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Month: November 2025

Thur. Nov. 20, 2025 – do I feel sore today, why yes I do

Warm and moist. Ewwww moist. It was super gross and moist yesterday. It did get better later in the day. I’d be happy if it was NOT so gross and damp today.

I did my volunteer day at the middle school. We got a lot done. Sound kid graduates to High School next year and his crew don’t want to step up and do the main part of the job. I will probably be doing some intro classes next year in the hope of stirring up some interest in the crew position. Business continuity isn’t just for businesses. If you have a group and some people do the important and difficult jobs, but you don’t have anyone to step in if they disappear, you aren’t going to last as a group.

Today I’ve got home stuff and a couple of pickups to do. Routine stuff. Ordinary stuff. Probably some domestic bliss too. Ah well, some days are just that, ordinary.

So on an ordinary day, do ordinary stuff. Like working. Or stacking.

n

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Wed. Nov. 19, 2025 – volunteering today

Warmer. Damper. Maybe wetter. We’ll see. It was 71F and very damp when I went to sleep. During the day it was very nice. Some clouds, but no rain. Hoping for more of the same today.

I did some stuff. Went to my client’s house to pick up my check and look at something else for him. Solved a tech issue while I was there. The Christmas light guys had left some connections in the mud and they tripped a GFCI that took out my wireless link from the gate back to the house. The first question when troubleshooting should always be “what changed”. Of course if you are really coming in blind, the first question should be “did it work before?” THEN you ask what changed.

I followed that up with three pickups in the southwest of Houston, and then home. Leftovers for dinner and kid taxi service took up most of the rest of the evening.

I did sit out for a tiny little fire and a book, and the possum came along the same route as before to get a drink from the ‘pond’. Then he departed without ever looking at me. The pond must be on his patrol route for every night. I’d bet there are some humans (probably walking dogs) that have a patrol route ever night too. I might have to enable some of the AI features on my newest camera and see if I get a log of any pedestrian traffic.

And maybe I should look at some of my commercial WAPs to see if there is a ‘presence’ log that captures passing wifi or blutooth traffic. I’ve had building something to do that on my low priority list for a long time. Two instances have already happened, the teens stealing from cars, and the mail thief, where it might have been useful to see what their car or phones are named…

So many things. So little time and motivation.

Today I’m helping my wife at the middle school theater. I’ll do some of the sound notes from last year, and help her with installing some other donated equipment. Should be able to get done by late morning. Might have to follow up another day. I’ve got pickups in the afternoon, and moving another load from storage to the shop on my calendar. We’ll see if that happens.

Meatspace and community involvement is important. The appearance of being normal folks, and being helpful to others is a good thing to have on your side, no matter who you are. It probably won’t save you if things go horribly wrong, but it might smooth out some smaller issues. Can’t hurt, and feels good. Win-win.

Always be working to improve your situation. Sometimes that is relationships. Sometimes it great big heaping stacks…

nick

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Tues. Nov. 18, 2025 – gobble gobble soon, too soon

More warm afternoons with cool mornings coming our way. MIGHT get some rain in there, at least for part of town. We had some pretty dark clouds during the day and I was sure we’d get sprinkles in the late afternoon.

I did small stuff yesterday. Dug out a UPS and ordered replacement batteries. The cheapest place to get them was Home Depot, store pickup. They are fairly common 12v 9AH AGM batteries, joined with tape and a proprietary mounting plate. That is true for most UPS batteries. They are proprietary modules built up from commodity batteries. If you do a little work, you can replace the individual batteries and save a ton of money.

I also did some cleaning in my office, which lead to me throwing out the big color laserprinter in the corner. I did some cleaning at the shop too, replacing a ceiling tile, moving some stuff around, and making room for the stuff in my last storage unit. I managed one trip from the unit and just dumped the stuff at the shop. I’ll do that again today.

I also hit a pickup for 4 invoices, mostly stuff for the house, but a few things for the BOL. I’m sure I did some other stuff too, but I can’t remember it.

Today I’ll head out to my client’s house to pickup my pay for the year. I always say I’ll invoice more frequently, and this is the third year I kept finding reasons to push it back (to include one more visit) until a year had gone by. There is also an open issue he wants me to look at so I’m going there, not just waiting for the mail.

After that, I’ve got some pickups on the southwest side of town, and then home.

Dinner will probably be some steaks from 2023. Or maybe ham slices with mac n cheese. Depends on my mood and how many people are going to be home.

Take some time to go through your preps and “shop your closet”. I’m betting there is some stuff you forgot you had… once you know, you can stack the stuff you still need.

nick

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Mon. Nov. 17, 2025 – I get more done alone

Cool but warming. Clouds in the sky, but no rain. NICE. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow if we’re lucky. It’s still getting into the 80sF in the afternoon, and the sun is still crazy hot.

Did a few small things yesterday. Vacuumed the ranger, mostly. Pulled some stuff out from behind the seat. Stuff tends to collect there. Some of it was preps that needed cleaning or refreshing. Some was auction items that fell in the cracks.

Did some other auction stuff, and some minor cleaning. Not the productive day I was hoping for.

Today I will do better. Seriously. Yeah, I know.

Stack it up monkey boy.
n

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Sun. Nov. 16, 2025 – momentum, trying to keep moving

Cool, then warm. Really, several nice days in a row. Maybe even a week’s worth. I’m all for it. It’s been a mild year so far, and I’m finally enjoying it. Hope we get more.

I spent Saturday doing small things that have been on the list for a long time. Not quite piddlefarting around, but pretty close. It’s not the progress I’d like most, but it is keeping some forward progress. And it’s working on my physical surroundings, which Jordan Peterson says is important. I’m inclined to agree.

Today will be more of the same, since I know I’m not headed to the BOL. Maybe I’ll get a bigger task started, or even finish something. At this point, I’m counting any progress at all as a win.

Much of what I have been doing is taking me deep into some stacks that I haven’t poked at in a while. The outdoor stuff really hammers home the “dark” part about good storage locations. Even stuff that only gets indirect and occasional sunlight is breaking down from UV. Some of my storage tubs and a lot of the lids have become brittle. Some look fine, but fall apart when I lift them, with big chunks of plastic breaking off. Even some milk crates are showing signs of becoming brittle. Plastic buckets too. Cool, dark, and dry if you want it to last.

Check your stacks. Maintain them. Add to them.

nick

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Sat. Nov. 15, 2025 – just two more days to work

Mild. Damp. Chilly last night and chilly to start but generally getting all the way to ‘very nice’ by afternoon. Possibly some clouds.

I didn’t get much done yesterday despite my good intentions. Sometimes it be that way.

Today I’ll sleep in a bit, after waking early to be sure youngest is getting ready for her school thing today. She’s got a competition in a nearby city that will last all day. I’ll go back to sleep after that. Probably. Then it’s working on the list. W and D1 will be home to provide motivation.

I may load the truck and make a run to the BOL late in the day. I’d like to get that stuff out of my way here and re-stocked up there. Keeping two places and the backup offsite location even minimally stocked takes effort. To keep them properly stocked, with layers of fall back, is an undertaking.

Two things I’ve been neglecting is inspecting and organizing existing stock of medical supplies, and food here. Because my storage conditions suck, I’ve got a bunch of stuff that should be thrown out or retired to the “use it for practice” or “give it out so no one else wants more of that crap” pile.

I’ve also been neglecting the generators. I ran the one at the BOL, and had W start it several months ago, but it needs to be exercised again. The gennies here all need to be checked and most need further work/refinement. It’s a big list and it gets bigger.

Stacking is easy. Do some of that if you can’t do anything else.

nick

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Fri. Nov. 14, 2025 – half way through November already…

Cool and damp, followed by warm and damp, but the radio said no rain for a few more days. Back to watering the lawn I guess. It’s still very nice in the afternoon.

I did some small things, including trying a new way to cook dinner. I tried a pork roast in the crock pot without all the liquid, going for a slow bake. It worked out better than I expected, although I chickened out and added 1/2 cup water so the new potatoes and onion wedges would have something to cook in. I think it’s a good choice when I have to leave the house and won’t be home when a roast would have to go into the oven. It was well past 150F in 3 1/2 hours on the crock pot’s high setting. I would normally put it in the oven at 320F for about an hour for the 3 pounds. It might take an extra 20 minutes after that.

Packet gravy, and heat and eat bread rounded out the meal.

Today I don’t have any pickups so I can work my list. That’s my plan anyway. Nose to the grindstone, feet to the fire, once more into the breech…

And some sort of stacking is always appropriate.
n

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Thur. Nov. 13, 2025 – Friday the 13th comes on a Thursday this month…

Cool and damp again, getting very nice later, and maybe staying nice after dark. That’s how Wed. went, with some clouds during the day. I could use a bit more like this before Winter starts in earnest.

I did some of my stuff. Did a pickup. Spent a lot of time chatting with the guy who runs that office, and learned a few things. One of his competitors is closing a branch office. The reselling game is tough. I still expect a wave of big boys to come in and buy out (or force out) the mom and pops like with house flipping and investment properties. I watch new players come and go, and a bunch came in lately. I don’t expect them to last as they don’t seem to be attuned to the business. And everyone is having trouble getting good stuff to resell.

Today I’ve got pickups on the east side of town. I’ve been buying a lot less, and bidding on a whole lot less. I’ve still managed to buy a few things that should improve my situation and increase the stacks.

I’m sure that I have more plumbing in my near future too. But that’s for later. I had a moment of panic when I thought that Christmas was only 12 days away… but I realized it was just a bad waking thought and not reality. The end of the year will come rocketing along soon enough without me losing a whole month.

My subconscious must be getting nervous.

I’ll have to try the Scrouge McDuck therapy and spend some time swimming in my gold coins — I mean counting cans of food.

Stuff gets spoiled, stuff ages out. Adding to the stacks is always a good thing.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 12, 2025 – CME inbound, weird lights in the sky and radio issues forecast

Cool and then warmer. Maybe not as cool as yesterday, and a bit warmer in the afternoon. Maybe not. Space weather is the big story today.

Yesterday I did my two pickups. Did some stuff around the house. Made dinner (frozen shrimp sauteed and served with Jack Daniels bacon creme sauce over bow tie pasta. Yum.) Read for a while.

Today I’ll be doing more pickups and more of the work I didn’t do yesterday. My ability to work seems to be “bursty” for lack of a better term. I used to be quick and steady.

The sun apparently spit out some cosmic loogies, and they are headed this way. Now, we’re all gonna die, eventually, except maybe SteveF, but probably not today. There might be communication impacts and might be some auroras visible in places that don’t normally get them. Keep an eye and an ear open, and if you rely on GPS or starlink, maybe make sure it’s not life or death that either keeps working. Otherwise, most of us probably won’t even know it’s happening.

You should be fully stacked to stay home a couple of days anyway, right?

Unless the invading spacecraft missiled our sun during its slingshot… in which case we’re all F’d anyway.

Still, stacks will help if there are issues, at least for a while.

nick

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Tues. Nov. 11, 2025 – 11-11 ! make a wish

Veteran’s Day (US) – remember the day by day sacrifices of all who served and their families on this day.

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Cold. Damp. Windy? Probably. High 40sF most likely to start off, but maybe not getting into the 80sF today. Yesterday stayed chilly all day, but the sun was hot. I even ran the furnace briefly. Houston has a season where we run the heat at night and the A/C in the daytime… and we might be in it.

I did get some small things done, and started others. I did a little bit more in the ‘library’/’listening room’ by spraying down half the records with mold/mildew/viricide/odor killer. There was a faint smell of mold. I’ve found that spraying it all with Mold Armor makes a huge improvement. That’s every record jacket, front and back, and edges.

I then started on the pile on the back patio. I need to sort some out in order to re-stack the canned goods and other stored food. That’ll be a chore, and I don’t have trash can space at the moment for what I’m sure will be a lot of ‘breakage’. I can at least go through the stuff that has just piled up there.

[it is currently 11:11 and I’m writing my 11/11 post, fun! Not too long ago my odometer was 171717.7 More fun!]

Then I spent far to long messing with the free inkjet printer to see if I could get the tubes and print head cleaned out for use. The answer is yes, but something else broke and now the printer won’t even try to print. I’ll try clearing the error code and see if that works, but if not, I’m ordering something new.

Today I’ve got a couple of pickups to do and I’ll either keep working my list, or work on the list for the truck. I’ll have some domestic bliss in there too, and maybe make some dinner…

All in a day’s work for prepper dad. Somewhere in there I’ll stack something. (probably something from the auction pickups)

n

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