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Category: march to war

Sat. Aug. 5, 2023 – all work and no play makes nick a dull boy. With dull posts.

Hot and the other ‘h’ word. In spades, with cherries on top. Yeah, it was yesterday and will be again today. As I was at the rent house, I couldn’t get an actual temp reading, but the A/C unit couldn’t keep up. It started falling behind around 2pm.

I got a bunch of tasks done at the rental. Started the biggest two, repairing the ceiling, and replacing rotten porch floor boards. I had just enough left over from last time to do almost all of what needed it the most. If I had another couple feet of board, I’d do more. It’s all cut, but I didn’t have glue so I left that for today. The ceiling crack needed to dry, so I’ll add another coat today. The big outdoor job that isn’t the fence is to replace rotten siding boards, and then fix the gutter situation that caused them to be wet and rot in the first place.

Wife and kids will be there cleaning and painting today too. I may have to work outside on the fence… just to get away. Maybe I’ll bring the pressure washer and see how much that improves things. It’s probably time to paint the whole house too, but I’m hoping to put that off another year. Houses need constant attention. If they don’t get it, you end up doing the work in bursts, and they take longer and cost more. There are a lot of things like that in life. Unfortunately, I only have the attention to spare at fairly long intervals, which means things like rotten siding can get out of hand.

Oh well, it is what it is. At least I can do the work.

Always be…. or stack. Or both. But do something.

nick

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Fri. Aug. 4, 2023 – How can it be Friday already? We just had a Friday…

It’s like “you gotta be F-ing kidding me” hot in the sunshine. Hot enough in the shade, crazy hot in the sun. Burn your fingers on metal hot. Well, that’s what yesterday was like, and I’ve no reason to believe today will be any different.

I was sweating like crazy while pulling auction items out of my storage unit. Sweating like crazy dropping them off, and sweating like crazy looking at what needs to be done to get my rent house ready.

Unfortunately, I think I’ll be living Groundhog Day today, doing all those same things again. At least the A/C is working at the rental. Oh, and when they called to say the A/C wasn’t keeping up and the house was too hot in the afternoon? My first question was “is the filter clean?” And I was assured that it was… no freaking way it got so filled with dust and grease that it was pulled halfway up into the plenum in just a week. Nice kids, but LIARS. If I was in the house and sweating, I’d be changing the dang filter, not pretending I did. Some people.

So that’s the plan for today, more work. Gotta get ready for the painting, ‘cuz the Boss ™ she is a slavedriver. At least the fence work can wait a bit.

Having a third (mostly) passive income stream is a prep, and I am glad to have it, but I can’t help but feel like I should be doing something more “prep- y” like working on generators, or re-stacking my stacks…

Ah well, count it as “improving my position”. Stack something. You’ll need it.
nick

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Tues. Aug. 1, 2023 – ti- ai- ime AIN’T on my side, no it ain’t

Hot and humid. Hit 114F in part sun. Hit 106F in the shade. More of the same today, I think. It was so hot, I sat in the shade and in the house talking with my fisherman buddy.

At some point he saw a squirrel in the yard and pointed it out. There is a guy up here that hates squirrels and shoots them, which my buddy hates. As he put it, that is food for when things get really tough. That led me to bring up season 9 of “Alone” which I’ve mentioned here recently. They were shooting and snaring squirrels, pretty successfully, and still starving slowly. At 250 calories per squirrel, there isn’t much food on them. I pointed that out, and that everyone up here would be hunting the same squirrel, deer, and piggies if it drops in the pot. He was convinced he’d be getting plenty of game, so I played along. Who’s watching the wife and grandkids while he’s hunting? More extended family.

Oh, so now you’re feeding 20 people on squirrel and other game, same as everyone else up here. Yeah, but we aren’t JUST eating that… OK, what else are you eating? We’ll be eating from the garden. Which garden? We’ll plant one, we’ve got seeds stored up. OK, what do you eat for the months you are waiting for the harvest? Got six months of food stored? Hmmm. No. Ok, got six weeks? Hmmm. No.

So how do you feed the guards? What about all the other folks who show up looking for food? We’ll tell them “no”. What if they insist? They can try, we’ll shoot them. And what about the next ones? Shoot them too. And if they are hungry kids? Hmmm. OK, now you are the bad guy, and everyone decides you don’t deserve to have your food and stuff so they burn you out and take it.

Hmm.

There has been a lot of what Bruce Schneier calls “movie plot” thinking going on up here. One response, but no thought for second or third order effects.

I still think this is a lot better place to ride out any trouble, but some people haven’t given it enough thought, or considered the reactions and actions of other people. Hopefully he’ll do just that now that I’ve planted a seed.

Today if I get a chance I’ll ask him for a rough census of the deer and piggy population. That should get him thinking about how viable living off the land might actually be. He does know the area intimately, and the people that he knows he knows well. He didn’t know there was an outlaw biker clubhouse only 12 miles away though. And there are lots of places out in the country to do bad things without anyone noticing. I’m betting that at least some of the “abandoned” buildings have occupants, or users that you wouldn’t want to meet, or know what they are up to.

If I can get him to think beyond “I’ll hunt and so I’ll have food” to the idea EVERYONE will be hunting for that same food, maybe we can make some better plans.

The problem is bigger than here and what to do here. The wuflu panic had people in cities buying any piece of land in the country they could get, especially if it was near an amenity like a lake. Everyone that knows anyone in the country will be looking to head there if they can. Everyone who has been to a boy scout or girl scout, or church retreat camp will think it might be a better place to be than a burning city. But the countryside, by and large, doesn’t have the resources for a massive influx of people.

And the folks already here won’t be super happy to share. Which brings me neatly around to the idea that IF you think you might end up wanting to ‘head for the hills’ you better do it NOW and start getting yourself established. At least get your foot in the door, so you aren’t part of a wave of refugees. You’ll still be the new guy, but if you work for it, when they circle the wagons, you might be inside the circle, instead of outside.

I’m trying hard to be in the circle, and I think it’s paying off. Get busy working a plan. And stack, so you don’t show up empty handed.

nick

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Sun. July 30, 2023 – Oh, my it is hot. Must be global warming. Or summer.

Hot ah, so hot. And drippy wet humid. Yesterday too. Got to 107F in the late afternoon, and I looked twice to be sure the sensor wasn’t in the sun. Dropped off pretty quickly and was down to 79F by the time I went to bed.

Got up here a bit later than I wanted to. Had to stop in town and pick up my order at Tractor Supply. They still have lots of empty spots on the shelves where they just haven’t been restocked. They are getting seasonal from corporate but not plumbing fittings.

Jumped right into my deck project, and then it got hot… kept going, eventually my friendly neighbor made me take a break. I needed it. Then finished what I could do with the materials I had. Since the design changed, I didn’t have everything I needed. Did some small things like weedwhacking with the trimmer, and cleaning up.

Today I’ll head into a nearby town and pickup what I need at Lowe’s. The online tool says they have plenty in stock. Still a 2 hour round trip… If they have the electrical stuff I need, I will just buy it there too. That will give me more stuff to do if I finish the deck project. Ha. WHEN I finish…

I didn’t bring much up with me, some instant coffee for the long term freeze dried food boxes, and some medical supplies and OTC meds. I’m adding stuff to the stacks up here as I can. My main focus remains on improvements though. Whichever you choose, stacking or improvements, get to it!

nick

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Wed. July 26, 2023 – wow stuff got expensive…

Hot and humid and more of each. Highest I saw yesterday was 94F in the shade, but it was hotter in the sun. Since it happened away from my thermometer, I’m ignoring it. Hah. Just like the rain. I only personally saw a very light spatter of rain. I know it rained heavily in some parts of town, because I saw the puddles and I asked people. But I’m ignoring that too. I can definitively state, from my own lived experience, that yesterday was hot at 94F but cooler than it has been, and that it only rained a tiny amount. That this is wrong is of no concern. Please fully fund my climate change study grant. I’m your kind of people.

Spent most of the day filling the back of my pickup with auction items. Then I dumped most of them at my secondary location. Took the rest home. Did a bit of troubleshooting on some items that didn’t immediately work, and got some results.

Cooked a couple of several-years-old steaks for dinner. Couldn’t tell them apart, despite being frozen for 2 and 4 years respectively. And they were delicious. Served them with canned corn from 2014, frozen naan bread, and pasta from a couple years ago. Those were all normal looking and delicious too.

Spent the evening looking at prices online to find cheap decking material for my temporary deck at the BOL. That led to the post title. There isn’t anything “cheap”. Sheets of OSB, plywood, and rigid foam are all 1-1/2 to 2 times more than they were. Prices have come down from their highs of a year ago, but they are still high. Even furring strips are expensive. More redneck engineering is going to be needed…

Today I’ve got a couple more pickups, and more domestic bliss. So I’ll be busy, and yet not feel like I’m getting stuff done. And compared to some, I’m a piker. Talked to someone in my circle of acquaintances that is slowly revealing more of their preps. Their family group is about 35 people, and they’ve got a shared ranch as a BOL. With a full surgical suite set up. That was the bit he shared yesterday. His pockets are deep, and his group is committed. He has access to a wide range of stuff.

He urged me to stack salt. We talked about the novel Alas Babylon, where the little town is coping well with their end of the world situation, except for the lack of dietary salt. THAT is killing people. I took that message to heart when I read it, and stacked salt some time ago. Not sure what I have in total, but I’ve got 5 gallons (30-40 pounds) of pink himilayan salt, and at least one other bucket of normal salt, as well as boxes of canning and pickling salt. I’ve got a smaller amount of iodized salt for the table too. Salt can be used for cleaning, and for preserving food as well as for eating. We also talked briefly about my “bread kit” buckets – one bucket with flour, salt, yeast packets, and a bottle or two of oil, and storing and using fat to “pot” or preserve meat.

The discussion was a nice validation of my own preps, with a good reminder of a basic prep item for long term survival, and some more exotic thinking about things getting worse than most people might consider. There are others out there doing what we do. They are planning, and executing. You are not alone, and there are serious people who are taking it farther than you…

So stack a few things. Consider your gaps, and fill them. Know that others are too.

nick

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Mon. July 24, 2023 – back to work, back to life…

Hot. Yup. Hot and humid. Although we have a forecast that puts us on the edge of some possible storms for the next few days, that usually means we won’t get any rain. We could use some, both to break the hot streak and to water the world…
It was only 94F in the late afternoon, so I cut the grass.

You know it’s hot when 94F is a welcome respite, that allows you to get some work done outside. Of course, I lived in the Phoenix area for 4 years, and it was hot, really hot, but the humidity is lower and that makes a huge difference. When it’s 110F and the humidity rises to 30% from 3%, it’s MISERABLE. We used to know that Fall had arrived when the nighttime temps were finally below 100F. I’ve got some experience living in hot areas… and 20 years in Houston too. Still, this year has been hot.

That is kind of amazing to me, the “20 years in Houston” part. Time flies when you are having fun. And life is what happens to you while you are waiting for something else.

Don’t wait. If I’d kept up my practice, I would have a couple of decades of martial arts study under my belt. If I’d spent just an hour a week, I would be fluent in at least one other language, maybe two. There are many other skills and growth opportunities that I didn’t keep up, and suddenly it’s 20 years later.

I did start preparing to live a robust and resilient life, no matter what happened, and without much help from outside. And I’m years along that path. That, in its various aspects has been a motivating and organizing factor in my day to day life for years. It’s only intensified as time went on and the things we prepped for have happened. I’ve seen earthquakes, riots, terror attacks, fires, floods, hurricanes, financial troubles, personal injury, pandemic, government overreach, urban decay, inflation, social decay, crime, and many other things worth preparing for happen- some more than once. Whatever else happens, we’ll likely see some of those come back again.

You don’t have to devote your life to it, or change your lifestyle significantly. You do need to start, and continue to work at it. Over time, you will build the buffer, the resources, the resiliency, that prepping aspires to. You will have the peace of mind of knowing that you have taken control of what aspects of your life you can control, provided yourself and your family with options, choices, alternatives, and a path forward, even if horrible things happen. Even if ORDINARY things happen.

We still have time. The resources are out there and they are available. There are even bargains to be had, if you are alert and ready. You can improve your situation. You can make a difference in your future. But if you don’t start the journey, you will never get to the destination.

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Today I’ve got pickups, and shopping to do. I am trying to get a load of stuff to one of my auctioneers, and if not, then I need to sort and bin stuff for another guy that I’ve bought from but not sold through. He’s looking for consignments, and I have stuff to sell. I need to sort it, so that it’s stuff that will sell in his auction, and stuff I don’t need to make a bunch of money on, because he doesn’t get the big money buyers.

I’m also picking up stuff for my non-prepping hobby and our upcoming swapmeet/convention/tradeshow in late August. I can’t keep trying to sell the same old stuff, I need some new stuff. I think I found something that will sell and I got it at a good price. I do need to do a bit of custom work to show it’s potential though. I also need to start going through my stuff and deciding what I really have a chance of selling. It would be nice to see the stuff again before unloading the bins at my tables…

This week should be me catching up on the stuff I didn’t get done last time I had a week at home. We’ll see if that happens.

There is prepping and stacking to do too. It’s hurricane season after all, and the Gulf is warm. We should get at least one big storm this year. That’s in addition to ongoing preparation for our slide into economic collapse. There is always bad stuff out there, coming down the pike. There is the good stuff that happens too. So.

Be of stout heart, but stack some stuff.

nick

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Sat. July 22, 2023 – headed home later today… but work first

Hot, but not as bad as Houston. It was only 88F when I got here, and got down to 78F at midnight. Very pleasant. Only a hint of a breeze but the smoke kept the bugs away.

I did my auction pickups, cruised through the ‘bins’ store near one of them. Picked up some more red ropelight for the dock. I’ve already got some, but needed more. It’s to light the edges when we have the telescopes out… When I got here, the 88F temps and setting sun felt cool. How messed up is that? So I got most of the trailer unloaded. I’ll do the rest today, and might do some of the construction/setup to see what the issues are and if I need more supplies.

Then it’s back to Houston.

Where there is plenty of work waiting for me.

Like always.

Stack up some projects. And stack up some supplies. Hurricane season is here after all. And so might be ‘canned sunshine’ season. If that happens, the panic alone will make you want to hunker down and avoid going out. So stack it up.

nick

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Mon. July 17, 2023 – New week, same work…

Hot again, and humid. The little bit of moisture from the sky we got yesterday didn’t help anything, just made it more humid. And when it finally cleared up in the late afternoon, it was hot and sunny, and humid.

I was fortunate to be mostly working in the shade, and I did set up the pop-up canopy for the area not covered by the roof, which helped.

I got the pump tested, the pump discharge pipe fixed, extended, and reconnected. It was mostly repairs and not much pipe in places. I built a manifold for the valves. Connected that. Mounted a couple of valves. Didn’t want to fire up water under pressure until today when the glue has really cured. Cleaned up and switched to yardwork.

Did a bit of weed-wacking around the dockhouse. Used the battery powered trimmer, which I still like for small jobs. Rigged up a pump and hose to water the bushes next to the dockhouse. I watered them all last summer as they were transplants and needed it. So far they were fine but showing some signs of stress, so I watered them. I just dropped a submersible pump in a bucket in the lake and fed a hose. The hose was connected to last year’s drip irrigation for those bushes. I’ve been meaning to try it out, but didn’t have power at the dock…

The lake level dropped a couple more inches yesterday. We really need some rain.

Called it a day before the sun set, and got some fishing in. No catching, one nibble. Tried 4 different baits. Oh well.

Today we’re still here, so I’ll be working on the sprinklers. Should be able to get the zones set up, at least with hoses and temporary heads. That will be enough to do what I need, and to test the system. Wife will be trying to work remotely. Kids will be sleeping late and playing the new Zelda on the Switch. So it should be a good day.

Fix something, learn something, meet someone, or stack it up. Or all of the above.

nick

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Thur. July 13, 2023 – Friday the 13th falls on a Thursday this month

Hot again, and again, and again. Humid too. 84F in the morning, but 100+ later. Humid too. Did I mention humid?

Did my speed run to get the staircase to the BOL. Picked up the uhaul trailer, got on the wrong freeway, corrected that, bought and loaded the stairs, and headed out. A couple hours and some to and fro to get the truck and trailer into the right spot, and a bit of rope, and the stairs are unloaded on the grass. There is a well positioned tree to help me get the thing up the hill and in place too. This stair will replace the concrete shitepile that I removed when I had the machines up there. It will be temporary until we get a deck designed and installed. Without something there we would have no direct access to the back yard, and down the hill to the dock and the lake.

I turned around and headed home as quickly as I could. Got the trailer returned, and switched to the pickup truck to head to Lowes. Did a bunch of head scratching in the aisles and picked up enough plumbing fittings that I should be able to cobble together a manifold for the sprinklers. Also picked up a few more electrical parts and fittings to complete the electrical replacement at the dock and dock house. Hopefully.

Electrical is first on the list, as is stairs… yeah I know. I’ll alternate if I get stuck, but stairs are really first. I will probably not have everything to finish the stairs though, so I’ll jump to electrical.

Plan is to head out today, stopping to pick up rigging stuff and hit one auction pickup along the way. I’ll take D1 and the dog with me this time. W! and D2 will join us later.

I’ll probably also do some raking and shoveling to clean up the front yard and new drainage ditch in between other tasks. I was in a big hurry with the machines coming off rent, and didn’t get everything as nice looking as I would have liked. It’s just red dirt, and without working sprinklers will STAY just dirt. Sprinklers are now officially moved up the list, as is getting a quote to sod the front yard… there’s always more to do…

So work to improve your situation. Think hard about getting away from big cities, especially ones with failing services, rising crime, or lots of violent amish and tatted up invaders. Several people that frequent this place have followed RBT and Barbara’s lead and moved already. The BOL is my effort. Better to move a little early than to leave it too late and get stuck.

Stay or go, in either case stacks will help, so keep stacking too.

nick

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Thur. June 29, 2023 – “find one in every car…”

Hot, but maybe a tiny bit less if we’re lucky. It was only 83F at midnight and there was a bit of a cool breeze. The smart money is on HOT. Humid. Sunny. Again.

Well, I finished backfilling the patio area and leveling and compacting it. Did some more cleanup afterwards, moving dirt piles around and picking up debris. Skid steer was low on fuel, so I ran into town after dark. Now that I’m more comfortable and skilled with it, I’ve been keeping the revs up more often and longer, which makes a big difference in fuel consumption. I burned 5 gallons yesterday easy, and maybe a little bit more. This is more in line with what the interwebs suggested for usage.

Today I’ll be doing more cleanup and getting the place ready for people… then I’ll be heading to Houston to pickup a bunch of stuff I’ll need to continue working up here. I’ll be spending the night there, then coming back up. Wife and kids and some extra kids and maybe an extra parent will be joining me later for the weekend. So I better get some stuff ready, and get some stuff fixed.

I took a look at what I need to fix the laundry drain. I’ve got everything except the seal to the concrete tank, and a 2″ to 1 1/2″ reducer. Septic guy will come by next week to do the seal part. I’ll have to leave the hole open for him. I’ll work around it and do what grading I can.

I expect I’ll be doing plumbing and electrical on Friday, and no concrete breaking. Don’t know if I’ll do a lot of loud machine noise over the weekend, but I really don’t have much choice if it’s going to get done. I don’t want to extend my rental any more.

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The community here does a big fireworks show for the 4th, and I believe they are doing it early, over the weekend. Not sure though. I’ve got decorations to put up on the dock, and several new flags to give to neighbors who might not have one, or who have a ratty one flying. We’ll have a front row seat for the show.

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Take a minute or two to think about your water situation in the event of further decline. Many 3rd world places with intermittent or limited water use cisterns to store the water when it does run. That wasn’t something I mentioned last time. Get what you need to be secure with a supply of clean water.

Figure out your plan, then STACK!

nick

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