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Category: personal

Thur. Sept. 23, 2021 – tired, but the weather is great!

Chamber of Commerce weather yesterday, and more on the way. Please gnu, more like that. Hot in the sun but cooler than last week, with a nice breeze. It was down to 61F when I went to bed. That’s the lowest since spring.

I did my pickups yesterday. Got some test gear used by NASA. It’s pretty beat so I don’t expect much, but if it does work I’ll sell some and keep some for playing radio. The other was mostly poisons, fertilizer, and garden chemicals at a nice discount from “store bought”.

Since I was in a new area of town, I hit a smallish Goodwill Outlet, and a large Family Thrift (which is a regional chain.) I ended up with some decor for the house and Christmas presents, and some books and half a dozen Retrevis walkie talkies from the Goodwill. You never know what you will find.

Got home and did some more ebay cleaning and sorting. One of the coffee makers came down to soaking in bleach to get the coffee stain out of the pot. Even the diner trick of ice cubes and salt swirled around inside couldn’t get the last bit out. Dropped my one sale off at the post office on the way home.

It was strange and frustrating that one pickup location was one of those places that google can not get you to. Google kept directing me to go around, behind, and near my target address, but I had to call the guy to find out where they really were. When I finally used the feedback tool, the problem looked like the address pin in the map was at the back of the property, not at the front near the street. I did the “here’s where the entrance REALLY is” update feedback, but my guess it they stay un-routable for a while. Even as a human, an address like 10801 Busy St that ISN’T at the corner of 10800 Busy St, and 700 Smaller St. is confusing and hard to find.

So now I’ve got enough Raid Home Defense Max to keep the cockroaches at bay for a while, and kill the grubs that would infest my yard and gardens, and maybe even enough to ride through the coming unpleasantness. Not that the condition of my grass is crucial, unless it is in order to remain “grey man.” You don’t want to stand out, in a good or bad way. And for a couple of fiat bux, I’ve got one more person covered with Christmas gifts ahead of time.

Stack what you need, what you think you’ll need, and maybe a bit extra. If bankers are writing articles about collapse, maybe it’s time to pay attention.

nick

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Wed. Sept. 22, 2021 – what, Wednesday again?

Hot and humid with rain! So much fun. Not. Well, maybe we will get it, maybe we won’t, but I’m pretty sure the cool front can’t get here too soon. I’m about over summer.

Did some of my stuff yesterday. Got some auction items cleaned up and tested. Got some stuff listed on ebay. The ebay algorithm sure seems to reward new listings. I’m making listings, and I’m selling an item every couple of days. That is still way down from the ‘old days’ but a lot better than nothing, and it looks like it might be getting better. I will continue the experiment.

I’m still buying stuff for myself at auction too. Live better for less. Saving 50% on lawn fertilizer or pest control may not be exciting, but it’s steady savings that add up. There is a lot of ordinary stuff in the auctions, estate sales, yard sales, etc. Even stuff like the contents of a kitchen drawer can save you a bunch of money. I joke about buying rolls of aluminum foil and cleaning products at estate sales but $2 for a heavy Costco roll, or a jumbo Windex bottle saves a lot over time. Some people cringe, but ask yourself if you would have any negative reaction to your host covering a dish for you to take home with that same roll of foil? Of course you wouldn’t.

Hard times are here for some people already. They are coming for most of the rest of us. Everyone can save money or stock up for later. Better to ease into it, and get practice while you have backup, than find yourself doing it out of dire need one day. A penny saved may not really be a penny earned, but it’s a penny you can use to improve your position.

ALWAYS be working to improve. And stack stuff as high and deep as makes sense to you.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 21, 2021 – some observations…

Hot and humid. One last hurrah for summer? Global warmening come to kill us all? You be the judge! In any case, it was hot and humid yesterday too, hovering around 100F in the afternoon (and in the sun.) It was still 83F at midnight, but there was a nice breeze and the giant fusion fire in the sky was roasting someone else, so it was quite pleasant waiting for the puppy to do his business before bed.

I spent the day mostly doing cleaning around the house and organizing ebay items. I did ship one book, and picked up d2 for our special time. That was cut short by last minute shopping for birthday gifts. This is the opposite of prepping btw, but I was super slack getting ready for the birthday. My wife came home and we went out for dinner with the kids. Had a nice meal and came home. It was almost like we weren’t in a pandemic at all, or about to kick off WWIII or CWII…

While shopping, we actually went to the mall. I tried. I went to a freestanding jeweler, but they stopped carrying what d2 wanted, and I couldn’t find the sunglasses my wife asked for. The jeweler (Jared) was buzzing people in individually and had removed display areas. They looked like they had a lot fewer items on display and at least one fewer area. The “kid cove” where they used to have a tv and couch was being used for storing cardboard boxes.

We hit the Macy’s at one end of the mall, and there were more staff than shoppers. I did find the sunglasses though, so that was a plus.

We drove around to the other side of the mall to find a Pandora store, and look at a gift shop d2 finds amusing. The mall was pretty empty. Some stores had a few people in them. The Pandora store was limiting the number of people in at one time. We only went in there, and a kitschy gift shop. Stock at the gift shop was THIN. One or two ‘faces’ for each item. LOTS of space between displays. One item per hook and still lots of space. Prices are nuts. $16 for a novelty wine bottle stopper? I don’t think so. Two employees working.

The Pandora store had 3 or 4 saleswomen and a manager working, and everyone was occupied when we walked up. (Pandora has nice inexpensive jewelry and especially charms for their charm bracelets. It’s an easy default gift to get another charm.) The store was looking SHABBY. There were boxes stacked in one corner. It’s designed with much the same aesthetic as a an apple store, so the wear and tear was a bit shocking. Lots of smudges and hand print dirt in wear areas.

The other stores we walked past had a lot of empty space in them and they weren’t overflowing with stock. Either they let stock run down, or they aren’t getting refreshed. Macy’s was stocking displays while we were there, but even they looked a bit sparse and spread out.

The restaurant, Pappadeaux’s Seafood, was pretty busy for a Monday night. There were empty tables but people were in groups of 4 and up, some with 8-12 people. It was maybe 2/3 occupied tables. LOTS of staff working. Food was great, but there were no off menu specials at all, and they were steering diners to one side order (green beans). They didn’t bring their signature bread until my wife thought to ask. There were only 4 lobsters in the tank, but three sold while we were there. Prices seemed high to me, even by my road warrior/per diem standards. It’s a nice comfortable, kinda dress up place, but $78 for a steak entree is nuts. NOT a white tablecloth place. Portions are large, you get a lot for your money, but dang. Two apps, 3 adult dinners and one child, 2 fake beers, two margs, and tax and tip had us over $230. For comparison, Jack in the Box for us 4, combo meals with add on shakes, was $78 iirc, so maybe $200+ for a nice date night dinner out isn’t so much out of line after all.

Frankly I don’t see how people can afford to eat fast food at all, and certainly not as a staple. And unless someone else (like your company) is paying, IDK how your “ordinary Joe” can afford a nice dinner out. We had a $75 gift card and it was still expensive.

Not the way I’d have chosen to spend the day and evening, but it wasn’t my birthday.

Things don’t look good out there. There is “stuff” but not as much or as much variety. Prices seem high, and headed higher. I’d say ‘do your holiday shopping NOW, just in case.’

And stack all the things (that you can get.)

nick

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Mon. Sept. 20, 2021 – working the list today

I’m hoping for cooler and less humid, but I’m not holding my breath. It got very hot and wet yesterday and put a damper (ha!) on my whole day.

It was a slow day anyway, with me paying the price for my exertions on Saturday, the girls all coming home in the middle of the day, and normal end of week domestic bliss chores.

I do have some extra stuff to do today, as there should be some nice stuff for my wife’s birthday. I’ll probably do a nice dinner, do extra cleaning, and try to get more stuff out of the house. I have some stuff that might work as a gift, but I’ve been slack… and that ain’t good. For instance, I haven’t done anything with the kids to get them sorted with birthday presents for mom. Bad husband. In fact the depths of my screw up are just now becoming evident.

The world is coming apart at the seams but locally life goes on. And it should. We need to hold tight to the history and traditions that define us and give structure to our lives.

So today on top of everything else, I’ll be scrambling to come up with a nice surprise for my wife. Perhaps that’s how I’ll spend my time with second daughter this afternoon…

Stacks of stuff, do your magic…

nick

[keep stacking. presents, you need some and you need them early!]

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Paging DadCooks, we’re talking about subs and you haven’t commented, that’s got us worried.

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Sun. Sept. 19, 2021 – girls coming home today, I better get crackin’

Hot and humid although less so than the peak of summer. We did get a sprinkle or two of rain during the day yesterday, but it didn’t really cool things off, instead it just made the day more humid.

I got a couple of things on my list accomplished. I slept in. And I got some organizing and stacking done at my secondary. Spent a few hours there moving stuff around and even throwing a bit of stuff out. Mostly just shifted the piles though to make room for auction stuff. I did get pics for the first three lots in my industrial auction. I need to get another 5 or six pallets set up then I can get that all in motion.

It is taking so long, but forward progress is being made.

I really need to stay home today and get the house ready for ‘the Return’…

Wife’s birthday is this week too, so I need to get that sorted.

Made one ebay sale yesterday, a book that I bought for $5 and sold for $32 and shipping. Baby steps. Rebuilding my ebay sales will apparently take a while but frequent listing and changing my product mix is having some early good results. I’m going to continue with this and see if it helps longer term.

Soon it will be fall garden planting time. I have to think about that too.

So much to do, so little motivation.

Needs must when the devil drives the cart…

Keep stacking.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 18, 2021 – work, work, work, and then work

Cool and sunny, tending toward hot, with some small chance of rain – because Houston. Friday was overcast in the morning, and sunny in the late afternoon and evening, with moderate late summer temps. No rain that I saw, but lots of threatening clouds.

Drove around, did my pickups, then got home in time to see my girls off to camp for the weekend. That leaves me free to work at my secondary without regard for anyone else. Dog is fine at home in the kitchen, with access to the back yard. He’s big enough now I don’t worry about a bird swooping in and carrying him off. That was an actual concern when he was new.

So my plan (ha!) is to sleep in a bit, then pack a lunch and head out. Simple, direct, and we’ll see if it happens that way.

In the mean time, do an inventory, even if just mentally, but actually lay eyes on your stuff. See if you can find it, count it, assess its condition.

And then where you have gaps, stack some more.

nick

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Thur. Sept. 16, 2021 – no rest for the wicked

Cooler, damp, maybe rain, maybe sun. Freaking Houston weather. Yesterday was cooler but also humid with part sun. It’d definitely the end of summer transition. Not quite Fall, but getting close. Mid 70s at night suddenly, when the past month was solid 80s at night.

Since my craigslist buyer flaked out on my yesterday, and my back was still hurting, I did small things here at home. More cleaning in my office. More ebay stuff, including a couple of easy listings. I’m working on doing at least one listing a day, even if it’s just a book so I can get the attention of the algorithm and start actually selling again.

And one big thing, I finally got the inversion table assembled. That first time, when my guts all moved inside was very odd. Then I could feel stuff in my back moving. I’ll need to find a place to put it, probably outside, and I’ll try to get on it a couple of times a day for a bit to see if it helps.

Today I need to finish up a couple of the small things I started around the house, then get out and pickup some stuff. Later in the day, I’m supposed to meet the craigslist guy too. All in all, I’ll be out and about most of the day.

This weekend all the girls are at GS camp so I’ll be working at my secondary location. It would be nice if my back felt strong by then and if I didn’t mess it up. I’ve got a plan, now I just need to execute.

Meanwhile more and more people are noticing that there are still shortages and disruptions in the supply chain. My wife confirmed that she’s seeing it in construction and building projects, but people are currently trying substitutions and work-arounds. When she didn’t mention was what will they do when those run out too.

If you will need it, you should be trying to get it now. You should be thinking about substitutions and alternates. And maybe you should be looking in unlikely places. Some of those places might be a bit on the less legit side of things pretty soon. You guys will remember me suggesting getting some experience in the secondary market… it’s still early, go to a flea market/farmers market/estate sale this weekend. Take cash and keep your eyes open for stuff you might need.

When you find it, stack it high.

nick

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Wed. Sept. 15, 2021 – well that was a big nothing burger, thankfully

Cooler and humid, forecast calls for rain. Yesterday was cooler but pretty wet, with high humidity and occasional misty drizzle.

I got the yard raked up and all the small debris in a pile. We didn’t have any real ill effects, and most of the people we know were the same. We do have school friends that were without power, and two schools in the district will stay home today because they are still dark too, but we were fine.

After the cleanup, I did stuff in the house. Too dreary and humid outside. I put up two of the new child safety gates I got at auction. We have one room in the house that still has carpet, the sunken formal living room. We left the carpet for the kids when they were small and we use the room as a “play” room and library. The dog decided he likes pooping on carpet. So the child gates went back up until we can break what became a habit very quickly. I also gave up and got a “potty pad” of fake grass. We put it in a spot he’s picked to defile, and the plan is to move it outdoors gradually. I don’t think it’s gonna work, and I didn’t want to do anything that encourages or allows ‘going’ in the house, but I got overruled. I just buy the stuff.

I was also able to list some ebay stuff, and fix an electronic gadget that’s been on my list for a while. It was sitting on the freezer, and I need to clear off the freezer, and I thought I knew what the problem was, so I decided that today was the day. The main problem turned out to be corrosion on the power input jack, but I was able to reflow some sketchy looking solder joints, and clean up some moisture damage on the board. In any case I got it working and now I have a Logitech Squeezebox Boom to sell or more likely, use to listen to internet radio and streaming. It was the kind of project I like. It sat on my list for a long time, it got me something I wanted, and it moved from where it was just piled up, toward someplace useful. Three birds killed with one stone. Of course, it was a low priority thing that jumped the list but sometimes I just need to do that.

I also had one of the weird coincidences that seem to define my life happen. I picked up a big LG monitor for $2 because “it won’t stay on”. It would light up with the “nothing connected, going to sleep” message, but as soon as you connected a source to it, it shut off. Google said the wall wart psu was aging, and ailing, and replacing it should solve the issue. The connector is strange, so I didn’t have one in my bins. 19v, and has a center pin in the plug. The weird part is that Monday I stopped in Goodwill, looked in the box of power supplies, and FOUND ONE. $2 and it worked. Monitor now displays source material just fine. Wife will use it in her work from home station to make sure it keeps working, and then I may move it somewhere, put it with a system for sale, or just sell it. Weird that I got exactly the thing I needed, but that is how my life works.

I also looked at the UPSs and couldn’t find any reason why one PC would stay on while the other shut off. Both are in the ‘battery’ side of the box. And in the bedroom, everything is in the battery side as well, so I think it just wasn’t turned on. I did some cable cleanup and pulled my other old TiVO out of the bedroom. Put a new keyboard on the KODI box and got it back online. The youtube ‘add on’ is still fubar’d and I didn’t mess with it. I’ll just keep using the TiVO bolt for now. I’ve got an apple tv, and two roku boxes I could use, or one of several of the Kodi based streamers from china. I just need to mess with it and I don’t think it’s that important yet.

So I got some stuff done, but all stuff from down the list, and not critical stuff. My back felt better, so I really didn’t want to do a lot of physical activity. Today I’ll have to do better. Auction stuff, ebay stuff, and prep stuff. Joy.

I better get to it, ‘cuz those things aren’t gonna stack themselves…

nick

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Sun. Sept. 12, 2021 – big storm coming, better get ready

Nice day in the forecast for today. Cooler and sunny, not crazy hot. Sat. was similar, although it did get hot in the afternoon.

Went to my meeting, had a good time. Went shopping. Came home.

Plan for today is sleep in, then either do some stuff around the house, or sort stuff in storage and get it ready to take to the auction.

There is a big storm coming. Both literally and figuratively as it turns out. The Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, and even parts further east are about to get up to 20 inches of rain if the forecasts are right. That’s several days of downpour and flooding with lots of damage.

So I’ll be topping up the day to day and getting ready to not have my pickup truck for moving stuff that can get wet.

In the figurative sense, we’ve been talking about the coming troubles for a while. I don’t see any way to avoid it at this point, and these things tend to kick off with very little warning. Use what time you have well. Hey, maybe it will be months or years. Good. Our stacks will be higher.

I quoted author Larry Correia yesterday, and I think one part of his advice bears repeating. Make yourself useful to your community. I’ve been slowly coming around to the importance of this. RBT thought he could position himself as resident wizard, but I thought that trying to do this AFTER the Fall was pretty difficult. (We had one discussion about this wrt ham radio.) He did get out into the community more at the new house than he ever mentioned at the old.

Other people in the blogosphere have been hammering on ‘tribe’ and community for a while, and on the folly of being a ‘lone wolf’. In our isolated and fragmented and mobile lives, it’s a difficult thing to do- becoming part of a group, part of a community IRL… we’ve found online substitutes but too often neglect the local, local, local aspects.

Hence part of my push for meatspace activities, real world training opportunities, group activities, and civic participation. We don’t have lodge brothers anymore. We don’t have high school friends nearby, or even poker buddies. Use what opportunities arise. Get out there and meet some people. Leverage what you have.

And stack it high and deep.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 11, 2021 – and yet life goes on

Slightly cooler, and less humid, with sun and little chance of rain. REALLY nice in the shade with a breeze. Anyway, that was yesterday and what I’m hoping for today.

Got my plumbing repair done. For the record, yes. You do need to shut off the water before removing the screws holding the shower mixing valve in place. You really do. Took about half an hour start to finish and was very straightforward. The youtube video called out the only tricky part (not getting the old O rings out, or not getting the new ones in place) so it was easy to do.

Got some more stuff into bins for the local auctioneer, and got several bins dropped off.

Went back to storage and sorted through even more stuff.

Put a few items up on ebay, as a test. I never used my phone to list, but a youtuber I really like watching says he does all his listing from the phone. His product mix is different from mine, but for common items that have upc codes or are otherwise easy to find on ebay, the phone app works pretty well. It saves a couple of steps involving picture handling, and it fills more of the listing form for you. It isn’t great for entering a lot of text if your description is long. So far, I’ve just used it for a couple of books, games, and DVDs. I’ve already got 2 lowball offers on one of the game disks*, so it works.

You never know what you’ll find at the Goodwill Outlet stores. Two days ago I grabbed 10 pounds of costume jewelry for $15. I’ll make that back easy with the bakelite bracelets and still have a pile of stuff for my Halloween pirates’ booty. Yesterday I grabbed a B & W powered subwoofer that originally sold for $1400 and people are still asking $500-700 online for used ones. It’s a heavy SOB so I paid up for it. Still, should be a nice score. In the last week I found a $1500 coffee maker, nike watch, vintage sportswear, and tons of books for the kids. Gub accessories and reference books too.

Now I need to get it sold. I’ve already listed some, and taken a bunch to the auction. Some recent scores will bulk out the bins of other stuff that I’m selling that way. BTW, the auctioneer is still happy to get more from me, including some of the industrial stuff. He’s the first of them that actually meant it when he said “bring it all.”

Non-prepping hobby meeting today, so I’ll be offline until noon-ish. Mostly I think we’ll be doing ‘show and tell’ for stuff we swapped around at our show last weekend. Should be fun.

I really hope the islamic terrorists are content to carve up Afghanistan for a while and don’t have anything planned for today. It’s a big day for them too, so if you’re out and about, keep your awareness up. Self radicalized ‘lone wolves’, or an organized plan, an attack is overdue. Never forget. Never forgive.

Go to the store and buy some stuff. Stack it high.

nick

*sold it for listing price while I was writing this post. Now if I could do that for some big ticket items…

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