Month: April 2025

Cold or cool, or just nice, these cool clear mornings rock. I’ll be happy to wear a jacket waiting for the bus if I can wear long pants in the afternoon without sweating. And that’s what we had yesterday. Great weather for driving around with the windows down.

So I did.

Got my dr visit done, had a bit of chicken for lunch, then got my free 128GB thumbdrive from MicroCenter. Picked up two more 64GB drives for $8 total, and the switch I need for my client’s house. I know they aren’t the fastest drives, but free, and $4 each is incredible. The smaller ones will be used at school for the light and sound board backups. The bigger I’ll load with music for the truck.

After that, I did pickups. Then I picked up the kid. EV not for me… I’d have range anxiety. I was anxious to find the right gas station to refill my truck, and there are gas stations at every intersection.

I was sleepy all day, which interfered with my driving. IDK if it was skipping the coffee in the morning or what, but I was wiped out. Never did catch up.

Today I have a local pickup, and household stuff to do. And all the Thursday kid stuff is disrupted by the theater performance tonight. It’ll still end up being a busy day, despite having nothing to do…

I’m engaging with my community. I’m spending time with my kids. I’m improving my position… and stacking some stuff.

I’m prepping, but mostly I’m living.

nick

Cold-ish. 45F is cold for anywhere in the South after March… so I guess “cold” works for me. It should be clear, and sunny, and warm up a lot over the course of the day. That was yesterday, and the day before, so it should be today too. I’m hoping.

Did my pickups and kid taxi stuff yesterday. Had a chat with a friend. Had a tiny little fire. Felt better after both.

Today I’ve got a doctor appointment in the morning, that I never got details for. They all rely on their “portals” putting the onus on the patient to pull info rather than pushing– unless it’s about an outstanding balance, then they’re all up in your grill, pinging your text messages, leaving voice mail, and spamming your inbox.

And every portal is different, with different log in requirements. It’s a big pain in the butt, and I’m not sick or dealing with a major illness. I can’t even imagine what it’s like trying to keep track of all the pieces if you have a complicated care plan or a major issue.

I’ll be calling around this morning trying to figure out where I’m supposed to be.

On the other hand, the diagnostic tools available are awesome, almost to the Star Trek level of imaging. And only a lifetime ago, people were dying from infected blisters and cuts.

Anyway, after the doctor visit, I’ve got a couple of things to pickup, then more stuff around the house to do. Just like normal.

Around us the world spins and events happen, and we mice flee as the elephants dance.

Stack stuff, and put it in more than one place.

nick

Cold and clear again. Nice day in other words. No precip. Just sunshine. I’m looking forward to getting more of the same.

Did get out of the house. Did do my pickups, at least the three that made sense for location and timing. The other three will have to be done today. There’s a bit more detail in yesterday’s comments, if you are really bored.

Today will be some more pickups in a different part of town. They will cluster, so I can get them in one trip. That minimizes my time, money spent, and impact on the environment. Go me!

Then there will be the usual kid taxi service.

All in all, an ordinary day. Which is kinda extraordinary.

Stack what you need.

nick

It got cold. Well…. cold-ish. I’m not really complaining. Wife is loving it as is D2. It should start in the 50sF and get warmer during the day. Maybe into the mid 70s… and the national map shows clear for the next couple of days. That will be nice. The sun did finally poke through the clouds late yesterday.

Sunday was a weird day. I did some small things… rearranged some things in my bedroom, ironed and put away about 20 shirts. Did some other cleaning. Didn’t do much else. And somehow that took up a lot of the day. Ended up going to dinner with W and D1 while D2 was at a birthday party. Then home.

Today I’ve got choices, and some mandatory things. Pickups of course- some gub things for resale at one, and some stuff for the BOL at the other. I can also install the gear at my client’s house. He’s still out of town, so the pressure isn’t there, and that is the best for me. BUT, I probably have to be back early to get the kid from school and I don’t like open ended projects with that deadline hanging over me.

Work avoidance mode at its best.

I’ll be stacking something, stuff, experience, or money. You can too.

nick

Cold for springtime. It was 56F when I went to bed. Not in the 40s F like the wife predicted, but pretty chilly considering it was in the 80s during the day. I expect we’ll have more wind, water, and cold today.

The area around the BOL got some weather yesterday, but my weather station didn’t report much rain, and winds were under 10mph. There were areas of Houston that saw street flooding too. Not us though.

I spent the morning doing office stuff, then the early afternoon doing auction stuff. Picked up, and spent some time chatting with the auctioneer who I was using to sell stuff. He wasn’t begging me to bring him lots, so I think I need to pursue other sellers again. Got home, did some more small stuff, didn’t go to the BOL.

Today I’ll be working the list some more. Dang dog was up all night trying to eat a possum. I had to pull the dog off him several times and it was the biggest and oldest possum I’ve ever seen. So now I need to check the fenceline and be sure the dog can’t follow the possum out of the yard. There are a couple of places that might not be as secure as I’d like. Also the fence guys moved all my stuff away from the fence when it was replaced, but didn’t put it back. I guess that’s up to me… and I didn’t do it either. It leaves some places where animals might dig under the fence, and lots of places for a possum to hide. I’ll also have to get the big Havahart live trap set and see if Mr Possum will relocate and stay relocated.

That’s if it isn’t raining. I also need to stake the new apple tree, and get the rest of the stuff in my truck broken down for scrap and salvage. Digging my way to the UPS in the office, and pulling it to replace the battery should be challenging. Mostly because I’ll have to do 4 other things while I’m doing that. That will be “if it’s raining” work.

But first, I’ll sleep in a bit. If I’m not being productive, at least I can catch up on some sleep.

Can’t stack sleep, but it feels good to try. Stack something else…

nick

Overcast, grey, humid, misty, dripping, and hot too. That was yesterday, and it will probably be today.

Because of the weather, overcommitment, kid taxi duties, and the chance to pick up a bunch of stuff for my non-prepping hobby, I didn’t get what I wanted to get done, done. I put off going to my client’s house. He’s out of town for a few days, so there isn’t any reason to make a quick short trip to do the gear swap. I can do it, and the network gear swap next week, when I have more time on site.

Also because of the weather, I didn’t want to uncover the stuff currently in the back of my pickup, nor did I want to load it for the trip to the BOL. My remote weather station was reporting bad weather north of here, and the NWS was warning about tornadoes. I can’t mow the grass in those conditions, and anything in the truck would get soaked. So I dithered and delayed.

Now it is a new day and we’ll see if I’m headed up. I didn’t win the boat I was bidding on, so I don’t have to do that pickup on the way… I missed the lot closing while checking the fit of some goodwill items for the kid…

I have one small lot to pick up today. And I’ve got stuff to move around. I should be able to get that done, then load up if the weather is ok. If it’s not, I’ll go up later in the week.

Meanwhile, I’m stacking. Lots going on in the world, not much of it good in the long run. Take care of your future.

nick

Another day like the last two. Warm, damp, threatening rain. Windy. Grey. I’ve been moody the last several days and I think at least part of it is the lack of sunny days. It would be nice to have an itsy bitsy spider day…

I did get a couple of things done yesterday. In the morning I fixed one of the TVs I have laying around… I’d bought the boards a couple of years ago in an auction for a dollar or two, but couldn’t remember where I put them. I saw them in my storage unit the other day, while picking up something else, so I grabbed them and got one thing off my list. The TV is going to the dockhouse at the BOL, which will get another thing off my list. Got a couple of other small things done too.

Then I had a meeting with one of my auctioneers. Well, really I just went to get my money for some consignment items he sold for me, and chat. Turns out they are changing their focus from returns auctions to estate auctions… and I’ve got the kind of stuff they will be selling sitting in piles pretty much everywhere. We’ll work something out and I’ll have a new place to consign items and finally start moving some of this stuff again.

Their rent has been killing them, and they have been paying more for stock as there are new players bidding up the wholesale part of the business. It’s been a truism in the resale auction market for as long as I’ve been doing it that when prices go up, it’s because new people and new money are coming in. It happens on the retail buyer’s side, and on the wholesale buyer (the seller) side. The new players don’t understand they are paying too much, or they know but feel they have to to get stock. On the buyer’s side, the new buyers are happy to pay more because they are still getting a good deal, but they don’t understand that it’s usually an even better deal. It’s a bit more nuanced than that, but it explains why pricing moves in waves. It’s self correcting over time. The buyers become more picky about what they’ll pay and what they’ll buy, and the auctioneers that pay too much for stock go broke and get out of the business.

Anyway, today I’m doing a pickup in the afternoon, mostly stuff for my non-prepping hobby. I’m debating whether to spend the morning doing stuff around the house, since I intend to head to the BOL later tonight or early tomorrow, or do a quick trip to my client’s house to install the new theater receiver. I am leaning toward taking care of my client, but doing the house stuff takes care of my wife… money or marital guilt units? Which do I need more?

BTW, I’m feeling the effects of crawling around in the attic and pulling cable. My arms, shoulders, and lats are all sore. I’m old and weak… poor me…

I should stack up some more stretching and maybe a workout.

I’ll add it to the list.

Stack something.

nick

Another warm, damp, and probably overcast day. It wasn’t a 10 at 10 day yesterday after all. It took quite a while to really start getting warm, but it was mid 80s F by afternoon. I had the windows down, but the air on “blast” too. And today should be more of the same.

I did stuff around the house yesterday morning, then did most of my pickups. I missed one, but it’ll only cost me $8. I hate that. I didn’t print the invoice, so when I was in that area, I didn’t remember to hit that seller too. Dumb mistake as I even had time.

Then it was kid taxi duties, until the younger one’s band concert. We’d all forgotten about it, thinking she just had her normal Tues/Thur thing. Good thing we remembered. I wasn’t looking forward to the Beginning Band portion, but it turned out fine. Didn’t even need my earplugs. The Band Director is a genius with bringing the kids along. He’s building quite a group in just a few years. The Beginners were good. They even did multipart numbers. The Advanced Band (really just kids with prior instruction, or second and third year at the school) rocked the house with Peter Gunn, and Oye como va, among others. The difference as they’ve progressed is stunning.

Ate dinner at Chuy’s which has condensed their menu even further, if I’m not mistaken. Food was good, and not crazy high priced, but they don’t seem like they’re on the way up. Kid loves the food there though.

Today I’ll either do some cable pulling at my client’s house, or push that to tomorrow and do a couple more pickups. I’m leaning toward pickups, just because of timing, and because I don’t have the replacement gear yet. I like to combine trips and spend more than an hour or two onsite as it’s a one hour round trip for me. OTOH, I can get there early, pull the cable, then leave before getting sucked into issues and still make my pickups. That has the benefit of being cooler in the attic too.

I’m going to play it somewhat by ear.

In any case, I’ll be stacking some do re mi, and that is a good thing.

Get you some!

nick

Warm, damp, even hot later. It got well into the 80s yesterday, and didn’t cool down until dusk. I expect the same today. I’m hoping for more clear though. I like seeing the sun.

I spent yesterday running around. I did a pickup early, then went to my client’s house. After troubleshooting, I decided that it wasn’t something easy to fix, like smoked gear, it was the cat cable that connects the stuff in the front attic to the network switch in the rack. That is not an easy cable to run… so replacing that is on my list now too. Then it was kid taxi service, dinner, and a few videos before bed. I did manage to get a couple of small things done too, including portioning the hamburger I bought, and getting it bagged and frozen.

And wasting time on the internet with my friends.

Today I’m doing home stuff in the morning and pickups in the afternoon. I need to order some stuff for my client too, and I don’t have time to get back to his house and run the cable today. Too many kid things in the early afternoon. I’ll get back there Wed. and hopefully be able to swap out the rest of the damaged gear too.

Too busy to engage in tomfoolery or play the jackanapes today. But keep it in mind when out and about… others might.

I’ll be working on improving my position, with cash, and stuff. And I’ll stack it, like every good boy and girl should.

nick