Category: march to war

Wed. Aug. 7, 2024 – Still more driving around…

Hot and humid. Really. Not kidding. If it’s not raining. Which it might be. Because it’s all guessing. We got a few fat drops around dinner time last night, but that was it. Hot and humid the rest of the day.

Spent most of the day driving back and forth for the kids. I did sneak one trip across town to do two pickups in in the mid afternoon. And when I got back I started working on some stuff for my hobby meeting, instead of picking up the house… The project involves sewing so I had to get that stuff out and set up. Which added to the clutter when W got home. Not a happy evening.

Today the cleaning crew comes so someone thinks the house should be cleaned FIRST. Not gonna happen, that sort of thing is crazy mom and crazy childhood. Stuff does need to be put away, and the floors should be clear, but that’s as far as I’ll go.

I’ve also got to run the kid back and forth to more sportsball stuff. I’m not getting anything done in the morning, and probably little in the afternoon either.

Maybe I’ll work outside. Hmm.

Stack something. Anything useful. And then stack some more.

nick

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Tues. Aug. 6, 2024 – more chauffeuring and more running errands

Hot again. And humid. It was a bit less humid yesterday though, which was nice. There was plenty of heat. Mostly I hid indoors, when I wasn’t running the kid around town. Even short distance trips take more time than you would expect.

So I was mostly dad yesterday. Had sportsball tryouts, a Dr visit, more sportsball, and not a lot of work ended up being done. I did mostly auction stuff. And sitting at my computer. Did a quick update for my hobby site. It’s definitely easier with a wordpress based site.

Today I’ve got both kids running all over town. School is starting up soon and the back to school stuff is starting up too.

On my plate, I’ve got pickups, cleanup, fixes, auction stuff, and all the domestic bliss I’ve put off for two weeks.

So short shrift here, unfortunately.

Doesn’t mean you should slack off. One look at the headlines should convince you that there is room in the pantry for a few more cans, and room in the safe for a few more gats…

So stack it up.

nick

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Mon. Aug. 5, 2024 – home, and driving kid around

Hot and humid in Houston this week. Maybe less hot? Maybe wetter? No one knows, but it will probably be hot. And humid. Certainly was at the BOL. Even though it was cooler at night, the daystar warmed everything right up.

I did some small things, but mostly cleaned and put stuff away yesterday. I did apply fireant killer to the mounds. I like to do that last, even though this time the dog wasn’t there. The drive home was uneventful, which I like. I have to find some new audiobooks though, or get XM again. Commercial radio is so weak.

Today I’m playing chauffeur, and school hasn’t even started yet. Pickup from sports tryout, take to Dr visit, return, repeat… On the bright side it does give me some time to talk to the kid.

Later in the day I’ve got some of my own stuff to do. Putting away stuff, cleaning my office, getting stuff together for my regional show in three weeks, and doing all the normal domestic bliss should keep me busy.

There’s always something to do… I never have to go looking.

And there’s always something more to stack. Get busy!

nick

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Sun. Aug. 4, 2024 – heading home today

Possibly cooler today with a chance of rain? It was only 75F when I went to bed, after another hot and humid day. I was still a little dehydrated after dinner so I stayed up until I got caught up with my intake.

I got a bunch of stuff done. Small things but they should make a difference. Got the utility closet in the garage framed in and sheathed. Cut out the last of the copper pipe from behind the water heater and insulated that wall. Made some adjustments to the garage door so it would close completely. It was leaving a 2″ gap at the top, which let in a lot of hot air and made it hard for the A/C units to cool the room. They should have a chance now. We’ll see how it goes.

Re-mowed the lawn to break up all the rows of cut grass. It was drying out but not blowing away and I don’t want the grass to die in stripes.

I got a late start, but it feels good to get some things off the list, even if they weren’t high priority.

Today I’m going to do some more stuff, and then I’ll head home later. Wife and kids are back home from their trip to see the grandparents.

I’m looking forward to having the pack back together.

I didn’t get to meet with the foundation guys this trip, so I’ll have to find a time to do that, but otherwise I feel pretty good about what I did get done.

Stacking the jobs, and stacking some small achievements.

Always be working. And stacking.

nick

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Sat. Aug. 3, 2024 – getting tired of the heat and humidity…

Another hot humid day. More reason to find indoor stuff to do. I managed some outdoor stuff, and some mostly indoor stuff yesterday but still managed to get a bit dehydrated.

I tried for balance, and for cool down periods. I didn’t go in the sun at all. Still sweated more than I realized. I was working in the covered carport, and in the garage. I’ve got the airconditioners running in the garage, but they can’t get it down below about 81F when it is 100F out. You’d think that was good enough, but it’s still sweat dripping off your eyelashes if you do any real work.

Still, despite my complaints I did get real stuff done yesterday. And I managed to do a load of laundry in between other things. Domestic bliss, even here.

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Lots of doom pron in the Daily Mail about the stock market downturn yesterday. Dunno if it’s real, but it feels too early for the really big hit. 2008 played out over the weekend so it’s possible for big things to happen very suddenly… Keep your eyes open, and some cash on hand…

Having said that, I raided my ready precious for $800 to buy 4×4 posts for my dock project yesterday. I hope I don’t come to regret not having the cash.

Can’t time everything right, and the universe tends towards maximum perversity. It would suck to have the financial apocalypse this weekend. We’ve made preparations, but there is always more you can do, and you always want more time to do it.

With that in mind, stack some extra. Consider this weekend a wake up call that things are coming apart. They do that periodically. Don’t get caught lackin, get to stackin’…

nick

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Fri. Aug. 2, 2024 – enough slackin’, time for work

Hot, still and again. But it’s the humidity that is killing me. Just standing still outside, in the shade, with a breeze, and I had sweat trickling down my spine and sternum yesterday. My thermometer said 101F, in mixed sun and shade. Dunno what the actual RH was but it felt like 95%. Probably get that again today.

I didn’t do any work during the day yesterday. I spent several hours just sitting and talking with my buddy up here. I did do some of it while moving some of the stuff out of my truck bed, and sweating with that little exertion, so I feel like I made the correct call about doing any work outdoors. I still could have done some stuff inside though.

Late in the day I did the string trimming, and I ended up blurry and soaked to the skin with sweat. Had to shower and it took a while to cool down. I was dumb, and pushed just a tiny bit too far. Good warning for taking it easier though.

Today I’ll be unloading the rest of the truck, picking up some posts I bought up here to use for dock repair, and doing some other stuff, indoors with A/C, as a break. I might even do laundry.

That should be enough to wear me out. The humidity is crippling. Well, very limiting at the least.

Working to improve my situation… and stacking stuff against future need. Like most days.

nick

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Thur. Aug. 1, 2024 – time marches on, gonna be school starting up soon…

Hot and humid, but first merely warm and humid. Supposed to be clear for a few more days, so the sun will heat it up soon enough.

I spent yesterday fixing my mower, and cutting the grass. I did my yard, and the HOA park next door. Took a long time as I had to go slow and take less than full swaths so I didn’t bog down the mower. Grass was really tall and thick.

Today I’ll probably trim and blow to finish the yardwork. Might try to burn some of the slash pile. Will find some projects that don’t involve baking my brain later in the day…

The world continues to get weirder, and march to war. Anyone got a good article about increased export controls? Heard someone mention it in passing as part of the difficulty for their business in this economy. Depending one what’s restricted, I’ll add it to my list of indicators that war is coming.

War or not, preps are a good thing.

nick

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Wed. July 31, 2024 – it’s getting hot in here…

Hot and humid at the BOL today, although slightly less than Houston, if I get lucky. It was hot yesterday in Houston, and dripping wet. Just standing around outside had my shirt soaked with sweat. The humidity just makes it miserable. We’ll get more too, before the summer is done.

I spent the day doing pickups, and running errands before heading to the BOL to do some work. I had to hit Lowes for some lumber and plywood, and grabbed some closeout plumbing supplies too. I always check the clearance aisle and yesterday I hit paydirt. They had a bunch of sharkbite fittings marked down to 1/4 or 1/3 of retail. Since I’ll eventually need to finish my master bath remodel, I picked up a bunch of stuff.

Also swung by the chiropractor, and the HEB for some groceries. Nothing really good on sale at the HEB this visit.

I also dropped the dog off at a friend’s house for the week, and loaded up the truck. By the time I got all that done, and did the minimum housecleaning that would keep me alive when my wife gets back, it was after 10pm. Kinda late to be heading up, but I figured at least I’d be here in the morning.

And I’ve got a bunch of work to do. The grass is knee high. It’s gonna be slow going bushwhacking that. Then I’ll start looking at the list, with heavy weight given to tasks in the shade or in the house. I do not want to hurt myself in the heat.

Maybe I’ll find some time to write and AAR for the past two months. I did learn a few things.

Always be learning new things. And stacking the knowledge as well as the stuff.

nick

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Tues. July 30, 2024 – Still home, but not forever…

Sunny and hot. Again. Dripping sweat hot. Again. Summer is still here.

Yesterday I started my day sweating in a storage unit. Got that job done, and decided to see my main auctioneer. They are still swamped with their own items, so I’m still holding off bringing them more.

Hit the Goodwill bins on my way home. Didn’t get much, but did pick up a couple of things for me, and a couple for the auction. Went to dinner with my sibling, and had a nice chat. W and the Ds are at her parents’ house for the rest of the week, while I’m headed to the BOL to work.

So today I’ve got pickups to make, supplies to buy, a truck to load, and a dog to drop off at a friend’s house. Then I can head out. By the time I get all that done, I might sleep here and head up later. I don’t want to shift another day, as it’s easy to slip the days… and I don’t know if we’ll have a sunny day later. Or in theory, I could take the wife’s minivan…

I just hope I am not dripping sweat the whole day.

I’ve added a couple of solar panels and an inverter or two to the stacks. I’m bidding on an inverter/charge controller and another panel today. I want to start slapping some sort of solar power system together, so I can start finding the unknown unknowns… as solar has moved up my list. I still need a good source for batteries though. Several of my lead acid leftovers no longer take a charge. Something is sure to pop up soon.

And I’ll stack some more when it does. Stacking is what I do.

nick

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Mon. July 29, 2024 – busy day today…

Cooler to start, but plenty hot later. Forecast says we’ll be in the clear after all the rain we’ve gotten, and I’m sure that will make the air hotten… or something like that. Rained gently off and on all day Sunday, so I stayed indoors and puttered.

I spent some time looking at laptops to find something to use at our upcoming convention for power point. I have a stack of lappys but one won’t boot, one has a black screen, one battery doesn’t charge… one is an atom based wimpy POS, and the others are win7 with ppt 2007 installed. I might have to use my new toughbook…

I did some more cleaning and organizing. I can now mostly walk in an L shape in my office… I pulled out two 3 foot stacks of books to take to the BOL and put on the shelf there. I’ve got another 6 foot to take there next trip too. I have a huge pile of stuff to take up there this week. I probably won’t be able to fit it all in the truck, but I’m going to try. It’s also been almost two months since I took anything to auction, so there is a bit of a pileup of that stuff too. I’ll get to it eventually.

Today I have some hobby stuff to do, then pickups, then send the females off to the east coast for a family visit. I’ll eventually head to the BOL but I have stuff that has to get done first.

There is always something that has to get done first…

Oh, and I have to hit the Lowes for materials before heading up too.

It’s a great life…

Stack some projects so you can keep yourself busy. And stack the stuff you need to do the projects. You’ll be glad you did 🙂

nick

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