Category: Random Stuff

Warm and damp. So damp. 69F and raining.

We had still air and fog when I went to bed last night. Everything was wet with dew. Drizzle all day too.

I’m feeling more under the weather every day. I might even go to the doctor. Nose is starting to run, and I’m sneezing as well as coughing now. Joy.

More of the same for me to do today. At least I am starting to sell some stuff on ebay again. I just have to keep listing… and I think their algorithm rewards sales with better ranking as a sort of self fulfilling prophesy.

The world continues on, flailing towards a great reset.

I have been watching gardening videos. I’m definitely trying some potatoes this year. The “Farmer Boy” Laura Ingalls Wilder book that I’m currently reading with the little one just went through their harvest. LOTS of apples, carrots, potatoes, and grains. Many mentions of watermelon rind pickles. They race to get the potatoes harvested before the ground freezes. All the harvest described has me thinking of my own garden… and how unsuccessful I’ve been and how inadequate my harvests. I’ve got to do better this year.

But first, get the kids and wife out the door.

n

Cold and wet. Again. [51F and gentle drizzle]

Well, yesterday stayed chilly all day, although it technically got a bit warmer.

I stopped at a sale while out running errands, and picked up another accurite weather station for $20. Now I’ve got a spare, although I broke the anemometer getting it down from the garage soffit. I might just put the receiver display in the bedroom if it will hear my current station. It will be nice to see the temps when I get up. If I get a chance I’ll try it today.

I also moved my SIM card and SD card to my new phone. Contrary to my fear, it went without a hitch. I can happily say that for me, buying an “amazon refurbished” phone in “new” condition was exactly that and worked seamlessly, while saving me several hundred dollars. There is nothing about the phone to indicate it was anything less than new. I’ve ordered a protective sleeve for it so I don’t break it in the first week like I did my old phone.

To get the photos off my old phone’s built in storage, I signed up for google photos. It synced my old phone to my google account and moved all the pix. I haven’t yet found the vids though (they may not move, but they should be backed up elsewhere. If not, I’ll be microsoldering sometime soon.) The google photos page does some really cool things automagically. The coolest is “animations” where it takes any shots that are sequential and loops them into an animation. It really brings the pics to life. I tend to shoot candids in bursts, hoping to get a good one out of the group, so I have a bunch of unexpected and very satisfying animations. As a bonus, I can share the photo account with my wife so she can see them too. Some of the other things it did- it created panoramas out of a series of shots, it did something it calls “color pop” where only the main figure in the image is in color and all the background is in black and white (which is both very well done, and quite dramatic), and it built slide shows with music for related photos. All very cool, and all automated. The tech behind it is pretty impressive.

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I’m hoping the rain holds off for a couple of days. It would be nice to have some moderate temps and have stuff dry out a bit. I’ve still got plenty to do outdoors.

Plenty indoors too for that matter.

So I better get to it.

n

Chilly willy today.

It was 40F at midnight, and it isn’t much warmer [41F and 99%RH]. Damp too.

Plenty to do today, but I’m aiming for indoor stuff. I just hurt too bad in the cold and damp. Wife is planning and packing for a girl scout camping trip, and we’re discussing whether to take the Mr Heater Little Buddy or not. If it was today, it would be a sure thing. Given that this is Houston, it might be back to the 80s by next weekend.

I feel like I’m coming down with some sort of chest thing. I was coughing all day yesterday. I feel just a bit ‘not quite right’ in my head and throat. It’s the joy of the season, 40F degree fluctuations in temperature and dampness, combined with too little sleep and I get sick. Kids are back in school, so that vector may be at work too. Joy.

Well, I better get to doing something. I’ve got ebay shipping to do if nothing else.

n

Warm and wet.

Despite the dire predictions, yesterday was warm and windy, with overcast skies all day. A light drizzle started around 10:30pm and the wind died down. Wind and rain picked back up around 11:45, but it didn’t sound crazy. A bit of lightning, some increased wind noise, a bit harder rain… [unless something happened after I went to bed] Looks like we missed the worst of the storm.

I’ve got my non-prepping hobby meeting this morning so that will keep me out for a few hours.

While I’m out, if you carry, watch this copcam video of an officer involved shooting.

http://ninetymilesfromtyranny.blogspot.com/2020/01/body-cam-shows-fatal-officer-involved.html

Ask yourself what you might have done in a similar situation. Consider the number of shots fired, that looked like they were effective, and how much longer the guy continued to be a threat. Carry a reload and have access to bleeding control. And I have a package of clorox bleach wipes in the truck too, for cleanup afterward. They work fine on dirty hands after changing a tire or checking the oil too…

Speaking of truck stuff, when’s the last time you checked your road flares? You do have road flares right? If not, they are cheap, last forever, and have other uses. I can’t help but think that James Kim might be alive today if he had a road flare to set his spare tire on fire… and people, STAY WITH THE VEHICLE.

n

Much warmer than yesterday morning. It was 41F at the window, with frost on house roofs.

My replacement phone arrived late yesterday. It was in a plain white box but still had the protective film on the front and back. It appears to be new as promised in the listing. It was certainly reset to factory…

I did get most of my stuff backed up and installed automagically, but didn’t move the sim card or microSD yet. I’ll do that today when I have time to recover from any issues. The display is gorgeous, huge, and bright even though the phone itself is the same size as my S7. The UI is noticeably snappier- things open and close without a pause.

I need to order a case though, my old one won’t fit. I should have ordered one with the phone, but didn’t think about it. Doh.

I better get started on my day. Nothing different from yesterday, with added nonsense piled on top. And it’s already Thursday. Jeez.

n

Cool and damp, but hopefully no rain. [41F and light frost on some roofs]

Yesterday started at 56F and ended for me at 56F last night. Cold enough that my joints all hurt. With the dampness, it cuts right through me.

I got my pickups done. One disappointment, the EOTech red dot I scored for $135 was counterfeit. They had a dozen, mixed in with a lot of legit brands of tactical accessories and some poser brand knock off shite. The auction caught the bad pennies, and there was no charge or fuss. I had a feeling something didn’t look right. I think the packaging tickled my subconscious. I was not surprised when the auctioneer told me they were junk.

In the worldwide mess, I hope we settle with Iran pretty quickly. I can’t take much more of the NPR commentary and speculation. Twice in an hour different people on the show mentioned the japanese internment during WWII, in regards to iranians in the US. No mention that it was a Democrat that started that…

More work for me today, starting closer to home. Girl Scout cookie sales are only a couple of weeks away, which puts a hard limit on when I have to have some of my “inventory” out of the entry hall (and preferably sold.) Swim team director sent out a “heads up” email too. January is barely started and they’re skipping ahead…

Better get nose to grindstone,

n

Cool but no rain in the forecast for a couple of days. Maybe we’ll finally dry out. I’ve had standing water in the driveway for 3 days, which is why I’ve said it’s “damp”. Stuff doesn’t dry out because the humidity is so high.

Beautiful day yesterday. I got the Christmas decor mostly down. I cleaned up the dog mess in the back yard. TWO full bags (plastic grocery type) and I’m not sure I got it all. I’ve been slack. I’m sure the dog thinks of me as “The Poop Thief”.

Got to the chiropractor, and am back in normal condition. I’ll probably try for one more visit on Sunday, when the doc I like is in my local store. He recommended some stretching… so I guess I’d better.

I’ve got some auction pickups today, and a bunch of stuff to prep for sale. I need to either move some of my stuff from Craigslist to another selling app, or set up a facecrook account just for FB marketplace. I haven’t gotten ANY hits on my craigslist stuff. I expected the flammables cabinet would sell in a week, but it hasn’t. (It’s a small one Lynn, or I’d offer it to you.) I’ll keep it rather than send it to auction and sell it for nothing. If I’m gonna keep it, I need to get it out of my driveway.

Finally got a break with my wife and the bathroom/saferoom remodel. By moving the safe, I think we have a plan to move forward with a floorplan I can work from. It solves a couple of issues at the same time to move it, and moving forward is good. Now I just need to fit that work in with all the rest of my stuff. Time to crank up the effort, and get any work done before it starts getting warm again. It was already warm in the attic today putting the Christmas stuff away.

Time is flying already, with #2 daughter starting basketball soon, and piano lessons moving to a weeknight. I’m going to be doing more kid shuffling than last year. Jeez, I’ve got stuff I need to get DONE and off my plate… swim team will be starting before I know it.

And with that, I SPRING into action………….

n

Cool and damp.

Beautiful day yesterday. Sunny and cool, with blue skies. Damp of course, but about as nice as it gets this time of year.

I’ve got the kids home for one more day. I guess we’ll find something to do, I know I’ve got plenty. The list keeps getting longer too as household items are added.

I do finally feel almost my old self again, so that’s good. One more visit to the back cracker should put me as good as it gets. I’ll start stretching again after that. A few exploratory moves have me astonished that I’ve lost so much flexibility in my hips and lower body. I’ve always been fairly stiff, but man, my hips are locked tight.

I ordered the refurb Samsung S10e. Hopefully, all I’ll have to report is that it does in fact look and work like new. Wife ordered me the wireless charger dock to use on my old phone until the new one arrives. It will work with the new one as well. That should save some wear and tear on the usb port, and maybe the new one won’t burn…

I haven’t been paying attention to the fires in Australia. That was wrong. They are a major disaster. I sincerely hope none of our visitors are affected. If you are and anyone here can help in any way, please let us know in a comment.

No one wants to die in a fire. Don’t mess around. When it’s time to go, go.

Which is good advice in general too.

n