Category: culture

Sat. Aug. 24, 2024 – 08242024 – second day of my hobby thing…

And it’s still hot and humid. Really, I know! Hard to believe. But that’s the facts Jack.

Fortunately for our load in and set up, the hotel had the air on in the ballroom/convention space. Because it was hella hot.

Did my volunteer obligations then got my stuff set up. I brought a LOT of stuff, and hope to sell more. I haven’t sold much though, and the best stuff went cheaper than I’d have liked. Sold is good though. I’ve covered the cost of my tables and rental trailer. I hope to make some actual money today.

I’ve got an early start today. I need to restock my coolers with drinks and ice. There is a very convenient ice maker stand on the way, and it only adds a couple of minutes to my trip, so it’s not a burden and I get a lot of gratitude and recognition. Then we’ll open the doors at 8 and we’re off to the races. I hope. It was slow and kinda dull yesterday.

The best part of the show is talking to the other attendees and exhibitors. There is a pretty broad cross section of the US, but skewing heavily toward small business owners of course. I don’t hear a lot of pro Democrat chatter, and I do hear a fair amount of pro Trump. That could be because of Texas, or because any progressives or liberals might self censor in the face of real or imaginary persecution. It is hard to be a small business owner without a grasp of economics and an understanding of .gov and .gov regulation…

I better get moving. I need to turn some inventory back into cash, and use the money for other things…

Like stacking !

nick

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Fri. Aug. 23, 2024 – first day of my hobby get together…

And it will still be hot. And it will still be humid. Weather? We’ve got both kinds.

It was crazy hot again yesterday. It’s not the absolute temperature that is the problem, it’s the combination with crazy high humidity and lack of breeze. And it was hot.

Did my running around and errands but it was 800pm by the time I was done, except for finishing the trailer load. That went for another couple of hours as I sorted and pulled stuff from my office. Having to wash out two coolers, and replace the hinges on one added some time. I’ve got a lot of cooler repair parts, as they are cheap and I buy used coolers, or find them on the street. Hinges take almost no time, clasps, retaining straps, and even drain plugs are easy. If you’ve got the parts at hand, it’s simple to fix the things when they need fixing. That’s pretty much true for most things.

I’m actually preferring the enclosed trailer to the Ranger. I don’t have to worry about rain, or security. So it’s working out. The cost of the fixes for the Ranger, and the additional rental for the trailer will kinda suck, but that’s life too.

While I was out doing my errands, we apparently lost power for about 1/2 hour. Centerpoint says it was due to “a safety hazard prevention”. That sounds like a tree trimmer made a mistake. There was some localized thunder, and even some spatter of drops, but not on me and it didn’t seem like it was in our neighborhood, so not likely to be weather related, even without the weird turn of phrase from Centerpoint.

Today I’ll head to the hotel to help with set up and then load in. Eventually I’ll set up my own tables, and then we’ll open the floor. Commenting will be thin as I’m going to be busy all day. You’ll have to talk amongst yourselves.

And if you find yourself with some spare moments, say a prayer for Barbara’s swift and complete recovery. She says she’s doing fine, but a sudden and unexpected heart attack is never a good thing.

Stack too, if you can.

nick

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Thur. Aug. 22, 2024 – so much to do today…

And it’s another scorcher. All my delaying tactics have failed, and I’ll be digging in storage units in the heat after all. LOTS OF HEAT. And lots of humidity.

Spent yesterday doing domestic bliss, and trying to get my truck diagnosed. I did get two pickups in, and gathered some more stuff for my non-prepping hobby sale. Not enough though.

So today I’ll be trying to pickup a trailer, fixing or diagnosing my renter’s A/C issues, hitting three storage places looking for stuff I put away last year or the year before, and gathering it all to the house. THEN I’ll start loading the trailer, make sure the powerpoint lappy goes online and updates, and gather the last of the stuff. Oh, and I’ll be buying drinks and ice for the setup crew. Ice will be Friday, but I need the gatoraid, water, and Dr Pepper, and I’ll need to clean a couple of coolers.

Suddenly lots to do. Lots on top of the stuff I already knew about. Gah. I should have hit the gathering harder when I had the truck available. Just bad luck to break down now.

You can prep, but bad luck can still make it harder. In this case, having money for the truck repairs, and having the alternative truck and a rental trailer available will save the day.

I hope.

stack-a while you can, monkey boy.

nick

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Wed. Aug. 21, 2024 – more of the same, repeated…

Hot and humid, no break from the weather today. Crazy hot with the high humidity.

Did some stuff yesterday. One pickup. Ran the kid around where she needed to go. Had to blow off 2 pickups that will have to happen today. Did a minimum of cleanup and sorting.

So today I have to catch up with where I should be to get ready for my show. I’ve got storage units to go through and stuff to find. I’ve been stashing stuff all over, so now I need to bring it together. And it will be hot and sweaty work.

I’m not looking forward to the work, but I would like to sell some of the stuff and get it out of the way. Money is nice too. More money is extra nice.

So I’m doing my bit in the secondary economy by moving stuff from people who want to get rid of it to people who want to have it, and getting my middleman fee when I can.

It’s a hobby, not a side hustle, but it plays off my reselling anyway. It’s not an income, but it funds my hobby leaving the other money for life and preps.

I treat my ham radio stuff the same way. It has to be self funding… otherwise it feels selfish.

And I get to meet and talk with people from all over the country while I’m trying to sell, which is also very nice. I’m sure to learn something I can use elsewhere.

All of which is to say, get out and do some things. Join a club, take up a hobby, take a class, get a table at your local swapmeet… and then talk to people. It takes practice, and it pays dividends.

And stack, don’t forget to stack.
nick

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Tues. Aug. 20, 2024 – yeah, that’s the ticket…

More hot, more humid. It was over 100F yesterday. It’ll probably be the same today. The humidity has been so high that it’s far more miserable than it should be.

Didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped. Had to get the kid from school, and had other domestic bliss to deal with. I cut my hair and shaved… since I was looking like a wild man. Cough. Sorta.

Mostly did smaller things, sorting and stacking. I’m not doing enough to get ready for my show. I think I’m letting the clock run out to put pressure on myself to break the inertia, but it’s not really working. I do work better with deadlines, but I’ve got one already. Show starts Friday. I really shouldn’t need more motivation. It’s just so crazy hot, and the thought of digging through my storage or my secondary in this heat is debilitating.

It needs to be done though. Get ready, do the show, then get back to normal school life.

Yep, that’s the ticket. Get through this, then continue as normal.

Stack it up fellas. The ride is gonna be rough.

n

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Mon. Aug. 19, 2024 – lots to do in the next few days…

And it will be crazy hot and crazy humid if nothing changes. That just makes everything so much more miserable. I don’t know when the weather will break, probably next month, but it will be welcome. We never did get a drop of rain yesterday.

I did small stuff, mostly indoors. I alternated a bit. Moved some stuff in from the truck, did some computer work. Hung a new camera, did some cleaning. Hung another camera, did more computer work. Sweat was dripping off my just standing still.

One of the small things I did was replace the light bulb in my pole light in the front yard. Now it’s lit up like daylight out there, at least on the cameras.

Today I’ll see if I can swap out another cam. It’s on the roof though, so if it’s too hot, I won’t climb up. My shoes damage the shingles when they’re too hot…

And I’ve to lots of other stuff to do, including a grocery run, and or Costco run. It’s time to start getting serious about getting my stuff together for my non-prepping hobby conference/swap meet/antique show/convention… I need to dig in my storage units, my secondary location, my office, and various other places where stuff might be stashed. And I’ve got all the normal things to do, as well as my volunteer duties for the show.

Gonna be busy.

But I’ll get some stacking done too. Because that’s what I do.

n

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Sun. Aug. 18, 2024 – still plugging away

Hot and humid. The summer continues. We had a nice Spring, with summer actually being fairly mild compared to a couple of recent years. We haven’t had the string of 100+ degree days that we had before. But the humidity is at saturation and it’s oppressive. You really can’t cool down at all, even sitting still will bake your brains after a while.

I spent the day pecking at things. I am trying to keep moving forward, but the lure of an un-scheduled day beckoned. And the heat was discouraging. I did the minimum to partly unload my truck and I re-did the tarp over the remainder of stuff in the bed. It was threatening to rain in the evening. Never did though.

Today I’ll probably do the same, little things to keep moving, but nothing major. It’s the doldrums. I am fighting the inertia. It doesn’t help that my neck has been hurting either, but that’s an excuse.

It’s hard to keep your motivation up sometimes. The best I can offer is keep doing something, even if it’s little things. They do add up over time.

And keep stacking.

nick

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Sat. Aug. 17, 2024 – the weekend is just two more days to work…

And they will be hot and humid days. Like Friday was. Hot AND humid. Weather? We’ve got both kinds… and today will be similar, if it doesn’t rain.

I did my stuff yesterday. Drove around picking up things. I scored a nice lappy for little money, so I’ve got to crack that and get it in shape. I also need to unload and sort the load from yesterday and Thursday. One of the lots I won is an adjustable stand for a refrigerator. I can wait a few more days and pick it up, or I can build a new platform for my new fridge to sit on in the garage. That, and moving stuff to clear a path are the reason my new fridge is still in the driveway. I think I’ll work on other stuff and wait, although it wouldn’t take long to make the platform (which raises the fridge a bit, making it easier to get to the bottom drawer and deep in the back of the shelves, and also matches the height of the freezer next to it, making it easier to store stuff like paper products on top of the freezers.)

It’s a minor tweak, but it made a big difference for the last couple of years, just in terms of convenience. I didn’t know they made something to do the job, but it showed up in the auctions just like magic.

There are millions of things I can work on, and some of them might even get done. First though, I’m getting a bit of extra sleep.

And I’ll be stacking stuff, since that’s what I do…

nick

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Fri. Aug. 16, 2024 – where did the week go?

More heat and humidity. I’m ready to start cooling down. Hot with rain day before yesterday, hot with sun yesterday, and hot today.

I did my running around yesterday afternoon, then did my kid duties, and hit the store for soda and snacks. Other than pork shoulder, nothing good on sale, so my bill was high and my savings were low.

One of the errands was a scrap run. I had the broken Samsung washing machine on the truck, and I had some scrap stacked in the driveway. I took some copper pipe, some brass plumbing, a scooter, and some old lead batteries. Got about $55. Copper and brass are paying ok, mixed or shred steel, not so much. Lead is much less than it was two years ago. Scrap prices tend to go up or down with the health of the economy. I’d say it’s ‘middling’ right now.

Burned a steak for dinner. I was busy mashing turnips and left the steak on the grill 2 minutes too long. It was still edible and tasty but there was a little too much “taste of the grill”.

Today I’ve got another couple of pickups. I’ll get the kids out of the house, then get started. I’ve also got all the other stuff from the list, and getting ready for my show in about 10 days.

It’s a busy time with school starting back up, and all the other stuff going on. All I have to do is not falter…

Stack. And then stack some more.
n

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Thur. Aug. 15, 2024 – skool daze, skool daze, dear old golden rule dayz….

Hot and humid, but maybe a little less of both since we got some rain yesterday… depending on where you are in town, maybe a LOT of rain…but probably not. It’ll probably hot and humid.

I did manage a couple of pickups yesterday, in the Expedition, which filled it to the roof. I had to take the Expy because the Ranger died while I was unloading it. Idling fine, then a hiccup, then another, then died. I tried a little gas, keeping the RPMs up, but the same thing happened. Then I tried to go to the end of the block and back, which, after dying and restarting, went ok.

Air, fuel, spark. Hmmm. I did put half a can of gas in at the BOL before coming home… but no way that was bad. Spark. Got some, probably got enough. But the terminals were loose on the battery and there was corrosion. I cleaned that up and tightened everything, which seemed to help. Then I decided to check ‘air’.

Filter was distorted and misfit in the box, and it was FILTHY. I can’t believe they didn’t even look at it during my service and inspection, with all the other prodding they did. With the filter out, the truck ran smoothly.

I stopped and bought a good K&N filter and bulbs for the license plate on my way home from the pickups. I’ll install it today and see if the problem goes away. I’m very disconcerted when my mostly very dependable truck has issues.

Given the downpour, I’m glad I had everything inside the Expy, so it worked out, but if the filter and tightened battery terminals don’t solve the issue with the Ranger, I’ll be back to ‘upset’. 21 years old, but only 154K miles…

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Today is the kids’ first day back to school. It is really early by my standards and it seems to get earlier every year. Kids are excited to go back and see their friends. I’m not looking forward to the early start to the day, but maybe I need the kickstart.

And our daily schedule will now revolve around the needs of the school district and not our own lives. I should be used to that by now, but I’m not.

I will have more time to myself during the day, but that time will be shortened by afterschool activities I’m sure.

Oh well. I’ll adapt. I’m the stay at home dad after all. It’s my job.

That and prepping for the future. Which I mainly do by stacking. You can too!

nick

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