Category: lakehouse

Should be warm, and damp, and there  is some chance of rain.  I just don’t want it to happen today.  Yesterday alternated between part sun and light overcast, but we didn’t get any rain.

I got a few things done.  Got the plumbing parts I needed to send with my wife, to get the master bath sink drain finished.   Tried to take back a bunch of plumbing parts to Lowe’s but shockingly  it’s been more than 90 days.   Freaking time flew by.   I guess I’ll use them eventually.   Probably here when I re-pipe this house.  Or maybe the rent house…  but it sucks because I was planning to take back what I didn’t need, and it’s hundreds of dollars.

I did take a bit of time and put out some Christmas decorations.  I’m pulling back this year, but I definitely want stuff out.   I want to take some lights to the BOL and dress up the dock too.   In fact, I’d like to start a tradition of dressing up the docks for Christmas, with judging and prizes.  I’m  a bit surprised that they aren’t already doing it, as it seems like a naturally fun thing to do.

I also did some more auction sorting.  I’ve been picking up partial sets of the elinco “snap circuits” electronic learning sets, and they sell really well at this time of year, even used.   But I have to go through them and make sure all the parts are included, which is a bit of mix and match from all the random bits I’ve collected over the year.  Still, got about 4 full sets, and I have the big 750 project set ready to go, missing only ONE piece.   I’ll have to order the piece though, as it is very uncommon.  I should have done that last month.   I think I’ll end up keeping that one set for me, and working around the missing piece until I can get it.    It’s funny that I’ve got three more sets almost complete, but a very common part is missing from all of them, yet I’ve got extras of some uncommon parts that only go in a few sets.  Luck of the draw I guess.

Feels like I did more productive stuff, but I can’t remember any of it.

Oh well.  Today is my non-prepping hobby potluck Christmas dinner at 1pm.  I’ll have some time to work on getting more lights up in the yard, finding some to take to the BOL, and wrapping a ‘white elephant’ gift for our gift exchange, before heading out.  I’ll swing back by the house before heading to the BOL to load the truck and get the frozen food into a cooler.    Then it’s off to the lake for a day.   If I’ve got stuff to do, I might stay through Monday.   Kids, wife, and in-laws will be coming home Sunday night.   I’ll play that by ear.

There is a great cast iron wood burning kitchen stove in one of the auctions and I expect it to go cheap.  It’s complete, not in horrible shape, and a nice size.  If I had a cabin, I’d be all over it.  No way I can justify it to the wife though.  It’s an awesome prep…

But you can’t stack EVERYTHING, or cover every base, so you have to do what you can.   Being cast back to a point where we’re burning wood to cook daily is pretty far down the list of stuff I’m expecting, but not completely outside the realm of possibility.  Concentrate on stacking to cover your most likely needs, then head off into the sticks.   But definitely, keep stacking.

nick

Kinda grey start to the day, with improvement later… which is what happened yesterday, and we all know that today has a very high probability of being a lot like yesterday.   And yesterday did get to be pretty nice by the end of the day.

I did some pickups.   I did some shopping.   I might have purchased a Christmas present for someone.   But the list of things I didn’t do is long…

We ate the slow cooker barbacao and it was good.   It’s a nice break from ground  beef or chicken tacos or fajitas.  I still have to vac pack the cooked ground beef today and freeze it.

Someone that isn’t me has to plan a couple of meals for the in-laws too, who arrive later today.  My wife and kids will be taking them to the BOL Friday afternoon, and I’ll join them Saturday evening.  I have my non-prepping hobby potluck Christmas dinner Saturday afternoon and I don’t have any interest in missing it.

So I’ll be working my list today, and probably letting things slide.   Kids need to be back at school, having had dinner, by 5pm so they can help with a concert and dance show.  I will probably drop them off.  Or I might try a different pair of active hearing protectors.  I’ve got a set of in ear Axils to try, and a set of passive Surefire in ear “Ear Defenders”.

The Axils are very transparent when just sitting around the house.  I can set them to just amplify enough that it is like I don’t have them in.   I haven’t tested them against loud sounds yet though.   Nor have I tested the bluetooth linking ability.  They have a stiff wire that goes over your ear to provide stability, and they are linked by a wire and electronics modules that passes behind your head.   They are pretty comfortable though.

None of the earbuds I’ve mentioned are ‘noise cancelling’ but instead actively amplified hearing protection that cuts out the amplification when there is a loud sound, which allows the tight fitting earpiece to attenuate the sound and protect your ears.   I’ve got a pair of Walker electronic ‘over the ear’ style protectors too.   Most of the time, I  just wear actual hearing protectors, either foam or finned, and I’m used to them from my  years in noisy work environments.  It would be nice to have something that would protect but not hinder, especially in social environments, like school plays or recitals…just sayin’….

Other projects might be making progress, there are antenna towers in two different auctions this month.   I’ve got 30ft of aluminum truss that I could use as a tower at the BOL, but I’d prefer something that was actually designed as an antenna tower if I can get it cheap.

Still lots to do at the BOL, so some things are back burnered, but I still have my eyes open.

I hope you are also working to constantly improve you situation.    Coming up, that might be enough to keep you even…

Stack it up my friends.

nick

Cold but clear today, if last night’s weather holds.  It was 47F when I went to bed.   Of course it’s damp too, so it really feels cold.

Spent most of Saturday prepping and texturing the ceiling in the master bedroom and bath.   It looks ok.  Better than popcorn anyway, and certainly cleaner.  Considering that it’s been about 20 years since I ran the texture gun, and I didn’t do a whole lot o that even back then, I’m happy with the result.   My wife will be painting it today, primer (Kilz) then ceiling paint.

I’ll be buttoning up the property and knocking some more small jobs off the list.  We’ll probably stay here most of the day, then head home.

I’ve got a load of trash, some metal for recycling, and 2 LP gas bottles for refilling in the truck.  I’ll have to bring up some more bottles if I am going to be running the patio heaters, they go through gas like crazy.

I will have to ask the propane guy up here if there is a way to get set up for refilling BBQ bottles off the big tank.  My guess is “no, no, and HELL NO.”  Can’t hurt to ask though.

Lake is up quite a bit.   Supposedly we got more than two inches of rain the just the last two days.  With the area that feeds the lake, that made a large change in water level.   Guess I missed my chance to replace some of the dock posts without standing in water… oh well.  Gotta prioritize.

I’ll be moving some stacks up here, and some shelves to put them on the next trip up.   Time to stock the BOL a bit better.   Time to get a safe up here too.

Do some adding to your own stacks.   Don’t wait for the New Year’s Resolution.

nick