Category: march to war

I’m expecting low 70sF and overcast. The national map shows weather in our part of Texas, rain and thunderstorms. We’re still a bit on the south side of the system, so we might not get it if stuff blows up from the Gulf. I’ve got stuff to do no matter what happens with the weather.

Yesterday was a nice day. Weather was good, sunny and hot. Some overcast. Maybe some rain some where in Houston, but not for me. Overcast in the evening.

I ended up rescheduling my client visit to next week. He went out of town, so wouldn’t be sending back the gear today anyway. That opened my schedule to watch the kid get “recognized” at school, and later to make some noise and smoke. That lightened my mood. Picked up the kid from school, did the kid taxi routine, and made dinner.

Fit in some other domestic bliss too.

Today I’ll be unloading the scrap I put in the back of the truck, then hitting a couple of estate sales, while doing my pickups. I’ll be making a big loop on the north side of Greater Houston. The main item is the solar panels, but the other things will go on stacks too, or in my “to be sold” pile. I’m buying less, but there are still things popping up that I can use or need.

Keep your eyes open. With the China trade war going on, the supply chains will be disrupted again. It may be the secondary economy is the only place to buy what you need.

Or shop your stacks…

nick

Cool and clear, with possible rain later. The forecast has southeast Texas in a possible rain and storm area, but it didn’t look like that when I went to bed. We’ll see what happens. What happened on Saturday was another beautiful day.

I got up and loaded the auction items I was dropping off onto the truck. Got D1 up and moving, and then we spent 5 hours driving around and doing auction pickups. She did ok, with coaching and me watching out. Only occasional “no,no, NO!” and only two blown stop signs… She’s improving but still needs a lot of practice, especially moving through the current task and into the next one. She wants to do them one at a time, and there is a mental pause between them. Can’t drive that way, have to be looking out, thinking ahead, and acting quickly and decisively when it’s called for.

We made a big loop, on some complicated and rough expressways, with a lot of crazy drivers, and she did OK. We also spent some time talking about what to do if cops pull you over, and what NOT to do. There is a lot to learn besides the ‘rules of the road’ and how to operate the vehicle.

Today I’m going to sleep in a bit, then if the weather holds, I’ll do some outdoor work around the house. If not, I’ll be doing indoor stacking and organizing.

From sun up to sun down, a prepper’s work is never done… or something like that.

Get out there and meet some people. Stack up the things you need. Raise the next generation.

nick

Cool and windy, part clouds, maybe some sun. Might be rain coming. It’s a mess. Nothing I can do about it, so I’ll enjoy it if it’s nice and deal with it if not. I did get the stuff out of the back of the truck, so it won’t get wet if it rains…

Did a bunch of driving around. BIG loop around Houston. Traffic was snarled later in the day, due to more than usual accidents, and more than usual debris on the roads. I was able to do a bunch of pickups. I got some stuff for the BOL and a couple of things for the house. Didn’t do kid taxi stuff as D2 was home sleeping all day. She’s feeling better now and will go to school today. Negative on the combined test for flu a and b, and wuflu. She says “I’ve got stuff to do.” Okay then.

Today I’ll be doing stuff at home. I’ve put some off too long, and I’m behind. We’ll see what actually gets done, but something is better than nothing, and I’ve been doing nothing for too long.

——–
I’m watching the political situation and it feels like a crash diet or a New Year’s gym membership. It’s starting out strong but there is a LOT of inertia to overcome and the system has started fighting back. It’s very difficult to make more than one big change at a time in your life, and big orgs are similar. I think Trump et al. are throwing everything against the wall, with the hopes that something sticks. War is coming, and that will drive the big changes. We won’t even recognize them though until afterwards.

What seems to be coming clear to me is the national version of “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” We might have left it too long, to the point where we can support a late game rally, but not a decisive and lasting change. I hope not. Individuals still can make a big difference. We are very much in the cult of personality stage… who will rise up?

No matter what, change is disruptive. Get your garden started. And stack in case you can’t grow anything but weeds.

nick

Cool and wet. Maybe cloudy all day. Unlike yesterday, when we had SOME clear and even a rainbow in the morning. The rain threatened all day but never arrived. We are supposed to get some precip, and I’d be ok with that, as long as we don’t get some on Friday and Saturday.

I wasn’t feeling great in the morning, I’ve had a bit of a “sour stomach” for a couple of days, and I decided to grab an hour or two napping. Felt better when I got up and got busy doing work.

A couple of pickups took up a good chunk of afternoon. It was mostly stuff for the BOL, but one thing for the house. If I get it installed, I’ll do a bit more commenting on it. After that it was stuck in traffic for about 20 extra minutes, then at least 20 minutes in line for gas at Costco, which messed up my timing to get D2 from her late after school pickup… So I spent 40 minutes reading while I waited for her. That was a better use of time than driving home, then all the way back. This unnecessary level of detail is to say that I lost a couple of hours of productive time. Jerryp would say the day was eaten by ducks.

Today will be some pickups and getting ready for the hamfest. I’ve got stuff scattered all over the place that I need to get together. I need to get the trailer reservation too. And maybe I’ll figure out a better way to get the stuff back on the trailer after the hamfest is over… maybe a come-a-long…

I’ve got to get ready but I feel like the Hamfest is coming too early this year. I’d skip it for half a reason… but I also know I picked stuff up specifically to sell and I’ll enjoy seeing all the guys I only see on that one day. Suck it up buttercup…

And stack it up too…

nick

And another beautiful day is on deck… which is really nice. Yesterday got nice, although it was a bit cooler all day than the previous couple of days. I’m hoping for another clear sunny day, with moderate temps. Everyone in the neighborhood is out walking with either babies, dogs, or sometimes both.

I mostly did auction pickups yesterday. It was domestic bliss in the morning, and driving around in the afternoon. Most of the stuff yesterday was for the BOL, although there were a couple items that will be gifts and a couple of things for resale.

Now I need to get busy listing some stuff to turn it back into money.

That probably won’t happen today though. If it is as nice as I hope, I’ll try doing some of the outdoor stuff I’ve been putting off. I do have to hit one of my auctioneers for a pickup, but that won’t take long.

I’m sleeping in as long as I can. It stops me getting a jump on stuff, but helps me with physical and mental health. Then if I can pull it together, I’ll tick off some boxes on the list. (Some of the stuff I need to do is to get access to my hamfest inventory. I’ve got this week to get ready.) Strangely, we don’t have a ton of family activities planned, only a Girl Scout cookie booth each day. I’m sure other things will pop up.

And I’m sure that stacks will help. No matter what the issue is. So get busy.

nick

Cool, sure. Wet, oh my. After yesterday’s rainstorm? Oh my. Bayous be flooded yo! Dunno about getting down as low as they have been talking about. With this much moisture in the air, land and sea? Seems unlikely to me, but hey, you can be wrong most of the time and still make a living as a financial pundit or a weatherman…

Started the day early, 730AM, when I heard the rumble of diesel engines and truck doors slamming. The tree guy must have decided not to wait, and instead of showing up “later this week”, he showed up Tuesday. I had done most of the prep for him, moving lighting strings, marking trees with paint, etc. but I hadn’t moved my truck. He wanted a clear path to hand carry out all the debris. So I did that in my PJs then started some coffee.

They were done and gone by noon. Meanwhile I got all my “leaving the BOL” stuff done, and I left shortly after they finished.

Did a couple of pickups on my way home. Stopped to dump my trash and some debris in a dumpster. Don’t fret. It’s one I have use of.

Got home in time to get the kid from after-school activities. And the sky opened and dumped buckets on us. It kept raining and thundering for a couple of hours, and it was still lightly raining when I went to bed. Since it was coming down buckets, the gutters, ditches, creeks, and bayous all filled. Should be gone by today though.

Today I’ve got another pickup, and some other messing around to do. I lost my secondary key ring. That’s my ring with a few dozen keys I don’t need every day, but are still important. Like for all my various padlocks… I’m pretty sure it’s in one of my storage units, but of course there is a lock on the unit. I went through a few dozen master lock keys in my collection without finding a match for the lock on the unit… so I need to look at a few more, or get my bump key set out. I don’t want to cut the lock, as I have several “keyed alike” on my storage places, and can’t afford to lose one… and cutting the lock is kinda suspicious looking… I’m pretty sure I can bump key it open without arousing suspicion. I don’t want to pay the storage company to cut the lock either.

I’m usually very careful to handle and move my lock and keys in a specific order to avoid this exact issue, but I had the wrong truck, and so couldn’t use my normal habit… and unlocking that storage unit was the last place I’m sure I had the ring. Dumb, and a waste of my time, all because I was in a hurry. Hopefully the keys are hanging on the shelf when I open the door.

Thrilling stuff, I know…

No access to those stacks without the keys though… and I’m pretty sure my wife had the dupes at some point, but not any more. Prepper fail.

So don’t be like me, make sure you have access to your stored preps. And stack some extras…

nick