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Tues. June 9, 2026 – Stub number three

By on June 9th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, open thread, personal

Mumble mumble mumble— weather is goofy all over. Nice here though. Sunny, humid, and hot. I can only hope my house and the BOL came through any storms without damage. We’ll get home when we get home.

Spent the morning shopping in the tourist trap. Kid bought a necklace she’s very happy with. I passed on everything. No cerveza sin alcohol to be had either. 10 years ago no one here had heard of it, now they know it but don’t stock it. Change.

Today it’s a bit more fun in the sun with a snorkeling trip involving small boats and getting in the water. We’ll see how that goes for me this time.

Then it will be more good food and maybe some more time talking with my mom. We did play a card game with W and D2 yesterday after dinner. Memories….

Stack up the good times. I’ve a feeling we’ll need them.

nick

Read the comments: 15 Comments

Mon. June 8, 2026 – Stub number two

By on June 8th, 2026 in open thread

Well, we’re supposed to get good weather. Yesterday had a little rain in the morning but it cleared and the sun was a laser burning my flesh by the afternoon. Today should be the same.

Didn’t do much more than read, sleep, and eat. Chatted with my mom a bit. Hope to do some more today.

Today has a beach visit scheduled. I will probably not enjoy that much, but the kids will, so I’ll go along.

I’m sure that by the time I settle into this trip it’ll be time to head home. That’s the nature of the beast.

Stack it up, as there is still time. If you need any reason, hurricane season will be getting underway. Now so will I.

nick

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Sun. June 7, 2026 – Stub number one

By on June 7th, 2026 in open thread

Weather is beautiful here. Not at all beautiful in Houston. No idea if it’s having any direct impact on my stuff. Eventually we’ll find out. Nothing I can do from here.

Had a travel day, ending in an arrived where we were going day. It’s nice so far.

Looks like I will probably be able to open the door and turn the lights on most days but I’ll leave the stubs in place just in case.

Stack! you know I’d want you to.

nick

Read the comments: 33 Comments

Sat. June 6, 2026 – RBT’s birthday, so spend some time remembering friends

By on June 6th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war, personal

Warm and humid here in FL. Maybe a bit cooler than usual for this time of year? Hard for me to know, as I can’t remember last year when we were here.

Spent the day recovering. I hurt my neck on one of the coasters and I think that is making me feel ‘weird’. I’ll know better today.

Today we move to the next part of our trip. We’ve got a 1pm appointment so it’ll be re-packing and driving for a bit.

I’ve got solid, if not blindingly fast, internet so I’ll get the next 5 days stubbed out for the site. If I have time. It was too late and I was feeling too weird last night to be sure I’d get all the times right.

———
Take some time today to remember our absent friends. Anniversaries are a good time to spend a little extra effort.

And maybe do a little something extra today, be it a prep, something with computers or science, or astronomy… keep the spirit alive.

nick

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Fri. June 5, 2026 – splitting the party today

By on June 5th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war, personal

Another typical Florida June day, except possibly cooler and less wet than normal. Frankly the overcast is nice if you are outside at a park or elsewhere as it is much more comfortable. Without the June showers it gets pretty hot in the afternoon.

Did a summary of yesterday in the comments.

Today is a recovery day. W and the Ds will be trying for some beach time, and I’ll be sleeping in and relaxing.

Maybe I’ll post more today, later.

Until then, stack something. The sportiness isn’t going away. If they can’t get what they want by cheating, they’ll try to get it by force.

nick

Read the comments: 44 Comments

Thur. June 4, 2026 – Fun, fun, fun…

By on June 4th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, personal

85F, overcast, windy, but no more humid than the Gulf coast normally is. That was yesterday, and hopefully today. Theme parks in the broiling sun are no fun, and if the wind gets too strong, they shut down rides.

We had a nice day yesterday. Pretty calm and relaxed,with the second half in airconditioning…

Today we’ll be outdoors a lot. I’m hoping for Goldilocks conditions again. I haven’t been to this park in at least 25 years, so we’ll see how we like it. Then it’s moving to another city for a couple of days. It’s going to be a long day today.

I wouldn’t say I’m having fun, but I am enjoying most of it. The kids surprised me at the museum, so I’m learning and growing… and that’s a good thing.

Stack.

nick

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Wed. June 3, 2026 – Hmmm, the smell of salt air

By on June 3rd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, personal

Mid 80sF and RH… and we’re forecast for rain. That’s ok, it rains every day in Florida. It was 86F at 10pm yesterday. I expect more of that.

Had a travel day yesterday. Uneventful, although there was a lot of turbulence in the Gulf and on arrival. Humid but partly cloudy so the sun wasn’t scorching hot. Dinner was octopus in a spanish sauce with flan and espresso for dessert.

Today is a mangrove kayak tour. We did one in Sarasota a few years ago and it was interesting. This one should be fun too. Then it’s lunch and a museum. Then dinner.

We’ll see how it actually goes.

Trying to make some good memories is a prep against bad times. Go out and do something. And stack of course.

nick

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Tues. Jun. 2, 2026 – last year I was at WDW this week

By on June 2nd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

We’re firmly in the “might get rain and storms” part of the national map today, and tomorrow. I’ll be flying so I hope we don’t get a bunch of weather. After yesterday’s nice day, it was a bit more cloudy in the evening and we even got a sprinkle that lasted less than 5 minutes, before it cleared again. It probably hit 100F in the late afternoon. My shaded thermometer read 99.6F. That’ll be the hottest day so far. Sure to get hotter though.

I did my pickups. The big TV was surprisingly easy to deal with on the drywall cart. I stashed it and the last two lappy stands at the shop and came home to do stuff for our trip. It’s not WDW, but it will be FL.

And after Florida, I should have some internet for the next 6 days, but IDK how good it will be or when I’ll have it. We’ll see what we get for the money. I’d bring the starlink mini but it is specifically verbotten. Blogging will perforce be lame, tired, perfunctory, minimal, and intermittent. Or it will be just like a normal day but I’ll only check in at night. I guess we’ll see.

Today I’m flying to FL. Hopefully it won’t be a dumpster fire of a day. I’m not thrilled.

But life is what happens while you are making plans. It’ll be good for some things.

Stack. It’s so much easier.

nick

Read the comments: 62 Comments

Mon. Jun. 1, 2026 – yea! June! Oh.

By on June 1st, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Hot and humid. Chance of rain later, I hope. I’ve got too much to do to deal with rain. It was two gorgeous days at the BOL, and now home for a day. Sure would be nice to get a cool breeze, but not if it’s because the storm front is blowing in…

Did some stuff yesterday at the BOL. Mowed the park. That’s me finding a place in the community, and it doesn’t take long. Before that I did a little bit of mower maintenance. Then I did the typical ‘leaving the BOL’ stuff. The drive home was full of jerks going too fast. I kept thinking it was some sort of holiday weekend, but nope, just jerks.

Today I’ve got to pickup the last two of the lappy carts I’ve been harvesting, and the 86″ tv. I really hope it’s not raining.

Then I have to pack for a trip I don’t really want to take, but I’m going anyway and I won’t drag everyone else down. I’m not sure how good my connectivity will be so I’ll line up some placeholder posts later today that should drop automatically even if I don’t have service.

And I’ll count that as prepping.

Stack something, even if it’s just knowledge.
n

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Sun. May 31, 2026 – time, ask me for anything but time…

By on May 31st, 2026 in cheap preps, culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Sunny, clear, and hot. Humid too. Beautiful day at the BOL. I hope. Yesterday was. Today should be too. Could be just a tad less humid.

Yesterday I got out of the house and did my pickup in Sugar Land, then loaded the truck and headed to the BOL. Grabbed another pickup on the way, which was good because some of the stuff was for here anyway. Got here and had just enough daylight to mow, and even got to throw a line in the water. Tried three baits but nothing was biting.

Some kids came down to the neighborhood dock and went swimming while I was fishing at dusk. Kinda the perfect country life moment. Wish it was my kids.

Today I’ve got to trim and clean up, then head home. I don’t want to be home late as I’ve got a ton of stuff to do Monday as well, so I can’t sleep in. We’ll see how the plan works out.

And I have to say, a freezer full of Hungry Man ™ dinners is a pretty good prep. They are inexpensive, conveniently packaged, and will keep a long time. There are tons of alternatives, but they are super easy if you are at your BOL alone, just doing some work or a quick ‘check up’ visit. They’d be good in a weather emergency too.

Anyway, stack something, and always be working.

nick

Read the comments: 72 Comments