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Category: WuFlu

Mon. Aug. 3, 2020 – new month, new week, same stuff on my list

Warmer, wetter, swamp-ier.

Because yesterday wasn’t humid enough, it rained.  And got to over 100F in my yard, even without sun.

But I mostly didn’t do much anyway.  Sometimes I hurt, sometimes I didn’t.  Didn’t want to push it too much in any case.

Cleaned the pool, opened a power supply that let the smoke out to show the daughter what magic smoke smells like, piddled around.

I did get a crossbow pistol in an auction, and I got it together and shot it a few times.  It says it is a 25 pound pull, and it looks like a toy, but it was putting quarrels 4 inches deep into the same target our little bows were putting arrows 2  inches deep.   It is a toy, really, but I sure wouldn’t want to be in front of it.  I’ll probably add a fishing reel and set it up as a line thrower for getting temporary wire antennas up into trees.    It’s really unpleasant to shoot, not fun at all.  The frame is polymer, and the spring is a nasty piece of shaped spring steel.   Lots of sharp edges and it takes two fingers to pull the trigger.  Using it once or twice a year sounds about right.

Dinner was courtesy of oldest daughter.  She wanted to make spaghetti and meatballs.  Do we have any hamburger defrosted?  No, but we do have frozen meatballs…. and lots of pasta.  So she heated everything up and we had dinner from stores.

I’ve done a pretty good job of stocking the larder.  There are things that tripped me up, mainly when my wife wants to cook.  She uses stuff I don’t even think about.  Diced tomatoes for example.  I have diced tomatoes with chilis.  I have tomato paste.  No plain diced, because I don’t use them.  Same with Worcestershire sauce.  I ordered a couple of bottles on my last HEB order because I had none on the shelves and she used the last in the cupboard.  So if your spouse isn’t fully involved in your stacking, find some way to address the things s/he uses and buys, that you don’t even think about, or you’ll be the goat and not the hero when the item is needed.

If you think you’re all set, and just need to add more of what you’ve already got, you’re probably missing something.  So look for gaps, and keep stacking.

nick

 

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Sun. Aug. 2, 2020 – day of rest for me

Hot and humid, but maybe less than normal.  We’re on the edge of a weather system, so who knows?

It never got super hot yesterday and stayed overcast so I was able to get stuff done.   I installed a window A/C unit in the garage.  I don’t know if it will be big enough to keep up, or if it will make any difference at all, but I’m going to give it a try.  Even just taking 10 degrees off and keeping it in the 80s will help.

That’s one more thing off the list, and now I can get that corner of the garage put back together.  Ultimately, I’d like to get some of my solar panels installed, and maybe run the A/C off the solar, just ‘cuz.  WAY down the list though.

Today I’m going to really try to take it easy on my back.  Like, laying down taking it easy.  We’ll see how that goes.

I see that the anti-western-civ insurgents in Portland are burning Bibles.  Nice of them to uncloak.

Armor up.  Ammo up.  Gun up.   And stock up so you don’t need to gear up just to go to the store.

 

In other words, keep stacking.

 

nick

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Sat. Aug. 1, 2020 – well this sucks

Hot and humid, probably rain.

It was hot and humid both yesterday, but we never did get the rain at the house.   Elsewhere in Houston they did get rain, but not us.

I didn’t get much besides my pickup done.  My back has been hurting for the last few days and it’s been getting worse.  Unusually for me, it’s my lower back this time, on the left, like sciatica.  I can feel the pinching and it’s getting scary.  I tried to do a few things, even floated in the pool for an hour to try to relax whatever is pulled out of alignment, but nothing worked.   I don’t see any choice but to try my chiropractor.  Hopefully they’ve figured out how to treat people without giving them the wuflu.  I guess I’ll know in about 2 weeks.

One thing I did get done was look at the gardens.  All my squash and melons died.  Couple of days ago they were fine, today just straw.  The cabbages that were doing so well?  Couple of days without water and they shed all their outer leaves and don’t look good at all.  Both pepper plants that were still producing like crazy look dead.   The brusselsprouts (that never sprouted but were nevertheless very leafy and vigorous) also look like they’re dying.  Leaves are curling up.    I’ve got a couple of green tomatoes on the plants, so that is one bright spot, but my hopes for any kind of real harvest are done.  I’m hoping for the citrus to make it at this point.

I did order food from the store.  Since I can.  Got my instacart from Costco and HEB in only an hour or two, even though the app said “as long as five hours”.    HEB had prime top sirloin for $4.95 a pound.   Even with the insta-addon price it was still less than $7.  It had a 2 day sell by, but was oxidized on the underside.  No indication that it was short time and the Manager’s Special, but I don’t care because it went right into the freezer.   Good hamburger in the bulk pack was <$4/lb.   Choice ribeye steaks were ~$12/lb.   Select were ~$11.   Turkey legs were in stock so I got 8, and a bunch of pasta and cans of veg.  The pasta selection was almost normal, except no real egg noodles.  10 more pounds went on the stack.  The veg selection was good, even had canned green beans.  A flat of mixed veg was added to the can organizer.   Soda and snacks were reduced selection.  Costco limited chicken thighs to one package, TP to one (but they had blue package Charmin), and name brand paper towels, limit one.  I don’t think I hit a limit on anything else.  They had bleach in stock, even clorox, but no cleaners or wipes and no windex.

I broke down the bulk meat, vac sealed it all, and put it in the new freezer.  VERY convenient to just open the door and stack on the shelves.

I also put away the coffee and maple syrup from the auction.   No matter the condition of my back I’ve still got to pick up the alcohol I bought today.  Should be good on wine for a while, and liquor for a LONG time after this purchase.    Not something I’d normally be too concerned about, but when you shop the secondary market, you buy it when you see it, and stocks were running low at the Casa anyway.

I’ll update after seeing what optional medical care looks like in the age of COVID.

We’ve got time to get in better shape before it all goes more wobbly than it already is.  Take advantage of it.

Keep stacking.

 

nick

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Fri. July 31, 2020 – more than half way through the year

Hot and humid, maybe some rain.

Yesterday was hot.  Humid too, although less than previous.  Stuff actually dried in the driveway.

As expected I spend all afternoon driving around doing pickups.  I did get preps as well as home decor…  some web gear, some airsoft and BB stuff, some knives…

I bid on a bunch of ammo last night but it all went for more than I was willing to pay.   It wasn’t crazy, but it was more than Ammoseek listings.  Oddly, Foodsaver bags and rolls sold for pretty much retail, or maybe a bit higher.  Didn’t think they were in short supply.

One of my pickups also sells surplus and salvage direct to the public.  It’s mostly clothes, but there is always some food.  I grabbed 11 bottles (8oz) of pure USA and Canadian maple syrup for $1 each.  Also 9 pounds of ground coffee for $1 /lb.  I’ll count that as a score.  We eat a lot of maple syrup.

Daughter’s room is finally done.  We have to hang a couple more pictures when she decides, but the big stuff is all in place.  Not counting the bed and rug, pretty much everything else came from an auction over the last year.

We’ll be doing something to update Daughter 2’s room soon I’m sure.

The kids, especially the younger one, are showing the strain of not seeing their friends in person, and of staying home.  Changing their rooms up is an attempt to give them something new to focus on, and to change things up a bit.  My wife has also booked us a rental in Galveston for a couple of days in a week or so.  The change of scenery should do everyone good.  The kids will get some beach and swim time in too.

The whole week was eaten up by auction stuff and some minor work in the garage.  Wife is happy though and ‘that ain’t nuthin’…

Today I’ve got another pickup in the afternoon, and I’ll do some more in the garage.  I’m hoping to see my buddy at the gun store, just to touch base.  Maybe it’s time to sell my very expensive safe queen…

I’m sure something else will jump up and demand my attention and time.

I really need to get some stuff done.  Stuff isn’t going to stack itself…

 

nick

 

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Thur. July 30, 2020 – lots to do today

Hot and humid, chance of rain.

And I’m gonna be out driving around most of the afternoon.

Yesterday I didn’t leave the house.  It rained pretty good all morning, which kept me from making any drop offs.  I did get some stuff done in the garage, mainly shelves and getting my work areas back together.  I put my 2 ft cube light box ($5 auction special) out there, and moved electrical strips, fans, worklights, and small wall mount shelves around.  Still a long way to go, but it feels like progress.

I also spent about a half hour or more listening to my ham lunch buddies on their weekly net.  They’re all doing a net on 2m rather than getting together for lunch.  I can’t talk with them because I can’t hit the repeater from my house with my current antenna/radio combo.  I’ve got antennas for my ‘big’ radio, but haven’t put them up mainly because I have the quad band mobile for 2m and 70cm.  If I get the big radio hooked to an appropriate antenna, I can pump 100 watts at the problem.  That should work…  my other choice is a directional antenna for 2m on my mobile.  Either way, not happening this week.  (I’m in the radio shadow of a new office tower that is taller than the repeater antenna, and right between me and the repeater.)

Speaking of rain, more should be headed our way as the next tropical storm is headed up Florida.  Busy season so far.   Being prepped up for wuflu has gotten me a big jump on hurricane preps, so I’ll give it that.

And I’ll keep working on replacing what little we’ve used from our long term stacks…because it isn’t going to get better for a long time.

 

nick

 

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Wed. July 29, 2020 – Halfway to more of the same

Hot and wet.

Not only was it super humid and warm yesterday, it rained too.    I managed to unload my auction delivery just as the drops started falling.   Did my pickups and headed home.

Spent most of the rest of the day indoors, except that I cleaned the pool, and cut the grass in the back yard.  It was soggy, but I figured I better get it done before it rains again.  I picked up the dog bombs and 3 bags of inedible pecans too.  I got a tiny bit of organization done in the garage.

Today I’m hoping to get another truckload of stuff to my other auctioneer.  It’ll depend on his schedule and weather.  More garage work and driveway org too, if the weather is good.

I linked to a couple of videos yesterday.  One shows the results of shooting a suspect TWICE with an AR.  It’s not the instant magic wand of death in every case.  If you aren’t training for follow up shots, you’re probably not doing it right.

The situation in Portland continues to escalate with the rioters now attempting to blind cops with lasers, spray them with bleach (blinding), and they are building bombs to lob at them too.  It’s WAY beyond throwing a pack of firecrackers…  Anarchists throwing bombs.  In 2020.  Everything old is new again.

And it’s spreading.  Tempe AZ had riots.  (home of Arizona State University, but otherwise a smallish town on the edge of Phoenix)  BLM and a laundry list of groups were blocking streets and harassing cops.  I don’t know what the demographics look like now, but when I was there I don’t think there were 10 blacks in the whole city.  But they’ve got riots now.  FFS.

Avoid crowds.  Go armed all the time.  Get some less than lethal for your vehicles.  Check the news to see what’s going on in town before you drive through something you didn’t know about.  Review your state’s use of force laws regarding riots, and attempts to enter your vehicle.  Don’t stop moving.

The economic and social effects are going to make the shutdown look like a walk in the park.  They’re already starting and won’t be getting better for some time.  Stock up while you can.

Got enough fire extinguishers?  After that one year where I was first on the scene at a half dozen wrecks and fires, I’ve now got several in each truck.  I’ve got one next to the kitchen, and one in my master bath.  Big ones.  More than one in the garage, by the door out.  Change the batteries or test your smoke detectors if you haven’t lately.  Change the detectors if they are a few years old.  Add a couple outside the bedrooms, inside the bedrooms, in the hall.  If you close a door at night, put one on each side of the door.  They are small and the new ones last years on a single non-removable battery.

Preps aren’t all freeze dried food and ammo…

Although you should stack those too.

nick

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Tues. July 28, 2020 – same stuff, different day

Hot and humid.  Maybe less than the past few days as the storm system might have gifted us some cooler winds.

Certainly miserable yesterday.  Not as hot but saturated.  Made working outside a chore.

Got some stuff done.  Got the front yard mowed before the rain.  Back yard was still too wet.  Got the truck loaded with stuff for my more ‘industrial’ auctioneer.  I’ve got to go by my secondary location and load up some more this morning, and get it all to him around 9am.  Early start for me.

While I’m there I’ll do a pickup at the other nearby auctioneer, and try to jump the line on the other other auctioneer and pick up the stuff for my daughter’s room.  I don’t want to wait until Thursday to do that, but I forgot to make an appointment.  Wuflu means appointments and curbside pickup.

It feels like I got more done than that.  Oh, I did move some stuff around in the garage.  That’s ongoing.  I’m moving stuff into the garage that really shouldn’t get wet, and moving stuff out that is much lower value or hardier.  I still cover it outside, but water gets into everything eventually.

So that’s my day, go get rid of some stuff, go get some stuff, get home to watch the kids while the wife does a site visit for work, and do some stuff around the house.  The only prepping I’m doing today is the pickup, which has some web gear, and that’s only good if it comes to a shooting war.  Which I sincerely hope it does not.

Still, it is stacking, and getting rid of stuff generates cash and happiness in my wife, which is not a small thing.

Join me won’t you?  Stack something today.

nick

 

BTW, anyone else notice that with all the wuflu and the shooting and rioting that Epstein’s procurer and Joe Biden are both out of the day to day news cycle?  Coincidence?

 

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Mon. July 27, 2020 -a new week, filled with the old st……..

Hot and humid, but maybe we’ll get a little break from the really bad stuff.  That would be nice.

Yesterday after running my errands, I spend a couple of hours in the garage.  It was drizzling, and much cooler than it has been.  I got the freezers lined up so all the doors open fully.  I moved some drawers over 3 inches to make room for another cabinet.  Moved some extension cords and powerstrips around.  I’m about 80% back to normal in the garage now.  Well, the new normal with the rearrangements.  Normal in the sense that stuff is in there, and I can get to it.

Finished my laundry and restocked the kitchen and baths.    House is a shambles.  My wife’s been busy with work and then started getting our tax stuff in order for our accountant.  Kids have been slacking off on chores while we’ve both been otherwise occupied.  Add me redoing the garage, and my wife redoing daughter 1’s bedroom and you’ve got a mess.

I’m hoping that we don’t have any more rain today so I can get a load down to my auctioneer.  I have to use the pickup, and the stuff can’t get wet, so I need the rain to hold off.  Tuesday or Wednesday, I’m already supposed to get a different load to my other auctioneer, so I don’t want to push any of the deliveries.  (Each auctioneer has typical stuff they sell, so I’m matching stuff to seller, hoping to get better buyers and higher prices.)

I need to get rid of the stuff that won’t help us, and make room for more things that will.

‘Cuz I’m seeing escalation everywhere I look.   And that isn’t going to end well.

So keep stacking whatever you’re short on.  Practice some shooting skills this week, or learn some comm skills.  Clean your guns.  Organize the freezer and the pantry shelves.  Change batteries in devices.  Buy a sturdy pair of boots and some work gloves.  Go through your webbing and make sure you don’t need to sew anything.  So much to do.  So little time in the day.

nick

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Sun. July 26, 2020 – supposed to be a day of rest, right?

Hot but maybe not as much, humid, well, Houston….

Yesterday cooled off considerably after the rain bands came through.

I did an auction pickup, spent a bunch of time in front of the computer bidding on things, and made a run to my secondary location.  I’ve got a dumpster I can use there, and I had some trash that I didn’t want to have around until the next heavy trash pickup here.

Laundry and chores around the house ate the rest of the day.

It was funny to realize, as I drove through the flooded streets on my way home, that I didn’t even CARE that there was a hurricane coming ashore today.   I looked over the yard to make sure there weren’t a lot of loose things laying around, and that everything that needed to stay dry was under cover, but that’s about it.   When you’re already living your preps you don’t have to do much extra.

I’m doing another pickup today, more furniture for the house.  I was ready to cut back on auctions, but it sure is convenient and the universe is dropping the stuff I need/want in my lap, so I’m not going to complain too much.

Rifle parts, tactical gear, camping stuff, freezers, pools and bikes, workout gear,  and a variety of other things, from cleaners and disinfectants to toilet paper and cases of twinkies have all been in auctions here the last few weeks.  Actual guns have all been expensive, but there have been a variety in the estate auctions.  I’m trying to be judicious, but… in the secondary market you buy it when you see it.

I’m afraid that the primary markets are headed that way too, if it’s in stock you better grab it.  I hope it doesn’t get as bad as the soviets, where you’d buy shoes in whatever size was available and then try to trade.

Suppose someone starts sniping amazon Prime semis on the freeways?  or Consolidated Grocers?  Suppose it catches on as a “thing”…

I put links to a couple of ‘protest’ related incidents in the comments late yesterday.  PLEASE actually go and look at the pictures and video.  It’s one thing to see a story about this being the 57th day of rioting in Portland, it’s quite something else to see the pictures.  Same for the shootings involving vehicles.  Learn what you can from the unfortunate experiences of others.

It might not be the wuflu that keeps you home, it might be the violence on the streets.

Have you got enough?

Keep stacking, don’t let this catch you unprepared.

 

n

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Sat. July 25, 2020 – so tired and still stuff to do

Hot and humid, storms on the way.

Yesterday stayed pretty darn hot until late in the day.  Here at the house they got a huge rainstorm, but it didn’t last and the humidity dropped enough that the streets dried off.  I was south east and east, and I missed all but a smattering of the rain.  Traffic was very light for Friday at 4pm.

I did get a couple of things done, but really, not much.  Today I’ll be running around and picking up stuff for the house.  Did I mention that my wife figured out I can buy stuff for her and the house?? I think I might have mentioned it…

It lets me buy preps too, so I should quit b!tching, even in fun.

Speaking of which, 37.5 pounds of metal and chemistry is headed my way.  Still more in stock according to the email I got…   If you have a commie rifle, you can still feed it, if you haven’t already stocked up.   Everyone thinks they have enough guns-until the zombies come….

More likely we’ll be short food and meds, but hey, you can’t keep either if you can’t defend yourself.   Although I think the best tool might be a small tool with a suppressor.  Even a big tool with a suppressor is better than no suppressor.  IDK if there is any chance of getting your stamp under the current conditions, but you might want to consider it.   I have and wish I’d started the process.  I’d probably have one today if I had just taken that first step.

Which brings us to the heart of prepping.  TAKE THE STEP.  Whether that is stacking stuff, taking some classes, or getting out and meeting some new people, do it.   Get ready to take that ham licensing test.  Get those gunsmithing dvds.  Order something with a long lead time.  Take the step.  Start the journey.

 

Keep stacking.

nick

 

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