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Tues. Jan. 9, 2024 – school days again

Cold and damp, but supposed to be clear today. Had all the weather yesterday- warm, cold, windy, wet, sunny, and dry… Just depended on where and when you were.

I did my pickups without incident. Stopped by my auctioneer and got approval to bring stuff by today. I’ll have to go to my storage unit and load up… and clear out the foyer. That will make the wife happier, as GS cookie season is going to start soon, and SHE’LL need the space.

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I’ve decided that I can’t arm wave it away anymore- I’ve got an animal living in my wall in the laundry room. It pushed the dryer vent out to get access, or maybe to escape when I initially walled it in with the poison blocks, a couple of months ago. It’s coming and going freely, and hasn’t died, so I’m betting on possum, not rat, at this point. It’s driving the dog nuts. I didn’t want to believe it, because I couldn’t figure out how it got in the wall alive, but now that I know the vent has been compromised, it makes sense.

Time to move and bait the live trap again. Then fix the vent.

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Probably time to do the bug spray around the foundation too.

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Nothing to report from the dentist visit, except that he’s planting 1 acre of veg garden this year. That’s at his country property. He runs some cattle too, probably for the ag exemption on property tax. He’s still got woods when all the surrounding wind break wooded patches are being turned into housing, so he’s getting all the deer. He’s got a ‘herd’ on his land now, and a problem with poachers. If the trucks stop rolling, his problem will briefly get very intense, then there won’t be any more deer for the poachers to poach. Which is, btw, what I expect to happen anywhere there are rifles and pickup trucks, good ol boys and deer.

Given their nature, there should still be pigs.

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Since I don’t hunt, or fish, or garden, at least not with any real success, I’m stacking cans.

Do I need to mention that you should too?

nick

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Mon. Jan. 8, 2024 – fang cleaning day…

Cold and probably wet. We’re in a “possible” rain zone today, but should be clear again tomorrow. And I don’t think it will warm significantly. So, cold and wet. Yuck. Stayed clear all day Sunday though, an it was on the chilly side of “warm enough”.

Spent the day doing little things. Domestic bliss. Maintenance. Some work for my client. Some auction stuff. Doesn’t feel as good as remodeling the bathroom, but it was all stuff on the list.

Today is “family visits the dentists” day. We see a father/daughter team practice, and we all go at once. Saves time. As RBT used to say, we’ll be getting our fangs cleaned.

Then the children will be returned home while I pick up the stuff I won. Good stuff for the BOL mostly, with a thing or two for the house here.

Pennies on the dollar at best, dimes on the dollar at worst. It’s worth the time it takes, to me anyway.

Time to get moving on the bigger projects too.

Do what you can when you can. And stack.

nick

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Sun. Jan. 7, 2024 – no rest for the wicked…

Cold, hopefully clear. It was clear during the day but started to get a bit cloudy with dusk, so it could continue cloudy today. High yesterday might have been in the 60s. A little bit warmer would be nice.

After my pickup, I stopped in at costco. I try to avoid the place on a Saturday, as it’s usually insanely busy. That worked to my advantage yesterday as all the lanes had cashiers and it went very smoothly. Some things were finally on sale. Charmin. Kleenex. Still none of the frozen cheeseburgers I like though. Oddly, australian lamb was CHEAPER by a buck or two. That HAS to be a currency thing.

They had a couple of beef cuts I haven’t seen there before and there were a couple that were “economical” like “beef stew” and eye round roasts at $4.xx per pound. I don’t usually buy that cut, because it’s super lean and can be tough. Thought I’d give it a try with the same sort of cooking I used on the prime rib. Worked ok, was done the way I wanted, had a great beef roast taste, but yeah, much tougher than the ribeye cut. Hamburger was $4.19 for 82/18 (lean vs fat) which I can’t even get at HEB anymore. So I bought a package. Already repacked as 1 1/2 pound freezer vac packs. Had to increase my single meal size from 1 pound to 1 1/3 pound and now to 1 1/2 pound as the kids have grown.

Looks like I’m going to have to figure out how to cook beef brisket as it was the cheapest beef in the cooler… and my Texas man card might be revoked if they realize I don’t know how 😉 It was less than $3/pound. Grind it and mix with hamburger??

Menu planning might have to get ‘creative’ if things keep getting weird. Like duck for $3.69/ pound. Granted you’re buying the bones too, but still, pretty cheap for a change of pace. That said a single frozen duck was still $21. Is that where we are? Dinner for a family of four at home, $30-40? That USED to be a nice meal at a sit down casual restaurant.

My current weekly meal “plan” is to have some cheap nights and some that are nicer but still inexpensive because I got the main meat on sale. (Plan is in “quotes” because I rarely have an actual plan.)(and I know talking about the economics of food can be divisive because of peoples’ differing situations and expectations. For a baseline, I use the Joy of Cooking, pre-1980s edition, for an idea about what dinner in America should look like with a bit of effort, and a middle class income.) My goal is to expose the kids to a variety of things, eat what I like and what they like, and do it as economically as possible while maintaining quality and quantity. That said, I’ve already altered my buying and cooking habits in the last couple of years or a bit longer. Doesn’t seem that long, and I had to revise the sentence to make the period longer, once I considered it.

Stocking up on sale items and just not buying stuff that isn’t on sale has been my main money saving strategy. That is kinda the heart of prepping too, buy now to save later…

I appreciate those of you who are sharing your dinner and menu choices too, and your local shopping reports. Information is power. And a burden shared is a load lightened.

Stack it if the price is right.

nick

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Sat. Jan. 6, 2024 – the day the coup went live?

Cold and clear, warmening later… Unless it gets colder, that is really the same right? Al Gore said so. It was mostly jacket weather yesterday until pretty late in the day, then I took it off for a while. Went back out after dark to move the truck and wished I had a jacket on again. Today should be much the same.

Did my pickups. Spent some time talking to one of the auctioneers I used to see a lot of the time, but she does mostly surplus and salvage, and I don’t do much of that any more. She’s expanded her business and built onto her building. And she’s done it mostly by what one of the guru books calls “sticking to your knitting” or concentrating on what you really do, and doing it well. She’s watching the new players getting into the game and watching them fail, just like I’m doing. We had some good conversation about that.

Then I did two more pickups and hit the Goodwill bins. Not much good stuff for me. Sometimes it’s like that. I’ve got too much stuff anyway.

Today I have to make the last pickup for the week, the solar panel. I’ll drop in on my auctioneer and see if I can pin him down for dropping off a load on Monday or Tuesday. Picking up a check would be nice too. Then it’s back to doing cleanup and put away stuff around the house.

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The post title asks about the deep state de-cloaking, btw. They seem to have manufactured a riot out of thin air, and the sideshow and show trials have had their chilling effect… and people are still in jail without trial. In America. For political reasons. It can’t be long before the shooting starts, nerves are starting to get really frayed. Could be everyone is playing ‘wait and see’ with the upcoming election. Could be they’ll always find a reason to wait a little longer. But I don’t think there’s much chance of something NOT setting the whole powder keg alight. Like most violence it will be sudden, and most people will think it came out of nowhere, but if you can step back and ‘watch the video’ you can see it as almost inevitably moving from step to step. If you were a historian writing 10 years from now, you could almost certainly link the things that have happened in the last 9-10 years into a narrative that looks natural and unstoppable. The only thing lacking is Pearl Harbor, or the Archduke’s bad day.

If you disagree, I would like to hear how and why. Because it seems to me that war and upheaval are the natural outcomes when a society gets as stressed as ours is. And that won’t be pretty. Assume it will happen. Assume it will be bad. Assume it will be worse than you think. And then–

Stack what you need.

nick

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Fri. Jan. 5, 2024 – Friday comes awfully early when the week starts on Wednesday…

Cold and clear, with overcast and a small chance of rain… says me. Dunno what the weather liars say. Couldn’t be bothered to check. It was cold yesterday and stayed cold all day. 50s. Yuck.

So I stayed in and did ‘in the house’ stuff. Payed taxes. Sorted bills. Filed. Cleaned and put away things. Fixed things. Got my soldering setup out and fixed 4 things that had been waiting for a while. I like fixing stuff, and it’s a valuable skill. I’ve got other stuff that needs solder repair and troubleshooting, but ran out of time.

Today I’ll do some more inside stuff, then leave the house and do a pickup or two. Time to get the stuff I won earlier in the week. It would be nice if it wasn’t raining, just to make the driving easier.

We’re also taking down inside Christmas stuff. I’d leave it for another week but someone else wants to clean the house. Oh well, Grinch wins this round. I’ll just leave the lights up for an extra week 😉 Can’t put them away if they’re wet, after all…

Seriously though, I should get some of the Christmas stuff put away, and the Halloween stuff too. I held it out so I could re-stack the stuff in chronological need order… but it means that some fake pumpkins are in the driveway still.

Can’t believe it’s already Friday. Kids are still out of school until Tuesday so they are keeping everyone up late at night. That’s what holiday breaks are for though, staying up reading, playing games, watching movies, sleeping late. Makes it harder to return to the school schedule though.

In the old days, you life revolved around the daylight, animals, and the seasons. Now our life revolves around school and the school schedule. Wonder if we’ll end up with something else to order our days in the not too distant future… like patrol schedules, watch rotations, AND the needs of the garden and animals.

Hope not, but I’m still stacking…

nick

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Wed. Jan. 3, 2024 – it’ll be a long time before I type the year correctly…

Cold. Wet. Rainy even. It’s possible anyway. It was steady raining when I went to bed. Didn’t check the forecast though, as I’m doing pickups anyway.

Well, I spent yesterday wrapping up and cleaning up at the BOL. Got the posts completed, and the tools put away. Put the new gennie in the shed. Moved some stuff around. Took down the Christmas decor. It’s earlier than I’d like but I don’t want to have it up until the next time we get there.

Drive home was mostly uneventful, except when I stopped for gas. First station had every diesel pump covered with an “out of order” bag. Second station had about 1/4 of the regular gas pumps marked out of order. I’m seeing more and more of that- stations with pump issues or no gas. Not a good sign. I ended up paying a bit more than I would have liked for gas, but in that part of town, choices are very limited.

Today will be auction pickups and catching up around the house. Some kid chauffeuring too.

Not much time for stacking, but I’ll try to fit in a costco or grocery run.

Maybe there will be some good sales after the holiday season.

Stack what you can. Conserve what you’ve got. Learn how to do more with less.

nick

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Tues. Jan. 2, 2024 – Ice on the puddles?

Cold, warming gradually, maybe still clear. Barometer was way high on Monday. 35F when I went to bed after a nice day.

I got a couple of things done Monday. I finished the replacement door on the dockhouse, installing the threshold was pretty straightforward for once. Then I finally got around to replacing the 3 posts holding up the roof over the porch on the dockhouse. That job has been on my list for months. They are in place, lagged to the roof, and screwed to the concrete. Today I’ll spend a couple of minutes adding the hurricane straps and I’ll be completely done with that task. It’ll be the wife’s job to paint them. (the hurricane straps are probably overkill, but hey, they’re cheap and quick to do.)

I made a lamb roast for New Year’s dinner. Discovered I didn’t bring any mint jelly up here,but I’m the only one that really missed it. Also discovered there is something consistently wrong with the scratch and dent oven I got at Habitat last year. It goes out about 5 minutes after you start it, but then runs fine when re-lit. At some point I guess I’ll have to look at it, but it was a temporary solution. Who knows when we’ll be redoing the kitchen though, so I should probably check it.

Played Risk with D2 and my wife. It only took about 2 1/2 hours which has to be some kind of record. My impression was that Risk took days to play, but this is the first time I can remember actually playing. It’s been at least 45 years if I did play before. I lost. D2 followed, and W1 swept through asia, Europe,and North America in one turn to win…

Today I’ll be buttoning up, doing some more maintenance things, and sorting and organizing. Already changed out the US flag. The wind beats up the cheap printed flags pretty quickly. I’ve got a bunch from the auctions so I change them whenever they look bad. I appreciate anyone who flies it, but I do get frustrated when they are in poor condition. Sewn and embroidered, from a US company, is the way to go to have them last.

Traditions are important.

As is stacking.

Let’s get this party started.

nick

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Mon. Jan. 1, 2024 – New Year’s Day

Cool but not as cold and probably warming up nicely later. It was even hot in the afternoon yesterday, and might be again today…. I guess we’ll see!

So I got some stuff done. I replaced the door on the dockhouse. I still need to put the threshold in, and I’ll need to change the locks at some point, but my “found on the side of the road” door fit without alteration. Well, except for hinge location, I couldn’t get lucky with that. Did some other small things too.

Played games with the family in the morning, and after dinner too. Good times. Had a campfire with s’mores. Off brand graham crackers didn’t taste quite right, but hey, s’mores!

Plan for today is more of the same, just keep knocking off tasks, and figure out what to make for dinner. Maybe a beef roast since the pork roast was so good. There is food in the freezer, and the lights are still on…

I’m not big on resolutions for the new year. I think you should do stuff when it’s time to do it… but some people give them extra significance. So in that vein, I’ll have to think a bit, but mainly I would like to do more to advance some of my “sometime later” projects. The time is now…

And just stacking isn’t enough. Time to put some of the stacks to use…

Here’s to a new year, full of promise and a clean slate. Let’s make the most of it.

nick

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Sun. Dec 31, 2023 – 123123 – New Year’s Eve

Cold at night, pretty nice during the day. Then cold again. We did get some ice on standing water Friday night, but I don’t think Saturday night was quite as cold- it was 37F when I went to bed. I was in shirtsleeves in the sun for part of the day.

I got lots of little things done. Added to the front walk path. Put a security/work light up under the carport. I can switch it on independently of the other porch lights,and it’s super bright. It will make a good area to work now, or play ping pong… Cleaned, put away, and organized some more in the garage. Even got a lure in the water for about 20 minutes in the afternoon. Didn’t catch anything.

Moved the small chiminea to the deck by the house and got it set up. Had a small fire in it before dinner. It’s nice to have a small fire without having to go down to the dock, and it’s warmer away from the water. I had a nice time watching the sun set, feeding it twigs. You get a lot of heat from not much wood, almost like a rocket stove.

Played several family games, and even played some pool before bed. The kerosene heater and a fan added 10F to the temps in the garage. Oh, I got a stereo and CD player hooked up for the garage too. It’s not the final system but it was nice to listen to Christmas music while playing pool.

Played “Ticket to Ride” (still love it), some dice game called Farkle that was sorta fun, once my wife had an app to handle the scoring, and played the SmartAss trivia game again. I like it. The clues are a very good mix so that everyone has a real chance to get the answer. Board games and card games are a great diversion that doesn’t require electricity. I recommend stocking a variety.

Today will be more family games, and more small jobs while cooking. I’m making a pork roast (standing rib) which we all like. This is my stock up time, because Costco only stocks it for Christmas, New Years, and sometimes Easter. Vac seal and freeze. Stack it high…

Don’t know what we’ll do for midnight tonight. We usually turn on the tv in time to watch the ball drop in NYFC, but no tv reception up here. I really hope NYPD and all the three letters can keep the hamas sympathizers from killing a bunch of people in NYC tonight. I wouldn’t be anywhere near Times Square in a normal year,– this year? NF way. It’s one of my recurring nightmares that someone walks a few mortar rounds into the middle of that crowd.

If they want to do something, and the primary targets are well protected, they’ll look for someplace else. Keep your awareness up if you are out and about, and know where the exits are. Stay safe my friends.

And stack. Just cuz…
nick

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Sat. Dec. 30,2023 – New Year’s Eve, eve…

Cold and clear. 33F when I went to bed, and pretty sure it went below freezing after that. Cold enough, we didn’t want to have a fire on the dock, but stayed in to play cards…

Spent what was left of Friday (most of the day really) doing chores and small projects. The majority of which I did in the garage, where the kero heater brought the ambient from 54F to 64F in an hour or two. Considering the lack of insulation, and the gaps around the door, that’s pretty good. A small fan to break up the stratification would have helped too.

I wore a variety of overclothes throughout the day, adding and subtracting to be comfortable. In the old days, I’d have just toughed it out, either too cold or too hot, but I’ve got a variety of coats, vests, and layers so I’m using them. I guess I’m getting smarter with age 😉

Had dinner and opened Christmas presents with Grandma, then played cards for a couple hours. NOT bridge. 😉 Oh, and Rumikub, which is a tile game that has elements from rummy… It’s one of my mom’s favorites. Since there is luck involved everyone can win if they play well. Kids like it too.

Fired the garage heater back up and played a couple of games of pool before bed against my wife. I won 2 of 3 but we both kinda suck. It’s been a long time since I played with any regularity and I was never really good. She played a lot when she was a kid but that was (mummble mummmble, mmuuuummmbbllle) years ago… If the world holds onto its collective marbles for a while longer, we might get better.

One of the things I did was spend some time talking to my fisherman buddy about doing a joint garden in the spring. There is a plot across from his house he has permission to use and has used in the past. I showed him a couple of 100 gallon rain barrels and a 40 gallon tank on wheels we can fill from the lake and tow up to the garden. I’ve actually got another at home too that I could bring up. If we can do some rainwater capture, and supplement that with hauled water from the lake, that will save a bunch of money for irrigating with drinking water.

The time to plant a garden is BEFORE you are hungry.

And the time to stack is before you need it. Get some plans in the works…

nick

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