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Category: Random Stuff

Fri. Mar. 6, 2020 – mad scramble today

Cool and clear. [65F]

Yesterday ended up beautiful and clear with a nice breeze to dry everything out and cool everything off.

I ended up not getting as much done as I wanted to. I was hoping to get at least one load of stuff for the hamfest to my house for loading. I’ll have to go get all of it today, and load up. Something will be slipping and I’m pretty sure it will be watching the news develop.

The hamfest is in Ft Bend county at the Rosenberg fairgrounds. I was very glad to hear that the cases there were travel related. UNhappy to think about all the people I’m going to interact with tomorrow. It’s outside which will help, I’ll keep my distance, and I’m not going to be shaking hands much. Since ebay killed my listing, I’ll probably bring at least a box or two of masks. I’ll ask less than my ebay price.

Another thing that will slip is putting a piece of test gear back together for sale. I’m the king of taking stuff apart, not so much putting it back together. It will sell well on ebay, so I’ll do that.

Tried to drop off 17 3m Breathe easy turbo PAPR forced air respirator units, only slightly moldy, at my local auction. Spent over 2 hours trying to do so, only to discover they won’t take anything that someone might breathe through. Sucks. I really wanted to quickly sell the lot and not ship anything. Maybe one of the other local auctions will take it. They are NOT ready to use, needing cleaning, batteries, and filters.

Between my unscheduled shopping trip, my unsuccessful auction trip, and checking on my truck, I am behind where I hoped to be getting ready for my swapmeet.

So, I’m gonna be off line most of today, once I get out of the house.

KEEP STACKING.

nick

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Thur. Mar. 5, 2020 – getting set for wuflu, and hamfest

Cool and damp. Windy too.

Yesterday was off and on rain in the morning which limited my outdoor work. As y’all know, I spent the time indoors on the computer. It finally dried out enough for me to get out in the driveway around noon.

I managed to get some stuff done. I got some shelves set up where I took a pallet of stuff apart, moved recent food there, and wrapped the whole thing in plastic to keep it dry. It’s less than ideal, but better than nothing. (I didn’t get the batteries replaced in my weather station. It’s not even waking up in the daylight. Today for sure.)

I found and went through the portable forced air respirators. Unfortunately due to moisture intrusion, they got moldy in storage. It sucks because there are spare canisters, and bunny suit hoods. No actual face masks, but I have a couple that would work, if I didn’t want to use the paper hoods. I even got the correct battery packs in another auction. Despite that I’m going to put them in the auction. I don’t have time or desire to clean them, and I can use the money for other things. I figure they should sell, given the state of things. Since there are about 20 I may keep two and two of the batteries just in case. They are awesome for woodworking at the lathe if things go back to normal.

This is not the first time moisture and mold got me. The Rubbermaid Cargo containers, black rotomolded tubs with grey lids and red latches, are absolutely NOT water tight. Every one I’ve had, in any size, had water inside after long enough. Even under a tarp, both big chest sized tubs were damp, and one had 1/2″ of water in it. FWIW, the black tubs from Costco or homedepot with the snap on yellow lids aren’t water tight either. Taping over the padlock holes helps, but if water gets on the lid it will get inside eventually. It’s possible that it is some sort of thermal pumping drawing in humid air which then condenses and can’t dry out, but I’m pretty sure there is direct intrusion through capillary action.

Hamfest is Saturday, and I’ll be in the parking lot swap meet selling a truck load of stuff. It’s a long but fun day, and I usually make good money and clear out a bunch of stuff. There are people I only see at the hamfest, once a year. Nice to touch base.

I’m a bit concerned about being around all the people, but it is outdoors and I won’t be closeted with anyone. I will be using hand wipes a lot more than in the past. I don’t think I’ll wear a mask, but I’m bringing some. Forecast says clear weather, which will be a nice change.

That gives me today and tomorrow to get all the stuff out of storage, unburied, organized, priced, and loaded on the truck. AND continue to monitor the Wuflu and get myself squared away here.

No rest for the wicked.

Keep stacking, it’s here and it will be doubling every 3-5 days. People will be losing their minds by next week.

Take this time as a gift, and get ready.

nick

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Wed. Mar. 4, 2020 – more to do, time is short

Warm and wet.

Yesterday started in the high 60s and warmed up throughout the day. No rain for me though.

I picked up some extra food, OTC meds, and cleaners. Hospital grade and they have that smell… I hope I never have to use them.

But I suspect I will.

My wife and I both try to avoid carbs as much as we can so we’ve gotten out of the habit of eating potatoes, with the occasional exception for the little colorful heirloom ones or tiny reds roasted. But some of you will have noted that I’ve bought over 100 pounds of potatoes in the last couple of days. I’ve bought a bunch of onions too. Other than rice, I can’t think of anything as cheap, versatile, durable, and tasty as the potato. Combined with onion and a fat, it can be cooked in dozens of ways from simple baked to fried, mashed, twice baked, with additives, or even raw. 100 pounds for $35. 100 meals for 35USD and it will store for 100 days if kept cool and dry. Go get you some!

As a taste of what’s to come, I thin sliced a few, and saute’d them in bacon fat with sweet onion and served them with dinner. Kids ate them up and oldest daughter complimented me and asked for more. Low carb prepping is hard. It can be done, but it’s expensive. The bulk of my “bulk” stored food is not low carb. It is what it is, and at the very least, I can give it away if not needed. If needed, I’ll enjoy the flavors of the forbidden carbs….

Keep stacking folks. If you don’t need it you can celebrate that it missed us… if you do need it you’ll be glad you had it. Remember Italy. They went to bed on a normal day and work up under quarantine. When it happens it will be sudden and unwelcome and probably completely unexpected.

nick

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Tues. Mar. 3, 2020 – here comes the rain again

Warmish and damp.

Forecast shows T-storms. We’ll see I guess.

It was mid 60s yesterday morning, and stayed there most of the day.

I did some auction pickups and shipping. Sold a speaker, and two hardware firewalls. Needed boxes for the firewalls, so that was another stop. I went through my ebay listings and dropped prices. That must have signaled to the watchers that I was willing to entertain offers… which I did, taking about half of my initial listing price. Gotta move this stuff out…

Kids asked if we were going to Disney or if it would be canceled. Wife insisted as of now that we are going. But we acknowledged that things might change and the decision might be out of our hands.

We are starting to get enough numbers to make some initial observations about the WuFlu. It’s really transmissible. Cases coming out of Italy and Spain have even less than ‘casual’ contact. If you are sick enough to be hospitalized, you have a 1 in 3 likelihood of dying. That’s much more in line with the chinese gov’t actions than the numbers they’ve released. It’s also bad news.

For everyone saying “it’s only killed a tiny number of people” I can only ask what they’re basing that on? Chinese fake numbers and wishful thinking? And you have to add the word “YET” to any statement about how many it’s killed. Wait til it burns through Africa and India. Or the Brazilian favelas…

“Bring out your dead…bring out your dead…”

“We’ve come for your liver lungs.”
“But I’m still using them!”
“You signed the card.”
“Oh, well ok then.”

Keep stacking.

nick

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Mon. Mar. 2, 2020 – here we go…

Warmer and damp. [64F and wet]

It got to be shirtsleeves comfortable out, despite the occasional misty drizzle and the overcast skies. It was nice to work in the garage and driveway at that temperature.

I’m hoping for dry but cool today. We’ll see.

There are still people out there that do not think we’ll have any great disruption from the WuFlu (and some right here) but ordinary people are starting to feel unease about the situation. Given that the news if full of quarantine and cities under lockdown, the more forward thinking can imagine that happening to them, and are rushing to get what they think they’ll need in their involuntary idleness. One guy had a gallon of coconut oil and several cases of condoms. I don’t even want to speculate.

The folks here that are not too concerned are also in better shape prep-wise than Johnny Paycheck to paycheck, so they don’t have much to lose by not upping their game. For the folks with nothing put aside, there is a long curve. It helps that this is hopefully just going to be a prolonged house arrest and not the fall of society. If China kept the lights on, we should be able to too.

Second order effects are going to reshape the world though, perhaps for a long time.

In any case, I’m going to keep getting ready, while at the same time continuing to make plans as if everything was normal and fine. That’s a bit harder, but kind of hedges my bet.

My advice, keep stacking. Assume you’ll be essentially homebound for a prolonged period, and that in the wider world, the disruptions to the global supply chain caused by even just what has happened in China so far, will have long lasting effects on our world.

nick

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Sat. Feb. 29, 2020 – Happy Birthday to any leapers out there

Cool and damp, but clear.

Yesterday stayed clear and sunny all day. Got up to comfortable shirtsleeve temps by late afternoon.

Had my truck break down during my errands yesterday. Glad I have a backup. NOT an expense or uncertainty that I want at this time. But it is what it is.

One thing I noticed today, it’s much more fun to prep for a zombie apocalypse when one isn’t happening around you. The fact that I’ve spent more than $2000 in the last week also tells me I’ve not been keeping up with where I needed to be, or been aggressive enough getting back after the rat incidents. Of course my timeline and the threat are different than my main threat. Still, I’ve had to pay full price for items I should have been able to get for less.

Some of the items are only on my “it’s coming right for us” list and wouldn’t be part of my normal prepping. 20-40 pounds of potatoes springs to mind. We just don’t eat them normally, but my “last trip to the store” list has always had potatoes and onions on it because they are cheap and last a long time. They are easy to cook and versatile. But I wouldn’t stock them in bulk. I’ll buy more if the situation warrants a real “last trip”.

Lots to do today, and sportsball tournament with the little one on top of that. I better get started.

Please see the front page of DailyMail for about 7 relevant articles about presumed community spread in Oregon, and Cali, and other developments. People are waking up to the real risk. Flip the switch in your brain- we’re in a different world and you need to align your thinking with reality. Don’t do anything life altering yet, but get prepped. If you might need it, I’ve already proved to myself that you can’t wait even two days, and one day will have you skinning by… we’re far from the only people thinking the thoughts, and many of them are acting on them.

Keep stacking. There is time left for the most critical items, food, water, defense, comfort, medical support. It’s running out rapidly though.

nick

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Thur. Feb. 27, 2020 – more spreading

Cold, clear, windy.

I spent the afternoon driving around and decided to do some meatspace relationship building, so I ran out of time to get to Costco and my other errands. I KNEW I should get there yesterday. I’m betting there is a run on Lysol after the article showing it killing virus. Timing. Priorities. I wanted Lysol, bleach, pool shock, a basket full of OTC meds and 3 months of dog food. I didn’t get any of that and probably won’t today either.

My wife said last night that desire for masks has hit her facebook groups. I previously warned her not to publish anything about me getting masks, and she didn’t. She gets why now. I also hear that Trump doesn’t like price gouging. One thing I know for sure, price controls limit supply. If they insist I sell lower than I want, I’ll just keep them. And if they try to seize them, I’ll piss on them first, burn them, or give them to the homeless.

As the virus continues to spread, I am trying to pretend that my life is normal… so I’m on my way to Austin for a pickup. There is a definite dichotomy between getting prepped as if I expect the zombie apocalypse and going to pick up stuff to resell and use in a normal life. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I’m pretty sure the worst is coming. We’ve got a case in Cali with no known link to travel. That ain’t good.

So, I’m getting the kids and wife out the door, then on my way to Austin, and hopefully home in time to hit Costco before getting the kids.

Wish me luck.

n

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Wed. Feb. 26, 2020 – spreading, spreading, spreading….

Cool and damp. [48F and very windy/gusty]

It turned into a beautiful day yesterday. Clear blue sky, hot sun, nice windy breeze…. So I was working in the driveway trying to find some ebay stuff, and getting ready for my hamfest in a couple of weekends. Found some stuff I’d misplaced, found some stuff ruined by water and moisture.

There were lots of N95 masks in one of the local surplus auctions last night. They went for more than the same mask sells for on ebay. Cheap still compared to most N95s at the moment though.

The wuflu continues to spread. Now it is confirmed to be spreading out of secondary areas to third areas by person to person contact. It also may be in Brazil. CDC says it’s just a matter of ‘when’ it gets into communities here. Japan has shifted gears into a “save you what can” mode. They will be focused on treatment and controlling spread rather than preventing outbreaks. Japan and CDC both agree that most people who get it will be isolated at home and cared for at home. Are YOU prepared to do that? For a month? Without work or going out? Better think about it.

I’ve got stuff to do and shifting priorities. Number one now is top up preps. Number two is get a bunch of stuff sold while people are still buying. Number three is get stuff sold and out of the way via hamfest. Number four is get ready for the two trips my wife has us doing in the next couple of months. I’m already pretty sure I don’t want to be at Disney for spring break in March. But part of me feels like we need to do stuff while we still can, but there are risks. We’ll see how the risk picture evolves.

I don’t like pandemic prepping. Too much is determined completely by chance and the timeline is very opaque. Give me a clean hurricane any day.

It’s past time to take this seriously folks. The chances of it ending without major effects are gone. There will be major effects.

— in other news, a “german citizen” ran a vehicle into a crowd on purpose and injured a bunch of people including kids. NO FURTHER INFO about the perp. Just “german citizen”. It’s already out of the news cycle. Wonder how LONG he’s been a citizen?

Keep stacking folks. Stack it high.

nick

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Tues. Feb. 25, 2020 – Maybe Austin?

Cool and somewhat damp. [50F and 99%RH]

Yesterday started rainy but did dry out later in the morning. Man I was tired. I should not stay up late reading.

I hope by now, everyone is prepping for WuFlu related disruptions. I don’t think this is going anywhere but ‘worse’. I’m thinking it will pop up here someplace no one is looking, like Minneapolis in the Somali population. Then the race is on to see who can go full retard the fastest.

Economic disruption is headed here no matter what happens with the virus. It’s a gift to certain folks to be able to crash and have something external to blame. Why waste the chance? Even without anything like that, the problems with supply chain aren’t going anywhere, and that will start having real effects soon.

There are very worrisome rumors that it’s already in Florida and being kept under wraps. Not good as that is my next family trip destination. It’s my bi-annual mouse house pilgrimage, and I am not interested in being in spring break crowds with this nonsense going on. Nor am I interested in being quarantined afterwards.

I better get started on the things I can control.

Keep stacking.

n

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Sat. Feb. 22, 2020 – and more twos in the date!

Cold and damp, but should remain clear. [41F in my driveway]

Temps dropped even a bit further last night, and it was chilly all day. I’m kinda glad I didn’t get my seeds in the dirt.

I did manage to pick up a couple of things I needed for much less than retail, but it doesn’t help me with my immediate need to get rid of stuff.

As I write this we now have 35 cases of WuFlu in the US, almost all imported by our own .gov. The usual sources are full of new cases, and dramatic increases in numbers. That’s how it works though tiny, tiny, little, little, then suddenly big jumps. I haven’t had a chance to listen to CDC’s teleconference yet, but it promises to be “interesting’. Keep stacking, and revisit your planning. Like japan and italy, .gov could wake up one morning and cancel Christmas. Now your kids are home during the day, so you need to be too…

Busy day today, GScout activity for the females, then a basketball game, then meet with a roofer, then Cookie Booth, and I will do one last auction pickup. I’d like to get some of the outdoor stuff done, and get some more garage stuff done too. Lots of food to put away and organize…

Get busy, time may be very short.

n

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