingo Boingo and sleep when I’m dead.

n

(and I’ll keep stacking all the other things, like solar panels and inverters. Stack something.)

Cool, then warmer. Sunny but windy? We’ll see. At the BOL we had a stunningly gorgeous day yesterday. Houston got storms, we got mist, then a fabulous spring day. 70sF at night, 80sF during the day. I’ll take every nice day we can get.

Got up and poked around, but then started doing maintenance on my lawn mower. It was time to install the new drive belt, replace the blades, check filters, and do an oil change. All of which got done, but I still didn’t get to mow, because now there are other issues. Without the drive belt slipping, the top speed is higher. But now something is jamming, catching, or binding, and sometimes you can’t stop. After driving into the retaining wall, and almost pushing it over an plummeting 8ft, I put it away for the time being. I’ll look at it next week.

So I did get some stuff done, but that opened a list of other things to do now. Story of my life…

Today I’ve got some home stuff to do, some auction stuff, and if I have any time left, I’ll help my buddy at his shop. Then it’s Tuesday kid taxi service.

Do not falter. Stack.
n

Warm and clear, but windy and humid. That’s my prediction for the BOL based entirely on my own feelings. It was warmer in Houston yesterday afternoon, and still pretty warm and humid when I got to the BOL. Something might be blowing in, the wind was pretty strong yesterday too. Like always, we’ll see.

Did my pickups. Shopped for a boat. Helped my buddy. Saturday was a pretty full day, then I drove to the BOL.

Today we’ll be coloring eggs, putting out a few decorations, and hopefully having a bit of fun too. The kids will be “encouraged” to get out of the house and do something outdoors. I’ll have work to do, outside of holiday prep. Because I always do.

It’s a great life, but you can’t falter…

stack some good times.

nick

Cool and clear again. Which is awesome. It got a bit warmer yesterday afternoon, and I was sweaty, which I don’t love. Still, it’s pretty nice. I’m hoping for a day or more before the forecast rain moves in.

Did my stuff in the morning. Missed a thing with the kid because it wasn’t on the calendar.Not thrilled about that. Took a truck load of stuff to the auctioneer. Then got with a friend and started helping him tear down and pack up his shop. He’d moved to the east cost a year ago but the weight and hassle of moving a shop meant he’s been putting it off. I’ve got my own shop to deal with at some point… and it’s daunting.

Took several hundred pounds of stainless to the scrapyard on my way home, and there will be a lot more scrap today.

Speaking of today, the kids have the day off, so W and the Ds will be doing stuff with friends while I’m doing my thing. They’ll head up to the BOL later today. I’ll do my pickups and help my buddy for most of the day, then load up and head up myself.

Lots to do at home still, but lots to do at the BOL too, and NEXT weekend we have guests. So I have my priorities set.

Always be working, always be stacking.

nick

Cool and clear, getting warmer later. We’ve been having a stunning run of cooler and nice days. It’s low to mid 80s in the afternoon, which for us is like winter. It’s windows down weather. Shirtsleeves and shorts. No sweat weather. Fantastic. We do need rain, especially in other parts of Texas, but for now, I’m loving it.

Did a couple of pickups yesterday. The main thing though was finally getting my auctioneer to start taking consignments again. I can move stuff out of the house and maybe even a couple of bins out of the storage unit. At this point I almost don’t even care if he pays me… well yes, I do. Since we did the taxes, my business was a bit shy on incoming money, mainly because he still owes me for last year. That doesn’t look great to the IRS, so it would be better to be paid. This year should be better.

So that’s today’s task, get a load dropped off at the auctioneer. I’ve got a pickup too, but I’ll get to that in the early afternoon. Hopefully, I’ll get the load dropped off in the late morning. Then I’ve got to do some grocery shopping. I think buying eggs today is cutting it a bit late, but I didn’t stop in yesterday. With shortages and Easter this weekend, and eldest child on a high protein diet kick, I need to increase my stock on hand. Funny how what we eat changes over time.

Gotta keep watch on the stacks, and compare against current and changing needs. I’ve got far too much peanut butter, syrup, and ketchup. Not enough eggs…

Check that your stacks still meet your needs, and then adjust.

But do stack…

nick