Category: march to war

Cooler definitely. But still getting brain broiling hot in the afternoon sun. Truck is so hot I burned myself on it. Not just “Ouch, that’s hot” but actual burned skin. It’s cooler than a month ago though. Fall is here. Or at least we can see it from here.

Spent yesterday on auction stuff. Did a pickup, and ran by my auctioneer to see if I can bring stuff next week (yes, probably.) Prices were low for yesterday’s auction though. Since it was hot, I didn’t get up on the roof and do my lumberjack thing. I’ll do it today though, pretty much running out of time.

Then I’ve got some domestic bliss to take care of, followed by some meatspace activities. D1 has a home game that I’d like to see. And later, a bunch of the dads are getting together to pre-grill burgers for Saturday’s concession stand in support of the Debate team. Sounds like a social event more than anything. Several of the dads from school and swim team are involved so I’ll have someone to talk to. I’ll meet some other people too, and who knows what could follow that? Networking, and getting to know your community. Both important preps.

Take advantage of whatever opportunities you have to leverage existing relationships or groups into meeting some more people. That is going to make all the difference in the world later. ‘No man’s an island’ is going to take on even more meaning if things go pear shaped. IDK what your need will be or what sort of group you’ll find yourself in. Maybe you’ll be at the Green Dragon. Maybe you’ll be a Committee. Maybe you’ll be a direct action cell. Or maybe you’ll just swap recipes and cleaning tips (for handloads and firearms, natch, what did you think?) Knowing people and being known will help.

And stacks of course, they’ll help too.

nick

Cooler, and wet. Rained yesterday late evening and the ground is still wet. Dunno what today will bring, but I’m thinking hot and humid, although maybe less so than this past week.

I didn’t get my lumberjack fix in yesterday. I did auction stuff until I had to run out and do errands. I did get my locksmithing done at the rental house. A long time ago I shared that I thought it was a good idea to collect all the permits, certificates, and licenses you could while civilization was still a thing. One of the ones I looked at was locksmith, as you can carry some useful tools that would otherwise get you arrested in most jurisdictions. It’s not a bad little side gig, or even full time gig, either. And while I didn’t get the license (wasn’t clear that I wouldn’t need to apprentice) I got a bunch of the tools and some reference material, and learned some things.

Locks and geeks go way back together, so there is precedent, plus I was always fascinated with bypassing locks, starting with a book on Harry Houdini I got while in grade school. In any case, I can do the basics, and even some of the intermediate stuff, and I’ve got tools to do more involved things as well. There isn’t as much crossover with some of the ‘communities of interest’ I participate in, but there is a wealth of info available online.

The basics that I think are useful and should be achievable by almost everyone? Install locksets, knobs, and hinges. Use specific re-key kits to change pinning and replace cylinders. Use a bump key. Pick cheap locks and cylinders. Open a cheap locking container (sold as “safes” but are really just lockboxes). Enter your own vehicle without keys (slimjim or other bypass). Use a ‘jamb knife’. Know the weaknesses of the most common padlocks, cylinders, and how to bypass them. Own the tools to accomplish all this.

Of course, being an actual locksmith requires more than this, cutting keys and programming car remotes seem to be the most common retail requests, and both require specialized tools. Responding to lockouts and opening cars is probably the most common field task. There is a specialized toolkit for that too, and mounds of reference material. Then a 16 yo kid on a wrecker pops the doors with a slimjim faster than you can get your fancy kit out…

Anyway, locking stuff up effectively is important, and likely to be more important as civilization falls. Bypassing those locks has a place too. Something to consider.

Improve your skills. Get the specialized tools you need. Stack.

n

Hot today but a cooler start. It went from 72F to 96+ yesterday over the course of the day and I pretty much expect the same today. The cooler start is appreciated.

Did my pickups. Spent some time at my storage at the end of the day.

Today I’ve got to do more sorting and stacking for the auction. Ideally I’d take a load to the auctioneer with me later. His crew is getting my stuff listed and online very quickly and if I can keep feeding them, they’ll keep doing it. Win for me, win for them.

While I’m at my desk I’ve been ripping my way through a stack of CDs and a few DVDs. It’s good to be making progress on that project. The CDs go very quickly.

Clearing up some of the stacks of stuff, either by selling them, or scanning them to disk, is a good thing.

Meanwhile the world turns and the sands slip through the hourglass, and our world continues to shift and realign. It will look inevitable when they write the history books, no matter that it’s fits and starts and mostly opaque changes while it’s happening. We can see the trend, and it’s not currently toward more liberty, more wealth, and more happiness.

Take the hint and stack.

nick