Category: personal

Cool and kinda damp in Houston. But supposed to still be clear. Florida meanwhile is getting some cold air, and who knows what the temps there will be? I’ll find out though…

Did my mileage for taxes. Did a bunch of personal care and grooming. I don’t usually do it all at once, but I did yesterday. Did laundry too. Even folded my clean clothes. In other words, lots of domestic bliss, not a lot of other stuff.

Today will be a bit of packing, a bit of cleaning, and a bit of getting ready to go out of town. I’m headed to Florida to see mom and sibling… Wasn’t my idea, but maybe it’s for the best. I really don’t like holiday travel. And I don’t like all the rushing and activity we’ve had this break. But my likes don’t really matter much at the moment. I’ll suck it up and soldier on.

I’m thinking ahead though, and trying to decide what I can do a few more “long form” posts on. If and when I start poking at the solar, that should be good for a few posts. Maybe I should refine my milk crate food storage system, or look at redundancy in cooking/water/heating/cooling/energy etc. Or maybe I should turn some focus on my physical condition, and look at improving that…

Not sure what will come, but I’ve been slacking in the actual content department. I’m going to consciously try to change that this year.

It’s hard to keep repeating the basics, even if new people come to prepping all the time; and some of the more advanced stuff will either seem too narrowly applicable or too far out…and I’m not an expert by any means.

The default will be more of the same. Hopefully that is enough.

And there will be stacking, of course.

Welcome to New Year, like every day, and yet somehow different. Let us hope and pray, work hard, and work smart, to make it a good year.

Thank you all for joining me here.

nick

Another damp and warmish day ahead. The heavy mist eventually cleared up, for some people in Houston. Some got rain. Even heavy rain. Nothing at the house, but several areas I drove through got pounded. I’m guessing today will be similar.

Did some errands in the morning including taking the White Elephant gift that D2 forgot at home to school. I wanted it off the countertop, and it ended up someone really liked it. So despite having to get dressed and drive to school, it turned out ok.

Did my pickups. Got cheated on a solar panel. Auction company was in the wrong but won’t admit it. Freaking amazon fraudulent products. The panel in question is marketed on amazon to intentionally fool people into a purchase and the description is a flat out lie. The auction company just repeated the original description and lies, but wouldn’t just refund me when I pointed out what was happening. I wasn’t the only one fooled, as someone bid me right up to fair market value for the panel, if it was as described.

I’ll get even some way, but in the mean time it reinforces that amazon has poisoned the well by allowing all the fraudulent chinese sellers and manufacturers to sell their cr@p alongside real products.

At a different auctioneer, I picked up another 2 panels, 100w each. Nothing wrong with them, and exactly what I was expecting. So it’s really time to start building at least a test or starter system. I have a bunch of panels, quite a few inverters and charge controllers, and not enough batteries… I’ll add it to the list.

Today is a half day for the spawn, so I might not get much done. I’ll try anyway. We’ll just see what actually gets accomplished.

Stack something. Ya know ya wanna…
nick

Cold again. Probably mid 40s. Thankfully it does get warmer in the course of the day. Even without much sun, yesterday was comfortable in a light jacket, maybe even a bit warm for that. We did get some rain spatter in different parts of town during the afternoon and evening, but it barely got anything wet.

I did my kid wrangling and taxi service in the morning. D2 will be getting her braces off in about 6 weeks and she can hardly wait.

Did some auction stuff after that, then headed out to do pickups and visit my rent house. The issues there were some tongue and groove porch flooring repairs I’d done had failed, and there was water under the sink and it was getting worse. I’ll be gluing the boards back in place, maybe with a nail this time. I’ll swap out the old faucet and re-caulk the sink. Hopefully that will solve the water issue. I’m surprised the cheap faucet lasted as long as it did, and that I left it in place. One thing i’ve learned as a landlord, is to put quality stuff in the house.

You don’t want to be messing around at the property so put in stuff that will last. Toto toilets are expensive but they really don’t clog. The first time you DON’T have to fix a blocked toilet, it pays for itself. Ditto for cabinets, hardware, and other appliances and fixtures. The better the quality, the fewer problems.

This is generally true in life. Some people call it “Buy once, cry once.” I’ve rarely been disappointed that I bought something nicer, and often disappointed that something cheap failed. You don’t have to have “the best”, and price isn’t always an indicator of quality, but the best thing at the best price, with the compromises in areas that won’t degrade the use of the thing… that’s the sweet spot.

Always be working to improve your position.

And stacks will help. I’ve got everything I need to fix my toilet issue- if it needs fixing. Stack it up!

nick