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Fri. Sept. 6, 2024 – Friday so soon? Well, we did miss Monday…

Cool and wet. OR Hot and wet. Won’t know until we get there. But yesterday was overcast and cool almost all day, and actually cool once the rain started. Some cool would be nice.

Spent the day at home. Had to take the kid to the orthodontist, then school. The other kid stayed home sick. And the plumber came to do the gas line for the whole house gennie. Yep, the one that has been sitting there for years.

It lives! Started right up too. Now I’ve got some electrical to do, a battery to buy, and some sound absorption stuff to install. It will be nice to have finally made progress on that project. Honestly don’t know why it’s taken so long, but part of it was biting the bullet on the expense. Part of it was “just do it.”

Cooking a nice brisket for dinner rounded out the day.

Today should be domestic bliss, and some auction stuff. I’ve got one pickup to do, maybe two. I need to talk with the auctioneer that’s been selling for me and get that going again. I need to move some stuff to storage, and look to see what electrical stuff I’ve got stored deep at the secondary location. It would be nice to get some other stuff done too. The week flew by.

Like they are wont to do.

So stack what you can while you can. Make a little progress every day. Like the rapidly vanishing year, you’ll be amazed what the little steps add up to.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 3, 2024 – Well, waddayano… Monday comes on a Tuesday this week

And it’ll be hot. Maybe not brain boiling hot, but still hot. And humid. ‘Cuz that’s how we roll in the Bayou City. Like yesterday. That was hot too, although slightly less hot than previous days.

I got up fairly early yesterday and started knocking out some little jobs. I replaced the door switch in the beverage fridge so the light comes on when you open the door. The old switch stuck. I hung a couple of speakers and made a plan to get wires to them on the dock. Wife has been pushing for this- let the stereo wars begin… I measured for insulation to close the previously flooded walls in the dockhouse. I unloaded the vehicles and mostly put stuff away. I even installed a screen door on the garage man door. It’s a retracting screen so it will only be in the way when we’re actually using it. Yes this paragraph IS all about me.

Other tasks were attempted too. I burned the last of the slash pile on the old but still quite toasty coals. This despite the rain… Then W put the coals out with lakewater. Much steaminess ensued. Items were put away where they belong. Books were shelved, although most were not, as the shelves were still waiting for stain and finish… and on my way out, I dropped off a few things for my buddy.

They were not large or difficult or even high priority items from the list, but they did need to be done eventually and they were low effort and low engagement, which was about all I felt up to doing. Because it was HOT AND HUMID.

Baby steps are still steps.

The same can be said for preparedness. Once you have the big stuff out of the way, it’s all small stuff. Or you could say that even doing small stuff helps you prep… because no matter how little you do, it’s still more than a vast majority will do.

So get out there and stack. Bag some low hanging fruit this week. You’ll be glad you did, and it might jump start more serious efforts.

nick

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Sat. Aug. 31, 2024 – hope it doesn’t rain…

It’ll still be hot and humid, but less so than Houston. Some chance of rain. It was a few degrees cooler up here last night than Houston, even chilly with the dampness. Nice change.

Spent Friday driving around, doing pickups, then errands. Got some stuff at Lowe’s to do projects up here. Ant killer too. Went to the chiropractor and got gas. $2.89/gallon. Picked my Ranger up from the shop. I’ve got new tie rod ends and the steering is better. Found some more damage to the control arms but I don’t think I’ll spend the money. Tires are cheaper…

Today I’ll start by cutting the grass, and knocking out a couple of small projects. Unloading both vehicles and putting stuff away will be a priority too. The rest will depend on weather. Too hot, or too wet, are both job stoppers.

One thing that won’t take too long is to check the moisture content of the walls in the dock house. If they are back to normal, I’ll make a list of what I need to close them back up. The meter was on clearance at Lowe’s so I finally bought one. It will be helpful to actually know the moisture content of the 2 x 4s instead of guessing that it’s “fine.”

I’ve got some projects that are indoors, and I’ll poke at them if I have too.

There is always more to do.

Like prepping, you can always do more, learn more, and stack more…

nick

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Thur. Aug. 29, 2024 – time flies… and any landing you walk away from is a good landing.

Supposed to be a chance of rain again today, and slightly cooler temperatures. Yesterday ended up in the high 80s, low 90s, but it stayed cool for a while. There was spotty rain, depending on where you were, but I barely got any here at home.

I didn’t have a very productive day. I fell asleep in the chair after breakfast and that set me back all day. Later I spent some time looking for sneakers to replace the pairs I’m wearing out, and did an online order with in store pickup later in the day. I also ordered a couple of things I needed around the house. Sanded and mudded the ceiling repairs in the bathroom and kitchen. They should have been done a long time ago, but I never wanted to make the mess. A quick sand and they will be ready for paint, and no longer on my list.

Got the kid from school, hit the chiropractor, picked up my shoes, came home and cut the grass. That was kinda productive… One trick, I like to wear shorts when it’s hot, but cutting the grass with the string trimmer is very painful in shorts. I bought a pair of MMA foam shin guards in the auction, and I wear those now to run the string trimmer. I’ve got a pair at the BOL, and one here. Legs stay cool, but almost all of the chips and bits get stopped by the shin guards instead of my shins. It might look silly but I don’t care. No more bloody shins.

Today will be more home work, mostly putting stuff away, and a couple of auction pickups. The shady guy finally has the last three auctions ready for me to pick up, I’ve got a couple of lots at another auction, and a third local auction to pick up later in the day. I only have a couple of lots at each of them, but I do need to get them picked up.

I’ll need to sort out what I’m taking up to the BOL this weekend too. OH, and taking the pickup to the mechanic because the alignment is off… just a little but they supposedly did the alignment after changing the shocks, so I’m miffed that it isn’t right. Of course I really need the truck for the next day, and then all weekend. Grrr. Not pleased. Not at all.

Still trying to improve my readiness. Still stacking. Got lots to do.

nick

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Wed. Aug. 28, 2024 – Month is winding down, but the work piles up

Slightly cooler, with a chance of rain. Or more realistically, rain for sure in some part of Houston, but not necessarily all of Houston. Yesterday’s rain followed me all over town. Sunny here, pouring down t-storm there… The streets flood, then the bayous flood, then it’s all gone.

I did my pickups, and only got a little bit wet. Truck is pulling slightly to the right so I’ll have to take it back in. The shady auctioneer was open, and handing out winning lots, but had paused live auctions (essentially skipped one) to give the warehouse a chance to catch up with pulling orders. That’s their story anyway. One disappointment was a lot that was supposed to be a 250w solar panel, but turned out to be a tiny, charge=your=phone sized panel. Got that refunded. Did my kid driving duty. Made crock pot carnitas for dinner. Great way to use cheap pork shoulder.

Today will be focused on stuff here at the house. I’ve still got sale stuff to put away, and the pile that is going to the BOL needs to be gone through and re-stacked. There are other tasks I’ve been putting off too, but we’ll see what the weather turns out to be.

I’ll either be working inside or out, but I’m sure to be working.

Always be working to improve your position. And stack while you can.

n

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Tues. Aug. 6, 2024 – more chauffeuring and more running errands

Hot again. And humid. It was a bit less humid yesterday though, which was nice. There was plenty of heat. Mostly I hid indoors, when I wasn’t running the kid around town. Even short distance trips take more time than you would expect.

So I was mostly dad yesterday. Had sportsball tryouts, a Dr visit, more sportsball, and not a lot of work ended up being done. I did mostly auction stuff. And sitting at my computer. Did a quick update for my hobby site. It’s definitely easier with a wordpress based site.

Today I’ve got both kids running all over town. School is starting up soon and the back to school stuff is starting up too.

On my plate, I’ve got pickups, cleanup, fixes, auction stuff, and all the domestic bliss I’ve put off for two weeks.

So short shrift here, unfortunately.

Doesn’t mean you should slack off. One look at the headlines should convince you that there is room in the pantry for a few more cans, and room in the safe for a few more gats…

So stack it up.

nick

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Thur. Aug. 1, 2024 – time marches on, gonna be school starting up soon…

Hot and humid, but first merely warm and humid. Supposed to be clear for a few more days, so the sun will heat it up soon enough.

I spent yesterday fixing my mower, and cutting the grass. I did my yard, and the HOA park next door. Took a long time as I had to go slow and take less than full swaths so I didn’t bog down the mower. Grass was really tall and thick.

Today I’ll probably trim and blow to finish the yardwork. Might try to burn some of the slash pile. Will find some projects that don’t involve baking my brain later in the day…

The world continues to get weirder, and march to war. Anyone got a good article about increased export controls? Heard someone mention it in passing as part of the difficulty for their business in this economy. Depending one what’s restricted, I’ll add it to my list of indicators that war is coming.

War or not, preps are a good thing.

nick

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Sun. July 28, 2024 – bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Another rainy day in store if the weather liars get it right this time. Overcast, light rain, cooler… now look what I’ve done. It’ll probably be 100F and sunny, just to spite me. It spit rain and stayed overcast pretty much all day Saturday.

Did my thing in the morning, hit a couple of thrift stores and a pawn shop near my pickup. I’d never been in the stores before. The Goodwill was laid out differently than most, and had zero good stuff apart from a few t shirts. I need some new shirts as I’m wearing them out at the BOL. The non-affiliated but still churchy thrift had high prices but I still found a couple of LP albums. They had a dozen pipes and a rack with a humidor jar, but none of them were anything special and they wanted 3x what I was willing to pay. They did cut the price in half when I asked, but that still wasn’t really enough. Dr Grabow pipes are very common and were never expensive pipes.

Ran out the clock on the rest of the day doing laundry and messing around. I was tired and my brain was fried.

Today I’ve got all the usual stuff to do, and some stuff for my non-prepping hobby. Depending on weather, I will try to do some of the outdoor stuff too. Don’t think that is likely though.

I’m sleeping late today, trying to catch up a bit. Doesn’t really work, but it feels better.

Can’t make up sleep, and can’t use the preps you don’t have… so get to it.

nick

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Sat. July 27, 2024 – non-prepping hobby day, then auction stuff

Cooler, then warming later. Rain. No rain. Light rain. Who knows. We got all of them yesterday at some point. It is nice starting the day cooler, gotta admit that, even if it comes with the rain.

Did a bunch of driving around to pick up stuff. Did some kid chauffeuring too. DIDN’T do the prep I should have for my club. I’m supposed to be providing some laptops for powerpoint, and maybe signage. I’ve got ’em, just didn’t get them all loaded with PPT and ready. I’ve been busy with other things most days.

So I’ll do my meeting, run up north for a double pickup, then head home to do some stuff I should have done already.

Family is going to visit east coast relatives next week. I’ll be headed to the BOL for most of it. Nightraker, if you are still living in the same place, drop me a line? I think you are nearby…? I don’t like splitting the group, especially when air travel is involved, but we still have to live our lives, and seeing family is important.

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Had a chat with D1 while we were driving. It was mostly about my prepping philosophy and timing. And how hard it is to get the timing right, vis Jews leaving Germany ahead of WWII. Better to be too early than too late, I think, and how that applies to our lives and what I expect to see in the next few years. Hopefully it made sense to her.

She’s growing up before my eyes, and it should be helpful to have her ‘on board’ with the why as well as the what.

Times are changing. The system has inertia, massive amounts in most areas, but enormous forces are being brought to bear. The critical decisions have already been made and when we look back, we’ll be able to see when we crossed the line and the bad things became inevitable. The stage is being set, pieces moved into place. Even me and my wife, with small roles to play, are being manipulated. The other day I learned a new phrase, “one drop theory” and I encountered it twice, once online vis Kamel, and then from my wife’s mouth on the same subject. Not a co-incidence. Programming. Battlespace prep. Memetic propagation . Very sophisticated forces are at work and their goals are not my goals.

Stack. It’s hard to influence the flow of history, but we can take steps to shape our own role, and our own experience.

nick

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Fri. July 26, 2024 – not feeling the love…

Hot and humid, raining? Maybe. Rained all day yesterday, so why not today too? I’ve got things to do and would like to use the pickup truck, but don’t want everything to get wet… The rain did cool it down yesterday which was nice. Started at 72F and ended at 78F.

Got through a whole day without hearing about issues with my hobby website. Guess I did finally get the DNS fixed and everything critical working right. If it’s not, I’ll hear about it. Didn’t get a lot else done except auction stuff. I did get two small woodworking projects knocked out. That gets the pieces out of my office and the pile of stuff needing attention. It feels like work but it is really work avoidance.

The new fridge is nice and cold, but as it was wet and raining, I didn’t move it into the garage. I have the fridge and freezer on riser stands to make the tops level, and to raise them so it’s a bit easier to get into the back and bottom of the fridge. The new fridge is taller but narrower than the old one. I’ll need to remake the riser for it if I want them to match. I’ll delay that for a day or two and hope for dryer weather. I need to pick up some 2x4s or hit the piles of fence wood…

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Got a quote from a facebook guy to connect the whole house gennie. Keep in mind it’s 10 feet from the electrical service and the gas service. $3000. $700 for the gas line, and the rest for the electrical work. Yeah, I don’t think so. At least not yet.

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Today I’ve got pickups all over town, east side, west side, south side… and tomorrow, north side. I got some good stuff for the house and the BOL, and even some hobby stuff. I’m definitely shirking getting the house back together though.

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Dinner last night was a pork loin roast (frozen in 2023), sauteed zucchini with cheese sauce (fresh from store), and shelf stable sourdough bread. Ate about 2 pounds of the roast… For dessert, white chocolate macademia nut cookies, from mix with a best by of 9-21. All the cookies got eaten too. Tonight will be a nice chuck roast in the slow cooker, and another loaf of bread.

Stack some food and the means to cook it. And practice. Yum.

nick

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