Category: Random Stuff

cool, wet. [39F and 99%RH but sunny and bright]

Yesterday was nice once it warmed up a bit, but it got cold again in the afternoon. Clear sunny day though.

Well, I didn’t buy anything at the Needville estate. The laser pre-sold. The CNC router was lighter weight that I thought, and $1500. Most of the other tool and outdoor stuff was priced very reasonably, even crazy cheap… But still too rich for my blood. The indoor stuff was HIGH. The ham gear (vintage Heathkit) was immaculate, but priced like it was dipped in gold.

The only thing I saw inside that was reasonable was a pair of bose 301 series III speakers. They were $175 and they sell for about half again more on ebay. Not enough room for a reseller, but if you were looking for a pair, they were a nice discount. The guy collected trains, clocks, machine tools, hobby and craft stuff, and a bunch of collectibles, and all I could find was a couple of books for my post-apoc library. Even they were overpriced at $5, $3, and $3. There was one little slide rule I’m hoping to flip for my gas money. And that’s it.

I did pickup some auction items and previewed next week’s sale. A nice spam can of 7.62, and an ammo can of mystery rounds. I’ll be a bidder. Also got an Aquatainer at a thrift store I couldn’t resist shopping while I was driving by. Can’t have too much water storage.

Didn’t get the plants in the ground this week. Maybe Sunday. Harvested the one orange but haven’t eaten it yet. Still getting nice sweet peppers though. Lemons should be good in a week’s time, maybe sooner. This year I’ll do the fall pruning on the grapevines and see how that helps.

My pile of stuff is starting to get bids in the local auction, so that’s good. Just need to get another load or two over there.

So much to do. And I’ll be spending a few hours today watching musical theatre, with the wife and kids. “Free” tickets. All they cost is your life…. (cue maniacal laughter…..)

I’ve heard some good progress in comments this week. Keep stacking.

n

Cold, and wet. [39F and 99%RH]

I know, I bring it on myself. Working with the kids is FUN. Seeing them ‘get’ a concept is great. Coming up with ideas that work, and that help their understanding is pretty cool too. Plus, being in the school gives me insight that I couldn’t get from outside.

I still have a full day. Two pickups on opposite sides of town, and a sale that is over an hour south. The sale has hobby machine tools, a CNC router, ham gear, and a ton of stuff that is related. The guy had money and toys. (the brand new epilog laser engraver, with every option, sold before the sale, so at least I won’t be trying to convince my wife that I need a $10K laser…) I suppose I really don’t need to be buying, but the time to buy is when you see it.

Lots of driving today, once I leave the house.

n

Cold, but I don’t know how cold. Not even sure we got below freezing last night. My weather station is still locked up. Not enough sunshine to charge the batteries, I guess. Time for some new ones.

Speaking of batteries, I have been running eneloops in my EDC FLASHLIGHT, the Pelican 1920. I discovered that the eneloops have a much softer case than other disposables. The ends are particularly soft. When I dropped my FLASHLIGHT, the shock caused the tit of one battery to dimple the butt of the other, and they no longer made good contact. Now I’m careful to put the dimpled battery in last so it contacts the spring, and the tit presses firmly against the first battery’s flat butt. Anyone else notice this?

I opened 4 rusty cans from my LTS food last night. I needed the cans for a science experiment, and I don’t trust the ones with rust. Two were ‘pop top’ black beans, and two were normal cans of collards. In all cases the cans were still holding vacuum, despite the rusted edges. Looking inside the cans though, in one case you could see discoloration where the rust was almost through the can. They’d all still have been good to eat, but I’m not taking chances when I don’t have to.

Also, when cleaning some of the cans, I found a swollen can. It was pineapple and about 5 years old. I threw that away. Two pop top campbells soup cans were soft to the touch, ie. not holding vac. Those went into the trash too. Visible rust on the cans. Due to modern cost cutting, I don’t think we can count on cans lasting as long as they used too. Take that into consideration.

My storage area and conditions leave a LOT to be desired. Clearly not the proverbial cool, dry place. Still, I hate to see can failures. At one point I swore off cans because of the rust. But in order to get some variety, and save money, I just accept that I will lose cans. Heck, I’ve lost pouches and boxes too.

Make your conditions as good as you can. Cover your cans. Rotate and inspect your stock. Store what you eat, eat what you store.

And stack it high.

n

Cold, but weather station looks locked up. Dang.

Headed to school with the kids to do my science lab. No time for jibber jabber.

n

Cold today! [36F with 80%RH at 6am]

Headed to the museum of natural history as a chaperone for my daughter’s gifted and talented class, I’ll be disarmed for several hours. Not liking that at all.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, they’re lighting people on fire….

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/man-set-fire-hong-kong-after-confronting-enemy-people-rioters

In Bolivia, the ruler stepped down.

Anyone still think this isn’t one of those periods when everything changes?

n

Cold, damp, rain forecast. [wrong- 65F and 94%RH, practically balmy]

Yesterday was very nice by late afternoon. In fact, I was sweating while I used the GardenWeasel ™ on the raised beds. Added some soil, will try to get the plants in the ground today. Will also try getting more of my list done, but we’ll see.

Kids are in school. I thought we might have today off, since .gov is closed, but still not actually honoring vets I guess. I will and will make sure the kids know what today is about.

Daughter got home from her sleepover at about 830 last night, and went right to bed. Grumpy and tired is on the menu for today… and not just for her 🙂

And so another week begins, and we march closer to the end of the year.

Lots to do,

n

Cold and damp, but clear? [57F and 91%RH at 940am and clear]

It was 47F and 94%RH when I went to bed. Saturday was nice and clear all day, in it did get a bit warmer during the day, especially in the sun.

Today is forecast for clear, and I’ve got plenty stacked up to do outdoors.

But first, sleeping in and breakfast.

THEN work…

n

Cold and clear, but damp. [41F and 95%RH]

It never did warm up yesterday, and it was dreary and overcast all day. It finally blew out late in the afternoon, but there were rain spatters all morning.

I hit one sale that had a ton of good stuff for my hobby and to flip.

I’ve had a couple of ebay sales and an offer yesterday, so maybe my sales drought is finally breaking. Touch wood.

Headed out to hand out with people in meatspace for a few hours and talk about stuff that isn’t politics or prepping. Then I’ve got errands to run and if there’s time, chores to do.

Radio silence most of the day though.

So don’t burn the place down while I’m out!

n

Cold and wet. [51F and 99%RH]

It was 53F and falling when I went to bed after almost 3 inches of rain during the afternoon and evening. My joints were aching, fingers were stiff, and even the dog had trouble moving. Indoor work all day.

I’m hoping to do some outdoor stuff today. One piece in particular needs some small things done so I can list it and hopefully get it out of the driveway and put some cash in my pocket. There are a couple of estate sales that I would like to check out too, even though they are farther than I would normally go. They have a bunch of stuff for my non-prepping hobby.

NEXT weekend, there is an estate sale with a ton of stuff I want. Like $10K worth of stuff. The guy was a hobby machinist, ham, and woodworker. That’s almost the trifecta. I have no idea what pricing is going to be like, but he’s got a brand new, unused Epilog laser engraver, with the rotating extra axis. I want. Yes I do. Add in mini versions of machine shop machines, a CNC router, and piles of tools and smalls, and I am sure to find stuff I need. I don’t think I can convince the wife to finance me on this and I’ve got a ton of money tied up in unmoving inventory. Timing is everything and mine sucks. But that’s a whole week away…

Meanwhile, I’ve got food to put on shelves, after they’re cleaned and re-set up. I’ve got gardening to do. I’ve got sales to make and stuff to get out of the house.

What have you guys gotten done this week?

n

cool and damp. again. [62F and 99%RH]

Didn’t get to my ham club lunch yesterday. I was busy loading up the truck and taking stuff to the auction. I’ve got 5 short pallets in this auction, and you can’t tell where the stuff came from unless you know where to look.

On the other hand, I’ve had 3 ebay sales in the last 2 days. Maybe some stuff is finally breaking loose.

More of the same on my schedule for today. Clean, organize, list, and fix. Might be complicated if it rains. The FEMA never right weather map had us firmly in the middle of a big thunderstorm area. I guess we’ll see.

One of the goals in the cleanup/reorganize/massive selloff is to get some workbench space back in the garage. I’ve got a couple of new things to put together, and I need somewhere to do it. It would be nice to be able to actually work out there too, now that it’s cool enough to do so.

Baby steps. I’ll get there or die trying…

n