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Category: ebay

Mon. Sept. 27, 2021 – another sad anniversary

This date marks three years since Dave Hardy, aka OFD, and long time friend of the blog passed away. He was old school church folk, so if the spirit moves you, say a prayer for the repose of his soul, and the health and safety of his loved ones. If it’s spirits that move you, raise a glass to Absent Friends.

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The weather in Houston this week is supposed to be reverting to normal, with more rain and more heat on the way. I guess we’ll see. Yesterday was still gorgeous. I did get some stuff done outside, but not as much as I could have. I moved stuff, found some more to send to auction, and cleaned up. It was pretty dang hot by the time I got out there which limited me.

One thing I did get done was to apply the Home Defense Max to the perimeter of the house. We’ll be seeing live and dead bugs for a week as it does its magic. I got a couple extra gallons stacked up for later too. I need to reapply about every 6 months, when I get tired of hearing the shrieks from the others in the house.

Pest control. It’s gonna be a thing when stuff goes pear shaped.

Plan for today is more ebay stuff, grocery shopping, including Costco, and more cleaning. If the weather holds, there will be painting with my youngest to move our daddy/daughter project along. If it is raining, we’ll do something else. I really hope it doesn’t rain.

Oh, and I’ve got a couple of pickups to do. Mostly household stuff, but also one or two needful things to add to the stack, and one cheap item for resale.

We’ll see what the grocery stores look like today.

Use this time, stack the things.

nick

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Sun. Sept. 26, 2021 – another sunny day

Forecast calls for another great day just like yesterday. It started at 68F and got into the high 90s, and then below 70F again at night. It was sunny and clear with the most cloudless sky I’ve seen in a long time. I’m hoping for today to be the same, if maybe a little bit cooler. Then I can really get some work done!

I did get some stuff done, although I didn’t start the day with pressure washing in mind. I started attacking a pile in the driveway so I could get to part of the house and spray for insects. Dead leaves, damp earth, and darkness do provide habitat for the local fauna… had to relocate two toads and a pair of earthworms. Once I had the stuff out of the way and saw the filth, I had to do some additional cleanup. And when it got hot, I decided to keep cleaning. As a plus, the area I started with will need to be clear when the plumber puts in the whole house instant hot water heater, if we can find anyone to do the work. At least I have a jump on that.

I’ll have to get stuff rearranged and put back today, ahead of any rain in next week’s forecast. It won’t hurt to find some more stuff for auction either.

All the stuff under tarps and plastic sheet needs new protective sheet. The sun breaks down all the plastics these days. Save the oceans I guess. I found one bucket, two translucent gallon jugs, some poly rope, and the plastic sheet were all either brittle or turning to dust. If you leave it in the sun, it will be destroyed. If you need it, you better have some put away for later.

Buckets, jugs, rope, plastic sheet and tarps, these are prepper staples. It might be a good idea, if your planning horizon is long, to have some that AREN’T plastic. The poly sheeting might be hard to substitute, but the other stuff has good material choices available. Canvas or nylon fabric might substitute. Cloth painter’s drop cloths are very sturdy. The stuff they make billboards out of is available as surplus online from billboard companies. It’s very durable and designed to resist the sun. It might be that a return to old materials like tar paper is called for. It’s certainly cheap enough to have a couple of rolls stuffed in an attic space or between ceiling joists.

If I had the room, I’d put a pallet of 3/4″ plywood, a pallet of 8ft 2x4s, and a couple hundred square feet of roofing shingles in a barn… Add a couple of boxes of appropriate fasteners too. If I lived on that sort of a property, a few rolls of chicken wire fencing would probably already be in the pile. Some stone, chicken wire, and actual pallets and you could improvise Hesco barriers. I’ve seen pics of small scale versions of the Hesco barrier used to define seating areas at a restaurant, and I’ve seen stone delivered to the jobsite packaged that way. Improvised bastions, delivered to your door! Of course, that’s something you are more likely to see in prepper fiction than real life.

One of the things you might be called upon to provide for yourself is shelter, and having the stuff to maintain your current situation is a good thing. It might also mean you can build small animal cages, window covers, or other useful things around your home.

Think about long term and worst case. Even if after considering it, you decide it’s not something you are worried about at this point, the exercise of ‘wargaming’ it will be good for you.

There are more things you can do when you have the supplies, than you can do without them. Stack up what you might need.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 25, 2021 – what did you do this week to prep

Cool and sunny, cold fronts are lovely. Spectacular weather on Friday. Hopefully more of the same today.

Got a bunch of stuff done yesterday. Posted some listings on ebay. Sorted some stuff. Picked up some stuff.

I’d been thinking about the difference between prepping and using your preps. I’ve also been thinking it was time to shift back into a “prepping” mindset. Aesop asked the question, “What have you done this week?” and I realized I’d stopped doing the quintessential prepping posts.

Opsec has become more of a concern than ever, so you might not want to say, or you might think it unwise to say. Mention that if you will.

If you share or not, keep stacking.

n

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Fri. Sept. 24, 2021 – feels like it should be a significant date

Should be cool and sunny today. It was gorgeous yesterday. AbFab weather. Hooray cold front.

I spent most of the day fixing things for ebay. I did 3 different coffee makers. They sell surprisingly well, and are fairly simple. One needed internal cleaning and ‘descaling’. One needed an O ring to stop a leak. One didn’t need anything but a good scrub. I got them listed this evening.

I also cleaned and listed a couple of other things too. Cut the grass in the back yard.

Set up a fitness tracker. I don’t care about how many steps I’ve taken, but there is supposed to be some insight available about sleep patterns. That I do have an interest in. Of course I need to wear the stupid thing in bed, which might be a deal breaker. I’ll give it a try for a while anyway.

D2 had a school open house which cut my afternoon short. Nice to see the teachers, and a couple of the kids recognized me. I miss my science volunteering. It was very gratifying to see the signs for “Bleeding Control Kit” next to the signs for the AEDs in the school. Every AED cabinet has the equivalent of an IFAK in it, district wide. They rolled that out just as covid hit. I’d been advocating for it for at least a year, maybe two and they did it.

D1 has another GS sailing camp this weekend so she’ll be leaving for that late in the afternoon. I’m hoping my wife will take her, but I might be roped into the drive. We’re doing as much normal stuff as we can. Feels a bit frantic, but the world is getting ready for something.

China is flexing on Taiwan. They’ve got Hong Kong under the boot, so they can move on to the next target on the list.

At home, polls are showing regret and a growing unhappiness with Slow Joe.

Australia is going full jackboot.

The Towelie-ban is doing exactly what you’d expect them to do.

Invaders keep pouring over our border, and dispersing into the country.

Money people are still playing games with the money.

And people are angry, emotional, and lashing out.

I think it would be typical for the actual kickoff to come out of left field and surprise everyone. Something is coming. You can feel it building.

Stack. And stack some more.

nick

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Thur. Sept. 23, 2021 – tired, but the weather is great!

Chamber of Commerce weather yesterday, and more on the way. Please gnu, more like that. Hot in the sun but cooler than last week, with a nice breeze. It was down to 61F when I went to bed. That’s the lowest since spring.

I did my pickups yesterday. Got some test gear used by NASA. It’s pretty beat so I don’t expect much, but if it does work I’ll sell some and keep some for playing radio. The other was mostly poisons, fertilizer, and garden chemicals at a nice discount from “store bought”.

Since I was in a new area of town, I hit a smallish Goodwill Outlet, and a large Family Thrift (which is a regional chain.) I ended up with some decor for the house and Christmas presents, and some books and half a dozen Retrevis walkie talkies from the Goodwill. You never know what you will find.

Got home and did some more ebay cleaning and sorting. One of the coffee makers came down to soaking in bleach to get the coffee stain out of the pot. Even the diner trick of ice cubes and salt swirled around inside couldn’t get the last bit out. Dropped my one sale off at the post office on the way home.

It was strange and frustrating that one pickup location was one of those places that google can not get you to. Google kept directing me to go around, behind, and near my target address, but I had to call the guy to find out where they really were. When I finally used the feedback tool, the problem looked like the address pin in the map was at the back of the property, not at the front near the street. I did the “here’s where the entrance REALLY is” update feedback, but my guess it they stay un-routable for a while. Even as a human, an address like 10801 Busy St that ISN’T at the corner of 10800 Busy St, and 700 Smaller St. is confusing and hard to find.

So now I’ve got enough Raid Home Defense Max to keep the cockroaches at bay for a while, and kill the grubs that would infest my yard and gardens, and maybe even enough to ride through the coming unpleasantness. Not that the condition of my grass is crucial, unless it is in order to remain “grey man.” You don’t want to stand out, in a good or bad way. And for a couple of fiat bux, I’ve got one more person covered with Christmas gifts ahead of time.

Stack what you need, what you think you’ll need, and maybe a bit extra. If bankers are writing articles about collapse, maybe it’s time to pay attention.

nick

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Sun. Sept. 19, 2021 – girls coming home today, I better get crackin’

Hot and humid although less so than the peak of summer. We did get a sprinkle or two of rain during the day yesterday, but it didn’t really cool things off, instead it just made the day more humid.

I got a couple of things on my list accomplished. I slept in. And I got some organizing and stacking done at my secondary. Spent a few hours there moving stuff around and even throwing a bit of stuff out. Mostly just shifted the piles though to make room for auction stuff. I did get pics for the first three lots in my industrial auction. I need to get another 5 or six pallets set up then I can get that all in motion.

It is taking so long, but forward progress is being made.

I really need to stay home today and get the house ready for ‘the Return’…

Wife’s birthday is this week too, so I need to get that sorted.

Made one ebay sale yesterday, a book that I bought for $5 and sold for $32 and shipping. Baby steps. Rebuilding my ebay sales will apparently take a while but frequent listing and changing my product mix is having some early good results. I’m going to continue with this and see if it helps longer term.

Soon it will be fall garden planting time. I have to think about that too.

So much to do, so little motivation.

Needs must when the devil drives the cart…

Keep stacking.

nick

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Fri. Sept. 17, 2021 – another week gone in a flash…

Slightly cooler, still humid, maybe rain. Had overcast most of yesterday and some threatening clouds, but never did rain where I was. It’s lot easier to do auction pickup with the pickup truck but then I need to be fairly confident that it won’t rain.

Pickups are the order of the day, at least the order of the afternoon…

Yesterday’s pickup went well. Got stuff for my non-prepping hobby, including something to flip. In the late afternoon, I finally got together with the craigslist flake and did a deal. Sold my $5 auction purchase for $250. I wish I had more of them… I do have more high value items to sell, I just need to get busy with listing them.

I am starting to see a difference in my house, my office, and my secondary location. It’s just slow going.

And I want to go faster, because the decline is accelerating. The latest is fedgov limiting the drugs that 7 southern states will get to treat covid. We’re using up too much, what with our not vaxxing, and not cowering, so they need to save some for the others, who might need it later, because we’ve been BAD and don’t DESERVE the EXPENSIVE treatment. So, people in Florida and Texas can just suffer and die. If there’s anyone thinking that “well they should hold some back for the other people who might need them later” contrast this action with NY Governor sending State Troopers to other parts of the state to seize ventilators for NYC’s use in the early lockdown days.

The uniparty intends to bring us to heel. I don’t think that is going to work out like they think.

USE the time that’s left. Always be improving your position. And stack stuff. Lots of stuff.

nick

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Thur. Sept. 16, 2021 – no rest for the wicked

Cooler, damp, maybe rain, maybe sun. Freaking Houston weather. Yesterday was cooler but also humid with part sun. It’d definitely the end of summer transition. Not quite Fall, but getting close. Mid 70s at night suddenly, when the past month was solid 80s at night.

Since my craigslist buyer flaked out on my yesterday, and my back was still hurting, I did small things here at home. More cleaning in my office. More ebay stuff, including a couple of easy listings. I’m working on doing at least one listing a day, even if it’s just a book so I can get the attention of the algorithm and start actually selling again.

And one big thing, I finally got the inversion table assembled. That first time, when my guts all moved inside was very odd. Then I could feel stuff in my back moving. I’ll need to find a place to put it, probably outside, and I’ll try to get on it a couple of times a day for a bit to see if it helps.

Today I need to finish up a couple of the small things I started around the house, then get out and pickup some stuff. Later in the day, I’m supposed to meet the craigslist guy too. All in all, I’ll be out and about most of the day.

This weekend all the girls are at GS camp so I’ll be working at my secondary location. It would be nice if my back felt strong by then and if I didn’t mess it up. I’ve got a plan, now I just need to execute.

Meanwhile more and more people are noticing that there are still shortages and disruptions in the supply chain. My wife confirmed that she’s seeing it in construction and building projects, but people are currently trying substitutions and work-arounds. When she didn’t mention was what will they do when those run out too.

If you will need it, you should be trying to get it now. You should be thinking about substitutions and alternates. And maybe you should be looking in unlikely places. Some of those places might be a bit on the less legit side of things pretty soon. You guys will remember me suggesting getting some experience in the secondary market… it’s still early, go to a flea market/farmers market/estate sale this weekend. Take cash and keep your eyes open for stuff you might need.

When you find it, stack it high.

nick

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Wed. Sept. 15, 2021 – well that was a big nothing burger, thankfully

Cooler and humid, forecast calls for rain. Yesterday was cooler but pretty wet, with high humidity and occasional misty drizzle.

I got the yard raked up and all the small debris in a pile. We didn’t have any real ill effects, and most of the people we know were the same. We do have school friends that were without power, and two schools in the district will stay home today because they are still dark too, but we were fine.

After the cleanup, I did stuff in the house. Too dreary and humid outside. I put up two of the new child safety gates I got at auction. We have one room in the house that still has carpet, the sunken formal living room. We left the carpet for the kids when they were small and we use the room as a “play” room and library. The dog decided he likes pooping on carpet. So the child gates went back up until we can break what became a habit very quickly. I also gave up and got a “potty pad” of fake grass. We put it in a spot he’s picked to defile, and the plan is to move it outdoors gradually. I don’t think it’s gonna work, and I didn’t want to do anything that encourages or allows ‘going’ in the house, but I got overruled. I just buy the stuff.

I was also able to list some ebay stuff, and fix an electronic gadget that’s been on my list for a while. It was sitting on the freezer, and I need to clear off the freezer, and I thought I knew what the problem was, so I decided that today was the day. The main problem turned out to be corrosion on the power input jack, but I was able to reflow some sketchy looking solder joints, and clean up some moisture damage on the board. In any case I got it working and now I have a Logitech Squeezebox Boom to sell or more likely, use to listen to internet radio and streaming. It was the kind of project I like. It sat on my list for a long time, it got me something I wanted, and it moved from where it was just piled up, toward someplace useful. Three birds killed with one stone. Of course, it was a low priority thing that jumped the list but sometimes I just need to do that.

I also had one of the weird coincidences that seem to define my life happen. I picked up a big LG monitor for $2 because “it won’t stay on”. It would light up with the “nothing connected, going to sleep” message, but as soon as you connected a source to it, it shut off. Google said the wall wart psu was aging, and ailing, and replacing it should solve the issue. The connector is strange, so I didn’t have one in my bins. 19v, and has a center pin in the plug. The weird part is that Monday I stopped in Goodwill, looked in the box of power supplies, and FOUND ONE. $2 and it worked. Monitor now displays source material just fine. Wife will use it in her work from home station to make sure it keeps working, and then I may move it somewhere, put it with a system for sale, or just sell it. Weird that I got exactly the thing I needed, but that is how my life works.

I also looked at the UPSs and couldn’t find any reason why one PC would stay on while the other shut off. Both are in the ‘battery’ side of the box. And in the bedroom, everything is in the battery side as well, so I think it just wasn’t turned on. I did some cable cleanup and pulled my other old TiVO out of the bedroom. Put a new keyboard on the KODI box and got it back online. The youtube ‘add on’ is still fubar’d and I didn’t mess with it. I’ll just keep using the TiVO bolt for now. I’ve got an apple tv, and two roku boxes I could use, or one of several of the Kodi based streamers from china. I just need to mess with it and I don’t think it’s that important yet.

So I got some stuff done, but all stuff from down the list, and not critical stuff. My back felt better, so I really didn’t want to do a lot of physical activity. Today I’ll have to do better. Auction stuff, ebay stuff, and prep stuff. Joy.

I better get to it, ‘cuz those things aren’t gonna stack themselves…

nick

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Sat. Sept. 11, 2021 – and yet life goes on

Slightly cooler, and less humid, with sun and little chance of rain. REALLY nice in the shade with a breeze. Anyway, that was yesterday and what I’m hoping for today.

Got my plumbing repair done. For the record, yes. You do need to shut off the water before removing the screws holding the shower mixing valve in place. You really do. Took about half an hour start to finish and was very straightforward. The youtube video called out the only tricky part (not getting the old O rings out, or not getting the new ones in place) so it was easy to do.

Got some more stuff into bins for the local auctioneer, and got several bins dropped off.

Went back to storage and sorted through even more stuff.

Put a few items up on ebay, as a test. I never used my phone to list, but a youtuber I really like watching says he does all his listing from the phone. His product mix is different from mine, but for common items that have upc codes or are otherwise easy to find on ebay, the phone app works pretty well. It saves a couple of steps involving picture handling, and it fills more of the listing form for you. It isn’t great for entering a lot of text if your description is long. So far, I’ve just used it for a couple of books, games, and DVDs. I’ve already got 2 lowball offers on one of the game disks*, so it works.

You never know what you’ll find at the Goodwill Outlet stores. Two days ago I grabbed 10 pounds of costume jewelry for $15. I’ll make that back easy with the bakelite bracelets and still have a pile of stuff for my Halloween pirates’ booty. Yesterday I grabbed a B & W powered subwoofer that originally sold for $1400 and people are still asking $500-700 online for used ones. It’s a heavy SOB so I paid up for it. Still, should be a nice score. In the last week I found a $1500 coffee maker, nike watch, vintage sportswear, and tons of books for the kids. Gub accessories and reference books too.

Now I need to get it sold. I’ve already listed some, and taken a bunch to the auction. Some recent scores will bulk out the bins of other stuff that I’m selling that way. BTW, the auctioneer is still happy to get more from me, including some of the industrial stuff. He’s the first of them that actually meant it when he said “bring it all.”

Non-prepping hobby meeting today, so I’ll be offline until noon-ish. Mostly I think we’ll be doing ‘show and tell’ for stuff we swapped around at our show last weekend. Should be fun.

I really hope the islamic terrorists are content to carve up Afghanistan for a while and don’t have anything planned for today. It’s a big day for them too, so if you’re out and about, keep your awareness up. Self radicalized ‘lone wolves’, or an organized plan, an attack is overdue. Never forget. Never forgive.

Go to the store and buy some stuff. Stack it high.

nick

*sold it for listing price while I was writing this post. Now if I could do that for some big ticket items…

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