Month: November 2025

Forecast has the whole country in a high pressure zone, with clear weather for the next two days. Plenty of cold for everyone too. I expect that’s just what we’ll get. It was still very nice yesterday afternoon in the sun. Temps dropped pretty rapidly with nightfall.

I slept in and then did smaller things all day. I got several longstanding items off the list. They are little things but were for other members of the household, so I’m sure they are glad that I finally got to them. Did some domestic bliss too, and some cleaning and organizing. I need to clear out a space for the Christmas tree, so I need to keep moving with that.

Part of that was setting up IKEA cube storage to get some of my LP records out of crates on the floor. I got about 5 linear feet sorted. I have about two feet for ebay and local auction sale too. Old funk and R&B is bringing some good prices, and it’s not something I have a great desire to listen to. I am keeping some of the early rap and some of the more famous funk though. I’ve got a lot more to sort and shelve.

I even managed to cut the grass in the back yard, and install more anti-bird spikes along the top of the fence. Birds don’t bother me, but I’m trying to discourage the possums from using the fence as a literal highway. It drives the dog into a frenzy, and since the possum freezes, the dog just keeps going nuts until one of us gets him, or moves the possum along with a broom or stick. It’s also not neighborly to let the dog bark.

Today I’ll keep working the list and moving stuff around. I will try to take another load out of the house, either a scrap/trash run or getting more of the sale items out. Then I really need to start on the back patio, which became a dumping ground for too much stuff without other homes. I’ve been neglecting it too long.

I need to work toward clearing a path to get the safe out of the driveway and up to the BOL.

Of course all the usual stuff is going on too, and I’m sure some urgent stuff will pop up, because it always does.

That’s what happens when you are living your life.

Somewhere in there I need to work on the generators and do some other explicitly prepping stuff too. And always, there is stacking.

nick

Mildly chilly. Warming later. Fabulous afternoons… although we did have some clouds yesterday afternoon, it was clear and sunny most of the time. And very moderate, high 80sF to low 90sF in the sun. And here I was told it would just get colder until the weekend.

Did some stuff around the house in the morning, mainly office stuff like invoicing my client. That took some cross-referencing with mileage logs, card receipts, and my written notes. I am always slow invoicing him, and it’s not really fair because the result is a big check once a year rather than more manageable checks throughout. I just don’t like invoicing.

Then I did a really big loop to do pickups. Lots of traffic, and my desire to chat slowed me down. I skipped the cheapest one, that I can probably get next week anyway, without a special trip across town. There was an accident and the little freeway to get to that part of town was completely blocked (going into rush hour) and backed up for miles onto the other freeway. With the delays I might have missed it anyway.

Today I’ll do stuff around the house. I might do one pickup and meet with another auctioneer, or I might just work here. Depends on if I can get some momentum going. There is always more to do.

And sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know until you really try. So get started. Stack.
nick

cool, calm, and collected… nah, Cool, damp, and getting warmer later. It may be predictable, but it does make for some fine afternoons. We had another great weather day yesterday.

I did pickups, auction stuff, and even ran a load of stuff to my shop yesterday. I’m not selling or making money, which is unfortunate, but I’m also buying a whole lot less. And I keep stacking the stuff to sell, I just haven’t had the time, motivation, and stuff all in the same place.

There is a big pile of stuff for the BOL too. Wife and kids will head up this weekend, and I’ll join them later. I’ve got my hobby meeting, and we’re doing our quarterly swap, as well as planning the Christmas party. I usually volunteer to bring stuff to the party, and buy some things to dress the room, so I should be there to do that part. I can’t really believe it’s time to plan for Christmas.

Time just keeps marching on.

And the list gets longer. But. I will make some progress this week. In the couple of days I have left. And I’ll work on the stacks too.

Always be working.

nick

Cold and damp, turning warmer, then cold again. The trend is down, and the forecast is down as well. It does make for really nice afternoons.

I did some stuff yesterday. Two pickups and some shopping. Ended up going to the grocery store to get prescriptions filled so I topped up a few things.

Brisket is cheaper than hamburger. They have a 3 pound “chub” as well as the normal 5 pound “chub” now, so the cost is lower for the unit. It’s like slicing the steaks thinner. At least you can buy the unit.

Locally ground chuck, 80-20, was a little bit less than the prepacked 73-27 hamburger. Even at ~5/pound I ended up buying some. But that was it for meat. I’m eating out of the freezer until the next sale. I wonder how many weeks it will be this time?

Some ‘teenager’ issues are getting me down and sapping my motivation this week. I’m just hoping that “this to shall pass” hurries up a bit.

Oh, and the dog tried to kill a possum the other night. Lots of noise and biting and shaking. Possum survived at least long enough to get out of the bucket I put him in after getting the dog off him. Damn dog is a pain in my butt.

While trying to save the possum my wife had to “interact” with some piles of stuff on the back patio, so now that is moved up my list. Some things have been piling up and falling behind for a long time. Too long, for sure, but it’s not like new stuff didn’t get added as well.

Another day without anyone commenting on the missing mustache or beard. I don’t like seeing the scar on my chin, and the little bit of skin under my chin is a bit wobbly now that it’s visible, and no me gusta! It’s been covered long enough that I forgot about it. The scar was the first thing people would comment on when I met them, until I grew the beard. It’s been nice having that not happen. Most of the other scars on my face are much more subtle, but when they’re stitching your face closed in the ER in Gary, Indiana in the middle of the night, you get what you get. I’m lucky I’m still as handsome as I ever was…

What doesn’t kill us … usually hurts for the rest of our lives, but sometimes it just adds “character”.

Yeah, character.

Get to work, get to learning something, get to stacking.

nick

Cold-ish again. For us anyway, if not by your standards. 50sF is cold. Granted since we’re all the way down here it does warm up in the afternoon, but starts and ends cold. At least the sun is shining.

I got a bunch of little things done yesterday but nothing big. Some personal maintenance as well as domestic bliss. I cut my hair, and shaved my beard and mustache. It’s been a long time since I was without both. I keep reaching for it. And no one noticed.

One of the tasks was putting all the coats back on the rack in the entry. Since I had the stuff out to condition some leather boots for the auction, I conditioned my leather coats too. One was in dire need; the other two are buttery soft, but did have a bit of wear around the edges. I had one coat growing up, so now I have several different ones for different tasks and different weather and just for different social occasions. They are all thrift store purchases, but in great condition when I got them.

I’ve got the same thing going on with shoes I guess. As a kid I had one pair of cheap dress shoes for church and big events, one pair of “good” sneakers, and the worn out pair that used to be my “good” pair. I’ve got a lot of nice shoes now- more than I wear routinely, even though I make an effort. I just don’t have that much opportunity to wear nice shoes, as I rarely dress up. I still like having them.

Funny how much we are influenced by our childhood. My in-laws can’t leave food on the table. They really can’t. If there is any, they will keep coming back, picking at it ’til it’s gone. There was never enough food in the house when they were growing up. My dad would put single bites of food in the fridge for later if they were left. He was born in 1933, and had 4 brothers and sisters. My wife thinks shelves and cabinets should be half empty. Her house growing up was mostly empty as they moved a lot and didn’t have much money in the beginning. My kids are risk averse, aren’t passionate about anything, and are weirdly passive. Most of their peers are too. They are surrounded by stuff and anything they want to see, hear, or do is available if they want it, so maybe they will grow up to “own nothing and love it”.

IDK what the future holds, or what intervening events might provide a bigger influence on our lives and their lives. It’s unlikely to change who I am, but it is likely to supplant the wuflu nonsense for the kids. If anything big happens. Otherwise it’s the reaction to the chinkyflu that will define their lives and that is really sad.

Hopefully it won’t be horrific violence and starvation, or aliens reaping the crop they sowed millennia ago. I’ll keep doing what I can to mitigate the ordinary horrors.

Stacks are bound to help.

nick

Cold again, but warming. We’re definitely on the downward trend. A week ago I was sitting out at night in shorts, comfortably. This week I’m cold in long pants and a coat. Fall fell. Forecast has us in clear for the next few days, so it’s still too dry. Maybe we’ll get a little more rain later in the month.

I took advantage of the time change and slept late. Still having some back issues from my exertions getting everything in place for the holiday and my project, so not moving too fast. I did manage to get almost all the holiday stuff put away and back into the attic. Of course I missed a candy tray, and I’m sure I will find something else, even though we didn’t go crazy decorating this year. Put some finishing touches on the pantry project too, and enabled my wife to do her part of it.

Today I’d like to continue making progress and try to rebuild some of the momentum but we’ll see what the universe has in store. My suspicion is that I will find several things to add to the list, and will not make much progress on it.

We can only continue to try.

At least stacking is easy.

nick

Cold this morning? Certainly cool. Then warming. And if the giant ball of nuclear fire is in the sky, then it will feel hot. Like yesterday. While it was cool to chilly in the shade, the sun poking through the clouds was like a heat lamp and I was the entree sitting on the cutting board. I might even have a little tightness to the skin on my neck and shoulders. I’m really glad it wasn’t sunny for longer.

I thought I had a plan in place for yesterday, but I was wrong. On the other hand, I spent a few hours with my lovely wife watching other kids perform, and about 15 minutes watching my kid do her thing. All while sitting comfortably (mostly) outdoors. Took a while to get home after, as traffic leaving the event was poorly managed. I did some quick auction stuff, then read for a while while waiting for kids to get home.

Today I’ll sleep in a bit, then do what I can to get the house back into shape. It’s currently disrupted by the laundry/entry/pantry project, and all the holiday decorations. Just getting all those back into the attic will help. Getting the entry/laundry finished and back together will put even more stuff back where it belongs. Oh, and I should make something nice for dinner.

If I can get anything off the list it will be a bonus.

We’ll also begin to see if there will be widespread or localized madness in the stores or the streets. W says her socials are mostly emphasizing food bank donations to fill any gaps. I wonder how long that will last as people see just who has been spending their tax dollars, and on what. Trump has once again disrupted the status quo and focused attention on something that has been building for a long time without oversight. The ugly truth of the abuse of SNAP will last even if people forget that Orangemanbad was the one who flipped over the rock.

I’ll keep stacking and adding to my stored resources. You should too.
nick

Chilly is probably a good word to start the day, then warming a bit, before ending cold. We’re still supposed to be clear sky and sunny, so it should warm up a bit later in the day. Yesterday was really nice. It was a bit on the cool side, but as I was working outdoors, it felt great. By midnight, it was pretty dang cold and damp though.

I spent the day doing Halloween stuff. My decorations went farther than I thought, and they came out looking good. I like the chance to do some quick and dirty creative work that is physical and fleeting in nature. You can do a lot with very little if it only has to last a few hours.

Today I’ll keep putting stuff away. I’ve got one pickup to do, and D2 has a competition in the early afternoon that I’m going to try very hard to attend. Then it will be back to the list, with finishing out the pantry/laundry room makeover at the top. By the end of the weekend I hope to have that done, and move on to the next thing.

And I really need to go through some of the food stacks and get rid of the breakage/waste while sorting and re-stacking what’s left. Then I will replace the breakage. Although I might not do it in the first couple of days of the month. No need, if the people go nuts. And people do go nuts. I watched people fighting over bottled water while it was still coming out of the tap, and they could get all the water they wanted. So, yeah, nuts.

Stacking and a preparedness lifestyle means not having to take risks for daily needs. Do more!

nick