Category: march to war

Cold and clear, warming a bit later. It was cold and clear yesterday, and did in fact warm later. All the way to comfortable in shirtsleeves. Odd use of words, that, but used in North America as a rough description of temperature for some time. Shirtsleeves. Odd.

Did my errands and scutwork in the morning. Drove to my pickups, got them done. Hit the Goodwill bins on the southwest side. Filled a cart. I know, I wasn’t going to, but the stuff was too good.

Stopped at EPO, an electronics store in the style of an old school Army Navy surplus store. Too much of the stuff is priced like a museum, but they’ve got what you need- and literal tons of sh!t no one needs (like stacks of broadcast quality VCRs- a whole room full). I noticed oil lamps hanging from the ceiling this time. Good oil lamps, like you would have found in a home when oil was the primary lighting tech. I haven’t seen anything besides the typical red or blue dietz style or a glass hurricane style in person, ever. Yet there they were. They are above the aisle with Metal Earth ™ laser cut metal model kits, tweezers, and RF connectors and patch cables…. down a bit from fuses… EPO is a Houston treasure.

Hit the costco on the way home, just for coffee and TP if it was on sale. It wasn’t. $29 for a bale of Charmin? No, I’ll pull down stock and wait for the sale. I ended up grabbing a couple of staples that don’t go on sale and got out for ~$200 which is the least I’ve spent at Costco in a single visit in years.

I hope the weather holds, because I still have stuff in the back of the truck that I need to get put away today.

I’ve also still got to pick up some Christmas gifts for my number one wife… which is critical and getting too close to the day. We’ll see what I get done on the list, but getting her something is VERY HIGH on the list all of a sudden.

Stack while you can. Fix what needs fixing. Get your ducks in a row. But also – breathe. Enjoy the moments you get. No one knows the number of our hours, and they are probably shorter than you think. May sure others know you care…

nick

*would an AI know the next number in the sequence to replace “?” It’s pretty straightforward for humans…

Damp and cool again, probably foggy. It did start that way but got a bit better yesterday. Until the rain came anyway. But even that didn’t last. So what kind of weather did we have yesterday? Yes.

Spent the morning on auction things and messing around. Got the kid and an extra from school at noon, and that killed my plans for the day. I ended up doing some cleaning and organizing around the house, and then made a nice dinner.

The sirloin cap roast was only a year old. Hardly worth mentioning, when there were steaks next to it from 2020… but it was delicious. Instant mashed potatoes were great with a bunch of butter, and my signature cabbage dish rounded out the menu. Cabbage, hard squashes, apples, onions, root veg, they are all traditional european and American foods that store well and can be used all winter long. It felt good to eat a sit down meal with the whole family and food from the pantry. We’ve been eating quick foods and leftovers too much lately. Dessert was cookies. Lots of cookies.

Today I’ve got a couple of pickups in opposite directions. I’ve been watching a lot of auctions lately and not even bidding if the pickup was inconvenient. I’ve got most of what I need, and the time to do the pickups is definitely eating into my workday, so I’m being a bit more conservative with what I’ve been buying lately. Got the kids this afternoon too, as they have testing in the morning and early dismissal. They can be home alone, but I don’t want any other kids here with them if I’m not here.

I’ve got nine pounds of stuff and only 5 pound bags. But I’ve got stacks. Lots of stacks. Maybe time to start putting some to use.

nick

Warm and humid, becoming hot and moist later. That’s what yesterday was like, and today is usually pretty much like yesterday. So that’s the safe way to bet.

I did a bunch of domestic bliss yesterday, indoors, with the A/C on. Cleaned out the toy room. Tried the new boards in the old TVs, but they didn’t solve the problem. I junked them at that point. Saved the boards. That stuff is now out of the room.

Looked into applying the moisture barrier to the floor, but all three cans had “kicked” and were solid. One can was half leftover from doing the kid’s room at the BOL. The other two I bought for $5 each in an auction. That was taking a chance but if it paid off I would have saved hundreds of dollars. The freaking goop is pricey.

The moisture barrier is because that room will eventually get the same glue down engineered hardwood as the rest of the house. I even have it sitting in storage. We learned the hard way that no matter what the test says about the concrete slab and moisture, it’s worth the money to do the barrier. Having the smooth barrier makes the flooring glue easier too. This would have been a convenient time to cover most of the floor with the goop. Oh well.

Did laundry. Cleaned the kitchen after the bakers were done. Did some auction stuff. Made dinner. Just another day, and one I’m grateful to have. Every day without a new conflict or a disaster is a good day. And it’s another day to get your stuff in order…

Today will be pickups all over town. Mostly Christmas gifts, but a few things for the stacks. And normal kid taxi duties.

Take the time. Work. Fix. Grow. Stack.

nick

Warmish, and damp. Really damp. Pretty sure about that part, here in the swamp. It did occasionally get sunny yesterday and the temps got into the 70s in the afternoon. Still, it was pretty damp and unpleasant.

I did get my pickup done, which got me two Christmas presents. Stopped at the Goodwill in Katy (better local stuff than most) and got a few more- some funny graphic T shirts for D1 and something for my sibling.

Then it was home for the list. So I got to work clearing some of the stuff out of the room where the Christmas tree will be. That meant taking a look at some of the things there. One was a big cigar humidor (like a 3 ft tall wine fridge) that had no power. I bought it for pennies because it was a scratch and dent. Troubleshooting through the power supply and onward, tested the compressor by jumpering past the control board.. and just when I’d almost given up, I thought to pull the control panel on the door. The connector was not connected… plugged it in, and everything came to life. Hooray. That’s not just a fix, now it will leave my house and head to auction. I need more to leave.

While this was going on I was watching a couple of auctions close too. Didn’t buy anything. But every time I walked past the kitchen, I snagged some cookies. Lots of cookies. I’ll pay for all the sugar today… but it was worth it. W1 and D2 outdid themselves piling up the good stuff.

Today I’ll be working the list AND doing all the normal school day stuff. And maybe shopping for the rent house repairs. Or actually doing them. Who knows. Could happen.

And I think I should probably order a couple of gifts from my wife’s list… that seems… prudent.

I’ll be pulling presents out of the stacks, but some things off her list might be a good idea.

Stack ALL the things, even gifts for your loved ones…

nick

Cool-ish, and definitely wet. We had periods of not much mist, yesterday but there was heavy rain as well. Basically we had all the weather yesterday. I’m hoping today is a bit nicer. 60-70F, and not raining would be good.

Had my non-prepping hobby Christmas potluck dinner yesterday. It went well, a good time was had by all. Now I don’t have that deadline hanging over my head. Now I can concentrate on getting ready for Christmas. And going to the BOL. And visiting mom… and doing all the year end stuff…

So today will be focused on getting a place ready for the tree. That will have a series of challenges. Some of those are actually prepper challenges as they relate to stacking stuff. I’ve got ebay and auction stuff piled in the room, and solar bits and pieces. And stacks of books. All will need to be sorted, and sorted out.

There is always something more to do.

SO I better get to it. In a bit….

nick

(Stack something, but maybe not in your formal living room.)

Another cold morning, warming slightly later. I’m hoping for clear sky and dry-ish. At least not raining. National forecast looks good for the next few days.

I spend yesterday doing my thing. Did some auction stuff in the morning, then did some pickups. Got the kid from school. Headed back to the house. Did some work on the Christmas decorations. Had to get changed, and then get myself back to the other kid’s school for recitals… and then home again.

Lots of to-ing and fro-ing when you’ve got kids in middle and high school, especially if they do any activities, or want to watch the “yummy” boys play sportsball… or study with friends, or any of a dozen things. I had no idea what my dad went through to pick me up from school 5 days a week when I was doing afterschool activities. At least I only have to drive a couple of miles, he was driving 13 each way, after driving 30 to get home from work. It’s no wonder they bought a car and let me drive the carpool to school.

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My TV repair parts arrived from China, 7 days early. Add fixing the TVs to my list of stuff to do.

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I’m going to try to get to my rent house today and make the repairs there. Kid is staying after school for tutoring, so that gives me more leeway if something goes wrong or takes too long. Of course I’ve got other stuff to do if I go to that part of town. Hit the secondary to drop stuff off and pick up a couple of things. Hit the Lowes for parts and supplies, etc… It’s fractal.

Like life and prepping, there is always something more to do, something else to do, or something to re-do.

I’m just not keeping up. I know what the problem is, I’m not leaving the house to do the stuff. And I’m not doing the stuff if I’m here. I’m working on that though.

Always be working.

And stacking.

nick

Cool to cold, supposed to have frozen overnight… but seems unlikely to me. It was 46F at 1130pm. I brought the potted lime tree in under the patio anyway. No idea what it will be like today but windy and cold seems most likely.

Yesterday was mostly a bust as far as my list went. It’s ok. I spent some good time talking with a friend. And I did get a number of pickups done, including errands for my wife. She needed a bottle picked up at Total Wine, a more upscale warehouse style store than Spec’s, where I usually shop. They had a really nice selection of non-alcohol beers, and dealcoholized wines and spirits. I picked up several of each to try. So far the Christmas Clausthaler was nice, and there was a chocolate stout that is far superior to Guiness’s own N/A version. It’s nice to have choices, and I’ve found that if I bring N/A beer to a party, it all gets drunk, while some of the guests do not… 🙂 There is a growing demand for N/A choices in the US and manufactures are stepping up. They had a nice medium sized humidor too, and prices were decent.

Today I’ll be doing stuff I should have done yesterday, followed by more stuff I put off, and maybe some unexpected stuff. The wind really kept me from doing stuff outdoors, so I’m far behind on Christmas lights. I did get some of the stuff for my hobby potluck ordered. I still have stuff to pickup, and a couple of white elephant gifts to come up with.

As I was out and about, I do seem to be finding a sense of optimism. It could just be people trying to make the holiday season as good as it can be, or it could be bigger. Lots of decorated houses this year. And while plain white in straight lines is the most common lighting scheme, the fact people are decorating, a purely discretionary activity, is heartening. It may be that they all have the big tvs they want, and there isn’t a must have console this year to suck up $500-1000, so they feel ok pulling back a bit on gifts. Or it may be them maxing cards they know they can’t pay and just saying “F#ck it” Go big or go home.

We’ll know better in January. Meanwhile, expect the world to move more chess pieces around. Lot’s of people positioning stuff before next year…

None of what I see makes me want to slow down the stacking. Make your own decision, but act on it. No waffling.

nick

Cool again, but not cold. Clear sky. Yesterday was cool and dreary most of the day. Heavy mist, grey sky. But around 2pm something moved in and blew the heck out of Houston, and then we had sun and clear sky. Great finish to the day, and I’m hoping today is the same.

I did some auction stuff in the morning, then headed out. Lots of driving and several pickups later it was time to get the kid– who stood me up. I would have had an additional couple hours to go by my secondary location and storage unit, but instead I rushed across town and pushed two tasks to today. Kid wanted to work on a project with a friend. That part is fine, but jerking my schedule around isn’t.

In any case, I spent the half hour I had to kill at home listening to and watching the posted video of my volunteer middle school musical theater effort. The videographer really should have taken my cleaned up audio and mixed it in with the ambient recorded by the cameras. I got them both playing at the same time, and was able to A-B them, and mix them at different levels, and adding the audio direct from the board really sweetened up the recorded audio. Too bad he either didn’t know how, or didn’t want to. Pro level tools from only a couple of years ago are available free now. It’s mind blowing what you can do at home. If you have the time and desire.

The Powers That Be seem intent on throwing it all away. Civilization that is.

Not much we can do on a macro level, but on a local and personal level? Yes. Get your shite in order (better than me.) Get what you need to be independent and stack it. Find a network of people to work with for daily living tasks, and extraordinary tasks too. Let’s get through whatever big bad is coming.

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Today I’ve got a couple of pickups in the other direction from yesterday’s. And I’ve got the stuff I didn’t get done to do. I need to do some banking, make some appointments, and do some shopping for my potluck dinner. Then kid taxi at the end of the day to limit what I get done…

And getting ready for Christmas. And replacing stuff in the stacks that aged out. And finding places to stack some new stuff. (like my new manual tire changer- it’ll go to the BOL for use on the mower and maybe a golf cart or trailer tire)

There is always more you can do. Stack something.

nick