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Wed. Sept. 23, 2026 – hmm, more to do? Why yes.

By on September 23rd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And it will be hot while I do it. It got plenty sweaty during the day Tuesday, and stayed in the 80sF all night. I think we’ll get more of that today.

Did my pickup in the afternoon, then took the stuff to my shop and unloaded it. I’ve got some steel scrap to drop off today. No money really but it will be out of the shop. I’ll throw some batteries and some bits of other non-ferrous on the pile too.

Spent the evening assembling my new gantry. I’ll finish up with that today, I think. I’ve got to pick up the second load of stuff from the auction too. Three COWs (computer on wheels) from one of the local hospitals. I’ll scrap them, and see what kind of laptops they left in them. Might be decent, might be old.

The ipad I picked up yesterday was a 9th generation. The dang thing has a pin lock, even though the auction pictures showed the settings screen. I hope the auction can tell me the code, as I’d like to use it if possible. The kids’ old middle school uses one to control their sound system and the district IT staff was going to take their ipad away. If I can unlock and reset it, I’ll give it to the theater department. Apple makes it hard or impossible to repurpose their itoys if they haven’t been released by the previous owner, unlike windows and PC based stuff. I guess that’s good if you are worried about theft. Makes it hard to get money for old gear, or to keep it working.

So that is the plan for today, second round of pickups, maybe unlock the ipad, and finish putting the gantry together. I’m sure something will be added to my list as well.

Always be working. Even if each task is fractal. And stack, it’s easy!

nick

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Tues. Sept. 22, 2026 – more stuff, same motivation

By on September 22nd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Hot, but maybe the front will make it just a bit not as hot? It was certainly hot yesterday before the rain came with the front. Lots of thunder, lots of local lightning strikes. Much drama. Not much rain though. We’ll see how today shapes up.

Did my pickup. The gantry crane will be useful for my truck repairs. The cameras turned out to be analog and nothing I want to spend time messing with. Did my normal returns auction pickup too. Didn’t do much else.

Today I’ve got another surplus pickup to do. I got a bunch more of the roll around laptop cart things from the hospital, so I’ll break those down for scrap, inverters, and batteries. I also got a bunch of open frame telcom racks sold as scrap that I’ll bring to the next hamfest. Racks usually sell well for me. And if not, they are aluminum C channel, and could be re-purposed or scrapped. IDK if I can get everything in one trip, but I’ll know after I try today! I’ve still got tomorrow if I have to make a second trip.

And in order to make room for this stuff, I have to continue my organization and clean out of my shop. Which will be sweaty and tedious. But hey, they call it ‘work’ not ‘playing around’.

Always be working… and stacking.

nick

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Mon. Sept. 21, 2026 – running out of September…

By on September 21st, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Hot. Humid. Still. Still Summer. But we can see Fall from here. It was almost chilly at night at the BOL, as long as the air was moving. I’ll be lamenting the cold soon. Well, not too soon. Still Summer in Houston.

Took Sunday kinda slow. Made breakfast for the wife and the kids ate too. Pancakes with chocolate chips, while I had pancakes with bacon bits… Wife opened some presents. Then I eventually got to work. Ended up leaving for home around 745pm. I’ve got too much to do today to stay at the lake.

Today’s list is auction pickups, mainly. Cameras from one auction, household stuff from another. As auctioneers throw in the towel, I’m starting to worry I won’t be able to find the good deals anymore. Something as simple as furnace filters used to be in several auctions, and they were available often, but I haven’t seen many lately. I pay about $2/filter for 3M in the auctions, but they’re ~$20 in the store. Good thing I stocked up. Bad thing, I got the size wrong for the BOL, so I either need new ones, or I keep cutting the ones I have to fit. I’m thrifty, so I’ll keep cutting them if the alternative is $20 at the store. I’ve gotten used to buying most of my household stuff in the auctions for 10c on the dollar.

Estate sales will continue, and there are bargains there too.

It sure made stacking easier, when the cost was so low…

nick

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Sun. Sept. 20, 2026 – I will do some work today

By on September 20th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

It’ll be hot again in the afternoon, but it’s reasonable in the morning. Night is almost chilly with the damp near the water. It was 75F when I went to bed.

Didn’t get much work done. More cleaning, with some floor scraping thrown in. There was a tiled area in front of the patio doors and the fireplace hearth that had a bunch of mortar still stuck to it. A new floor scraper with a razor sharp blade got rid of almost all of it. Old boy didn’t use a primer or adhesion promoter on the slab before tiling, so it didn’t stick as well as it could have. Of course such things might not have been available when he did the work.

W got the tv and game systems set up and we played Simpson’s Road Rage for a while too. It’s a very fun game, even if the graphics look chunky. With video games it’s always more about the gameplay than the graphics, as long as they don’t distract. I enjoy playing older games when I do play.

Today it’ll be birthday breakfast, then I’ll fix the last two bricks in place so we can finish the exterior trim around the window. The interior is done. The ceiling still needs repair and scraping, and then a new finish, but that will be a big messy job and will have to wait some more. This trip wasn’t really a big work trip, but a chance for W to spend time using the place with the kids.

Gotta remember to stack up some good times too.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 19, 2026 – celebrating the wife’s birthday

By on September 19th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

And it will be hot during the day, even if it’s getting into the mid 70sF at night. The sun will still roast my brains in my skull. And it’s still humid. Summer isn’t quite ready to change to Fall.

I did my pickups, mostly. Chatted with on of the auctioneers I’ve known for a while. He confirmed that the big place in the Woodlands has thrown in the towel. They couldn’t get loads at the price they needed to be profitable. Their costs were high too, being in The Woodlands. The other stopped doing retail auctions and will be selling whole pallets, probably until they run out of stock, but maybe he’ll make that work. He was the last place getting really good loads.

Then I got gas at Costco. We’ll see how my mileage looks on this tank. The last HEB tank I only got 14 mpg. I usually get closer to 18. I suspect too much alcohol in the fuel. Also picked up flowers and cake for my wife, and some crab claws. They’ll make a nice treat.

Today I’ll work on stuff. Dunno which stuff, but I’m sure there will be plenty.

Always be working to improve your situation.

nick

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Fri. Sept. 18, 2026 – Friday again. Before you know it it’ll be Halloween

By on September 18th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, personal

Still hot, although less so yesterday because the sun hid most of the day. Parts of Houston even got rain. Some of it got a lot of rain. I drove through some on the east side, but nothing at home. Maybe today?

Slept most of the morning despite my alarm going off more than once. Got up late and did auction stuff, then pickups. Well, one pickup. And I got a couple of things out of storage, including a new 8″ chef’s pan. I like the NSF rated simple non-stick pans that Costco used to carry. They end up in auctions surprisingly often, so I stock up. Or stack up… Since they should only be used for a while, and replaced when overheated or when the coating gets damaged, I consider them disposable items. I do take the pan to the scrapyard to be recycled. I like my heavy stainless and my cast iron, but some things are just easier to cook in non-stick.

Today I’ve got pickups, and I’d really like to be inspired and find a nice gift for my wife. It’s not a milestone birthday, but it’s always nice to celebrate things.

I’ve also got to load some stuff for the lake and get ready to head up. I’ve got frozen and cold food to take with me and I’ve got my normal pile of stuff that accumulates between trips. There’s always something that needs to go up.

So stack it high at home, and then duplicate that at your BOL. You’ll have twice the fun.

nick

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Thur. Sept. 17, 2026 – nothing much to say today.

By on September 17th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall

Hot again, same as the last several weeks. It isn’t getting quite as hot in the afternoons, but it’s still pretty nasty to be out in it, especially in the sun. Everything was too hot to touch.

In the late morning I finally got around to starting my day. I showered. Soaped up and did all my scrubbing with a washcloth, then stepped into the shower and rinsed under the warm water from the pipes in the attic. I could do it every day if I had to. Not a big deal.

Then I decided to try troubleshooting the water heater. Unplugged it. Checked fuses. Checked continuity. Everything was ok. Plugged it back in to start following voltage around and it worked. Put it back together and called it a win. The second step of the Rheem troubleshooting guide says to unplug it and LEAVE IT unplugged for 5 minutes. OF COURSE I didn’t do that the first time, because I know better. I only unplugged it long enough to discharge caps, and then plugged it back in.

Turns out, it really needs to be unplugged for 5 minutes to self reset. Self resetting fuse? Safety feature because it’s gas fired? Who knows, but if I’d followed the instructions to the letter, I’d have had a 10 minute hot shower in the morning.

Seems to be fine.

Did my pickup and hit the goodwill outlet on the way home. Found a couple of things I’ve needed, and some resale stuff. Grabbed more media to rip. The store got their air conditioning installed and it makes a huge difference.

Took the stuff to the shop and did more sorting before heading home. Ate leftovers.

Today should be EXCITING and FILLED WITH DANGER! Or not. I’ve got the pickups I put off, and trying to figure out a birthday gift for the wife. I did pick up a card, and steaks, but I don’t have any ideas for a gift. My emergency jewelry stash is empty too.

Oh well, if I can’t think of anything I’ll put a bow on the window at the BOL.

Stack some presents. You might need them later.

nick

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Wed. Sept. 16, 2026 – who knew that time would just keep rolling along?

By on September 16th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall

And that it would be hot in September in Houston? Oh, everyone? Shii… Because it’s another hot and humid day coming up, following the hot and humid day yesterday. Weatherman. Easiest job in the world. Look out the window. Flip coin to decide if you’ll report what you see, or the opposite. Get paid.

Spent yesterday sweating. Just loading a few bins into the truck had me glistening. Took those bins, dropped them off at the auctioneer, had a few extra minutes, so I stopped at the Mormon thrift store. They usually have very nice stuff. And I got a ryobi chop saw stand, in like new condition, for $20. That’s going to the BOL. Grabbed a CS Lewis audio book, some power adapters, and a couple of DVDs too.

Hit costco for snacks for youngest. She’s never said anything dumb to me, so I’m not on strike for her. Got some steaks for W’s birthday, which is coming up. I’ll have to go back for flowers and cake a bit closer to the day… I’m on strike but I’m not stupid.

Hit the HEB for my groceries.

W now thinks the drip tray in the fridge was the cause of the stink. Hard to tell for sure, but I suspected it from the beginning. Poured some bleach in there, as it was looking pretty nasty. No way to remove or wash it. We’ll see today if the stink got better. The odd thing is that when you get close to it, it doesn’t really smell that strong, but does have a bit of the odor. It seems to get stronger when it’s left undisturbed.

Today I’ve got a couple of pickups to do, on different sides of town. I could put half of them off ’til tomorrow, but I think I’ll just suck it up and do the driving. Can’t make everything into a shared trip.

Then I’ll see what else on the list I can get done.

And how much of it I can count as stacking, or improving my position.

Like you should be doing.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 15, 2026 – now time is starting to fly by…

By on September 15th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, long-term food storage

Hot and humid. Still Summer. Getting kinda boring. And it’s staying hot all night again. I was a bit premature thinking Summer was done. More of the same for today, I think.

Did a bunch of small things, mostly auction related yesterday. This being on strike business does free up a lot of time for reading. It’s hurting me in the long run though. IDK if I can keep it up in the face of my natural inclinations.

Today I’ve got auction dropoff to do, so I’ll probably do some auction pickups as well. Nothing too early in the day. Most of them don’t do anything before 10am, and many wait until noon to start their day. I should avoid losing what momentum I have and keep plugging away at it.

And stacking. Grocery shopping time. Time to start replacing the popped cans. I know I’m going to have losses, my storage conditions are far far far from ideal. I just count them as part of the cost of preparedness.

Stack.

nick

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Mon. Sept. 14, 2026 – another week starts

By on September 14th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall

And it will be another hot, moist week. Despite the t-storm possible zone forecast we didn’t get any rain at my house. Maybe someone did. I think we’ve had a mild year so far, but it’s gonna stay warm longer. We’ll see.

Didn’t do much yesterday. Watched some auctions close and even won a few things. Had a little excitement with youths and gunfire, mentioned in yesterday’s comments. Not much really besides reading and sleeping in, and yet, while I feel like it was lost time, part of me doesn’t really regret it enough to get worked up.

Today will be different though. I have more sorting to do to take another load of stuff to my new auctioneer. I have some more vehicle related stuff that I might get to, and I have to do some more work for my client. Haven’t heard back if my ‘clean all the connectors’ strategy worked or failed, and my partner hasn’t gotten back to me about the gear purchase. I need to follow up on both sides.

And who knows, I might get a small thing done around the house too, if I don’t get too distracted.

I’ve got some exploded can goods to clean up, and some stack maintenance to do.

Some of my auction stuff will even count as stacking…

So there is that.

nick

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