Category: march to war

Starting a little warmer every day now, and hitting a little bit higher in the afternoon. REAL Spring must be here, with Summer right behind. It hit mid to high 80sF yesterday, and probably will again today. The overcast never lifted, but on the national forecast we’re right on the southern edge of the Tstorm possible zone, so if there is a little bit more pressure from the Gulf, we’ll be clear. No one knows for certain.

I didn’t do much beyond getting ready for the kid’s special dinner. I like cooking so that was fine, and the result was really good. I filtered and recovered the lard, but it’s not pure white anymore. I’ll save it in the fridge. I’d had it stored in the freezer for the last few years. The temperature difference between “flows thru the filter paper” and “congeals” is somewhere above room temperature. I got “most” of it through the filter…

Cast iron cleaned up with a couple of wipes of damp paper towel.

Today I’ll do the stuff I didn’t do yesterday. If I’ve had enough sleep.

The pile up is getting deep.

Stack.

nick

It was nice yesterday, with some really gusty winds. Nice out though, mid 80sF and sunny. Hoping for more of that today.

Spent the morning doing auction stuff. Then went to buy a couple of jetskis. Very affordable, not at all new, but in very good condition. Trailer too. Then I went to do a pickup, and after that went to my shop to break down the laptop carts I bought. I asked the auctioneer if they were taking consignments, and they are, but only 20 lots every 2 weeks, and they want to average $30/lot. They also want to split the sale 50-50. Um, no.

Today I’ve got shopping to do, and presents to wrap, and things to get ready. I’m headed to the BOL on Saturday while my wife stays home to get the kids through their stuff. That means getting stuff done and ready for them first.

And of course all the other normal stuff needs doing too.

So do it! And stack.
n

Cool and damp again, but the clear sky and sunshine late yesterday has me hoping for sun and a bit of drying off today. National map still has us in a T storm possible area until Saturday. We had some light fog yesterday morning too, which is unusual for us, and light sprinkles in various parts of town. The bayous were back to normal flow rates and levels after getting quite high earlier in the week. It would be nice to start drying off.

I did stuff around the house in the morning, then headed out to do my pickups. Household stuff at the first place, and a generator accessory at the second. It’s an electric pump with some sort of flow control to allow automatic pumping from a second tank to the main tank on a portable generator. It’s not the second tank option for the Honda inverter gennie I looked at in the past, which is more like a boat tank, with Mercury outboard style connectors, and I’ll have to see how it attaches and works. Since I’m running propane in my Honda gennies, it will probably end up at the BOL.

Then it was more domestic bliss in the evening. Everyone was out and about at dinner time, so I enjoyed the pork tenderloin myself. I really should look at the family calendar.

Today I’ve got one or two items to pickup, and some grocery shopping to do. We’re celebrating D2’s birthday next week and my 21st wedding anniversary, so if I can get a jump on the provisioning for that, I really need to. I’ve also got to get the truck unloaded, and move some more stuff out of the house.

And the list never sleeps. I do however, so things slip. I do keep adding stuff to the stacks, you should too.

nick

Cool and wet again. 60F with misty drizzle when I went to bed, and no reason to expect any different. Yesterday was mixed and variable. At times, the sun poked through and I thought we might get a nice day, then the overcast and very light precip started back up. I think today and tomorrow will be similar.

Monday morning I got the kids and wife out of the house, then met up with a guy to do a deal for some pipes. I think I did well, but not necessarily awesome. I spent more per pipe at the estate sale where I met him, but I got more pipes and accessories this time. I had a good time talking to him. He’s hustling and a sharp trader who has been doing it for a while. Interesting guy. I meet a lot of interesting people by getting out of the house and talking to everyone. Recommended.

In the afternoon, I did one auction pickup, missed the other due to traffic and weather, and spent a few hours breaking down scrap and harvesting gold plated bits and pieces at the shop.

Today will likely be very similar. I’ve still got a couple of auction pickups, and all the rest of my lists still need doin’. I ordered parts to fix a couple of resale items too. If I can do that for a few items a day, and do a few easy fixes, I can move more of this stuff out of storage and into a sale. I have to start and build some momentum.

Stacking is good, but not enough. Using and learning are critical too. Do all the things.

nick

Cool and wet. Still in the “t storms possible” part of the map… but this is the bayou city and our weather is driven by the Gulf of America and not the stuff blowing down from the Northwest. I mean, it comes down, but our weather depends on what the countervailing force coming in from the Gulf does. I think today will be like yesterday, patches of sunlight, mostly cloudy or overcast, and very moderate temps.

Spent yesterday morning asleep. Spent the afternoon at an event for D2’s school activity. The dad’s booster club was there and I spent the evening chatting with them. I know some of them from other activities, and one is a good friend of the family. The event was held at our old pool, so there was a lot of crossover. Had some good conversations.

Didn’t get anything on the list done.

So today, there will be poking at the list. Might even be some completed items, but that is not guaranteed. It’s funny that one of the dad’s I was chatting with complained that for every job he needs to do, there are many more that need to be done first… I shared my idea that some tasks were fractal, and he agreed with a good laugh too. Still, every journey begins with a single step (except a flight of fancy.)

Take the first step. Stack something, especially if it’s real world relationships.

nick

Cool, but warming and rainy later. Yesterday was off and on sunny and very nice, with periods of cloudy and damp. We got a bunch of gusty wind and even a few drops from the sky in the afternoon, but no real rain. Today we’re supposed to get real rain. We’ll see.

I spent yesterday morning doing auction and paperwork stuff. Bills need to be paid, every month. In the afternoon, I did one pickup combined with a trip to the shop to drop stuff off. Then we went out to dinner and the kids did their things.

Today I have my non-prepping hobby meeting, which was bumped from last week. Before that, I have to drop D2 at a school event. She got a promotion in one of her activities and so she’ll be even busier than last year. She loves it, so I’m happy for her, but it is a pain in the schedule.

After the meeting, I think I’ll run by that estate sale and see if I can make an offer on any remaining pipe stuff. There were things I’d have bought if they were cheaper. There always are…

A guy has to have some hobbies.

Because otherwise it’s all prepping all the time. And that’s not ideal. Gotta remember what you prep FOR.

And stack. Always stack.

nick

Cool and damp. Again. But later it will be beautiful. Yesterday afternoon was still in the low 80sF but it felt great. More please. Oh, and the rest of the day it was partly cloudy and blindingly sunny the rest of the time.

Spent pretty much all day doing pickups and some related stuff, like taking a load of trash to the dumpster, and dropping stuff off at my shop. Then it was home to make dinner and do some of the domestic bliss I’d neglected. Yeah, I didn’t get to the gas station, pharmacy, or grocery store. That’ll be today.

Dinner was lamb roast, steamed brusselsprouts, tube biscuits, and a thrown together apple pie for dessert. One graham cracker pie crust, one can apple pie filling, second crust crumbled on top, bit of cinnamon, and about a stick of melted butter on the bottom and top crusts. 45 minutes later, and it was good.

The pre-made crusts and canned filling are the 80-20 rule made real. 20% of the work, and 80% of the result compared to fresh homemade. Actually more like 90-10 in this case, and it was all long term storage food.

Today I’ll do the grocery and meds run, get gas, and then switch back to my list. I didn’t have time to do any work on my office yesterday, and I want to move that along. I’ll try to do one trip to the shop too, and maybe break down more scrap. There is a certain appeal in the instant cash, even if the amount isn’t large.

Doing what I can with what I’ve got, at least partly. And stacking, that’s important.

nick

And supposed to be a nice one too. It got into the low 80sF yesterday, with sunshine between the clouds. Late afternoon and night were nice. Damp. But that’s Houston.

I spent all day yesterday at home, doing office stuff and cleaning up. I am trying to get stuff off the floor and into the closet in my office, which means moving stuff out of it. Stuff that hasn’t moved in a couple of years… Some of it, like the sewing and embroidery machine will stay. Some of it will go. The magazines I’m keeping are Fine Woodworking and Fine Homebuilding, Nuts and Volts, and it’s companion Servo. If I every get my shop built at the BOL, I’ll have them to go through again, just like the first time. Woodworking doesn’t age out. The electronics stuff will, but some of it will still be fun to try.

I also did some driveway cleanup, and moved stuff around inside as well. My truck is loaded with scrap that needs to be processed, and trash to be dumped. I’m going past my dumpster today as I make my big loop to do pickups. I should be able to get a bunch of pickups out of the way in just a few hours. At least I’m not doing it every day like I was.

Some of it will be stacked, some is for the normal operation of my life. Some is just in case.

Stack what you can.

nick