Category: march to war

Hot and humid, although perhaps not as hot as last week.

Hurricanes on the way though, so that weather is going to suck.

Yesterday started a bit cooler, so I decided to do my outdoor work.  It did get to 108F in the sun in my driveway though.

I did a bunch of stuff outside, mostly in the shade.  It was a sneaky kind of hot that I really didn’t notice until I came in to drink and let my brain cool down.  THEN I could feel that my head was dumping heat into the room…

I did go back out and finish the yardwork.  I’ve got a ton of stuff to secure before we get hurricane winds though.  I’ll get started on that today, but I’ve got two pickups later in the afternoon.  And I’ll be getting an early start- it’s the first day back in school for us.  Middle school, 6th grade, for the older one, 4th grade elementary for the little one, who is getting a growth spurt and isn’t particularly little.

It will be interesting to see how their day goes.  I’m guessing no real learning for a few days.   Their in person first week is all filled with rules and procedures normally, but since they’re not in school, they don’t need to practice fire drills.  Presumably they’ll have distance learning specific stuff in place of that.

With hurricanes in the Gulf and soon to be in the Gulf, I need to concentrate on that for a bit.  In the mean time, the insurgency is getting more serious in Portland, and now Colorado too.   It’s organized, and anyone willing to do the grunt work of stuffing balloons with sh!t and p!ss is willing to do a whole lot more.  We are seeing the beginning, not the end.  In the end, it’ll be blood in the streets, assassination squads, arson, general strikes, and a bunch of innocents will be caught in the crossfire.  Plan accordingly.

You won’t need to worry about getting shot at the quickee mart if you’re prepped… so keep stacking.

nick

Hot.  Still.  Humid.  Still.  One more month until fall.

Hot all day yesterday too.  Well into the 100s, and stifling humidity.  Did a pickup (some metalworking stuff, and my new batteries.   The ‘wire’ turned out to not be wire at all, so I’ll still have to find something to hook up the batts and the panels.  The auction did refund for the 3 spools.)

I was checking the temps in the new fridge/freezer all day.  I just couldn’t get the main compartment to stay above freezing, no matter how low I set it.  Time for a look at the manual.  OH.  I was wrong.  The main compartment is always a freezer.  The top compartment can be either.  So I changed the settings a bit, and I’ve been trying to get the top to fridge range while keeping the bottom frozen.   I think I’ve finally got it.   The top should actually be big enough for the main things we keep in the garage fridge, if I move stuff like the shredded cheese to the freezer.  The fridge really  just has milk, eggs, bread, cream, and cheese in it (and wine, but there are other solutions for that.)  So for a while at least, I’ve got WAY more freezer than I need.   On the plus side, the unit was specifically made for a garage environment, and is designed for an 80% or higher duty cycle.  It also has a heating element in it to keep the fridge from getting too cold if ambient drops too low.    I’m going to be watching for a real fridge, but making this work for a while at least.

So with the pool acting up, the fridge dying and a new one in place, and all the other things going on, we’ll be headed to a beach house for a couple of days.  Galveston here I come.  Joy.   At least we’re driving and I can carry everything I want.  The kids are ecstatic to be getting out of the house, so I’m on board.  Reluctant, but on board.

I’m taking my small lappy so shouldn’t have any difficulty posting, although comments will probably be lighter than if I was just sitting here, waiting, waiting, waiting….

I can’t help but watch the video coming out of Portland, and the news out of Chicago, and think that the armed insurrection has started in earnest.   Maybe it will die down, but that seems unlikely in this election year and with all the covid stuff adding ‘flavor’ to the mix.   Add the normal (or slightly more active) hurricane season, and we’re gonna have a heck of a year.  It’s challenging to have moved from “prepping” to “living with the ongoing disaster” to getting back into prepping for the NEXT disaster to roll down the pike.  But I have no doubt that there will BE a next one, on top of whatever ones we’re living with.  Civil unrest/insurrection, depression/economic collapse, global pandemic, hurricanes, job losses, and the normal personal crises will stack up*.  It’s gonna get rough.  Do what you can to make your passage through the trouble easier, now, before any more gets here.  In other words…………. keep stacking.

n

*I’ve thought for a couple of years that the increasing UFO coverage meant something big in that regard was coming.  I consider it to be such a long shot, and such a big unknown that it’s really not something I can prep for, although social and societal “issues” will abound, so prepping for that seems prudent.  And now we have some actual official statements and above board investigation.  I’m REALLY hoping my long shot doesn’t pay off.  But wouldn’t that beat all?  Confirmation of alien life?  Crazy talk.  And on top of the rest of the ‘next normal.’

Hot and humid, chance of rain.

Yesterday did get hot.  106F in the driveway.  Pretty humid too, but mercifully overcast for much of the day.

My back pain is funny.  I can walk ok most of the time.   I can sit ok almost always.  Transitions between the two are like being crippled.  Burning pain, electric shocks, “twang” in my hip.  All kinds of fun for a while, then the transition is complete and I feel ok.   Didn’t get to the chiropractor.  I called to see if there were any special requirements (like  an appointment) but they weren’t answering the phone and never called back.  Their web page was less than helpful.  I will try them again later today.  I need to be headed in the right direction with this.

Since I was feeling ok, I picked up the dog bombs, and the unusable pecans, then cut the grass.  Back yard is in shade most of the afternoon, so it was tolerable.  Lawn guys did the front this week.  They cut, blow, trim, and collect the leaves every other week, I just mow every other week.  Although, since March I’ve kept them out of the driveway and the back yard and I do those myself.  I use the string trimmer every other week in the back.

For some reason, I feel like I need to get the extra water tanks sorted.  I’ve got two back there that are not currently full.  They need to be cleaned and then filled.  Since they’re on carts with wheels, it’s still possible to move them when mostly full.  My plan was to use then for bathing and washing water if it came to that.  Don’t know why I’ve got the feeling to get them in place and filled, or why I was thinking about moving my other two 100L tanks into place in the garage.   I’ve learned though that I shouldn’t ignore that little voice when it pipes up.

Did a couple of little things in the garage.   Dug out an ebay item that someone wanted to buy.  I was pretty sure I knew where it was, and it was there.  Hooray.  Maybe I’ll make $8 on it.  It’s been listed for a year?  Maybe more.    Strange which little items have sold in the last months, all really long term listings.   That’s why I’m sending bins full of stuff to the local auctions.  Stuff is just not moving.  Admittedly, I’ve been slack on new listings, and ebay boosts you if you do new listings.

Dinner was fresh turkey legs baked, with canned green bean and mushroom soup casserole,  mashed potatoes with saute’d onion, garlic, and bacon crumbles, pillsbury crescent rolls,  and mango cobbler for dessert.  The rolls were from a tube and were 9 months past BB.  Except for the outermost layer, they were fine…  the crunchy onion for the casserole topping was a year past BB and was fine (foil pouch).  The mango was from a jar from Costco, past BB, too soft to eat on a plate but great in the cobbler.

I’ve got to do an auction pickup today or tomorrow.  I bought 3 cases of Charmin TP, and a couple of other things.  Paid about double what I would have on sale just a few months ago, but in line with current Costco pricing- when they have it.  Scott commercial TP, the thin shiny stuff, sells for about 50c a roll, so Charmin at $1.50 isn’t that unreasonable, just more than I’d like.  And that is the case for the future too, until serious deflation sets in.  We’ll be paying more than we’d like, for less than we’d like.  I don’t see “waiting for it to come back down” to be a wise choice.  While there is more available now, it’s still sketchy and not cheap.  If it does come back, I’ll have spent more than I’d like but can buy more cheaper later.  If it doesn’t ever really come back for some time, then I’ll be glad to have paid the price to restock now.  (for any value of ‘it’…)

I’ve also been buying multiples where I would normally buy only a couple if they were on sale… like coffee filters, or iced tea mix.  Easier to buy a case when it’s shipping anyway.  Better to have it than not.

New food and other supplies will go back to my secondary location.  I don’t think we’ll have serious movement restrictions any time soon, and we’ll have some warning beforehand, if they are reinstated.

As schools in some parts of the country are starting back, right away they’re seeing cases.  Students in class, student athletes, and staffers too.  In person learning is going to be a clusterflock.  There’ll be a LOT of back and forth, which will be pretty disruptive.  We’ll be sitting that mess out.

If you missed it, there was an announcement that Jerry Pournelle’s wife Roberta passed away.  The old guard is leaving the field…  may they find peace.

Historically, the world doesn’t fight the next big war until the generation that fought the last one has mostly passed on.  Guess what’s coming.  Famine, war, plague and pestilence.  Keep stacking.

nick