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Category: WuFlu

Tues. May 18, 2021 – let’s keep the party going, comrade.

Weather system is supposed to be all over the area, but who knows? We got a nice break in the overcast and some weird yellow-green light at sunset, so I’ve got no idea what to expect out of today.

Spent yesterday doing mostly cleaning and paperwork sorting. Did a bit of organizing in the food storage shelves. Found some popped cans that I’ll look at today, I think they were pears. I still need to do a bit more organizing and get my new can storage FIFO sections assembled. It’s always something.

Today will be more of the same. Office, paperwork, cleaning, and a couple of auction pickups too. If it’s raining, that will have some challenges. If it’s nice and dry, I’ll take the pickup truck for convenience.

I still haven’t taken a load to the estate auctioneer yet. Although he and the industrial guy both have stuff that hasn’t been listed yet, so I’m not missing a cycle, it would be nice to get some more stuff out of here. I might have to do some more ebay listings.

The other daughter has a birthday on Saturday, so I need to start getting ready for that too. She’s been surly and out of sorts lately, I’m hoping it’s just temporary, and not the start of the next phase. Summer will purely suck if it doesn’t improve. I did find some girl’s boxing gloves at the Goodwill outlet, and we spent a few minutes hitting the heavy bag the other night. It’s good exercise but not great self defense training. Still fun though and hitting things usually improves people’s outlook.

I don’t see anything changing much for the better in the last few weeks, so I’m still thinking we’re gonna have a violent summer, filled with ‘incidents’. The masks are starting to come off, literally and figuratively. Time to be like Santa and make a list of who’s been naughty and nice, while trying to stay off of other peoples’ lists.

And it’s time to gather and store resources– stuff, skills, friends. Stack them up.

nick

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Mon. May 17, 2021 – let’s get this party started

Possibly rainy and wet, with some heat and humidity tossed in. At least is was fairly cool yesterday, mainly because of the rain…

Stayed in and messed around all day. Did auction stuff mostly, then played a game with the kids before bed. Played Catan again. It’s a fun little game, and we’re still learning the ins and outs, but at this point I’d say “give it a try” if you like that sort of thing.

I won a bunch of household stuff in the weekend auctions, so I’ll be picking that stuff up all week. And doing paperwork. And listing some things, and dropping some things off for sale.

I feel stiff, but most of the soreness and infirmity has worked its way out. I bought some ice/heat therapy packs, the inversion table, and even a massage mat for my office chair to try to avoid another week of treatment or pain. May come a day when easy access to the treatment and meds I used this time isn’t available. I better practice ‘self care’ before then so I can still get help or try something else if it doesn’t work.

That is the core of prepping- see a possible problem in the future, and do what you can to ameliorate the problem now. It’s not a new idea, “a stitch in time saves nine (stitches)” and “for want of a nail the kingdom was lost” and “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” are old memes that convey the idea quite well.

Of course, there are some others that capture the human side of the equation very well like “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” and “there’s none so deaf as those who will not hear” and even “there’s nought so queer as folks.”

Figure out what you’re missing, and stack it high.

nick

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Sun. May 16, 2021 – lots to do, little motivation, still sore

Warm and damp, chance of rain. Didn’t rain yesterday, although it felt pretty dang humid. Threatened to rain all day, with only local and occasional clearing skies. Cooler than normal for this time of year, seems like. Makes me wonder about how hot this year will be.

Did my weekend ‘home’ stuff, did my pickups, did some other small errands. Gas at Costco was $2.45/gal. It was $2.65/gal across the street at the big HEB. HEB usually has very competitive prices, so I expect they are typical or low for the area. Didn’t do paperwork. If it’s going to rain today, I’ll do it today. I didn’t want to waste any good outdoors days.

Blueberry bushes *cough* sticks *cough* are still ripening. Apple tree has leaves. Peach tree has leaves. Grape vines have died way back. Initially they were leafing out to within about 6 feet of the end, but now the old growth is all dead and the only leaves are near the roots, on new growth. Citrus in pots set a couple more fruits, and this time I put bird net over them and the fruits are still there. Citrus in the ground is dead. I had hoped, but the bark is coming off the grapefruit, and the orange is dry and brittle. The Meyer lemon wanted to come out of the ground when I bumped it with the lawnmower. Damn. Damn. Triple damn.

Wretched tomatoes are FOUNTAINING out of the ground. They’re like giant weeds, huge and spreading. The fruit sure is tasty, and Child1 was puzzled by the red color and the taste. She’s never had anything but store bought, that she can remember, and these are SO MUCH better. I admit to some jealousy at how easy my wife has had it with the tomatoes.

Given my proven (lack of) gardening skills, either she needs to take over completely or I need to keep stacking cans. Funny thing, the other night when child was asking the pointed questions about food and post-apoc survival, my wife asserted that we would plant a much bigger garden in the yard, not just the raised beds, but that the soil wouldn’t be as good so we couldn’t expect great yields. She’s been thinking about it, clearly. That was almost as shocking as anything she’s said since the lockdown started. I need more seeds. Lots more.

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I’m wondering if FedGov and local forces know something they’re not telling us. In the last week I got invitations to continuing ed classes through both my local cop volunteer group, and through the national public safety group I belong to for additional counter-IED training. The classes are in June and July so I guess the threat isn’t imminent, but still, weird timing.

I signed up for both, one local in person, and the other one a webinar. Demand was high as they filled almost immediately. Things that make you go “Hmmmm”.

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If you needed more reasons to stack it high, I hope you found them. Let us know how your garden grows… and… Keep stacking.

nick

————(((((((((((((((((PING)))))))))))))))————- DadCooks, welfare check. Drop me an email if you aren’t feeling sociable… flandrey @ aol. com

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Sat. May 15, 2021- tax day, again.

Gnu only knows what the weather will be like today. Hot and humid? Cooler and wet? All I know is that we’ll be getting some weather, whether we like it or not.

It stayed moderate yesterday, and mostly overcast, with periods of sun, mild wind, and even once a short misty spritz of drops on the windshield. That would be nice for today too.

Did some of my errands. Failed in my mission to pick up the inversion table. I’ll give that another try today. I’ve got some boots and a bike rack to pick up too. Then more work, including the paperwork I’ve been avoiding, and only doing in dribs and drabs.

My back and neck were OK throughout yesterday and should be today if I don’t re-aggravate them. One more visit to the bone cracker and I should be past this episode. I’m very grateful that we are grid up and the benefits of civilization are here for us. Skilled practitioners, pain relief drugs, and the infrastructure to provide them both will probably be with us for a while, lifetimes if we’re lucky. Getting by without them is possible, but not easy. Lot’s of things in this life that are just like that too. Possible, but not easy.

I’m not looking forward to any time when they are not. Plan for alternatives. Stack you what can…

nick

—–(((((((((((((PING))))))))))))))—— Dadcooks, welfare check. You doing OK?

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Fri. May 14, 2021 – nothing clever to say

Cool and damp, but no precip in the forecast. Got none yesterday either. It was cool and overcast all day, which made the driving around a bit nicer.

Swung by and did a pickup. Stopped at Microcenter and got my free microSD card (32gb, just for stopping in, second one this year, iirc.) Went by my secondary to unload and also unloaded the little freezer to my neighbor. He’s revealing a bit more every day we talk, and he’s a very like minded individual. The freezer will go on a stand-alone solar system and be filled with harvested meat. He started from the opposite end of the spectrum politically, but we’re pretty close on a bunch of things. Plus he’s got chickens and is working on an aquaculture scheme… I must be pretty well camouflaged, as it’s taken a really long time, and some pretty clear demonstration of LMI’d-ness on my part to crack his reticence. I think the change came when I actually brought him a box of 223 for a project he mentioned. He declined the box but has been a bit more open ever since. MEATSPACE baby! Help people when you can.

Went to the chiropractor on my way home. Good progress is being made. I’m hoping one or two more visits and I’ll be back to normal. We’ll see how I feel today whether I go in, or wait a couple of days. I bought an inversion table thing to try too, so maybe with some stretching, some chi gong and tai chi exercises, and some decompression, I can avoid feeling this way. No idea where I’ll put the inversion thing. Maybe in the yard…

Gotta get body, soul, and mind all back together. And stack some more. Daughter One is reading a book about a collapse, called “Rule of Three”. She’s much more aware now, and asked some pointed and specific questions at dinner about our prep level. “No, I didn’t have to run out and get chlorine when I heard about the coming shortage.” “We need it for prepping drinking water!” “Yeah, but I don’t have to go OUT when we’ve already got some….” “Oh.” Just to be sure though, I think I’ll pick up some more while Costco has it in stock.

And then I can keep stacking.

nick

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Thur. May 13, 2021 – Friday the thirteenth is on a Thursday this month…

Cooler, but supposed to clear up. Got some misty light drizzle yesterday, with mostly overcast all day. Today the map is showing clear. It was 64F when I went to bed last night. That’s way down from where we were just a couple of days ago.

Drove across town twice, and the first trip was a total waste. The seller reneged on the auction and wouldn’t release any items to the buyers. The estate auction company was very upset, but not as much as me when they called to give me the news as I was pulling up to the pickup location. Wasted over an hour of my life and gas. No idea what the auction company and the seller will do, they had a contract. Seller thought the prices were way too low. Very strange all around.

The other pickup was parts for my daughter’s closet organizing project, and some light bulbs (really LED replacement tubes for some 8 ft fixtures I can’t get new bulbs for.)

In other selling news, the guy who bought most of my Pokemon cards hasn’t paid yet, and the auctioneer thinks he’s not gonna. She’ll go back to the second highest bidder, but they don’t have to buy at that price. The cards may end up going back into another auction. Not super news, as I was already thinking of ways to spend the money…

I tried to get a Costco Instacart order yesterday but couldn’t make the available delivery times work. I’m expecting it this morning. Limit one on Charmin Blue, and several things on my “buy it again” list were out of stock too. No meat on this purchase, it was all too expensive. I’ve got room in the freezers, but the price hasn’t been right for a while.

Oh, and the new freezer is cold, so it’s time to work on flipping that.

Tax time too, so I have the rest of my recordkeeping to finish. Back pain makes my brain sluggish though, so I’ve only been doing low value, low complexity stuff. Maybe I’ll get more done today.

I’ve certainly got stacking to do, and I’m sure you do too. Get busy.

nick

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Wed. May 12, 2021 – still sore, still got stuff to do

Well, yesterday never did get stormy, and was partly sunny for most of the day. The 40mph wind was cool enough, when it blew, but the rest of the time it was a bit on the stifling side. Temps dropped 10+ degrees while I was cooking dinner and the wind was variable and gusting hard, but the rain held off. Today is probably going to be similar with a bit more chance of rain.

Yesterday I met with the new auctioneer’s rep and we’re good to proceed. I’ve got to get a space either cleared, or in a neighbor’s space to set up the pallets so we can get some listed. It’s back breaking work and I’m in no condition for it today.

Went to the chiropractor and got some stuff to move. Will try to get in today too.

Went through some stuff in my storage unit, getting ready to take some bins to the other auction.

Today I need to do a Costco order or run, and a couple of auction pickups. More supplies for the house, and not resale. I can fit it in my Expy if it’s raining, if not I’ll use the pickup just because it’s easier.

Then pickup child 2 from school mid-afternoon. Both kids are doing STAAR testing this week. That is the big Texas progress evaluation test. In reality the questions are whacked out. NO idea what they are trying to evaluate, other than reading comprehension. All the questions come down to that. Still, you can’t improve if you don’t measure, but it would be nice if they were measuring the right things.

Anyone waiting in line to buy gasoline because of this pipeline issue, is measuring their preparedness, and if they’re in line, they are coming up short. The general recommendation for storing gas is one full tank for your bug out vehicle, or one week of disaster usage for your generator, whichever is more. The amount is a bit arbitrary, but there are reasons and rationales for it. Too tired to list them atm, left as an exercise for the reader. Think ‘the amount of time it takes to get outside help into the area’ and ‘leapfrog the locusts’ on the way out of town. It’s also a good example of why people suggest always filling up at 1/2 tank instead of running dry (which is not something I routinely do, because I’ve got MORE than 1 full tank stored.)

In any case, you and they might have some stacking to do.

nick

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Tues. May 11, 2021 – away from keyboard.

Probably warm, certainly humid, possibly wet.  So says the FEMA summary.  Never got any rain yesterday so who knows how it will play out today.

I spent most of yesterday just sitting in pain.  Did something bad to my neck.  Finally got to the chiropractor and he did some things I’ve never had to have done before, so this is a new issue.   Went home and laid down.

Got up for dinner and went back to bed.

Today I’m supposed to meet with the new auction company, but as of last night they hadn’t confirmed the meeting.  I’ll try to confirm before heading over there this morning.   If I don’t hurt I’ll do some cleanup over there.  If I do hurt, I’ll probably get an adjustment and go home.

In any case, short shrift today.

Talk amongst yourselves…  and keep stacking.

n

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Mon. May 10, 2021 – another week, plenty of stuff to do…

Warm and humid, with a chance of thunderstorms.  Joy.  Yesterday got pretty hot and humid by late afternoon and stayed hot.  It was 80F at midnight with 80%RH.

Spent the day playing games with my wife and kids.   Cooked dinner.  Lamb was delicious, potatoes got raves from the whole family, and even the chocolate dipped (store bought) strawberry dessert was just right.

Catan is an interesting game.  I think that there is a whole bunch of stuff to discover about the seemingly simple gameplay if everyone knows what they’re doing.   It’s a smaller game than Ticket to Ride, and I didn’t enjoy the first game as much (I compare them because the game mechanics are very similar, except for the trading part.)  I really like Ticket to Ride so the bar is set pretty high.  I know that Catan is a phenomenon, but I don’t understand why yet.  I’ll give it a couple more plays to see if it really appeals to us.  Board games and card games can be important preps, depending on your disaster, and they are great for other more traditional reasons too.  My family played a ton of games when we were kids, and even through college, whenever we were home together.  We still play games when we get together.

This week I have auction stuff to get together, truck repairs to get organized, all the normal household stuff to do, and surely some work getting ready for the rip and replace at my client’s house.  Add a sore back and a stiff neck, and I’m gonna have some fun.

In the category of ‘do as I say, not as I do’, address little things when they are still little.   Clean up all those niggling little details.  Stop procrastinating if the job is at all important.  Get all the ducks in a row.  You’ll feel better, and you’ll be in a better place for whatever comes.

Now I better go address some of those little things that are stacking up, so that I can get back to stacking up the stuff I think we’ll need.

 

nick

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Sun. May 9, 2021 – tired and sore. Still plugging away.

Forecast says we’re in a potential rain area. I hope for continued nice weather. Saturday was nice, cool with the wind blowing, a bit humid and certainly warm in the sun, when it came out. It would be nice to have that again today.

I went to my non-prepping hobby meeting and had a great time talking with people. Almost no masks, fwiw. We had a good turnout and we’re planning our annual convention and swapmeet for September or August. We would normally draw attendees from all of Texas, Louisiana and points east, and some of the other states that share a border with Texas too. Given pent up demand, we’re hoping for a big show.

A couple of the guys in this group overlap with the ham lunch group, and they are talking about meeting in person for lunch next week, for the first time in a year. I am really looking forward to that. It was very nice to get out of the house on Wednesdays for lunch. Working from home can be very isolating. And MEATSPACE is important too.

Hit the HEB for some Mother’s Day flowers and some weekly groceries last night. Even considering it was Saturday evening, there were a lot of empty spaces on the shelves. Clearly they are having trouble stocking, still. Just one more thing to factor into your assessment of the state o the state.

And in the wider world, consider the number of analysts that got the unemployment numbers wrong. Not just wrong, but so F’ing wrong you gotta wonder what they were smoking. If something like 78 of 80 of the sharpest analysts were off by 4x or 8x what does that say about any of their analysis?

Look around and make up your own mind, but I’m pretty sure that bad things are coming (and before good things.) Get ready. Stack it high.

nick

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