Mon. Sept. 22, 2025 – yes, we have no bananas

By on September 22nd, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool-ish, warming to hot. Because Houston. It got to 96F yesterday, and started warmer than the past several days. Then it rained and that cooled everything off a bit. Still was saturated though.

I got up far too early, dunno why, cooked my wife breakfast. Apparently there is this thing called “birthday week” where the birthday girl gets special treatment for the week, not just on the day. Who knew? I made an omelette. Saturday was a frittata. Of course there was bacon too.

Then I moved some stuff around and did some small jobs before deciding to finish the pressure washing and install my new 20ft flagpole. The rain came just as I was finishing that up. I poked at a few more small things after that. Dinner was a take and make meal from Costco. Those sou vide meals are cheaper than Burger King and a whole lot better, and they are very convenient. I usually freeze them until needed.

Today I’ll be working the list. I’ve got more stuff to move out of the house as part of the wife’s push to move stuff around. And I’ve got to do some ebay listing. Time to generate some cash, or at least start the process. I’ve got some outstanding invoices and other monies due me that I need to get on top of too.

And I’d like to take a load to auction. The scrap yard needs a visit too.

I’ve got prepping to do, mainly generator stuff, and I need to make some room to do it, and make some time. All while whittling away at the list.

Always be working. Always be stacking.

nick

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Sun. Sept. 21, 2025 – more stuff to do.

By on September 21st, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool, then warm, then hot. And even into the night, still pretty warm. It was in the 80sF at 11pm yesterday. I didn’t even want to sit out with a tiny little fire and a book.

I did spend Saturday doing the stuff my wife wanted me to do. I made two trips to the shop to move stuff out of the house. It was pretty hot in the shop, and I didn’t have the time or motivation to move much around there. The A/C did start up, and all the ice was melted off of it, but something isn’t right with it.

The compressor runs, even if the control panel is set to ‘off’, and none of the controls actually work, except on/off/and temperature. Good thing I have A/C units to spare. And good thing it’s getting cooler.

I did make a nice dinner for W1 and the kids. It wasn’t cheap, but it was cheaper than going out.

Today she’ll be working D2, and I’ll just continue on the stuff I have on the list. With additions, because OF COURSE stuff got added. D1 has some plastic hanging off the bottom of the car that needs to be zip tied up or removed so it doesn’t drag and catch. And I’m sure there will be some other new thing that needs urgent attention…

But that’s all just normal. Do what you can with what you have, and the time you’ve got. And stack.

nick

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Sat. Sept. 20, 2025 – what’s up homies?

By on September 20th, 2025 in open thread

Cool morning. Warm day. Hot afternoon. With clouds, but we’re not supposed to get rain. Like yesterday. The sun is still laser hot.

Spent yesterday mostly doing pickups. More stuff for the BOL. More stuff for the house. Prices are generally low so bargains are available. What’s coming through the auctions right now? Portable and window A/C units. Mr Heater propane heaters and clones. Small chest freezers. Shelf units (although they are a staple of auctions they are a bit cheaper than usual). Coolers. Vac sealers, even Foodsaver.

Some of the stuff is just seasonal, some is just the weird ebb and flow.

Today I’m doing stuff around the house. W is giving direction, and we’re to be her minions. I’m scared.

Keep working, keep stacking.

nick

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Fri. Sept. 19, 2025 – “… people say we monkee around…”

Cool then hot. When you’re hot you’re hot, so cool you’re hot… I feel like singing today. No idea why. Anyway, yesterday was as expected and today will probably be too. Unless the forecast squeezes just a little rain out on us.

I did get a bunch of things done yesterday, but they were all little, and at home. I put off pickups until I had my pickup back, and just stayed home and chipped away at stuff.

I broke down the brisket, and cooked some. 3 pounds in the crock pot with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and four onions sliced thin. 6 hours later, it was filling the house with good smells. Unfortunately, the beef fat I was rendering on the stove didn’t smell so nice. I did get 2 cups of tallow at the end of the day, and I’d have just thrown that fat out. There was almost a cup in the crock pot too, but I didn’t render that.

As a side I made a recipe for dinner rolls from a magazine put out by our local electrical co-op at the BOL. Every month they feature other co-op members’ recipes. They were quick and easy, even from scratch. Unfortunately, the gamma seal lid on my bucket of flour failed, and the bucket went wet and rotten. I had a backup, so I opened that and made the rolls. That’s the second bucket of flour to turn into stinky glue.

My storage conditions sux teh bunnies, so I’m glad I don’t have even more breakage, but gamma lids are supposed to be good. They aren’t fool proof, and I’m the fool to prove it. Use a real lid for long term, and gammas only for the bucket you are working out of.

Moisture is my biggest problem with long term storage of anything, followed by sunlight. I’m the opposite of a cool dark place, and it shows.

Still, nice to know I can make light fluffy rolls with simple ingredients and only a little time. I think we’re most likely to be eating flat bread during any prolonged event, just because you don’t have the time for rising dough, or the energy for long baking. Just look at what poor people around the world eat, and it’s mostly flat bread.

I may try them with bacon fat instead of ‘solid vegetable shortening’ next time, just because I’ve got more bacon fat, but I try to make a new recipe as closely as possible the first time.

Late in the day I got my truck back. I’m $1500 lighter, but the A/C works again, and the oil got changed. There is a list of things that need attention, but most of it isn’t critical or in the budget for this year. In a couple more years it will be an antique and then maybe I’ll do a half arsed ‘restoration’ for D2. I can’t replace it for $100/ month, and that’s about what I’ve been spending on it. Plus, it’s a simple and reliable design, without all the tracking, ads, and “driver assistance” that I don’t want.

Today I’ll be doing those delayed pickups. And more stuff around the house. I have two specific missions for W as birthday requests, so I need to get them done.

Of course there are all the usual things on the list too, and stacking. Busy busy me…

nick

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Thur. Sept. 18, 2025 – yep, it costs more and takes longer, every time.

By on September 18th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Weather is the same today as yesterday. And the day before. And before. And next. Cool to start, hot at the end, humid all along.

So, did I get anything done yesterday? Why no, not really. I did one pickup. Went by my shop. Authorized my mechanic to fix my Ranger, mostly. Did some other stuff, but nothing on the list. Kid 2 came home from school not feeling well. I did make dinner, and it was good.

Today though, today I’m doing stuff. Or maybe not. I don’t have my pickup truck so there are things I’d like to do that will be harder, or that I really can’t do, like moving out of another storage unit, or taking some shelves from one place to my shop. Even going to the Lowes and picking up 10 gallons of kerosene is harder without the Ranger. Wahhh wahhhh wahhh. I’ll figure something out.

It’s just not what I want to do, or thought I’d be doing.

But that’s life. Just gotta keep plugging away.

Gotta keep working and learning and stacking.

nick

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Wed. Sept. 17, 2025 – this time for sure…

By on September 17th, 2025 in computing, culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cool again, but then warm again, and then HOT again. We almost got some rain around 6pm, which cooled things down as the front moved by, but it was 92F before that. And pretty humid too. Time for Fall to get here.

I did some things in the morning, doing some small things in my bedroom and closet that I’d been thinking about for a while. Just rearranging stuff really. There’s more to do, but I broke the logjam by finally starting. I hope. Then I fell down a rabbit hole with some network stuff.

I did get one ubiquiti access point configured. I have another that shouldn’t take but a minute, and then I’ve got to install them in the attic. The one that took some skull sweat wasn’t resetting, or configurable, or upgrading properly, so when that got resolved (by using a different ubiquiti tool) I was pretty happy. It’s a $400 access point I picked up at the goodwill bins for about $3. Yeah, getting that to work for me kinda rocked. The other came from my client’s house during one of the upgrade rounds, and it configured no problem.

What I can’t do yet is get them off my normal network, and I can’t get them to use an alternative DNS server. ATT doesn’t allow you to configure their router to use anyone but them, as they mine that and sell it. I’ve got several devices I want to stop seeing ads on, but can’t configure manually, so I need the wifi or the main router to assign an alternate DNS, whether that’s a pihole or 9.9.9.9 or some other ad blocking service.

I have been looking at used ubiquiti gateways and they’re pretty cheap on ebay, so I may just do that. Then I’ll have control over it at a whole ‘nother level. The added advantage is that I’ve already spent time and energy learning to use the ubiquiti stuff at my client’s house, so I can save some effort. The other choice is to change the way the APs are configured, and set them up as a portal (like in a coffee shop or business lobby) and connect the devices to them. There are additional issues there though, and I’d have to learn more about that functionality.

I’m bummed because I thought I’d just be able to config the APs to give out a different DNS server… and I just had another idea about how to do that which I’ll have to explore today… See, talking through a problem can help. The normal setup and use just passes the routers DHCP and DNS to wifi clients too.

In the afternoon I did my pickups, got stuff at the grocery store, and dropped the Ranger off at the mechanic shop. Then I walked home. D1 picked up D2 and took her to her Tues/Thur activity. Sometimes having minions helps.

Today I’ll do a bit more cleanup in the bedroom and closet, a bit more networking, and maybe a bit of other stuff. I do have a pickup locally, and I can take some stuff over to the shop using the Expy when I do that pickup. Even if it’s raining, the Expy will keep the stuff dry. Tiny little steps, but all stuff that needs to be done.

I’ve got a brisket to portion and freeze, so that will be adding to the stacks. It’ll also probably end up being dinner too.

Stack while you can. If assassinations aren’t enough to kick off the next stage, something else will.

nick

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Tues. Sept. 16, 2025 – uh oh, someone’s birthday is coming fast

By on September 16th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Hot later but cool enough at the start of the day. Yesterday did fit the pattern. It was a little cooler because of the overcast, but still unpleasantly hotter than the morning.

Some stuff got done. Some stuff didn’t. I did my pickups, even the far one, although I was 2 minutes late. They’d locked the door, but I called ahead and they left my stuff outside for me.

It was a lot of driving around and it took most of the afternoon. It’s very clear where my time has been going.

I did find time to change out the fuse in my dead battery charger. And true to form, it instantly blew. When gear has a blown fuse, there is usually a reason. I’ve got too much to do, so I salvaged the case and cables, but put the board in the recycle pile. I’m thinking about mounting a mobile radio in the case. Project for future me.

Today, I’ve got a few more pickups, and some grocery shopping to do. Kid2 needs stuff for band (and the Band Supporters ‘band’ together to provide it. I’m a band dad.) Normal day for me. Maybe I’ll get a chance to do something else on the list. Probably not though.

Time to set aside some time to really hit the list. Like the week at the BOL, I need to dedicate time. Kinda hard with the other stuff going on though. We’ll see what I can figure out.

Out there in the world, I’m assuming the tit for tat is starting. If you haven’t been completely grey for the last 5 years, assume someone knows your politics and doesn’t like them. Keep your eyes open and your weapons close.

AND stack. Because crazy knows no bounds and things are gonna get crazy.

nick

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Mon. Sept. 15, 2025 – here we go again.

Still more of the same. It got perilously close to raining late yesterday, so we might get some today, but otherwise, cool to start, warming to hot. Humidity seemed higher yesterday too.

So of course I worked outside in the afternoon. Sometimes I think my momma did raise at least one fool… But, I did get some stuff done. The walkway to the front door of the house has been a tripping hazard for a while, and really needed repair. I’d bought the mortar some time ago, and the bags were sitting on the porch waiting.

I finally got the kid to pressure wash the flagstones and the mortar joints, and I did some filling last month. I did a bunch more yesterday. There is still some to do, but I have to see if the remaining bag is mortar or cement or concrete. I used up the open bag and called it quits for now.

There are many things on the list, and fixing some of the holes in the walk has been far down the list for a year or more, but things have come together to move it to the “just get it done and move on to the next thing” part of the list. The bucket was there, the mortar was there, the walkway was there. And now it’s about 90% repaired.

Today I’ve got pickups to do. I’ve been bidding on less, and not really trying to win most things- just putting in a “you stole it” bid, since prices are low at the moment. I still managed to win some stuff that falls in the ‘preps’ category, as well as some day to day household stuff. I’m working on spending less time driving around to do pickups, as I finally realized that was where all my time was going. I know, sometimes I am not really ready to face the obvious truth.

Never the less, I will have some pickups this week, and some today. Unfortunately, today’s is one of the farthest away, and not really combine-able with any other pickups. I’ve been trying to not bid much with that auction house, but sometimes the deal is too good to pass up, and they often have really low prices. It’s easier to not bid in auctions that always seem to sell stuff for too much money. Not so easy when they almost give stuff away.

I’m still stacking stuff, although most of it isn’t food anymore. And most of it is tweaks and refinements of what I’ve already got stacked. For example, I’m bidding on the 220v combiner kit for my two honda es3000i generators. That would be a nice addition, especially if it was cheap. I don’t need it, but it would expand my capabilities. There are a lot of things like that. Especially things related to infrastructure.

Power generation, storage, and conversion. Drinking water preparation and storage. Waste handling. Comms. Infrastructure. And for here, not just at the BOL. Medical stuff is high on my list for stacking too. In the last few weeks a bunch of syringes, needles, bandages, and useful books have been added to the stacks. It’s a deep prep, and definitely in the ‘I never want to have to use this stuff’ pile. But it’s cheap now, precious in the right situation, and impossible to improvise. Exactly the stuff to stack after your basic needs are met.

So keep an eye open for stuff that you might need, and can’t readily get. Stack it when you can.

nick

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Sun. Sept. 14, 2025 – mumble, mumble, work?mmumble

By on September 14th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall

Another one just like the other one. Cool to start, warming to hot later. Yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow as well. It’s not bad, but the cool morning sets an expectation that makes the hot afternoon feel like a betrayal. Kinda. Still better to have some relief, and the lower humidity has been nice.

Did my hobby thing yesterday. Didn’t actually do much else. By the time I got home and ate, I was tired, napped, then did some office stuff. Not the productive day I was hoping for.

W and D2 get home today, so I probably won’t get much actual work done today either, but I’m going to start out like I will. Gotta try, right? It will be nice to have the pack back together. I’m not really digging this new thing where the kids do their own stuff and aren’t around. I know it is natural, and even desirable, but I still don’t love it.

But despite what should be due me for all my magnificence, the world doesn’t revolve around what I want. Most of the time. So I’ll keep doing what I know how to do. Stack. Fix. Learn. And fall behind…

nick

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Sat. Sept. 13, 2025 – Friday the 13th comes on a Saturday this month

By on September 13th, 2025 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Cool to start but warming to ‘hot’ as the day progresses. Clear sky forecast, but it got a bit cloudy late in the day on Friday. We might see a bit of cloudiness and local rain.

I spent most of the day not getting stuff done. The doctor visit for my annual physical ate the morning, and the disruption to my food and caffeine intake blew the early afternoon. Then it was pick up the kid from school and help my wife load up for her weekend at the BOL.

Today is the first meeting of my non-prepping hobby after our big annual event, so it should be a long one. It will be nice if we get a couple of new members from the big event, but it usually takes a couple of months before people get their schedules changed and find the time. It’s some sort of commentary on our modern life that for most people, finding 4 hours on one weekend a month for a new pursuit is difficult and takes re-arranging…

Having some time in meatspace with people who share an interest has become a vital part of my mental well-being. It’s a chance to be with people and not talk about politics or prepping, or the state of the world. Although, given the broadly conservative nature of a bunch of middle and late middle aged men, most with successful businesses or careers,I’m sure recent events will be a topic for person to person discussion.

After the meeting, I’ll be working my list. And looking at what I’ve got stacked. And making plans to refine and stack some more. The threats we face haven’t changed, but there might be momentum building at a different rate. Get your house in order.

nick

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