Hot and humid. Rain in the forecast. Certainly that was true for yesterday. Hot and hot, with humidity and rain in various places throughout the day.
Did my errands, including cutting my hair. I don’t know if I’m any better at it, but I’m quicker. Looks good OK from the front :-). Loaded a bunch of stuff for my convention and swapmeet.
Truck is full.
After I get the girls out of the house to school, I’ll be finishing the load, getting ice for the water and drinks, and heading to a hotel to help with setup. Then I’ll help other folks get loaded in, and maybe sell some early bird stuff.
Before I can do that though, I need to mount the cargo platform on the hitch. I can’t fit 3 coolers in the truck. And I had to replace the broken hinges on one cooler. I have a small bucket full of cooler repair parts. Drives me nuts that people just throw them out when the hinges, drain, or handle break. Saves me money to scoop them up though, so I shouldn’t complain. Saves money and time to have the repair parts standing by.
Yep, I’ve got a bunch of coleman coolers. Igloo too. Different sizes, styles, and ages, but enough to keep at least one freezer’s worth of stuff cold temporarily. I mostly use them for icewater and soda at gatherings. Speaking of coolers, I picked up another 12v travel cooler/fridge. If you have meds that need refrigeration, get one of the small coolers so you can run it off a car battery if needed. (or solar longer term) They are pricey new, but are common at estate sales. I grabbed one at the goodwill outlet this time. I think I’m up to four? Maybe 5 and I’ve got one or two of the bigger ones too.
Coolers are very ‘dual use’. You can claim camping use, or sodas for youth sports, or just cold drinks at a party, but you and I know they are preps. Fire pits, gear for open fire cooking, cast iron cookware– also stealth preps. Backpacking water filters, kamp toilets, gas stoves and lanterns, even freeze dried foods are solid preps that you can get a lot of other use out of. I’ve got a lot of ‘camping stuff’ even though we never go. “oh I bought that when the kids were little, but we never seemed to find the time.” ” Oh, we used to go more often but now we’re so busy.” Anyone who sees it doesn’t have to think “prepper”.
If stuff ends up in short supply, you might want innocuous reasons for all the gear and preps in your storage area. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but hope isn’t a prep.
So keep stacking, keep building networks, and keep working to improve your position.
nick