Tengo calor hoy… and humidity too. It was a bit cooler yesterday with the overcast there most of the day, but it still got to the mid 90sF in the afternoon. It was a slow sleepy day for me.

I did one pickup on the west side of town. Ran by the shop and unloaded some stuff. Hit the reStore in NW Houston since I was fairly close. I’m still looking for upper cabinets for the laundry area at the BOL. No luck though.

Someone new is in charge of pricing and stock is piling up. WAY too high. There were other people walking around looking, but no one was buying. This is typical of thrift type stores. FFS, you get the product for free. Yes, you need to pay the bills, but you start out with the advantage of people bringing you the product to sell. You really don’t have to squeeze it for every penny. Only greed and envy would prompt you to say “if the resellers can buy it, we need to raise prices and get some of that money we’re leaving on the table.”

Then too much stuff accumulates because it is a never ending river of stuff, and it’s not selling fast enough, so they lower prices back down. Then it moves.

Something similar happens in the auctions. New money enters the game, they don’t know what stuff usually sells for, so they bid higher than the regulars. They still get a good deal, but not as good as usual. ‘Sold’ prices go up. If the new money is trying to become a reseller, they fail soon because they’ve paid too much for their inventory. Then prices fall back to normal. I’ll admit, seeing the flood, and the usual prices, has really warped my sense of what stuff should cost. I rarely shop in stores anymore, except for food, unless it’s something I need right away. I know if I wait, it’s almost guaranteed to eventually come up in the secondary market.

Today I’ll maybe do one more pickup, and if the weather is obliging, I might close out another storage unit. They are bleeding me and I need to make a change. Plus, I need to turn inventory into cash, so I can stack that, and the things it buys.

Stack what you need.

nick

Hot and humid. It’s been slightly less of both, and I mean slightly, but maybe we’ve turned the corner on Summer. Another two weeks or so and I’ll be sure. Given how long and mild Spring was, and that we really didn’t have many days over 100F, I shouldn’t be complaining about the heat and humidity. But I will anyway.

Did my stuff yesterday. Returned the rental trailer. Hit two thrift stores that I’ve never been in, but they were right next to the Uhaul store. I got some LP records (and was reminded that LP stands for Long Playing) and a couple of shirts. Didn’t take long and I need some shirts and some new shorts.

Then I switched trucks, grabbed a couple of tools, and headed over to the shop to get the ebay industrial item ready for pickup. Good thing I got the timing right, because just as I was tightening the last ratchet strap, the truck pulled up. Totally unexpected, because they were supposed to give me a two hour heads up… but my phone number was wrong on the paperwork. Anyway, got it shipped out, used the special code to complete the sale on the ebay app, and the money should hit my account shortly. One down, many to go.

Today I’ll work the list. Plenty to pick and choose from. It’s just a matter of what is doable, what fits the time, and what catches my eye or is MOVED to the top of the list. And something usually moves without my intervention.

Anyway, keep working to improve your situation, and keep stacking what you need to do so.

nick

Normally hot, normally humid. It was a beautiful clear day Sunday, but it was HOT. Loading out, the wind felt like opening an oven door. I could use a bit of cooler today.

I had a good last day of the show. Didn’t win any door prizes, but did do good business. One day to cover my expenses, one half day the same, and one good day to make the show… plus lots of good fellowship and conversation. Just like my hamfest I’m usually the last man standing with stuff to sell, and the last man to leave the site. There is almost always someone to sell some stuff too, and chat with as I pack up that is thankful I stuck around.

Today I’ll take the trailer back and get the large item ready to ship. I didn’t get a time for the shipper to pick up yet, but I told the buyer that it would be ready Monday afternoon at the earliest. I can probably do some sorting and stacking once it’s on a pallet.

Getting out and among people is a good thing. Having interests outside of stuff on teh intarwebs is a good thing. It’s especially good if the group is varied and widely distributed geographically, politically, and economically. It’s a reality check against doomer bias and being in an echo chamber. Get out there, do something fun.

And stack.

nick

Hot today. Humid too. Rain in the forecast, but that’s generic for Houston anyway. It certainly did get hot yesterday, well into the 90sF. And the humidity was higher than a humidor. Pretty unpleasant outside.

So I stayed in. I needed to find and sort a lot of stuff that I’m taking to my sale. I spent the afternoon doing that. I spent the morning doing other stuff. Like working with the buyer to get shipping worked out for the item I sold. It’s 3ftx3ftx7ft and weighs about 400-500 pounds. I don’t have a dock or forklift. Fortunately, the LTL trucker they hired can provide a liftgate pickup. FWIW, if you get something big delivered, you probably want a liftgate delivery. That will get the thing into or out of the truck and onto the ground. After that it’s all on you.

Today I’ve got to pickup my rental trailer, which is a half hour away. Then in no particular order, shop for drinks for the crew, load my stuff into the trailer, get the kid to her Thursday activity, and make something for dinner.

Busy day. And then the weekend is non-stop. And it turns out the kids have stuff that they are doing so IDK if anyone is going to the BOL this weekend to get ready for next weekend…

Too much to do. Not enough time or energy.

But I can stack…

nick

Should be a little cooler, after the rain yesterday. But I’m betting it isn’t really, and I’m sure it will be just as humid. I was soaked to the skin yesterday before the rain came. And it wasn’t that hot, just humid and stifling.

I got some stuff done. Ordered my trailer for the weekend. Ordered a conversion kit for one of my generators. I really should get the receptacle installed for my NG whole house genny too. I’ve got the stuff, just working in the sun and heat is daunting. When sweat is dripping from your fingers, it’s hard to do fiddly bits.

I moved a bunch of my hobby sale stuff to my shop, and did some more electrical troubleshooting. Now that I have power, but still don’t have half the stuff working, it was time to meter some stuff. After lots of poking around, I’m pretty sure one of the supply legs has a failing fuse. I’ll look at replacing it today or tomorrow. Good voltages coming off the meter, and into the disconnect, but bad coming out of the one fuse.

Did some domestic bliss yesterday too. I’ll have to fold the laundry today, but at least I’ll have clean socks. Oh, and coordinated with the buyer for shipping of the big item I sold. I need to buy straps and get the thing onto a pallet, and stretch wrapped. He’s looking at a pickup next week.

All the while I’ve got more prep to do for my weekend show. Today it will be moving the bins out of my office. I might have a bin or two in the attic too.

Lots to do. A grocery and Costco trip should be in there too. I need to stack another bale or two of Charmin while it’s on sale.

There’s always something to stack, something to learn, or something to repair or replace. Get busy.

n

Rain. And maybe a bit cooler? We eventually got pounded last night after hours of grumble and flash. It was hot and dripping all day before that. Dunno which we’ll get today, hot and humid or cooler and humid.

I got a fair amount of stuff done yesterday, at least by my modest standards for success these days. I returned the plate compactor, and then I took all the BOL trash and got rid of it. Picked up a couple of things for my show this weekend. Did an auction pickup for another AED. I’ll need to order a battery. And I got home without going thrifting.

Did some auction stuff, and worked with my buyer to arrange local pickup of the big thing he bought. I’ve never done that with ebay, and it’s a new process for both of us. Hopefully we can get the details settled and I can get paid, and get the thing out of the shop. Next up, sell more of the stuff.

I do have to write some checks this month and that’s gonna sting. Not much incoming this month. Good thing I married up. Choosing your life partner is the single most important thing you can do to determine your success or failure in life. Choose well.

Hurricane coming for some folks. If you are in the target zone, get your preps ready. Report back on your experiences. We learn as much from failure as success.

So stack up a few failures. You aren’t trying enough if you aren’t failing, and the beauty of failure is now you know one more thing that won’t work. We learn as we go.

Stack what you can.

nick