Category: personal

Thur. June 11, 2026 – Stub number five (is alive)

More mild and windy days… or anyway that’s what they’ll probably get here. Yesterday was nice, with some sun, but a lot of overcast to keep the heat down.

Played games with W and mom, mini golf with the kinder… ate good food.

Today is kind of up in the air, and will take some juggling. The easiest solution is the most boring and tedious but we might just be up for it.

The question was asked, “Stack what?” The short answer is “everything” but of course that’s not a GOOD answer. I think that having enough of all the daily life stuff to stay home for a couple of months (I probably have 6 months) is about the best you could do on a normal budget, with a normal life. That covers most any normal threat, and eases the way into any ‘new normal’ from an extraordinary threat. Having spares for critical items should be a priority, and the ability to supply at least some quantity of the infrastructure you rely on is also a priority.

Average age here clearly influences both desire and ability to prepare. Everyone will have their own timeline. I just want to get through the massive world wide disruption that I believe has already started, and set my kids up to succeed in whatever comes next. I figure I have 20 decent years, and 10 after that with reduced capacity if things go well for me.

I ask myself what I’d have done in 1932 if I could go back from 1945, and then I see what the equivalent would be today. Out of any money shenannigans. Into goods and crucial services. War is always good for some people and companies, the question is which ones. Food never goes amiss. Imports vanish and simple things become luxuries. Having money means having options. Your neighbors will save you, or destroy you. Choose them wisely. Be neither the first, nor the last to act. If you think you should, it is probably too late so set some trigger points ahead of time.

Stack something that will give you options and prevent acting out of desperation.

nick

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Wed. June 10, 2026 – Stub number four (and counting)

Yesterday was windy, mostly cloudy, and moderately hot. Very humid at sea level. Today is supposed to be the same with a small possibility of rain early. We’ll see. BTW, I didn’t cause an earthquake the other day, nor did my momma….

Had a nice day yesterday with a fun activity, good food, and an afternoon nap. Then more food and a comedy show that was actually pretty funny.

Today should be low key, with a technical tour in the morning, and the rest of the day to relax and chill. If the weather is mild, that’ll be a nice bonus.

I hope everyone is enjoying the good old days.

And stacking. Y’all better be stacking.

nick

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Tues. June 9, 2026 – Stub number three

Mumble mumble mumble— weather is goofy all over. Nice here though. Sunny, humid, and hot. I can only hope my house and the BOL came through any storms without damage. We’ll get home when we get home.

Spent the morning shopping in the tourist trap. Kid bought a necklace she’s very happy with. I passed on everything. No cerveza sin alcohol to be had either. 10 years ago no one here had heard of it, now they know it but don’t stock it. Change.

Today it’s a bit more fun in the sun with a snorkeling trip involving small boats and getting in the water. We’ll see how that goes for me this time.

Then it will be more good food and maybe some more time talking with my mom. We did play a card game with W and D2 yesterday after dinner. Memories….

Stack up the good times. I’ve a feeling we’ll need them.

nick

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Sat. June 6, 2026 – RBT’s birthday, so spend some time remembering friends

Warm and humid here in FL. Maybe a bit cooler than usual for this time of year? Hard for me to know, as I can’t remember last year when we were here.

Spent the day recovering. I hurt my neck on one of the coasters and I think that is making me feel ‘weird’. I’ll know better today.

Today we move to the next part of our trip. We’ve got a 1pm appointment so it’ll be re-packing and driving for a bit.

I’ve got solid, if not blindingly fast, internet so I’ll get the next 5 days stubbed out for the site. If I have time. It was too late and I was feeling too weird last night to be sure I’d get all the times right.

———
Take some time today to remember our absent friends. Anniversaries are a good time to spend a little extra effort.

And maybe do a little something extra today, be it a prep, something with computers or science, or astronomy… keep the spirit alive.

nick

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Fri. June 5, 2026 – splitting the party today

Another typical Florida June day, except possibly cooler and less wet than normal. Frankly the overcast is nice if you are outside at a park or elsewhere as it is much more comfortable. Without the June showers it gets pretty hot in the afternoon.

Did a summary of yesterday in the comments.

Today is a recovery day. W and the Ds will be trying for some beach time, and I’ll be sleeping in and relaxing.

Maybe I’ll post more today, later.

Until then, stack something. The sportiness isn’t going away. If they can’t get what they want by cheating, they’ll try to get it by force.

nick

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Thur. June 4, 2026 – Fun, fun, fun…

85F, overcast, windy, but no more humid than the Gulf coast normally is. That was yesterday, and hopefully today. Theme parks in the broiling sun are no fun, and if the wind gets too strong, they shut down rides.

We had a nice day yesterday. Pretty calm and relaxed,with the second half in airconditioning…

Today we’ll be outdoors a lot. I’m hoping for Goldilocks conditions again. I haven’t been to this park in at least 25 years, so we’ll see how we like it. Then it’s moving to another city for a couple of days. It’s going to be a long day today.

I wouldn’t say I’m having fun, but I am enjoying most of it. The kids surprised me at the museum, so I’m learning and growing… and that’s a good thing.

Stack.

nick

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Wed. June 3, 2026 – Hmmm, the smell of salt air

Mid 80sF and RH… and we’re forecast for rain. That’s ok, it rains every day in Florida. It was 86F at 10pm yesterday. I expect more of that.

Had a travel day yesterday. Uneventful, although there was a lot of turbulence in the Gulf and on arrival. Humid but partly cloudy so the sun wasn’t scorching hot. Dinner was octopus in a spanish sauce with flan and espresso for dessert.

Today is a mangrove kayak tour. We did one in Sarasota a few years ago and it was interesting. This one should be fun too. Then it’s lunch and a museum. Then dinner.

We’ll see how it actually goes.

Trying to make some good memories is a prep against bad times. Go out and do something. And stack of course.

nick

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Wed. Feb. 11, 2026 – another day, another dollar

Warm and then warmer later. Unless the rain cools things down. We should have clear again by Thursday. Yesterday started with mostly cloudy and ended with full overcast and a bit of misty drizzle. The beautiful days couldn’t go on forever…

I spent the morning fixing things, not on the list. But it makes me feel good to get things working again. Then I finished up the work on the generator. I’ve still got a couple of minor things to do, but it’s functional.

Today I have a pickup and doctor appointment in the afternoon. Hopefully we’ll go over the last two weeks of blood sugar monitoring and he’ll give me some insight into what it all means, and what, if anything, I need to do. Since I stayed in the “good” range for almost the whole time, I expect tweaking of my diet to be mostly for my comfort. But we’ll see. I like having the monitor and hope to get at least another two weeks to see what changes do for me.

We are living in an age of miracles and the monkeys can’t see it.

Stack, because the monkeys are gonna try to tear it down.

nick

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Tues. Jan. 20, 2026 – to absent friends…

Today is the anniversary of Robert Bruce Thompson’s death. Is it even possible that it was 8 years ago? So much has changed in our world, and here, yet so much still remains. Being prepared is better than not. We can get through disasters, and life will go on. There is an ‘after’. What you do ‘before’ makes a great deal of difference in what ‘after’ looks like. Community makes everything better.

Raise a glass for our absent friends- gone, but not forgotten. Still present, like the ripples in the pond. They live on through the changes they made in us, the people around them.

nick

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Mon. Jan. 12, 2026 – Ah Monday, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 0

Cold again, warming later. National forecast has it clear for the next day or two. But it will still be damp. It got chilly last night, and was cool all day in the shade. I wore a hat and sweatshirt to work outdoors.

That’s for what little work I did. I did take in the last two sets of Christmas decorations. And I wrapped up all the extension cords and light strings I had waiting around after taking them down days ago. I also put stuff back where it belongs after the tree guys moved it all out of the way. So not a lot of work outside, but some small things got done. I don’t really decorate for St Valentine’s Day, other than some cute gnomes and a couple of indoor things for the kids.

Today I’ll keep poking at the office and house stuff. I’m going to try to get a load from storage and a few bins from the house over to the shop. I need to do a couple of listings too. And I can do a pickup but will probably wait until Tuesday so I can combine trips. I bought a couple of small things for the kids.

My buying has slowed WAY down. It’s a combination of needing less (since I’ve bought so much) and that the auctions haven’t had a ton of good stuff lately. Even the sketchy auction that looks most like some sort of money laundry is listing cheap items, and listing them individually, when it used to have a lot of big and expensive items, and case lots. I don’t think anyone is dumb enough to pay $1 plus fees for a 68c can of cat food– especially when the MSRP is in the auction listing.

It’s looking a bit like when stores would put 20 identical items on the shelves to fill in the gaps where there should be other product that they just couldn’t get. Which our HEB was doing in a couple of departments last time I was there. Not a good sign if it wasn’t just a bad timing issue, btw.

I’m interested to hear if anyone else is noticing shortages or empty shelves.

On a personal note, doctor visits have eliminated a couple of concerns, and we might have found the root cause of something that was unpleasant for me and it’s trivial to fix. We’ll know for sure in another week, and when the labs confirm it, but I was accidentally taking a massive overdose of vitamin B12. That was causing some immediate symptoms, and some long term bad effects. IDK how it happened, I think I changed brands and the one I’ve been using for several years is about 10 times stronger than the one I was taking when I started (and when I’d decided on 6 tablets.) I never noticed or did the math over until just recently when I discovered the issue.

Meds, supplements, preps, and routines all need to be periodically reviewed. It’s easy to make a mistake or fall into a habit, or to have circumstances change; and what was a good thing can become a bad thing. Or you could just be spending time, money, and resources on something that is no longer beneficial.

Stack, but also review to make sure you are still doing what you need to do.

nick

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