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Category: march to war

Tues. Oct. 7, 2025 – the month is already a quarter gone…

Cool. Warm. Hot. Sweaty throughout. Like most days in the Fall. Pretty much like yesterday. Until about 5pm when a front moved nearby and the dark clouds brought shade, and a 10 degree drop in temp. No rain for us though. And probably none today.

I messed around all morning, then did two pickups. The big item was two more solar panels. Freaking things are almost 4ft x 6ft. Took them to the shop, unloaded, cleared a path to the item I’m selling, and changed the locks on the door. It was a sorta productive day.

I hope today is more productive. I still haven’t made arrangements with the buyer for a real meeting time. I would like to get that taken care of. I could do two pickups today or put them off until tomorrow. I’m still pretty sore from all the bending and carrying… so not super motivated. We’ll see how the morning goes.

I’ve got plenty to do around the house. Not bidding on stuff is supposed to be freeing up time for me, and it has. I’m still working on it though. I need to be a little bit better during my mornings too.

The world is getting twitchier every day. Stuff could break loose anytime. There are typically some ‘fits and starts’ at the beginning, so you’ll know, but then it might be too late for real prepping. Get your stuff in order, like a hurricane was coming.

And big picture? Take a look at your easily searchable online history and see if you might be making yourself a target. Some of us, there isn’t anything we can do about it. Some of you might be better off without a target on your back. It’s all fun and games until the molotovs start flying.

Stack like you might not be able to next week.

nick

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Sun. Oct. 5, 2025 – 10052025 – the times are getting spicy

Cooler here than in Houston. And still damp. I’ll have to wait for the dew to burn off before mowing, but I’ll find other things to do. Hopefully it won’t be too hot in the afternoon sun.

I spent Saturday afternoon finishing up my front walk project at the house. When I installed the flagstone walk, I used polymeric sand between the stones. It’s sand with glue in it. It stays in place better than plain sand but isn’t a permanent solution. After a few years, it was pretty much gone and the deep empty joints were a tripping hazard. Halloween trick or treating is coming up, and I do not want people tripping on my walk. So I finally got enough mortar mix and took the time. It was only a few hours in total, and looks good. It won’t last forever, but should hold up for a couple more years. 80% solution.

Then I loaded up and headed to the BOL.

Today, the main goal is mowing. But really, I also need to do more organizing and putting away… and with the domestic violence and dissension growing, I need to do an inventory and check supply levels. I will have to move getting a safe and a storage magazine for this place up the list. Which, because of the fractal nature of my tasks means making the room for them, and organizing a trailer, work party, and time to collect them and get them here. Then I’ll have to stock them.

Food, water, medical, and alternative cooking, heating, cooling, and sanitation are mostly in place already. A couple of security things, networks and cameras mainly, need to be installed, as well as some physical security measures. Comms are behind too, but I have the stuff, I just need to move forward on getting it in place and tested. I need a couple of alternative antennas that I can put up without building my tower, and I need to get the radios up here.

I used the sale on kero someone mentioned to get 10 gallons more, which I brought up with me. Lowes online had a great price. I’ll pickup two more 220W solar panels Monday. Now my mojo needs to get some batteries, and I need to find a suitable 36v inverter. Probably time to refill all the propane bottles too.

At home I’ve got generator stuff to do. I’ve been slack about it this year, mainly due to the lack of hurricanes. Time to move that stuff forward too. And I need to sort canned goods and replace losses. Attacks on law enforcement, especially organized ones, while the noose tightens on certain international financiers, will likely increase. Things are getting spicy. I expect some attacks on infrastructure soon.

All this while also living a normal life for my kids.

Stack while you can. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

nick

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Fri. Oct. 3, 2025 – I do like to talk, when I get the chance.

Still cool to start and warming later. Although the general trend in temperature is down… Yesterday was a nice day, the part I spent outside anyway. Sunny, but some clouds, and not brutally hot.

I ended up having a good day, even without making much progress on the list. Getting out of the house, and out of my routine activities helps to sort of reset my brain. Clearly when I spent 3 1/2 hours talking to an auction seller, I had a built up deficit and need for some human interaction.

Having lunch out, and punching some holes in paper was a nice change of pace. And shooting 22LR was very cheap compared to 40 S&W.

Of course, we must pay for our transgressions, so today I’ve got a bunch of stuff to get done. I may even leave the house before noon. I’ve got pickups, stuff to move, and maybe I can meet with a buyer for one of the things I’m selling. I’m also figuring I’ll head to the BOL on Saturday, so if I have time, and the forecast is clear, I have a ton of stuff to load into the truck.

Property needs upkeep and the BOL is no exception. That is something to consider when looking for a place, how much effort will it take to get there, how much time and effort will you need to spend on basic maintenance, and how often will you be able to MAKE that time? Unless you just have a secure bunker or shipping container in the woods, plan to spend more time than you think you will.

And don’t forget the need to top up the stacks at your BOL. You have all the considerations there that you have at home.

You are topping up the stacks at home, right??

nick

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Thur. Oct. 2, 2025 – why yes, I would like some cheese with my whine

Cool again, but it’s not getting quite as hot later. Yesterday took a while to get to 80F and didn’t go that much higher. It was still 80F after dinner though. Clear, with some clouds, and we’ll see if there is any scattered showers.

I left the house early with the best intentions, but you know how that goes. I ended up talking to a new seller for far too long. It was interesting, and I want resellers to succeed so I have somewhere to buy from. I try to cross pollinate the sellers and share what I know doesn’t work. Plus, she has chickens and a prepping mindset.

After that, I did another pickup on my way home. Stopped at my shop and unloaded. Got a detailed picture for a potential buyer of one of the items I’m selling for my buddy. Came home and had a heat and eat entree for dinner.

I try to rotate dinners and aim for a week where I have one cheap meal, involving hamburger or canned chicken and a box. One meal in the oven or slow cooker. One meal from costco that’s convenient/heat and eat. One nice steak dinner. Another quick meal like ham steak, sauteed shrimp, or pot stickers. Then I might have another roast (beef or pork), or a steak/pork chops on the grill. Some weeks a precooked chicken finds its way home, or some ribs get grilled, or we get takeout. If there are leftovers, one night will be leftover night. Sometimes there will be pasta with a cream based sauce worked into the mix. In any case, I try for one of those to be a nice full meal with side dishes.

With the kids getting more involved in school and outside activities, getting a sit down dinner is becoming harder. That’s life though.

Today I’ve got stuff around the house to do. I am going to get out of the house for lunch, and turn some money into noise and smoke. I shouldn’t have any pickups, I’ll save them for Friday. That will give me some time to do stuff, cuz more stuff needs to leave the house.

I do have to get my ebay shipping out the door, but that won’t take long.

Keeping up my fine motor skills is an important prep. Getting out in meatspace and connecting with people is too. Go do something, then stack!

nick

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Wed. Oct. 1, 2025 – the year continues to run out

Cool. Yesterday was really cool to start but by afternoon, the sun was intense. Just sitting still in the sun had me soaked through my shirt. Soon enough we’ll be running the heat at night and the A/C during the day.

I did some auction stuff, then I did some pickups. After that, I got sidetracked with the radio in the truck, (and a couple of really small things along the way), and dinner. Dinner was ‘meh’. Frozen veg that wasn’t great to start. Rice in a pouch that was too much chiplotle or ancho. Baked panko breaded cod that just wasn’t all that tasty… oh well, can’t win every day.

Today I’ve got a big circle of pickups. I’m definitely buying less, and spending less time doing pickups, but I still want to get some of the things. I just need balance, and to use my time more efficiently.

That’s kinda the problem most of the time, not being efficient.

I need to backfill some stacks. I’ve thrown out 30# of white flour, and yesterday a quart of dried powdered cream. That definitely doesn’t last forever… and I’ve got to go through more of my canned goods and dump the worst of them. Time to rotate some of the deep storage too, including at the secondary site.

I’ll add that to the list, and maybe I can fit it in while doing other stuff.

Stack while you can, it’s getting spicier out there.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 30, 2025 – and she’ll have fun fun fun…

Cool to start, warming later, hot before the day is done. But the overall trend is clear, Fall is here. Yesterday was beautiful. Fluffy clouds in a blue sky and not crazy hot. Pretty hot in the sun, but not crazy.

I did two pickups, and hit the Lowes store for some supplies. I needed more mortar mix and sand for my “fix the flagstone path in the front yard” project. I also looked at the trees and clearance plants. They have a lot of nice plants 1/2 off right now, including a couple of weeping willow trees. IDK how well they do in Texas, but I would like to find a spot for them at the BOL. I’ve always liked them.

Dinner was a new recipe for pork chops, more sour than our normal sweet marinade and sauce. It was OK. I don’t think I’ll make it again but it’s good to try new things. The cornbread muffins were from old mix (see yesterday’s comments) and were bad. The baked beans were really good though. I added sauteed onion and chunks of bacon, and then cooked it for an hour instead of just warming up the can. Chops were from ’23 and were frozen and vac packed. Nothing wrong with them at all.

Today I’ll do two pickups on the northwest side of town. I’ll also be working on the list, and probably doing some mortar work on the front walk. I’d like to take a load to the shop and clear more stuff out of the house.

You never know what you’ll find when you dig through the stacks. I found the radios I kept for my own use in a bin in my office yesterday. I was pretty sure that bin had at least one radio in it, but it took a while to get to it. Add “install a dual band radio in the truck” to the list. I’ll probably do it at the same time that I upgrade the stereo in the truck.

I’ve finally given in, and decided that I’ll change out the stock radio. I’ve got aftermarket radios with touch screens, and the upgraded version of the stock radio. I’ll have to think about it because I’m torn. The new radios have nice features, mp3 players, card slots/ USB, and big screens, but the stock radio has buttons and can be operated by touch. I don’t need the backup cam and GPS nav that the aftermarket radios offer, and I like the solidity of stock. Choices. Hmmm.

Radios in the truck aren’t a priority, but the list of stuff I need to do to the truck keeps increasing. I might just have to have a day of doing all the things…

The list never gets shorter. My patience, motivation, and free time get shorter every day. Nothin’ to be done but to do it, I guess.

Stack what you can. Learn. Connect. Thrive.
n

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Sun. Sept. 28, 2025 – might head out today

Cooler than it has been, then warming like usual. It was 66F when I went to bed, so I’m thinking it will start cool too. It certainly got warm in the sun, well into the 90sF yesterday afternoon. With the dampness, it was actually chilly last night.

I got stuff done during the day, but it wasn’t stuff that was high on my list. I mostly pressure washed stuff. Had to be done, in fact was overdue to be done, but it probably could have been put off some more. It was low involvement and fairly low effort though which suited my mood. I even took down most of the kids’ play structure before losing the daylight. That’s an end of an era.

I’m beginning to think that I need to actually start exercising in some real way. I’ve always added and lost muscle rapidly as needed, but I’m finding it easier to lose, and faster, than in the past. If I want to stay strong, I’m going to have to work at it, and I hate the idea of that. I’m thinking something like a bowflex, where I can do a 30 minute circuit, just to stay ahead of entropy. I’m open to suggestions and any first hand experience.

Today I’ll do some more domestic bliss and home stuff, but I’m also thinking about heading to the BOL. If I go, I’ll stay overnight and come home Monday night. I’ve got a load of stuff to take up, and I’m sure that entropy has had its messy fingers all over my stuff up there. Something needs attention, it always does.

With the cooling days, I might have switched to A/C in the garage just in time to need to switch back to heat… it’s been a weird weather year.

Maybe time for some Fall planting?

Planting is a prep, as the learning curve for growing food is steep.

Much easier and more reliable to stack. Probably best to do both.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 27, 2025 – starting at home, might head out

Cooler than the last couple of weeks? It was 74F when I went to bed, so it’ll probably be low 70sF this morning, and get hotter throughout the day. Pretty boring weather for the last few weeks. Better than hurricanes I guess.

Did some office stuff and auction stuff in the morning. Took some stuff out of the house in the afternoon. Then did kid stuff until late. I tested several types of hearing protection last night. It was too loud in the stands and next to the band, so I brought my Walker in ear active noise reduction, my Axil in ear, and some passives that I didn’t get to.

The axil in ears are linked by a wire with two little control things on them. They were pretty much just like I remember, having them in sounds like not even wearing them, except that loud noises are reduced to the base level. They are very transparent sounding, but the lowest level of compensation is slightly too high for me. Ie. they are too loud.

The Walker Silencer ™ in ears are separate units for each ear, and are about the size of a sewing thimble. They are more muffled on the low setting, but you can raise the compensation until they sound transparent. They are VERY uncomfortable in my ears. The earpiece is dense foam in a cylindrical shape, and puts a lot of pressure on the inner canal. I wore them for the rest of the game, and I couldn’t wait to get them out. It takes some getting used to them when they cut the sound too. One ear would often trigger just before the other, which was noticeable. And the active noise suppression makes your ear feel ‘pressurized’ when it’s active.

Also, because loud noises (like the loud and overly enthusiastic mom behind me) trigger the reduction, you lose other sounds too, like my wife talking to me. In all, they don’t have swap-able differently sized earbuds, the noise suppression is not super sophisticated, and they are uncomfortable for me, but they do work on crowd noise and yelling. They do pair with blutooth, so you could link them to a phone or radio, although I’m not sure how the mic would work with blutooth.

Next time, I’m going to try changing the earbuds on the axil actives, and I’ll try two different passives. One designed for shooters, and one designed for ‘concertgoers.’

(Wife tried the ‘silicon loop’ passive ones widely marketed to concertgoers and sleepers. She’s happy with the size earbud she picked and their performance.)

People with normal hearing are probably ok in crowds where noise is in the mid 80 to mid 90s dB. With my existing losses, loud sounds can be painful, and I don’t want to lose any more, so I’m wearing ear pro.

———–
If I stay home today, I’ll be working the list. I’m making slow progress on several fronts, and I don’t want to lose what momentum I have.

I should go to the BOL. I’ve got a truckload of stuff to take up, and I’m sure the yard needs work. I also just don’t like it to sit empty for more than a couple of weeks.

But the easy choice is to stay home. (Both kids have activities this weekend, or we’d all be going up.)

Whatever I do, I’ll be stacking and working to improve.

nick

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Fri. Sept. 26, 2025 – who am I kidding?

Same as yesterday, with less rain cloud? National forecast shows clear for Houston, so yeah, cool in the morning, warm later, hot to end the day. Same same.

So, did I get anything done? Well, yes I did. I got my pickups done. I got some stuff out of storage for a project my wife wants to do. I stopped by my auctioneer to see if I could get in line anytime soon (not yet.) I came home and we had leftovers for dinner. And the kid taxi stuff got done too.

Today I’ll be taking a load of stuff to the shop. I’m still on the fence about going to the BOL solo on Sat/Sun so IDK if I’ll load the truck for the trip or not. I have one pickup in my neighborhood. If it’s not too hot, I may spend some time organizing at the shop. I would like to get out of my last storage unit this weekend, if I don’t go to the BOL.

I don’t think I’ll have time to turn money into noise and smoke today. There is kid stuff to get ready for too, as D2 has a football game tonight and would like to see some parental support…
which is one reason I might not head out of town.

Time management has not been my strong suit this past few months.

And time keeps on slipping into the future.

Well, I’ll keep plugging away, and keep stacking too. That’s all I can do.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 23, 2025 – daylight come and me want go home

Same same. More clouds today than yesterday and yesterday there were clouds. Some moisture from the sky even, depending on what part of town you were in. East side had a massive storm cell parked over it in the afternoon, and north of Houston had dark clouds with a spattering of rain. So, did it rain in Houston yesterday? Well, there was none at my house.

Picked up my solar panel, another 200w panel. $13 for this one, new in box. The round trip added some cost. Then I came home and went shopping. Soda is finally on sale again. Meat still is not. It’s been a really long time since pasta was on sale too now that I think about it. Got the kinder some ice cream but I’ve been abstaining for the last month. My gut feels better without it.

Store was completely out of Gold Bond Medicated Powder, original recipe. There was a spot for it, but no product in any size. Grr. I’m down to my last sprinkle and I’ll have to try the drugstore today. Normally I’d go to the OTC drug cabinet, but I must have raided that, or taken it to the BOL and not replaced it. Prepper fail.

Having to make a special trip takes time and effort. Might be easier to order from Amazon… and it would be if I wanted to wait several days. I’ll stop at CVS.

Today I need to do some pickups. I am limiting my buys and which auctions I’m buying from. I shouldn’t need to do a pickup every day. That’s where all my time was going.

And of course I’ll be working the list. At least with D1 driving, she’s doing most of the kid taxi stuff on Tuesday and Thursday. I don’t get to see the kids much though and that’s beginning to bug me. It’s the natural order of things, but still a bit sad.

I’m sure there is prepping to do, stuff to stack…so I better get busy.

nick

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