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


2012-04-28-0235Z

Going back through Born to Run looking for the recipes and blogging them. The first I found, on page 44, is for iskiate, or chia fresca, described as "dissolving chia seeds in water with a little sugar and a squirt of lime". I don't believe it is "dissolving"; rather, it behaves like mustard and flax seeds, generating mucilage as it starts to sprout. I'm testing it now by attempting to sprout it along with mung beans. Anyway, I don't see the need for either the sugar or the lime, but might give it a try. [comment]

2012-04-27-2211Z

I've probably mentioned this before, but I'd like to see the US Government offer a Social Security buyout, as mentioned here. I'd even be willing to take 10% of what I paid in, let alone 10% of my expected benefits.

Participation in Social Security should be totally voluntary anyway. People should be able to opt out. The bullshit about Social Security being an "inter-generational contract" is a bald-faced lie. If it were true, nobody should be exempt, as is the Congress of the US and roughly five million other Americans.

Push your congresspeople for an end to mandatory Social Security, and for a chance to cash out before hyperinflation hits. A bird in the hand is worth a hell of a lot more than what $1000 a month will be in a few short years.

[comment]

2012-04-27-1515Z

Jogged about 5 miles through Helen Putnam park this morning. Left knee is feeling it a bit, but nothing worth worrying about. [comment]

2012-04-27-0538Z

Found the black cherry extract at, of all places, the GNC in Novato. Got two bottles for $27.65 with the buy-one-get-one-half-off special. Found the soaking roots still usable with no obvious mold, so will leave them at room temp tonight and make up the kidney cleanse tomorrow. Hoping to be able to salvage the wild yeast that started the fermentation, for use with some wine- and ale-making experiments. [comment]

2012-04-25-1900Z

Not having been able to find black cherry concentrate to finish the kidney cleanse, the root mixture was left out too long at room temperature, and spontaneously started fermenting. So I stuck it in the fridge till we get back from Monterey. [comment]

2012-04-24-0252Z

Finally going to do Hulda Clark's kidney cleanse. Just made the organic parsley water and have the roots from Athena's Garden soaking. will pick up some Black Cherry extract from Walgreens tomorrow in the city. [comment]

2012-04-21-0511Z

Found out tonight that my painful tooth is actually split. It's amazing it's only painful when I put pressure on it.

Tried out my idea of putting a voltage across salt water in a layer of oil floating on it, trying to separate out the chlorine and elemental sodium. It didn't work; nothing happened at all. I would have thought a 6V differential would be enough to draw the ions through the oil, but nope. [comment]

2012-04-20-0400Z

Duct tape tire patch didn't hold up. Damn. [comment]

2012-04-19-2335Z

I have a working bicycle again! The Huffy I'd bought on Craigslist months ago had two problems: first, the seat was way too low, and the seatpost was only about 9 inches long so I couldn't adjust it. Second, the rear tire burst not long after I'd gotten it. So recently I bought a longer seatpost on Amazon for about $10, and today installed it and fixed the tube with duct tape. It seems to hold. I couldn't bring myself to buy a tube repair kit when I know the glue is some toxic crap and it's generally good for only one repair before the damned stuff dries up. [comment]

2012-04-18-0201Z

Checked on my tent today, a friendly couple has moved in for a short time. And my floating garden is showing some signs of sprouting. [comment]

2012-04-13-2114Z

Got Frank Sergeant's Riscy Pygness running on my ARMmite after making the changes in this patch. Now I can maybe make it actually do something. [comment]

2012-04-12-1913Z

At about 41 minutes into my jog along the Joe Rodota trail, my right lats started to hurt, and my toes already felt numb for 20 minutes or so, so I quit. Will I ever build up to 4 hours a day at this rate?! [comment]

2012-04-12-0822Z

So it seems the ARMmite flash doesn't survive being powered down. Hrmph. [comment]

2012-04-10-2336Z

Finally I'm able to program and communicate with the Coridium ARMmite under Linux, using MakeItC.exe under Wine and a slightly edited TclTerm.tcl under Linux. Eventually I'd like to eliminate the Windows components and the Tcl scripts, but it works for now, and I'd rather be doing some useful things with the microcontroller. Maybe a Forth for it would be a nice project. [comment]

2012-04-10-0028Z

KN6UB answered me on the Red Bluff repeater just now. Said there was quite a bit of static, but after I repeated my call sign he got it. 145.450 is saved as channel 69 on my VX7R, in Memory Group 7. [comment]

2012-04-09-1852Z

When my left foot also bothered me yesterday, I thought for sure something in my diet must be wrong for me. But my jog today was painless. The altitude had me wheezing going up the hill, and some gunk came out of my lungs, but the feet and ankles are fine. [comment]

2012-04-08-1901Z

Botched my coLinux networking config again. Can't seem to be able to get both my Ethernet port and Slirp configured without some kind of conflict. [comment]

2012-04-08-1715Z

Tweaked my ankle jogging to the store yesterday. Sharp pain every time I land on it wrong. [comment]

2012-04-07-0029Z

A friend (and blog reader) gave me this recipe for my next donut adventure after I posted the less-than-satisfactory results of last night's on Facebook:

Baked Donuts

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup and 2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup coffee (brewed liquid)
1/2 cup addition of your choice

Pour into 6 greased donut mold pan. The half cup addition I use on top of these is coconut. 325 for 10-15 minutes. They are done when the cake springs back at touch. [comment]

2012-04-06-1723Z

I've been trying to kill a really robust poison oak bush, with some smaller volunteers downhill from it, with vinegar. Unfortunately, the last two times I applied it, it rained shortly thereafter, diluting it. So, so far the vinegar has only killed the grass immediately surrounding the noxious bush. Today I put another couple of cups of vinegar on it, and as it's already looking weak, hopefully this will finish it off. [comment]

2012-04-06-0802Z

On April 2nd I launched my first prototype of a floating garden, and put up a tent in the greenspace on La Cresta Ridge. Both were still where I'd put them on Thursday afternoon, though I had to re-orient the tent and secure it better due to high winds. Going to be offline for a few days starting Saturday, so hoping things stay copacetic meanwhile. [comment]

2012-04-06-0739Z

I asked the scammer where he currently was, and here's the reply:

Hello,
 Thanks for your response, my name is Dr Walter Smitt  from
England(UK) I'm moving to your area for 4 weeks contract with
Environmental Protection Agency( EPA) in united state. My daughter
(Mary, she is 16 yrs old)  i want you help me teach her for 2 hours
per day from Monday to Thursday for 4 weeks. You do not have to worry
about transportation,  have negotiate with a cab company that will be
driving her down to your place go and come. Get back to me with the
total cost,  it is my financier in the united state that will sponsor
me and responsible for the payment, so i  want you to get all
information to be use to have the payment, so that i can forward it to
my financier in the state to send you the check,  you will be paid
with Us dollar certified check.

Please get back to me with the amount and i will be glad to update you and make the payment in advance to show you how serious, because i want everything to be done before i will get back to the state. Kindly get back to me with the information so that the check will be made out to you.

Full name to be on the check :- Street address (not P.O Box): - City:- State:- Zip code:- Total charges:- Lesson timetable :- Mobile number for easier communication:

I wait for the information from you as soon as possible. Remember she is all i have and i really want a conducive and pleasant atmosphere for her. We will arrived to the state on 22 of April, tutor start on the 23 of April 2012.

Dr Walter Smitt Prince's Street, Aberaeron, Ceredigion SA46 0JJ. UK Mobile number : +447023044799

Thanks for your co-operation

Wondering if I should keep stringing him along... [comment]

2012-04-05-1523Z

Here's one of the example scammails I get in response to my Craigslist ads. Perp's email unchanged as I have no desire to protect the guilty:

Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:52:39 -0700
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
From: "Walter Smitt" <smarkrose6@gmail.com>
To: mjsfm-2915575395@serv.craigslist.org
Reply-To: "Walter Smitt" <wwsmitt@gmail.com>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain
Subject: learn how to sprout (petaluma)learn how to sprout (petaluma)
Message-ID: <2CE9BB956572A1466524258@tserver.Powell-Homes.local>
X-CL-ID: 7C5D11CB-9750-44D1-BB37-F3175EA8136E.13

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY ** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home ** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping ** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams
Hello, Am interested in your lesson, i would like you to be taking my daughter while i'm at work in your city. Get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you

The IP address it came from, 64.65.171.234, belongs to Integra Telecom in Portland, OR, and the message-ID ends with tserver@Powell-Homes.local. There's a Powell Homes in Des Moines, WA, less than 300 miles north of Portland. Not having the resources of the US Government, and lacking the desire and ability to "hack" into other people's computers, I guess my best option is to keep reporting the replies as "spam or scam" to CL. [comment]

2012-04-05-0138Z

Whenever I post tutoring services on the SF Craigslist, I get a bunch of weird responses all having to do with a parent being in another country and wanting me to tutor their young son or daughter. It took me a while to figure out what the scam might be, but I'm leaning towards it being the FBI trying to catch child molesters.

Strong winds today pulled up the tent pegs and caused the OLCRR tent to be dragged back and forth across the slab, tethered still by the small-diameter rope tied to the two trees. Got to do better than that. [comment]

2012-04-02-2342Z

Launched my first prototype floating garden in the turning basin today. I plan to be keeping a close eye on it over the next few weeks. Contains: Golden Zucchini squash, Holstein cowpeas, Corne de Belier snowpeas, and San Marzano tomatoes, all from the Seed Bank. [comment]

2012-04-02-2204Z

Someone left a pork sandwich on top of the garbage can nearest the alley exit of the downtown Petaluma parking building between Kentucky and Keller, in two paper sandwich boxes. Reminiscent of the urban altruism I saw in Santa Cruz. I took one and ate the half sandwich, with gratitude. [comment]

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