Category: decline and fall

Still hot and humid, but not raining… at least not in the forecast. We have had some overcast and threatening clouds, despite the clear forecast though. Might get some more. Yesterday was really humid and ended up in the mid 90s so I didn’t do much outdoors.

I ended up driving the kid around a bit, and going to the grocery store. No good meat on sale, but some indian pouch side dishes were $1 off. Picked up a dozen of them. Hamburger wasn’t over $5, so I picked up some ground chuck 80/20. I don’t have as much in the freezer as usual.

Spent some more time getting the kid from the mall later too. She is learning to delight in winding me up. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, she is my daughter after all.

Did some domestic bliss, but have plenty more to do. Moved some stuff to the “goes to the BOL pile”.

Fixed the cable on the garage door so that it closes flat to the ground. One edge was up about 3 inches which left room for the possum to get in. Maybe Mr Possum won’t be visiting so often now.

Did some computer work, cleaning and organizing. I’ve got stuff I should have done with the new year that I still need to get to. Meanwhile, I’m still ripping DVDs and CDs as I sit here.

Had a chat with my neighbor. She’s very concerned about the election, the chance they might cheat and install the Kamel, and what happens after. It’s the most frank discussion we’ve had in a couple of years. I assured her I was worried about the same things. Nice to know we’re on the same page. Most of the neighbors are so much younger than me, and they grew up with PC and newspeak, and are VERY reluctant to have any conversations where they might say something ‘not right’. They are very conflict averse so while I believe they aren’t Kamel supporters, I’m not sure. No yard signs in any case.

One thing I’m sure of is that bad times are coming. No matter who “wins” in November, it’s gonna be the sux for all the rest of us. Stacks will help.

nick

And hope the rain holds off. We got just a thin spatter yesterday. Not even enough to get things wet. Still had to cover the truck bed with a tarp, just in case. I use magnets to hold it in place, so it’s not difficult, just a step I dislike dealing with. The humidity would have benefited from some rain to clear the air. Temps were nice all day though.

Did my pickup, went by my secondary location to drop some stuff off. Dropped off filters for the A/C at my rent house, and stopped in to chat with my auctioneer. He’s still not ready to start selling my stuff again. I also picked up some books from him. Good stuff like animal husbandry, small engine repair, and a multi volume “best works in English” set. Hit the Goodwill bins for an hour on my way home. Got some books for me, and some for eventual resale. Of course I grabbed some DVDs too.

Did a tiny bit of cleaning up and organizing. Mainly avoided working at home though…

So hopefully today I can get caught up with SOME of the tasks.

Maybe I’ll cook something too.

I will surely stack or restack something. You should too.

nick

I suck as a weatherman… today will likely be hot and humid, because we did get some rain yesterday, just after I said we wouldn’t. Just enough to wet everything in my truck… and today will probably be similar, threatening clouds, while slightly warmer and more humid than the last week. Or not, as I said, I suck at forecasting. Of course, so do they.

I did my long round trip yesterday. Took routes I haven’t taken in a while (290 to Austin) and never took (Alt 90 back to Houston instead of I-10.) I am a firm believer in taking different routes places so you see new things.

The stuff I picked up is in pretty good shape. I’ll test the big money pieces today, but I already got a working pro level fog machine, and two older but still working moving lights. My living room was like a disco last night…

Today I’ll do some more testing, and work my list of normal stuff. I really hope I can work outside in comfort. I’ve got a lot to do out there.

There is always stuff to do.

Since I’m moving and re-stacking food preps, I’ll encourage you to do the same. I’ve had some losses, both food and water storage. Those will have to be replaced. My buckets are getting brittle from the UV of indirect sunlight, just like my Aquatainers did. And I’ve had several gamma lids fail. It’s an argument for keeping stuff in the bags it came in, inside the buckets. You won’t fit as much, but it might reduce spoilage in the event of a failure. Also, gamma lids are for buckets that are “in use” not long term storage. Make sure you have extra buckets, lids, and gamma lids.

Stack what you need.

nick

Still starting a bit cooler, under 70F, but warming into the 90s later in the day. It was still 89F at 5pm in my driveway, in the shade. The forecast has no rain for Houston for at least the next three days, so I’ll have to break down and water the yard. I’ve been watering what’s left of the garden, and my potted lime tree, now I’ll run the sprinklers for a while. That will mean fixing them, which wasn’t on the list…

Speaking of lists, only very minor things got done yesterday. I did get the lappy my wife brought home cracked and set up for us. I still need to do some de-installation, and tweaking, but we can use it. Still pretty decent hardware for something the company thought was obsolete.

I got a few things off the list. Moved some stuff around, cleaned some stuff up. SO MUCH MORE of that to do. But not today.

Today I’m making a scrap run with what’s in the truck. Then I’ll do a big loop of pickups, errands for the girls, and dinner… and that will be the whole day. I’ve got a couple of auctions in the morning before I leave the house though. Mostly I’m watching an epilog laser engraver at a school district surplus sale. It’s not even $200 now, and they still sell online for thousands. Plus, I’ve always wanted one…

We’ll see. I won’t spend real money on it, but I won’t let anyone else steal it either. It’s a side hustle in one box…

Meanwhile, stuff is heating up all over the world.

Well, y’all know what to do, get to doin’ it….

n

****Stack!******

And it’s still hot. In the afternoon anyway. Very nice in the morning and evening. Mostly because the humidity is lower. I’m actually wishing we’d have some rain, as the grass is getting crunchy. I might run the sprinklers today.

Did NOT get stuff done yesterday. Slept late after being up most of the night, then had to do some stuff with the kids that ate my late afternoon. I did move some more books from my library to milk crates for transport to the BOL. I’ve got 5 or six full for this next trip.

The rest of the day was spent doing various dad things. Took the girls shopping for dresses for Homecoming. Ay carumba. At least it didn’t take long. Only one store. And I did get a pat on the back from some random mom about being involved in my daughters’ lives…

Bought the kids dinner at Jack in the Box. One meal, two additional Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburgers, a shake, and small fries, and the bill was almost $40. That made $160 for a dress seem reasonable. Inflation is out of control. Oh, and the store was being run by two employees, one of whom was on break, so really one guy on the window, and cooking. If it weren’t for mistrust and safety issues, I think they’d drop to one employee for most shifts. With few customers, one person can handle it. And that’s not a pretty picture of the state of the economy.

Today I will try to do the things I blew off this weekend. I HAVE to start making progress on some of this domestic stuff. Stuff is piling up, both metaphorically and physically. Not in a good way either.

So I’m looking at the same list of projects, and the same list of normal everyday stuff. I’m hoping to get some of it done.

Wish me luck, and stack some stuff of your own…

nick

Another cool-ish Fall day is headed this way. I hope. Yesterday was actually pretty nice as long as I avoided the sun. In the shade, in the breeze, it was pleasant. Oh, it was sweaty, but much less so than recent days. I spent some time working in the garage, and it was ok.

I did sleep in and get a bit of a late start, and I was a bit overwhelmed when I finally got out and walked through some of the stuff that needs doing…

So I decided to just get started by removing a first layer, stuff for the scrap man. Unfortunately, that led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. I did break down a pile of stuff that was in the driveway, and actually blocking the gate, but it was a VERY small change overall. I’d have been better off moving some big stuff around, and making big visible changes.

So that’s what is on today’s agenda. Yes, things need to got to the scrapyard. But things also need big moves and rearranging. The plus is that it will actually complete some things that have been in process for a while, and should make a visual improvement too. IF I get them done.

Which is still kinda up in the air.

Stack some stuff. Do yourself a favor, and stack it neatly the first time…

nick

So I hope it will be cool for most of the day. Should be reasonable, but … yesterday started at 65F but ended just under 90F. It was still nicer out than it has been. I’ll take it for today if that’s what I can get.

Hopefully none of our readers are suffering from Helene. If you were in the path of the storm, let us know what worked and what didn’t.

I got out of the house for a bit yesterday. Had some stomach upset that kept me home until after noon, but then I got out to do a pickup. I hit a local estate sale too. Guy was a bit of an audiophile, a bit of a photographer, and did some woodworking. I got an old Pexto hatchet, some circuit breakers, and a RAID enclosure… because the prices on everything else were crazy high. The sale was run by an english guy and his prices are never good. I probably wouldn’t have even stopped in if I recognized that it was him, even though it was only blocks from my house. The things I bought were not pre-priced and were things he doesn’t care about, so I got lucky.

Then I did my pickup, got the kid from school, and did some grocery shopping. Plenty of in store savings this trip. I had over $12 in coupons… Mostly I needed snacks for the kids’ lunches and sodas. Grabbed some fresh veg, and two chuck roasts that were on sale. Still managed to spend over $300. Push comes to shove, snacks and sodas will be on the chopping block. They are very expensive for what they are.

Today if the weather is nice, I’m doing outside work. I’ve got stuff to do in the garage, attic, driveway, and back yard. I’ve been putting it off for most of the summer and it looks it. Of course, if I catch whatever the wife has, I’ll be laying in bed, not working. That would suck.

I will have a better idea about some of my restocking after I re-stack and rearrange the stuff this time.

There is always something that needs to be re-balanced, or replaced.

Stack all the things111!11!!!1

And look at what you already have.

nick