Category: culture

Cool, then warm. Maybe even hot. We did get into the low 90sF yesterday afternoon. It’s nice though. Very pleasant after the heat and humidity. I’m hoping for more days like yesterday.

Didn’t get much actually done yesterday. I did make one pickup but it was personal stuff. I might sell something, but most of it was for me. I missed my second and optional pickups. Sometimes I fall down a rabbit hole online and time flies by. Yesterday it was cloning or migrating a wordpress site, this one specifically, to a backup URL on a different host. I also realized that I’d let my personal “resume'” site lapse, and our “family” site. I’m sitting on variations of names for my business site too, and I’ll probably never really need that site again, other than for email. It’s expensive to park names if you pay for all the privacy options.

I need to consider if I want to renew all those variations, and what I want to do with any of the family or speculative names I bought. I let go of several that were reserved for business ideas that I decided I’d never pursue last time they came up for renewal. And it turns out I’ve been paying for a hosting plan I’ve never used. I can use that for backup, the resume’, or for something new. Or let it lapse too.

It’s easy to let stuff just automatically renew. That’s one of the reasons I hate that everything is moving to subscription models. They KNOW most people will end up paying for stuff they don’t use, just out of inertia.

Today I will be meeting with the HVAC guys at the rent house first thing in the morning, and again at the end of the day. In between I have to pick up three metro shelf racks for the shop. I might be able to fit in another pickup after that too. In any case, I’ll probably be away from my desk all day, so y’all will have to amuse yourselves.

It’s all working on improving my situation. And stacking. Right?

nick

At least it’s a bit cooler as Fall begins to assert itself. It’s been cold these last two nights. The damp adds additional discomfort even if the temp doesn’t sound that extreme. From 95F to 55F is a pretty big jump for a couple of days. Time to get out the cold (by Houston standards) weather clothes.

Slept in a bit too long and then was tired from low blood sugar. Once I got moving, my brain was good but my back was sore. I did a variety of domestic bliss, with more to be done today. Then I worked on the electrical system of the golf cart, alternating with cleaning up my driveway and getting out some more Halloween decorations. They are all related as the driveway stuff was mainly me looking for other things. I have let things go, and stuff that was useful has been damaged or deteriorated, or proved that I didn’t need it in several years. I’ve got some culling to do.

Today I’m trying to keep moving. I’ll do more with the cart, a bit more decor, and some more cleaning and sorting. That’s after I cut my hair and shave though. Oh, and do a load of laundry. Told ya I had more domestic bliss to do. I need to find time to do more volunteer hours at school, and spend at least some time at the rent house on Wednesday too, so this week should be full of opportunities to find some joy. Just chock full.

Plenty of time to keep working too. And maybe a bit of stacking.

nick

Cool or even cold, then warming a bit. The wind never stopped blowing yesterday until long after dusk. Temps might have gotten into mid 70sF, but dropped below 60F before I went to bed. I think today will be similar, but then we’ll be back to milder weather after that.

I didn’t manage to sleep in Saturday, which was ok. I ended up meeting the HVAC guy at the rent house and doing a couple of other things before getting home. After I ate, I did a bit of work on the golf cart and then put out some more decor and lighting.

I’ll do more of that today. IF the battery charger works, I should be able to get the cart moving today. I’ve got all the critical control stuff that I ordered and it’s straightforward to replace it. I was hoping to do some of the body repairs while I had the stuff out and better access but I couldn’t find some of the plastic sheets I’m pretty sure I have somewhere. Getting it rolling is the most important thing, making it pretty can come later. Knowing me though, the more I get done in this initial burst, the better. Could be years before I get back to it.

Because there is always something that moves to the top of the list, like HVAC at the rent house… or a storm damaged tree, or something.

Do what you can with what you have, when you are able. And stack.
nick

Generally trending cooler but still some heat left in the day. It was cooler to start and finish yesterday. I am hopeful for more nice weather as Fall progresses.

Did some stuff yesterday. I relisted several things on Craigslist, lowering prices. The rest of the day was mostly sitting at the computer and figuring out what to order to move my various projects forward. I ordered all the parts for the golf cart. I ordered bulbs for my third brake light on the Ranger. Turns out the module I stole off the parts truck wasn’t working. It’s really hard to tell, when you can’t step on the brake and see the light… But I finally saw it in a window reflection when in reverse, and it wasn’t lighting up.

Since I got a fixit ticket, I’m a bit chagrined that my fix didn’t work and I’ve been driving like that for a couple of weeks. Since it had LED bulbs in it, I took it apart and applied test voltage. The bulb was installed backwards, and LEDs need correct polarity. So I put it all back together and remounted the unit. I ordered replacement bulbs because the plastic holding the LED bulbs together crumbled when I touched it.

The unit is common across a wide range of Ford truck models and there are dozens of custom aftermarket versions available if I wanted to replace the whole unit. That’s one advantage of driving something very common. Aside from electronic considerations, an older F-150 is probably a good choice for a post collapse vehicle. There are so many on the road, and so many parts in common, that parts availability and salvage/looting should be able to keep one running for a long time. Something that can’t be said for the Avalanche or Aztek…

I also ordered a replacement sealing gasket, which had failed a long time ago and is apparently a common problem. Just another reason to drive older and common vehicles- parts for common problems are widely available and cheap.

After crashing for a couple of hours from too many carbs at lunch, I got out some Halloween decorations and put them up. Some went outside, some are indoor things. I think I probably won’t do a big themed display this year, but I do want to try a couple of new things if I have the time. Right now, with just an hour or two, I have more stuff up than most of my neighbors.

Today I’ll do an auction pickup. I won another 7 cuft chest freezer for $65. I’ll keep it empty as a backup for a freezer failure, and just in case someone gets a nice sized deer and wants to share with me. W will not be pleased, so I’ll probably take it to the shop. In another auction I got parts for electrical stuff and for fixing some minor stuff to resell if I get the time, and for the BOL dock. I think I spent around $100 this week on auctions, and that is an order of magnitude less than I used to spend.

I still have to hit Costco for candy. Maybe they’ll have other stuff I need too.

Last tank of major brand gas got me almost 16mpg in mixed but mostly highway driving. I haven’t had a chance to get back to Costco to fill up and see if another tank will give me the higher mileage I got on the last Costco fill up. Gas is just under $4/gallon at the majors, and 50c cheaper at discounters, but if they are mixing in too much ethanol, it’s a false economy. My last fill up at QuikTime the pump said 10% ethanol, so we’ll see.

It was a short week, but I advanced several projects that have been on the list for a long time. And I added to the stacks. Good things.

Keep working and stacking.

nick