Category: march to war

Mon. Aug. 26, 2024 – now I can do all the things I’ve been putting off…

Slightly less hot, and small chance of rain, which is a nice change from ‘normal’. Even yesterday was slightly less humid, you could see that the air was clearer than it has been. Any change to “less” is a good change.

I finished up my hobby thing. Show floor was very dead Sunday. It’s always challenging to keep some exhibitors from leaving early, but this was a crazy number that left. Added to having fewer exhibitors to start with and Sunday was DEAD. I had some sales though, about $225, on Sunday. Lots of smalls, and really tiny margins, but I did move stuff. The big items didn’t budge.

Talking with others there, they sold some things, but the excitement was missing. One guy said it was because people were ‘scared’. They are worried about war and violence and the economy failing. He new about the new ammunition factory and about the new chip fabs, and their importance if war breaks out. Everyone mentioned inflation.

It was another data point, another reality check for me. A broad cross-section of folks, all with the same concerns.

An ill wind is blowing, and lots of folks have their finger in the air, trying to take its measure.

After I got everything packed and we cleaned out the venue, I came home and fell asleep for a couple hours. W and the Ds woke me when they got home. They had a good time with friends at the lake. Then I took the trailer and unloaded at my storage unit. Decided to put it all there, instead of putting some at the secondary location. I unloaded the rest back at home.

Today I’ll return the trailer, and hopefully my ranger will be ready for pickup. Once I get that sorted, I can get back to normal stuff here at the Casa De Nick. I’ll probably do an auction pickup too.

Lots to do, lots to stack, and no one knows how much time left. Get busy.

nick

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Sun. Aug. 25, 2024 – last day of my hobby thing…

And it will still be a hot one. Because yesterday was, and it’s still Summer in Houston. There might be a little relief from the humidity though. When I got home yesterday a little bit of localized rain had cleared some of the humidity and it was almost nice out in the evening.

Got my ice and got to the venue on time. Set up the tables and spent the next 9 hour talking to people an trying to sell them stuff. It was tough. The mood on the floor was very subdued compared to previous years. I was selling $3, $5, and the occasional $10 or $20 item, and not doing much in the way of combined sales. Things got better before lunch and when the general admission started, and I sold more higher priced items and more combinations.

By 230pm the crowd started to thin, and several vendors packed up their tables. It felt very late in the day, and by the end of the day even more people had packed up early. Not good.

People I chatted with all blamed the economy, and everyone was very aware of price inflation for groceries.

We’ll see how today shapes up. Sunday has always been a slower day, and one that some vendors skip. I hope it isn’t a ghost town today.

So I’m off to do my thing, and then pack up and head home later.

I’ve talked to a LOT of people and gotten a feel for the lay of the land, which is always useful.

And I’m feeling like I should redouble my prepping efforts. It’s getting worse, but stacks will help.

nick

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Sat. Aug. 24, 2024 – 08242024 – second day of my hobby thing…

And it’s still hot and humid. Really, I know! Hard to believe. But that’s the facts Jack.

Fortunately for our load in and set up, the hotel had the air on in the ballroom/convention space. Because it was hella hot.

Did my volunteer obligations then got my stuff set up. I brought a LOT of stuff, and hope to sell more. I haven’t sold much though, and the best stuff went cheaper than I’d have liked. Sold is good though. I’ve covered the cost of my tables and rental trailer. I hope to make some actual money today.

I’ve got an early start today. I need to restock my coolers with drinks and ice. There is a very convenient ice maker stand on the way, and it only adds a couple of minutes to my trip, so it’s not a burden and I get a lot of gratitude and recognition. Then we’ll open the doors at 8 and we’re off to the races. I hope. It was slow and kinda dull yesterday.

The best part of the show is talking to the other attendees and exhibitors. There is a pretty broad cross section of the US, but skewing heavily toward small business owners of course. I don’t hear a lot of pro Democrat chatter, and I do hear a fair amount of pro Trump. That could be because of Texas, or because any progressives or liberals might self censor in the face of real or imaginary persecution. It is hard to be a small business owner without a grasp of economics and an understanding of .gov and .gov regulation…

I better get moving. I need to turn some inventory back into cash, and use the money for other things…

Like stacking !

nick

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Fri. Aug. 23, 2024 – first day of my hobby get together…

And it will still be hot. And it will still be humid. Weather? We’ve got both kinds.

It was crazy hot again yesterday. It’s not the absolute temperature that is the problem, it’s the combination with crazy high humidity and lack of breeze. And it was hot.

Did my running around and errands but it was 800pm by the time I was done, except for finishing the trailer load. That went for another couple of hours as I sorted and pulled stuff from my office. Having to wash out two coolers, and replace the hinges on one added some time. I’ve got a lot of cooler repair parts, as they are cheap and I buy used coolers, or find them on the street. Hinges take almost no time, clasps, retaining straps, and even drain plugs are easy. If you’ve got the parts at hand, it’s simple to fix the things when they need fixing. That’s pretty much true for most things.

I’m actually preferring the enclosed trailer to the Ranger. I don’t have to worry about rain, or security. So it’s working out. The cost of the fixes for the Ranger, and the additional rental for the trailer will kinda suck, but that’s life too.

While I was out doing my errands, we apparently lost power for about 1/2 hour. Centerpoint says it was due to “a safety hazard prevention”. That sounds like a tree trimmer made a mistake. There was some localized thunder, and even some spatter of drops, but not on me and it didn’t seem like it was in our neighborhood, so not likely to be weather related, even without the weird turn of phrase from Centerpoint.

Today I’ll head to the hotel to help with set up and then load in. Eventually I’ll set up my own tables, and then we’ll open the floor. Commenting will be thin as I’m going to be busy all day. You’ll have to talk amongst yourselves.

And if you find yourself with some spare moments, say a prayer for Barbara’s swift and complete recovery. She says she’s doing fine, but a sudden and unexpected heart attack is never a good thing.

Stack too, if you can.

nick

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Thur. Aug. 22, 2024 – so much to do today…

And it’s another scorcher. All my delaying tactics have failed, and I’ll be digging in storage units in the heat after all. LOTS OF HEAT. And lots of humidity.

Spent yesterday doing domestic bliss, and trying to get my truck diagnosed. I did get two pickups in, and gathered some more stuff for my non-prepping hobby sale. Not enough though.

So today I’ll be trying to pickup a trailer, fixing or diagnosing my renter’s A/C issues, hitting three storage places looking for stuff I put away last year or the year before, and gathering it all to the house. THEN I’ll start loading the trailer, make sure the powerpoint lappy goes online and updates, and gather the last of the stuff. Oh, and I’ll be buying drinks and ice for the setup crew. Ice will be Friday, but I need the gatoraid, water, and Dr Pepper, and I’ll need to clean a couple of coolers.

Suddenly lots to do. Lots on top of the stuff I already knew about. Gah. I should have hit the gathering harder when I had the truck available. Just bad luck to break down now.

You can prep, but bad luck can still make it harder. In this case, having money for the truck repairs, and having the alternative truck and a rental trailer available will save the day.

I hope.

stack-a while you can, monkey boy.

nick

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Wed. Aug. 21, 2024 – more of the same, repeated…

Hot and humid, no break from the weather today. Crazy hot with the high humidity.

Did some stuff yesterday. One pickup. Ran the kid around where she needed to go. Had to blow off 2 pickups that will have to happen today. Did a minimum of cleanup and sorting.

So today I have to catch up with where I should be to get ready for my show. I’ve got storage units to go through and stuff to find. I’ve been stashing stuff all over, so now I need to bring it together. And it will be hot and sweaty work.

I’m not looking forward to the work, but I would like to sell some of the stuff and get it out of the way. Money is nice too. More money is extra nice.

So I’m doing my bit in the secondary economy by moving stuff from people who want to get rid of it to people who want to have it, and getting my middleman fee when I can.

It’s a hobby, not a side hustle, but it plays off my reselling anyway. It’s not an income, but it funds my hobby leaving the other money for life and preps.

I treat my ham radio stuff the same way. It has to be self funding… otherwise it feels selfish.

And I get to meet and talk with people from all over the country while I’m trying to sell, which is also very nice. I’m sure to learn something I can use elsewhere.

All of which is to say, get out and do some things. Join a club, take up a hobby, take a class, get a table at your local swapmeet… and then talk to people. It takes practice, and it pays dividends.

And stack, don’t forget to stack.
nick

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Tues. Aug. 20, 2024 – yeah, that’s the ticket…

More hot, more humid. It was over 100F yesterday. It’ll probably be the same today. The humidity has been so high that it’s far more miserable than it should be.

Didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped. Had to get the kid from school, and had other domestic bliss to deal with. I cut my hair and shaved… since I was looking like a wild man. Cough. Sorta.

Mostly did smaller things, sorting and stacking. I’m not doing enough to get ready for my show. I think I’m letting the clock run out to put pressure on myself to break the inertia, but it’s not really working. I do work better with deadlines, but I’ve got one already. Show starts Friday. I really shouldn’t need more motivation. It’s just so crazy hot, and the thought of digging through my storage or my secondary in this heat is debilitating.

It needs to be done though. Get ready, do the show, then get back to normal school life.

Yep, that’s the ticket. Get through this, then continue as normal.

Stack it up fellas. The ride is gonna be rough.

n

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Sun. Aug. 18, 2024 – still plugging away

Hot and humid. The summer continues. We had a nice Spring, with summer actually being fairly mild compared to a couple of recent years. We haven’t had the string of 100+ degree days that we had before. But the humidity is at saturation and it’s oppressive. You really can’t cool down at all, even sitting still will bake your brains after a while.

I spent the day pecking at things. I am trying to keep moving forward, but the lure of an un-scheduled day beckoned. And the heat was discouraging. I did the minimum to partly unload my truck and I re-did the tarp over the remainder of stuff in the bed. It was threatening to rain in the evening. Never did though.

Today I’ll probably do the same, little things to keep moving, but nothing major. It’s the doldrums. I am fighting the inertia. It doesn’t help that my neck has been hurting either, but that’s an excuse.

It’s hard to keep your motivation up sometimes. The best I can offer is keep doing something, even if it’s little things. They do add up over time.

And keep stacking.

nick

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Tues. Aug. 13, 2024 – can it possibly be half way thru August already?

Hot and humid. Of course. Like yesterday and every day for the last month. And for the rest of this month. And yet, there are “professionals” who get paid to tell us what they think it will be tomorrow, next week, and in 50 years. “Professionals” who are never punished when they are wrong, who never suffer for their mistakes, and who never seem to grow or get better. I guess it’s a good gig if you can get it.

Spent most of yesterday not doing stuff on my list. Then I did stuff for the kid, and fell asleep. Not a shining example…

Today I’ll try to avoid a repeat of that, although I have kid stuff in the afternoon, just like yesterday.

There is so much going on, so much to do, and suddenly the summer is mostly over. Crazy how that works. Someone with more willpower than me might be able to triumph, but I’m not. I will keep plugging away. That’s what I do.

Some things are just going to fall by the wayside. Picking the right things will be the trick…

Stacking will continue.

nick

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Mon. Aug. 12, 2024 – she’ll have fun fun fun ’til her daddy takes the …

Hot. Broken record time. hot hot hot. And humid. Because summer in Houston.Yesterday started nice and got hot. Ended nice, although it was a bit too hot. Even though it’s hot, it’s been cooling down at night, so I know Fall is coming.

I started slow, but did get some stuff done. The biggest thing was to swap out the washing machine and cut the grass. I moved and put some stuff away too. And I mounted shelf standards and put a couple of shelves in the bookcase. I’m moving a lot of the apocalypse library to the BOL. That is the most likely place to need it after all. That will have the side benefit of making some space in my office at home… which is also a good thing.

I got pulled over on my way home. It was a BS stop, one of my license plate lights was out and he “couldn’t read the plate from 50 feet.” I always have the cruise control locked at the speed limit, and I’ve taken care of my registration issues, so I wasn’t too worried, mostly just puzzled when he lit me up. Must have been a slow night for the Deputy. In any case, the plot thickened when he re-ran the plates and they came up for my other truck. He’d never seen Radio Operator plates, and had to “check” that I was telling the truth when I pointed out that you can have multiple vehicles with the same plate IF you’re a Radio Operator. Eventually he learned something, and I got a warning. I’m gonna say it was basically ‘stop and frisk’ and BS from the first question. “Where are you coming from?” and “Where are you going?” “What were you doing tonight?” All the BS questions. I was polite and helpful. I was an ambassador for ham radio after all. Still just bullshite though.

Today is a catch up day at home. I’ve got some auctions stuff to do, then errands, and a bit of moving kids around. School is starting soon, and then all of our schedules should firm up. Of course the demands of the school year will make their own issues, but that’s for later. For now, it will help.

I really need to be more scheduled, and actually knock out some of the stuff I’ve let linger too long. I need to take my own advice, and always be working to improve my situation.

The stacking part, I’ve got that down…

nick

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