Font Size:     

Tues. July 7, 2026 – lots of stuff, lots to do

By on July 7th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

And I’ll be doing it in heat and humidity. Yesterday did cool off after the downpour but it was plenty hot before then. And it’ll be hot today.

I spent the day doing computer stuff, auction stuff, and non-prepping hobby stuff. Had to order the tchotchke item for our registration bags. Took a while but I found a seller who could get me over 200 at a price we could afford. It won’t be inscribed or imprinted, but we can add a label easily enough, or maybe I can use one of my laser engravers to add the org name and event. Stickers will be easier…

Today I’ll get out of the house if only to go to Lowes. W ordered more of the flooring we’re using at the BOL before it goes out of stock, and the last bit came in. I also need ant poison and something else that slips my mind at the moment, so I’ll combine trips.

I will also have to go to Habitat for Humanity’s reStore to see if they have any suitable windows in stock. The next big project at the BOL won’t be stabilizing the hill, fixing the retaining walls, or repairs to the dock, it’ll be removing a fireplace and installing a window in its place. Of course that’s a fractal task, with ceiling and roof involved, as well as wall, brick, siding, etc. The kitchen and living room repairs/remodel/improvement can’t proceed until that fireplace is gone so it got bumped up my list by an executive authority…

Or possibly there could be a shed build. The current shed for the mower is pretty dilapidated. It would be nice to have more room and to have some bulk water storage and treatment where the shed currently is. Not on the boss’s radar though.

I guess we’ll see what happens.

Always be working on improving your situation. And stacks. Build them up.

nick

Read the comments: 67 Comments

Mon. July 6, 2026 – home for a week

By on July 6th, 2026 in culture, march to war

Steamy. REALLY steamy. That’s my guess for today. It got very wet last night, and I’m sure the ball o fire in the sky is still going to be there. That combo equals “steamy”. It was pretty dang hot yesterday too, until late in the day. Then it was almost nice.

Spent the morning doing all the “leaving the BOL” chores, and then part of the afternoon too. But I did get out before dark, and got home shortly after dark. Then the rains came…

Today I will sleep in, in my own comfortable bed. Then I’ll try to figure out what I can get done in the next few days before I head back to the BOL. I’ll spend a week doing something major without everyone else there. Or maybe two minor things. But it’ll be just me for a week. So I better have everything here in order.

Plans. I got ’em. We’ll see how that works out.

Stacking is cool though….

nick

Read the comments: 79 Comments

Sun. July 5, 2026 – still got stuff to do

By on July 5th, 2026 in culture, lakehouse, personal

Hot and humid again. It will probably top 100F today with humidity about the same, although yesterday my weather station said it was only 49%RH. It was cool with a breeze in the shade, if you were soaking wet with sweat, and the portacool felt cool… Still, hot and humid, and in the sun it’s broiling.

Spent the morning doing small stuff. After I finished the LED tape lighting for the deck, I did some tree trimming and pruning. Did some other minor stuff too, and eventually spent an hour floating in the lake with a drink in hand. The lake is very warm, but does have cooler currents moving through it. Relaxing felt good.

Then it was a monster fireworks show, and time reading under the stars.

A good day all in all.

Today I’ll be taking the decorations down and doing “leaving the BOL” stuff. I’ll be back before too long when W takes the kids to spend time with her parents. I’ll have a big project to do the week they’re gone. Not sure yet which it will be, but I’m sure it will be a lot of work.

Always be working, amiright? I think so. and stacking.

nick

Read the comments: 54 Comments

Sat. July 4, 2026 – Happy Independence Day

By on July 4th, 2026 in culture, lakehouse

It’ll be hot and humid with some brain roasting sun, if we’re lucky. There is a small chance of rain, but hopefully it will hold off until after midnight. It was certainly hot and humid yesterday, although in the shade, with a breeze is was comfortable if you were just sitting there.

Of course I was not. I was in the sun on the dock putting up bunting and additional flags. And installing cleats, bumpers, and LED tape lighting to outline the boat lift parts of the dock. LOTS of bunting… LOTS of flags.

I did some on the front of the house on the road side too. It looks very nice and patriotic. I would have thought there would be more stuff planned for the 250th anniversary, but I’m not totally surprised there isn’t. Patriotism is out of style. F that. I love this country.

Today we’ll do some more small jobs, maybe take the boat out, cook hamburgers, and then we are supposed to have the neighborhood fireworks show. That is always a good time and unlike big public shows, I don’t have to be nervous and watching the crowd. I can relax and enjoy the spectacle.

I hope everyone has a chance to celebrate at least a little. There’s more to love than hate, and it’s good to remember that.

Happy Independence Day everyone.

nick

Read the comments: 39 Comments

Fri. July 3, 2026 – time to do some decorating

By on July 3rd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse

Hot again, certainly as hot as Houston, although it takes a while longer to get there, and really only in the sun. In the sun it was over 105F yesterday, but real temp was probably high 90sF. Today is supposed to be similar.

Slept late but did eventually get to work. Spent hours mowing and edging and then blowing the debris. By then I was pretty done with being in the heat. I used a duster brush thing to get the spider webs off of the outside of the house, the eves and the fascia and then I called it quits. Family arrived while I was laying on the floor cooling down.

Had dinner and played a game, then suddenly it was midnight.

Today I’ll do more cleanup and I’ve got a bunch of red white and blue decorations to put on the dock. Our local fireworks show is right over the lake in front of our lot so we have people join us on the dock to watch. I might have to do some minor repairs to deck boards as well as the decorating…

W will want to get the boat in the water, I’m sure. It will be a full day.

I’m calling it a prep, as we are deepening our ties to the community, and making good memories for the kids. If things go crazy that will help them.

Stacking is easy, joining an existing group is hard. Do both.

nick

Read the comments: 53 Comments

Thur. July 2, 2026 – always more to do

By on July 2nd, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Hot and humid in Houston and at the BOL. I’m sure we’ll get to 100F here today. Forecast has us on the edge of the “t-storms and rain possible” zone, but the lake has its own little microclimate. Summer in Texas.

I did computer stuff and office stuff in the morning yesterday, then loaded the truck and ran errands before heading to the BOL. W and D2 will follow today, I think. D1 will be working and staying with her best friend, and then going to their lakehouse for the holiday. Got here and mowed the grass. It was knee high in most places. I’ll have to mow again in a couple of days to get all the blades that just bent over.

Today, I’ll see what the heat is like and what I can do besides finishing the grass cutting and decorating for the holiday. It would be nice to get a couple of things off the list, but we’ll see how motivated I am and how hot it is. I should be able to find stuff to do to keep moving.

Always be working, right? And stacking. Time to pull out the canned tomato products and rotate them before the cans rupture….

nick

Read the comments: 89 Comments

Wed. July 1, 2026 – finally, something different

By on July 1st, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, lakehouse, march to war

Not the weather silly, my task list. The weather will probably be the same, hot and humid, although the national forecast has us in the “could be t-storms and rain” zone. It certainly got above 100F yesterday afternoon. I’m hoping there won’t be rain today or tomorrow, but I’d rather get it out of the way before the weekend if we have to get some.

I spent the morning doing auction stuff. There was one item I really wanted, but I came to my senses and tapped out. It ended up going for one bid past my high bid. If it wasn’t north of Austin, and didn’t have to be picked up today, I might have gone a bit higher, but the pickup was obnoxious given my plans. I’m also pretty sure that I noticed an issue that can’t be fixed at any cost, that would have ruled out spending a bunch of money on restoration. Even restored it would have been on borrowed time.

Then I went to work getting the rest of the stuff out of my storage unit. That took a trip at 1pm, followed by a bunch of organizing at the shop to make room for the 5pm trip, and I went back at 8pm for the last scraps. They’re still in the truck, but I’m out of that unit, and only 6 months later than I should have been.

Today I’ll deal with the stuff in the truck, load up for the BOL, hit a dumpster, two pickups, and then head to the lake. If it’s not raining, I’ll probably jump on the mower and do what I can before losing the light. I want it mowed before any rain we might get.

Then I’ll do my decorating for Independence Day, and start working on the list…

Always be working to improve your situation, whether it’s your fitness, health, finances, or physical surrounding.

And of course, stacking is the easiest part.

nick

Read the comments: 52 Comments

Tues. June 30, 2026 – yet more work

By on June 30th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And heat. Lots more heat. We at least got some nice breezes in the late afternoon. Without having to work in the sun, or in a still space, it would be nice and warm in the shade. But, I’m not sitting in the shade. More days should be just like yesterday.

I did my stuff and I’m still not done. I’ll keep plugging away today. Two more trips should do it, if I can find space for the stuff. I am finding good stuff to sell or use so there is that. Some of it was very far back in the unit. Turns out I have a lot more turntables and a lot more shoes to sell than I expected.

One of the odd things I found was a box of harddrives. 5 vintage apple drives each selling on eBay for around $100 was a nice surprise. One might sell for $150 and one had some crazy high asks, but no sales. I put them in the “list this first’ pile.

When I start listing again, it would be nice to have some early ‘wins’. I think I can do that no problem. Just have to DO it.

Which won’t happen if I don’t get a move on. Just as soon as an auction for something for D2 ends. I really want it, in any condition, but it’s gonna be a pain in the butt to pickup north of Austin when I am on my way to the BOL…

Keep the faith, and keep stacking.

nick

Read the comments: 84 Comments

Mon. June 29, 2026 – a new week for the end of the month

By on June 29th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And it’s likely to be a hot one too, like the last week. We are seeing ~100F in the afternoon, and the humidity is crazy high too. If there’s no breeze, you’re dripping in no time.

I spent the afternoon and evening working on moving my storage unit to the shop. Only got one trip in, but I did get more shelves set up and I’ll be able to hit it hard today. It is crazy hot in the shop without the fan blowing air in. I’m going to have to do something about that if I hope to do any real work in there. Can’t be dripping sweat on everything.

I was dripping sweat on everything yesterday and I’ll probably be doing it again today. I did try to keep up with the water loss, and added gatoraid mix to my water bottles. I think it helped. I was still getting leg cramps last night though.

Considering I’m 60 years old, I think I’m still in pretty good shape, and my ability to handle heat is probably back to normal. Took a long time after my heat injury though. Better to avoid getting hurt.

Today is more moving, stacking, sorting, and restacking. At some point I need to be listing, selling, and shipping, but getting the stuff out of storage is a first step.

At least I’m making progress and building momentum on this.

Until I’m not.

Stack what you need.

nick

Read the comments: 57 Comments

Sun. June 28, 2025 – more moving and stacking ahead of me

By on June 28th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

And it will be hot again. I have to wait for afternoon so that I’m working in shadow, because that sun is broiling hot when it’s 100F and humid. Today should be the same as yesterday. HOT. And soaked to the skin from sweat in this Houston humidity.

Unfortunately my evaporative cooling vest doesn’t do much in high humidity and my ice pack based one is at the BOL. I did bring a bouncy house fan and having the moving air helps a lot. That fan is small but moves tons of air.

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening moving stuff from the last of my storage units to the shop, and stacking and organizing to make room for it. I found some stuff I’d forgotten about, both for my ham radio swapmeet and for my non-prepping hobby. You’d think I couldn’t misplace and forget about several black bins full of stuff, but I could and did.

There is a lesson there that is probably something like “you should go through all your stuff at least once a year to remember what you’ve got and where it is.” There was far too much stuff I set down and never got back to.

And that friends, is one of the drawbacks to focusing on stacking. I’ve got the stuff, but do I really have it if I don’t remember it, and can’t put my hands on it?

Nevertheless, having it is better than not having it. Stack!

nick

Read the comments: 43 Comments