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Month: August 2026

Mon. Aug. 31, 2026 – another week starts as the month ends

And it’s still bloody hot. Slightly less humid, which is a blessing, and maybe a couple of degrees cooler. That might be due to the intermittent cloud cover though. Still no real rain here or at the BOL. Today is more of the same, and will be until finally Summer on the Gulf Coast ends.

Did some stuff yesterday, primarily selling one piece of specialized hobby equipment that I probably was never going to use. The guy who bought it seemed genuinely happy to have it and had plans to put it to use in his new hobby. That actually felt pretty good. Then I stayed at the shop and did some stuff that should pay dividends later. It was supposed to be a short term solution, but it’s somehow been over a year and I’m no where near getting out of there. I just have to work harder at making it pay.

Today I’ve got some stuff to do. I’ve got scrap and trash in the pickup truck, but might hold off on that and head to my client’s house. I need to start troubleshooting the latest issues, and putting that off isn’t a great idea. Plus it will give me some time to buy stuff if needed. Gear fails. Video gear tends to run very hot, and the equipment closet isn’t as cool as it should be. Plus, cheaper gear fails earlier because of the design choices made to make it cheaper. I’m looking at intermittent failures which is typical of failing gear.

Intermittent failures are the hardest to diagnose though.

If got some stack related things I’ve been putting off for too long that need attention too. Shouldn’t take long to do them, but they will be unpleasant. Failed cans of food, and the rotting that has happened because of that will be a mess to clean up and not the way I want to spend a hot day in the sun. Gotta be done though. Putting out new rat poison can’t be delayed any longer either.

Busy day ahead, hopefully I’ve recovered enough to do a good push.

Stack what you can, then keep and eye on it.

nick

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Sun. Aug. 30, 2026 – and time keeps moving along

Cooler last night, which was nice after another hot day. 90F at 9pm is pretty warm, and it was over 100F during the day. A bit less humidity made it nicer, but I still didn’t want to work outside.

I did computer stuff and read most of the day. The backache started and just got worse throughout the day. Then I made dinner. It was going to be just me and W, but the youngest ended up getting home in time.

Today I’ll be headed to the shop to sell an item that should be a nice little bump in my cash on hand. Too bad it’s not huge, but selling it will move stuff out and that’s a good thing. It was an impulse purchase for a potential hobby or expansion of a hobby along the lines of “I want to be able to make anything” but the things it would facilitate are far from normally useful. Better to have the money back, plus a good profit.

Stacks of things to sell are a good thing, if you actually sell them. I need to work on that.

Stack all the things! And work on the things that need work.

nick

Read the comments: 47 Comments

Sat. Aug. 29, 2026 – not quite the day of rest

But like the rest of the days, hot and humid. If the weather front sticks around it might be wet and a bit cooler, which would be welcome. Lots of people around Houston got rain yesterday but all I got were a few sprinkles. Barely enough to get the pavement wet. The grass is pretty crunchy and brown where the sprinklers don’t hit it.

I did some stuff on the list, but mostly computer stuff, and a lot of barely productive time was spent on our site outage. Still no idea why wordpress puked, or why it recovered. I hadn’t made any changes at all, and if it was a plug in, IDK why any issue resolved itself either. I did clean up some minor things like broken links and typos on rarely visited pages. And I always learn something when I am forced to poke around. I should spend a little time on my hobby site considering we just had our big annual event. I’ll add that to a list…

Today I’m sleeping in a bit, then I’ll do some things. What things will depend on weather, but the shop or stuff around the house will probably be top of mind.

Stack useful things.

nick

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Fri. Aug. 28, 2026 – we’ll just see what happens

Still hot. Still humid. Still summer in Houston. And boy was I feeling it yesterday. Officially, IDK if we hit 100F but at my house we did. The official humidity was <40%RH too, but I was dripping. Sweated through my pants just sitting still. Pretty gross to be out in it. Still, it won't last forever and I'll be b!tching about the cold while sitting with my not so tiny fire in just a couple of months. I did get a bunch of stuff done yesterday. Picked up auction items including preps. Trimmed the bushes and trees. (something ate my apple off the tree when it was golf ball sized) Rescued a possum the dog was trying to kill. Sorted some stuff at the shop. Even made W and D2 some ribs for dinner. I'm still on strike but I wasn't going to waste the ribs that had defrosted. Oh, and I fixed the fence at the rent house. EVEN scored a bunch of 12ft long 2x lumber off the curb, and some 1x12 boards too. Saw a little bit of the end of the eclipse. All in all, a pretty good day. So today, I'll see what happens. I'll either continue getting stuff done, or I'll be so sore I have to recover all day. It's about 60/40 in favor of 'too sore'. One of the things I might do is go see my client and try diagnosing some of his recent issues. I think it's just aging gear. Time for some part swapping. Money is a prep too. As is stacking... nick

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Thur. Aug. 27, 2026 – Work today, eclipse tonight?

More hot and humid. Can’t fool mother nature, and it’s very natural to have heat and humidity in the Houston swamp. Over 100F in the shade, and 106F in the sun… and again probably today. It was a bit cooler at midnight, only 85F with some gusting winds.

I did nothing all day. I laid on the bed, stretching and reading most of it. I can’t help feeling bad about it, while acknowledging that some part of me must have needed that. We’ll see, but I did do a whole lot of physical work with little sleep, and a whole lot of being out in public and talking to people which is taxing in its own right.

Today though, I really need to get back in the swing of doing things. I think I’ll have to get the fence repair at the rent house done, at a minimum. And since the utility guys have called for a trim crew, I should cut any stuff along my property line if I want to save any of it. And I do, because it provides shade and some isolation for the back yard.

I should also move toward getting A/C going in the office at the shop, and the portacool set up there for the warehouse area, and start digging a path through the garage to swap out the A/C in there, which is definitely not making cold…

And I’ve got cameras to install. I’m moving one drop and upgrading that cam to look at the back yard, and I need to get the cam to spy on the halfway house driveway installed. Every time I think no one is home to observe and object, someone pulls up. They seem to swap out guys at the end of the month, so I’ve got a good window coming up.

It’s gonna be another day of sweating in the heat. My ice pack cool vest should help.

Lots to do, and stacks to work from and on. If you’ve got the stuff, you should use it once in a while…

nick

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Wed. Aug. 26, 2026 – shoot, need to do more

Still hot. Still humid. Still soaked to the skin working outside, or in the stifling heat of a still air building… Over 100F in the shade, and hotter than Haiti in the sun. More today, more of the same tomorrow.

Did some stuff, although not as much as I should have. Did some office stuff. Moved the meat from the portable freezer to the upright, only one needed re-sealing so I put it in the fridge to eat this week.

Tried to change the air filter on the Ranger, but the case I have on hand didn’t fit. I don’t know when I made the mistake, but I got them cheap. THOUGHT I had that covered though, and I do not.

Ordered a bluray drive for my main PC. Ordered some other stuff too. SO EASY, and not great for the local economy nor any sense of diversity or resilience. On the other hand, no one in town had one. That might be a chicken and egg problem, but at the end of today, I had no real choice.

Today I’ll do some more stuff. Or not. But I’ll do something. I’m sure I’ll spend time stretching first.

Physical fitness is a prep. Stack it as best you can.

nick

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Tues. Aug. 25, 2026 – back to the other list

Hot and humid again. Still Summer in Houston for a while yet. It was well over 100F yesterday and probably will be today too. Early morning temps are starting to move down, so Fall is coming, just not right now.

Did a lot of stuff yesterday, mostly detailed in the comments. Some of it has added items to my list, so there’s that. Nothing like problems popping up and derailing “normal”. Knowledge, money, and effort go a long way towards turning potential hardship into manageable problems.

Today I will do some follow up for our event, possibly some work at the rent house, and who knows what else. I’m sure it will be a day filled with me doing things. I’ve always taken pride in myself and my ability to get things done, and to solve problems. However, it sure would be nice to have a period without any interruptions from NEW problems.

It’s a great life if you don’t falter.

And if you stack and prepare for the problems you can foresee.

nick

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Mon. Aug. 24, 2026 – back to normal, AF’dUP

Hot and steamy. Yep. And yesterday was too. Maybe slightly less hot than Saturday, but you wouldn’t know it without a thermometer.

Did my event in the morning. Even made some last minute sales. Didn’t win a door prize. Loaded the trailer and was home early. Ate something and fell asleep for a bit, and then a bunch of stuff happened. See yesterday’s comments for details.

W and D2 made it home from the lake just about the time the power went out.

The upshot of yesterday is that I have to figure out what’s wrong with my freezer and fix it today, or replace it post haste. I’d rather fix it as there is a lot of stuff in the way of replacing it. I’ve also got to unload the trailer at my shop and return it. And it’s Monday, so school stuff too.

IF I’d found the freezer issue before it got down to fridge temps, I’d have loaded up coolers, and bought some time. Instead, I’ve loaded up fridges, a portable freezer, and all the free space in the other freezers. It’s a lot of meat.

Oh well, this is normal life. I’ll deal with it, I just don’t like the urgency or hassle. AND other stuff is falling farther down the list.

Stack it high. Hope for the best.

nick

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Sun. Aug. 23, 2026 – last show day, I’m gonna hurt on Monday

Hot. Still hot. And humid. I think today will be hot too. 100+F in the day, high 80sF at night. Still milder than a couple of years ago.

Had a pretty good day at the event. Talked with lots of people. Some sold well and made money but some didn’t. I sold pretty well, but I was also cutting prices to the bone. Some younger people shopping as guests on our public day. Nice to see it. All the hobbies need new people to come in in order to survive.

Today I am going in a bit earlier for a group breakfast, and then a few hours of selling. The pack and load out takes me some time, so it will be late afternoon or evening before I’m home. Then Monday I’ll have to unload the trailer and return it, while storing stuff away at the shop.

All in all, a good show for me. We’ll see how the club does later.

Networking, getting out with fellow enthusiasts, and talking to all sorts of people. Valuable things to do.

Get out there!

nick
and stack, of course.

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Sat. Aug. 22, 2026 – day two of my event

And it will be hot and humid again. Because it’s still Summer in Houston. There was a little relief from the heat today in the form of a slightly cooler breeze, if you were in shadow. Otherwise it was brain broiling hot in the sun. Expect more of the same.

Got some ice on the way in for the crew drinks, and the price of a bag has gone from $2 to $3 in only a couple of years. That’s real inflation. Had a good load in and setup, and then I got busy selling. I didn’t pick up a bunch of good resale inventory, but I did organize what was left from last year and people did buy a lot of that. I did a bunch of small sales, and feel like I grossed at least $500 yesterday. If I can do the same or more over Sat. and Sun., it will have been a pretty good show.

So that’s the goal for today. Move some of the slightly bigger ticket items, and a lot of the old stale inventory even if it’s at fire sale prices. I’m even going to give away some stuff to another hobby group that can use it at the end of the show. The goal is to reduce the number of bins I’m storing, and improve the overall value of what I do store.

It’s a plan. We’ll see if it works out.

Meet some people. Talk to people about their version of the real world. Stack the good stuff.

nick

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