jc blog - tales of a modern-day nomadic hunter-gatherer

Follow jcomeau_ictx on Twitter This is the weblog of Intrepid Wanderer. You never know what you might find here; graphic descriptions of bodily functions, computer programming secrets, proselytizing for the antichrist, miscellaneous ranting and kvetching, valuable information on living off the land... if you don't share my rather weird interests you may want to try slashdot instead.

You can consider my Del.icio.us links an extension to my blog, as are my LifeTango goals and my other to-do items. My to-buy list is also public, but only for sharing any useful ideas that might be there; I'm not requesting charity, neither do I offer it.

You can find me easily in google searches, as jcomeau, jcomeau_ictx, or jcomeauictx. There are lots of other jcomeaus, but AFAIK I'm the only jcomeau_ictx out there so far.

If you want to comment on anything you see here, try the new Facebook comments, reachable by clicking the "[comment]" link at the end of each post. If for some reason that isn't working, go ahead and email me, jc.unternet.net. You know what to do with the first dot. Make the 'subject' line something reasonably intelligent-looking or it goes plunk! into the spambasket unread.

This RSS feed may or may not work. Haven't fiddled with it in forever. RSS Feed


2017-09-30-0614Z

someone on a bicycle touring forum on Facebook recently mentioned that to wash clothes on a trip, invert a drybag, put your clothes in with water and a few drops of Dr. Bronners, and agitate for a while. doesn't even need rinsing if you don't use too much soap. wring out and air-dry, holding with bungee cords to your pack. brilliant idea. [comment]

2017-09-30-0301Z

so I was able to beat that bug. I waited a few days to announce it, but the symptoms never got worse and only lasted about 24 hours. I credit probiotics as usual: 2 quarts of cultured buttermilk, a quart of yogurt, and about a quart of kimchee.

my new method of camp stove lighting is working pretty well, even with the damp tinder I had this morning after a night of fog. every time you get it to burn a few seconds, it helps to dry the remainder, and makes the next lighting more likely to succeed. I think it only took 4 lights, none of them having to hold down the gas button for several seconds, which wastes butane. [comment]

2017-09-27-0335Z

coming down with something. I haven't been indulging in sugar, but have been drinking 1/2 bottle (sometimes more) of wine per day for some time now, which tends to weaken my immune system.

scored 2 quarts of cultured buttermilk and a quart of yogurt at the food grab today, so that will hopefully stave off any real symptoms from developing. right now it's just a scratchy throat and a little more mucus production than (my) normal. we shall see.

instead of wine tonight, I just added a little vodka to some of the buttermilk; my "sour Russian" cocktail I'm fairly sure I've mentioned before. [comment]

2017-09-26-0345Z

I have yet another new "best" method for lighting my BushBuddy Ultra stick stove. put some sticks at the bottom, or better yet, the charred remains of the previous fire. then put the pot stand on top, and fill the whole cavity with tinder (dried redwood needles are my most common choice due to easy availability). put a lid on top (I use the lid from the titanium pot that came with the stove), and turn the whole thing upside down. tilt it up a bit and light.

let it burn for a minute or so, hopefully reaching the charcoal or twigs at the "top". then flip it over: I use two bamboo spatulas for this, but if you have heavy gloves or very callused hands those ought to work too.

if the flame goes out during the flip, just blow on it. I use a short length of plastic tubing for this, so I don't get the smoke right in my face.

immediately start piling on some fuel, because this method uses very little during the lighting phase. one advantage of this way is that slightly damp tinder might dry out more quickly and easily. [comment]

2017-09-26-0050Z

got stung by another yellow-jacket, and ran into the house, but another one must have been attached to my clothing somewhere because next thing I knew there was one buzzing around inside. I swatted furiously at it but kept missing. next thing I knew, though, it was caught in Daddy Longlegs's web, and within seconds it was wrapped up like a cocoon! [comment]

2017-09-23-0538Z

pet peeves about Digital Ocean:

the options I select for a droplet are the same every time, however the defaults never change. so if I miss telling it to use my existing key, I can't get into my droplet. how fucked up is that? useful defaults, anyone?

clicking Destroy from the Other options on an existing droplet brings up a page with the Destroy button disabled. I have to refresh the page to get a working button.

OK, rant over. looks like I have the basic application installing properly now. my next goal is to get it functional, and I have about 8 days to do it.

waited too late to buy my Megabus ticket to Anaheim. to get the $1 fare (plus $2.50 booking fee, so $3.50) I had to choose 6AM on November 1st. that gets to Anaheim in mid-afternoon, so I probably can't pass through Camp Pendleton until the next morning. whatever, I'll deal with it when I get there. if I have to walk the 108 miles to Tijuana to save some money, I'll do it.

that dumpster-dived pork I ate is putting some pressure on my stomach. hope I survive this adventure. it would suck to get taken out of the game now. [comment]

2017-09-15-2242Z

so my old Unixshell server has finally been terminated. the IP address no longer responds. I've got to remember to rewrite my zone files one of these days, and deregister the nameserver, not to mention rebuild my websites on one of my new VPSs.

driving to the Tahoe area on Tuesday, heading into the mountains past Placerville I could see the American River cloudy with a brownish-green cast. and just past a construction zone 5 miles west of Kyburz it suddenly got clear again. I don't know what they were dumping but it had stopped by the time we drove back through this afternoon.

that's mostly it for kayak adventures this summer/fall. now I've got work to catch up on. [comment]

2017-09-04-0258Z

so I didn't catch anything on the 2nd Free Fishing Day (Sept. 2, 2017) in California, but it was fun. crabs kept tugging at my bait. next year I've got to bring a crab snare.

I ascertained that the jetty at Doran Beach is in fact a "public pier" according to California law. and Sonoma County Transit has a bus going out there during the summer. [comment]

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