Fri. Nov. 13, 2026 – Friday the 13th is on a Friday this month!

By on November 13th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Cool and clear again. I hope. Because yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day. Smelled fresh. Barely hit mid 80sF. Sunny and blue sky. More please.

Did my pickup after installing the new AAA battery. It started without issue a couple of times. Poisoned the rats. Well, I filled about 6 or 7 bait boxes and placed them around the patio where the rats are. The rats will poison themselves, technically. They love that poison so much they ate through the box to get to it in the garage.

Then I took D2 to see the show. She had a chance to talk with her favorite teacher, and saw a bunch of old friends. It’s a tradition for the former students to keep coming back and seeing the new kids at that school. The first kid we saw was an 8th grader when D2 was a sixth grader, and they knew each other and said hi. There were a bunch of other kids both older and younger that she knew too. I got to chat briefly with my head sound guy kid from the last two years. He’d come to see the show too.

The school really fosters a community among the students and the drama teacher exceeded that by orders of magnitude. It’s a big part of why I take the time to help out.

Meatspace baby.

Today I’ve got a couple of pickups, and I needed to move some stuff between the house and my shop. I’ve got my non-prepping hobby meeting tomorrow, and it’s our quarterly “swapmeet” meeting. I’ve got stuff to sell at the shop. I also need to move stuff for my next auction to the shop, and get some of the stuff there that is going to the BOL. I am tentatively going up Sat. afternoon and coming home Sunday. The next time will be next week for Thanksgiving, but I don’t want to wait another week for some of this stuff.

Speaking of, I need to figure out what I’m going to do about Thanksgiving dinner. Hmmm.

And I need to work on my client’s upgrades and my plan for my buddy’s fun shop cameras. Busy day. Most of them are.

Stacking is the easiest of the things to do…

nick

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Thur. Nov. 12, 2026 – jeez, month is almost half over

By on November 12th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war, personal, rats

And it should be clear today. And since Fall is here, not too hot. It was misty drizzle for part of yesterday, with a lot of water on the streets, so there must have been some locally heavy rain. The cooler temps are nice.

Did my stuff yesterday, which is detailed in the comments. Today I’ve got a pickup in Alvin, and the Ranger to work on. All the usual stuff too. Priority is to re-bait the rat poison boxes. They are getting bold out on the patio.

And tomorrow night I’ll be watching middle school kids sing and dance. D2 will be along too, to see her former teacher. Hopefully things will go well for my crew kids. Live entertainment is a powerful thing to be part of.

Community. Reputations. Being a known quantity and one that contributes. Good things, and solid preps for hard times.

Stacks too.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 11, 2026 – Veterans Day, USA Thank you for your service.

By on November 11th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Well, today it could be clear, since the national forecast shows us in the clear for a couple of days. Or it could just keep dripping. We’ll know when we know. It rained all afternoon and most of the evening yesterday, although never very much and barely getting the ground wet for most of that. At one point, it was raining harder in the back yard than in front of the house…

Didn’t do my auction drop off in the morning as my truck wouldn’t start. I’d cut it too close to jump it and take the chance it wouldn’t start away from home. So I spent the time chasing the issue and going to Costco. And after that, going to my mechanic to make an appointment for today.

I’ve got a couple of pickups to do before I drop off the truck, so I’ll have to jump it today and drive around town. I have to have it be reliable, so I need it fixed. Timing is gonna be a bear though, as I also have rehearsal again in the middle of the afternoon.

I guess I better get started early.

Things to do. I got ’em.

Stack!

nick

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Tues. Nov. 10, 2026 – almost jumped the gun

By on November 10th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Chilly again, hopefully not raining. Rained most of the day yesterday but did clear in the late afternoon. Clouded up and had the occasional drop most of the night. 59F when I went to bed. I was wearing long sleeves, long pants, and a jacket most of the day.

Did my pickups in the morning, and my doctor visit in the afternoon. Swung by Goodwill on the way home. Whoever is setting prices at that store is nuts. Clothes are still a bargain, unless they’ve pulled them out for their “boutique” area, but shoes, housewares, glassware, all nuts. No room for resellers.

Today I’ll take a load to the auctioneer in the morning, and middle school theater rehearsal in the afternoon. That will eat my day. It’s ok, both are good things.

But it’s a busy time, and things are slipping.

Stack. Get out in the community. Restart a stalled project. Learn something new.

nick

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Mon. Nov. 9, 2026 – rushing headlong towards 2027…

Cool and wet is the forecast for today and tomorrow. Doesn’t mean I’ll get rain, but it’s likely to be cold and grey. As it was yesterday. We are in the ‘rain and T-storms possible’ part of the national map. I’m hoping we don’t get rain here.

I did get a few things done yesterday. I did a little more work on the golf cart. I could have done the project as I originally intended, just get it moving, but decided to do at least a half decent job on the body. That and other obligations means it’s taken a lot more calendar than I hoped, but not many extra hours. I’m only working on it an hour or two at a time.

I did a few small things too. Still haven’t refreshed the poison bait in the bait boxes. It’s not a favorite task, so I keep putting it off. Now that it’s cold though, I better just do it. I don’t want SeƱor Raton to decide he wants to be warm in the house…

I’ve got a doctor appointment this afternoon and pickups this morning, so I should have some time late in the day to do a few of the things on my list. Maybe. Depending on weather. And motivation.

Motivation I’m lacking. Stacks I’m stacking.

nick

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Sun. Nov. 8, 2026 – time keeps on slippin’…

Another slightly cool day? I hope so. Yesterday ended up being very nice. The overcast, and later partial clouds, kept the sun at bay, and the temperature was mild, mid 70sF most of the day. A nice day to be outside.

I slept in until 10am, then did auction stuff for a while. Finally got up and out and finished up the decorations. I also did some cleaning and organizing in the donor truck (where I now have a bin of holiday lighting, instead of a big pile) and in the yard. I’m gradually getting the donor truck ready to do the big parts swap.

Cleaning up the decor and some other minor stuff took a few hours, which didn’t leave much light to do my body work on the cart. I got to the point where I should be able to do a few tweaks and glue the new panel in place today. Then I’ll connect the drive systems and give it a test. If the rain holds off, I’ll install the brake light and turn signal kit too. Then it’ll be time to see if the dang thing drives.

———

Turns out that other people are looking at the numbers and voting patterns and there are some things that don’t look right. We’ll see how that plays out, and if there is really something there. My gut says “yes” partly because “we are teh sux so of course we lost” just doesn’t ring true, and too many places are pushing that for it to be entirely natural. It feels a bit like when Bidden didn’t even bother to campaign. It won’t change anything unless there is a true smoking gun, but this time around Trump knows his life hangs in the balance. I hope there is still enough political capital to push for the truth.

———

If there is proof, expect a whole lotta violence at street level. Otherwise, I don’t expect the violence until later, as the left got what they wanted for the moment. When they feel secure, they will start pushing.

Either way, having a nice stack of preps will help you get through.

nick

(preppers are like gold bugs, it’s always a good time to buy gold, and always a good time to prep)

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Sat. Nov. 7, 2026 – hope the rain misses us

By on November 7th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Because I’ve got stuff to do. Yesterday was another nice day. Sunny and mild, no rain, reasonable humidity. Mid 60sF at night. There were some threatening clouds later in the day, and the national forecast has us on the edge of possible T-storms and rain today and tomorrow. Better for me if we get more nice days.

I spent yesterday doing a big loop of pickups. Some stuff for the household, some for the BOL. Mostly minor stuff, as I have the major stuff pretty well covered at this point. I wouldn’t say no to more solar, more generators, medical stuff, or noisemakers… but it has been about refining, upgrading, extending, and building depth for a while. There is a need to replace stuff due to ‘breakage’ or the passage of time, and to upgrade as better options become available. That process never ends.

Today if it’s mild and dry, I’ll get the rest of the Halloween decor put away and some more Thanksgiving/Fall themed stuff put out. I did get the inflatables changed out. I had a giant witch with a pumpkin cauldron that was new this year and now I have a 10ft tall turkey holding a sign that says “Happy Thanksgiving”… Classy, right?

I also need to continue the cart repair. And poison some rats. And ants. I’m using this on the ants, and this on the rats. Both work very well.

I’m sure some other things will pop up to fill up my day too.

Stack while you can.

nick

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Fri. Nov. 6, 2026 – Busy week. Busy weekend.

By on November 6th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cooler, and hopefully drier. The forecast showed some possible T-storms and rain just south of us, but that usually means it won’t get here. When the prevailing winds meet the Gulf air, you never really know what’s happening until it happens. 65F when I went to bed.

Spent yesterday morning on the computer buying stuff for my client and doing auction stuff. Then I headed to school for another rehearsal. It went well. Still finding hardware issues and config issues (overlapping frequency use between mics) but I feel like we have to have found them all now. Show is sounding pretty good. I was able to work on quality of sound issues and we haven’t had that luxury in the three years I’ve been helping out.

In the evening I won a couple of small things.

Which means I have pickups today after all.

I’ll do more computer stuff in the morning, and pickups in the afternoon.

I thought I’d won a Yugo noisemaker in 7.62 for $325 but someone sniped me and got it for $350. That’s half of retail or possibly even 1/3. I was frankly shocked it didn’t go for retail. If I thought it would be so close, I’d have paid attention or set a higher max bid. I set my max before election day and didn’t adjust it. Someone SCORED.

Inventory your stacks and fill any gaps.

nick

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Thur. Nov. 5, 2026 – Still juggling commitments

Chilly. Fall is here. 61F when I went to bed. Of course it’s Houston so it was warm enough for shorts during the day. We’ll be running A/C in the day and heat at night soon. At least it was a clear and mostly beautiful day.

Which I spent indoors. In the morning I did office work and auction stuff, and personal maintenance. Shaved and cut my hair. In the afternoon, I helped at the kid’s old school theater rehearsal. That took me until after dark, at 6pm. I spent some time bringing in some small decorations after that, and putting what I could back in the attic.

Today I’ll do office stuff in the morning and another rehearsal in the afternoon. Maybe I’ll have time to bring in a few more decorations if they are dry.

The next few weeks are going to be strange. There will be a lot of fallout from the elections as people reposition for the changes. I’m astonished how quickly the right has gone down the “we lost because we are teh sux” road. I guess after not being believed about the rampant cheating last time, no one wants to go there again… and there was cheating. LOTS of it. It was just slick and well managed this time. It will come out. Just like last time. Even the dem winners in essentially uncontested places don’t make sense if real people are actually voting.

My response is the same as always. Prepare for bad times, and if they don’t come, celebrate.

Stack. It’s gonna get worse. Lots worse. They’ve already told us as much.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 4, 2026 – nice break, but back at it

By on November 4th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

After yesterday’s rain and cold front, I hope today will be dry and mild. Not holding my breath, but one can hope. It was 66F when I went out for my tiny little fire, down from the mid 70sF during the rain. Heck, it was into the 80sF before the rain started. Dry and mild would be nice.

Slept in a bit, then did auction stuff, until I went out to do my pickup. Spent the rest of the afternoon poking at stuff at the shop. I should be able to take another load to the auctioneer next Tuesday.

Today I’ll do some stuff in the morning. I need to order some stuff for my client’s upgrades, and do some design work for my buddy’s new store cams. That should eat most of the day. In the afternoon, I’m headed to school for another rehearsal. In the late afternoon, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll put some decorations away. We’ll see what happens.

Things look to be getting more fractious and contentious at home and abroad. All reasons to stack, in a stealthy way.

nick

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