Category: lakehouse

Hot and clear, it’s what I’m hoping for anyway. Well, not as hot, but definitely clear. The national forecast still shows the Houston area and north as possible thunderstorms. I’m counting on the very local nature of our weather to rain on someone else’s parade.

Yesterday I did some auction stuff, then went out to get my pickups done. Took a few hours and a lot of driving but I filled the bed of the pickup truck. Most of the stuff was for the BOL, with the rest split between household and kids. I unloaded the stuff staying in Houston, but just tarped the truck and went to bed rather than finish loading up and driving late at night. W and the kids did head up.

Today I’ll do a last couple of things here, then finish loading up, and head out. I’ve got patriotic decorations to put up, and a lawn to mow. The 4th is a big holiday on the lake, with a boat parade and a really good fireworks show. Lots of people come up for the long weekend. And a lot of them end up on the water near my dock because it’s a good place to watch the fireworks from. That’s a bit of extra motivation for me to decorate, not that I need much motivation.

It’s all part of fitting into the community and becoming a welcome and valued member. And I enjoy the unabashed patriotism.

Stack up some freedom. And improve your relationships.

nick

Well, maybe we’ll have a clear day again, because the weather liars said it would be raining. Yesterday was clear from edge to edge, and it got hot. Cooled right off after sunset though, and I didn’t even sweat cutting the grass. I waited, because it was 101F in the afternoon…

Did auction stuff in the morning, then pickups in the afternoon. Did some office stuff too. Got a pile of stuff for the BOL and some hobby stuff, with a few other things mixed in, mainly gifts for the kids. Gotta refill the present closet after the birthdays. After I got home I spent some time working on a piece of gear I’ll sell on ebay. I’ve ordered new parts, so that will push to next week. I’ll have to find some other stuff to list in the mean time. That WON’T be a problem as there are stacks and stacks.

Today I’ve got a couple more pickups. More BOL stuff and some household stuff mainly. I don’t really buy much outside of food at regular stores anymore. Specialty items I can’t wait for are the main thing. Everything else eventually comes through the auctions.

Then it goes into the stacks. Eventually it gets used. Or ages out…

Stack-a while you can, monkey boy.

nick

Warm, sunny, hot, overcast, and rainy. Probably all in one day. That’s what yesterday was like. I let the cells chase me all over town and despite street flooding in parts of Houston, I barely got wet.

Took the kid to her band thing, then did some auction stuff, and some office stuff. It’s time to renew several of my insurance products, which isn’t hard, but does take a phone call. Also did two loads of domestic bliss and started the Crockpot. After I got the kid home, I went out and did my pickup, followed by a bit of thrifting as I was in an area I don’t usually get to. That was followed by a stop at the reStore. I didn’t find anything I needed, but they were crazy full up with really high end kitchen appliances, like wolf, thermidor, miele, electrolux, and any other “chef” quality cooker you can think of. The only thing they didn’t have was an Aga. They also had dozens of toilets for some reason, and about half were Toto brand. If you don’t know, Toto is what you want. Even used they are $100 and that’s a good price.

I stopped in to look for cabinets for my laundry area at the BOL. No luck. They have a bunch of big windows though. Big windows are something they seem to always have which is good, since I will need a big window at some point. I’m taking out the fireplace and chimney to improve the view of the lake, and I think I will be putting a big window in its place. I originally thought I’d put in a sliding patio door, but if I use a window instead, that gives me some other placement choices for the [eventual] woodstove. All of this is long term prep for something I know I will eventually do. I like to get stuff in order and keep my eyes open for the bits and pieces far in advance of the actual work.

Today I think I’ll do a bit more at home and try to get some stuff ready to list on ebay. I will have to take a bunch of stuff to the shop, and move some stuff around. Later I’ll probably fit in a pickup or two. It should be a busy day.

Probably not going to the BOL this weekend. We will definitely be up there next weekend, and I need to keep working on stuff here. Maybe I can get the W and the Ds to go…

I did pick up a bucket of salt and one of sugar to add to the stacks. One of my sellers got an estate that had a lot of preps. They sold off the buckets of rice, flour, salt, and sugar, but threw out the beans. For some reason they thought the beans would have gone bad…

Even if your stacks don’t benefit you, they might benefit someone! So get busy and stack.

nick

Gonna be hot and humid here at the BOL today. It was pretty hot and sunny yesterday when I finally got here. Houston had been hot and humid too. It finally cooled down after sunset, and I had a nice night on the dock.

Saturday was a scramble. Met with my non-prepping hobby club, and that was nice. Poorly attended because we had to reschedule, but most of the core was there. The Board and committee meeting ran late, so I rushed to get loaded up and on my way to the BOL. Had to do 2 pickups on the way, and made the second with one minute to spare. Spent the late afternoon and evening cutting grass. It takes so much longer when I’ve let the grass get too long.

Today I’ll finish the yard work, I’ve got more string trimming and then I need to blow all the debris clear. Lots of people up here, I guess it was a three day weekend for a lot of folks, even if the Juneteenth stuff was almost absent from local media and my awareness. That DOGE spending cut at USAID must have had an effect…

Then I’ll clean up, close up, and head home. Probably late in the day. There is always a lot to do.

I’ve added some medical stuff to the stacks here, and some other small things. And of course, I’m working on improvements.

Stack. Fix. Improve.

nick

Hot and humid, unpleasantly so. I was sweating balls yesterday while I was moving my stuff out of the storage unit. It was really hot in the sun, so I took it very easy. Still soaked to the skin. Today will be the same in all likelihood.

I did some domestic bliss yesterday morning. Some auction stuff, some self care. Cut my hair. Then I took a bunch of stuff out of the house, and commenced to moving out of one of my storage units. I was about half moved out anyway, and the lock was cut most of the way through last week, so I really wanted out of it. Ironically, it was my OTHER unit that was burgled. No one cares. I have to get a police report for the insurance so I’ll probably spend a couple of hours standing around next week waiting for someone to come by.

In the mean time, I moved out of that 5 x 10. One more at the same facility, but it will take a bit more work as there are a lot more smalls in that unit. And shelves. I was under the mistaken impression that I was running a store and should have “inventory”. That was wrong. I’m flipping this stuff as fast as possible, and no one is coming to my ebay store looking to see if I have some specific thing. I’m not the “microwave replacement plate” guy. I’m the “search for it and if I have it buy from me” guy. I will have some unsold stuff, but if it is sitting on the shelf too long, I bought the wrong thing.

It’s going to take some time to realign my mindset and my physical setup. I need to try though, as I really don’t need a bunch of stuff sitting around. Getting it to one place, where I can see it, and see what I have, will help.

In the other mean time, I have my non-prepping hobby meeting today, with discussion of our upcoming convention, and then I’m loading up and heading for the BOL. My buddy called to let me know the grass was knee high. Even if all I do is cut the grass, check all the things, and head back home Sunday, I need to get up there and do it.

I’d rather keep going with the momentum I’ve built this week, but needs must.

Always be working. Always be stacking.

nick