Category: march to war

Cool, then warm. Maybe even hot! And the forecast calls for clear, which is very nice. I was sweating in the sun yesterday, but that was only in the sun. In mixed light or shade it was the perfect temperature. SOOOoooo nice. I just want to sit on the porch…

But the list is like rust and never sleeps.

Yesterday I mostly worked on getting the natgas gennie connected to the house. Well, really, putting the connectors in place and doing the wiring for real to connect it. Of course it wasn’t anywhere near as simple and straightforward as it should have been. But that’s my life.

I did manage to get my laundry done and folded. Dinner was made and eaten. And the whole family was at the table. That is increasingly rare with the kids’ school activities. A few more years and we’ll be empty-nesters. Time flies.

Today I’ll finish up the gennie so I can get that off my list. I’ve got at least one pickup to do too, and maybe some grocery shopping if the time works out. If not, tomorrow will be ok too.

I should stop in and see my buddy at the gub store too. It’s been a while since I dropped in. I’m always happy to see him and his wife and chat for a bit. And maybe he has some fantastic plastic in 22LR to use as a trainer…

The list is long, and my focus is short, but maybe I’ll get a couple of things done, while I … … … keep stacking.

nick

Cool to start, and gorgeous later. That’s the plan anyway. Yesterday worked out that way and it was a beautiful day.

I spent most of the day ferrying kid and friends around. I did do a little sorting and domestic bliss, but didn’t get anything off the list. I’ll try again today.

About the only thing related to prepping was trying to back up more of the stuff on my phone. I didn’t realize that the camera was using the internal storage instead of the sd card, and that a lot of stuff wasn’t being backed up to the cloud. I pulled the card and copied it to my pc, and it took over 5 hours. That’s crazy long for just 32GB of data. SD card, through an adapter, and then the card reader in the pc is not quick. I’m not sure where the bottleneck is but it’s significant.

Today I’ll sleep late, and then do some more cleanup. I found more of the electrical parts I need for the whole house gennie, so I might move that up the list, just to get something done and marked off.

Or I might not. With beautiful weather, I might move stuff out of storage.

Plans, I’ve got ’em. We’ll see what really happens.

Stack some preps. It’s good for the soul.

nick

Cold again, and probably nice later. Which is what yesterday turned into. I was in shirtsleeves by the middle of the day. Since today is supposed to be clear and sunny, I’m betting on the same weather striking twice.

Did my pickup in the morning. It was a bargain*, but it was also 2 hours of driving. Then I met with a neighbor about a place for my non-prepping hobby to meet. I’m hoping that works out as it’s closer to my house.

Didn’t get to my storage unit or my shop. Kid was supposed to need a ride at a specific time, and that just wouldn’t work with shop time, so I went home and waited. I did get a good nap, which mollified me slightly when I found out 2 hours later that she didn’t need the ride.

Everyone but me had stuff to do last night, so I ate leftovers and fell asleep from the carbs.

Today, well, I’ll try once again to make some progress. Sisyphus. Some days I’m Spartacus, but most days I’m Sisyphus. NOT syphilis. Sisyphus… Or maybe liver-pecked dood. Dood is good food**. Now I won’t be able to convince anyone that my brain isn’t rotten from syphilis.

Stack! There you go, classic me.
nick

*bargain is a weird way to spell that word, and just looking at the letters, it doesn’t even seem like a real word. Do I need a tag for silliness? Or Sisyphus? Or syphilis? and really, who decides when it’s a y and when it’s an i? or an -is or an -us?

**three different sounds for the same ‘oo’ WTF?

Cool, but maybe warmer later? The national forecast says Houston, and most of the country, will be clear for the next several days. Could be all the heat rises and it’s cold but clear. Could be something else. I’m going for cold and clear. Maybe mid 60s? We’ll see.

Yesterday was a mess. Didn’t get any sleep, so had to nap most of the morning. Then other stuff got in my way. I did get a couple of small things done, and made dinner, so there was that.

Today I’ve got plans to do a pickup and a venue visit, so I need to get moving this morning. After that, maybe the load from storage that didn’t happen yesterday? We’ll see.

In any case, SOMETHING will get started, worked on, or, if the universe is feeling kindly, finished.

I just can’t predict what.

So stack as that’s easiest, and get stuck in.

nick

Warm and wet. It’s like winter never happened all of a sudden. I’ve got to run the defroster in the truck to see because it’s so damp. That’s pretty unusual for Houston. We had rain yesterday, depending on the time of day and where you were, and I’m pretty sure some people had a sunny day, while others got gloom and rain. I got some of each because I was driving all over the north side of town.

And there were lots of cops and not a few accidents. I did get my pickup done. Mostly it was things for the BOL. I took them and staged them at the shop, then spent a while sorting and organizing there.

Today I’ve got another pickup, on the far south side of town this time. Nothing to combine it with either. Oh well, it was a great deal on a machine for my hobbies. I’m also going to see a potential new meeting space for my non-prepping hobby. Both things should be done in the morning though. If it’s not raining, or threatening rain, I’ll probably try for another load from storage. I just got charged another month’s rent and it stings.

I need to get rid of the “inventory” I’ve built up by buying stuff to sell, but then not selling it because I’m too busy. Buying is more fun, and less work. Let that be an example to everyone. You aren’t running a store, you don’t need inventory. Buy it, then SELL it. It’s called ‘flipping’ for a reason. And I forgot that.

It’s not stacking when it’s stuff you didn’t intend to keep in the first place.

Do some real stacking. Clear the decks for it.

nick

Cold and cold. Hopefully clear so that it gets a little warmer later. Yesterday didn’t get much warmer. It was 40s and 50sF all day and the breeze was bone chilling.

I did get a couple of things done. Got up at a reasonable time, for me, for a weekend. Did some cleanup. I cleaned a felt hat for me that I picked up a while ago. It’s been in my storage unit since then. Now I’m wearing it. It’s a soft felt packable fedora, with a wider brim than my other ones. Took some work to get the spots off of it but it looks good now. And I cleaned a pair of shoes for resale. Nice Prada driving moccasins. They’re too small for me but look nice after cleaning, reshaping, and conditioning.

Did some other home stuff then did my pickup. It was just down the road so it wasn’t a big commitment. I got three new galvanized steel buckets. Buckets are an important but undervalued prep, and plastic ones will break or degrade and then break. Long term prepping says “you better have some buckets that will last.”

Took a load from storage to the shop too. I’ve still got a lot of stuff in the unit. I made some more room in the shop with some more sorting and condensing, so maybe today I’ll get another load or two taken over. I should do some work on the patio or the driveway here too, but the cold makes it very painful to work outdoors.

No matter what else I do, I’ll find something on the list to chip away at.

Stack something. Learn something. Stay busy.
nick

Still cold, and headed colder. Supposed to get a hard freeze this weekend. Yesterday never warmed up much, staying overcast and mid 50sF for most of the day. I expect we’ll start cold and get colder today.

I had a eye doctor appointment in the morning yesterday, early enough that I was fighting my wife for shower access, and yet late enough to fill most of the morning. I did come home and mess around before going out to do pickups. They were not an efficient use of my time or gas as they were widely spaced, and the stuff wasn’t super valuable. Sometimes all your unlucky stacks.

Today the kids are busy, but at least nominally I am not. In fact, I’ll be working the list. Once I get up.

There will be some weather related stuff to do too, I’m sure. Maybe I’ll put a space heater out in the garage. It’s getting pretty cold out there and a freeze might have unfortunate consequences for some of the stuff stored there.

I’m sure I’ll also continue sorting and stacking both at home and the shop.

Stuff isn’t gonna stack itself…

nick

Cold. Then warmer later. It started mid 30sF yesterday but got all the way to mid 70sF and I expect that today too. It’s really pretty nice by afternoon. The sun and clear sky feels nice.

I didn’t do much in the morning. Some auction and pc stuff, and a bit of housework, but nothing on the list. By the afternoon though, I did get some stuff done. Took some stuff to the shop and then spent a couple of hours sorting and organizing. I’ve started to clear out some of the stuff I just threw down anywhere and make room for the last of the stuff from storage.

I’m sorting stuff for my local consignment auction, and for ebay. I’ve got far too much stuff that will only sell on ebay. I also have some stuff to sell locally by myself. Past time to actually sell some of this stuff.

I’d like to get some money for the stuff so I can STACK!

It’s a conundrum.

nick