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Category: march to war

Thur. Oct. 27, 2022 – get down with your bad self

Cold again, warming later.   It did get up into the high 80s yesterday, with a nice clear blue sky, so I’m hoping for the same today.

I spent part of yesterday online, then part doing auction pickups.  This time it was mostly just household stuff, Dawn dish soap, Windex, gloves, Clorox cleaner, and a few tools to take to the BOL.  And another Toto Drake toilet bowl.  I can’t say no to Toto toilets for less than $20 even without the tank.  One will come, or I’ll order one on ebay if I need to and then I’ll have a $300-$600 toilet to install.

I made it home in the late afternoon and worked on my Halloween display.  It is shaping up to be cool, which is what I want.  I find it to be a great creative outlet, and a great thing to be known for in our neighborhood.   The best disguise is one that doesn’t even look like a disguise.

I had the opportunity to move a few things on my food shelves.   There have been depredations and spoilage, caused by the possums.  Now I’ll have to spend some time cleaning that stuff up.   Most of it was really aging out anyway.  I’m the king of keeping food past its date, but some stuff really doesn’t last well.   Mac n cheese in the box, for example.  Country Time lemonade powder, or gatoraide powder, powdered cream, powders in general, don’t last forever.  They are usually good for about a year past Best By, and they probably won’t kill you, but they don’t taste good at that point.

Plan for the day is more of the same.   Maybe with some small engine repair mixed in.   Definitely some auction stuff mixed in.   Have to pick the kids up from school which cuts my afternoon short, so we’ll see what gets done.

There will be stacking, even if it’s just goodwill…

nick

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Tues. Oct. 25, 2022 – maybe more work today, if the rain holds off

Warm and damp.  Hopefully clearing later.   Yesterday was misty almost drizzle in the morning waiting for the school bus.  Then I headed toward downtown, and didn’t see any rain, but when I got home everything had been sprinkled.  The overcast was ominous, so I went inside.

Had to pick up the kids from drama rehearsal, so that blew my afternoon.  Same same today, btw.  I’ll have to try to get some stuff done early.

I did get the plumber through what he needed to do to finish the install at the rent house.   It’s not enough that the water heater has a pressure release valve.  Someone decided that it could pop and spray you, so they mandated a discharge pipe to direct it down into the overflow pan.  THEN someone decided you’d never know it had discharged, so they mandated that it run to daylight, somewhere you would notice the water.  That was what he couldn’t do on the original install.   It’s done now.

One thing I’ve decided, with all the work I’ve been doing is that you can’t have too many channel lock pliers.  You maybe could have too many  in one place, but they are so versatile and handy that you can’t possibly have too many.   One mod I’ve been meaning to do is to grind the teeth off a pair or two, so that I can grab brass nuts without galling them.  Add it to the list, and do it to a cheaper pair.

Most of yesterday’s list slid to today.   So I better get on that.

Stack the things, use them, mod them if needed.

nick

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Fri. Oct. 21, 2022 – 10212022 – 3023 comes next, right?

… then 4024…

Probably a cool morning, warming later, and not so cold at night.  It got pretty hot in the sun yesterday by mid afternoon.  Got to 78F in the house with the doors open.  I broke a sweat.  ‘Course, long sleeves and long pants…

Crew got a lot of work done yesterday.   They leveled the house.  Nothing high tech, except the level which was a base station and a sensor connected by a cable.  Not sure of the tech, but it has a digital display.  Made it easy to measure the floors.   They used bottle jacks to lift the house.   5 or 6 of them pumping at the same time.  Then they moved to different holes and did it again.  They did it in a bunch of small lifts, with foam lifting the middle of the house in between.  Very strange to see the massive chimney move upward by half inches.

They got most of the piers secured, but have a couple to finish and some holes left to fill today.   They got the plumbing done, water service needs a bit of mortar and insulation, drain line is good.  I’ve got the new service entrance connected to my new pex and old copper.  When we abandon the copper, I’ll be able to easily reconfigure the connections since I made them at the water heater.   Feels like real progress is being made.

Today I will get up in the attic and run the gas line.   I may also get the kitchen sink stubbed out with pex.   I just put valves on the ends of the run for yesterday.  The crew will need me to move some dirt from the pile to fill holes, because I stole some of the sand to fill where the backfill settled around the septic tank.   The rain really caused some settling.  That should eat some of my time, running back and forth with the garden tractor and dump trailer.

Since the females are at GS camp this weekend, I’m staying up here at least until Saturday night, or Sunday.   I’ll keep working the list.  And trying to catch a fish.

Work some skills.   Stack some things.

nick

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Sun. Oct. 16, 2022 – headed out of town… got work to do

Cool and damp.   Getting warmer later.  It was fairly nice all day, but the humidity was high.   Sweat running down my back just standing around… yuck.  And likely more of the same today.

Did some of my stuff.   Got some Halloween stuff done, but first thing on the list today is getting a bunch of stuff out and set up.   I’m well known in the neighborhood for my decorations and that is a good thing.  I’m the guy with the great Halloween display and the cool Christmas stuff, not the weirdo waiting for the end of civilization.  I’m the guy who helped everyone out with plumbing parts after the freeze…   meatspace baby.

We’ll probably get around 150 kids if the weather is ok.    And I’m dressing up this year.   Been growing facial hair to help sell the costume.  It itches.  I don’t have a lot, and some of the facial scarring keeps hair from growing on one cheek, so it’s not symmetrical, but it’s the first time I’ve ever had sideburns.  My indian friends think it looks good.  Some of the younger guys think it looks good.  Everyone else thinks it looks silly.   I’m undecided.  Change is sometimes a good thing.  Hard to try something completely new at my age.   And I’ve been growing it for a couple of months, because it’s so thin and slow growing, so it looked even worse than it does now, as it finally looks intentional.  My oh my, don’t it make ya wanna cry.

Did some weeding in the raised beds.  The collards continue to do well, so I pruned them and weeded that bed.   And surprise, surprise, the watermelon started to grow!  It’s got vines and flowers.  Also, one pepper plant and one cabbage survived, and are growing now.  I weeded that bed too.  The biggest bed, that has the herb garden, is really only growing chives and the grape vines this season, but they are doing ok now.   Both vines had frozen back to the dirt, but they are climbing the trellis…  and even better, one of my potted citrus, that I thought was completely dead, is sprouting leaves and they are not growing just from the root stock but from the tree.  The other herbs are doing ok, other than the rosemary.  I can’t keep a rosemary bush alive for more than 2 seasons.  So it looks like I might have more garden than I thought.  Hooray.

Anyway, plan for today is more Halloween, some shopping at Lowes, maybe a dumpster run on the way out of town, and finally back up to the BOL.    Crew will be there around 9am  to start the actual foundation support work with the helical piles.  That should be interesting to watch.   If I get the plumbing parts I need at Lowes, I should have stuff to do all week while they work on the foundation.  If not, the list of other jobs is long and varied.  I’m sure I’ll stay occupied.

And I’ll be stacking more canned goods up there.   That will let me increase the stacks here too.   Stack it up fellow ants.  Don’t be a grasshopper.

nick

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Sat. Oct. 15, 2022 – home after all

Cool, damp, and warming later.  Sun most likely.   Like yesterday.  Sun was burning through the truck window (radiant heat) but the air was pretty cool until later in the day.  Sunny all day.  Nice night at 72F, but a bit damp.

Spent the day out and about after doing auction stuff.   Had a two hour power outage, preceded by short outages and flickering.   We never had outages without hurricanes when I moved to this house in 2008.  Now they are far too frequent.   I think it’s another example of the deteriorating conditions around us, and it exposed an issue with my UPS setup in my office that I have to get straightened out.

Child was feeling better in the afternoon.  Fever had broken, and she ate a bit.   Still watched TV when I told her not to.  Brat.   If D2 doesn’t develop any symptoms, she’s got a sleepover at a friend’s house tonight.

I’m going to be  doing normal stuff, and getting a lot of my Halloween stuff set up.   I don’t want to wait for the last days, because those will be filled with getting the more fragile stuff set up.   Gotta get the general stuff out now.  If feels like I waited too long as it is.

Sunday I need to pull a bunch of canned goods to take to the BOL.   I’ve been holding back because we’re doing the work, and have stuff everywhere, but it’s not a good retreat until it is stocked.   I will feel better when I’ve moved a bunch more stuff there.  I’ll take half the OTC drugs and medical supplies too.  Lots of duplication here that could be spread out to there…

So look at your situation, and re-stack as needed.   Or stack some more.  Because everything is changing except man’s nature.  It’s reasserting itself, red in tooth and claw.

nick

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Tues. Oct. 11, 2022 – 10112022 – at home later today

Cool and clear to start the day but getting hot later.  Monday was gorgeous.  I know the dry spell is killing us and crops, but it sure is nice weather otherwise.  And nice not to get rain when I’ve got 27 holes, 4ft deep around the perimeter of my house…

My foundation work definitely got pushed back to next week.  Supply chain issues, and a critical adapter part they need is weeks overdue.  I’m headed back to Houston later today and will work on stuff at home for the rest of this week.

Yesterday the main thing I got done was to connect the master bath pex to the pex trunk line in the attic.  The lines to feed the kitchen are in place but not stubbed out.  Working under the sink just wasn’t going to happen, I hurt too bad from the attic crouching and crawling.   I got foam rubber insulation over the parts of the trunk and branches that I’ve connected so far too.  I do need a couple of parts to tie the new service into the pex and old piping.  I’ll bring them back with me later.

I spent the rest of the day on little tasks and cleanup.   Wife and kids went home yesterday evening.   That left me to have a fire and listen to the radio one last night this week.   The moon rise was later, so I did have some nice dark sky before the moon washed everything out.   It was bright enough to cast shadows and if I had a large print book, I could have read by the moon light.  No shooting stars last night though.

Today I’ll wrap up a few small things, and pack up for the week.  One auction pickup on the way home (an antenna) and then I’m back to normal routine.   It will be a change getting up to get the kids out the door.

I’ve decided to move a bunch more food and supplies up here.   The goal is to get out of Houston if there is an issue, and it would be better to have more of my stacks up here.  Can’t move them all, because of the possibility of needing to stay in town.  Also doesn’t make sense to have all my eggs in one basket.   So I’ll move about half, then rebuild the stacks in both places.  I’ve still got stuff at my secondary too, that will probably stay there.  Backups to the backups.

I need to get serious about getting a full set of tools up here too.  I’ve got enough dupes to do it, but haven’t done much to organize it.  Right now, if I had a plumbing issue at home, I’d be out of luck as all my supplies are here and if I had a mechanical issue, all my real tools are in Houston.  That’s not a great state of affairs.

Ditto for medical.  Some of the stacks need to move, not just first aid kits.

Your stacks aren’t big enough.   Neither are mine.   Get to stacking!

nick

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Sun. Oct. 9, 2022 – back at it

Cool and clear with hot later.   It was 73F when I went to bed, after being quite warm in the sun.

Started in Houston with my hobby meeting, which was nice.   Meatspace.  Friends and acquaintances that don’t talk politics or prepping… it’s a nice break.

We do talk about current affairs, price increases, long lead times, and the economy.   One of the guys owns a company that provides a value added technical service to real world goods, and he’s seeing orders slow down.  His work is both mundane, and sometimes high tech, with aerospace customers and other plain industrial customers.  Hard times are coming to the business and industrial world.

After the meeting, I headed up here and basically didn’t do any work.  Didn’t catch any fish either.   Did chat with two neighbors.   One of them is catching fish, over 40 crappie in 2 days.   Good eating.   He mentioned bringing over his crappie tackle box and showing me what he’s using…  I’ve got a lot of learning to do.

Today will be mostly focused on plumbing, with some other stuff thrown in for variety and recovery time.  That’s the plan anyway.  We’ll see if it happens.  I’d rather spend time drowning bait…

Stack up some friends and relations.  Stack up some helpful neighbors.

nick

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Mon. Oct. 3, 2022 – foundation work today, yea!

Should be cool and crisp to start, then warming up later.  Very nice up here.  It will make all the concrete breaking and shoveling much more tolerable.

And that’s what’s on the agenda for today.  Getting the foundation guys started, and expediting whatever I can.  I will start by clearing some stuff out of the way, and re-marking buried utilities.  Then we’ll see what they need from me.

Spent yesterday getting ready to come up.   Filled the bed of the truck, again. One of the things I got on my mad dash to the auction pickup Saturday was a roll of Romex.    I thought it was just one roll, but ended up being two.  150ft of 8/2 with ground, and 50ft of 10/2 with ground.   $40 for all.   Crazy good score.

Dropped off my ebay sale at the post office.  The main local office has a big secure drop box in the lobby so I can leave a package, even on Sunday.  I’m pretty sure they won’t scan it in properly,but it will get delivered.

I resisted the urge to hit the Goodwill Outlet, which is next door to the PO…. had to get on the road.

So I made it here in good time.

Stacked  a few more things in the freezer, and a couple of things in the cupboards.    If I can learn to fish, my neighbor told me he’s caught catfish here bigger than 60 pounds.   The other guy said they get even bigger than that.   That’s a lot of free meat to stack…

So I better get to it.  You should too.

nick

 

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Fri. Sept. 30, 2022 – not headed up tonight, things to do

Cool and humid, but nice.  It was beautiful yesterday.   Didn’t see a thermometer, but it was very pleasant in shirtsleeves even in the late afternoon.  Hoping for more of the same today.

Did a couple of pickups.  Got an ebay item from storage and mailed that.   Guy will pick it up in Georgia, while visiting from Germany.   Crazy world.

I’ve got a couple of pickups today.   I have the 7cuft freezer I bought to flip to my neighbors at the lake,  and a knaak box I’ll use as a secure storage for tools up there.  Knaak box was only $40 which was stealing it.   I was planning to get the auction stuff and head out of town, but my wife and kids want to stay home this weekend, and I’ve got a guy coming to my secondary to look at a big item I’ve been trying to sell.   I really need it gone, and I could use the money back in my  pocket too.  He’s available on Saturday.  I hope to sell it.   I’ll head up to the BOL on Sunday or possibly Saturday later.   I may win some stuff to pick up on the way, which will mean heading up Sat.  Flexibility is key to success, right?

Work on the foundation starts Monday, so I need to be up there and ready to go.  I’ll be there most of the coming week, home for the weekend, then back up.   “Life of a repo man’s always intense…”

Mine too, at the moment.

Stack something.

nick

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Thur. Sept. 29, 2022 – Hurricane Ian…

Cool and less humid today, and yesterday for that matter.   NOW Fall is here.  It got warm in the afternoon, but morning was glorious.  I hope for the same today.

I did some auction stuff earlier in the day, then did a couple of pickups in the afternoon.   In hindsight, I shouldn’t even have bid in the one auction, but I forgot how far away it is.  And that they misrepresented the condition of a bike I bought from them (which I still haven’t fixed.)  I won’t make that mistake again.

The rest of the day got eaten by ducks.

Today should be a pickup or two, some ebay stuff, and getting ready to head to the BOL for two weeks of foundation work.

Of course for south Florida, and central Florida too, today is the beginning of cleanup following Ian.   Looks like they got hit pretty hard.   Several of my ‘daily read’ bloggers are in affected areas, and my mom is a bit north.   She should be ok, but hasn’t checked in yet.   My best wishes to all affected.   Hopefully your damage is minimal, and your preps were good.   Anyone who is a regular here, who is affected and has unmet needs, please let the group know.   And if you’ve got some AAR or lessons learned, please share those as well, as you move into the Recovery Phase.   There are always lessons to be learned.

One that I learned after Ike, here in Houston, you will need more water than you have.    That’s when I got serious about water storage.   The old standby  of one gallon per person per day is WOEFULLY inadequate for anything other than bare survival.   You will want  a LOT more than that for cleaning, hygiene, cooking, cleaning, and cleaning….  It doesn’t have to all be potable- flushing, washing, cleaning can all use clean but not treated water or minimally treated, in any case.   You will want lots of potable water for drinking, cooking, and kitchen cleanup too.

Don’t forget to stack the things that will allow you to get and treat more water.   Filters, bleach, containers, buckets, laundry tubs, pots, turkey fryers, propane, and transfer pumps, hoses, siphons,  along with tanks of some kind, will all help you replace what you use.   Hot water on demand is one of the signs of civilization.   The propane fueled instant hot water heater I’ve been using to shower at the BOL has been an incredible convenience.  It’s relatively inexpensive, leverages the propane infrastructure I’ve been building out, and has been incredibly useful.  A camping shower, or something improvised with a coil of hose and sunlight will work too.   As long as you have what you need to make it work…

So stack some stuff.   Water (and the means to collect, store, and treat it), food (and the means to collect, store, preserve, and cook it), shelter, medical, etc……   Get busy.  Sooner or later, you’ll need something from the stacks.

nick

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