Category: march to war

Another cold morning, warming slightly later. I’m hoping for clear sky and dry-ish. At least not raining. National forecast looks good for the next few days.

I spend yesterday doing my thing. Did some auction stuff in the morning, then did some pickups. Got the kid from school. Headed back to the house. Did some work on the Christmas decorations. Had to get changed, and then get myself back to the other kid’s school for recitals… and then home again.

Lots of to-ing and fro-ing when you’ve got kids in middle and high school, especially if they do any activities, or want to watch the “yummy” boys play sportsball… or study with friends, or any of a dozen things. I had no idea what my dad went through to pick me up from school 5 days a week when I was doing afterschool activities. At least I only have to drive a couple of miles, he was driving 13 each way, after driving 30 to get home from work. It’s no wonder they bought a car and let me drive the carpool to school.

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My TV repair parts arrived from China, 7 days early. Add fixing the TVs to my list of stuff to do.

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I’m going to try to get to my rent house today and make the repairs there. Kid is staying after school for tutoring, so that gives me more leeway if something goes wrong or takes too long. Of course I’ve got other stuff to do if I go to that part of town. Hit the secondary to drop stuff off and pick up a couple of things. Hit the Lowes for parts and supplies, etc… It’s fractal.

Like life and prepping, there is always something more to do, something else to do, or something to re-do.

I’m just not keeping up. I know what the problem is, I’m not leaving the house to do the stuff. And I’m not doing the stuff if I’m here. I’m working on that though.

Always be working.

And stacking.

nick

Cool to cold, supposed to have frozen overnight… but seems unlikely to me. It was 46F at 1130pm. I brought the potted lime tree in under the patio anyway. No idea what it will be like today but windy and cold seems most likely.

Yesterday was mostly a bust as far as my list went. It’s ok. I spent some good time talking with a friend. And I did get a number of pickups done, including errands for my wife. She needed a bottle picked up at Total Wine, a more upscale warehouse style store than Spec’s, where I usually shop. They had a really nice selection of non-alcohol beers, and dealcoholized wines and spirits. I picked up several of each to try. So far the Christmas Clausthaler was nice, and there was a chocolate stout that is far superior to Guiness’s own N/A version. It’s nice to have choices, and I’ve found that if I bring N/A beer to a party, it all gets drunk, while some of the guests do not… 🙂 There is a growing demand for N/A choices in the US and manufactures are stepping up. They had a nice medium sized humidor too, and prices were decent.

Today I’ll be doing stuff I should have done yesterday, followed by more stuff I put off, and maybe some unexpected stuff. The wind really kept me from doing stuff outdoors, so I’m far behind on Christmas lights. I did get some of the stuff for my hobby potluck ordered. I still have stuff to pickup, and a couple of white elephant gifts to come up with.

As I was out and about, I do seem to be finding a sense of optimism. It could just be people trying to make the holiday season as good as it can be, or it could be bigger. Lots of decorated houses this year. And while plain white in straight lines is the most common lighting scheme, the fact people are decorating, a purely discretionary activity, is heartening. It may be that they all have the big tvs they want, and there isn’t a must have console this year to suck up $500-1000, so they feel ok pulling back a bit on gifts. Or it may be them maxing cards they know they can’t pay and just saying “F#ck it” Go big or go home.

We’ll know better in January. Meanwhile, expect the world to move more chess pieces around. Lot’s of people positioning stuff before next year…

None of what I see makes me want to slow down the stacking. Make your own decision, but act on it. No waffling.

nick

Cool again, but not cold. Clear sky. Yesterday was cool and dreary most of the day. Heavy mist, grey sky. But around 2pm something moved in and blew the heck out of Houston, and then we had sun and clear sky. Great finish to the day, and I’m hoping today is the same.

I did some auction stuff in the morning, then headed out. Lots of driving and several pickups later it was time to get the kid– who stood me up. I would have had an additional couple hours to go by my secondary location and storage unit, but instead I rushed across town and pushed two tasks to today. Kid wanted to work on a project with a friend. That part is fine, but jerking my schedule around isn’t.

In any case, I spent the half hour I had to kill at home listening to and watching the posted video of my volunteer middle school musical theater effort. The videographer really should have taken my cleaned up audio and mixed it in with the ambient recorded by the cameras. I got them both playing at the same time, and was able to A-B them, and mix them at different levels, and adding the audio direct from the board really sweetened up the recorded audio. Too bad he either didn’t know how, or didn’t want to. Pro level tools from only a couple of years ago are available free now. It’s mind blowing what you can do at home. If you have the time and desire.

The Powers That Be seem intent on throwing it all away. Civilization that is.

Not much we can do on a macro level, but on a local and personal level? Yes. Get your shite in order (better than me.) Get what you need to be independent and stack it. Find a network of people to work with for daily living tasks, and extraordinary tasks too. Let’s get through whatever big bad is coming.

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Today I’ve got a couple of pickups in the other direction from yesterday’s. And I’ve got the stuff I didn’t get done to do. I need to do some banking, make some appointments, and do some shopping for my potluck dinner. Then kid taxi at the end of the day to limit what I get done…

And getting ready for Christmas. And replacing stuff in the stacks that aged out. And finding places to stack some new stuff. (like my new manual tire changer- it’ll go to the BOL for use on the mower and maybe a golf cart or trailer tire)

There is always more you can do. Stack something.

nick

Cold and dreary, light rain possible, and likely to be cold and grey all day. That’s what yesterday turned out to be. It did get a bit warmer in the late afternoon, but I was still cold without a hat and a windbreaker.

I did get a few things done, but it wasn’t a day where I was super effective or worked steadily. I’m not ready for a Christmas tree in the room, which was an important goal. Shouldn’t take too long to do today, but I’m behind… which is the story of my life lately.

Today I’m going to clear a space for the tree. Then I’ll do some outdoor work if it’s not raining. Maybe get to the store to get what I need for the rent house, but probably not, unless I go with to get the tree.

Getting a space for the tree means W and the Ds can get a tree up… which means Christmas is coming… and is a milestone. And I promised W that I would. It’s too easy to get distracted.

Don’t get distracted from stacking. At best, we have a pause in hostilities. At worst, we have a last gasp desperate action on the part of our enemies. Whatever happens, it is likely to be sudden and a surprise. Stacks will help. So will mindset. Work on both.

nick

Cool and clear, warming later. I hope. It was cold as a witch’s bits at the BOL and warmer back in Houston. Warmer is better right now…

I got up and got ready to leave the BOL. Left the wife and kids to do the departure stuff. I had an auction pickup to get to. I made it and hit a couple of thrift stores on the way home.

Got home, unloaded, and ate leftovers while watching “Alone” with the family. Not a bad day at all.

Today, if the weather cooperates I’ll hang some lights and put up some decorations here. I got some colored lights and some yard decor set up at the BOL, and it felt nice. The tree looked good too. I’ve got to clean out the room where we set up the tree here, and that will take some effort. I’ve been piling BOL stuff, hobby stuff, and sale stuff in that room for months. And the dog has been in there when it is raining outside… despite cleanup and enzyme sprays, it still needs additional deep cleaning.

After a brief respite, it will be full speed ahead toward Christmas and the New Year. It’s coming fast…

So stack! Always stack. And USE some of the stacks just to be sure.

nick