Category: culture

Mon. Apr. 27, 2026 – a whole new week…

Cool, then warm and humid here in Houston. Probably some gloom too. Maybe even rain. Who really knows? The shadow might.

I was at the BOL yesterday, and didn’t get much done. I did get the truck unloaded and the mower powerwashed. I even got some stuff load on the truck to bring home. Kid wants some water toys for her swim party, and I sold one of the big floating foam pads to someone, so that stuff needed to come home.

I stayed later than I was hoping but did eventually get home.

Today I’ve got stuff to do. Gotta do some grocery shopping for the kid, and some present wrapping too. Already have the cake and card, so that’s covered.

There is other ‘real’ work to be done too. We’ll see how much of that happens.

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

n

(stack)

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Sun. Apr. 26, 2026 – I’ll so some chores today

It was 75F most of yesterday at the BOL, in the shade anyway. Hotter in the sun and there was more sun than in Houston. Should be another fine day here today.

Yesterday I spent the morning getting ready to head up here, then the afternoon getting here. Details of after that are in yesterday’s comments.

Today I’ll unload the truck and do some minor chores. I might do my Spring maintenance on the mower, if I feel like I have time. And if I can find the supplies I need. It’s desperately in need of pressure washing, and new sharp blades. A smart man would change the oil and filters too.

Otherwise, there is a list of things that need doing, but I want to be home earlier than usual. I might find some small things to fill the day. And some of my choices will depend on when I wake up.

Always be working, always stack.

nick

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Sat. Apr. 25, 2026 – headed to the BOL

Not bugging out though. Warm. It’s been warm these last two days, starting as if it was cool, but getting to 80F pretty quickly. We had sun and some clouds most of yesterday, enough clouds that I didn’t load the truck, but no actual rain, and quite a bit of sunshine. I expect fewer clouds and more sunshine today.

I did get a couple of things done. Almost $100 for the aluminium scrap from the laptop things, and I kept the heavy cast aluminum caster bases. Paid for the lot, and $20/hour for scrapping, and I get to keep the batteries, chargers, and inverters. Win.

Took a load of trash to the dumpster too.

Then stopped in and saw my buddy and his wife at the Fun Store, did a quick trip through Goodwill, got gas and food at Costco, and made it home to make steak dinner for me and my wife. That will be our anniversary dinner. 21 years and counting.

Today I’m going to load up the truck and head to the BOL. We have a community cleanup day (which I will miss, but I do more than my share by mowing communal property, and all the road work and grading I did this year) and our annual LOA meeting. Our LOA is the Land Owners Association (like HOA) and had expired so has no enforcement ability. The dues are voluntary, and the meeting is mainly about road maintenance and one guy who always b!tches about his neighbor’s lot conditions. I like to be seen as participating and part of the community, so I always go.

It’ll be a short trip as I really just have to unload the truck, mow, and attend the meeting. I’ll probably sleep in Sunday and then come home. I don’t intend to stay late.

Of course, everything is subject to change.

The only certainty is that the universe laughs at our plans, and I’ll continue stacking.

nick

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Fri. Apr. 24, 2026 – busy day, again.

It was nice yesterday, with some really gusty winds. Nice out though, mid 80sF and sunny. Hoping for more of that today.

Spent the morning doing auction stuff. Then went to buy a couple of jetskis. Very affordable, not at all new, but in very good condition. Trailer too. Then I went to do a pickup, and after that went to my shop to break down the laptop carts I bought. I asked the auctioneer if they were taking consignments, and they are, but only 20 lots every 2 weeks, and they want to average $30/lot. They also want to split the sale 50-50. Um, no.

Today I’ve got shopping to do, and presents to wrap, and things to get ready. I’m headed to the BOL on Saturday while my wife stays home to get the kids through their stuff. That means getting stuff done and ready for them first.

And of course all the other normal stuff needs doing too.

So do it! And stack.
n

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Thur. Apr. 23, 2026 – still have things to do before the week ends

Cool and damp again, but the clear sky and sunshine late yesterday has me hoping for sun and a bit of drying off today. National map still has us in a T storm possible area until Saturday. We had some light fog yesterday morning too, which is unusual for us, and light sprinkles in various parts of town. The bayous were back to normal flow rates and levels after getting quite high earlier in the week. It would be nice to start drying off.

I did stuff around the house in the morning, then headed out to do my pickups. Household stuff at the first place, and a generator accessory at the second. It’s an electric pump with some sort of flow control to allow automatic pumping from a second tank to the main tank on a portable generator. It’s not the second tank option for the Honda inverter gennie I looked at in the past, which is more like a boat tank, with Mercury outboard style connectors, and I’ll have to see how it attaches and works. Since I’m running propane in my Honda gennies, it will probably end up at the BOL.

Then it was more domestic bliss in the evening. Everyone was out and about at dinner time, so I enjoyed the pork tenderloin myself. I really should look at the family calendar.

Today I’ve got one or two items to pickup, and some grocery shopping to do. We’re celebrating D2’s birthday next week and my 21st wedding anniversary, so if I can get a jump on the provisioning for that, I really need to. I’ve also got to get the truck unloaded, and move some more stuff out of the house.

And the list never sleeps. I do however, so things slip. I do keep adding stuff to the stacks, you should too.

nick

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Wed. Apr. 22, 2026 – now I’m buying food at auction…

Cool again, and wet. 60sF to start, and finish, and maybe in between. Like yesterday. Although there was an occasional patch of sunshine, it was mostly overcast with a light drizzle yesterday. Sometimes that light drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. Like always, it really depended on where you were in town and when. I think today’s forecast is the same.

I ended up staying awake all morning, despite the poor sleep, I wasn’t really sleepy. So I got my auction stuff done, then headed out. Scrap yard first, very small payday. Not monetarily worth the time, but I did get a load of stuff out of the driveway and out of the shop. Then to The Woodlands to pickup two auctions. Both invoices were mostly food. Coffee and lunch treats were on sale…

Then it was back to Houston for the second pickup. One stop on the way home from there, and it was time to start dinner. That no one was home to eat. I guess I should look at the family calendar. The pork tenderloins will be just as delicious today.

I do have a pickup today, I bought more of the medical rolling laptop stands that had the LiION battery and charger in them. It’s a great battery and the charger is hospital grade. I also might do an optional pickup if I have time. It’s one I usually combine with another, but IDK if I’ll be getting anything in the other auction. I’ve been cutting back. Still, can’t pass up the batteries as that is a weak area in my solar and prepping plans. Hospital grade baby!

Keep looking for holes, and fill them with stacks…

nick

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Tues. Apr. 21, 2026 – moar things! Gimme all the things!

Cool and wet again. 60F with misty drizzle when I went to bed, and no reason to expect any different. Yesterday was mixed and variable. At times, the sun poked through and I thought we might get a nice day, then the overcast and very light precip started back up. I think today and tomorrow will be similar.

Monday morning I got the kids and wife out of the house, then met up with a guy to do a deal for some pipes. I think I did well, but not necessarily awesome. I spent more per pipe at the estate sale where I met him, but I got more pipes and accessories this time. I had a good time talking to him. He’s hustling and a sharp trader who has been doing it for a while. Interesting guy. I meet a lot of interesting people by getting out of the house and talking to everyone. Recommended.

In the afternoon, I did one auction pickup, missed the other due to traffic and weather, and spent a few hours breaking down scrap and harvesting gold plated bits and pieces at the shop.

Today will likely be very similar. I’ve still got a couple of auction pickups, and all the rest of my lists still need doin’. I ordered parts to fix a couple of resale items too. If I can do that for a few items a day, and do a few easy fixes, I can move more of this stuff out of storage and into a sale. I have to start and build some momentum.

Stacking is good, but not enough. Using and learning are critical too. Do all the things.

nick

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Mon. Apr. 20, 2026 – Another week above ground, better get to work

Cool and wet. Still in the “t storms possible” part of the map… but this is the bayou city and our weather is driven by the Gulf of America and not the stuff blowing down from the Northwest. I mean, it comes down, but our weather depends on what the countervailing force coming in from the Gulf does. I think today will be like yesterday, patches of sunlight, mostly cloudy or overcast, and very moderate temps.

Spent yesterday morning asleep. Spent the afternoon at an event for D2’s school activity. The dad’s booster club was there and I spent the evening chatting with them. I know some of them from other activities, and one is a good friend of the family. The event was held at our old pool, so there was a lot of crossover. Had some good conversations.

Didn’t get anything on the list done.

So today, there will be poking at the list. Might even be some completed items, but that is not guaranteed. It’s funny that one of the dad’s I was chatting with complained that for every job he needs to do, there are many more that need to be done first… I shared my idea that some tasks were fractal, and he agreed with a good laugh too. Still, every journey begins with a single step (except a flight of fancy.)

Take the first step. Stack something, especially if it’s real world relationships.

nick

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Sun. Apr. 19, 2026 – I’m sleeping in

Cool and wet. It was less than 60F when I went to bed, after hitting high 70sF during the day. When the rain and the front moved in, the temperature dropped like a bad habit. I think we’ll start back up from there too. Supposed to be rain today and tomorrow, but we’ll see.

Had a busy day Saturday. Started by dropping the kid at school for a thing (she had two in a row, and was there until noon.) After that, I had my non-prepping hobby meeting, which ran long because committees suck the dead bunnies.

Three quick stops are estate sales in my neighborhood, a torrential downpour, and a couple of hours at the shop followed that. Some internet and auction stuff before bed… and that brings us to today.

When I intend to sleep in and get caught up at least a little bit. They say that technically you can’t “catch up” but they are idiots. If you sleep ’til you are not tired anymore, you’ve caught up.

Then depending on the weather, I’ll do stuff. Probably stuff inside as it is supposed to be raining. And probably stuff at home, because I’ve been slack. Possibly stuff at the shop.

Stuff will happen though, I’m pretty sure about that.

And of course, stacking. That’ll happen too.

nick

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Sat. Apr. 18, 2026 – Non-prepping hobby day

Cool, but warming and rainy later. Yesterday was off and on sunny and very nice, with periods of cloudy and damp. We got a bunch of gusty wind and even a few drops from the sky in the afternoon, but no real rain. Today we’re supposed to get real rain. We’ll see.

I spent yesterday morning doing auction and paperwork stuff. Bills need to be paid, every month. In the afternoon, I did one pickup combined with a trip to the shop to drop stuff off. Then we went out to dinner and the kids did their things.

Today I have my non-prepping hobby meeting, which was bumped from last week. Before that, I have to drop D2 at a school event. She got a promotion in one of her activities and so she’ll be even busier than last year. She loves it, so I’m happy for her, but it is a pain in the schedule.

After the meeting, I think I’ll run by that estate sale and see if I can make an offer on any remaining pipe stuff. There were things I’d have bought if they were cheaper. There always are…

A guy has to have some hobbies.

Because otherwise it’s all prepping all the time. And that’s not ideal. Gotta remember what you prep FOR.

And stack. Always stack.

nick

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