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Month: January 2023

Sat. Jan. 21, 2023 – sleeping in- it’s not just for teens

Cool and damp.   It was 54F when I got up yesterday, it was 54F when I ate lunch, and 54F when I went to bed.  I’ve got a feeling it might be 54F today…    National forecast says ‘clear’.   Yesterday had Houston on the edge of a system and we did get clouds and some rain.  Not much, but enough to get the cars dirty and the streets wet.

Lots of accidents on the roads too, far more than I’m used to seeing.   Oh, and a full on ladder in the number 2 lane of the toll road.   People, secure your freaking ladders in your truck beds.   They’re not free, and the life you save might be worth a whole lot more to society than your ignorant self.  No one ever died because someone put an extra strap on a load.

Did my pickups.   More antennas.   Hamfest is coming up in March, so I’m starting to look at what I have and what I want to sell this year.   “Most of it” is the answer I’m getting.  Also got some first aid supplies, and some cleaning stuff, and  a finger brake or pan brake.  That’s a tool for folding metal.  I have always wanted a small one, and now I have one.

Bought a couple of things in the auction too.   Nice looking hunting tool in 30-06. ‘nuther kayak.  Must be off season for kayaks, several have come up and sold for reasonable prices.   Hard to say no to $90 for what was originally a $1k boat.  I managed to though.  Couldn’t say no to $80 for a $650 boat.   We still can’t all kayak at the same time, but we’ll get there.   I should use my vinyl cutter to make labels for the kayaks with our name on them.   Hmm, another project.  Maybe later.

Chatted with another buyer while waiting for my stuff.   Real nice guy, we had a lot in common.  We are bidding on the same type of stuff though, which isn’t awesome.  He was headed to his next pickup at an auctioneer that was my third pickup of the day.   Small world, but perhaps not too unlikely given that we both bid on auction stuff.   There is definitely a culture for those of us who have been doing it for a long time.

I can’t emphasis enough that I think everyone should be out there looking for alternative markets, be it thrifts, estate sales, in person or online auctions, flea markets, swapmeets, or whatever is going on in your area.   Maybe it’s a farmer’s market, or a monthly craft show, but there is bound to be something going on.   The money you save is well worth the time invested, as is access to stuff that might not be in stores, or might be of better quality that what is currently available.   A whole lot of commerce is moving into the secondary economy (as I’ve taken to calling it) or ‘p2p sales’ or the ‘informal’ economy.   It’s a sign of a failing state, but it’s a fact of life too, and the only way for people to get what they need when the official marketplaces are dried up, or inaccessible.  It takes practice and awareness to be successful in it, just like all things, so get started.

It’s the weekend.   I’m sleeping in as it’s the first one in a while with no extra things on my plate.  Then I’ll start working the list again.   And going to the grocery store- because I didn’t get there yesterday.  It’s not like we’re out of anything, but we don’t have the next carton of eggs in the fridge or the next jug of milk and that makes me nervous.   Plus, I’m out of beef jerky and soda.

Stack some stuff.   Stack it high, then find something you missed and stack that.   And go to a garage sale this weekend.   Never know what you will find.

 

nick

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Thur. Jan. 19, 2023 – time to continue making progress…

Cold and damp.   50F late last night and I’m thinking that will continue into this morning.  It is supposed to be clear for a couple of days, so probably a front moving in, dropping the temps and moving out the clouds.   I’m no weather liar, but that’s the story I’m running with today.

I did make a bit of progress yesterday.   I installed a new faucet and drain in the bathroom.  I’ve got another to do, and then I need to diagnose what is  wrong with the shower mixer.  Oh, and re-tape and spackle the ceiling where water leaking caused damage.  Wife can paint the ceiling at that point, whenever she gets around to it.

I also got a couple of things listed on Craigslist.   It’s still around, and good for selling some stuff.   I never did get motivated to do FB marketplace.   If I have something to sell very locally, I’ll ask my wife to ping her sell/swap groups in the neighborhood.   I might try to move a freezer that way if I can’t come up with a buyer myself.  I got a couple of things listed on ebay too while I was at it.  Also sorted some stuff.

All in all, progress was made.

Which is good.   Now for a whole metric buttload more….

 

Stack progress and successes one atop the other, as well as food…

nick

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Wed. Jan. 18, 2023 – well, that could have gone better.

Warmish, and certainly damp.   Although the national forecast shows clear for a while, I expect some minor precip at some point today or tomorrow, if only because it feels like it.  It was not bad at all yesterday, with highs in the sun in the low 80s.   Felt like spring.

I did get out of the house and made my trash run.   Went by my storage unit too.   Didn’t get half what I wanted to get done, done.  {wow, that’s an awkward construction}

It’s much easier to not do things than to do them.  Especially when you are tired, or bored, or melancholic… or you have unbalanced humours and too much black bile in your spleen.   Or it could be the siren song of teh intarwebs.  Whatever.   Slacked off again and got too little done.   The bill for that WILL come due, and be higher because of it.

It’s hard to maintain momentum and forward progress.  My whole working life was very project oriented, and the nature of the work was very ‘bursty’.   Work hard for a while, then have time off.   Even working full time for BigCorp I was traveling to customer sites where I’d work, or the office in Canadia, or fighting to get my expense and travel report in on time…. all of which took bursts of hard work, focus, and sometimes dogged determination to just get through it.  But then there would be some time where nothing was required of me or the level was so low I could phone it in.   Sprints rather than marathons (although the sprints could last as long as a marathon), quick anaerobic strength moves, not aerobic workouts.

Lately though, and coming after 3 years of not normal, it’s been a never ending slog.   Anyone else noticed we don’t do the ‘what have you done to prep this week’ topic any more?  Because we’ve been living the disaster for the last three years.   But this one is really fading to black, despite the spasms and paroxysms of the powers that be.   Problem is, no formal end.   No closure.   No doing the expense report, AAR, “lessons learned” meeting.  No putting the files away and cleaning up the workspace… and moving on.

But there is another disaster coming.  There is ALWAYS going to be another disaster coming.  To riff off of JimB, the end will be ‘nearerer’ again sooner or later.  Flooding and mudslides in Cali, and an earthquake, barely ping our awareness.   Tornadoes and freak storms in the mid-South hardly register.  Maybe we’re all fatigued, disaster fatigued.   That would be bad by the way, because we wouldn’t be thinking straight, we’d be mentally pliable and subject to manipulation.   We’d be looking for someone to make it end.  And that ain’t good.

I’m not sure what the answer is.   Kinda making this up as I go along today, but I think some of us (me) need to reset our baseline expectations.  Accept that what we’ve got now IS normal, and move on to living in it, and getting ready for whatever comes next.  Just about everything is harder now, takes longer, and costs more than 3 years ago.   But humans are nothing if not adaptable, and adept at telling ourselves stories that justify or excuse or motivate.   In a sense we will our personal reality into shape around us.   We enter and leave relationships, surround ourselves with people and things, spend our lives doing stuff, and shape our experience of the world.

The world goes on doing its thing regardless of what we’re doing.   The elephants will dance while we mice hope we can avoid being stepped on.  And one day we realize that the dancing changed the shape of the world around us.   There are still mice in the world though even after the elephants have trampled everything flat.

And mice gotta eat, so stack some food.   Stack the means to get more.    Stack dancing shoes, if you think that will help.   Stack books on living with elephants while avoiding their big stompy feet.   And get ready to get through the NEXT disaster.

nick

 

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Tues. Jan. 17, 2023 – what to do, what to do….

Cool but damp.  Maybe sunny and warmer later.   I hope so.    It was very nice most of the day at the BOL.  Started a bit dreary, with a sprinkle of rain, but cleared and got sunny in the afternoon.  Here in Houston it was 66F when I went to bed.

I did get a bunch of small things done at the BOL.   Main thing was capping off the supply to the clothes washer, and opening the wall to figure out what I need to add a trap to the drain line, and to pull in the water and gas lines.   I will move that up the list for the next visit.   I really need to get OFF the copper water lines.

Today I’m at home and there are piles of stuff to do.   Which thing gets tackled first is the question of the day.   Knock off some small things, or tackle something big?   I guess it will come down to how I feel at the moment.   Stuff needs doin’, and I need to do stuff.   Match made in heaven?

I know I’ll be adding to the stacks or working on them…   you should too.

nick

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Mon. Jan. 16, 2023 – at the BOL, working…

Cool and damp, but not cold.   Hoping the wind blew yesterday’s patchy clouds out of the area.   Some sun and warming would be nice.

I spent more time getting out of the house yesterday than I’d hoped, so I got up here a bit late.   Did some small things, basically decided not to start anything big I couldn’t finish on time.   Broke up and moved some concrete.  Literally chipping away at that task… move three wheelbarrows full before I lost the light.

Did some more planning for how to reshape the grades around the house to better deal with water  and drainage.   It must have rained up here because there was evidence that my channels from last visit drained a bunch of water.   That gives me some good contour lines for how the grades need to be.

Lake is up some more toward normal levels, but still a bit low, maybe 6″.   The waves make a lot more noise when the level is up.  I must have forgotten that.

One of the things I listened to on the shortwave last night was two western journalists living in Peking talking about their bouts with chinkyflu and the changes in the city since the restrictions were lifted.   They both had mild cases, in bed for a couple of days despite being fully vaxxed and boosted  (so- worse than most recent cases here).  They were excited to ‘just get on a train and travel’ without having to register, get tested, show vaccine passports, plan ahead, quarantine, etc.   That is for domestic travel this week.   I almost never even think about restrictions or getting wuflu any more.  What a difference.   And an interesting ‘slice of life’ I wouldn’t have come across if not for shortwave listening.

Maybe having been burned so badly, now china will be a bit more cautious?  Naw.  It’s not in their nature.

I’m sure there will be another plague that spreads around the world.  It’ll likely be worse too.   Don’t get complacent with preps.  45 days without leaving the house would be a nice level to have…anything really nasty should burn itself out in that time.  And if it’s less nasty, that level of preparation will stretch and be supplemented with whatever you can get, just like the past three years.

It’s funny, youtube put a gardening video from 2 years ago in my recommended list, and I watched it day before yesterday.   It was a guy in the UK, who decided to start a garden, since he (and everyone else) was essentially locked in his house due to wuflu response.  [he was pretty successful, but that wasn’t what caught me.]   We were never confined to quarters.   I had enough exemptions that I was able to go out if I wanted to, being a landlord, among other things.   Most people had no problem moving around if they wanted to.  I can’t imagine what it was like in places where they heavily restricted movement, and I have trouble believing that people COMPLIED the way they did.   But they did.  And they will again.  Except in the US.  Unless people are dropping in the streets with their eyes bleeding and skin sloughing off, I don’t think we’ll comply.

Stack your stuff high.  Ordinary stuff.   Extraordinary stuff.  Stuff that would be ‘nice to have’ and the stuff you need every day.  ‘Cuz I’ve got a feeling we’ll need it.

 

nick

 

 

 

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Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 – ok, this time for realz…

Cold and damp again, although possibly just “cool” and not “cold.”   It did warm up a bit during the day, and I ended up in long pants and a T shirt to get the lights down.   It was 52F when I went to bed.

I spent Saturday morning at my non-prepping hobby meeting.   Lots of good conversations in one of the best (largest) groups we’ve had in a while.  Next month is our quarterly ‘swap meet’ meeting.  I’ll have some stuff to sell by then, and the stuff I didn’t sell last time.

After my meeting I was supposed to quickly take down the Christmas stuff and head to the BOL.   Of course that didn’t happen because reality smacked me around.   I did get the lights down, and the lit up figures put away.   Got some more stuff cleaned up and sorted for the local auction, and did some planning for the coming week with my wife.   Girl Scout cookie season is only a month away.  Our house will be a cookie depot for a while and needs to be cleaned with a place for all the cookies.  That is mostly me getting my stuff out of the way…

The upshot was delaying my run to the BOL to today.   If everything goes to plan, I’ll have a good night sleep, early start, and head out.  My plan is to tackle some more plumbing and convert either the hall bath, or the laundry to pex.  I should have most of what I need to do either, but the laundry is the least critical if I don’t get it finished.  It’s also got some of the most corroded looking pipes.   I’m going to just play it by ear.  Maybe I’ll do work on the deck or yard.  Hard to tell, but I should at least open the walls and make sure I have what I need.  Which reminds me, I’m out of straight join pex connectors.  Gotta get some on my way up…  It’s always something.

The one critical thing is to deliver the freezer to my neighbor up there.   Weaving my way into the community is a priority.  Meatspace baby.

Also, figuring out what I need to keep the septic system running grid down.   That’s a priority too.  Batteries, solar, and inverters should do it but which ones, and how, and when and where do I get them….

Stack up the stuff you need.  Infrastructure, money, and friends being three of the things!

 

nick

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Sat. Jan. 14, 2023 – non-prepping hobby day, and heading out…

Cold and damp.   It was 44F when I woke up yesterday, didn’t get much above the mid 50s in the shade all day, and was 38F when I went to bed.  I expect that to continue today.   At least it is supposed to be clear for a couple more days.

Did my pickups.   The damage to the scratch and dent freezers is less than I thought, so hooray.  One is perfect, one has the dent mostly confined to the access panel over the mechanicals  (easy to straighten), and the last one has about 6 vertical inches of the back corner edge pushed in a little bit.  They should all work fine, with only one even having noticeable damage.

I’ve been chatting with various of my sellers and I think I can say that this economy is wearing on them.   They look tired and beat up.  I’m pretty sure that isn’t a good thing.

Today I’ve got my non-prepping hobby meeting in the morning.   Then I’ll come home and take down the Christmas stuff that’s outside.  I don’t have to be at the BOL at any particular time, and the decorations need to come down.  I haven’t managed my time well enough to do it before now, but time is up.   Then I’m headed out.   I will probably stay until late Monday.  The kids have Monday off, but my wife doesn’t, so they will not be joining me.  It does make certain tasks easier if I can cut off power or water for an extended time.  And if the weather gets any colder I’ll feel better about being up there and having an eye on the situation.  It’s almost always colder there than here.

I’m moving some more food up there too, frozen and canned, and some bulk buckets.  It occurs to me that salted pork would need a whole bunch of salt.  And some buckets.   Hmm.  More for the list.  If every bucket you have is in use, how do you replace one that you dropped and broke?  Or what can you brine that ham in?  Or put up some windfall food?   The bucket is the unsung hero of prepping, but how many do you have that aren’t in use?  What if you couldn’t just run to Lowe’s for another few?  EMPTY buckets are important preps too.

So  stack up a few!

 

nick

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Fri. Jan. 13, 2023 – Hey, Friday the 13th falls on a Friday this month…

Cool and windy, but clear?   That’s probably as good a guess as any.   National forecast shows us in the clear for a few days as a front moves through.   Yesterday started at 64F but ended at 51F and the wind got pretty unpleasant late in the day.  Still, no rain so that was a plus.

I did my pickups, went to Costco, filled the Expy with gas.   That was unpleasant, since gas has risen even more this week.   Truck takes a full 30 gallons, and while it’s cheaper than peak FJB, it is still way more than peak Orange Man and headed back up.

I noted some pricing and availability in yesterday’s comments.  Most prices are up, there are a few things on sale again, and TP on sale was almost back to pre-chinaflu pricing (~$20 vs ~$18 for the mega bale, but there might be shrinkflation in there too.)  There were several things I couldn’t find, but nothing I can’t live without.  Australian lamb and Canadian maple syrup have been mostly unchanged for the last half dozen years, if I’m remembering correctly.   Everything else has been up and down.

Today I need to pick up my freezers, and a really nice, like new pellet rifle I got for $13… It’ll be worth it to drive out to Katy (the opposite of my freezer pickup) to get it.  Pellet air guns can be used for hunting small game, doing pest control, learning marksmanship and gun handling, and they are a lot of fun to shoot without costing a bunch or needing much in the way of a range.  I think everyone should have a basic air rifle that is better than a toy, and probably some that are toys and at least one that is a serious tool.    The toys are cheap and fun and could be just BB guns, but the serious rifles are as much as a .22 rifle, maybe more.    They even make .22 cal air rifles, and they are generally not considered to be firearms, which may be important to you.

So I’ve got a full day.  ‘natch.    I hope I don’t get hexed up by the date.

Stack up some BB guns, and an air rifle or two.   They are fun and useful.

nick

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Thur. Jan. 12, 2023 – hey there short stuff

Warm and damp today, probably clear, but no guarantees.   It did get to be a beautiful spring day yesterday, in the depth of winter.   Had that warm, moist smell and was sunny.   TOO EARLY!  Don’t want to trick the plants.

Did run some errands and do a pickup yesterday.   Decided to pick up my new freezers at the last minute on Friday.   Then I do my non-prepping hobby on Saturday, and head to the BOL afterwards.   We’re supposed to be clear until then, but I’ll put a tarp on the load overnight anyway.   Picked up around the house and did some other home stuff.  Christmas tree is stripped and all the indoor decorations are put away.

Today I’ve got stuff to pick up.  Clothes for D1.  Stuff for the BOL.   Parts for metro shelves for my storage unit.   Funny, but the cheapest place to get them was a couple of miles from my house.  Cheaper than amazon, and much cheaper than ebay.   And they had them for same day in store pickup.   Of course, they only had two shelves worth, but that’s all I needed anyway right now.

Had some more spoiled milk in an unopened container.   Should have still been good for a couple of more days, but was chunky.  There is definitely something going on with milk longevity.

Ordered chinese delivery for dinner and the owner thanked me for being a good and loyal customer.  I told her we decided that if we ever wanted to have local restaurants available, we needed to patronize them now (throughout the pandemic).   It’s good food, but not cheap.   I can buy a lot of on sale meat for what we spent, but we will get another couple of servings out of the leftovers, and we consider it an investment in our community.   That’s also one of the reasons we don’t use an online or mail order pharmacy.  We want one in our community.  We want it to be profitable and successful, and employ our neighbors.

It’s meatspace.   I can ask her how business is, if she’s having supply issues, or other problems.  I can get intel locally that I can use.  You might be surprised what you can learn from just talking to people, especially if they have a bit of time, and you are not a stranger.  I’ve talked about it before, but you really need to get out and about in your community.   You need to talk to store owners, neighbors, craftsmen, service providers, and other random people.  Start building relationships, even if it’s just on the level of being the guy who always says ‘hi’ and asks about something.   Tip well.   Be friendly.  Buy from them.  Don’t rant.  Control your urge to talk, listen more…   Because meatspace counts and it will count for a whole lot more if things get worse.

Stack up some relationships.  And stuff.

nick

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