Month: April 2026

Warm and humid. I think we’re really in Spring now. It cleared up by later afternoon, what with the gusting wind from the Gulf blowing all the stuff north… and it ended up being quite nice, if a bit humid. So my guess for today is overcast, clearing later, and mid 80sF and humid.

I did my big loop of pickups. All stuff for the house and the BOL. More lappy carts to break down for batteries, food, coffee, and some small electronics and household stuff. Since I was running late, I called D1 and had her put the roast in the oven.

That worked out well. I put 3 lbs of eye round roast in for about 1 1/2 hours at 220F and by the time I got home, it was 130F internally. Slightly more towards medium than rare, but not dried up and grey. It’s so lean that it’s hard to get it cooked but also not overcooked and tough. I seasoned some canned peas and canned carrots as sides, which were better than I expected, and threw a shelf stable sourdough loaf in the oven too. Kid made ‘break and bake’ chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

When I was sitting out having my tiny little fire and a book, twice Lifeflight went overhead outbound. The first was low and very fast, the second was low and moving briskly but not “OMG that thing is booking it…” One possum went by on his rounds, and three shots sounded like they came from the end of the block. No cats though. Lifeflight came back over inbound when I was back in the house. Kinda busy night.

Today I’m definitely getting a nap as I don’t have any pickups scheduled. I won a vintage Hallicrafters ham tranceiver that I could pick up today, but tomorrow is fine too. Later today I’ll break down the laptop carts and take most of the BOL stuff to the shop, if I don’t spend the day doing web stuff for my hobby.

And I’ve got some office type stuff that needs doing too, so that could eat some time.

I will be stacking the batteries and chargers, and the spare parts I got, and some of the other things that need to go to the BOL. I do need to test some of them first, like the aerator for the septic system. It LOOKS new, but who knows, could be returns fraud. Backup for that system has been on my list for some time.

It’s been a busy day or two. Sometimes it be that way. Stack what you can.

nick

Cool, then warm, then hot. Unless it rains. Then cool to cool. There is a chance we’re in the Tstorm area for the next couple of days but the wind from the Gulf was so strong yesterday, that could have changed. We’ll get what we get.

Spent the morning asleep. Back hurt, and I was tired. So I slept.

Spent the afternoon doing minor car repair, a couple of office things, and a bit of poking around.

Today, I have to do the pickups I missed in the last 2 days. I did score 3 more of the laptop stands, so more batteries, chargers, and scrap to come. I’m bidding on even more. Now that I know what scrap I’ll get, I’m even more inclined to buy them as I make 60-80USD scrapping them after paying for them. IE, they’re not just free, I get paid to take them and salvage the parts I want.

I’ve got a couple of other pickups to do too, one is mostly food, the other is odds and ends for the house and the BOL.

There are fewer and fewer auctions and I’m winning less. Hmm.

Still stacking though.

nick

Starting a little warmer every day now, and hitting a little bit higher in the afternoon. REAL Spring must be here, with Summer right behind. It hit mid to high 80sF yesterday, and probably will again today. The overcast never lifted, but on the national forecast we’re right on the southern edge of the Tstorm possible zone, so if there is a little bit more pressure from the Gulf, we’ll be clear. No one knows for certain.

I didn’t do much beyond getting ready for the kid’s special dinner. I like cooking so that was fine, and the result was really good. I filtered and recovered the lard, but it’s not pure white anymore. I’ll save it in the fridge. I’d had it stored in the freezer for the last few years. The temperature difference between “flows thru the filter paper” and “congeals” is somewhere above room temperature. I got “most” of it through the filter…

Cast iron cleaned up with a couple of wipes of damp paper towel.

Today I’ll do the stuff I didn’t do yesterday. If I’ve had enough sleep.

The pile up is getting deep.

Stack.

nick

It was nice yesterday, with some really gusty winds. Nice out though, mid 80sF and sunny. Hoping for more of that today.

Spent the morning doing auction stuff. Then went to buy a couple of jetskis. Very affordable, not at all new, but in very good condition. Trailer too. Then I went to do a pickup, and after that went to my shop to break down the laptop carts I bought. I asked the auctioneer if they were taking consignments, and they are, but only 20 lots every 2 weeks, and they want to average $30/lot. They also want to split the sale 50-50. Um, no.

Today I’ve got shopping to do, and presents to wrap, and things to get ready. I’m headed to the BOL on Saturday while my wife stays home to get the kids through their stuff. That means getting stuff done and ready for them first.

And of course all the other normal stuff needs doing too.

So do it! And stack.
n

Cool and damp again, but the clear sky and sunshine late yesterday has me hoping for sun and a bit of drying off today. National map still has us in a T storm possible area until Saturday. We had some light fog yesterday morning too, which is unusual for us, and light sprinkles in various parts of town. The bayous were back to normal flow rates and levels after getting quite high earlier in the week. It would be nice to start drying off.

I did stuff around the house in the morning, then headed out to do my pickups. Household stuff at the first place, and a generator accessory at the second. It’s an electric pump with some sort of flow control to allow automatic pumping from a second tank to the main tank on a portable generator. It’s not the second tank option for the Honda inverter gennie I looked at in the past, which is more like a boat tank, with Mercury outboard style connectors, and I’ll have to see how it attaches and works. Since I’m running propane in my Honda gennies, it will probably end up at the BOL.

Then it was more domestic bliss in the evening. Everyone was out and about at dinner time, so I enjoyed the pork tenderloin myself. I really should look at the family calendar.

Today I’ve got one or two items to pickup, and some grocery shopping to do. We’re celebrating D2’s birthday next week and my 21st wedding anniversary, so if I can get a jump on the provisioning for that, I really need to. I’ve also got to get the truck unloaded, and move some more stuff out of the house.

And the list never sleeps. I do however, so things slip. I do keep adding stuff to the stacks, you should too.

nick

Cool and wet again. 60F with misty drizzle when I went to bed, and no reason to expect any different. Yesterday was mixed and variable. At times, the sun poked through and I thought we might get a nice day, then the overcast and very light precip started back up. I think today and tomorrow will be similar.

Monday morning I got the kids and wife out of the house, then met up with a guy to do a deal for some pipes. I think I did well, but not necessarily awesome. I spent more per pipe at the estate sale where I met him, but I got more pipes and accessories this time. I had a good time talking to him. He’s hustling and a sharp trader who has been doing it for a while. Interesting guy. I meet a lot of interesting people by getting out of the house and talking to everyone. Recommended.

In the afternoon, I did one auction pickup, missed the other due to traffic and weather, and spent a few hours breaking down scrap and harvesting gold plated bits and pieces at the shop.

Today will likely be very similar. I’ve still got a couple of auction pickups, and all the rest of my lists still need doin’. I ordered parts to fix a couple of resale items too. If I can do that for a few items a day, and do a few easy fixes, I can move more of this stuff out of storage and into a sale. I have to start and build some momentum.

Stacking is good, but not enough. Using and learning are critical too. Do all the things.

nick