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Category: Random Stuff

Sat. Aug. 26, 2023 – month’s almost gone…

Hot and humid, no relief in sight, and I’m unloading trucks in the sun. Oh well, it beats loading my truck in the rain… and the venue is air conditioned.

Spent the day working and selling. Didn’t get to walk around and see if there was anything for me to buy. Probably just as well. We’ve got people from all over, mostly in the region, but Chicago, Cali, NY, and other distant places too. It’s always interesting to talk with them and see what they have to say about the state of things.

I’ll be talking with some more people today. Early start, as some people will be arriving this morning, then a day of selling, and some interesting presentations. IDK if I’ll be able to watch any of the educational stuff, but I will try. I’m training D2 as a sales person and she does a great job. Gives me a few minutes to walk the floor or use the restroom.

So far I’ve more than paid for the tables and most of my time (discounted because I have fun.) If I can sell some more stuff today and tomorrow it’s all in the plus column.

I’m gonna call this weekend “meatspace baby” and taking the tenor of the clans. With a side of clearing out some inventory, and making a little money to fund my hobbies.

Then it’s back to stackin’…

nick

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Sat. Aug. 19, 2023 – more whinging less work!

Hot. Check. Humid. Check. Houston. Check. Summer. Check. Good, glad that’s covered.

Maybe we’ll get a little break. It was all the way down to 87F when I went to bed. I’m not holding my breath though.

Did my pickups yesterday and not much else. It was crazy hot, and my head was still thick with whatever I was/am sick with. Could be the coof, got no idea. Not interested in testing.

I feel a bit better today, so maybe I’ll get a bit more done. I’ve got two pickups to do, stuff for the BOL and a small thing for D2. I forgot to get it for her yesterday. Wife decided to stay here and do work around the house instead of heading to the BOL. I was hoping for some time alone to really focus on work, but since my head is still a bit off, I guess that wasn’t going to happen anyway.

My plan is to do some of the stuff I keep putting off. We’ll see how that works out.

First thing is a decent night’s sleep.

And then the stacking and improving will commence…
nick

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Thur. July 20, 2023 – lots of driving today

Hot and humid again and still. Well over 100F in my driveway yesterday but I missed the peak. It was still 99F in the shade at 7pm. Today will likely be similar. Which should be miserable.

Didn’t do much yesterday. Got my trash and debris from the BOL disposed of. Took D1 to an appointment. Mostly caught up on auctions. Several things I need are in this week’s sales. Hope I get a few.

Today will mostly be eaten by picking up a trailer, heading to San Antonio, picking up a load of stuff there, and heading home. Should be about 7 hours round trip, once I have the trailer. I’ll be driving the Expedition as it has more towing capacity. It’s more comfortable, but drinks more gas. At least I’ll have the Jim Butcher audio book to listen to. Should be pretty close to the end by the time I get home.

I ordered a set of the first 4 books in the series since I’m liking this one so much. I’ve read them, some more than once, but I’m laughing at the humor and turn of phrase. There is a lot of detail in the books, and knowing where the story goes, it’s easy to see where some of the arcs start. One inconvenient thing is that the set is MP3 audio on CDs. I’ll have to convert and rip to regular CDs to listen in my Ranger, it doesn’t play mp3. I think it’s about 10 hours per book, so it will take me a while to get through the first ones, after I finish the current one. The MP3 sets are MUCH cheaper than standard 10 disc CD sets. 4 disks vs 40 is a dramatic reduction.

It might be easier to move them to my phone and play through an FM modulator. That’s how I have my XM radio attached in the Ranger. Or move them to a different phone… android really doesn’t handle concurrent audio from different sources very well. I’ll lose the turn by turn navigation, or the audio stream. Or I could swap out the older factory radio for something more capable. I’ve got the upgraded radio, that will play mp3s, on the shelf as a backup. Nothing is ever as easy or straightforward as it should be though, and I’ve got more projects than I can get to already.

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All the chattering aside, the work on the BOL will be eating up the majority of my time for a while. Somehow I’ll have to fit in the changeover to new tenants and all that entails at the rental house too. Got to keep that income stream flowing. That’s a backup too. And doing all the stuff around the house here, and the vehicle maintenance, and getting the kids started in the new school year…

Yeah. Don’t weaken. Don’t falter. Get ready. Stack.

nick

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Sun. Apr. 2, 2023 – hoping the weather holds…

It might be warm and damp.  Might not, but I’m betting on warm and damp.   Yesterday cleared to a beautiful afternoon and early evening, but got overcast and cooled a bit later.   There were even some spotty drops from the sky depending on where you were in town.   Nothing real at my house though.

I’ll have to move fixing the sprinklers up the list if it stays dry much longer.

Spent yesterday afternoon doing auction things.   Picked up at two houses, mostly stuff for the BOL and home.  One item was a needful thing that has been in short supply for a while.  Price was reasonable too.  Went by the GW outlet, and picked up a couple of handy things and a couple of things for resale.

Came home and looked as some of the stuff I got at the hobby estate.   I’ve still got some books and some more tools to go through, but I’m happy so far.

I also sorted some auction stuff.   I’ll do more of that today.

It would be nice to get a freezer delivered to make room in  my storage unit…   but I’ll settle for sorting more auction stuff, and maybe doing home maintenance.   I’ve got to stick close to home to get the child from her GS trip.  I should break down and vac seal some meat too.  Just my normal domestic bliss…

For the first time in a couple of years I was able to add to the stack of one certain thing in a meaningful way.   Look around, supply might be opening up a tad.

Stack whatever you can find.

nick

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Sat. April 1, 2023 – Fool’s Day. Nice that they get one too…

White rabbit white rabbit white rabbit.

Warmish and damp.   Overcast.   Yesterday was much nicer later in the day.   It even cleared up, although there was some moisture from the sky in various places, it never really rained and the sky was visible most of the time.

I did some errands in the morning, then helped out a friend in the afternoon.   At an auction I picked up a power chair for him to give to his mother.   It needs batteries and a little spring but is otherwise shiny and like new.   A lot of folks get a scooter and don’t last long enough to wear it out… but it will be a nice quality of life upgrade for his mom.  Anyway, got that delivered, then headed north.

I had an estate sale thing based on my non-prepping hobby, and it was more than an hour north.   It lasted a couple hours, then I headed home.   I did pick up some stuff, but not what I was hoping for based on the pictures.  None the less, I’ll have some good stuff for ‘show and tell’ next week.

The guy was a collector, not a hoarder.   He had several different, unrelated collections, and he tended to quantity over quality.   In a youtube video last night, someone I’ve started watching called himself ‘an accumulator’, not a ‘hoarder’.    There is a difference and the new word fits both the guy whose stuff I was going through, and me.   I ‘accumulate’.  I don’t ‘hoard’.

I think most of us accumulate.   It’s a very human thing to accumulate resources.   Even homeless people do it.   Prisoners do it.  The people featured in “Alone” do it.   The Jack Reacher character doesn’t do it and it freaks out everyone who notices.

I’m accumulating stuff I hope will help me later, mostly for living but also for recreation and hobby use.   I try to make sure the stuff I keep is good stuff, and not just a lot of stuff.   I recommend y’all do it too.   Stack it up.

nick

 

(and to back up my contention that there is money laying around everywhere, you just have to recognize it, I picked up an automobile transmission on the side of the road coming home from my buddy’s house, and dropped it off at the scrap yard.   Turned it into a quick $14.   Not gonna send the girls to college, but pays for a few gallons of gas, and only took a few extra minutes of life.)

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Wed. Mar. 29, 2023 – Hmmm, still got stuff to do, who woulda thunk it?

Cool and damp.  Clear later…  or that’s the hope and prediction.   Don’t know if it will be true.   I HOPE so.  Yesterday was variable, and different everywhere.   Stiff breeze, spatter of rain, distant rain while  the sun shone locally, all kinds of weather in Houston and all in the same day.

Did some errands.   Placed some orders.   Hit the bins…  now today I need to take some full bins of my own to the auction.  I’ve stacked a bunch of stuff ready to go, but I need clear weather to do it.

Today in addition to the (hopeful) dropoff, I’ve got two pickups.   Almost all of it is household stuff, or stuff for the BOL.   Everything ends up in the auctions, even the pimple cover dots that D1 uses, and hand cream that my wife uses, only in the auction, it’s cheaper.

I may even get to the grocery store later in the day.

It’s a full life, and fulfilling, but it sure takes a lot of time.

Stack something you haven’t been stacking.  Gloves.  Socks.  Underwear.  Glasses?  Hearing aid batteries?  There is something you haven’t even thought about because you buy it only  very infrequently…  stack some of that.

nick

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Sun. Feb. 19, 2023 – date feels weird somehow, what am I missing?

Cool here at the BOL, and damp of course.  Yesterday was nice.   Cool and clear with some clouds.  Bit nippy in the evening.  Today should be nice.

I did a couple of errands before heading up yesterday.  Dropped in on my gun store buddy.   Helped the wife and kids get ready for 6 hours of cookie booth…   then loaded up the truck and headed out.

Didn’t get much done other than putting food away, and unloading the truck.  Didn’t really expect to with the late start.

Today should be plumbing and electrical with a side of cleaning and organizing.  I might run the mower to keep the weeds down, and the gas fresh.  Battery is probably down though, in which case, I’ll get the charger going.   I need to do the full spring service before too long.   I have all the stuff but have been putting it off.

There are some branches to collect and maybe if there isn’t much wind, I’ll try burning some of my slash pile.  Lot of burning brush piles on the way in yesterday.  Given the level of the lake, there has been a lot of rain lately.  I might need to use an accelerant.  Always a good time…

The journey of a thousand steps– yada yada.

Prep.  Improve.  Stack…

 

n

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