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


2011-08-31-0319Z

Mobile gmail has been borked all afternoon, the only way to get back to the Inbox is to reload the URL.

The soup never boiled yesterday but I was able to make the biscuit crumbs and bacon edible that way. [comment]

2011-08-30-2303Z

All the biscuits I brought are getting moldy, can't use them for potlucks. Running low on wine. Attempting a half-quart of playa homebrew, hoping to catch some wild yeast. [comment]

2011-08-29-2039Z

I've ruined so many butane soldering irons using that dirty Ronson butane. There has to be a way to clean the jets out, maybe with naphtha or ethanol. Finally I got my bushbuddy stove with charcoal lit by using an empty cigarette lighter to provide the spark, having flame shoot out the sides of my soldering iron. I used some paper as well but I don't know if it helped. I was able to crisp my last chicharrón to the point where I could eat it despite the rancidity, and now I'm attempting to boil some water for soup, but it's been 20 minutes already and no joy. [comment]

2011-08-28-0439Z

Great, we've succeeded. Burning Man now has a high-speed Internet backbone, the cellphone coverage is improved, our camp has the generator installed and running. Everyone is inside their RVs with the A/C on full blast, nobody is interacting. Let's all just go home, shall we? [comment]

2011-08-24-0648Z

Qemu version 0.14.1, which is the latest for Debian, honors a32 overrides in real mode, which the Athlon processor on my E625 laptop refuses to do. Bochs is more correct, but the standard Debian bochs doesn't have debugger support so I can't yet see why it fails to boot my modified colorForth kernel. I really wanted to have something to give the community before I leave for Burning Man, but it looks like it might not happen. [comment]

2011-08-17-0058Z

Mounted hi-rise handlebars on the Huffy bike I'd bought for $45 on Craigslist a few days ago. The handlebars were less than $20 each (we bought two) on eBay, and I already had some new brake cables from when I had planned to do this same thing to my old bike. I reused the rear cable for the front, and used pieces of the old casing, and even the end crimps, so didn't have to buy anything extra. However, I mounted the shifters down low on the handlebars, so if I want those raised also, I'll have to shell out some more dough. For now, just having the weight off my hands is good enough. And if this gets stolen, it won't hurt so much as if I'd bought another recumbent.

I'm drinking the last pint of my coffee ale. It didn't come out very good; the cidery sourness of all the high-temp ales I've been making just don't go well with the coffee flavor. And I've got nothing else in the pipeline right now, because Burning Man is coming up soon. I'll have to see what's on sale locally, or stick to wine; I've got plenty of Blueberry Pinot Noir and that nasty Foxhorn Shiraz. [comment]

2011-08-16-0627Z

So I only did about 8 miles today in about 2 hours. Not impressive for time, but for endurance it was a major breakthrough for me. And I wasn't winded, it was pain that made me stop. And my left foot will probably get tougher over time. [comment]

2011-08-15-2031Z

Decided to jog to Cotati today, a fungible goal. My left foot was hurting pretty bad by the hilltop in Penngrove, so I quit at the Cotati city limit at Eucalyptus Ave at 1304, and walked into town. I'm celebrating with a pint of Death and Taxes black beer at the Redwood Café. [comment]

2011-08-10-1516Z

Did my 5-mile run through Helen Putnam park yesterday. It felt really good, didn't get winded at all. Today I just did the B street run, don't want to punish my joints unnecessarily. [comment]

2011-08-09-0004Z

Forgot to mention that the feeling I got from the pipe tobacco the other day reminded me very much of the buzz I got from the slice of buckeye nut I tried months ago. I wonder if people addicted to cigarettes could be cured by ingesting small quantities of those nuts.

Drinking the last of my rice brew with nutmeg and cinnamon. It's matured to a quite pleasant taste, similar to ginger ale, but with a bit of a kick. Judging by my first test the other day, the coffee brew won't be nearly as good. [comment]

2011-08-06-2207Z

Tried out my pipe "stove" again today, sucking in on the pipe without inhaling as much as possible. The pipe doesn't heat up enough. It won't work. Plus I get a nasty buzz from the nicotine and it stinks up my breath. I'll have to figure out another way. [comment]

2011-08-06-1103Z

Got caught up on some sleep. Woke up with a revelation: people are the way they are because of the influence of dogs and cats, perhaps in the gene pool, possibly through reincarnation. Dog people hang in packs and are tenaciously loyal to the leader regardless of his character. Cat people are all looking out for #1 and will take the best deal the day offers. My Mom said she hated cats but I suspect she was part Cat herself. My Dad was lovable but probably primarily Dog. I started out Dog but after Dad died my Cat nature started coming out. I'm more of an even mix than my Dad for sure. [comment]

2011-08-06-0149Z

It would be great if the Democrats and Republicans would merge into the Authoritarian Party, then the two-party system would really represent a choice, and Libertarians wouldn't have to associate with the GOP just to be more electable. Of course it'll never happen, the two parties view each other as being So Different when in fact there is much more in common.

Found out a good place in the Bay area to get a Burning Man ticket is Sports Basement. They have only $320 tickets, but you get it on the spot and you don't have to deal with the mad online ticket frenzy. Of course they sold out some days ago, but my friend KathyKat had a lead on someone with an extra, and today I went to San Jose and bought it, at cost! So it looks like I'll be there after all. I'd better be on top of it next year, though. [comment]

2011-08-02-2250Z

Just great, now the YouTube app om my iTouch "Cannot connect to YouTube". I'll have to patch it myself somehow if I don't want to upgrade the OS (and I don't). [comment]

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