Category: decline and fall

Cool and comfortable, then warmer. Humidity has been lower, which makes even 80F nice, but every now and then the afternoon will be a little more “close” and I know the humidity is back up to swamp levels. We still have several days of clear in the forecast, and that’s starting to be a problem. I noticed some trees were looking pretty stressed due to the long time since our last rain storm.

People are getting stressed too. There is a drought of opportunity and of money. Stuff is going in some of my auctions for half what it would have brought a year ago. Feels like everyone is pausing and kinda holding their breath…

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I did a few of my smaller tasks yesterday. Did a pickup that was several auctions worth of stuff. Mostly for the BOL, but a few things for home. Then there was a lot of driving kids around. And dinner and domestic bliss.

Today I’ll do several pickups. Unfortunately they are on the four corners of Houston metro. More driving than I’d like, with more space in between stops, but stuff didn’t work out.

Haven’t seen the possum or the rats in the attic in the last few days. Maybe I got them for a while. Still need to re-bait the outdoor boxes, and I need to spray for insects too. Tiny ants are plaguing us this month.

I’ve got stacking to do too. Several of my water storage jugs need to be replaced, fuel needs to be rotated, rehabilitated, and food needs to be re-stocked. I know I’ve got at least on water filter somewhere that needs a rebuild kit. I’ve got the gennie project to finish…

Lots to do, and the year is running out. All my meatspace and social things need doing too. Busy. No time for slacking.

But it is time for stacking!

nick

Another beautiful day. Cool, then warm, and sunny and clear. Like yesterday. It did get to 80F and the sun was warmer, of course, but still a very nice day. I would like the same today. Unfortunately, this is like the 5th week without rain, so we are having a drought. Some of my potted saplings dried up before I noticed.

Yesterday’s work output was a mixed bag again. Small jobs, and one big one got done, so that was good. I cleaned more of the outdoor shelves that used to have food and cleaning supplies on them. That has been neglected for far too long. The bottom shelf is about half eaten through with rust too. That was the shelf with 6 gallons of bleach bottles sitting on it. Even without real leaks, the chlorine plays holy heck with steel. I’m betting a little got by the cap seal when the contents expanded and contracted with changes in temperature. That and the wet goo from the failed cans of fruit combined to eat the shelf. I’ll just swap the shelf for another one, since I have them. I’m glad I didn’t put the bleach on the top shelf.

The failed fruit cans are why I keep the cans in plastic bins in my main storage area. If a can fails, it doesn’t contaminate everything else on the shelves, only what’s in the bin. It also keeps dust, dirt, and rat poop off the cans. This is something to think about if you are using my milk crate system to organize cans. I think they better have a plastic layer between crates to protect the cans below.

After cleaning the shelves, I started clearing a path into the garage, so I could swap out the 7cuft chest freezer with the fridge I bought a couple of months ago now… It’s been running in the driveway like some hillbillies live here. Since my jobs are fractal, with every job involving several other jobs first, it took a while. Eventually though, I got the way clear for the chest freezer to come out and the fridge to go in. Then it was dinner time…

Today I’ll see about emptying the chest freezer into the other freezers and the top of the fridge. If I could, I’d find a place for the chest freezer too. Although it IS nice to have the freezer as a backup. If someone gave me a deer or a pig, I wouldn’t have room for it without using the backup, or if the backup was full.

After getting that sorted, I’ll do some more cleaning and organizing. Maybe a bit of repair on the auction item. It’s got a noisy fan that is either the processor fan, or the PSU. I think it’s the PSU, which is easy enough to fix as I have a stack of PSUs…maybe. Fingers crossed.

Then I have to get some stuff listed for sale. It’s been too long since I had money coming in, and there have been a lot of outflows… and I’ve got some big ticket items waiting to sell.

And now that I have most of a path into the garage, I’d like to get our normal Halloween decor out. I haven’t decided on the big display yet, but the smaller stuff can get set up. And maybe that will be enough this year. Dunno. We’ll see.

There might even be some stacking involved.

There should be.

nick

Same as yesterday. The weather. Cool, warming later, clear and sunny. Which is AWESOME!!11!!1 I like Fall. I like Spring. I tolerate Summer as best as I can because that’s the price to live here, in a robust economy. Winter just reminds me of Chicago and growing up, but it’s not real winter. I rarely get to wear sweaters and I don’t live in a jacket. On the other hand, I don’t have to shovel snow.

Saturday I did manage to get some stuff done, and made progress on other stuff, and even got started on some stuff that has been on the list for a while. It was a little disjointed but since progress was made, I’ll take it.

Now today I just need to build on that success… or at least keep it moving forward. That is the goal. We’ll see how well I can execute.

That whole “fractal” nature of the tasks does sometimes get in the way. And sometimes I take the easy task, even though the more important task is waiting. Hopefully I can get a couple of important tasks done today.

If not, we’ll do something else.

Stacking will surely be involved.

nick

Cool. Nice. Cool. Fall is here. Winter will be along presently. Yesterday started cool and remained cool all day. I did wear shorts, but mainly for the ease of movement. It’s gotta be pretty cold, or I have to be sedentary for me to wear long pants. Today should be nice and cool too. And still the clear sky. We’ll probably get drowned around Halloween…

Spent the day doing little things. Mainly I was poking at the auction stuff, trying different things to get it working. I did have some luck updating software and hardware, but I still can’t get the thing to connect with USB. At it’s heart, it’s windowsXP embedded. I was able to get access to the actual OS, and checked the device manager for USB issues or devices with a yellow triangle and there were no issues. The stupid thing just isn’t looking like a device to the main box… which is one of the reasons I’ve never liked USB. To many ‘smarts’ in the accessory, and no recourse if there is a problem.

Today will be more at home stuff. Probably a little more poking, then mostly outdoor stuff. It would be nice to get some Halloween decor out too.

Or maybe it will be attic stuff.

Dunno, but I’m starting with a later wakeup call.

Speaking of wakeup calls, the news should be full of them for you if you haven’t got stacks. Get some!

nick

Cool, bordering on ‘cold’. It was 51F yesterday morning and stayed cool all day. I didn’t see the temp in the afternoon, but it was still mild, with a beautiful clear blue sky. 61F at dinnertime. Great day. And forecast calls for a couple more…

Did my kid duties. Took youngest to get her teeth twisted. She might have them off before Christmas, certainly before Valentines. Time flies. Took her back to school. Did my pickups on the south side of town. Did some more work on my auction purchase. STILL can’t get one piece to talk to the other with USB. Tested my repair and it seems fine. (repair was to remove a damaged USB port, steal one from a hard drive dock, and put it in the auction item. Got to use my new Hakko desoldering gun. Works a treat!) Replaced a power supply that was putting out 3 volts under load instead of 12, but the problem still persists. Eliminated my USB port completely, tested the ports on the controller, and no joy. It’ll still bring good money, but about half what it would have brought if I could get the two pieces talking. Still a big win.

Picked up the kid, took her to her appointment, the other called and missed her bus so she needed a ride, then had to go back and get the first kid, dinner happened, then the kid’s nightime activity needed a drop off and later pickup. Domestic bliss, I get a double helping on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

After all that, I moved some stuff to the attic and baited two new style traps. I used some vanilla Oreos. Hmmm, blondies… and got a hit in the first hour. That is a dead rat on camera 12… I hope the other trap gets one too, and that it was quick enough the others don’t get warned off. I kinda expect that it will be like everything else, new trap style kills one rat, and never another. They learn.

Today is more of the same, with less kid shuffling…

I’ve mentioned it before, but make sure your stacks include stuff to deal with vermin. Rats, ants, roaches, mice. All will want your food, and will spoil what they don’t eat. Plus, the missus won’t be on board with eating roaches for extra protein…

Stacks, they are good.

nick