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Category: culture

Tues. Dec. 2, 2025 – stuff to do, will I?

Cold again. It never got warmer yesterday. It stayed within a degree of 44F all day. The precipitation did change, going to very light mist in the afternoon. Chill and wet. Fun times.

I did mostly small things around the house as I couldn’t use the truck for anything in the rain. Cleaning and sorting is a never ending job.

As part of that I sorted some of the various pouches of seasoning I have in the cabinet. I couldn’t find any of my stewed chicken slow cooker sauce. I had already thawed and put the chicken in the cooker, so I had to find something. Settled on some mexican flavoring, which ended up being pretty good and will probably go into the dinner rotation. I did throw out about 10 pouches of stuff that were hard inside or old. I suspect that someone else may have thrown out the pouches I was looking for…

Anyway, today we are supposed to be clear, so I’ve got some pickups to do and maybe some shopping. And I’ll be moving more stuff because we need to get the room clear for the Christmas tree. Part of the stuff in the room is waiting to go to the BOL, and wouldn’t be there if we’d gone the last couple of times we were supposed to go. Ah well. Next time.

There is always something that needs to be done, and always new things added to the list. Swapping out the DVD drive on my main pc means more office cleaning… and that means having somewhere to put stuff while I clean, and somewhere to put it when I’m done. A whole stack of tasks to do one simple thing… but that’s the way it is.

We’ll see when I get to that.

Meanwhile, if you still need presents, get your shopping done early. Don’t forget, you might need a present for yourself. You deserve it.

Stack what you need.

n

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Mon. Dec. 1, 2025 – OMG, December already

Cold and damp as is appropriate for December. Warming later if we’re lucky. It was in the 40sF when I went to bed, and I expect to start the day there too. Maybe get into the upper 50sF or low 60sF…

It was cold, damp, and windy at the Renfair yesterday. Overcast and dreary too. I am still glad I went. Broke the rules and carried, including my blowout kit and CAT in my bag. I don’t like being in public gatherings without being prepared. Didn’t need anything more than an appetite though.

Today I’ll be back to normal weekly activity, and the kids will too. Three weeks until Christmas and 4 weeks left in the year. Joy. Feels too soon, although a couple of months dragged by.

The new items on the list include getting the truck checked out by my repair shop, and getting some Christmas decor up. It’s time to decorate, and I understand now why some people went early.

Still need to do all the other stuff, and get out of my last storage unit too. Gah. I just fall farther behind.

Could be I’m not trying hard enough. We’ll see.

For now, work with what you’ve got. No one wants to start trouble at Christmas time except random muzzies, keep an eye open for them. And stack.

nick

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Sun. Nov. 30, 2025 – Ah, merriment and fantasy tropes ahead

Cool but not cold, but certainly damp. Then cold later in the day. It never really did rain yesterday, although several times moisture from the sky convinced me it was coming. I hope today will be dry as I’ll be mostly outdoors.

Didn’t get as much done yesterday as I’d hoped. Felt a bit out of sorts from the meds until they flushed out completely. And it is our vacation/holiday so I’m not super motivated to bust @ss. I did do some stuff with my dashcam for the Ranger, although I didn’t finish. Cleaned and moved stuff in the house too. Ate some leftovers.

Today youngest is headed to the Texas Renaissance Festival with friends in the morning, and I will attend with lovely wife later in the day. I want to see the Christmas decor and lights after dark. Kid is less interested. So we’ll overlap for a bit, then some will stay with us and some will leave early. It’s the last day, so I’m also hoping there might be some bargains to be had. The TxRenFair is a big deal, been going and growing for 51 years and it’s big, physically big. I enjoyed it last time I went and while I’m not looking forward to going today because of weather and work, I am glad to be going this year.

Oh, I don’t dress up. I will take a leather bag, and my pipe, and probably wear a hat, and if I had a leather duster, I’d wear it, but since I don’t… I try not to be obnoxiously modern. There is a lot going on besides trad Renfair stuff, lots of fantasy fandoms get incorporated. A ranger type with a quarterstaff wouldn’t be out of place. My staff is at the lake though.

I’m mainly interested in craft demos and handmade stuff. There is some of it, and some of good quality if you look past the cheap tourist stuff. And my past career in event production is always looking at something like this with a critical and interested eye. Of course, the ribeye steak on a stick, or as a sandwich, is REALLY good.

I’ll be stacking up some good memories and some time with W and D2. Stack what you can.

nick

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Sat. Nov. 29, 2025 – no rest for the weary, or the wicked

Cool to start, maybe getting nicer, maybe getting stormier… Supposedly some big storming is possible. It was certainly windy yesterday and cool. I don’t think it got above mid 70sF.

Yesterday was mostly calm, and uneventful with a little bit of work getting done, mostly trips to my shop with stuff from the house. I did do one pickup and a trash run. Oh, and there was the accident I got in on my way home. It’s in the comments yesterday. I’m fine, and the truck looks fine, but both will probably have at least some hidden damage. We’ll see over the next couple of days.

Today, if I’m feeling ok, I’ve got some work to do on the truck. Item the first is installing a new dashcam, since the one I have in there failed miserably. You had ONE JOB… And if I’m in the truck working, I’ll see about installing a stereo and maybe running some wire for the ham radio too.

I’d like to maybe get some lights or other decoration started on the house too. Sounds pretty ambitious for me lately.

Oh, and refilling some of the 1 pound propane bottles for the MrHeaters. I’ve gotten in the habit of sitting out by the pond for a while and I like it. It’s not as good as the lake but it does take the edge off.

Some quiet time is pretty important for most people, but men especially. Stack some if you can.

nick

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Fri. Nov. 28, 2025 – a pause that refreshes?

Cold. Yeah, seriously, 50F is cold here. I’ll have to run the heat if it doesn’t warm up. Cold morning, nice day. Like Thanksgiving Day.

Well, we did the traditional feast yesterday. Kids contributed with pies and a casserole. I just ate. And while they were cooking I did some sorting and disposal of canned food, some work on my cameras, and a couple of other small things. I took it easy, but didn’t want to lose all my momentum.

Today I’ve got a couple of auction pickups to do. One for resale, one for Christmas presents. I’ve got some people covered, or more than covered, and some that are currently present-less. And I haven’t found good White Elephant gifts for my non-prepping hobby get together. That means I’m on the prowl for good/appropriate gifts.

I also have stuff to do on my truck, like headlight replacement, radio install, stereo install, cleaning… and stuff to do around the house. Many of my neighbors started their Christmas decorating already, so I might do some of that today too. Who knows? If I make plans the universe is bound to screw them up somehow, so better to just see what I get done.

The first pass through my stored canned food tells me I need to do some more culling and cleanup. Add that to the list. Buying food and stacking it is a solid prep though.

I’m always gonna tell you to stack something, even if it’s just good experiences. They can keep you warm and sane when the going gets tough.

We can all use a little help when that happens.

nick

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Wed. Nov. 26, 2025 – cooking today

A bit cooler, and clear today. It got chilly last night. I still expect it to be high 80sF or even into the 90sF like yesterday by late afternoon though.

I was less productive than I’d hoped on Tuesday. I did get the grocery shopping done. That’s a good thing.

Today should be more small tasks and cooking pies, as well as getting prepped for tomorrow’s feast. We are cutting back on sides for Thanksgiving dinner, but there will still be some french meat pie, and several dessert pies. And a 12 pound bird.

And while I feel like a slacker that we didn’t go to the BOL, this is a much more relaxing plan.

I feel the need to adjust to the kids’ plans and to encourage the desire to work that D1 seems to have found. Building good kids is sort of the ultimate prep, so I’m trying to be flexible. We have much to be thankful for, and where we celebrate that thankfulness isn’t as important as taking the time to do so. Besides, if you are smart, you take your joy where you find it.

Build. Improve. Stack. Live.

nick

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Tues. Nov. 25, 2025 – 112525 – plans, I’ve got ’em

Cooler, wetter, darker? We’ll see. It did rain yesterday. And lightning. And sun. So we had all the weather. Might get the same today.

Yeah, it was a bit of a dog’s breakfast yesterday weatherwise, and that got me in a weird headspace which meant not a lot got done. I needed good weather to move out of my storage unit. Didn’t get it. I had enough to do some cleanup in the driveway though. And I did some cleanup indoors moving stuff into the attic. I’ve been taking stuff out of the attic too. There’s a bit of a sorting and shuffling and re-stacking going on.

Today we’ll see what happens with the weather. If it’s good, then I’ll get at least a load moved. I won’t be loading up for a trip to the BOL. W and I decided that the kids have too much going on this week. So instead of a nice week off, we’d have a non-stop tight schedule of moving from here to there. It sucks. I really needed to get 4-5 days of work at the BOL with some cushion if things went badly. No way I could get that if they were leaving Friday morning. I’m unhappy about how this week is shaping up, but it will be more relaxing and a lot less hectic if we do the holiday here.

One of the activities scheduled was going to the Renfair on Sunday. I would like to go this year, and that meant coming home on Saturday anyway. Get there late, leave early, nah. Not this time. Like I said, it sucks. Stuff changes though and you have to deal with reality.

Dealing with things as they are rather than as they “should be” is a skill that can be practiced and learned. It’s vital to success if you are not a chosen one with a smoothed path. But it is a pain in the fundament.

Keep working. Keep stacking. Don’t lose heart.
nick

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Mon. Nov. 24, 2025 – 112425 -close but no cigar

Forecast says “possible thunderstorms” for the whole SE of Texas, and we had overcast yesterday. Cool weather too. I expect today to be similar, and maybe tomorrow too. I’m hoping that it is dry though, since my intent is outdoor tasks.

Since I got nothing done yesterday. I woke with really severe lower back pain and stiffness. It was bad enough to make me nauseous. But it improved throughout the day to the point where I almost felt back to normal but was still moving cautiously.

Today, if I’m feeling ok, I’ll mess it all up again by moving more stuff out of my storage unit. That is my main goal. Where and how we spend this week and the holiday is still a bit fluid and up for grabs, but W and the kids will be home today and tomorrow for D1 to work her new job. IDK if I’ll head up tomorrow during the day, or wait for later. It will depend on if I can load the truck without getting wet.

I had plans for this week at the BOL, mostly involving electrical and networking in the attic, but now with less time there, and possible pain, we’ll have to just play it by ear. I really need to get stuff done up there, and it’s stuff that takes more than a day at a time.

Owning any property puts extra stress on you and your resources. Owning a remote property increases both. Owning multiple properties, and being older and beat up makes it even more difficult and painful. Something to keep in mind when looking for BOL property, or even a retirement property.

On the other hand, it’s kinda hard to complain about owning multiple properties. It’s a fortunate position to be in, and one we actively pursued. It does have challenges though, and that is simple truth.

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. And stack.
n

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Sun. Nov. 23, 2025 – bring on the Thanksgiving pie

Warm again, and moist. Hopefully not raining, although the grass needed the rain. It would be nice to get back to mild Fall days, after the warmth and humidity.

I didn’t get anything done yesterday. Nerves in my back were pinched and I couldn’t get them to release so I mostly just laid in bed. Usually some stretching and hip rotation and whatever is misaligned will get fixed, at least to baseline for me. Not happening yesterday though.

Today we’ll see if it’s improved any, and then I’ll beat myself up moving out of my storage unit! Cuz I’m so snart. Stuff needs doing, and I’m the only one to do it, so whatever it takes…

That’s kinda the story of my life. I should be used to it by now.

Stack if that’s all you can do.

nick

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Sat. Nov. 22, 2025 – not at the BOL

Warm and wet. It was still in the upper 70sF when I had my little fire last night. And it got into the 90sF during the day. At least this afternoon there was a bit of a breeze. That stopped after dusk, except for when the lightning came. Didn’t ever actually rain though.

I did get some small things done. Another load to the shop… but it did look kinda threatening later in the day so no load from storage.

We decided to stay in Houston this weekend, and we still haven’t worked out exactly when and for how long we’ll head to the BOL. D1 has her new job on Tuesday, and then Friday. That really doesn’t work for family Thanksgiving at the lake. Dang kid couldn’t wait to apply another week? I don’t think anyone is going to enjoy Black Friday being her second day on the job.

Today I’ll start moving stuff out of storage in earnest, weather permitting. If not, then I’ll do some stuff here. Either way, there will be work. Can’t waste the days if I’m not going to work at the BOL.

Then list is long, and time is short, although motivation is at ebb tide levels.

I’m just going to plod forward. Stacking and working to improve.

nick

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