Font Size:     

Category: personal

Tues. Nov. 1, 2022 – Seems crazy that it’s November…

Cool and damp.  Hopefully clear, so I can get stuff put away.  Yesterday was nice all day.  Not a lick of wind after dusk though, until 8:30pm when a ghost of a breeze started up.  It was just on the edge of sweaty with a long sleeve khaki shirt on…

Got my stuff done, and my display up.   Looked great, just like I’d hoped.  Pulled back the overall stuff to focus on the pirate ship and it worked well.  Didn’t quite get everything I’d have liked to do done, but that’s the breaks.

Today will be cleaning up and putting away…

Followed by auction stuff all week.  I’ve been letting it slide, but I have to sell some stuff and move some stuff out of here.   Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving (we’re doing it with additional family at the lake) and even Christmas.  Probably not a bad idea to get your shopping done early, if you can.  Avoid the crowds, if there are crowds.

I’m of two minds about that.   One says “crash is coming” and this Holiday season will be a disaster for retailers.  Majors are already cancelling orders and refusing shipments, so they think it will be a poor season too.   That COULD lead to deep discounts on non-core goods, ie deflation, if you’ve got the scratch to be a buyer.  Or it could mean higher prices if demand is more than forecast and there are shortages of things to buy.  Since I don’t have a crystal ball, or Gail for that matter, I’ll do what I always do- buy early for my own reasons.   Consider the possibilities, and act if that’s where your analysis leads you.

Food prices continue to be low for some stuff, high for others, and subject to regional variation too.   If for some reason you are not involved in shopping for yourself and/or your family, it’s still a good idea to be familiar with prices and availability.   Read the weekly ads.   Walk the aisles.   Know the challenges facing whoever does do your shopping.  You can’t spot a good deal, if you don’t know what ‘normal’ is.  Good deals will be increasingly important if you want to maintain your current lifestyle…

And if you find a deal, stack it up!  ‘Cuz those shelves aren’t gonna fill themselves.

nick

Read the comments: 82 Comments

Mon. Oct. 31, 2022 – Happy Halloween!

Cool, and damp, but hopefully we will stay outside the T storm zone for the day and night.

I spent a gorgeous day yesterday working in the yard on my display.   Had chats with several neighbors, and even met some new ones that just moved in one street over.   I love that people will come by and get an emotional boost when they see the display.  I love the opening it gives me to talk with  my neighbors.   I even like the pressure it puts on the neighbors on the street to decorate their own houses.   We’re better as a neighborhood when we are participating in the same events, and a traditional night out for Halloween is a part of our culture I want to preserve and have other kids experience.  And it gives me an opportunity to exercise some of my old work and school skills and do something creative and fun.

Meatspace baby.

Today will be spent putting the finishing touches on the display, adding the more delicate or steal-able elements, and getting a few more gags out of the attic and on display.   I’m leaving some of my old standbys in the boxes this year.  They’ll be all the more fun next year for having had a break.

Other than building community, it’s a break from my normal prepping activities too.   Sometimes, you need a break, or at least a shift in focus.  This is a nice one.

Take a minute to meet a neighbor today.   Even if you aren’t handing out candy, or don’t decorate, try to connect to your community, even if it’s just a wave hello.

And of course, stack something…

nick

Read the comments: 52 Comments

Sun. Oct. 30, 2022 – Halloween Eve, which seems a bit recursive…

Cool again, hopefully not wet.   National forecast has Houston outside any big storms for the next couple of days.  That would be best for me and my Halloween plans…

Since my decorations are mainly made from cardboard and baling wire.  Although I’m a bit short on baling wire this year.  Couldn’t find my stash.  I’m reduced to using string.   Ok, it is EXPENSIVE special black theatrical string, but still…  the cardboard tubes are a bit… squishy.

Didn’t get much done yesterday but auction stuff.  Went grocery shopping at the local HEB.  No lard at all on the shelf.   Some other gaps, but there was finally peanut butter.  No pumpkin pie either.   The closeout shelf had a bunch of LED lightbulbs, and I needed some for one of my ceiling fans.  Very fortuitous.   Saved $44 on my bill between a couple of coupons and the clearance markdowns.

One observation… as I drove up to the store a guy crossed the lot in front of me.  Older guy.  Tactical pants.  Outdoors shirt.   Fanny pack that couldn’t be anything other than a pistol holster.   Dude was like a neon sign.  Don’t be that guy.  If you are rocking a full size 1911 on one hip, wearing  a ‘shoot me first’ photographer’s vest, with a mag or two weighting down the left side pocket*, you are not the grey man.  You are a mobile resupply pod for the bad guys.

Grey man means fitting in.   If that means dirty carhart jacket and jeans, or bright safety yellow t shirt and work boots, or a three piece suit and silk tie, or just a logo’d polo shirt and khaki slacks and a computer bag, look around and figure out what fits with your environment now, and wherever you need to go.  Practice flipping that on its head too, and keep your eyes open for the thing or person that doesn’t fit.   That person could be a threat or an ally, or a distraction, or a victim.  You may want a variety of clothes and jackets, or hats, to better fit in if you have to go someplace where you might otherwise stand out.   You should be able to dress up or down as needed too.   You don’t want to be looking like ‘money’ when everyone around you is broke and hungry.

A long time ago, and a lifetime away, a friend and I had to appear in court.   Young white kids from the suburbs, we dressed up.  Jackets, maybe even a suit.   We were the best dressed people in the courthouse.   Sketchy felons kept asking us for legal advice.   We did NOT fit in.   In retrospect we must have looked like very junior lawyers.   We were able to order drinks in a restaurant later that day without getting carded, so there was that 🙂 but otherwise it was  a fail.

Your clothes are a costume.   Make sure they are appropriate for your role.

Stack some clothes in different styles, and for different needs.  Different sizes too.  Make sure your more vulnerable family members have stuff they can wear to minimize their vulnerability.  No little black dress for foraging amongst the rubble of civilization…

Today should be my big push to get most of my decorations up and the rest ready for Halloween itself.  Some stuff is more delicate or desirable, so it stays safe until the actual night.   I need to get all the lighting sorted out too, and decide if I’m doing any special effects like fog or projection.  Last night to test, before the show!

Hope the weather stays nice.

Stack what you can.  Learn what you can.  Practice your skills.

nick

* this description is of a guy I saw a couple of years ago at Costco.  Not a grey man.

 

Read the comments: 65 Comments

Fri. Oct. 28, 2022 – finally Friday. or what happened to the week?

Cold and damp again, mid 40s to start.  Overcast continuing today.   Maybe some rain in the forecast.   I hope not, but I know better than to plan.

It got to be a very nice day in Houston.  I enjoyed working outdoors on my ghost pirate ship.   I’m about 75% done.   I’ll be tweaking it right up until sunset on the 31st, but I’ve got the bones mostly in place and I’ll have the structure there by the end of the day today.  It’s shaping up nicely.

I also managed to find a dress for D1, who is having some sort of period dinner at school and requires a dress to match.  It will need a bustle, and some sleeves (or a blouse underneath), but the main part of the outfit is here.  Wish I  was doing as well on the ‘pirate queen’ costume for D2.  Still lacking the coat and hat, critical elements.  She has a backup plan to recycle last year’s costume if we can’t pull it  off.  It’s always good to have backups.  I got a couple of other decor items out and set up, and fixed up if needed.   Clear FlexSeal does indeed work to help seal up an inflatable that isn’t holding air as well as it should.

Back still isn’t right, but I’m working around it.  Gotta keep going.

Late night rain might have put a damper on today’s plan, I guess we’ll see as we go. Rain started around 11pm.  Don’t know when it finished.

I have to stretch to call yesterday and today “prepping” but  Life is more than prepping.   Sometimes you gotta live it.

Stack something.

nick

Read the comments: 53 Comments

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

Read the comments: 62 Comments

Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 – gah, plans. Just a way for the universe to stomp you…

Cooler and damp, overcast clearing later.   Maybe.   It was partly sunny for most of yesterday but then the temp started to drop.  Wind shifted too.   It was 57F at about 10pm.   Today should be similar.

I spent most of the day not moving much, sitting in my chair.   I did something to my back while making breakfast, and I could barely take  a deep breath.   Normally that would work it’s way out, or I’d find a way to release the pinch, but I didn’t and it didn’t.

I put some groceries away, and poked at a broken TV, but mainly just sat.   In retrospect, I should have just bitten the bullet and had a lie down.

Today will need to have some stuff get accomplished, no matter the weather or my back.   Hopefully I’ll be up for it.

Short shrift, so OPEN THREAD!

Stack something.   And lots of it.

nick

Read the comments: 66 Comments

Sun. Oct. 23, 2022 – headed home later

Sunny and moderate, another day in paradise.  Other than the stiff wind, like gusting to 30 or 40 mph, yesterday was beautiful.  Lots of little flying bugs though.  Not just skeeters, but some little thing that flies up your nose too.   Wearing a headlamp at night is contra-indicated.

Spent the day moving slow and taking it easy.   All the time on the lawn tractor moving dirt, concrete, and root debris beat me up.   The more time I spend riding that thing, getting all shook up, the more I hurt the next day.

So I took it easy but kept moving.   Got the gas line to the furnace installed.   The gas to the dryer is the next thing, but our current dryer is electric so priority is low.  Getting the furnace online was a major task on the list, and is now completed.

Since I spent the afternoon talking fishing with my neighbor, I didn’t get the hall bath toilet installed.   That is on the list for today.  Then packing up, getting the house ready, and heading home comes after…

Wife and kids are coming home from camp in the afternoon, and I’m shooting to be home for dinner.

All in all a successful couple of weeks up here.  Time to catch up on some stuff at home though.  Starting  with meeting the plumber at the rent house Monday morning…

Stack all the things.   Meet all the people.   Always be working.

nick

Read the comments: 48 Comments

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

Read the comments: 53 Comments

Thur. Oct. 20, 2022 – 10202022 – ‘I done seen about everything, when I’ve seen an elephant fly…”

Cold and damp.  Warming slightly.   Then, later, more cold.  FROST on the grass fer Pete’s sake.

They got most if not all the piers and jacks in place yesterday so today we get to see a housefly.  Or a house fly.  Sorta.   While still sitting on the ground, it will rise up, about 3 inches.  Unlike most things that go up, hopefully this one won’t come down.

I did knock off a couple of small tasks yesterday, and I might get a couple more done today.   I want to watch them work, so I might not.   What I SHOULD do is run the gas line for the furnace.  Put a new toilet together for the hall bath.  (They will remove the existing to video the drain after lifting the house to make sure it’s still intact.  Might as well put the new one back instead of the old.) And finish stubbing out the plumbing supply for the kitchen sink.   At a minimum I need to cap the ends so we can pressure test before they replace the water service to the house.  That only takes a minute with sharkbite fittings.   It would be awesome to get the stubs in and pressure test them at the same time.

Any of those things would be a good thing.  All three will be a miracle of actually working on stuff, and good luck that it doesn’t cause a failure cascade.

We’ll see.

I also brought up my really tall and sturdy extension ladder.  I will hang the new cell booster antenna pole, if the U bolts I got fit the bracket.   If not, I’ll head to the store first.   Lowes doesn’t carry many U bolts, and about half were out of stock.   If I’m feeling sporty, I might use the ladder to trim some trees.  IF.

One of the things I got done was assembling a 3/4 sized propane patio heater.  It was cheap because the hardware was missing.   I had plenty in my coffee can of loose screws and hardware.   Along with all the batteries, that can of random fasteners has saved the day more than once. Now the guys can stand under it and get some of the chill off.  Later I’ll take it down to the dock to bolster my fire ring at night.  I was going to grab one of the full sized ones from the house, but didn’t have time.  Maybe later.

Always be working the plan.  Always be stacking…

nick

Read the comments: 76 Comments
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- // end of file archive.php // -------------------------------------------------------------------------------